A/N: I don't own Harry Potter. I received a review(thank you person for the review) where the person was worried Harry is too powerful. I would like to tell anyone that is thinking along those lines, that this is a Super Harry story. That said, when Voldemort finally makes his return he will be significantly more powerful than Harry with all his powers. This is not going to be an easy victory for the hero.
Chapter 13: Midnight, Altor and the Birth of P.A.L.
Harry walked out of the bathroom in his private suite, wearing a loose white t-shirt and a pair of baggy black shorts. He dried his hair furiously with the towel in his hand, and when he was done he threw the wet garment into the hamper he placed by the bathroom door.
The day had been a strenuous one for him, and the hot shower was exactly what he needed to relax. When he planned the celebratory picnic with the girls, he never expected things to turn so heavy. Fortunately once he was able to calm Daphne down, they were able to salvage the rest of their lunch.
The trio spent the rest of the day together sharing stories and talking about school. During this time Harry made sure to steer the topic away from anything too serious, and he was more than happy to answer their questions about his potion or the runic array he created. After several hours of conversation and multiple plates full of food, the day turned out to be more enjoyable than he could have imagined. In the end he was glad he set the picnic up.
Alex and Daphne were still both young, but in them he saw the potential for two amazing women to develop. While they were both pretty now, in a few years they would grow into their bodies, and he had no doubt they would both be gorgeous. When their beauty was taken in conjunction with their brains, Harry was truly thankful for Fate's intervention. When they were older, either girl would have been anyone's dream wife, and he was fortunate enough to marry both one day.
When the alarm he set on his wand began blinking, Harry knew it was time to begin the next part of his day. Since his last discussion with Death, he had been diligently working on developing his Shadow Mage abilities. So far he'd trained with them for several hours each night this week, and now he could Shadow Walk to any place he could picture in his mind. His last experiment took him to the alley outside of the Leaky Cauldron, and he was pleased that his ability allowed him to bypass the Hogwarts wards.
As a reward for his hard work and dedication in developing the gift Fate gave him, Harry planned tonight to merge again with his two Animagus forms. He missed having the benefits he received from the merger, and since Death assured him his body could handle the change, he couldn't wait to shift into his forms again.
As soon as he was ready to begin the process he learned in the time Chamber, Harry conjured a full length mirror with his wand and then floated the item to his bedroom. He immediately saw an empty wall that was perfect for his purpose and stuck the mirror to its surface with a sticking Charm. Once he was ready, Harry sat down in front of the mirror and closed his eyes. Taking deep, even breaths, he slowly allowed his body to enter into a trancelike state.
Suddenly in his mind Harry found himself standing at the edge of a thick forest and he could feel his animals hiding somewhere deep within the trees. Harry used his magic to call out to them and the first one to answer his call was the Great Grey Owl.
Harry called this form Midnight and from what he was able to learn of the breed, it was the largest type of owl in the world. The stunning bird's coloring was a shade of grey dark enough to be mistaken for black and its underparts were streaked with silver. Just like his second Animagus form, Midnight shared the same emerald green eyes that he got from his mother.
When he first used the form in the time Chamber, Hedwig spent hours helping him learn how to use his new wings properly. It was a long drawn out process, but when he finally got it right, it was one of the most thrilling experiences he ever had in the air, and Harry longed to do it once again.
When the owl landed gently on his shoulder, Harry reached out his hand and scratched the top of its head. "Hey Midnight," he called out to the bird. "You ready to merge again, boy?"
Midnight Hooted loudly in his ear and then leapt off his shoulder and into the sky. Now that he'd met the bird, once he returned to the waking world, Harry knew he would be able to make the change. All he needed to do before he left his mindscape was to meet his second form.
Harry called out again with his magic, and once more he failed to get a response. He was getting frustrated with his inability to meet his second form, and so he decided he wouldn't hold back anymore. He gathered all the magic that he could feel in his body and unleashed the full might of his powers against the forest. The trees literally swayed under his fury and when he finally stopped, a shape began to emerge in front of him.
