"No way!" Draco shook his head firmly. "There is absolutely no way that we are inviting the Weasley twins into Hoth."

Harry looked around the classroom that they had converted to be their own private lounge. "Why?"

"For a multitude of reasons!" Draco exclaimed. "Not the least being that this is where all our pranking supplies are. We might know that they are the Wizarding Wheezes, but they have no idea that we're the Marauders' Apprentices. Maybe if it was just Theo, Daphne, Neville, Blaise and Takashi I would agree, but not the Weasleys!"

Harry sighed. "Alright, so where should we meet? It needs to be somewhere private where we won't be interrupted, and it needs to be big enough for ten people to meditate."

"Why not use the Come and Go Room?" Luna suggested.

Draco's nose wrinkled. "It's so dusty in there and it's full of junk!"

"I don't think there would be enough room either." Harry agreed. "There are only thin aisles of floor that aren't covered in piles."

"Well, we wouldn't use that version of the room." Luna said with a roll of her eyes.

"There are different versions?" Harry asked curiously. "Are they in the same place?"

"Are the other versions as dirty?" Draco's tone was suspicious.

Luna stood up and began walking towards the door. "Come on, I'll show you."

Harry pulled out his pocket watch as he stood. "Luna? Lunch will be over in five minutes. I don't think we will have time."

Luna turned around, her eyes twinkling. "Then you'll just have to trust me."

"Promise me that it will be clean." Draco narrowed his eyes at her. "There is no way I am risking my life by meditating in a room that has more dust than it does air."

"No promises." Luna singsonged. "Just trust."

"Alright." Harry decided. "What should I tell the others?"

"To meet us by the dancing trolls." Luna said with a smile, before turning around and skipping out of the room.

Harry exchanged a wary look with Draco. "So, the same place as last time then."

"If there is even one speck of dust…" Draco started seriously.

"You wouldn't even notice it." Harry rolled his eyes.

Draco looked down his nose snootily. "Malfoys always notice those sorts of things."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Harry asked rhetorically. "You have Care of Magical Creatures next, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell Neville, Daphne, Theo and Blaise to meet us in the left corridor of the seventh floor after dinner?" Harry asked. "I'll tell Takashi, Fred and George."

10-10-10

Telling Takashi was easy, but it was much hard to get access to Fred and George. They were almost always with other Gryffindors and, as Harry approached them after classes, some of the Gryffindors narrowed their eyes suspiciously.

"Afternoon, Harry." Fred greeted with a grin. "How are you this lovely day?"

"Excellent, thank you." Harry answered politely. "How are you?"

"Absolutely smashing, old fellow." George answered with a fake posh accent. "Absolutely smashing."

Harry chuckled. "Can I have a word with one of you?"

The twins exchanged a glance, before George got to his feet. "Lead the way."

They didn't go far, just far enough away that Harry could cast a privacy charm that wasn't immediately obvious.

"We're going to be completing step two of the animagus process tonight." Harry told George. "Meet me in the left corridor on the second floor after dinner."

"Oh, thank Merlin!" George exclaimed. "I swear, if we had to keep these leaves in our mouths for one more day we would have gone mad!"

Harry's mouth quirked up in amusement. "Yes, that does seem to be the consensus. So I'll see you on the seventh floor?"

"Absolutely." George agreed, before raising an eyebrow curiously. "What's on the seventh floor?"

Harry's eyes twinkled as he removed the privacy charm. "See you there."

That done, Harry turned around and made his way to Remus' new classroom and office. Harry hadn't had History yet, his first class would be the next day, so it was the first time he'd seen the changes that Remus had made to the room.

Previously the room had been decorated very sparsely, with only a globe, a clock and a blackboard aside from the desks and chairs, but it looked completely different now. The clock was still there, but the blackboard had been replaced by a large world map and the rest of the walls were covered with lines and writing. Harry looked closer at the nearest wall and realised that the writing was actually a timeline. In fact there were multiple timelines, one for the Ministry of Magic, one for the International Warlocks Council, one for Goblin Nation, and so on.

"What do you think?" Remus asked from behind him.

"Very nice." Harry answered, reading the writing directly in front of him. Apparently in 1707 the Wizards' Council had disbanded so that the Ministry of Magic could be formed. "How have your first two days gone?"

