Chapter 9
Soon finished
When the hall clock chimed eight o´clock, the three Gryffindors headed straight down to their Animagi lesson, lugging their bags of books along with them. There, they found Professor McGonnagal already waiting for them.
"Why have you brought those along?" she asked them, curiously looking at their bags of books.
"Well, Professor, because you told us to look for books that reference our animagi animals," Harry said, a bit surprised.
"Ah. Nicely done, Mr. Potter," McGonnagal said with a respectful nod. "Alas, today you all are going to practice your powers of concentration once again." Ron and Harry groaned softly, while Hermione simply frowned.
McGonnagal smiled mischieviously, then said, "Now now, it's not all that bad. Today I shall have you all concentrate on something a bit different. Right then, I want each of you to concentrate on your animal's anatomy and characteristics...in essence, all the details you'd need to become one. You shall be generously rewarded if you do well, trust me..."
Harry, Hermione, and Ron looked much relieved, and their grins showed their enthusiasm.
"Now, I shall instruct you when to begin. Oh, it would be wise if you three performed this particular exercise while standing, thank you. You needn't worry about when to stop...I´ll inform you should that be necessary. Now, close your eyes, dears, and concentrate," McGonnagal instructed.
Harry began to concentrate his thoughts on lions. Their shaggy manes, their tawny fur, to their wicked teeth and huge paws. Harry felt pleasantly drowsy, but fought the lethargy in his mind to remain focused on the Lion. He imagined the tufted tail, the smooth flanks, the muscular shoulders, and the huge head of the lion. Suddenly, and with no warning, Harry felt his skin tingle and prickle unnaturally. He groaned in his mind as he felt his body---his skin, his muscles, his very bones---suddenly sear as if they were on fire. Just when he thought he could endure it no longer, there was a white flash in his mind, a sort of a lurch in his surroundings, and he was still.
The next thing he heard was Professor McGonnagal´s voice---though much, much louder than usual---say in a somewhat shaky tone of voice, "Potter? Mr. Potter? Harry, open your eyes!"
He blinked, and reluctantly did as she bade him to. He first saw Hermione, then Ron, and then turned his head slightly to see Professor McGonnagal's face, a look of concern for his welfare quite evident. "Easy now, Potter. Just relax. That's a good fellow..." she soothed.
Harry grinned in his head, quite content to do just as she said.
"Quite extraordinary," McGonnagal breathed. "Blimey!" Harry heard Ron gasp.
"Oh my!" followed Hermione, her voice full of surprise.
Harry frowned then, wonder what all the fuss was about. It's not like he hadn't ever fainted before during these lessons.
"Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonnagal commanded in a quiet voice. "Do be a dear and bring that mirror over here at once."
Harry watched in strange fascination as Ron went over and picked up a full- length mirror by the wall and trotted it over to where they all were.
"Now, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonnagal told him in a mysterious voice. "Have a look at yourself."
Harry did...and nearly fainted. He had expected to see his normal bespectacled face in the mirror. But, what he saw now was the tawny furred face of a young male lion. Yellow-green eyes looked back where normally bright green ones should have been. He opened his mouth to protest and a deep rumble sounded. He blinked rapidly in shock, and nearly laughed at the expression---so human-like---on the face of the lion he'd undoubtedly become. He had done it!
"Oh, very well done, Mr. Potter!" McGonnagal congratulated him, clapping her hands together in amazement. "Ah, I have spotted the mark that will forever differentiate you from other lions, Mr. Potter." Harry could see it too. On his proud leonine forehead, a particular scar showed, darker flesh on the expanse of tawny fur. A scar...in the shape of a most particlar lightning bolt. Harry sighed, realizing that his scar, his link to Lord Voldemort was always going to be linked to who he was...no matter what form he might take.
"Now, Harry dear," McGonnagal said calmly, but her eyes were troubled. "Now, comes the difficult part."
Harry canted his big head to the right, gazing at McGonnagal quizzically. Hermione tittered, and Ron gave a lop-sided grin.