The wait was excruciating for him, but when the animal was almost out of the forest Harry could barely contain his excitement. His second form was a light orange Bengal tiger with dark black stripes and a white underbelly. Due to its size and power, Harry fittingly called this form Altor. Latin for protector, Altor was truly worthy of his name.
When the animal finally emerged from the forest, Harry was shocked by what he saw. Altor was significantly larger than he remembered from his old world, and the Bengal tiger looked to be stronger and faster in his new body. But his size was just one of the noticeable changes Harry could see. The second was his coloring. Where once the tiger had orange fur, and dark black stripes, now it was black from head to toe.
Harry watched the midnight black tiger stalk menacingly towards him, and he couldn't help but appreciate the tiger's deadly grace. Altor's every step screamed power and danger, and Harry knew to be wary of the majestic beast.
When the tiger finally stood before him, Altor's killing curse green eyes stared piercingly into his own, and Harry felt as if he was being tested all over again. Refusing to back down from the tiger's deadly glare, Harry stared back at him without any fear in his eyes. For a moment he wasn't certain what would happen next, but soon Altor dropped his head in surrender, and allowed Harry to run his fingers through the tiger's soft fur. Now that his second form had accepted him once more, Harry was ready to return to the waking world and make the change.
Harry closed his eyes in his mindscape and willed himself to leave the forest in his mind. As soon as he opened his eyes once more, he smiled at the sight of the mirror in front of him. Now that he was back in his bedroom again, it was finally time to merge with his animal forms.
The first one he wanted to do was Midnight. Through the Great Grey Owl, Harry received a gift he would always be grateful for. After years of spending life barely able to see, the vision the merger would grant him, would surpass anything a normal human could hope to achieve. The ability to see things with such clarity was an experience he would never forget and Harry couldn't wait to have it back again.
When he was ready to start the change, Harry pictured the image of Midnight firmly in his mind, and then pushed his magic to make the change happen. Unlike his old body where the change was near instantaneous, his new body was still learning how to shift forms for the first time. The process took almost two minutes to complete, but in the end Harry changed into an exact replica of Midnight the owl.
Proud of his accomplishment, Harry took a moment to admire his new form, and then used his magic to change back. When he finally returned to his normal body, Harry instantly saw the improvement in his vision. He smiled at the thought of once again having "perfect" vision, and he was thankful to Midnight for being one of his Animagus forms.
Harry gave himself a few minutes to give his body some rest. While he had more than enough power to make the change easily, his young body still couldn't handle that much magic at one time.
When he felt his breath finally return, Harry pictured the new image of Altor firmly in his mind, and then used his magic to shift into the tiger. Much like with Midnight, the change took several minutes to complete, but when he was done, Harry was a midnight black Bengal tiger. As he looked over his new form in the mirror Harry marveled at how large he was now.
From the research Harry did in his old world, he knew Bengal tigers were one of the largest species of tigers in the world, and in Altor's old form Harry was slightly bigger than average. From nose to tip of tail, Altor used to be 315cm(10ft) in length, 120cm(4ft) in height and 260kg(573lbs) in weight. The midnight black version of the tiger was even bigger at 336cm(11ft) in length, 130cm(4.2ft) in height, and 285kg(628lbs) in weight.
Harry allowed himself a minute to admire his massive tiger form, and then used his magic to change back. Unlike Midnight, the benefit of the tiger to his body was two fold. The first was the change to his senses. While it didn't improve his vision any further, he could now hear, smell and taste better than before. When he tested the new ability, Harry was pleased to smell the wet towel he placed in the hamper near the bathroom door.
The second gift Altor granted him was improved reflexes. Harry was already blessed with his innate speed, but with his Animagus bonus added to the mix, now his balance would always be perfect and his reaction time would be better than normal. He was too tired from shifting to test his reflexes now, but he had every intention of using them during his sparring session with Neville in the morning.
