Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Chapter 44 – A Snake and A Raven
As October drew to a close, Umbridge became more confident in her role and the changes continued. Aside from evaluating the teachers – though no more got sacked – Umbridge stuck her nose into anything she thought the school could improve on. Not everything she did was bad, Harry grudgingly admitted. One positive thing she did was inform Peeves that his antics wouldn't be tolerated anymore and if he continued she'd see him banned from the castle. Of course, Harry wouldn't actually let that happen, as Lord Gryffindor he could overrule Umbridge on anything to do with the castle or its permanent inhabitants, but he certainly didn't mind that fewer dungbombs were thrown at them. On the other hand, Umbridge tried to exert almost total control over the students. She decided it was reckless of Dumbledore to allow the students to roam freely through Hogsmeade, and so arranged to have aurors patrolling the village on all Hogsmeade weekends. Too much free time was given to the students as well, she said, and it wasn't conductive to getting a good education, so all free periods during the week were to be spent studying in the great hall with teacher, and often Umbridge, supervision. The duelling club, which had continued after the Lockhart disaster under the excellent tuition of Professor Flitwick, was too dangersous and so was discontinued. Music was no longer allowed outside the weekend; quidditch practice was supervised and was the only time students were allowed to fly; aside from the weekend, students were to always be in full uniform; pets were confined to common rooms, dormitories and the owlery; boys and girls were not allowed within six inches of each other. This last 'Educational Decree' as they were being called, was put into affect after Umbridge caught a couple in a broom cupboard and so forbade any contact aside from proper decorum for courting couples. Harry and Ginny ignored that rule and continued to hold hands whenever they felt like it and Umbridge had yet to say anything. Whether that was because of their bond, which after Skeeter's article last year was common knowledge, or because they were technically married, or both, neither of them knew nor cared.
With all the new rules Harry and Ginny found they had more free time than ever, ironically considering that was the one thing Umbridge was trying to stop, and so their thoughts turned to something Harry had wanted to learn since his first year but had put off, knowing he was too young then.
"Professor, may we have a moment?" Harry asked McGonagall one day after class.
"Yes, Potter?"
"We wondered if you'd help teach us how to become animagi." Whatever McGonagall had thought they'd ask, this wasn't it.
"Animagi? That is no easy feat, Lord Potter." Her tone turned more respectful now that he was no longer there just as her student. She had had a much easier time accepting him as a lord, much easier than Dumbledore for certain, and had no issues using his title for things that did not concern his education.
"We understand that, Professor, and this decision was not made on a whim. I've been wanting to ask for your help in this since first year, actually, but I knew you'd never agree to assist an eleven year old become an animagus."
"Too right you are!" She sounded at once proud that he had known she wouldn't help back then, and offended at the mere thought. "Has your godfather not said he'd help? As I recall, he and your father were both animagi by your age."
"Sirius has actually tried to forbid Harry from becoming an animagus." Said Ginny. "Apparently it's too dangerous for an underage wizard to attempt."
"The hypocrite." Harry muttered, and McGonagall cracked a smile.
"Yes it is quite dangerous. They were in detention for three months for it."
"You knew back then?" Harry was surprised. Sirius had told him that no one, except maybe Dumbledore, though that was never confirmed, knew they had become animagi.
"Of course I knew." McGonagall waved off his surprise as if he should have known that she had known. "Your father and his friends may have been some of the cleverest and most devious students to ever walk these halls, but they were not as stealthy as they thought they were. They certainly got caught more often than Fred and George Weasley." Ginny sniggered and Harry looked like Christmas had come early. He had always known that Sirius embellished his stories, least of all because his Aunt Cissa said so, but he had never doubted his godfather's mastery of the prank, a large part of which, he'd been told for as long as he could remember, was not getting caught. He would have to think hard on how to best use this information.
"So you caught them?" He asked.
