Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything what you can recognize from the books. I do however own the plot of this story but I don't have profits because of it unless you count improving my English as a profit.
Thanks to omega13a for beta-reading and helpful suggestions.
Dedicated to all my wonderful Readers.
Chapter ten: Consequences.
R. B.
In the end Friday didn't turn out to be their luckiest day despite the success in having his friends see their Animagi forms.
Right after leaving his stupefied grandfather behind Regulus run into his Mum. At first she hugged him so hard that she knocked out what was left of the air in his lungs, then she cast diagnostic spell over him and after it was certain that he was suffering from nothing more than few bruises and slight chill she scolded like she never did before in her very, very disappointed voice.
"I expected something more mature out of you, Regulus Sirius Black," she said stiffly as she was marching with him to the castle.
The use of his full name meant that if it was anyone else in his place then his Mum would be spurting venom.
"I got lost, Mum!" Regulus whined.
"You should know better than going so far in the forest on your own," his Mum continued in her stiff and disappointed tone.
"I didn't go so far," Regulus protested. "I was chasing a rabbit and landed myself in the Circle of the Damned."
"The Circle of the Damned?" his Mum said sceptically. "How long it took you to come with that idea?"
"I didn't," Regulus whined. "Ask Professor Brainslook, he called that spot the Circle of the Damned. I simply got lost and couldn't get out."
"You shouldn't get lost in the first place," his Mum huffed. "Hadn't your father and I told you and your sister more than a hundred times that there are reasons why this forest is forbidden for students?"
"You did," Regulus said simply.
"Then you won't protest when you will have to write five hundred line of 'The Forbidden Forest is forbidden for a reason and I will think thrice before I will enter it again without an adult by my side', will you?" his Mum said stiffly.
"Five hundred?" Regulus moaned. "But Mum…" he started but wasn't able to finish.
"Do you want one thousand?" his Mum said. "Five hundred lines by Tuesday morning before my classes start, early bedtime for a week and I will make sure to ask Severus to have his patrols around Gryffindor tower during that week. Additionally tomorrow after breakfast you are going to serve a detention with him and don't expect anything easy to do."
Regulus wisely chose to not comment on his punishment, sometimes having a Professor for a parent really sucked.
Dormant Life
After being given a Pepper Up potion and Bruise salve, having his nose smeared with menthol ointment which made his eyes water he was unceremoniously walked to Gryffindor Tower by his Mum, who to his utmost horror didn't stop in front of the portrait but walked him upstairs and tucked him into his bed under Neville's and Teddy's watchful eyes.
As he fell asleep he wondered what kind of a talk Charlie and Ron would get because he hadn't spotted them in the common room. They weren't in the dormitory or the bathroom which door was open wide enough for Regulus to realise that it was empty. Frankly he found himself not caring, anyone who crossed Mum deserved every single word they got.
Dormant Life
He woke up warm, dry, rested and with a clear nose just to have Teddy landing on the top of him while the other boy tried to put his shoes on.
"Glad that you decided to join us," Teddy said grimly. "Your Mum caught Ron, Hermione and Charlie out of their beds after curfew. They came back even later than you did. Apparently Malfoy teased Charlie about getting the Nimbus 2000 and challenged him into a duel in the Trophy Room."
"And knowing Malfoy he didn't show up," Regulus grimaced.
"That's what I heard," Teddy confirmed.
"They got a detention?" Regulus asked against his best hopes that his Mum's bad mood didn't make her lash it out on his friends.
"Detention?" Teddy snorted. "She was ballistic by the time they get there, I mean ballistic in your Mum's standards. I snuck out of the bed when she barked at them to sit down."
"Ouch," Regulus mumbled.
"Ouch indeed," Teddy muttered. "Luckily for us Gryffindor didn't lost any points. But unluckily for them the three of them have an early bedtime for a week. Additionally each of them was punished in awfully personal way. Ron is banned from having a desert for a week, Charlie is banned from Quidditch trainings, Hermione is banned from doing any reading which isn't class related. To add insult to injury each of them have to write five hundred lines by Tuesday morning. The only difference is that are varying. Charlie has to write 'I won't be sneaking out of bed after curfew to duel against a Slytherin because I shouldn't believe that a bloody coward like Draco Malfoy will ever show up for a duel which isn't approved by the Headmaster and at least two Heads of the houses and I won't allow anyone who thinks otherwise control my own actions'. That was a reference to Ron, because it was his idea to accept the duel."
"And Ron got?" Regulus grimaced.
"He has to copy down Cadogan's Duelling Rules for Underage Wizards and explain why each of them still remains in use. Four feet of that and if it won't meet your mother's acceptance he will have to write it again and she will make him discuss the Salazar's Code of Honourable Duelling too," Teddy said grimly.
Regulus grimaced even more. Cadogan's Duelling Rules for Underage Wizards alone was quite a handful to write about by Tuesday but if Ron was coped with Salazar's Code of Honourable Duelling while having to rewrite the first essay then the boy wouldn't get out of the pile of paperwork until Halloween.
"Hermione?" Regulus asked nervously.