"Pretty well, if I may say so myself." Remus answered as Harry turned around to face him. "Though I'm pretty horrified at how little the students actually know."

"How many sixth and seventh years do you have?" Harry asked curiously.

"Four sixth years, six seventh years." Remus answered. "And their knowledge isn't too bad. It's the fifth years I'm worried about."

"The sixth and seventh years will be the ones who taught themselves." Harry pointed out. "Hopefully with you here, more than an eighth of the fifth years will pass their OWLS."

"Have you had a look at the class ranking?" Remus asked, gesturing towards where they were hanging up on the wall.

"Not yet." Harry admitted. "I haven't been too focussed on them this year. I was happy enough knowing that I got over ninety percent in all my classes last year."

"Well, you came first in History." Remus told him. "Miss Granger was a very close second."

"Cool." Harry smiled. "I came first in Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Astronomy, Magical Theory, and Runes too. Neville came first in Herbology of course. I don't know about Ancient Studies, I'm not friends with anyone in the class so I can't exactly ask them."

"That's very impressive, Harry." Remus told him warmly. "You must be the top of your class then?"

"Yes," Harry smiled proudly. "Granger is furious, as always."

"You're not baiting her, are you?" Remus asked cautiously.

Harry frowned. "Of course not. Though I may have baited Ron Weasley a little yesterday."

"Yes, I heard about that." Remus commented. "Well, not about you baiting him, but the incident was discussed in our meeting this morning."

"Very little of it was my fault." Harry said quickly.

"I believe you." Remus smiled. "Are you ready for duelling practise?"

"Yes," Harry agreed, placing his school bag against the wall. "Will we be practising here?"

"We won't be practising at all." Remus admitted. "I've taught you all I can."

Harry shook his head quickly in denial. "No, you haven't!"

Remus looked amused. "Harry, by the end of the last school year you were beating me in two out of three duels."

"Only because you were going easy on me." Harry protested.

"At first, yes." Remus agreed. "But not by the end."

Harry wasn't sure whether he felt proud or disappointed. Sure it was amazing to apparently be able to beat Remus, but he didn't want to stop improving.

"So," Remus went on. "Sirius agreed to come once a week to teach you how to combine duelling and fencing."

Harry looked up at Remus. "Really? Can he do that?"

"Well, we're not telling Dumbledore." Remus admitted. "But yes he can. As one of the School Governors he has access to the school. He'll be using the floo in my office. He should be here any minute."

Harry grinned at the thought. "Thanks, Remus. That sounds amazing!"

Sirius arrived a few minutes later, holding a fencing sword in each hand. Harry greeted his godfather with a hug, before helping Remus spell all the desks and chairs to the sides of the classroom. Then Remus sat down behind his desk, claiming that he had lesson plans he needed to work on, and Sirius began Harry's lessons.

They started with their basic fencing warmups that Harry knew off by heart, before spending a few minutes actually fencing. Harry loved fencing. It was both fun and practical and it was nice to have something that he did with Sirius. After Sirius had called their fencing to a halt, declaring the match to be a draw, he began instructing Harry on how to use his sword in a duel.

It wasn't a completely new concept to Harry. The Bulgarian Fencing Tournament they had attending had contained some matches that used both swords and wands, but he had never tried blocking spells with his sword before. It was completely different from everything Remus had taught him the year before (which had basically been to dodge the spell, or cast a magical shield) and by the end of the lesson, Harry still hadn't felt as though he had made much progress.

"It's a completely different variety of duelling." Sirius encouraged him when he finally ended the session. "You'll get it after some practise, and then we can work on your blocking with your sword while you simultaneously cast with your wand."

Harry frowned tiredly. "But I hold my sword and my wand in the same hand."

"That'll be another thing we work on." Sirius promised. "You need to be able to use both with either hand."

Harry groaned at the thought. "So I need to practise the basic fencing patterns with my left hand?"

Sirius looked sympathetic. "Yes, as often as you can. And you should start practising your first year spells with your wand in your left hand too."

Harry considered, not for the first time, telling his godfather about how he was learning to do magic with no hands, but decided not to. He wanted to surprise Sirius with it one day.