"Hush, you two," McGonnagal snapped in irritation. "This is no laughing matter. Any half-wit can tranfigure themselves...but it takes a true witch or wizard to complete the process and revert back to their true form. So, silence!"
She turned back to Harry, who continued to sit on his haunches. "Now, Mr. Potter, Harry...to turn yourself back into your human form, you must now concentrate your will on remembering your own body, in every detail, right down to the clothing you were wearing."
Harry thought, no big deal, I can do that. However, when he first tried, it wasn't simple at all. His leonine mind was having trouble remembering what the human Harry had looked like. You look fine just the way you are, his mind told him firmly.
Harry fought off panic, and brought his mind to bear, applying all his will. As if pushing his way through a fog, he began to glimpse his own human form. Dark, unruly hair, a long face, with inquisitive green eyes. Tall---not as tall as Ron, mind, lanky, dressed in jeans, a t-shirt with his black robes over it. He was still remembering details when he suddenly felt...well, different and he looked up.
Much to his delight, he was himself again!
Professor McGonnagal heaved a thankful sigh, and helped him up and into a nearby chair. "Good show, Potter. It´s always a bit iffy at first, you understand. The first dozen times are the trickiest," she assured him and gave him a refreshing goblet full of cool pumpkin juice, and a bar of chocolate to eat. "Rest easy, and be sure you eat the whole lot of that."
While Harry rested, Professor McGonnagal took a seat in a comfortable rocking chair. "Now, you two...continue your exercises," she said to Hermione and Ron. Harry looked over at his friends, watching them concentrate. Having experienced the process from the inside, he was more than a little curious as to what it appear like from the outside.
Hermione's brow was furrowed in intense concentration. Harry was surprised that he had transformed first...he'd always assumed Hermione would manage it before he could.
Harry's musings were interrupted when...suddenly, and most abruptly, Hermione´s face began to sprout black, glossy fur. Harry gawked as his friend then sprouted ears and a tail, fur blossoming all over. Then, as if Hermione's body was melting, she seemed to stretch into the form of a sleek, sinuous black panther. The only part of her fur that was not black was the very tip of her tail. That, Harry thought to himself, was Hermione's mark...much like his scar.
"Hermione! You did it!" Harry exclaimed, his face full of surprise and pride in her accomplishment.
Hermione opened her bright yellow eyes, gazing upon herself in the mirror. She then proceeded to walk back and forth before the mirror, checking herself over. With her tail moving softly and sinuously, she moved over to where Harry sat and gently butted his leg with her head, rubbing her flank against his jean-covered legs. She duplicated this greeting first with Ron and finally with Professor McGonnagal, who softly stroked the panther's head.
"Congratulations, Ms. Granger," Professor McGonnagal offered to the sleek panther who was her student. "Take a moment, then...begin the process to revert back to your natural form."
Ron shook his head, despairing if he'd ever manage what his two friends had done. Doubt began to creep into his mind, making the process all the more difficult. Sweat began to form on his brow.
Hermione, in panther form, sat down before the mirror, and the cat took on a most un-cat-like expression of intense concentration.
"That's right, Ms. Granger, concentrate," McGonnagal urged. But, the panther still remained, it's tail now begin to lash back and forth in irritation. "Come on, Hermione," McGonnagal murmured, feeling a bit of despair begin.
Hermione growled in her chest, continuing her concentration, her mind beginning to reel. She fought her way through the fog, fixing her thoughts on her human form: bushy brown hair, deep brown eyes, a bit gangling, though not too tall... And, abruptly, she experienced a flash and...she was herself again!
"I did it! Oh, I did it!" she exclaimed, bursting into tears, hugging Harry briefly, and then clinging tightly to Ron a while.
"Please, Ms. Granger," McGonnagal said, leading the tear-stained Hermione to sit down next to Harry, to drink her pumpkin juice and eat her chocolate bar. "You're disturbing Mr. Weasley's concentration."