"Next time when I will see a pair of imbeciles sneaking out of the common room after curfew without a very good reason to do so I will stun them first and ask questions later. Under no obligation I will follow them like an overeager Hufflepuff and a dull one on that," Teddy recited.
Regulus groaned at that. Hermione would be pissed and he dreaded to go downstairs. But he had too, he had a detention right after breakfast.
Quickly he dressed up and walked down to the common room where his friends were seated around the fireplace on couches and armchairs. The rest of the common room was miraculously empty.
"Morning, Reggie," Hermione muttered.
"Morning," Regulus sighed. "What happened?"
"Mr Honour and Able, that's what happened," Hermione huffed as she threw Ron and Charlie and very dirty look. "After you harred away Merlin only knows where a broom was delivered to Charlie. Malfoy, being an envious git managed to attract the attention of Professor Flitwick and after Flitwick had left challenged Charlie into a duel."
"At midnight," Charlie deadpanned. "Failed to show up. Hermione caught us sneaking out but was unable to return by the time she decided that if we want to get a detention for being out after curfew then so be it but she isn't going to participate in that."
"Instead of Malfoy we nearly run into Filch," Ron added grimly. "So we changed our minds and decided to come back to the tower, very, very fast but on our way we encountered Peeves who chased us to third floor, you know the forbidden one. The git made an alarm which brought Filch."
"So we hid in the nearest classroom," Charlie continued. "It was locked up but Hermione opened it… Filch had left … and then we learned why the corridor is forbidden and the classroom is locked up…" he looked nervously at Hermione after that.
"They're keep a freaking Cerberus there!" Hermione huffed in indignation. "And not the Greek kind which your Grandfather was showing to us. A nesting dragon looks more friendlier compared to those three heads with teeth which can bite off your head in one snap…"
"You mean that there is a difference between that three-headed dog and other three-headed dogs?" Ron asked nervously, he looked kind of green.
"Greek Cerberus' are usually less than six feet tall," Hermione muttered. "Five footers are considered very tall for that breed, though four footers are more common. This one was gigantic, it had to be seven feet at least."
"You saw Fluffy?" Regulus finally managed to express his shock.
"Fluffy?" Ron yelped. "That giant head-remover has a name? Fluffy on that?" Ron gaped at Regulus in shock.
"It's Hagrid's," Regulus shrugged. "Dad nearly had a heart attack when Hagrid showed him Fluffy for the first time. He promised Hagrid that if that dog would ever put his paw in the castle then dad will haul both Hagrid and the dog to Azkaban. And trust me dad doesn't make this kind of threats easily."
"Should we call him?" Charlie suggested nervously.
Regulus shook his head. Hagrid knew better than going against Regulus's dad threats and knew which one of them he should take seriously. That particular threat was deadly serious and Hagrid knew that. But Fluffy was in the castle which meant that it was Grandpa Albie who had to allow Hagrid to bring the Cerberus inside the castle. The question was: why?
"Was there anything curious about that room?" Regulus asked pensively.
"You mean that there was something more curious than three heads of the death?" Ron huffed as he rolled his eyes.
"The trapdoor," Hermione said suddenly. "It was standing on a trapdoor."
"Why?" Ron snorted.
"Isn't it obvious?" Hermione snorted. "That infernal dog is guarding something."
"Treasure?" Ron asked hopefully.
"Knowing Grandpa Albie?" Regulus snorted. "Even more deadly surprises. Trust me no treasure is worth dying in Cerberus's jaws."
"It might be no treasure at all," Hermione muttered.
"What you mean?" Charlie asked curiously.
"I just remembered reading something…" Hermione started. "But for the life of me I can't remember what it was…" the she glared at Charlie and Ron, "and thanks to you the earliest day when I will be able to sort it out will be next Saturday. Unless one of you is able to carry out more than month's worth edition of Daily Prophet out of the library."
"Err no, thank you Hermione, we are patient people and we can wait," Ron said nervously.
Dormant Life
After breakfast he went to Uncle Severus' office without a shadow of a doubt that his dressing down had ended yesterday after his Mum was done with them. No, Uncle Severus was Regulus's self-proclaimed godfather and was taking his godfatherly duties very, very seriously.
As soon as the door to his Uncle's office had closed behind him he heard a hiss.
"Regulus Sirius Black!"
"I know Uncle Sev," Regulus said calmly. "I'm a foolish Gryffindor who rushed out into Forbidden Forest without thinking. You are very disappointed with me, so is Mum, Uncle Remus and Professor Brainslook. Dad would be disappointed too if he knew what kind of a stunt I pulled out. I should also consider myself lucky that Professor Brainslook had found me and that I have such great friends who went to him to tell an adult about my disappearance…" he said on one breath, knowing that sooner or later Uncle Sev would point it out.
He looked up at Uncle Severus who looked like a cauldron ready to explode. The older man was practically oozing with fury. Regulus took a shaky breath, lowered his head, let his shoulders hunch, allowed his knees to shake a bit before he raised his eyes at Uncle Severus with a look of defenceless and kicked puppy.
He spotted a shadow of triumphant smile immediately followed by uneasiness and right after that by guilt and Regulus allowed himself to inwardly smirk in satisfaction, Uncle Severus was sooo easy to manipulate.
