Chapter 7
The glow from the Hall pulled them in, and as they entered they were hit with a waft of roast beef, potatoes and rich gravy. Allegra had her eyes locked onto an empty space near the top of the table when suddenly it was intercepted by a large tartan suit.
"Harry, Allegra, just the two people I was looking for," Professor Slughorn had stepped into their path, and Allegra's stomach growled at him. "I was hoping to catch you both before dinner! What do you say to a spot of supper in my rooms instead? We're having a little party, just a few rising stars. I've got McLaggen coming, and Zambini, the charming Melinda Bobbin - I don't think you know her? Her family owns a large chain of apothecaries - and, of course, I hope very much that Miss Granger will favour me by coming, too." Slughorn made a little bow as he finished speaking. It was as though Ron had become invisible; Slughorn didn't spare him a glance.
"I can't come, Professor," Harry said quickly, not doing a very good job of sounding regretful. "I've got detention with Professor Snape."
"Oh dear!" Slughorn exclaimed, his face falling. "Dear, dear, I was counting on you, I'm sure I'll be able to persuade him to postpone your detention. Yes, I'll see you three later!" He bustled away out of the hall.
"He's got no chance," Harry said as soon as Slughorn was behind him. "This detention's already been postponed once; Snape did it for Dumbledore, but he won't do it for anyone else."
Allegra pulled a face at Hermione and she mirrored it.
"I was really looking forward to the roast beef," Allegra sighed.
"I guess it will be just the two of us, then," Hermione grimaced, probably imagining her first cozy encounter with Slughorn. She was lucky to have missed the first.
"I doubt it," Ron snapped, "he'll have invited Ginny, too, and he said Blaise was going so I don't think you'll be at loss for friends."
They all took a seat in the spot that Allegra had been eyeing earlier, and Allegra started on a small sample of the food available anyway, it was either that or her stomach would start eating itself. Hermione picked up a new copy of the Evening Prophet someone had left on the table and opened it up.
"Anything new?" Harry asked.
"Not really ..." Hermione said, scanning the inside pages for anything of interest. "Oh look, your dad's in here, Ron - nothing's happened to him!" She added quickly, as Ron had looked around in alarm. "It just says that he's been round to the Malfoy's house." Allegra looked up from her food. "'This second search of the Death Eater's residence does not seem to have yielded any results. Arthur Weasley of the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects said that his team had been acting upon a confidential tip-off.'"
"Yeah, mine!" Harry said. "I told him at King's Cross about Malfoy and that thing he was trying to get Borgin to fix! Well, if it's not at their house, he must have brought it to Hogwarts with him -"
"You did what?" Allegra dropped her cutlery and it clattered angrily onto her plate. Ron's face lost all expression as he realised that Allegra was not at all pleased. "What did you do that for?" She snapped. "Don't you think Draco has enough trouble as it is? And now he's got to deal with people poking around his house - that he doesn't even want to be at - and the newspapers broadcasting the fact that his dad's a Death Eater!"
"Ali, calm down," Hermione said quietly.
"Why? I know you don't get along, and I'm not asking you to, you can hate each other as much as you like, but you could at least tell me when you do something like this!"
Harry's cheeks had flushed, and he didn't look pleased.
"So you're telling me you'd rather not know if he's doing something suspicious with Voldemort, than find out if he's betraying you!?"
"Guys, please," Hermione pleaded.
"No, but I would have liked some discretion! Maybe at least ask me to see if I can find anything out first!"
"I did!" Harry insisted loudly, "I did! I asked you to check for a dark mark but you didn't bother! If he's doing something then all this is for your protection as well as everyone else's."
"What was I meant to do, start trying to get him to take his clothes off? It doesn't matter anyway because they didn't even find anything, not of his dad's and not of Draco's either, so for all we know he could be innocent." Allegra crossed her arms stubbornly and glanced at the door.
"He may have brought something here, though -"
"How can he have done, Harry?" Hermione said, looking a bit distressed by the argument. "We were all searched when we arrived, weren't we?"
"Were you?" Harry said, taken aback. "I wasn't!"
