This is part one of the prologue to my story. After I finish the prologue, I'll go back through and edit the chapters I have up before continuing. I hope no one minds, I'm trying to keep writing. Sorry for taking so long.
Rated. . .PG now. Might go up. There will be slash relationships, male loving male in other words. If that's not your cup of tea, I'm sorry. It won't get explicit, I'll promise you that.
This is going to be a humorous story, hopefully. Maybe a bit of angst and drama as well. I still don't really know where this is going, but a hazy plot is forming in my mind. . .
I DON'T OWN THIS! I'm just having fun, the same way the DADA professor is having fun with potions. . .
Wolf-Child
Harry, Ron, and Hermione tore through the halls. It was their first day of Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins, and already they were going to be late. Peeves had stolen Ron's book and refused to give it back until the Bloody Baron glided past.
"I hope our new Defense professor likes Gryffindors and goes easy on us."
"I'll be happy just as long as he's not trying to kill me," Harry sighed. "I can live with detention, but four years of bad teachers. . ."
"Three, don't forget Lupin."
"Well, true, he didn't want to kill me, but he was hiding a big secret."
The three burst into the DADA room and froze. "Speak of the devil," Ron muttered under his breath. Lucius Malfoy sat on the desk, attired in stylish professor robes. He gestured to the three empty desks, and they quickly sat. The room was deathly silent as Lucius gazed at the students. Even the Slytherins were behaving. With a malicious smirk on his face, Lucius started to speak in his trademark Malfoy drawl.
"Since there are no longer any empty desks, I will assume you are all here and I do not need to be bothered with the role. Now, before my class begins, there are some things you should know." Lucius slid off the desk and started pacing the classroom. He paused in front of Draco. "First off, Draco, you may breathe in my presence." Draco let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Lucius nodded and crossed the room to pause in front of Harry. He idly twirled his wand as he stared at Harry with a look akin to disgust. "Secondly, I have no wish to harm Mr. Potter or any of you . . . yet. While you are in my class, I will not attempt to kill you in any way." He smiled and moved to sit in his chair. "Thirdly, I have several papers here that assure you that you have no reason to fear me. They are all signed by important people such as Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge, and others of high power, though sadly, I could not get Voldemort's signature." Lucius spun his chair around so the class could only see its high back. "Now, from what I have read from previous teachers, you are well versed in dark creatures and dark curses. However, you are sadly lacking in dark potions. Now, dark potions are not commonly taught in your normal potions class. You barely brush the surface, unless you take advanced potions. However, I am sure that many of you would never dream of being caught dead in advanced potions, so you must acquire that knowledge elsewhere. Where better than in Defense against the Dark Arts? Today we shall start of with one of my favorite potions."
Here Lucius' voice changed, and Harry gasped in shock as he recognized it. "The Polyjuice Potion." Lucius spun his chair around to face the class again. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all sighed in relief, relaxing into their chairs. Sirius Black grinned at the panicked class. "Now, as I have already said, thirdly, you have no reason to fear me. I'm completely innocent, that's what all those papers are for. In case you're still scared, Professor Lupin will be in the back of the class at all times. He and I are both the new Defense professors this year. Professor Lupin will teach the first four years while I will teach the last three years and I will teach his classes around the full moon. Occasionally, we will switch, and you'll have him as your teacher."
Sirius paused as the Gryffindors clapped enthusiastically. Remus blushed as he continued to grade papers, not bothering to look up. Sirius grinned. "All right. Polyjuice Potion. The Polyjuice Potion is a favorite of many dark wizards. Can anyone here tell me why? Draco, how about you?"
Draco looked up. "It's quite simple, really. The Polyjuice Potion allows the drinker to assume the identity of another for a short period of time, one hour. If a dark wizard consumed a Polyjuice Potion of one of his enemies, he would be able to slip paste his enemies' defenses, without anyone knowing."
Sirius nodded. "That's correct. Now, if I'm not mistaken, your Defense professor last year, Professor Moody, turned out to be a dark wizard who had been consuming the Polyjuice Potion. He had done his homework, studying Alastor Moody for some time to learn his actions and patterns, however, that is not necessary. Humans tend to rely on their sight a lot, and are willing to believe whatever they see is true. Now, who here thought I was really Lucius Malfoy? Raise your hands."
The whole class raised their hands, and Sirius nodded. "As I had suspected. I knew Lucius from school days, and had taken the Polyjuice Potion, but other than that, I wasn't really sure how he would act, so I made it up. However, because I looked like Malfoy, and sounded like Malfoy, you all assumed I was Malfoy."
Dean Thomas raised his hand reluctantly. "Um, Professor? If the Polyjuice Potion is such an effective potion, why isn't it used more often?"
Sirius smiled. "Good question. Why isn't it used more often? Hermione, why don't you tell us."
"Well, the Polyjuice Potion is a very complex potion. Not only does it take a month to brew, but it can only be used with humans. If animal fur is used, it becomes permanent unless a trained mediwizard reverses the effect. Also, although the taste alone isn't really enough to put people off using it, the sensation of turning into someone else is less than pleasant. . ." Hermione trailed off as Ron kicked her under the desk.