"At least you regret your actions," Uncle Sev said with definite uneasiness in his voice. "That's something which cannot be said about some of your peers."
"I do, Uncle Severus," Regulus said meekly. "I'm truly sorry about scaring you, Mum and Uncle Remus so much."
And he really was. He was sorry but if he was sincere with himself he didn't regret getting lost, discovering that he was right about Grandpa Orion, in its own twisted way was something. Yet again seeing that his parents and Uncles cared and were worried for him made him all warm and fuzzy inside and he knew that no matter how old he would be the knowledge that there was someone who cared for him just because he was Regulus would make him feel better.
"I will get going, this cauldrons need good scrubbing," Regulus added guiltily.
He turned on his heel and started walking in the direction of Uncle Severus's classroom when he heard calm and heavy with guilt voice.
"You are too old for scrubbing few cauldrons to be any serious punishment. You will assist me in preparing Pepper Up potion for Madam Pomfrey."
Scored! Regulus thought with satisfaction.
M. B.
When Severus flooed to 12 Grimmauld Place after dinner she didn't know if she wanted to hug the life out of her son or whack him across the head with rolled up newspaper.
Severus being Severus described Reggie's punishment in every little detail, added descriptions of Regulus's expressions and general posture. Poor Sev didn't know that Regulus could get quite manipulative when he wanted and he manipulated Sev into making his detention go his way rather than Sev's.
Severus stayed long enough to put Randa, Minnie and Alana to bed with a story of Little Red Riding Hood at exceptionally early (for the girls anyway) bedtime of nine o'clock in the evening. Verma Slugrtuckar and her children, whose names even after a two weeks were giving Mirzam creeps along with very unsettling feeling that something was going inside her house and she didn't know what it was, stayed out of their way and from what she managed to overhear weren't as easy to put to bed like the girls were.
Not so long after Severus came back to Hogwarts after declining politely the leftovers from dinner and Mirzam couldn't really blame him, especially after Minnie's sudden proclamation that Mrs Slugtruckar couldn't cook to save her life and that her vegetable pastries were simply horrid (come to think about it they weren't that bad if you dipped them in garlic sauce like Mirzam did). Thankfully Minnie made her statement away from Mrs Slugtruckar's earshot and Mirzam didn't have to explain her…
When she was sincere with herself she was very aware that she found the presence of other woman extremely unnerving. It wasn't about her being able to have children on her own with her husband. No, a long time ago Mirzam resigned herself to the fact that she will never get pregnant because of her condition. Of course she could get pregnant if she really wanted but she never wished to inflict her condition on any child, let alone a child she would carry under her heart for nine months or so. Pregnancy in her case was definitely out of the question, which didn't mean that at times she could get minimally envious about women who could have children on their own without risking the life and/or health of their newborn child.
Verma Slugtruckar was unnerving her in completely different way. It was her calm demeanour and sort of pained look directed at her every single bloody time Mirzam happened to catch the other woman staring at her. It seemed as if the other woman was taunting her or … was envious.
At the same time she couldn't deny that sharing the same house and, even worse, kitchen with another woman brought to her mind long buried wishes of having her sister alive and well. If only Mira was here they would be able to laugh together from Mrs Slugtruckar's pained looks and her inability to deal with the overexcitement of her children.
She was so lost in her thoughts and memories of Miranda that it took a pillow slamming into her face which alerted her that she wasn't alone in Sirius's study.
"Excuse…" she started stiffly as she took a quick look around the room and found a smirking Bathsheba staring at her. "Sheba! When did you come?"
"Just a moment ago, Mimi," Sheba snickered. "I called out your name but you didn't react. How are you today, sis?"
"Don't ask questions," Mirzam sighed. "We are having guests who are getting on my nerves, Sirius is away on a mission, Regulus got lost in Forbidden Forest and thankfully is alive and in one piece, but what I survived last night before I found him…" she shook her head. "The darker side of having children," she added grimly. "Wine?" she offered as she stood up.
"Thank you but no," Sheba declined. "Pour yourself anyway but if you have cherry soda I will be very grateful," she added as she sat down in the armchair opposite to Mirzam's.
Mirzam poured two glasses of cherry soda and handed one to Sheba before she reassumed her former seat.
"How are things faring in the Ministry, Sheba?" Mirzam asked curiously.
"Did you hear about the arson of Albus Slugtruckar's house?" Sheba asked quickly.
"Yes," Mirzam grimaced before she added quickly, "Quite directly actually. My dearest mutt couldn't help but offer the Slugs a shelter. To make things worse, he hauled Mr Slug on a mission and left me with his wife and their hellish duo here."
"She is that much unnerving?" Sheba snorted. "Man, she has to be horrid to get on your nerves from all people."
"She isn't that bad," Mirzam snorted. "I just find her unnerving. Her and her pitting looks when she thinks I'm not looking. Beats me why she does it, but she does and that's it."
"And you just cannot wait to find her asking about Monday evening," Sheba grimaced.
"Actually the only thing she will be asking will be why the girls will be going to Grandpa Archie for the night and why Remus and I need to be at Hogwarts on the same night," Mirzam muttered.
