Draco looks up to see Hedwig land on the table with three letters in one set of claws - and looking about as happy as an owl can possibly look. Lucius asks "Who's bird is that? Far too nice and well-kept to be a Post Owl…"

"Bloom's! That's Hedwig!" Draco immediately takes the message addressed to him, and Hedwig steals a piece of bacon, gulps it down, then flies off once more with two more letters to deliver to Hermione and Ron. "'Draco, you'll never guess what I managed. Got Sirius to agree to something HUGE. You want details, get over here. And, little hint, you really want these details. Bloom. PS. The letter acts as a Portkey.'"

Draco doesn't even need to look up at his parents before Lucius sighs and says "Yes, you can go, Draco. Whatever it is she wants to get you in on, I can only imagine it would happen during the school year if we refused now."

Draco runs back to his room, shouting his thanks - and disregarding every Deportment lesson he ever got in the process - grabs a few things, then uses the letter. He's just in time to see Ron and Hermione arrive via their own letters, and Bloom waiting for them maybe five feet away. While practically bouncing in place, she's so excited.

Ron grins, and asks "So, what's the big surprise?"

"Little hint, what's the one thing only Siri can do? In Potter Hall, that is."

Hermione offhandedly says "Well, he's an…no, he didn't!"

Bloom beams, her face almost literally lighting up, and says "Yep! Got him to break and say he'd teach us how to become Animagi. Took me a while, but I managed."

When they get to Potter Hall, and find Sirius and Remus talking in the reception hall, they hear "-looked at me with those big blue eyes - she gave me the puppy eyes, Remus! I'm a dog Animagus, you know that's my weak spot!"

"Yeah, well, still…how long did you hold out?"

"Until she caught my gaze. Wasn't able to refuse her anything when she was adopted by Lily and James, still can't now…"

Ron clears his throat, and says "We can wait for you two to finish…"

Both men jump, and Sirius says "I'm assuming Bloom told you? That I've agreed to teach you four to be Animagi?"

Bloom grins, practically bouncing in place - like a typical kid on Christmas actually, or in a candy or toy store - and says "Yep. You three did it without any help, surely you teaching us is safer."

Sirius sighs, then chuckles and says "True enough…We managed it in our fifth year, the first year being spent actually figuring out that we needed to do something, second and third years spent figuring out that becoming Animagi was what we needed to do to keep Remus company, and fourth year spent figuring out how to actually become Animagi."

Hermione excitedly asks "And…?"

"You've got to keep a Mandrake leaf in your mouth for a lunar month - full moon to full moon, I believe is the specification - and it has to be the same leaf. You swallow it, spit it out, etc., you start over. The leaf is used in the Animagus Potion. You've got to wake up at sunrise to recite the incantation 'Amato Animo Animato Animagus' and do it again at sunset - and one last time just before you take the Animagus Potion. Which, by the way, is exceedingly difficult to brew - most all the ingredients need to be carefully prepared. The leaf, the dew, and you can only drink it if its just after a lightning storm has started. And only if its turned a blood red. Rather complicated, but Remus and I managed it."

Remus coughs into his hand, and says "It also involves meditating to be able to transform at will, connecting with your body or some such. I can teach you all meditation techniques, Sirius can acquire the leaves within an hour, and, theoretically, you should be Animagi by the end of the summer. If we get lucky and a lightning storm starts before then, that is."

Bloom gets a confused look at that point, and asks "What about Atmospheric charms? Just summon a storm, or something…August sixteenth." She's also got a gigantic smile on her face that just screams triumph. Translation…they're all going to be Animagi soon.

Twenty minutes later, they're trying their hand at Meditation - Draco and Hermione are getting it easily enough, being able to focus, Ron is getting there as he's had no practice in it before…and Bloom's having a rough time of it, coming out at the slightest sound. It's the same as when she's sleeping - she can drop right off, but she's known as Gryffindor's lightest sleeper for a good reason. Eventually, she just puts a Silencing Spell on herself so she can't hear them, and then stays with her eyes closed.

Hermione sees an Otter in her meditation - she's read about them, for a project in Muggle school, and quite liked them, so she recognized the creature.

Ron sees something like a dog. Sirius identifies it as a Jack Russel Terrier.

Draco sees something small, furry, and on four legs - discrete, at least, and easy enough to get out of trouble.

Bloom, though, she's just got a happy smile on her face…and she's floating a good five feet off the air, glowing a bright orange with her hair floating above her head. Even so, she looks so peaceful that they don't really want to bring her out of it - moments like this are rare as a docile Hungarian Horntail for Bloom, as is that smile. She opens her eyes after a minute, then promptly drops to the ground hard - the sudden landing doesn't seem to impact her mood, any.