10-10-10

As soon as dessert appeared on the tables at dinner, Harry and Luna got up from the table, each taking a treacle tart with them, and made their way up the seventh floor. They were the first ones there and Harry looked at Luna expectantly.

"How do we get a different version of the room?"

Luna's expression was dreamy. "You just have to want it, silly."

Harry sighed and looked at the wall where the door to the Come and Go Room usually appeared. "I have to want a different room?"

"You have to want any room that you want." Luna agreed.

"Alright." Harry considered what he needed, before pacing in front of the wall to make the door appear. "I hope this works, Luna. Draco will throw a fit if there's any visible dust."

Luna giggled. "So think clean then!"

Harry finished pacing, opened the door that had appeared in the wall, and stared at the room in front of him. It was the most sterile, least comfortable looking room he had ever seen. It reminded him of the Hospital Wing, but instead of beds and cloth curtains it had solid metal chairs and blinds.

Luna laughed from behind. "Not that clean, Harry. Close the door. I'll do it."

Harry did as instructed, before stepping back to watch Luna pace in front of it.

"Hey, Harry!" The twins chorused as they rounded the corner of the corridor.

"Hey." Harry acknowledged them absently as Luna pushed the door open. He stepped forward to look over her shoulder into the room and nodded in satisfaction at the sight. It looked much like the Elladora lounge at Grimmauld Place, only bigger. Not only were there enough couches and chairs to seat ten people, but there was also room on the floor for them to meditate.

"Woah." Fred commented from behind Harry. "Since when has this room been here?"

"I have no idea." Harry answered truthfully, as he followed Luna into the room.

"It's called the Come and Go Room." Luna told the twins. "Or the Room of Requirement. Whatever you require, the room becomes."

Both twins' eyes widened. "That's bloody brilliant!"

"I can't believe we've never heard of it." George added.

Neville arrived next, with Takashi only a few seconds behind him, and Harry found himself relieved at the way it had turned out. At least this way, he wouldn't be the only buffer between Fred and George and the Slytherins when they arrived.

"Merry meet, Neville." Luna curtsied. "Merry meet, Takashi."

"Merry meet." Neville agreed with a smile. "How are you?"

"Happy." Luna told him brightly.

"I didn't know Luna Lovegood was traditional." George commented quietly to Harry.

"You know her?" Harry asked curiously, absently watching Takashi, Neville and Luna interact.

"She lives just down the road from us." George explained.

"She and Ginny used to play together when they were younger." Fred added.

Harry nodded in understanding. "I imagine that Luna is traditional around traditionalist and non-traditional around non-traditionalists. She can be quite the chameleon when she wants to be."

Fred looked doubtful. "Luna a chameleon? Isn't she a bit…"

"Odd?" Harry suggested quietly. "Definitely, but not in a bad way. She's one of my best friends."

"This looks much better." Draco commented as he strode into the room, the other Slytherins following behind him.

"Doesn't it just." Harry agreed.

"Merry meet." Neville, Takashi and Luna all greeted the new arrivals with a bow.

"Merry meet." The Slytherins agreed, Theo, Daphne and Blaise bowing first to Harry and then to Neville.

Fred and George both looked on awkwardly.

Harry stepped forward. "Daphne, Draco, Theo, Blaise, this is Fred and George Weasley, unofficial scions of the Ancient and Noble House of Prewett. Fred, George, this is my betrothed, Daphne Greengrass, Daughter of the Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass, Draco Malfoy, Heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy, Theo Nott, Heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Nott, and Blaise Zabini of la Famiglia di Zabini."

The twins' eyes widened. "Uh, hi there."

Draco's upper lip curled slightly in a sneer. "Merry meet."

Harry raised an eyebrow warningly at his cousin. "Excellent, now that everyone is all introduced, why don't we all take a seat?"

"Can we take these leaves out of our mouths now?" Neville asked in frustration.

"Hear, hear!" Fred agreed.

"First we have to meditate to find our forms." Harry reminded them. "Then, we'll have to meet once a week to learn how to complete the actual transformation."

"Once a week?" Draco repeated. "How long is this going to take?"