"Oh no, of course you weren't, I forgot you were late, Filch ran us all over with Secrecy Sensors when we got to the Entrance Hall. Any dark object would have been found, I know for a fact Crabbe had a shrunken head confiscated. So you see, Malfoy can't have brought anything dangerous!" Harry was momentarily silenced, but it didn't last long.
"Someone's sent it to him by owl, then," he said. "His mother or someone."
"Everything's being checked, Harry. Filch was poking his Secrecy Sensors everywhere he could reach."
"And I got loads of stuff confiscated from my trunk that I got from Fred and George's shop," Allegra added sadly.
Harry glanced at Ron for help, but he had his arms crossed and was gazing towards Lavender.
"Can you think of any way Malfoy -?"
"Oh, drop it, Harry." Ron said.
Allegra smiled to herself. Ron usually sided with Harry on boyish issues, but she could always count on him backing them up when he was being ridiculous.
"Listen, it's not my fault Slughorn's invited us but not you to his stupid party, we don't want to go, you know." Harry said, firing up at Ron.
"Well, since I'm not invited to any parties," Ron said getting to his feet, "I'm going to bed."
"I'll walk you out." Allegra stood up. "Come on, Hermione; let's go to this shitty thing."
Allegra and Ron strode out of the hall, Hermione trotting along behind to catch up.
"What's up with you?" Blaise mumbled as Slughorn was telling a great long tale.
"Harry and I had an argument." Allegra told him with a clenched jaw. She could see the smirk on his face, but he managed to control himself before Allegra had a chance to turn on him.
"What about?" He smiled at Slughorn and bit into a slice of lemon cake.
"Stuff." She said grumpily. She skipped on the smile and went right ahead with the cake.
Blaise snickered under his breath.
"Let me guess, he's having a problem with you and Draco?" Allegra didn't bother to reply, she just sat there looking thoroughly pissed off. "I can't say it's not old news. It just makes me wonder what's made it worse suddenly?"
"Please drop it, Blaise." She warned.
Blaise shrugged, deciding not to push his luck. "Whatever you say."
A couple of days later Allegra was sitting in Transfiguration when her daydreaming was interrupted by McGonagall's high pitched tones.
"Miss Boone, I dare say you may have accomplished the task already, but I would appreciate it if you would find something useful to do, maybe help your fellow students." She hadn't sounded as irritated as the sentence suggested, but Allegra blinked her way out of her daze anyway. Allegra looked to her left at Hermione, who was going pink in the face trying to transfigure a rat into a lamp and back again non-verbally. She wasn't doing too badly with getting it to change shape, but it just didn't quite make it to a lamp, it was always furry and squeaking.
Hermione glared at Allegra as though she was going to suggest something, even though she wouldn't have dared. Apart from anything, she didn't have any advice to give; the thing had simply changed and changed back when she'd looked at it.
"I think we'll finish there, class. Homework for next lesson is to practice the transfigurations on the sheet I've handed out, all common items. See you on Friday."
The students packed up to leave. Hermione seemed to be in a bad mood. Harry was doing better than her in Potions - all because of a book he shouldn't have had, and Allegra was doing significantly better than her in the practical part of Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms and Transfiguration - all because of a natural gift that Hermione considered an unfair advantage.
As they filed towards the door, McGonagall called Allegra back.
"Allegra, if I could have a word, please." She stepped back into the classroom after smiling quickly at Harry when he said they'd wait outside. Allegra thought it was a little unusual that she hadn't told her off during the lesson, but she guessed she was going to do it now. "Apparently you are not finding N.E.W.T level Transfiguration particularly difficult, Allegra."
"Only the practical, Professor."
Professor McGonagall smiled crookedly, there weren't many people - if any - who were better at practical than theory at this stage.
"Professor Dumbledore and I expressed a lot of interest in you at the beginning of this school year, we were interested to see how you would cope integrating your Mentalist ability in with your school work, but you seem to be having no problems at all. Is it under your control all of the time now?"
Allegra nodded, "unless I'm really upset, angry or tired, then sometimes I slip."
"I assume you have been expecting lessons with Dumbledore?"
"He did mention it at the end of last year."