When he finally got to his feet Harry could feel the t-shirt he wore was resting more snuggly across his chest. As soon as he took it off, Harry was stunned to see the increase in the size and definition of his muscles in the mirror. This change hadn't occurred in his old world, but he wasn't about to kick a gift horse in the mouth. He was just happy the change wasn't more noticeable. As long as he had his robes on, he didn't think anyone would be able to tell the difference.
By this time the shifting had taken its toll on Harry's young body, and he could feel his eyes wanting to close from the exhaustion. Somehow he managed to drag himself to his bed, and crawled on top of it to grab the sleep his body was craving.
As the weeks passed, Harry's life at Hogwarts fell into the perfect routine. He would workout with Neville in the morning, go to class throughout the day, play Quidditch four times a week, spend time with the girls studying and talking in the evening and finally work on his own personal training at night.
The workload he set for himself was quite extensive, but Harry loved every minute of it. He could feel his magic and body getting stronger every day, and he pushed himself to work harder and do better. His second chance at Hogwarts was going infinitely better than his first go around, and this time he decided he would take full advantage of the resources that were available to him.
During the time that elapsed the five friends firmly established themselves as the standard bearers of their year. With Neville and Harry tied for first, Hermione having sole possession of second, and Alex and Daphne sharing the the third spot, the fab five were loved by every teacher at the school, not named Snape.
Two weeks before the Samhain feast, the five friends were in the library sitting on the table Hermione claimed for them weeks ago. Four members of the group were busy working on the Transfiguration essay that was assigned earlier in the day, while the fifth member was working on a completely separate project.
With the knowledge that Harry already had at his disposal, first year assignments were a joke to him. Since Hogwarts gave out the homework schedule for each term, Harry was already done with assignments up to midway in the second term. Instead of wasting his time doing things he already knew, Harry worked on projects that interested him. Currently he was working on writing a book.
When the war ended in his old world and Harry exiled himself to the Island, he often thought about writing a DADA book. After overcoming the crap that passed for teachers in the subject during his first time at Hogwarts, Harry found that there wasn't a single book that truly explained the subject thoroughly. During his training he found some books that were good to a point, but each of them had several flaws that made it seem obvious the authors never had any real life experience at fighting against Dark Creatures or with other Witches and Wizards in duels.
The project he was currently working on, was something he began during the third week of school. After another day of watching the useless Quirrelmort fake stutter his way through another class, Harry just couldn't take it anymore. He was done wasting his time in that class, and that's when he had the brilliant idea to write the book.
At first the project was only meant for him to occupy his time during DADA classes, but soon it turned into an obsession. Since he didn't have to worry about homework or paying attention in class, Harry spent most of the day working on his book. Thanks to the eidetic memory he now possessed, he was able to reference the dozens of books he read during his training in the time Chamber. Between the knowledge he learned in his old world and with his own experience at fighting Dark Creatures and Death Eaters, Harry set out to create the ultimate DADA source.
The book was separated into several sections that included, in depth information on Dark Creatures, advantages and disadvantages of using Transfiguration, Charms and Potions in DADA, battle strategy against Dark Creatures and Dark Wizards, Dueling tips, and his personal favorite...Spells.
While most DADA books only provided thirty or forty spells for the readers to learn, Harry was combining all of his knowledge to add every spell that he thought would be useful to know in a fight. So far he had 200 spells earmarked for the book, and he was always looking to add more.
Each spell in the book would have pictures showing the correct wand movements, any history he knew of the spell's origin, and how and when to use the spell effectively in real life. Thanks to the money he spent hiring the Weasley twins to take pictures for him on Saturdays, Harry now had 114 of the 200 spells already completed. At the pace he was going, he hoped to finish documenting everything by the Yule break.
"Harry looked up from the spell he was working one, when he heard Hermione ask, "Harry, are you listening to me?"
"Sorry, Hermione, I was working on the book. What did you say?"
"I asked you when we can see this masterpiece you've been working on for weeks," Hermione replied, her voice laced with a hint of frustration and whining. "You're just so secretive about it. Didn't you ever learn that sharing is caring? Come on, Harry, share with the rest of us."