"Sirius is planning to come back by then?" Sheba asked curiously.
"I hope so but if he does my expectations would be exceeded," Mirzam shook her head. "Come tomorrow evening I will be having very a whinny Reggie over Sev's floo asking me if I could wave off his early bedtime for that night. Frankly I'm inclined to agree."
"Feeling like shit, aren't you?" Sheba snorted.
"Ask me Tuesday morning," Mirzam snorted and immediately groaned, "I shouldn't tell them to have those lines handed on Tuesday. There is no way that I will be able to teach any classes that day, especially if Sirius won't be back."
"At least you can keep down the food you eat," Sheba grimaced. "That's something which I cannot say."
"Stomach bug?" Mirzam asked sympathetically.
"More of a parasite," Sheba said darkly. "A very vicious and picky parasite. No matter what I ate last week I couldn't keep it."
Mirzam frowned, she wasn't a qualified Healer but to her knowledge there hardly existed a parasite which could be so picky. Unless…
"Who is the lucky guy?" Mirzam asked pensively.
"Not so lucky," Sheba grimaced. "He doesn't know it yet. Even I managed to learn it just today because I decided that vomiting everything I would eat for another week would be no fun."
"How far?" Mirzam asked curiously.
"Thirteenth week," Sheba said grimly. "I have three weeks to decide."
"That bad?" Mirzam asked with a sigh. "Is he married with children or something?"
"You could say so," Sheba snorted. "It was just sex, we used charms and potions. I think that the potion was the same as yours. Conception-less so you better check yourself my dear."
"Fat chance," Mirzam snorted. "I look like death warmed up because I'm a werewolf before the full moon, not because I'm pregnant. I happen to keep my meals in my stomach and I'm prone to headaches, not light headiness. Last time I ended worshiping the porcelain god was two years ago when my dearest decided to prepare burritos."
"Were they any good?" Sheba asked eagerly.
"If they were good the whole family wouldn't come down with food poisoning you know," Mirzam grimaced. "Back to the point. How bad is your fuckmate for you to consider an abortion as a possible option?"
"I'm not considering an abortion," Sheba huffed.
"You said that you have three weeks to decide," Mirzam shrugged calmly. "Last time I checked abortions are performed legally if it was performed before the end of the seventeenth week though no sane Healer would dare to perform it after sixteenth week of pregnancy."
"You are obsessive," Sheba snorted. "I wasn't referring to the idea of abortion when I mentioned that I have three weeks to decide."
"So what's in three weeks?" Mirzam asked patiently, feeling a lot more calmer when she heard that her best friend wasn't considering idea of the abortion.
"The renewal of my tenure," Sheba answered simply. "By the 14th of October I need to know whenever or not I will have to take maternity leave. If I will end as a single mother on maternity leave longer than the standard three months is out of the question."
"Last time I checked two people were involved in the process of the making of a child," Mirzam pointed out. "Daddy is unfit?"
"Rather scared of any sign of commitment," Sheba snorted softly. "Mortally scared and I'm not even sure if I should inform him, Mimi. I mean, I know that I have to because he has the right to know but…" she shook her head.
"You have to tell him, sooner rather than later," Mirzam sighed. "Maybe he will surprise you and will change his mind."
"It's as likely as seeing Robert Halloway in clean robes," Sheba muttered. "Will never happen. Guess what he spilled on them this time?" she smirked.
R. B.
He got a detention in History of Magic of all things. Because he had failed to prepare an essay about Grindelwald. He bit back the retort about when he was supposed to prepare it since his Uncle Severus had decided that for being out after curfew on Monday evening, to join his Mum and Uncle Remus for the full moon for Merlin's sake and decided that spending Tuesday and Wednesday evenings in the dungeons would be suitable punishment.
So when finally Thursday's History lesson had arrived Regulus failed to hand over the essay he had yet to write and he was rewarded with a detention scheduled for the evening.
"It's not bloody fair and you know it," Regulus growled after he closed the door to his Grandpa Orion's office. "First I get a detention with Uncle Sev for being out after curfew on full moon night, while he knows very well why I'm out of the common room. Then you award me with a detention…"
"For the essay you failed to hand in," Grandpa Orion said calmly.
"You couldn't assign me yet another essay?" Regulus muttered darkly as he settled himself in front of his Grandpa.
"At this rate you would end up under a pile of essays you won't finish writing," Grandpa Orion smirked. "Take it easy lad. I gave you a detention so you would be able to finish it under my nose."
"Many had tried and yet everyone failed," Regulus smirked. "Don't forget that I grew up at Hogwarts. Once Professor What's His Face…" he paused to try to recall the name, "Patterson, retired Auror decided that I wouldn't bother him during his lessons if I was faced with an assignment concerning Unforgivables. From what I remember he tried to scare me out of the classroom."
"You wrote the essay about Unforgivables at the age of what?" Grandpa Orion mumbled out.
"Five," Regulus supplied. "It was Autumn of the same year when Grandmother had died and we weren't living at Grimmauld yet, for obvious reasons. I liked to sit during some of the lectures with older students when Uncle Moony was away on some errand."
