Chapter Eight
Disclaimer: see chapter One or Six
A/N: sorry for the delay, but it's finally here!
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Harry and Ron stared at her.
"Really? So soon?" Harry asked, amazed that it was almost finished.
"Yes." she said, " Come up to the sitting room around two, and we can use it. I also found something else that will help us, but we can talk about that later..."
After breakfast, time crawled. Harry chatted with Ginny for a bit, but soon lost interest. Sirius was off doing something for the Order, Lupin was at Hogwarts discussing something with Professor Dumbledore, Ron was still finishing his homework, and Hermione was adding some finishing touches to the potion. So, poor Harry was bored. He had practiced a few hexes he found in a good book that Sirius had given him earlier, and he had found most of them easy, except one. For some reason he couldn't get it quite right, and so he, in frustration, gave up.
He wandered around aimlessly, until his wanderings brought him to the empty kitchen. He riffled through the many drawers, hoping to find something that would spark his interest. What he did find, however, was a rumpled little book entitled 'The Magic of Cooking: by Alianora Sparrowolf', and he strongly believed it to have belonged to Mrs. Weasley. Thinking that it might come in handy some day to know how to do magical cooking, Harry took the book, sat down at the table, and promptly began to read.
The book was actually quite full of helpful tips and recipes, and Harry found himself enjoying it. He found out that you could conjure quite a few thing just out of air, depending on how good at magic you were, or you could just summon up an ingredient or two and mix them together. He decided to start out on making tea using magic, but the problem was that he had to be able to conjure up the teapot with it.
Harry tried again and again, and, half an hour later was finally successful at conjuring tea in a teapot. The tea, he found, was watery, cold, and bland, but he was still pleased that he could make any tea at all, no matter how bad it tasted. He picked up the book, and turned the page, where there was directions on conjuring teabiscuts. It looked like it would be simpler than making tea, but Harry later found out that it was just as difficult.
Ron, who decided to take a break from homework and get a bite to eat, walked in on Harry looking very pissed off at a pile of very crumbly, burnt, and otherwise dreadful looking biscuits. He was mumbling something under his breath, and Ron caught the words "...bloody biscuits..."
"Urm, Harry? What are you doing?" Ron asked, eyeing the biscuits carefully.
"Trying to make biscuits, obviously." answered Harry, not taking his eyes off the crumbly pile.
"I gather it isn't coming along very well..." Ron commented.
"Bloody things just keep coming out crumbly! I don't know why, either..." Harry mumbled, leaning in to examine the biscuits closer, as if they were hiding some secret from him.
"...I see..." said Ron, "Well, it's almost two, so why don't we see how the potion is coming along?"
Harry looked up from his pathetic, so- called biscuits. "Oh, all right." he said, and stood up from the table. "The biscuits can wait, I guess..." So they trudged up the stairs and into the odd- smelling sitting room, where Hermione was slowly stirring a small cauldron on the floor. When they came in, she looked up.
"Just a few more minuets," she said, "and it will be finished."
Harry and Ron flipped through the various books Hermione had found of the different types of animals, and some had examples of witches and wizards who had turned into that animal before. Harry found an interesting book about animals and their personalities, and started skimming through it, hoping to get insight as to what his animal might be. He found quite a few that would fit Hermione or Ron, but not many of the animals seemed to suit him.
After a few minutes had passed, Hermione put down the spoon she was stirring with, and turned to face Harry and Ron.
"It's done!" she said. "Get the parchment, and we can start."
Harry grabbed a few sheets of parchment off of the nearby chair, and handed it to Hermione. Ron scooted a little closer to the cauldron, to get a better look of what was inside.
"So... who wants to go first?" asked Harry. Hermione and Ron both looked at him.
"Urm..." muttered Ron, thinking.
"I'll go." said Hermione in a determined sort of voice. "after all, I made it..."
Hermione took a spoonful of the potion, added a drop of blood from the pricked index finger of her wand hand, and dribbled it on the piece of parchment in front of her. As soon as the mixture hit the parchment, it began to dissolve, until there was not a trace of the substance left on the paper. They all waited with baited breath.
"..is it working?" asked Ron, starting to get impatient.
"It is supposed to take a bit to soak in, so just wait!" hissed Hermione.
They all stared intently at the parchment. Then, and predicted, spidery writing began to form words on the paper.
FOX
Owl
Badger
Eagle
Hermione gazed at the paper silently, memorizing the four possible forms her Animagus could take.
"Fox, owl, badger, eagle..." Harry muttered, looking at the sheet, "...all sound like they would fit you, Hermione."
Hermione smiled, relieved she hadn't gotten anything silly or weak.
"Who's next?" She asked the two boys.
"...I guess I could go next..." volunteered Ron.
"Alright then." said Hermione, moving away from her spot in front of the cauldron. she handed him the spoon, and the needle to prick his finger with. "Remember, prick the index finger on your wand hand, or else the spell won't work!" she reminded him.
"I know, I know." he grumbled back. He then proceeded to get a spoonful of potion, put in the drop of his blood, and pour it on his empty paper.
This time, the potion worked quicker, and in a matter of moments, the spidery writing was scrawling out words on his fresh parchment.
Goat
Lion
Squirrel
Ram
"Em..." said Ron, looking down at the writing on the sheet. Apparently, he wasn't really expecting those animals. "...a goat, and... SQUIRREL?!"
"Hey, at least you didn't get a flobberworm or a Blast-Ended Skrewt or something like that." consoled Harry. "and lions and goats aren't bad at all!"
"Yeah, but" began Ron, "what if I turn into... a SQUIRREL?!"