McGonagall picked her glasses up off the desk she was leaning on and put them on absently.
"We have discussed this together since the beginning of term, and we believe you are not in need of them, what with your normal lessons exercising the ability and the obvious control you now have over it."
"Oh," Allegra nodded, trying not to look disappointed but her voice gave her away.
"However," McGonagall went on, her expression unwavering. "We both agreed that you need to be challenged further than your current lessons. Therefore, we would like to offer you a chance to train to be an Animagi."
Allegra looked at her, lost for words.
"You have the power and ability to be able to become one," McGonagall continued. "The training is often dangerous, long and hard, but we believe with your natural ability you will be able to master it."
"Well, I think if you're willing to teach me, then I've got to give it a go."
"That's pretty scary stuff," Ron smiled, "d'you reckon you'll be able to do it?"
Allegra shrugged, "I don't know. She seemed pretty confident."
"And you have been finding all our lessons easy." He added.
"I'm just worried I'll mess it up, you know what can happen." Allegra made her eyes wide for effect.
"Yeah, what did Harry say?" He glanced at her before looking ahead to weave his way through the younger pupils towards the quidditch pitch.
"Not a lot, to be honest. He's still in a mood from Saturday, I think."
"Oh," Ron sounded annoyed, "I really wish you wouldn't fight over those Slytherins, it puts me in a bloody awkward position."
"I know, but Hermione thinks it's because when you stormed off, we all did. It wasn't really fair on him." Ron nodded and tucked his broom under his arm.
"What about Hermione, what did she say?"
"She got excited, started wondering what animal I'll be and rushed off to the library to get some books for us to look in."
Ron snorted and rolled his eyes. "Sounds like 'Mione."
"I just hope they're pop-up." Ron laughed as they stepped outside into the cool early October air.
"What's your Patronus? They say they're likely to be the same."
"A Phoenix, but -"
"Oh yeah! That would be awesome, I've only heard of a few people with a magical Animagus form."
"- I don't think I'll get that."
"Why?" Ron said, sounding surprised.
"I don't know, I just don't think I'm Phoenix material." They walked into the changing rooms where voices were coming from within.
"Why?" Ron repeated, too focused to realise where he was going.
"Ron, you're in the girls changing rooms."
"Bugger!" He jumped backwards and disappeared quickly onto the other side of the wall. Allegra laughed and went to change.
"Okay then," Allegra nodded and wiggled to be more comfortable on her bed. "Tell me what you've found." Hermione had made it her mission to find out as much about Animagi as she could. Judging by the sheer amount of books on the desk they shared, and the fact she was wearing her 'successful' grin, she'd found out a lot.
"Okay," she grabbed a notepad where she'd jotted down summaries of information she'd read. "It looks like you'll be in this for the long run." Allegra raised an eyebrow. "Apparently it can take anything between three and seven years, and some people don't manage it then." Allegra nodded, she knew that. She imagined they'd probably have to give up at the end of seventh year as McGonagall would have no way of teaching her anymore. "I've marked some good passages in those books over there for you to read. Seeing as you've finished all your homework ..." Hermione tried to get away with it by smiling innocently, but Allegra still made an exhuasted-already expression. "They're not even that long! I've used a highlighter charm on the good bits too, so you can practically skip most of it."
"Alright," Allegra sighed and levitated the first book towards her. "But you're not allowed to leave until I'm done. Unless it's to get me something like ... chocolate." Allegra smiled.
Hermione pulled a book off her bedside table and started to read. Allegra opened the book on the marker and began scanning through the highlighted information, already feeling the neck cramp coming back from doing her homework earlier.
ANIMAGI
An Animagus (pl. Animagi) is a witch or wizard who can morph themselves into a specific animal at will. It is a learned, rather than hereditary skill, unlike those of a Metamophmagus (see Chapter 11, Metamophmagus). Animagi can take the same form as the wizard's patronus, however this is not always the case. The Animagus often takes on a realistic representation of the witch or wizard, whereas a patronus often shows the caster at their best and can change depending on the mood and memories they used to summon the charm. The animal form is not chosen by the wizard, but determined by their personality and inner traits. Thus, one's Animagus form is a reflection of one's inner nature. It has been known for some Animagi to take on the form of a magical creature.
