A/N: Hey yo! First of all, I want to apologize for taking a month and a half to write this. ::pulls out list of excuses:: First of all, I went to Florida and then to New York. This took three weeks. Not to mention Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix came out (the best book in the world, which I read in a whopping 8 ½ hours! Woo hoo!). Then I had writer's block (curse it all!). And, for the last week, I have been teaching third graders at Vacation Bible School!
Anywho, I just want to make a little note. This is VERY IMPORTANT so read JUST THIS PART if you please! I am writing this story at the SAME TIME as the Order of the Phoenix. The person who dies has NOT YET DIED in this story. His/her death will not be mentioned, nor will he/she be hinted at. He/she WILL be in the story. DO NOT put him/her in the reviews. Thank you!
Chapter 17
Animal Instinct (Harry)
My name is Harry Potter.
I had just "acquired" Mrs. Norris. This shocked me a little, since I had actually touched her. I was attempting to morph her. After the episode in Hogsmeade, I was starting to think this wasn't as good an idea as I had thought at first.
I closed my eyes and concentrated. Mrs. Norris was easy to imagine. How many times had she caught me doing things I shouldn't have been doing?
I opened my eyes when I felt a tingling sensation crawl down my skin. It wasn't unfamiliar. I'd had many spells put on me that felt like this. I looked down to see what had caused it.
I gasped in surprise, and not many things surprise me anymore. Sandy-colored fur rippled down my skin. My chewed fingernails lengthened and sharpened, becoming claws. My fingers thickened and reshaped.
I felt my ears as they slid up my face to the top of my head. At the same time, my glasses were sucked into my face. I whirled around to look in the mirror and immediately wished I hadn't.
My face looked like Hermione's had when she accidentally put a cat hair in her Polyjuice Potion. My face was furry and my eyes were cat-like, yellow, and huge. My nose sprouted whiskers and reshaped itself. My teeth became incredibly sharp and my tongue became as rough as sandpaper. At this point, I had to force myself to look away.
CRRRACK! With a huge cracking sound that echoed, my knees reversed direction. At the same time, my spine forced me onto all fours. A tail lashed out behind me.
Something almost like another mind bubbled underneath mine. It held an air of purpose. I was supposed to patrol the school for students breaking the rules and tell Filch!
My ears pricked up at the sound of voices. I snapped my head around to see who had made it. I looked up at the human children, who stared back.
One male leaned to another and muttered, "He morphed clothes, Jake. He just morphed clothes."
"Mreow." I said.
"Harry?" asked a female with a kind voice. She squatted down beside me and looked into my eyes. "Harry, get a grip. You're Harry Potter. You're human and have human friends, Ron and Hermione."
I just stared up at her, swishing my tail.
She chewed on her lip and sighed. "Lord Voldemort," she whispered.
The word snapped me back into my right mind. Whoa! I yelled, backing into the wall.
"Harry, calm down! That's totally normal. You get caught up in the instincts on your first morph. It's normal." Jake said.
Breath, I ordered myself. I stared around me, studying my new perspective.
So this was what it was like to be Mrs. Norris.
This is… strange, I breathed. I stalked around Marco and peered around Rachel's legs. A million new scents filled my nostrils. I sniffed Rachel's leg. She felt my nose and twitched away. She smelled funny. She smelled almost like… magic.
Holy hippogriffs, I can smell magic! I gasped.
"What?" demanded the Animorphs as one.
I can smell magic, I repeated.
"That could be useful." Marco said with a grin.
Is it normal for the animal's… personality to come with the instincts?
Jake glanced at Ax, then Cassie. "No."
Hmmm… I said thoughtfully. I swished my tail and plodded across the wet floor to where Moaning Myrtle usually resides. The place reeked of death and powerful magic. I sneezed and shook my head.
"Harry, you do realize you just morphed clothes, right?" asked Tobias.
Let me guess… that's not normal either.
"Ding, ding, ding! We've got a winner!" laughed Marco.
"Well, it sure does give you an advantage," Rachel said, "You won't freeze to death in this freezing cold weather!"
Freezing cold? It's actually quite a warm autumn. I said, surprised.
She only shivered in reply.
"Are we going to take a walk around the school?" asked Cassie.
No! I yelled before anyone else could say anything. Students walking around with Mrs. Norris just isn't normal. Normal people go in the other direction, unless they purposely want a detention. I felt an involuntary shiver run down my spine as I thought of my continuing detentions with Professor Umbridge.
"What? Have you had bad experiences with teachers?" asked Marco.
You don't know the half of it. I said dryly. I did forget to mention the face that Umbridge's goal in life was to make me miserable, and that Snape loathed me because I look like my Dad…
Footsteps echoed outside. I jumped in surprise and hissed. We waited in tense silence of the footsteps echoed, getting loud, and slowly faded away.
I'd better demorph, I said breathlessly.
Jake nodded fervently.
I imagined myself again. This time, my morph took seconds. The Animorphs were actually gaping at me when I resumed my natural form. It wasn't as weird as last time. You tend to get used to magic after a while.