Harry smirked at his friends obvious curiosity and said, "Sorry, Hermione, but I don't want you guys to see it until I'm done."
When he saw the brunette Ravenclaw pout at him, Harry was once again surprised by how outgoing and personable this Hermione was in comparison to his own. Apparently having a good group of friends early on, and with two of them being girls her own age, brought out the playful side of Hermione that he only rarely got so see in his old world.
"Now, now, now, Hermione," he replied with a slow shake of his index finger. "Don't you know that good things come to those who wait?"
Harry never got a chance to hear his friend's response to his teasing, because Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot suddenly appeared at their table. Briefly startled by the arrival of the two Hufflepuffs, Harry quickly brushed aside his surprise and said, "Hello ladies. What can I do for you today?"
Susan Bones stared at the first year heartthrob in front of her and when his mesmerizing green eyes looked at her, she momentarily forgot how to speak. When she realized the five people at the table were now staring at her, waiting for her to say something, Susan felt herself blush red from the embarrassment.
"H-h-hi, Harry," she said shyly. "H-how are you doing today?"
"I'm doing fine, Susan," Harry replied with a flash of the now famous Potter smile. "Did you need some help with your essay?"
"N-n-no, I'm fine with the Transfiguration essay," Susan answered. "Some of us were wondering if you would be able to tutor us in Defense. You seem to be really good at in class, and with the first term exams coming up, a lot of us are really far behind in the subject. I'm not sure about you, but Professor Quirrell is kind of hard for me to understand."
As soon as heard the question, Harry's mind immediately flashed to the DA members he taught in his fifth year. The extra study sessions he provided went a long ways towards teaching his peers how to survive the upcoming war with the Death Eaters. He was proud that several of the students who fought in and lived through the Battle of Hogwarts, were former members of the group.
If his old world was any indication, Harry was well aware of the useless Professors the school would potentially have for the subject in the future. The longer he thought about it, the more Harry liked the idea of starting something like the DA sooner in this world. The more students that were prepared against Voldemort's eventual return, the more people that would survive the war he knew was coming. Suddenly several ideas popped into his head, and as he thought them all through, his mind began to pull them together to formulate his new plan.
"How many people are looking to be tutored, Susan?," Harry asked, hoping the number would a decent amount.
"I can tell you all of the Hufflepuff first years would say yes. And I know of a few kids from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw that would join if you were offering."
It wasn't the large numbers he was normally used to dealing with in the DA, but it was more than enough for him to put his plan into motion.
"You know what, Susan," Harry said with a knowing look and his Potter smile. "I just might be able to help you guys learn the material. Give me a few days to get some things together and I'll get back to you. Sound good?"
Susan grinned happily back at him and said, "Yeah, Harry. That sounds good. Thanks for helping us out."
When the two puffs made their way back to their own table, Harry quickly grabbed his things and began to stuff them into his bottomless book bag. Just as he was about to leave, Harry heard Daphne ask, "Where are you going, Harry?"
"I've got a few things I need to take care of, Daph," Harry replied in a hurry. "I've got to send a letter to my dad and Moony, and then I have a presentation I need to work on for McGonagall. I have an idea about helping the students who want tutoring, but I need her to sign off on it first."
Before anyone else could stop him with a question, the four friends watched Harry rush out of the library. At the sight of his departure, Hermione felt her curiosity come bubbling to the surface.
"Anyone else curious what he's up to?," she asked the rest of the group.
"It's Harry, Hermione," Neville replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "He won't tell us until he's ready for us to know, so there's no point worrying about it. You know that."
Hermione huffed once in annoyance, but she knew her hazel eyed friend was right. Trying to get answers out of Harry was like pulling teeth, and after six week of knowing him, even she knew better than to waste her time.
Harry took several deep, calming breaths, as he made his way to McGonagall's office. He asked for this meeting right after his talk with Susan, and now three days later he was ready to make his presentation.