"Be careful, or people might think you're speaking from experience!" he hissed under his breath. Hermione gasped slightly and gazed at her desk. Sirius smiled, guessing correctly what Ron had told her.
"Thank you Hermione! You're absolutely right. The Polyjuice Potion is difficult to brew, and less than pleasant to experience. However, Dumbledore has given me permission to allow you to try some, if you dare." Sirius gestured to the trays of glasses on his desk. "The potion has been brewed by Professor Snape, who is better at that kind of thing, so you know it was made correctly. Each glass contains hair from a different person. They were randomly concocted. Now, if you wish to try one, you may come up and sample it. I assure you, none are animal, and the effect will wear off after one hour."
The class looked at each other, but no one moved to sample it. Sirius shrugged and picked up a glass. He studied the brown liquid for a moment, then downed it. Everyone gasped, except Remus, who merely shook his head. Sirius blinked at them, then started to change. Moments later, Rita Skeeter sat before them. She rubbed her nose, pulled out a mirror, and looked at herself. Remus broke the silence with a snort of laughter. Sirius shook his head.
"Oh, I almost forgot! If you do want to try some, you'd better put a stretching charm on your robes before drinking. Some potions have been charmed so you get the clothing of the people you turn into, but not all of them. You don't want your clothes tearing as you transform!"
The door flew open and Fred and George bounced in. "Hi Professors! Potions was canceled, so we were wondering if we could help you!"
"Potions was canceled?" Remus was shocked. "Why would Snape do such a thing?"
The twins shrugged. "No clue."
"I mean, it's not like Snape got mad at us."
"But it was hilarious, wasn't it?"
"Of course! That's not something I'll ever forget!"
"'Now add the lacewing,' and chocolate syrup comes out instead!"
"Or the salt instead of powdered bicorn horn!"
"And the cupcakes suspended in his jars instead of dead slimy things!"
"We got detention, but seeing Snape's expression after we swapped all his stuff for food was worth it!" they cried together.
George looked around. "Hey, where's Siri, uh, Professor Black?" Fred nudged him and pointed at Rita. "Oh, Polyjuice Potion! Can we have some?" Sirius grinned and gestured at the glasses. George chose one with a sickly yellow tinge while Fred picked a dark silvery-grey one. "Bottoms up!"
The twins shifted into two girls, Millicent Bulstrode and Fleur Delacour. They looked at each other, and collapsed laughing. Hermione pressed her hands over her mouth to stifle her laughter, while Ron and Harry laughed outright with most of the class. Sirius offered some potion to the real Millicent. "Do you really want to look like George's twin?" Millicent shuddered and grabbed a silvery-yellow potion. George huffed, offended. Millicent gasped as she turned into Draco. Ron groaned.
"Oh great, now there's two of him!"
While the class was distracted by Millicent, now Draco, Fred and George pounced. Fred held the real Draco down while George poured a green potion down his throat. Draco gagged for a moment. Sirius scowled at the twins. "Now boys, just because he's a nasty git doesn't mean you get to force him to take. . .oh my." Draco had pulled out a mirror, looked at himself, and promptly collapsed in a chair, moaning.
"Anyone but Potter! Why did it have to be Potter?"
Crabbe and Goyle were shocked by Draco's new appearance. With his new messy black hair, green eyes, and lighting bolt scar, it was almost impossible to tell him apart from the real Harry. Shrugging stupidly, they each chose a potion themselves. If Draco did it, it must be the right thing to do.
Cho Chang and Ginny Weasley blinked stupidly at the rest of the class a moment later. Draco took one look at them and started banging his head against the desk. Harry, Ron, and Hermione put their heads together.
"There is no way I'm going to stay looking like Draco, even if he does look like me, but I don't want to drink the potion alone. . ." Hermione silenced Harry.
"Don't worry, we'll drink some too!"
Ron selected three potions and brought them back to their seats. He gave Hermione an olive green one, Harry a bright yellow one, and kept an oily black one for himself. Hermione looked at hers warily. "Uh, Ron? Can I swap? I really don't like green. . ." Ron sighed and switched glasses with her.
"On the count of three, okay? One, two, three!"
The trio drank together and gagged together. Or at least Ron and Hermione did. Harry looked pleasantly surprised. "That didn't taste half bad!"
Remus struggled to breathe between laughter as Ron turned into Professor Trelawney, Hermione changed into Professor Snape, and Harry became Professor McGonagall. "Oh my, you do look. . ." Remus shook his head, unable to finish his sentence for laughing too hard.
Winky ran up to Harry and tugged on his robes. "Whoever you are, help me! Please!"
Harry squinted down at the house elf. "Oh, hi Winky! What are you doing out of the kitchens?"