"That," Cassie fervently, "Is the fastest demorph I have ever seen in my life."
I shrugged, feeling a little uncomfortable. I rubbed my scar, which tingled a little. Immediately, her hand shot out and she grabbed my hand. She stared at the scar on the back of my hand, which said, "I must not tell lies."
"Where did you get this?" she demanded.
"I—er—detention," I said, "Professor Umbridge… doesn't like it when I tell the class Voldemort is back." I pulled my hand free. "It's nothing. I've had worse."
She gave me a disbelieving look, but said nothing after that.
I opened the Chamber of Secrets for them. "I'll see you tomorrow," I said, waving as they disappeared down the pipe one-by-one.
I trudged back to the common room. Hermione sat with Ron, playing wizarding chess. Ron grinned up at me. Well, at least the Yeerk did. He was winning. Hermione seemed a tad bit jumpy, but she was relaxing into the game.
I still though it was good for her to be loosing at something.
I flopped down on the couch and stared off into space.
"Hey, Harry," the Yeerk in Ron's head said cheerily.
I grunted.
"Whassamatter?" he asked.
"Lousy day," I replied, "You know, detention with Umbridge and everything."
"Aaah," he said knowingly. I could tell he was sorting through Ron's memories as easily as if he was using a Pensive. "Not as bad as the Forbidden Forest, is it?"
"No."
Crookshanks meowed loudly and leapt into my lap. I absently stroked his back. He began to purr. I looked down at the ugly ginger cat and an idea came to mind. I closed my eyes and concentrated. Crookshanks fell limp over my legs.
"Awww," cooed Hermione, "He likes you!"
Ron rolled his eyes. I smiled mirthlessly. Little did she know, I could now become her cat.
This was going to be one useful morph.
A/N: ::wails:: Sorry it was so short! I'll get more up soon!
BUT for a little treat and just for my curiosity, I'm going to include an excerpt of one of my original fictions. This has NOTHING to do with Harry Potter or the Animorphs. You will not find it on FictionPress.net, but I hope to get it published as a book. Enjoy:
Alexander nodded. He ran his hand over the top of his walking stick. "We aren't insane. No. It happens because we're special. We're not like other people, Ridara. We have more purpose, more knowledge, more reason. There's a job we were created for. There is a prophecy that we must fulfill."
"Ooookay," Ridara said. She slowly backed her chair up and started to rise. "You know, I might not be insane, but you defiantly are." She told him.
"No," Alexander said. With an action Ridara didn't have time to see, his hand shot out and grabbed her arm. She tried to jerk out of his grip, but he held fast with strength he didn't look capable of having. She quickly sat down.
"Ridara," he said, "I am not insane, nor are you. I am a Protector, as you are. You are having strange dreams, are you not? Sometimes, when something is mentioned or you see something, your whole body freezes up. You see things that can't possibly be true. You have visions that show horrific shadow-beings."
Ridara started to shake. "Yes," she said quietly, "Yes, but how do you know? How can you possibly know?"
Alexander sighed. "I see it too, only in a different context. You see things of the past, whereas I see things of the future. The things you see have already been. The things I see are yet to occur. The time has come for you to know. The time has come for you to learn."
"Now?"
"Yes, now. Now you must learn of the thing that is coming in the near future. You must see what I see."
"But how?"
"This is how." Alexander said. As if in slow motion, he stretched his hand toward her face. She watched, unmoving. In what seemed like hours, his three middle fingers gently brushed the skin on her forehead. They were cool and dry.
Ridara watched Alexander intently. His eyes slid out of focus and his eyelids fluttered. His face muscles relaxed. Suddenly, the cool fingers on her forehead burned like fire.
Alexander's face and the classroom dissolved. It was replaced by a view of a street. Which street, Ridara knew not. All streets in the World basically looked the same. Judging from the lack of light, it was night. The happenings on this street, however, looked very familiar.
People were running and screaming in panic. Loud squealing sounds filled her ears. Shadow-creatures leapt from nearby trees and rooftops onto panicked, unsuspecting victims. Some people were killed and eaten, while others were picked up and carried away. Still others were just slain and left dead on the streets. The people who were killed were generally elderly people and very young children.
Blood was strewn everywhere. The stench of it pronounced itself loudly in Ridara's nose. Strange collars were placed around some people's necks. These people got brutally dragged away at a running pace. They often fell and got injured, adding to the blood already spilt upon the tar.
Ridara wanted to scream. She wanted to close her eyes and shut it all out. She wanted to stuff her fingers in her ears to stop the sounds of the dying and strange shadow-creatures. She wanted to stop the reek of blood from entering her nostrils. She wanted to—
It stopped suddenly and without warning. Ridara could see Alexander's face and her familiar classroom. She was drenched with cold sweat, which made her clothes stick to her skin. Tears were trickling quietly down her face. She gave a muffled sob.
"They're coming," Alexander said quietly, "And they're coming for us."
Muahahaha! Hope you like it! Till next time, this is Meagan, over and out!
