Hey guys! I'm very sorry about the updating. I had a bunch of graduation stuff (including a really really late party. I won a toaster tho so that was nice), and then a couple friends and I started writing this new original story (we've already got sixty pages!), so there was that. I know it's no excuse for being a slacker but I thought you guys deserved an explanation. I am ashamed. V-V
Anyway, so I'm finally doing something with that question I asked a few chapters back, about which characters are your faves. So, of all the people that answered, we got 6 votes for Teddy, 6 for Tavish, 5 for Rom, 4 for Jack, 2 for Sev, 2 for Lucy, none for Serafin and none for Flynn. So, since this particular event I am only gonna be able to do from 1 perspective, I'm going to do it from Teddy's. Then I'll try and cycle through the other characters for the next few chapters.
"What exactly do we have to steal?" Lucy asked with a small frown, looking over Sev's shoulder at the book full of tips on becoming Animagi.
"Niffler's fancy... Flitterbloom... Onion juice... Honey... The list goes on," Sev said, staring at the list in dismay.
"Niffler's fancy?! How are we even supposed to get our hands on that?" Lucy demanded. "That is exceedingly rare, does Slughorn even have that? We can get most of the others without issue, but honestly..."
"He has it," Sev confirmed, "He showed it to me, very proud of it. He has a small bag in his potions room. Luckily we only need a single leaf, so he might not notice it's missing."
"Right," Jack said with a snort, "That man is beyond paranoid about his supply stores. We tried to nab some poison ivy once for a prank, and we set off a half dozen alarm spells. We barely managed to get away!"
"It won't be so bad," Lucy said thoughtfully, "I bet I can get it. All I have to do is trick him into showing me his stores like he did with Sev, and then I can nab a leaf. Is there anything else we need from Slughorn?"
"Aye," Sev said, "Lethe River Water, and Gomas Barbadensis. I think all of the other ones we can get in Hogsmeade."
"Okay, well, Teddy and I can get those next time there's a trip to Hogsmeade," Tavish said. "Since we're third years there won't be an issue. We can get them while we're out to celebrate! And then you guys can get the other ones."
One month and three days later
It wasn't terribly difficult for them to get all the supplies - or at least, it was easier than they had feared. Within three days, they had everything they needed. Severin brewed the potion successfully on his first try and after a month of setting, it was finally ready for them to take.
Severin had brewed it in the empty bathroom occupied by Moaning Murtyl, at Teddy's recommendation; apparently, Harry, Hermione, and Ron had used the same bathroom to brew the polyjuice potion. When it finally finished, they met back in the bathroom and gathered around the pot, staring at it with concern.
It was thick, and every now and then a fat bubble rose to the top and popped with a sickening splat. It was an ugly shade of orange, almost like someone had mixed in just a dot of green food dye to turn it brownish and ghastly. Steam rose from it with a scent somewhat like spoiling butterbeer: alcoholic, vinegary, turning sugar and almost mildewy. The scent alone was enough to make Teddy gag, much less the thought of swallowing that rubbish.
"Gross," Serafin said, crinkling his nose.
"Well, do you want to become an animagus or not?" Sev said, scowling.
"Do we have to do it this way?" Flynn complained, sticking out his tongue in disgust.
"Yup," Rom said. "Unless you want to spend a year researching an alternative..."
"Oh, let's just do it," Jack said. "Stop being such babies. Have we got cups? Do we literally just take a sip of it, or is there something else we've got to do?"
"Just take a sip," Sev confirmed.
"And then we'll... hallucinate?" Teddy said skeptically, nudging the cauldron with his toes.
"No touching!" Sev said, slapping Teddy's foot away. "Yes, you'll hallucinate and see your animal. And I have cups hidden in the second stall, I brought them up here yesterday." Lucy pushed open the door and grabbed the cups, handing one to everyone. Sev then ladled a single spoonful into each cup, evoking more grimaces from his companions.
"Are you sure you brewed this right?" Serafin asked, "It smells like rancid cat piss."
"Eugh," Flynn said with a shudder.
"Just drink it, would you?" Sev said, glaring at his friends.
"Bottoms up," Tavish said, waving his cup at his friends before downing the glass. Teddy followed suit, and grimaced as the luke-warm liquid ran down his throat. It was thick, almost like he had swallowed tar, and seemed to cling to every surface of his mouth and throat. The taste didn't go away after he swallowed, and it was even worse than it smelled. He ran over to the sink and gulped down water, the others fast on his heels.
The flavor didn't go away, but after a minute a wave of dizziness washed over him. He grasped the edges of the sink to support himself and then staggered backwards, landing on his bum with a thud. He sat there, dazed, and blinking to try and get his vision to clear.
"Take deep breaths, and don't fight it," Rom said. Rom said something else, too, but Teddy couldn't hear it; everything was becoming muffled, almost like he was getting wrapped in cotton. His limbs grew warm, like he was laying on a heating vent, and he suddenly found himself staring up at the ceiling even though he didn't remember laying down. Nothing hurt, which was strange; normally there was some small ache, or bruise, or cut, but he didn't feel anything. It was like that soft feeling when you are just waking up from sleep.
