Ronald Weasley floated in inky blackness. He felt the river current flow over him as he hung there. A powerful whip of his tail propelled him towards the surface. Tropical fish scattered as he burst from the canal. He swam towards the shore, ignoring the small wooden fishing vessels around him. Upon reaching dry sand, he straightened to his full height. He roared, reveling in the sun's light and the waters coolness upon his scales.

Servants wearing white skirts approached him, offering bowls of fruits. He grabbed a handful and popped it into his mouth, sharp teeth making quick work of the snack. Two slaves moved forward to help him into his own linen skirt and to secure a necklace of gold.

To his left rose massive pyramids, while ahead stood a great obelisk. He walked towards the steps surrounding the obelisk, ignoring the bows from passersby. At the top of the staircase, standing next the pillar, was a feathered female. She held a tablet while instructing several acolytes. Her students took furious notes, afraid to miss a single glyph. At the bottom of the steps sat a black-furred jackal. Gold eyeliner highlighted his green eyes as he watched the days work. On his chest lay an ankh, glittering in the sunlight. His face brightened when he saw Ron approaching.

Standing, the jackal held out his hand. "Wake, brother, there is much work to be done."

/\/\/\/\

Ronald Weasley rolled out of bed and fell onto the floor. Standing quickly, he made sure there were no witnesses. The fifth-year dorm room was empty. Calming down, he began to dress.

His mind wandered to last night's dream. It had been so vivid, and he could remember so much about it. Usually he just dreamt about playing chess or taking the Chudley Cannons to victory. He remembered that he had dreamt those things, but never specific details.

But this was different. He remembered the exaltation of breaching the water's surface. He could still feel a hot wind blowing upon his skin, and the sand between his toes. It was almost like…

Almost like he was late for breakfast.

Ron dashed out of the dorm room, pulling on his shoes as he hopped out of the door.

/\/\/\/\

Sitting down, Ron began to fill his plate with every food item he could reach. Across from him sat Hermione, reading from a book she had placed on the table. She was absently eating with one hand, while the other scratched notes onto parchment. Next to her sat Harry, crooked glasses framed by a mess of black hair.

"Morning," said Ron, snagging a second plate and stacking pancakes on it.

"Morning, Ron," said Harry distractedly. Hermione waved her fork towards Ron and continued taking notes from her book.

"What has Hermione in study-mode so early?" asked Ron between bites of food. "It's only the first week of term, we don't even have homework yet."

"Well, I had a strange dream," said Harry. "Stranger than usual and it wasn't Voldemort this time. It felt so real, like it wasn't a dream but a memory. I had black fur all over my body and dog ears."

Ron paused in his quest to empty Hogwarts' food stores. "Were you surrounded by sand and people with funky eyeliner?"

Harry stared at Ron as Hermione's quill stopped. She put it down and closed the book, looking at Ron. "I also had a very vibrant dream that was Egyptian-themed."

Ron shrugged and resumed shoveling food into his mouth. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"When I woke up, this was on my bedside," said Harry, pulling a small necklace with a golden ankh from beneath his robes.

Hermione stood, putting her book and notes into her bag. "I need to visit the library, maybe even the Restricted section."

"Why?" asked Ron, pouring syrup over his pancake stack.

"Because something doesn't feel right," said Hermione. "Why are we all having very similar dreams?"

"Maybe we were Egyptian Gods in our past lives," said Ron, half of his second plate empty.

"I haven't found any evidence for past lives in the muggle or magical world," said Hermione as she walked away.

"The wizarding public already thinks I am crazy," said Harry, slumping in his seat. "What would they think if I started saying I was a reincarnated god?"

"Who knows," replied Ron, finishing his meal, "but I bet the Daily Prophet would love to interview you about it."

Harry threw a sausage at him.

/\/\/\/\

Hermione Granger sat up and stretched. All her research yesterday had turned up nothing but conjecture and speculation about past lives. There had also been no mention of curses that caused shared dreams. She ran a comb through her hair, attempting to tame it, and cursed when it got caught on a feather.

Wait, a feather?