Ron started concentrating once again. He was having great difficulty getting the image of a fox straight in his head...he seemed to always missing some detail that made the image incomplete and indistinct. He furrowed his brow and grimaced, attempting to etch the form of a fox firmly in his mind. He clenched his fists in anger and determination, his face becoming increasingly more and more red. A bit too red to be entirely natural, thank you. That was when both Harry and Hermione saw what was happening. Ron was transfiguring into a fox...right before their very eyes!
His nose became longer, drawing his mouth and nose into a sharp muzzle, while a bushy tail sprouted out of the back of his trousers. A white spot just above his right eye came into view; that being his identifying mark. Again, Harry watched one of his friend's form blur and assume the shape of an animal, in Ron's case a fox.
"Eh, Ron...you did it, mate!" Harry said and Ron looked into the mirror, dumbfounded. Ron attempted to talk, but all that came out was an odd yip and bark, which Ron stopped quickly.
Surprisingly enough, it was Ron who had the least amount of trouble turning back into his human form. Hermione squealed and ran to hug Ron tightly, while Harry thumped Ron on the back in congratulations.
Ron was all smiles as he ate his chocolate frog, and drank his pumpkin juice.
"We did it!" Hermione said happily, her big brown eyes still glistening. "We really did it."
"I wouldn't say that just yet, Ms. Granger," McGonnagal informed them firmly. "Even if you able to assume your animal form, you still must learn to control them. It is quite different, as you all shall see, being an animal. But, that's it for tonight. I shall see you all tomorrow." And, with that, she turned into her tabby form and trotted primly out the door.
Hermione whispered, "Objectus conjuris," and she whisked a nearby ball of bright golden yarn into her hand. She paused a moment, then tossed it down on the floor so that it rolled to a stop in front of McGonnagal, who stared down at it a few moments before attacking the yarn with glee.
"Ah, I see what you mean, Professor," Hermione said, making her way over to reclaim the yarn ball from the playing cat. "We'll see you all tomorrow, ma'am."
McGonnagal transfigured herself back into her natural form, and tried to appear as dignified as possible. "Yes. Yes, tomorrow then. Dismissed."
Soon finished
When the hall clock chimed eight o´clock, the three Gryffindors headed straight down to their Animagi lesson, lugging their bags of books along with them. There, they found Professor McGonnagal already waiting for them.
"Why have you brought those along?" she asked them, curiously looking at their bags of books.
"Well, Professor, because you told us to look for books that reference our animagi animals," Harry said, a bit surprised.
"Ah. Nicely done, Mr. Potter," McGonnagal said with a respectful nod. "Alas, today you all are going to practice your powers of concentration once again." Ron and Harry groaned softly, while Hermione simply frowned.
McGonnagal smiled mischieviously, then said, "Now now, it's not all that bad. Today I shall have you all concentrate on something a bit different. Right then, I want each of you to concentrate on your animal's anatomy and characteristics...in essence, all the details you'd need to become one. You shall be generously rewarded if you do well, trust me..."
Harry, Hermione, and Ron looked much relieved, and their grins showed their enthusiasm.
"Now, I shall instruct you when to begin. Oh, it would be wise if you three performed this particular exercise while standing, thank you. You needn't worry about when to stop...I´ll inform you should that be necessary. Now, close your eyes, dears, and concentrate," McGonnagal instructed.
Harry began to concentrate his thoughts on lions. Their shaggy manes, their tawny fur, to their wicked teeth and huge paws. Harry felt pleasantly drowsy, but fought the lethargy in his mind to remain focused on the Lion. He imagined the tufted tail, the smooth flanks, the muscular shoulders, and the huge head of the lion. Suddenly, and with no warning, Harry felt his skin tingle and prickle unnaturally. He groaned in his mind as he felt his body---his skin, his muscles, his very bones---suddenly sear as if they were on fire. Just when he thought he could endure it no longer, there was a white flash in his mind, a sort of a lurch in his surroundings, and he was still.
The next thing he heard was Professor McGonnagal´s voice---though much, much louder than usual---say in a somewhat shaky tone of voice, "Potter? Mr. Potter? Harry, open your eyes!"