When he arrived at her door, he knocked twice and heard McGonagall's voice call out for him to enter. As soon as he walked into the Transfiguration Professor's office, Harry saw the stern teacher sitting behind her desk, with Professor Flitwick resting comfortably in a chair across from her.
"Good evening, Mr. Potter," McGonagall greeted him. "Please have a seat and tell us why you requested this meeting."
Harry took the empty chair next to the diminutive Charms Professor, and smiled nervously at the two teachers. "Good evening, Professors. Thank you again for allowing me to take up some of your valuable time. I'm here today to ask your permission to start a tutoring group."
McGonagall arched her eyebrow at the request and asked, "And what exactly will you be tutoring, Mr. Potter?"
"The P.A.L. group will be offering our services to tutor students in Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Defense and Herbology," Harry replied confidently. "As of now I have 5 students along with myself ready to tutor those who need it. Hermione is at the top of our year in Charms, Neville is great at Transfiguration, Daphne is second in our year at Potions, Alex is excellent at Defense and Hannah is somewhat of a Herbology prodigy. I apologize if this sounds arrogant, Professor, but I believe I'm the top student in our year, and I feel more than comfortable with tutoring students in all of these subjects."
"The Pal group?," Flitwick asked curiously. "What is that, Mr. Potter?"
"Peer Assistance Learning," Harry answered. "Muggles have run several studies that show students are uncomfortable with asking teachers for help with a given problem. Often they're afraid of upsetting the teachers with needless questions, or as is most often the case, looking stupid in front of them. More often than not, students ask other students for help. I just want to take that to a larger scale."
"And what exactly will you need, if I agree to grant this request?", McGonagall asked him.
"I would like to requisition five adjoining empty classrooms on the sixth floor, for the new P.A.L. study center."
"My word, Mr. Potter," McGonagall exclaimed loudly. "What in Merlin's name do you need that much space for?"
Harry grabbed the moleskin bag at his hip, and pulled out a dozen pictures he drew over the past few days. These were the sketches he made to show the Professors exactly what he wanted to do.
After handing half the pictures to McGonagall and the other half to Flitwick, Harry explained what he wanted to do.
"I would like the Study Center to become an informal common room for the entire school. All houses will be welcome, and students will be able to help each other with their problems. The space provided by the five classrooms will be reconfigured to allow for a sitting area with a few couches, a dozen tables and chairs for studying, a properly vented Potions room for students to practice in, a room for students to practice their spell casting and a room that will be converted into a small gym."
When he saw both his Professors with their jaws hanging, Harry wasn't sure if he should be amused or afraid of their reaction.
Filius was the first of the pair to recover, and while he thought the entire request was quite excessive, one part in particular jumped out at him. "Why a gym, Mr. Potter? Most magicals don't really believe in Muggle exercise."
Harry nodded his head in agreement and said, "That's true, sir, but it doesn't mean that exercise isn't good for you. Just because some Purebloods don't believe in Muggle methods, doesn't mean that the Muggles are wrong. Muggles believe a healthy mind requires a healthy body and I think the same can hold true for magic. The healthier and stronger your body is, the longer you can cast different spells. Frankly, sir, all you would have to do is provide the room for the machines, I'm more than willing to purchase all the equipment myself."
When he saw that both Professors were still hesitant about the idea, Harry could easily guess the reason why.
"The Quidditch teams already have access to a gym the school provides for their training, ma'am," Harry explained to the pair. "Since it's been a part of the school for several decades now, it's not like the Purebloods can claim I'm ruining tradition by bringing in Muggle ideas into the school. The idea was already here long before my parents were even born. The gym I'm proposing would be almost exactly like the one the school provides for the House teams, except now it would be available for all students and not just Quidditch players."
As she stared into the green eyes of her brilliant Lion cub, Minerva McGonagall didn't know what to think. The request he made was certainly more grand than anything she expected this evening. If it were anyone else, she would have already kicked them out of her office for wasting her time. But this was one of her cubs that was different. His work in her class was above and beyond what was necessary to receive an Outstanding, and she knew Filius felt the same way. This alone made her really consider if he could pull off such an ambitious endeavor. Besides, the past few weeks something had been bothering her about the young Gryffindor and if her suspicions were correct, it was time to see how advanced her cub really was.
