Special thanks to my beta-reader, Crab Apple Fairy

Flying Free

Chapter 1

Harry wrapped his invisibility cloak tighter around himself. It was freezing in the night. He had to clench his jaw so that he would not chatter- he could not risk being caught in this important time.

With the movements of a skillful cat, Harry silently made his way towards the Astronomy Tower. Once he locked the door, he pulled the cloak off his head and summoned a fist-sized light ball. It was a trick he discovered during his last summer holidays. He did not know what exactly the light sphere was, but it really helped a lot when he was in a dark and cold environment.

Harry smiled in satisfaction as warmth swept over him. He sat down and pulled out a book under his cloak. He ran a finger over the title of the book: A Useful Guide to Becoming an Illegal Animagus, by Prongs and Padfoot. He had received the book from his Godfather on his fifteenth birthday.

Of course, Harry had informed Ron and Hermione about this and they could not wait to start practicing. Harry silently thought that they were quite talented. They had made great progress in the past few months. Becoming an animagus was not that easy.

They had spent months on practicing human transfiguration. Hermione, being her usual self, thought it was fascinating. She seemed to wave her wand almost carelessly, but Ron was still turned into a hairy man, just the way that she pictured him.

Ron was not so lucky. He tried to transfigure Hermione¡¦s arms into wings, but ended up turning them into two meaty masses without any feathers. Harry could not help but double over in a hysterical laughing fit. Trying hard to suppress his shaking, Harry managed to take a picture of a dumbfounded, badly-transfigured Hermione. The girl was furious and went crazy, so Harry spent the next fifteen minutes on running away from Hermione¡¦s wrath.

He did not succeed, though. The still laughing Gryffindor fell onto the ground pathetically as his legs stuck together and his feet turned into fins.

After managing to transfigure themselves using wands, they started to change each other wandlessly. This time Harry felt like he was in a paradise. He had a natural gift for performing wandless magic. This drove Ron and Hermione really frustrated as it gave Harry an excuse to give them pointy ears and bushy tails.

At the beginning of the term, Hermione had taken on the great responsibility of making the Animagus Revealing Potion. Yet Harry and Ron still stayed with her. So nearly every night, both boys had to listen to Hermione complaining about how difficult it was to complete the potion, and the limitations of it. For example, once you ingested the potion, the vision of your animagus form only stayed for three seconds. Besides, the vision would be blurry and badly out of focus. The potion taker could hardly see the color of the shadow of the animal.

Harry did not dare to say a word about this. Who knew? She might dump the cauldron on him and ask him to finish the mess. Ron, however, was stupid enough to talk back to her. The red-head received nasty boils on his face afterwards, and hid behind Harry the next day.

Harry was a little disappointed that he would not turn into a stag like his father. His animagus form was a big bird, which looked a lot like a mix between a parrot and a goose. While Harry was regretting that he had taken the potion in the first place, Hermione proudly informed the boys that she had the potential to become a feline. Ron said the shadow looked like a dog in his case, but it was too large in size.

The infamous trio started practicing transformation right away. Hermione was the first one to succeed. Bit by bit she turned into a fluffy brown cat. The fur on her head was bushy, which gave Harry the impression that it would knit into knots very often.

A month later, Ron could transform, too. It turned out that he was a wolf, not a dog. His fur had a red tint and there were freckles on his snout.

It was already Christmas, and Harry had not managed to fully transform yet.

Harry scowled. He did not know why, but he surely had a difficulty in transforming. Every time he practiced, there was a strange burning feeling that always snapped him out of his concentration. He could only turn his hair into feathers and his toes into talons.

The boy opened the book and read the instructions carefully. He wanted to manage it before the next term began. Ron and Hermione had gone home during the Christmas holidays for special reasons. Ron had to attend the funeral of his great uncle; Hermione had to visit her grandmother, who had fallen ill.

Harry almost smirked as he imagined his friends¡¦ astonished faces. If he practiced harder he could turn into a bird very soon. Smiling, he glanced at the first line of the content and prepared himself.

Relax. Close your eyes and listen to nature.

Harry felt the wind gently ruffle his hair. It was almost like the sensation of floating, flying in the air¡K A vision formed in his mind. It was a dark shadow of a bird, staring at him with beautiful green eyes.

You¡¦ll see a shadow of your animagus form in your mind. Focus on its eyes.

Upon eye contact, the shadow took flight. Visions of lakes and forests flowed through his mind. He looked to his side and saw glowing red feathers. His heart was suddenly filled with happiness and he wanted to sing¡K

Enjoy watching flashes of the life of your chosen animal.

There was a warm tingling sensation running through his limbs. Harry had a sudden urge to scratch himself with his imaginary claws.

There will be a tingling sensation. The transformation has begun. Concentrate on the feeling. Do not let your mind slip.

Harry felt the animal instincts kicking in. Being a human didn¡¦t seem right anymore. It was bliss to fly freely under the sunlight and allow the wind to caress his body...

The Gryffindor hastily pushed the inhuman thoughts out of his mind. Oh, there was the distracting burning sensation in his chest again. This time, the boy was going to ignore it. However, while he was concentrating on the tingling sensation, the burning feeling spread throughout his skinny body dangerously.

Harry panicked, but it was too late. He tried to suppress the burning sensation to no avail. Knowing that he had to stop the transformation immediately, Harry snapped his eyes open.

Raging fire was licking his body. The strange thing was that it did not hurt him. Nevertheless, Harry gave a frightened yell, only to discover that it had become a screech instead. The fire burned more fiercely and all Harry could see were bright golden flames.

Follow my voice... Be free... Someone whispered repeatedly. The voice was soft and comforting. Harry listened to it unconsciously. His closed his eyes and started to enjoy the warmth surrounding him.

His consciousness was slowly slipping away...

* * *

Author notes: For those who read ¡§Memory of a Wolf¡¨ and ¡§Friend or Foe¡¨, I¡¦m sorry that I haven¡¦t updated for a long time. My beta-reader has been very busy recently. I¡¦ve already written several new chapters for both stories. Thank you for your support.