"You wrote the essay about Unforgivables at the age of five?" Grandpa Orion whispered in shock.
"My point is that I didn't," Regulus smirked. "I wrote down the title of the assignment, with a pencil I should add because at that age I was still unable to hold a quill properly without spilling the ink around every surface, before I snorted something like, 'You've got to be kidding me, sir!'"
"You didn't," Grandpa Orion mumbled.
"I did," Regulus chuckled. "Then I dished him out the history of each Unforgivable Curse. In the end I managed to conclude that much worse than Imperious Curse and easier to cast are Love and Lust Charms, not to mention their higher efficiency. Then I said that I would prefer the physical pain of receiving the curse which makes you feel like you got as many paper cuts as you have nerve endings in your body rather than a curse which actually makes you bled from all nerve-endings you happen to have. In the end I claimed that Killing Curse is merciful death compared to the Curse of the Enflamed Bones."
"What Patterson do after you said that?" Grandpa Orion asked curiously.
"Dismissed whole class, summoned my Mum, my Dad, Grandpa Albie and Ruffled Scrimy claiming that my parents are bringing up the next Dark Lord instead of a normal child," Regulus snickered. "I think that Dad, Grandpa Albie and Mr Scrimgeour explained to him that if having knowledge of the Dark Arts makes the Dark Lord then half of the wizarding population in United Kingdom would be rotting in Azkaban, with Aurors in the top security cells. Besides all of them happen to agree with me that Unforgivables are Unforgivables but there are really worse things than Unforgivables."
"And let me guess, that was the last time you graced DADA class before this year?" Grandpa Orion asked swiftly.
"Actually no," Regulus shook his head. "Three years ago in charge of that particular post was Melvin Prewett, dad's trainer, who after having a word with my Mum first, decided to poke fun of second years who didn't know how to cast Disarming Spell and Shield Charm, from what I remember both belonged to first year curriculum in that time. So Melvin goes and says, 'listen up you bunch of lazy brats, this is Regulus Black, age eight and he will help me in a test.'"
"What did he have you do?" Grandpa Orion asked curiously.
"First we will test your shields, Blackie over here will cast a Disarming Spell on each of you. Your job is to produce a shield to repel it. For each shield which fails your house will have one point removed. The other test is casting the Disarming Spell on Blackie while the only thing he can do is produce a Shield Charm, you have three tries on him, for each successful try you get one point, for each failing you lose one point."
"And the result was?"
"It was circa the end of the first week so from what I remember Gryffindor and Hufflepuff had about forty points and Slytherin and Ravenclaw had thirty-six points each. The class consisted from forty people because Melvin wanted them to train on me together during a double lesson. Out of whole forty, only ten managed to disarm me, on the third try which gives plus five points to both Gryffindor and Slytherin, which really didn't help because after global failure of Protego each house was ten points down, add to that twenty point from Slytherin and Gryffindor… Well in the end all houses were in a negative point count which ended really funny because Melvin had an argument with all the heads of the houses. He was really nasty in taking points. I believe that the winner of the House Cup, Slytherin, barely managed to scrap about one hundred eighty points give or take a point or two and by Leaving Feast Hufflepuff had a total zero of points because some idiotic third years tried to hex Melvin for taking Hufflepuff twenty points during the last lesson of the term, which was still quite impressive because they were tying with Slytherin before that lesson and after losing these twenty points they were barely a point ahead of Gryffindor which was in last place."
"So they got pissed off and lost more points."
"But the best happened on the day of the Leaving Feast," Regulus continued with a smirk. "Something chased Melvin out of the castle, screaming bloody murder on that, what it was no one knew but from what my Mum said Uncle Severus and Madam Sprout had very peculiar expressions on their faces while Melvin was running away."
"About Grindelwald…" Grandpa Orion started.
Regulus smirked, Grindelwald was no problem when you were getting History lessons about Grindelwald from Grandpa Albie…
Dormant Life
"So?" said Ron quietly just as they were finishing their lunch and together with Ron another four pairs of eyes turned to look at Regulus. "Will you ask her?"
Regulus sighed heavily. They eagerness was so obvious that they would be deeply disappointed if his Dad failed to show up today. But then again he didn't know a person who wouldn't be eager to become an Animagus.
He smiled at them, finished his pumpkin juice and approached his Mum.
"Mum," Regulus asked meekly. "Did dad…"
"Came back yesterday evening, Reggie," his Mum smiled at him. "When I was leaving home he was still sleeping but yesterday he said something about showing up here as soon as I come back home."
"What about the Slugs?" Regulus asked curiously.
"Grand opening in Mrs Slug's gallery, Slug is a bit ruffled and limping but he is going to show his support to his wife and since Moony is out for the weekend someone has to stay at home with the girls and the little Slugs," his Mum answered.
"And the man, they caught him?"
"The man yes, just not his bastard son with whom the man was in league. It's still a problem because while the son isn't the brightest bulb in the box he is still dangerous."
"Does the early…" Regulus started.
"Today," his Mum said sternly. "Tomorrow you can go to bed later but other restrictions still apply till Sunday."