"Not directly, I admit. I knew they were up to something but it wasn't until they achieved their forms that I figured out what. Their first class afterwards I wanted to pounce the moment Pettigrew walked into the room. I had smelt a rat, you see." Clearly seeing her had an avid audience, more avid than they'd ever been in her class, McGonagall decided to indulge them. "An animagus has two beings within them: themselves, and the animal they turn into. Both beings are separate and yet they have adapted to become one as well."
"But-" McGonagall held up her hand to stop the interruption.
"Let me explain. I do not mean that your animal is inside your head speaking with you, certainly not. However, an animagus does take on some of the traits of their animal and vice versa. For example, since achieving my form my senses are much sharper than normal; I can distinguish scents quite easily, and see in the dark much better. My reflexes are sharpened and, as you just heard, I have some of the instincts of a cat. That being said, my mind is still my own. I can think and reason as a human does, even in my animal form, and I can control my actions, such as not chasing a rat, where a real cat would not hesitate." The two nodded, following what she was saying quite easily. "Now, while I can control my actions, it is important to sometimes allow your animal free and to follow their instincts without questioning them as a human does."
"So you've chased rats before?" Ginny tried not to grin too widely and succeeded when McGonagall sent her a quelling look. Still, she answered the question.
"I have chased my share of rats in my day, yes." Ginny's grin returned. "My heightened sense of smell is what allowed me to find out your father and his friends had become animagi. I surmised pretty quickly that they had done so for Professor Lupin and so chose to do nothing with the information. Still I was quite furious. Becoming animagi can be very dangerous and they had done so without any guidance or supervision." Her lips pursed as they always did when she was supremely unimpressed, or upset, about something. "They were caught pulling another prank two days later and got three months detention for it. I don't think they ever knew the real reason for such a long punishment, they just always assumed I'd finally snapped over all their pranks." Harry and Ginny chuckled.
"Thank you for telling us this, Professor." Said Harry. "It's always nice to hear new stories about my parents." McGonagall merely smiled.
"Back to business though." Ginny said after a moment. "Will you help us, Professor?"
"Please?" Harry added. Their head of house studied them for a few moments, looking for any sign, aside from their age, that she should refuse them. Finally though she made a decision.
"I will assist you on one condition." She said and they listened intently. "You are never to try transforming without me present until I decide you have mastered your forms." Harry and Ginny looked to each other, knowing this was an easy decision.
"Deal." McGonagall pursed her lips again, this time into an expression Harry and Ginny knew to mean she was thinking she might regret her decision after all.
"And I suppose you will want me to keep quiet about this?" She asked unnecessarily and they both nodded. "Very well then. Depending on your forms I cannot deny that it will give you an advantage with what's to come."
"Thank you, Professor."
"We shall start next Monday evening at seven. I have held extra study sessions at that time before so it will be less suspicious. Though given your performances in my class we'll have to say you asked for more advanced lessons to get ahead on your O.W.L.s."
"Hermione will love that." Harry sniggered. Him receiving advanced lessons instead of her would actually have Hermione blow a gasket.
"Thank you, Professor." Said Ginny. "We'll be here on Monday." The two turned to leave and McGonagall went back to her marking.
"Oh, and Potter?" She called before they'd even made it to the door. They turned and saw that she was still working and hadn't even looked up at them. "Everything said here today stays between us, understand?" Harry let out a laugh. Even all these years later she clearly didn't want Sirius or Remus to discover the truth behind their three month detention.
"Of course, Professor."
-H/G-
Hermione did indeed blow a gasket, but it wasn't about the excuse of advanced lessons.
"You're refusing to let us become animagi with you?!"
"No, I'm not refusing!" Harry quickly backpedalled. "It's just that McGonagall was hesitant to teach us and I'm technically of age and Ginny's guardian, so she can't get in trouble for teaching us."
"That's a pathetic excuse, Harry." Said Ron. The four of them and Draco were in Godric's chambers where Harry and Ginny naturally told them everything that had been said in their meeting with McGonagall.
"We also have Godric's magic and will learn a lot faster because of it." He tried a different tactic.
"Another pathetic excuse."