He blinked, and reluctantly did as she bade him to. He first saw Hermione, then Ron, and then turned his head slightly to see Professor McGonnagal's face, a look of concern for his welfare quite evident. "Easy now, Potter. Just relax. That's a good fellow..." she soothed.
Harry grinned in his head, quite content to do just as she said.
"Quite extraordinary," McGonnagal breathed. "Blimey!" Harry heard Ron gasp.
"Oh my!" followed Hermione, her voice full of surprise.
Harry frowned then, wonder what all the fuss was about. It's not like he hadn't ever fainted before during these lessons.
"Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonnagal commanded in a quiet voice. "Do be a dear and bring that mirror over here at once."
Harry watched in strange fascination as Ron went over and picked up a full- length mirror by the wall and trotted it over to where they all were.
"Now, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonnagal told him in a mysterious voice. "Have a look at yourself."
Harry did...and nearly fainted. He had expected to see his normal bespectacled face in the mirror. But, what he saw now was the tawny furred face of a young male lion. Yellow-green eyes looked back where normally bright green ones should have been. He opened his mouth to protest and a deep rumble sounded. He blinked rapidly in shock, and nearly laughed at the expression---so human-like---on the face of the lion he'd undoubtedly become. He had done it!
"Oh, very well done, Mr. Potter!" McGonnagal congratulated him, clapping her hands together in amazement. "Ah, I have spotted the mark that will forever differentiate you from other lions, Mr. Potter." Harry could see it too. On his proud leonine forehead, a particular scar showed, darker flesh on the expanse of tawny fur. A scar...in the shape of a most particlar lightning bolt. Harry sighed, realizing that his scar, his link to Lord Voldemort was always going to be linked to who he was...no matter what form he might take.
"Now, Harry dear," McGonnagal said calmly, but her eyes were troubled. "Now, comes the difficult part."
Harry canted his big head to the right, gazing at McGonnagal quizzically. Hermione tittered, and Ron gave a lop-sided grin.
"Hush, you two," McGonnagal snapped in irritation. "This is no laughing matter. Any half-wit can tranfigure themselves...but it takes a true witch or wizard to complete the process and revert back to their true form. So, silence!"
She turned back to Harry, who continued to sit on his haunches. "Now, Mr. Potter, Harry...to turn yourself back into your human form, you must now concentrate your will on remembering your own body, in every detail, right down to the clothing you were wearing."
Harry thought, no big deal, I can do that. However, when he first tried, it wasn't simple at all. His leonine mind was having trouble remembering what the human Harry had looked like. You look fine just the way you are, his mind told him firmly.
Harry fought off panic, and brought his mind to bear, applying all his will. As if pushing his way through a fog, he began to glimpse his own human form. Dark, unruly hair, a long face, with inquisitive green eyes. Tall---not as tall as Ron, mind, lanky, dressed in jeans, a t-shirt with his black robes over it. He was still remembering details when he suddenly felt...well, different and he looked up.
Much to his delight, he was himself again!
Professor McGonnagal heaved a thankful sigh, and helped him up and into a nearby chair. "Good show, Potter. It´s always a bit iffy at first, you understand. The first dozen times are the trickiest," she assured him and gave him a refreshing goblet full of cool pumpkin juice, and a bar of chocolate to eat. "Rest easy, and be sure you eat the whole lot of that."
While Harry rested, Professor McGonnagal took a seat in a comfortable rocking chair. "Now, you two...continue your exercises," she said to Hermione and Ron. Harry looked over at his friends, watching them concentrate. Having experienced the process from the inside, he was more than a little curious as to what it appear like from the outside.
Hermione's brow was furrowed in intense concentration. Harry was surprised that he had transformed first...he'd always assumed Hermione would manage it before he could.
Harry's musings were interrupted when...suddenly, and most abruptly, Hermione´s face began to sprout black, glossy fur. Harry gawked as his friend then sprouted ears and a tail, fur blossoming all over. Then, as if Hermione's body was melting, she seemed to stretch into the form of a sleek, sinuous black panther. The only part of her fur that was not black was the very tip of her tail. That, Harry thought to himself, was Hermione's mark...much like his scar.