"Urm..." said Harry. "it would be good for spying on people and hiding and ...stuff?"
"yeah, right." said Ron, somewhat sarcastically, even though he knew Harry had a point.
"well, Harry, it's your turn." Hermione told Harry, and Ron moved out of the way while Harry picked up the necessary items.
'alright' he thought to himself 'here goes...'
He picked up the spoon, and dipped it into the potion. Then, he pricked the index finger of his right hand, and let the drop of blood fall into the spoon. When he was positive that the blood had mixed well enough with the potion, he dribbled the contents of the spoon onto his own blank sheet of parchment.
This time, it took longer than it did for Ron or Hermione, but after a minute or two, the spidery writing was yet again forming words.
Hawk
Wolf
Raven
Black Useasu
Harry stared at the last word on the paper.
"...Black Useasu? What the heck is that?" He asked, completely bewildered.
Hermione thought a minute. "I don't know. Let me look it up." she opened up a book on animals, then handed one to Ron and Harry to look through.
Harry flipped through the book he had, but it wasn't there.
After a while, in which no one had any luck in finding Harry's mystery animal, Harry got a realization. The books they were all looking through had either non- magical or really common animals in them. What if the animal was some rare magical creature.
"Hey, Hermione," he said. "Are there any books on the more rare magical creatures up here?"
Hermione looked up from the book she was looking in.
"Yes over there." she pointed to a pile of books. "I hadn't thought of looking in it, actually. it's called 'Magical Menagerie; the rare and exotic creatures of the magical world.'"
Harry got up and walked over to the pile of books, and after a moment sorting, he found the book he was looking for. He walked back to where Ron and Hermione were sitting, and plopped down with the book.
He flipped through and sure enough, near the end of the book, he found the animal.
"Hey guys!" he called to Hermione and Ron. "I think I found it!"
Hermione and Ron scooted over to read over Harry's shoulder, and he read aloud from the text.
" The Useasu is a very rare and magical bird, originating from Finland. It is a rather large bird, About twice the size of a full- grown phoenix, and has an extremely large wingspan. It comes in four different colors; Black, white, blue, and yellow. Each different color gives the bird different powers, but all the colors of Useasu have one power in common: shape shifting, which is why the Useasu is so hard to find. The feathers, tears, blood, talons, and bones of the Useasu all have highly potent magical properties, but if it is taken unwillingly from the bird, it's power is nullified, which is why the feathers, tears, etc. of the Useasu are all so highly valuable.
The Yellow Useasu has magic centered on the sun, and daylight. It can take the form of anything that flies, weather it be a fly or a Dragon, but the Yellow Useasu is considered the weakest of it's kind.
The Blue Useasu's magic is with water, like seas and rivers, but not with rain. It can change into any water creature at will.
The White Useasu has purification magic, and also deals with truth and justice. It can take on the form of any animal that walks, and prefers the form of the unicorn. It is considered the second strongest of the Useasu.
The Black Useasu is the rarest of its kind, and only few have been known to ever have existed. It has magic in all types, but likes to center on protection, and the defense of the helpless. It is a very sorrowful, and its cry is said to sound like a mix of flutes, and the crying of hundreds of people. When the Black Useasu looks a person in the eye, it can make them forget all their sorrows, acting sort of like the opposite of the dementor. It is said that the tear of the Black Useasu can bring life back to the newly dead, and replenish the soul when it has been taken, in most cases by dementors. The bird, said to be the most powerful of the four, can change into any animal at will, and can even mix some together to acquire it's need."
"...Woah..." said Ron, dazed. "A bird that can change into any animal?"
"That could be very useful to have, Harry." Hermione told him seriously.
"Yeah, but that probably won't be my animagus, it's at the bottom of the list." he pointed out.
"The order doesn't really matter, Harry" said Hermione. "And, you know the other spell I said I found?"
"What about it?" asked Ron.
"Well, you see," Hermione said. "It's this strange ritual thing I found in this really old book. It's supposed to change you into the form of your Animagus, for a brief moment of time, without actually teaching you how to do it. The book said that it makes learning to be an Animagus a ton easier, since you would know what being your animal felt like. And it uses the exact same potion as the one we just used, so we won't have to make another one."
"Are you saying we can find out what animal our form will be by just doing a little ritual?" asked Ron incredulously.
She nodded.
"Well?" said Harry. "What are we waiting for?"
----------------------------AUTHORS NOTE--------------------------------------------
Yes, I know, it's taken a while to get here, and it isn't very long.... but this is all I have. So there.
I am open to suggestions of which animal from their list Ron, Hermione, and Harry sould have as their animagus. I am having trouble deciding. And, for those out there who are wondering: this will not be a superpower!Harry story. It might sorta seem like it at first, be later on, it will all be clear.
Mayleesa: Dude.... one o'clock in the morning? Erm.... glad you liked the sock.
Krissy Riddle: The dream came to be from a suddon urge I had whilst looking at a sock that was lying on the floor... it looked so... sad.... and dead-ish.
The Vampire Story Hunter: ? ::is even more confused::
Shadowface: ::sniffels:: I know... the dream was probubly the saddest thing I have ever written.. ::sobs::
BlackHuntress: Don't worry, Harry will most definatley NOT be a unicorn animagus.
EnterTheLion: Melissa is not a witch, nor a Mary Sue, and the plan I had for her got thrown in the bin... so yah. And Harry will not be as powerful as Dumbeldore, at the moment, because he is only 15. Soon to be 16. and yah. No ships for Harry! I'm happy to know that there are some other people who believe Harry should be a bachelor.
Squirrelsaretakingovertheworld: Love the name!! Thanks for reviewing.