Dashing into the bathroom, she examined herself in the mirror. Behind each ear was a plume of three feathers, starting as light blue and fading into white near the tips. She winced as she tugged on one to see if it would come out. It didn't and, as she stared, she began to pick out each individual barb on the spine.

"Oh god, this is second-year all over again," she groaned. Walking back into her dorm room, she grabbed her wand. Hopefully, she would be able to dispel it before she needed to head down for breakfast.

/\/\/\/\

Hermione poked at the egg on her plate, trying to ignore the whispers all around her. Harry sat next to her, occasionally running a hand over his newly acquired dog ears. The pointed tips swiveled constantly, picking up each sound in the Great Hall.

Ron sat across from them, eating food with his bare hands. His fingers had been replaced with pointed claws, making silverware hard to grasp.

"So," said Harry, "any luck figuring out what is happening?"

Hermione ran a hand over her ear, stroking her feathers. "No, I haven't got a clue. Maybe we should go to Madame Pomfrey?"

Ron swallowed, and said, "I cornered the twins earlier, and they swear that whatever is happening isn't their work. They even tried to fix my hands."

"Nice look, Granger," came a nasally voice, "But if you are trying to be as pretty as a Veela, you are going about it the wrong way."

Hermione frowned at Draco Malfoy, and Harry opened his mouth to retort. However, Ron pushed back from the table and stood. Turning, he scowled at Draco and pointed a clawed finger at him.

"Watch your tongue, Malfoy."

Draco looked up at Ron and wondered when he had gotten taller. Then Draco noticed the sharp digit aimed at his forehead. He took a step back before fleeing towards the Slytherin table.

Ron looked back at the other two. "Let's get to the infirmary."

/\/\/\/\

Madame Pomfrey sat in the Headmaster's office, across from Albus Dumbledore.

"I don't understand it, Dumbledore," She said. "It's not any curse or charm that I know of, and all my attempts to return them to normal failed."

Dumbledore steepled his fingers, "I have talked with Severus, and he is also unsure what is ailing our young charges."

"The thing is that they seem to be healthy," said Pomfrey, tapping her fingers on the Headmaster's desk. "Usually a witch or wizard's magic would try to heal any changes, but that is not happening with them. It's almost like…"

"What is it, Poppy?" asked Dumbledore, leaning forward.

"It's almost like their magic is accepting whatever is changing them."

"Is it reversible?"

"Possibly, with a potion regime we could return them to fully human. However, their magic might fight it and they could end up worse off."

The two sat in silence at Pomfrey's proclamation, trying to figure out a way to help the Golden Trio.

/\/\/\/\

A week had passed since Harry, Ron, and Hermione had begun to change. Hermione had sprouted more feathers along her elbows, and her feet had turned into claws. Her memory had improved from good to incredible, and she could pick out details from over a hundred meters away.

Ron had grown even taller, and bulked up, despite stuffing himself full every day. A hole had been cut into his robes to allow the freedom of a thick reptilian tail. His teeth had sharpened, while his hands had taken on a green, scaly tinge that matched his new appendage.

Harry was almost unrecognizable. Most of his body had been covered in a layer of soft black fur. His glasses had disappeared, replaced with light yellow eyeliner that curved at the ends. Holes had also been cut into his robes to allow a slender black tail out.

The Daily Prophet had a field day, casting aspersions on the Golden Trio for experimenting in Dark Magic and questioning the sanity of the Headmaster for allowing such dangerous individuals to stay in the castle. They even speculated that the Ministry of Magic would haul the three in for questioning and possible incarceration.

Hermione had sent a letter detailing every lie the Prophet had printed in the last six months, and demanding they retract their smears. When that didn't work, she threatened to feed Rita Skeeter to Neville's pet toad.

Rita leaned on the Daily Prophet, who printed a retraction after securing a promise to interview the Golden Trio so they could tell their side of the story.

Hermione was mostly sure that their magic was manifesting their previous lives.

Harry was pretty sure he would always be stared at for one reason or another.

Ron was definitely sure he was hungry.

A/N

House: Ravenclaw

Year: Second

Category: AU

Prompt: Creature AU

Word Count: 1603

I definitely have plans to continue this story.