"Just forget it, Ron." Draco sneered. "The bloody wanker isn't going to budge."
"Hey!" Said Ginny, sounded offended. "If there's any wanking of Harry to be done it'll be by me, thank you!"
"UGH!" Ron's reaction was immediate; he turned green and jumped up, moving to the exit. "Why the bloody hell did you have to go and say that for? I've completely lost my appetite!"
"Well, I didn't think that was possible." Ginny now sounded genuinely surprised. "Ron losing his appetite, I mean." She looked to their other friends and saw that both Hermione and Draco were bright red.
"I think I'm going to go too." Draco muttered.
"Yep." Hermione jumped up as well and the two left hurriedly.
"What's gotten into you?" Harry asked. It was an unspoken agreement between them all that their sex lives, or whatever they did leading up to a sex life, as the case may be, would not be discussed.
"I didn't want to listen to a lecture from Hermione." Ginny shrugged.
"That's it?" Harry was suspicious.
"Well that, but I also wanted some alone time with my husband." Harry was suddenly very alert.
"What kind of alone time?" He asked hesitantly. They hadn't done much beyond snogging, only a little petting here and there, but after she'd mentioned wanking he had to wonder. In response Ginny moved to straddle him and brought her lips to his, her hand moving down his body.
-H/G-
Harry and Ginny met McGonagall on Monday as planned and the two Mondays after that before they got anywhere with their transformations, or rather before they transformed completely. Looking up at their professor, for they had shrunk quite a bit, they could see utter shock on her face. Looking down they tried to determine what they were. Ginny saw black feathers and two wings instead of arms so knew she was some kind of bird while Harry saw the tip of a scaly snout and nothing else. He found he had no arms or legs and was very low to the ground, the identity of his animal form becoming clear when he next inhaled and a forked tongue darted out of his mouth; he could feel Ginny's amusement. Concentrating on their human selves the two felt themselves grow again and knew they were back to normal.
"I'm a snake." Harry grumbled. "How does that even make sense? Wouldn't a lion have been better? It is my patronus after all."
"At least I get to fly." Ginny said smugly. "And there's nothing the toad can do to stop a bird flying." Harry glared over at her, though only got a smile in return.
"Aren't animagus forms supposed to represent the witch or wizard?" He turned back to McGonagall. "It makes no sense that I'm a snake when I'm Gryffindor's heir." McGonagall had been there back in his second year when the Sorting Hat had told him of his ancestry, though she hadn't been brought into the fold completely, as close as she was to Dumbledore.
"You are correct, Potter, that an animagus form represents a part of the witch or wizard. Sometimes it is not always clear what part it is at first, though I'm not so sure it is unclear here."
"What do you mean, Professor?" Ginny asked.
"By blood you are Gryffindor's heir, but you are also the last heir of Hogwarts." Harry still wasn't sure where she was going with this. "Three years ago the Sorting Hat explained that the lines of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were extinct, while Slytherin's heir had forfeited his claim to the castle by betraying the school. That leaves only you."
"I think you're going to have to spell this one out for us, Professor." Said Ginny. They hadn't forgotten what the hat had said, but she wasn't sure where McGonagall was going with this. McGonagall did not look impressed, clearly she thought they should have been able to figure it out on their own by now, but she still obliged.
"You are heir to Hogwarts, Potter, not just Gryffindor. There are three others who built this castle and whose magic still resides within these walls." Still they looked confused and McGonagall's own look turned peevish. "This is not the muggle world, Potter!" She snapped. "Being heir to something is not just words on a piece of parchment, it is recognized by magic! The magic of Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin still within this castle recognized you as heir and gifts you with the school's magic. And what are the symbols of those founders?"
"A badger, a raven and a snake." They caught on at last "So our animagus forms represent the part of Harry that is heir to Slytherin and Ravenclaw, and that extends to me because of our bond." McGonagall nodded.
"I believe so, yes."
"But why?" Harry asked. "Out of all the different parts of us, why those two? And for that matter, why not a badger?"