Sirius chuckles, and says "I take it you like your form, Firespark?"

Bloom shrugs, and says "All I know is that I was flying. High above the clouds, I could see all of London with ease. Could hardly pick out the buildings. If I can fly…" she shrugs, her face turning a bright red, "then I like it. Flying is amazing."

Draco chuckles inwardly, thinking there can't be that many things that can fly that Bloom could really be - she's every bit as vicious as a dragon when she wants to be, he knows that quite well. She's kinder than most to those on her good side…but she's got a sarcastic, vicious streak that the entire school is well aware of, as well as her temper, and won't hesitate to go off on someone if she feels its necessary or appropriate. Or, even if it isn't if she's angry enough at them. The only reason he's even debating her being a dragon is because they're Magical Creatures and its incredibly rare for someone to have a Magical Animagus - of course, this is Bloom Potter he's debating about. She seems to follow her own rules entirely when it comes to magic, has ever since that first day in Ollivander's. She's honestly a pack of living contradictions one could spend the rest of their life trying to understand - Draco plans on doing exactly that.

Hedwig suddenly lands on Sirius' shoulder, with a letter for him - he opens it up, takes one look, then puts it in a pocket for later. An hour later, they each have a few Mandrake leaves to keep as spares, and one to put in their mouths tonight - it's the Full Moon, after all.

When Draco gets back, that letter gives him a thought - he's got no idea what to get Bloom for her birthday! Lucius chuckles, and says "Sirius wrote me ahead of time, asked me for Bloom's measurements from when she got her wardrobe. The letter Hedwig likely arrived with was that - far as I know, he plans on getting her Dueling Robes. She was very interested in the Circuits, after all."

Draco nods, then says "I need a gift for her myself. Maybe…remember the Art store we got stuff from before?"

Lucius smirks, then says "I believe they've got a section Charmed to keep out simple browsers. We'll go first thing tomorrow. Or…a shopping trip?"

Draco grins hugely and nods, then says "I've got to be careful starting tonight. I can't swallow a Mandrake leaf, spit it out, or in any other way allow it to leave my mouth until the next Full Moon."

Narcissa raises an eyebrow, and says "I remember Sirius had to do something like that…"

Draco grins, and says "The letter from this morning was an invitation to join Bloom in becoming Animagi."

Lucius pales rapidly, but Narcissa sighs and says "Sirius and his two friends managed it, Lucius. On their own. Sirius actually liked Potions, he was always just extremely bored in the class because he'd been taught every single potion already. He's not exactly an Experimental Potions Master, but he's also no slacker with them - he got an 'O' on every single NEWT he took. I'm sure he can safely brew the Potion itself - if he couldn't, he'd be a very furry half-man, half-dog to this day. I'm only going to say this once, Draco. Be. Careful. Being an Animagus is a great advantage, but the road to get there is incredibly dangerous. One mistake can Transfigure you for life."

Draco nods, and says "The hardest part will be waking up before Sunrise. I'll…ask my Elf to wake me."

Once Draco heads to the Potions Lab to brew for a bit, Lucius groans and says "Something tells me Draco is going to get into a few adventures of his own…"

Narcissa chuckles, and says "If he does, he's got the most powerful person on this entire planet ready to drag him out of any danger. After she burns it to the ground, that is."

Lucius nods, and says "Good thing I went to the Gaunt Shack when Draco was visiting."

"And?"

Lucius grins, and holds out the ring Bloom sketched. "Wasn't even hidden that well. A concealment Charm so poorly done over a loose board in the floor that it was a beacon for anyone with a decent Revealing Charm in their arsenal, and a series of sloppy wards around the shack that left a clear path up there."

AN: Hey, everyone! Next chapter, as promised! If anyone was wondering what Bloom and McGonagall were talking about at the beginning of year four, how it was 'too dangerous' to do it with her being in the Tournament...this is it. McGonagall agreed to teach her how to become an Animagus when she was older, but things kept happening. A lot.

As to the Animagi forms, Ron and Hermione are going to be their Patronus forms - as I honestly don't know of any other way to gauge what animal they most closely resemble, and the corporeal Patronus is supposed to be specific to each caster. Any guesses what Draco and Bloom are going to be?

Anyway, enjoy! I've got class in two hours, so I'm keeping this short. Reviews are much appreciated, and I'm still going with Hogwarts United for the new name - because I was planning on Musa coming up with 'Winx Club' on the fly and everyone agreeing to it.