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Ch. 8 The Animal Within
As it was not quite dinner time Harry and Hermione went off in search of Professor McGonagall to start their studies. Hermione was almost skipping down the corridor in excitement and Harry was lost in thought. I wonder what I will end up becoming. A stag would be cool, on the other hand, maybe I want something original. I guess in the end it doesn't matter because, like professor Dumbledore said, the animal picks me and not the other way around.
"Potter, Granger, nice to see you" Professor McGonagall said cheerfully as they entered her classroom. "I understand we are to be working on animagus transformations? If you made it past the Headmaster I suppose it will be alright to teach you."
"Yes professor" Harry said. "I have these two books to help us study for the process."
"That is quite a bit of foresight Mr. Potter" praised Professor McGonagall. "Those particular texts will be helpful for you and Miss Granger personally in our time apart I suggest you study the advanced one. By the time you leave this room for dinner we will have coved the contents of the first book."
"Thank you, Professor" Harry and Hermione echoed.
"Will we need to take notes" wondered Hermione.
"No, this will all be practical so I don't know that notes would be that helpful in the end."
"The first step" Professor McGonagall started "is to clear your mind. Only when your mind is cleared will you be able to see your animal. Animagus training is very gratifying in the beginning because you make rapid progress then slow as you learn to perfect your animal self."
"What do we do when we have cleared our minds" asked Harry.
"Clear it more deeply than that Potter!" snapped the professor. "Concentrate deeply on clearing your mind. When you think your consciousness is clear enough say the words "Animus et Homo" and your animal will appear in your mind. Avoid the initial instinct to come back to reality. Study your animal self. Know its markings and its features. This particular animal is not just some random beast, but what you will actually become, stripes, spots, and all. Careful attention to detail now will save you time down the road when you are perfecting your self."
Harry and Hermione stood looking into the distance of their empty minds reaching mentally toward nothingness. Each in turn murmured "Animus et Homo" and both made a sharp intake of breath when they saw their animagus forms slowly turning in front of their mind's eye for inspection. Hermione, the better studier returned first and sat down exhausted. Ten minutes later Harry emerged from his trance and sat down. Hermione wondered about Harry's stamina. The several minutes that she had spent had tapped her out of her energy, but Harry had almost tripled her time and looked only mildly tired.
"What did you each see?" asked Professor McGonagall.
"I saw a giant brown bear" said Hermione. "It stood about 5 feet tall at the shoulders and 11 feet tall on its hind paws."
"Excellent work Miss Granger. You, as you probably already know, are a dire bear, the largest and most magical of all bears. Your transfiguration will be difficult because of the size difference. Not often do people's animagus forms tend toward bears, this will indeed be interesting, Mr. Potter then?"
"I saw a pure red unicorn with one black spot between its eyes. The horn was silver and the mane was very unruly."
"This is no time for jokes Mr. Potter, what did you really see?"
"I'm serious about this Professor! I stood 22 hands high and my horn was 2 feet long."
"You're sure you saw this Harry? This is incredibly rare. Hermione was rare enough, but you, there has not been an animagus unicorn since the head and founder of our House. That will be enough for now. I will meet you back here in the morning. Right now it is time for dinner and then you will each study your animal and I expect a thorough report about your powers as each of you has a magical creature."