Dormant Life
During last month Regulus observed Ron's older brothers and his observation proved to him that when the mischief was likely then Fred and George were likely suspects of said mischief which also meant that they were unable to resist seeing a mischief taking place under their very noses.
That meant that having all five boys plus Hermione leaving the common room in one group would very likely pick up the curiosity of the Marauders Wannabes.
So in a manner worth the only son of Padfoot Regulus first dispatched Hermione with Neville to his Uncle Severus, then Charlie and Ron to his Grandpa Orion, mouthed to Teddy to wait for him outside the common room before he made a show from going upstairs to his dorm, loud enough for the twins to hear it.
He came back just a moment later under Charlie's Invisibility Cloak which the other boy had left on Regulus's bed and with accuracy and skill of Uncle Moony cast simple stinking spell on the twins.
Using the commotion which erupted right after the twins started to stink as a smoke screen Regulus quickly left the tower, wrapped the cloak around Teddy and together they went down to his Mum's office where the other kids were waiting for them.
As soon as they walked inside the office, after Regulus had given the password to the door they found his Dad inside it already.
"Hey Dad!" Regulus grinned. "How are you?"
"Fine Reggie," his Dad smiled. "How are you kiddo? I heard that you got yourself in trouble."
"They all did," Teddy smirked. "Except Neville and I."
"It was an accident," Regulus muttered grimly.
"Aunt Mimi went ballistic," Teddy snickered. "Gave Reggie the walk of shame through the castle, common room and up to our dormitory. Then she waited for the rest of the miscreants who were out of the common room after curfew."
"One day you will get in trouble," Ron muttered. "And we will be standing by your side laughing our arses off."
"Fat chance," Teddy snickered. "So, uncle Sirry, our lesson."
"Reggie had given you Animus Potion?" his Dad asked quickly and after quick nods from the other kids he continued, "Great. Anyone saw something other than fog?"
"We all did," Neville said nervously.
"And?" his Dad prompted quickly.
"Common sparrow," Ron grumbled. "Impressive as hell."
Regulus saw a smirk appearing on his Dad's face but dad said nothing.
"Raven or something that look like one," Teddy supplied.
"Wolf," Neville said timidly.
"Stag. I will end looking like complete cretin," Charlie snorted.
"Instead of saying what I'm can I simply show you, Mr Black?" Hermione asked swiftly and without any ceremonies she changed in her Animagi form.
Regulus snickered inwardly at the stupefied look on his father's face.
"Well that was unexpected," his Dad whispered. "Though not really surprising."
"Can we become an Animagus as fast as Hermione did?" Ron asked curiously. "She transformed right after Regulus had given us the potion."
"Immediately?" his Dad asked alarmed.
"No, after the vision," Regulus explained. "For a moment I was scared shitless that she got stuck but she simply transformed back right away."
"Well, I'm not surprised that Hermione was the first one to transform," his Dad said pensively. "And no, Ron, you won't master Animagi transformation as fast as Hermione did, no one does. Hermione is unique case because things which will be discussing during our lessons which for the rest of you will be new for Hermione would be just a reminder and while you will be concentrating on transforming she will be simply perfecting her transformation," he added softly. "Hermione transformed this fast because she had practically the whole course of mastering Animagi transformation taught at the age of nine, while Reggie was mastering his own. The only difference was that unlike Reggie, Hermione wasn't given the potion back then and since she was helping Reggie in learning as much as possible about his form it was easier for her to transform. After all a dog is a dog, bred can change, important parts, don't."
"So how long it will take us, Mr Black?" Ron asked.
"That depends," his Dad said with a shrug. "Mastering Animagi as I think Regulus already explained to you is hard, really hard and if you study on your own, mostly by trial and error you spend years at mastering your form without screwing something. That's why mastering Animagi isn't very encouraged these days. If my memory serves me right the last Headmaster of Hogwarts who in fact supported the idea of having students master Animagi transformation was Phineas Nigellus Black, better known as the least popular Headmaster of Hogwarts, for the same reason actually."
"He was unpopular because he supported having master their Animagi forms?" Charlie asked sceptically. "Why is that?"
"It happened before Professor Dumbledore was a student," his Dad said pensively. "Phineas was the Headmaster of Hogwarts since 1897 to his death in 1925, twenty-eight years, not the longest tenure a Hogwarts Headmaster ever had but a long one. He was great scientists in the field of Transfiguration and administrative genius but never had much heart for his students. But that was later, early in his tenure Phineas was very devoted to those students who had chosen to pursue further education in his field."
"And since mastering Animagi transformation was itself quite an achievement…" Teddy supplied.
"For the first three years of his tenure out of the seventy-five students who had chosen to try to master Animagi transformation under his and Dippet's tutelage they managed to sort out fifty who were able to do so. The incident to which I'm referring happened in late December. Some cretin who was rejected tried to transform on his own and got trapped in his form," his Dad said with a snort. "Getting trapped is horrible thing to happen or to watch. Every Animagus was trapped in their form at least once while learning to master the transformation. The worst thing which one can do is panic."
"And the idiot panicked," Neville whispered.