"Hermione! You did it!" Harry exclaimed, his face full of surprise and pride in her accomplishment.
Hermione opened her bright yellow eyes, gazing upon herself in the mirror. She then proceeded to walk back and forth before the mirror, checking herself over. With her tail moving softly and sinuously, she moved over to where Harry sat and gently butted his leg with her head, rubbing her flank against his jean-covered legs. She duplicated this greeting first with Ron and finally with Professor McGonnagal, who softly stroked the panther's head.
"Congratulations, Ms. Granger," Professor McGonnagal offered to the sleek panther who was her student. "Take a moment, then...begin the process to revert back to your natural form."
Ron shook his head, despairing if he'd ever manage what his two friends had done. Doubt began to creep into his mind, making the process all the more difficult. Sweat began to form on his brow.
Hermione, in panther form, sat down before the mirror, and the cat took on a most un-cat-like expression of intense concentration.
"That's right, Ms. Granger, concentrate," McGonnagal urged. But, the panther still remained, it's tail now begin to lash back and forth in irritation. "Come on, Hermione," McGonnagal murmured, feeling a bit of despair begin.
Hermione growled in her chest, continuing her concentration, her mind beginning to reel. She fought her way through the fog, fixing her thoughts on her human form: bushy brown hair, deep brown eyes, a bit gangling, though not too tall... And, abruptly, she experienced a flash and...she was herself again!
"I did it! Oh, I did it!" she exclaimed, bursting into tears, hugging Harry briefly, and then clinging tightly to Ron a while.
"Please, Ms. Granger," McGonnagal said, leading the tear-stained Hermione to sit down next to Harry, to drink her pumpkin juice and eat her chocolate bar. "You're disturbing Mr. Weasley's concentration."
Ron started concentrating once again. He was having great difficulty getting the image of a fox straight in his head...he seemed to always missing some detail that made the image incomplete and indistinct. He furrowed his brow and grimaced, attempting to etch the form of a fox firmly in his mind. He clenched his fists in anger and determination, his face becoming increasingly more and more red. A bit too red to be entirely natural, thank you. That was when both Harry and Hermione saw what was happening. Ron was transfiguring into a fox...right before their very eyes!
His nose became longer, drawing his mouth and nose into a sharp muzzle, while a bushy tail sprouted out of the back of his trousers. A white spot just above his right eye came into view; that being his identifying mark. Again, Harry watched one of his friend's form blur and assume the shape of an animal, in Ron's case a fox.
"Eh, Ron...you did it, mate!" Harry said and Ron looked into the mirror, dumbfounded. Ron attempted to talk, but all that came out was an odd yip and bark, which Ron stopped quickly.
Surprisingly enough, it was Ron who had the least amount of trouble turning back into his human form. Hermione squealed and ran to hug Ron tightly, while Harry thumped Ron on the back in congratulations.
Ron was all smiles as he ate his chocolate frog, and drank his pumpkin juice.
"We did it!" Hermione said happily, her big brown eyes still glistening. "We really did it."
"I wouldn't say that just yet, Ms. Granger," McGonnagal informed them firmly. "Even if you able to assume your animal form, you still must learn to control them. It is quite different, as you all shall see, being an animal. But, that's it for tonight. I shall see you all tomorrow." And, with that, she turned into her tabby form and trotted primly out the door.
Hermione whispered, "Objectus conjuris," and she whisked a nearby ball of bright golden yarn into her hand. She paused a moment, then tossed it down on the floor so that it rolled to a stop in front of McGonnagal, who stared down at it a few moments before attacking the yarn with glee.
"Ah, I see what you mean, Professor," Hermione said, making her way over to reclaim the yarn ball from the playing cat. "We'll see you all tomorrow, ma'am."
McGonnagal transfigured herself back into her natural form, and tried to appear as dignified as possible. "Yes. Yes, tomorrow then. Dismissed."