The flavor was still heavy in his mouth, but strangely enough he didn't care. He didn't care about the dank smell filling his nostrils, he didn't care about the hard floor beneath his head, and he didn't care about the muffled scraping around him. He was entirely at ease. His eyes fluttered shut and the ceiling overhead disappeared from view, leaving him in the darkness. His chest rose and fell gently with every breath and his mind cleared until only his breath filled his mind; in, out, in, out, in... out...
It was so effortless, so clear; he felt better rested than he had in years. His eyes flickered open, but at the same time they didn't; there was no effort in moving them, there was no energy involved. He simply saw. He knew what he was seeing wasn't real, because it was not the bathroom, but again - he didn't care.
It was strange, not like anything he had seen before. It was inherently not real. Everything seemed wrong, and it almost made his head hurt just to look at it as though he was seeing something he was never meant to see. If you could imagine trying to see something in four dimensions, or see a new color you had never seen - a color just like red, or yellow, or blue, but somehow entirely new - you would understand what Teddy was seeing. He knew the scene he was seeing had trees in it, but they didn't look like normal trees. He had no word for the color they were; it was almost like they were silver, blue, and orange all at once. They had a thousand branches and no branches, and they both moved and stayed still.
He sat up slowly, but he knew he wasn't really sitting up - his muscles didn't move, he didn't feel it. But yet, in his imaginary world, he was somehow upright. The trees around him danced in a way he had no way of understanding, but then they stood completely still and everything snapped into focus. The world directly in front of him grew darker and a tall shadow appeared before him.
It knelt on the ground before him. Teddy wasn't sure how he knew it was kneeling - it's not like the shadow had a defined shape - but he did.
"Hello."
The voice seemed to come from every direction, even from inside of Teddy's head. It was a low, rumbling voice, but a warm one. Teddy had no way of recognizing the voice, but it was the voice of Remus Lupin.
"Hi," Teddy squeaked.
"What is your name?" the voice asked, and the shadow tilted its head to the side.
"Teddy - uh, Edward Lupin."
"Tell me, Teddy," the voice said, "Why are you here?"
"To become an animagus..."
"Do you truly want to become an animagus?" The shadow straightened its head, studying Teddy with invisible eyes. "Or is it something you're doing merely because your friends are?"
Teddy froze. He hadn't really thought about it before. "Does it matter?"
The shadow was silent for an entire minute, and Teddy began to worry he had done something wrong by asking the shadow a question. Then, the shadow chuckled. "I suppose not. As long as this is something you will do and accept. Remember, once you become an animagus, you cannot undo it. This is not the physical stage, however, so after we are done you will still have a chance to go back."
"I don't want to go back," Teddy declared. "I want to know what I am."
"You already know what you are, Teddy," the voice said. "Don't you?"
"... A wolf," Teddy said slowly. "Fangs."
"Yes," the shadow agreed. "Your father would be proud of you, Teddy."
Teddy didn't know what to say, so after a moment, he cleared his throat and said, "Can I see? My form, I mean."
"That is why you're here, isn't it?" the voice said with a laugh. "But I must ask you a few more questions, first. What house are you?"
"I'm a Gryffindor," Teddy answered proudly.
"Are you only a Gryffindor? Or are you something else, too?"
Teddy blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"Are you only brave? Or are you compassionate? Are you wise? Are you ambitious?"
"I... I don't know," Teddy said.
"You have to get to know yourself. You have to learn who you are, don't you see?"
"I... I suppose I'm a little bit of a Hufflepuff. I get that from my mom."
"Yes," the shadow nodded. "You are. What about the others?"
"Maybe a little Ravenclaw," Teddy conceded, "I am good at transfiguration, and I enjoy it quite a bit... But I don't think I'm Slytherin."
"No, you aren't," the shadow agreed. "So you are brave, compassionate, loyal, and 'good at transfiguration'. Is that all?"
"Yeah," Teddy nodded.
"No," the shadow disagreed. "You understand your good qualities, Teddy, but that is not all you are. If you only look at your goodness, you will forever be blind to half of yourself. What are your worst qualities?"
Teddy was taken aback, and not entirely sure. "I suppose I'm insecure. I'm also indecisive sometimes, and I do things without thinking. Sometimes, I don't notice things that I should."
"Good," the shadow said. "What was your weakest moment?"
"I think... I think it was the first time I learned why my parents died. I don't know."
"Do you accept that side of yourself?" the shadow asked, and Teddy just stared at it for a minute. He knit his brows, trying to sort through the tangled emotions floating through him.
"Actually, yeah. I do."
"Good," the shadow said. "Then I do believe it's time for you to meet Fangs."
Teddy opened his mouth to answer, but before he had a chance, the shadow was gone. He turned, staring into the trees, and then he saw movement. From behind a tree stepped the most beautiful creature Teddy had ever seen, and he couldn't help but gasp in awe. The wolf that approached him was huge, nearly coming up to Teddy's shoulder, with a great big head bowed low towards the ground. Muscles upon muscles wrapped around the wolf's limbs and the fur covering it was mostly black, with a few blue hairs poking through. A turquoise stripe ran from the tip of its tail all the way up its spine and down over its head, pointing to its nose and framing its huge golden eyes.
Teddy reached out his hand, his fingers trembling, and the wolf stepped forward. It rubbed its head against his hand and then just as suddenly as it had appeared, it was gone. It absorbed into his palm with something like a static shock and he flinched, feeling the wolf suddenly merge inside of himself.
He was, and forever would be, Fangs.