"And since he was a bull…" his Dad grimaced. "He trampled over one first year girl so badly that she died due to the severity of her wounds, Phineas was crushed, figuratively not literally. He would have killed the idiot if he wasn't stopped by the other teachers. For each Headmaster or Headmistress death of a student is huge blow. The death of an innocent child and one who just recently started learning magic… He remained the Headmaster for a quarter of century after that but that incident had weighed on his tenure greatly, as well as on the way how he saw and treated students."
"It's so sad," Neville said quietly. "And they never tried to teach Animagi transformation after that?"
"Yes and no," his dad said grimly. "Animagi transformation was taught, in lesser scale and only to handpicked students or, more specifically, adults. Which leads us to another subject of our talk," he added pensively. "The laws concerning Animagi Registry."
"Only seven people were registered in Animagi Registry in this century," Hermione supplied quickly, earning few startled gasps because of her sudden transformation back into human form. "And I didn't find you there Mr Black," she added grimly.
"Animagi Registry, the one which is in the Improper Use of Magic Office isn't worth a Knut in my honest opinion," his Dad snorted simply. "Though it's very good reference list for the Aurors. This registry records what kind of animal one is and one's distinguishing markings. That itself defeats the purpose of becoming an Animagus which is having a secret ability which might or might not save your life or at least health some day."
"Then why does it still exists?" Hermione asked sceptically.
"Because it has to exist Hermione," his Dad shrugged. "Being unregistered Animagus is punished with a decade in Azkaban prison for a reason, call it a safeguard, add to it a fine and people will think thrice about becoming an Animagus and failing to register. But the law concerning Animagi Register has a lope-hole. Animagi Register in the IUMO is a smokescreen, public display for the masses and on that list you can find the names of Transfiguration Masters or dragon handlers."
"There is another list?" Teddy asked eagerly.
"There is," Regulus smirked. "Aurors' Registry of Uncommon Abilities."
"The beauty of that register lies in its secrecy, both concerning its existence as well as people who figure in it. It wasn't destined for public display and only a few people can actually read through the whole registry without suffering dire consequences. To get registered in that registry you don't necessary have to be an Auror, though that was the original purpose of that registry, all you need is someone who is an Auror to register your name on it and aside from you that Auror has access to your file, as well as other files which he or she registered," his Dad added. "Only authorized personnel has access to that list since if the DMLE is planing some kind of operation where a rare ability might be needed, they would check the list. You only get called up when you're a needed. What I'm trying to say is you can register your form for free and keep it off the public record but if the ministry needs you, you have no choice but to do what ever it is they want you for."
"Say I committed a crime as an Animagus and it was discovered…" Charlie started.
"If you figure in one of these registry your arse is safe, however if you aren't on any, well, prepare for getting higher sentence," Regulus's dad said simply. "And if you are caught as an Animagus who doesn't figure on IUOM's list all you need is the name of the Auror who registered you and your registration number."
"That means that we have to register," Ron said. "But from what I heard it costs a lot of money…"
"IUOM's register does," Regulus's Dad smirked. "ARUA is free of any charges in that regard, also the reason why people who need that particular ability prefer to figure in ARUA rather than the IUOM's register."
"So Animagi Registry has only seven people on the list, at least from this century," Neville said pensively. "How many has ARUA?"
"In this century?" Regulus's Dad asked pensively. "Forty-two registered Animagi. That's not much if you add the thirty people who registered in last century and happen to still be alive."
"That's still quite a lot," Charlie muttered. "It registers the same way as the Animagi Register does?"
"It has more details," Regulus's Dad said pointedly. "I had to get catalogued from head to toe and in the end I was even dubbed as a weird cross between a Flat-coated Retriever and a Newfoundland because I was too big for the first and too thin for the second."
"And Reggie is in this registry, isn't he?" Ron asked curiously.
"Since day after my first transformation," Regulus snorted. "The Unspeakable in front of whom I had to transform for dubbed me as a cute little Flat-coated Retriever and the most adorable puppy she ever saw and since she was around when dad registered himself in ARUA and she had to describe him in the registry she kept cooing how much like dad I look like."
"Well you do," Neville snickered. "Is there anything else which we need to know about laws concerning the transformation, Mr Black?" he asked after a moment.
"Federick's Law concerning registering Animagi forms, more as a reminder and warning than something actually useful," Regulus's Dad shrugged. "Or rather better known as the Deadlines' Law for Animagi. Students who mastered Animagi transformations while still at school don't need to register as soon as possible but the deadline for them is registering within the year of graduating from Hogwarts. For adults the deadline is within a month of their first transformation."
"How did you get registered?" Charlie asked curiously.
"Right after graduating from Auror training," Regulus's Dad said simply. "I had to register myself then because for me it was the deadline and I wanted to have a grant so I would be an Auror before I registered myself. It was a necessity, not all people had it."
"You mean that you know other Animagi?" Charlie asked.
"James was an Animagus, unregistered one," Regulus's Dad said pensively. "At least he thought so and never suspected that I put him on ARUA register as soon as I learned who would be able to have access to those documents."
"James?" Charlie asked in shock. "You aren't talking about my father, are you?"