Winky stamped her foot and scowled at him. "Oh, shut up! I'm not Winky, I'm Seamus! I tried to get Dumbledore over there to help me," Seamus flapped a hand behind him, where Harry was surprised to see Dumbledore was sitting, "but he said he really shouldn't! All I wanted was for someone to help me find some decent clothes! Maybe some pants or something!" Seamus tugged Winky's skirt lower with one hand while trying to hold it up with the other. Harry frowned and shrugged. "Sorry Seamus, I don't know what I can do." Seamus groaned and stomped off, pulling on Hermione's robes.
The classroom was turning into a zoo. Viktor Krum was walking around, admiring himself, while a new Hermione stood frozen, staring into Draco's mirror. Sirius was sitting on one of the desks, flexing his arms and grinning at the muscle he felt. Fred and George were staring at each other, mouthing, "I'm a boy?" over and over. In the back of the room, Remus, the only one who was still who he started off as, was laughing his head off, his dignified professor role thrown out the window.
(From here on out I'm going to use the names of their transformed forms. For a full list of students and their forms, see below)
Rita grinned, a truly evil smirk. Looking at the few glasses she had left, she picked a forest green one and went to sit on Remus' desk.
"Oh Mo~ony!" she crooned. "Aren't you forgetting something?" Remus stopped laughing abruptly and pushed his chair away.
"No, I don't think so, thanks for asking though." Remus tried to leave, but Millicent and Fleur were right behind him.
"Hey, because he's being a stubborn stick-in-the-mud, can we hold him down while you force him to take the potion? After all, he's not our professor this year. . ." The two girls trailed off, identical mischievous grins on their faces. Rita tapped her chin with one long fingernail.
"Well, since it's the two of you, and I'm the one doing the actual potion forcing, how about this. If you can hold him down long enough for me to force this down his throat, I'll give you each ten points to Gryffindor."
The girls cheered and dived at Remus, pinning him to the chair. Remus struggled, putting up a good fight, but others joined in to help. With Professor McGonagall in your lap, Millicent, Fleur, Snape and Trelawney clinging to your arms, and Winky sitting on your head, it's hard to break free, werewolf strength or not.
The dark green potion didn't taste nearly as bad as he had thought it would. In fact, Remus decided, as he held it in his mouth before swallowing, there was something oddly familiar about it, something that stirred up long-dormant memories. It tasted like a mix of wood, moss, and water, with a tinge of sweat and the slight tang that Remus associated with deer, especially stags named Prongs.
Moony raised his muzzle to the moon and howled. Padfoot sat beside him, silently watching. Breaking off mid-howl, the wolf looked at the large dog. He woofed before pointing his muzzle up again, but made no further sound. His eyes never left Padfoot's. Padfoot sighed and lifted his own muzzle to the moon. Moony's tail swished through the snow once before he started to howl again. Padfoot joined in, harmonizing with his friend.
The two canines finished their song to the moon together. With a flick of his ear, Padfoot trotted off for the Forbidden Forest. Moony sat confused, unsure of what to do now that he had gotten out of the Shack for the first time. Padfoot flicked his ear and Moony barked happily, chasing after him. The two raced each other to the forest, where a stag and a rat were waiting. Moony sat down again while the other three animals greeted each other. He inhaled deeply, tasting the unique feel of the forest, the wood, moss, and mist. The scents of the animals wove through the taste, and Moony drank in the feeling of being free. . .
"You have to swallow." Rita leaned forward impatiently, tapping her wand in her hand. Remus jolted from his stroll down memory lane and obeyed. A strange, twisting sensation overtook him as his body shifted into an unfamiliar shape. He closed his eyes and the transformation occurred, acutely aware of the silence that suddenly surrounded him.
"Who did I turn into?" Remus opened his eyes slowly and looked around. Everyone was staring at him with mixture of shock and amazement on their faces. Dumbledore spoke first.
"Why, you look just like Harry, only older, without the scar!"
Remus froze. An older version of Harry? But that would mean. . . He shook his head slowly. No. There was no way he could be. . .
Rita silently held up a mirror. James Potter stared out of it, thin and pale, but unmistakably James.
Oooh, Jamie! Anyone offended if I bring James back?
Here's the list of students and their transformed states. I'm counting house-elves as humans. They're humanish, and I just couldn't think of anyone else for Seamus, sorry.
Harry Potter- Professor McGonagall
Ron Weasley - Professor Trelawney
Hermione Granger – Professor Snape
Draco Malfoy – Harry Potter
Neville Longbottom – Professor Dumbledore
Seamus Finnigan - Winky
Goyle – Ginny Weasley
Crabbe – Cho Chang
Fred Weasley - Millicent Bulstrode
George Weasley - Fleur Delacour
Remus Lupin - James Potter
Sirius Black - Rita Skeeter
Dean Thomas – Viktor Krum
Patsy Parkinson – Hermione Granger
Blaise Zambini – Sirius Black
Lavender Brown – Fred Weasley
Parvati Patil – George Weasley
Millicent Bulstrode – Draco Malfoy
This prologue is going to be at least two parts, so there's a gap between this chapter and the next one, sorry.
~Crawler