"I don't know. A while though, it might even take us all year." Harry answered, before taking in his friends' unsure expressions. "But at the end of the year, we'll be animagi, and it will have all been worth it. Now, according to the book, this original meditation might take anywhere between one hour, and twelve hours, depending on how much experience we have with meditating."

"And if we've never meditated before?" George asked tentatively.

Everyone turned to stare at him. "You've never meditated before?" Theo asked in disbelief.

"I hadn't meditated before I came to Hogwarts." Harry told them.

"Yes, but you had grown up with muggles!" Draco pointed out. "Though I suppose that growing up with blood traitors as parents wouldn't be that different."

The twins both bristled at the insult.

"Draco." Harry warned.

"It will be alright, so long as they sit near Harry." Takashi put in.

"Right," Theo smirked in amusement. "The glowing and levitating reaction."

"There was no levitating!" Harry reminded him. "And I don't glow anymore. Anyway, once you're meditating the magical properties of the Mandrake leaf will lead your magic to find your animagus form."

Neville frowned. "That's it? No more detailed instructions?"

Harry retrieved the book from his bag and opened it to the correct page. "No, nothing more than that. Other than my godfather's helpful description of the process as 'boring'."

"Excellent." Theo groaned. "That's just what I want to hear."

"So," Harry started, standing up. "Find a spot on the floor, make yourself comfortable, and start meditating."

"Harry, you should sit in the middle of the room." Takashi said quickly.

Theo looked sceptical. "Will it really make that much of a difference?"

"Yes," Takashi nodded. "Neville is similar, though not as strong."

Neville turned to Takashi, his expression flabbergasted. "What?"

"Alright," Harry said to the twins. "Meditating is simple, though it can be hard to concentrate at first – that's why you'll be sitting next to me. Basically, you'll breathe in for three counts, hold your breath for one count, breath out for three counts, and then hold for one count. As you're breathing, clear your mind of everything and then search for your magic – your Mandrake leaf should do the rest."

"Alright." Fred nodded, standing up and offering his hand down to George.

"Also," Harry said, leading them towards the middle of the room. "You should really consider meditating daily. You need to be able to meditate to learn Occlumency and wandless magic, and it makes it easier to perform spells."

George looked around. "Do they all know how to meditate?"

"They've been meditating since they were children." Harry answered, sitting down on a cushion. "Now, cross your legs and place your hands on your knees."

"Crossing our legs might be a problem." George admitted as they sat on nearby cushions.

"We can't do it." Fred added.

"Oh," Harry frowned in thought. "Okay, just sit comfortably then. It will need to be a position that you can sit in for a long time though."

"Harry?" Neville called from the other side of the room. "You weren't serious when you said twelve hours, right? Curfew is in two and a half hours."

"It'll take as long as it takes." Harry answered apologetically. "Alright, close your eyes and relax. Clear your mind. Now breathe in, and out, in, and out."

Meditating had become almost as easy as breathing for Harry now and, within seconds he could feel himself falling into his meditative state. He normally mediated twice a day, once to practise Occlumency and once to practise wandless magic, but it was rare that he took the time to just enjoy the sensation.

After a few minutes, Harry remembered what Takashi had said about the meditative aura he released when he meditated and he tried to see if he could feel it. Maybe he would be able to strengthen it to help the twins meditate.

It took Harry some time to find the aura, and then even more time to figure out where it was coming from. It seemed as though, while he had learnt to keep a tight control on his magic, there was a small part of it still escaping. It didn't seem dangerous, nothing like it had been in first year, but Harry was still cautious about the idea of trying to let even more magic out. On the other hand though, he remembered how hard he had found meditating the first time he had tried it. There was no way he would have managed to keep concentrating long enough to start the animagus progress – he didn't want the twins to fall behind or give up.

Harry carefully loosened his grip on his magic, allowing slightly more to create join the aura around him and then, when nothing bad happened and he still felt in control, he let out a bit more. He still had the majority of his magic locked tightly under control, and his grip over it wasn't budging, but hopefully the little bit of extra would help.

That done, Harry turned his attention to the matter at hand. He was looking for his animagus form. He had no idea how he supposed to find it, only that the Mandrake leaf would make it happen. That was, after all, the reason he'd had a Mandrake leaf stuck to the bottom of his mouth for the last month.