"Yes, I'm talking about James Potter," Regulus's dad said sourly.
"He never…" Charlie started.
"James became an Animagus for one single purpose and his form didn't allow him to overuse it, especially very often. By the time you grew up I doubt that James had any reason or desire to transform. Being an Animagus was in the part of his life which he left behind, one which had left him behind," his Dad said grimly.
"What he was?" Charlie asked eagerly.
"A stag," Regulus's dad said simply.
"Stag?" Charlie whispered in definitely disappointed voice. "That's hardly useful."
"I'm not going to say that Animagi form is genetic," Regulus's dad chuckled. "It certainly acts this way at times though. A lot depends from the character of a person and as you know character can be shaped in many ways. Often a manifestation of Animagi form, before Animus Potion was taken that's it, is the form of your Patronus."
"Magical guardian," Regulus said. "The animal manifestation of the person you turn to in the moment of greatest despair."
"Exactly," his Dad nodded. "James's Patronus was a doe, like Lily's was a stag. You really don't need to feel ashamed about being a stag, besides someone has to be dubbed Bambi," he smirked.
"The one who calls me Bambi will die a very painful death," Charlie snorted.
"Pity, you look like that doe-eyed epitome of innocence," Regulus's dad snickered.
"You stepped on dangerous path, Charlie," Regulus snickered. "You made dad think about nicknames and nicknames happen to be his pet peeves. He nicknamed my mother, Uncles Remus and Severus and Aunt Bathsheba, dubbed Professor McGonagall with 'Mewling Minnie' and for ages he has been looking for an appropriate nickname for me and Randa. Until these days fails to do so."
"Only because you flat out refused being named Shadow and nearly hexed me to Easter break that time when I suggested Padfootlet and Padlet you refused to speak to me for three days," his Dad snickered.
"He is a Flat-coated Retriever, isn't he?" Hermione asked innocently.
"Your point being, Goldilocks?" Regulus sneered.
"Why Padfootlet?" Charlie asked curiously.
"From Padfoot," Regulus's Dad said simply.
"Padfoot was a payback from Uncle Moony," Regulus said with a definite smirk, his Dad was about to receive a shame of century, or at least of a decade. "Young Animagi, and by that I mean young in human age use to have typical markings for young animals. Since dad mastered Animagi transformation at the age of sixteen he was still a bit puppy-like, a big puppy at that. Being almost completely black there was one thing he was incredibly ashamed of, it was the pink pads on the bottom of his paws. Naturally with age they turned black but not before Uncle Moony dubbed him with an affectionate nickname, Padfoot the Pink Paw Power…"
"Wait you little, flea ridden fur-ball!" Regulus's Dad yowled before he transformed and lunged at Regulus who had just enough time to duck to his right and transform in the middle of his fall.
Soon enough the sound of squeals filled the room, especially after Hermione decided to join the chase, probably as a payback for being called Goldilocks and in the end Regulus was flatted down by two dogs.
"Well, Hermione was right," Neville snickered at the sight. "You are a Flat-coat and you are definitely flat, Flatcoat my friend."
Regulus made mental note to plot a very shameful revenge on Neville as soon as the other boy would master his Animagi form.
The lesson ended quite well with Regulus's Dad giving the other boys a homework assignment in meditation to have a clearer view of their animagi forms so they would be able to study them better.
And since the lesson put the other boys in a good mood they didn't pay too much attention to having Regulus and Hermione falling behind them.
"Flatcoat," Hermione snorted.
"Goldilocks," Regulus retorted. "Or do you prefer Cuddles?"
"Flatcoat or Padfootlet, your choice."
"Browniepoints."
"I'm not getting a nickname which has anything in common with a member of Pink Nailed Trio of Doom!"
"Aww."
"That's not a nickname."
"Chocolate?"
"Stuff yourself with one, Flatcoat."
"You are being too kind, Goldilocks."
"Arsehole."
"I might be one but at least I don't act like an offended cat."
"Bite me."
"Really?"
"In your dreams."
"If I would give you a bone you would cease that pointless banter?" Teddy called out. "Flatcoat and Goldilocks sitting in a… yeow."
Well, after hexing Teddy they ceased bantering, that should make the other boy happy.
Awaiting criticism - like always. I'm replying as long as you leave me your email or you log in while reviewing. Bring my ego down ;)
Next chapter will move the calendar ahead... for about a month. It's a very weird chapter actually, it's personal and yet it isn't. I had written bigger part of it back in April around the time I posted chapter seven and now I'm mostly brushing it up because second part of that chapter displeases me. It will be a changing point for adults, naturally it will also touch children but on lesser scale... That's actually the reason why this and last chapter are happy, theoretically carefree and supposedly funny (in certain places I hope).
Animagi. I'm quite open to suggestions for nicknames and thank you very much I'm not naming Charlie Bambi nor I'm naming Reggie Padfootlet. Considering the speed of transformation I'm mostly looking for nicknames for Reggie, Hermione, Charlie and Neville (he might not seem to appear as someone overly determined to master Animagi quickly but that will change and fast on that). Ron and Teddy will master their transformation more slowly than the others because someone has to be faster and therefore someone has to be slower.