"That I cannot tell you with any degree of certainty." She said. "I only know that in what is to come a snake and raven are unlikely to get noticed, and can speculate that perhaps your magic knows that and so gave you the forms that would aid you most. Magic has been known to do that, to aid its witch or wizard in times of great need." It was a plausible theory, though unlike Dumbledore the Deputy Headmistress was not so arrogant as to always present her theories as fact. Unable to deny she was right, Harry and Ginny went back to training and changed flawlessly from human to animal and back again several more times before McGonagall called today's lesson at an end.
"Does this mean we're done, Professor?" Harry asked excitedly. "Have we mastered our forms?" McGonagall pursed her lips.
"You are both very fast learners, and natural animagi." She said and they smiled. "I admit that I have never known anyone, let alone two who are underage, to come this far with their forms so quickly." Harry and Ginny froze for a moment at the look they were getting. It spoke of far more knowledge about them than they'd ever thought she possessed. "Though I suppose I have also never known a first year who could take on a fully grown mountain troll, or two third years who could cast such powerful patronuses, or any patronus for that matter." Although she seemed to be writing it off as yet another amazing feat they were capable of, Harry and Ginny knew they'd have to keep an eye out; as they had learned a few weeks ago, McGonagall was much more observant than anyone knew. "However, while you have managed a complete transformation several times, you are still quite slow at doing so. A witch or wizard who has mastered their form barely needs to think about transforming, and can move between human and animal in no more than a second or two." The two had to agree with her there. While their forms were indeed flawless and there was not even a human fingernail remaining after they transformed, it did take several moments of deep concentration, or longer if they were frustrated or impatient, for them to be able to shift forms.
"So we're not masters yet then." Ginny said despondently and McGonagall sighed, both irritated and incredulous.
"Did I not just say you had completed your transformations quicker than anyone in recorded history? Yes, it will take more than three lessons to master your forms, but I daresay you are very nearly there." Unable to disagree with her, Harry and Ginny thanked their professor, promised to still not try and transform without her present, and walking hand in hand left to return to their common room. They were barely a corridor away from McGonagall's classroom, however, when their path was blocked.
"Madam Umbridge." Harry greeted with as little disdain as he could manage. Umbridge was staring at them both suspiciously and very pointedly looked down at their joined hands. Neither Harry nor Ginny even flinched; if Umbridge wanted to try and tell a noble and ancient lord that he couldn't hold hands with his wife then she could do so instead of trying to cow them with a look.
"It is quite late, Lord Potter." She said finally, her own voice imbued with as little malice as possible. "Where have you two been?"
"We were studying with Professor McGonagall, Madam." Ginny replied. "With our O.W.L.s coming up we asked for a little extra tuition and the Professor was generous enough to grant it."
"I see. And how long as this…extra tuition been going on?" It was clear she didn't believe them.
"A few weeks. Professor McGonagall could tell exactly how long, if you wish to speak with her." Said Harry. Still Umbridge's suspicion did not abate.
"I may just speak with her. Now return to your common room, it is almost curfew."
"Of course. Good night, Madam Umbridge." Without waiting for a good night in return that would never have come, Harry and Ginny sidestepped the High Inquisitor and continued on their way, not speaking again until they were almost to the common room.
"I don't like this." Said Ginny. "I very much doubt that she just happened to be in the corridor when we just happened to leave the classroom."
"She may have been following us." Harry agreed. "But what can she do? She can speak with McGonagall all she wants and isn't going to find anything. And it's not like she can stop students getting help from their professors. Fudge knows that if his appointed watchdog, whom he has very publically said is here to address falling academic standards, tried to ban students from seeking help in their studies his whole plot here at Hogwarts would be finished." Ginny hummed noncommittally. While Harry had made some good points, she knew Fudge wasn't the brightest and trusted Umbridge less than Hagrid when he talked about how friendly and safe his 'misunderstood' creatures were.
A/N - Three lessons does seem a bit quick, but it serves my purpose so I'm going with it.
Review please!