"What makes you think you can do this, Mr. Potter? I doubt a first year could teach upperclassmen, and the space you've requested is significantly larger than what a few first years would need."
Harry knew this was his make or break moment. If he said nothing, his request would be denied. But if he gave them even a hint of his true abilities, the old man would hear about it, and he'd be caught right in the middle of the headbastard's crosshairs. That was something he wanted to avoid for as long as possible, but in the end he decided hiding wasn't worth it. If he could start this world's version of the DA sooner, he could help these kids have a better chance at surviving Voldemort's return, and that alone was worth any discomfort he would feel under Dumbledore's scrutiny.
"What if I told you I could do every spell in the Standard Book of Spells from 1st year to 5th year? That if I took my O.W.L.s today, I would be confident that I passed with high marks?"
McGonagall had to force herself not to smile at the response. She knew her cub was hiding his true abilities. "I would call you a liar," she replied, hoping to goad him into sharing more information with her.
Harry was expecting such a response from the Deputy Headmistress, and before either Professor could react, he flipped out his wand from his wrist holster and silently cast the Patronus Charm.
Flitwick gasped at the sudden appearance of the corporeal Stag Patronus in the office, and reached his hand out to gently pat the magical creature on the back. He could feel the love and happiness rolling off of the golden Stag, and he once more marveled at his young student's power and ability. As a Master in the subject, he knew that the Charm was one that most adults failed to manage in their entire lifetime, and yet here was a first year doing it with ease. It almost boggles the mind to imagine what the boy would be capable of in a few years.
McGonagall wasn't expecting Harry to summon a Patronus, but it was the proof she needed to know that he would be able to handle the Center he wanted to create. The verification of his advanced skill was enough for her to believe her suspicions about him were correct.
"Tell me, Mr. Potter, how long have you been an Animagus?"
Harry felt his heart skip a beat at the question, and he silently cursed himself for whatever mistake he made to make McGonagall aware of it. He wracked his brain trying to figure out how she knew, but he kept coming up with a blank. Over the past few weeks he ran through the Forbidden Forest as Altor and soared through the air with Hedwig as Midnight. But he always waited until late night to enjoy his animal forms, and it baffled him as to how the stern Professor could have figured it out.
"W-w-what makes you think I'm an Animagus, Professor?," Harry asked hesitantly.
McGonagall's eyes narrowed dangerously at the foolish question she heard from her cub and in her most commanding voice she replied, "Do not lie to me, Mr. Potter. At first I wasn't sure if you were an Animagus, but your display right now with the Patronus makes me believe that you have the skill and magical power necessary to make the change. And since I've been able to smell the cat on you these past few weeks, I'm confident you have already shifted completely at least once. As I'm sure you are aware, your merger gives you some heightened senses from your animal form. The same holds true for me and my form. Besides, I would expect nothing less from the son of James Potter. At least your father had the good sense to wait until his 4th year to attempt such a dangerous form of magic."
Harry grimaced at the mixture of her tone and the answer he received. With his eidetic memory and all the power at his disposal, he couldn't believe he was stupid enough to be found out by his smell. He wanted to kick himself for not thinking of using a simple spell to hide Altor and Midnight's odor from his body. In his arrogance he didn't think anyone would learn the truth, and now he was paying for it.
Once he decided he had no choice but to tell the truth, Harry nodded his head, and said, "Yes, ma'am. I am an Animagus and I made my first change during the first week of school."
When she finally heard the confirmation she had been waiting to hear, Minerva wasn't sure whether to be thrilled by the prodigy in front of her, or furious that he'd done such a dangerous transformation by himself.
"How did you do it?," she asked calmly.
