Time blurred past and before Alice knew it, it was October. Professor McGonagall had called her to her office one evening, and she was ambling along towards the first floor. She knocked twice on the door, and the strict professor called "enter."
The professor merely observed her for a moment, the fire crackling warmly behind her, before she began.
"Are you alright, Alice?" she asked kindly.
Alice almost fell off her seat in shock. First name terms and kindness from the professor?
"Um," she said, not knowing what to address first. "Yes. Are you?"
Professor McGonagall frowned. "What on earth do you mean?" she asked, back to her usual strict tone.
"No offence professor, but you're hardly ever… well, nice. I thought you were pulling me in here about my grades."
"I am, Miss Black. I merely wondered if there was something troubling you. Your marks are never usually this bad. You've failed to complete your homework on at least ten occasions in over three subjects, including my own. This is NEWT level work, Miss Black, and I hope that you're taking it seriously."
Alice's grey eyes met the professor's green ones. Hers were not as vivid as Harry's, and the thought of him made her stomach twist painfully. "I'll be honest with you professor. There's a fucking war out there, my parents are fighting in it and NEWTs are the last thing on my mind right now."
"How on earth do you expect to fight in a war if you don't know any NEWT level magic?" McGonagall replied tartly. "The Death Eaters won't hold back because you're an underage girl. The more you practice, the more adept you will become at these spells. You are your father's daughter, he never did his homework either. He's still an exceptional wizard because he practiced."
Alice lowered her eyes to the floor. "Yes professor."
"I am willing to dismiss your incomplete homework thus far. Get this weeks assignments done, and your first duelling lesson is tomorrow." The professor returned to the notes that she'd been perusing before Alice arrived. "You may leave."
Alice wandered back to the common room in a state of shock.
The following evening after dinner, the Gryffindor sixth and seventh years wandered towards the large empty classroom that had been reserved for their duelling lessons. Alice had a surprise in store for her, because when the door opened, who else was there but Sirius?
"Dad!" Alice flung herself at him, and Sirius caught her in shock. He'd been expecting sulking and cross Marlene-like glares, not a hug.
"Hey," Sirius said, sounding winded. "What's the matter? We got a letter from McGonagall about you."
"I missed you," she mumbled into his shoulder.
She let go for long enough for Harry to hug his godfather, her eyes on him anxiously. He looked a little thinner, a little more tired than usual, and his hair needed a good cut.
"Sit," Sirius ordered her, before she could say anything else, and she obliged, folding her arms and giving him the glare he expected. He let out a bark of laughter before turning to Remus.
"Welcome," Remus said to the group of them warmly. "As you know, Professor Dumbledore asked me to start this duelling club, but I thought we could go a little further than that. My friends possess certain skills from our experiences in battles and I thought Sirius here would be the best person to teach the skill we're starting with, as he was the first to master it out of my group of friends." Remus smiled fondly at him, and Sirius moved forward.
Oh God, Alice thought to herself.
Instead of introducing himself, Sirius leaped straight into it. Literally.
He jumped forward and morphed into a large shaggy black dog. He barked once, chased his tail and then morphed back into himself. He took a silly bow as the group applauded him.
"Being an animagus isn't for everyone, so don't worry if you don't want to become one or can't get the hang of it. It's difficult magic but if you're successful, it can be used for a disguise or even to gain the upper hand in a battle. The Death Eaters won't be expecting a giant dog to run around and bite them, and they won't be prepared for it."
"Ignore the books on the subject, they're written by transfiguration experts, not animagi. I want you all to grab a cushion," he waved his wand and twenty or so cushions appeared with a pop, "and sit down and relax. Let you mind wander."
There was a scrabble for a moment but eventually, each student claimed a cushion and sat down on it.
"Close your eyes," Sirius told them. "Breathe in, count to four and breathe out again. Become aware of your body. Feel the magic that you have running through your veins. I know Remus taught you how to cast a patronus during your OWL year, so picture that animal to begin with. Imagine yourself becoming that animal."
Neville opened his eyes and raised a hand. "My patronus isn't corporeal," he admitted in a small voice.
"No matter," Sirius said. "Imagine an animal you identify with, perhaps a pet you once had, or an animal you feel connected to."