Most Animagi are registered with the appropriate Ministry, however there are also wizards who do not register themselves, for whatever reason, but this is against the law in most countries.
Only very powerful and skilled wizards are able to become an Animagus. The process of becoming an Animagus is long and arduous, and has the potential to backfire and cause the transformation to go horribly wrong. Once the initial training is over, an Animagus can change at will at any time, with or without a wand.
Each Animagus bares an identifying mark on their animal form that is caused by something on their human body. This may be a physical trait like dental structure, or an acquired trait such as glasses. For example, a common marking are rings around the eyes marked by spectacles. If an Animagus undergoes a major physical change, such as the loss of a limb, their animal form will also reflect that. Also, an Animagus in animal form will retain the lifespan of a human.
In addition, some Animagi will appear to loose their clothing upon morphing. The clothing will often reappear upon re-establishing the human form. What physically happens to the clothing is unknown. Some Animagi do not take the clothing with them through the change, however, which can prove inconvenient.
Allegra glanced up at Hermione, who seemed to be concentrating very hard on the novel in her hands. She gasped, even though the book was warn and the cover had fallen off, and Allegra had seen her reading it a few hundred times before. Allegra put the book to one side, and got the next one to hand.
Transfiguration vs. Animagi
The difference between mere transfiguration and the Animagus morphing ability is that a transfigured wizard does not retain the human mental capabilities to think and reason. They instead take on the brainpower of the animal, whereas an Animagus is able to think as a human does. There is a particular spell which creates a blue and white flash that will force an Animagus out of their animal form. This is considered to be the Homorphus Charm, although it is not known if this charm actually works on all Animagi, and is not widely used.
Allegra looked up and found the next book, on the cover was UK Wizarding Law and she sighed. Anything to do with law was usually boring.
Animagi Law
Every Animagus is required to register with the appropriate Ministry of Magic at the Improper Use of Magic office. This registration includes revealing one's animal form and enduring an inspection to find all distinguishing markings. The Register is available to the public.
The penalty for failing to register as an Animagus is a sentence in Azkaban, though the length of time varies. Due to the complexity of the magic involved in becoming an Animagus, they aren't common and it is easy to have an idea of who could be one. It is partially because of this complexity, in addition to the danger involved, that Animagi are required to register themselves. It is also because the Ministries do not want wizards to use it as a means of escape from law enforcement. However, this law has proved difficult to enforce, and only seems effective in stories of blackmail.
Allegra was ready to stop, but the next book on the pile was thin and colourful, so she opened it to the marked page.
Learning the Transformation
Becoming an Animagus isn't easy. It's hard work. You need skill, aptitude and dedication. In addition, you need to be skilled in the art of casting silently. Those that have moved on to being able to do some magic wandlessly, will also find the process quicker and easier.
Many wizards are scared to try the transformation, both because of the danger of the transformation itself and a fear that they will be represented in a way which does not please them. A wizard's Animagus form reflects their inner-self, and it would be a nasty surprise to find out they were indeed a cockroach.
Learning the skill takes years. On average between three to seven, however there are abnormalities that fall either side of this average. It is also hard to gather information on Animagi because there are a lot of unregistered Animagi who do not want to lend information to published content. Some of the first known Animagi were Falco Aesalon: an Ancient Greek who could turn into a falcon, and the witches Morgana Le Fay and Cliodne; who lived in medieval times and were both bird Animagi.
"Okay," Allegra sighed. "I think I know enough now."
"But you've only read a few books!" Hermione exclaimed, before she'd even lifted her eyes from her novel.
"I think I've read all the necessities," she told Hermione calmly, stretching her arms and listening to a satisfying click of a shoulder before letting them collapse into her lap as though the bones had disappeared.
"But you won't know everything unless you read them all!"
"But you've read them all," Allegra reminded her, "do you want me to fix your book for you?"
"What?" she glanced down at the book, "no, I'll just do it later."
"Then I think it's time for me to think about quidditch," Allegra sighed happily, settling down on top of her soft covers. "We've got our first match soon, and that's something we can win."