Harry waited patiently for a while, waiting for something to happen, and eventually something changed. He wasn't sure what had changed, just that something had, and then he saw a faint outline of something in the distance. Which made no sense, because there had never been distances within his meditative state before.

None the less, Harry slowly began to make his way towards the faint outline. He couldn't see what it was, but as he slowly made his way closer he saw it suddenly lift up in to the air and began to move towards him. It wasn't moving over the ground though, it was flying.

Harry grinned at the thought, he had secretly hoped that his animagus form would be one that could fly. He could only imagine how wonderful it would feel to fly without a broom.

After a while, Harry could make out the shape of its wings and body. It looked like some kind of owl.

Eventually, the owl, whose wingspan was easily two feet, was only a few feet away and then all of a sudden it dived towards Harry and collided with him at full speed, before disappearing.

Harry looked around for it, he wanted a better look, but it was nowhere to be found. In fact, the distance, which had appeared earlier, had suddenly disappeared at well, just leaving Harry in his usual meditative state – it was weird.

Harry waited for a while longer, just to ensure that he hadn't missed anything, before slowing pulling himself out of his meditation. Opening his eyes, he looked around and saw that all his friends were still meditating – even the twins.

Easing himself to his feet, Harry pulled his out his pocket watch – it was almost nine o'clock. He'd been mediating for almost two hours. It was amazing how quickly time flew. Harry settled down in one of the chairs and pulled his Ancient Runes homework out of his bag. He might as well get some work done while he waited.

Neville was the next one to open his eyes, though it was forty two minutes after Harry had, and, upon seeing Harry, he moved to sit next to him.

"How did it go?" Harry whispered quietly.

"Great." Neville grinned. "I think I'm a badger of all things."

"A badger?" Harry repeated. "Cool. I'm an owl."

"I can see that." Neville agreed. "Owls are supposed to be intelligent. What's the time?"

"Almost ten." Harry admitted quietly. "You can go if you like. I'll wait for others."

Neville looked unsure, but eventually nodded. "If I'm late, Ron will nark."

Harry grimaced. "Merry part."

Over the next few hours, the others slowly came out of their meditations. They would look around, take in who was still meditating, and then move quietly across the room to talk to Harry before leaving.

Before they left, they each told him what sort of animal they had seen. Takashi had seen a crane, Luna had seen a squirrel, Draco had seen a cat, Blaise had seen a dormouse, Daphne had seen a fox and Theo, to Harry's great amusement, had seen a llama.

Eventually the only people left in the room were Harry and twins who were still meditating. Harry managed to complete every piece of homework he had been given, get as much done on all his assignments as he could without more resource books, and read a couple of chapters of one of the books he had gotten for his birthday – 'Healing Dark Curses'.

Eventually, at 3.43 in the morning, George opened his eyes. Like everyone else, he looked around the room before moving to sit beside Harry.

"That was buzzy!" George whispered loudly.

Harry grinned. "What did you see?"

"You first." George returned.

"I think I'm going to be some kind of owl."

"I'm some kind of little dog." George answered.

Harry smiled. "Cool. Sirius is a dog too. Though don't tell anyone, he's unregistered."

"What's the time?" George asked.

"Quarter to four." Harry answered. "That's why everyone is gone. They went to bed."

"You could have gone to bed too." George said. "You don't have to stay up."

"I want to." Harry said. "What do you think Fred will be?"

"Not a dog." George admitted with a sigh. "I know that people think we're basically the same people, but we're not. He's louder than I am."

"I know." Harry smiled.

"Yeah," George smiled warmly. "You can actually tell us apart. That's impressive. Even our mum can't do that half the time."

"It took me a while." Harry commented quietly. "You guys do sort of play right into the stereotype."

George's smile turned crooked. "That we do."

It was another half an hour until Fred opened his eyes. "That was weird!" He exclaimed.

Harry grinned. "What did you see?"

"I'm a squirrel!" Fred grinned. "It's going to be amazing!"

"Really? Luna saw a squirrel." Harry commented. "I wonder if you'll be the same kind."

"What did you see, George?" Fred asked.

"A dog." George answered with a grin.

10-10-10