Alice had never remotely felt connected to any sort of animal in her life. She cast her mind around, before it landed on a tiger. A large, beautiful white tiger with enormous fangs that protruded when she growled.
A shriek interrupted her thoughts. Everyone opened their eyes, startled, and looked around.
It was Hermione who'd screamed, because the cushion next to her that had once occupied Ginny now occupied a small red fox.
The fox sniffed the air, before trotting over to Harry and pawing at him. He looked into the fox's eyes, which were exact copies of Ginny's brown ones, before looking at Sirius. "I think she's stuck."
"No problem," Sirius said cheerfully. "Ginny, bark once if you can understand me."
She gave a small yap, her head snapping towards his direction and her ears pointing upwards.
"Sit down, and try to concentrate on your human self. I know it's new and confusing, and you feel like you keep getting distracted, but try as hard as you can."
She did as she was told, and after a few minutes, managed to transform back.
"That was weird," she said breathlessly, as the rest of the class applauded her.
"Shouldn't she register with the Ministry?" Was the first question Hermione asked.
Sirius shook his head. "I'm not registered. Besides, what if Voldemort manages to infiltrate the Ministry? He'd get the information and could plan around it."
"Um," Neville began timidly. "Transfiguration's never been my strong point, but I think I'm malting."
He was. Bright yellow feathers kept sprouting all over him and dropping off. There were small piles of them surrounding his cushion.
Remus whipped out his wand and muttered "finite incantatum", and the feathers stopped appearing. "That can happen. The important thing is not to panic. You've almost got it. The experience is different for everyone."
"What about you sir?" Dean Thomas asked. "What's your animagus form?"
Remus fidgeted uncomfortably. "I never got the hang of it," he said evasively, although Harry and Alice both knew full well why he wasn't an animagus.
The lesson carried on with a few mishaps. Hermione sprouted cat whiskers and ears, which struck Harry and Ron as very funny, as they remembered back to their second year when Hermione turned into a cat from the Polyjuice Potion that they'd brewed to sneak into the Slytherin common room. Neville managed to procure a beak in place of his nose, and Ginny ran around the room as a fox, getting used to her new form.
Suddenly, Alice felt as though she was shrinking. She opened her eyes, and everything was much sharper than it used to be. She looked around, and saw the shocked stares of her fellow students.
"What?" she attempted to say, thinking that something was wrong with her hair, but all that came out of her mouth was a growl.
"She's a lion!" Hermione gasped, although her voice sounded different in these ears. It was higher pitched, and much more irritating.
"Of course she'd be a cat," Sirius muttered to Remus so that no one else could hear, but Alice could, and judging from Ginny's sharp yap, she could too. Alice spotted something shiny in the corner of the room, just past her father, and trotted over to investigate, Ginny following close behind.
It was a mirror. Alice could see what she looked like. Her fur had a wave to it, much like her own mane of hair. Of course, as a lioness, she had no mane. Her fur was as golden as her hair, and her eyes the same shade of grey. She noticed that Ginny's fox fur was exactly the same shade of red as her hair too, and when she thought about it, Sirius' dog fur and human hair were also the same.
A roar sounded from behind them, and it sounded pleasing to Alice's lion ears. She whirled around, and came face to face with something she instinctively recognised as Harry. His fur was as pale as his skin was, but his glorious mane was the same shade of jet black as his hair. It was an odd combination, but it suited him. His eyes, of course, were exactly the same shade of green.
A shadow flickered in the corner of Alice's eyes, and she turned to it. It seemed to be a person blooming out of nowhere, but she had the feeling that only the three of them could see it. He was a man, wearing simple robes but he held an impressive authority. Alice guessed that he had once been a teacher.
He seemed to completely ignore Ginny, and spoke directly to the two lions. "Two heirs from each house, who show themselves in their true forms as the lions of Gryffindor. Be brave, my lions, and combined with the other house heirs, you shall defeat the threat facing this school."
He dissolved into nothing.
"What are they looking at?" Hermione asked Sirius, worried.
Ginny, having got the hang of transforming better than Alice or Harry, switched back and explained what had happened to the group.