Harry didn't want to tell her about the Shaman method he learned from one of his teachers in the Chamber and so he lied, "I drank an Animagus revealing potion a few months ago. I found out about it in a notebook my dad had that documented his own change during school. I just followed his directions. I swear I wasn't trying to make the change, Professor. I just wanted to see what my form was. Then a few weeks ago I was meditating in my room and accidentally shifted. It took me awhile to turn back to normal, but once I did it, shifting back and forth became easier."
"Do you know how dangerous what you did is?," she asked her cub with a touch of anger in her voice. "You could have died if something went wrong and someone wasn't around to help you."
"I understand, ma'am," Harry replied in his best innocent voice. "The first time really was an accident. I had no intention of attempting the change for at least a few years."
Once she was certain her cub had been properly reprimanded and was aware of how dangerous his actions were, she said, "Tomorrow morning you will accompany me to the Ministry and register your form with the DMLE. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Potter?"
For the first time in a long while, Harry was happy that he'd been on point about covering his tracks for the future. As soon as he completed his first change he decided it would be prudent to register one of his forms. He picked Altor since it was hard to be inconspicuous as a 700lb black tiger. Midnight was the perfect form to do something like that, and would be the ace up his sleeve in case someone learned about his registered form.
The day after his first change, he'd contacted Ripclaw and had him register Altor with the ICW. The Ministry law stated that all Animagus forms had to be registered, and since being registered with the ICW counted, he didn't bother sending anything to the Ministry. It wasn't his fault they didn't properly look at the paperwork that came from outside of Britain.
"That won't be necessary, Professor."
"And why exactly would that be, Mr. Potter?," she asked him crisply. "Do you know that it is illegal to be a non-registered Animagus? You could be fined and sent to Azkaban if this was discovered."
"I know it's illegal to be an unregistered Animagus, ma'am," Harry replied with a smug smile. "But I already registered through the ICW."
Minerva was certainly surprised to hear that. "Why didn't you want to register with the Ministry?," she asked, curious to hear his reason.
Harry shrugged his shoulders and said, "Rita Skeeter already had me in the papers three times since school started. While a lot of her stories were fabricated, she did have valid information in each of them. Information that she shouldn't have had access to, because it was supposed to be confidential. I didn't want anyone to know I was an Animagus, so I decided to register with the ICW. It's not my fault the Ministry doesn't properly check paperwork they receive from outside the country. What I did is technically legal, and now I don't have to worry about the Ministry's stellar ability to safeguard secrets."
Minerva didn't necessarily like it, but she couldn't fault her cub's reasoning. Since he wasn't breaking any laws she would trust in his judgement.
"Very well, Mr. Potter. I will respect your decision this time and I want to thank you for being honest with me today. Professor Flitwick and I will discuss your proposal and let you know our decision in a few days time. Would it be possible to hold on to these picture in the mean time?"
Harry nodded his head happily and said, "Sure Professor. You can hold on to the pictures for as long as you want and I look forward to hearing what your decision will be."
As he got up to leave the office, Harry heard McGonagall ask, "Was I right, Mr. Potter? Is your form a cat?"
Harry grinned at the question. Technically a tiger was a cat. "Yes you were, Professor."
McGonagall was quite pleased to hear she guessed correctly. "What color is it?"
"It's a black cat, Professor," Harry replied, trying to keep the smile off his face.
"Would you mind showing us, Mr. Potter? It's so rare to meet an Animagus these days and I would love to see another black cat."
At that very moment, Harry was grateful that he'd spent so much time training his new body to shift into his animal forms. Where once he took almost two minutes to complete the change, now he was almost at the point of the change being instantaneous.
When he saw both Professors eagerly waiting for his reply, Harry felt his inner Marauder laughing at the opportunity. Without giving them an answer, Harry leapt forward and shifted into Altor. The sudden presence of a near 700lb black tiger was enough to scare them senseless and cause both of them to fall out of their chairs.
Harry knew this act would most likely cost him a detention with both teachers at some point, but he didn't care. Their reactions were nothing short of priceless. As Harry watched his teachers pick themselves up off the floor, if at that moment anyone was watching him, they would never again say they haven't seen a tiger laughing its ass off.