Yay! More chapters! This might be the last for a while, so be happy and read:
Chapter Eleven:
Unleash the Animal the Quick and Easy Way
James began to read the book. And quote it regularly. For instance: "'An Animagus's form is a reflection of his of herself, isn't that interesting?"
Until Sirius got sick of him and hit him over the head with it.
He stopped quoting it fairly quickly.
But, in turn, we all read it. And, in turn, we all decided that it was time.
We were first starting the first of the Animagus spells in January of 1969, in one of the first secret rooms that we had found in the school: we called it the 'Room of Requirement'. When we went in there to start the first potion, there was, of course, a large cauldron and many potion ingredients. But not all the ingredients we needed:
"Werewolf hair," I said, reading the book. Remus's head turned sharply to look at me.
"Huh?" he said, and walked over to me, and read over my shoulder.
Sirius followed, and after considering, yanked a bit of hair from Remus's head. "Problem solved," he said, as Remus rubbed his head and glared at Sirius.
James and Peter followed suit (by coming over, not yanking hair of Remus's skull). "Look," said Peter, pointing to the bottom of the page. There was a footnote:
"Hair MUST be taken from werewolf on full moon, and while the werewolf is transformed. Otherwise, the whole potion will have no effect, and might be harmful or even fatal if consumed."
"Okay..." said Sirius, flicking away the hairs. "Let's not do that."
"But how are we going to do that?" asked Peter. "I don't think any of us want to go back into the Shrieking Shack unprotected..."
"Don't worry," said Remus. "I'll get it."
So we had to wait a month. The day after the full moon, Remus came to us holding a small vial full of short brown and gray hairs. Back in the Room of Requirement, the next night, we began to mix the potion.
"So... what animal d'you think I'll be?"
We were making the potion in turn, and Peter was up, stirring the simmering mix. Sirius had made the comment, and I was being careful not to let any information slip out of my mouth. "I bet I'll be something like a lion-"
"Perfect for Gryffindor," interjected Remus, his nose stuck in a book.
"I'll be something better," said James, a glint in his eye, "you'll be something... something like a flobberworm."
As James and Sirius argued about who would be the better animal, Peter almost made the mistake of adding lacewing flies instead of powered root of tansy, but Remus caught him in time. "Maybe I'll take my turn now," I said. ("YOU'LL be the amoeba!" yelled Sirius) Remus passed me the vial of his hair, which had been cut into tiny pieces, as James shouted because Sirius had tackled him.
Sirius and James eventually got over their 'who's the best animal' game, but Sirius was still claiming he was going to be a tyrannosaurus rex, and James was swearing that he would turn out to be a hippogriff. The potion, aside from the first night, was easy enough. We just had to go into the Room of Requirement and stir it ten times both ways each night for a month. Finaly, in early March, the potion was complete, and it was time to discover what animal we each could become.
"Now," said Remus, flipping though the book, "It says: 'To discover your 'soul animal', separate the Revealing Potion into as many portions as needed (one for each person)""
As soon as he said that, four small cauldrons appeared on the shelf nearest him. He grabbed the stack, and handed one to each of us. We filled each cauldron to the brim with the disgusting looking potion. "We don't have to drink it... do we?" asked Peter, looking at the slightly yellow liquid, as Sirius bent in low to sniff it, then turning away, looking like he was about to throw up.
"No... no, just... just look at it..." said Remus absently, looking though the book. "Ah... here: "When potion is prepared, add three strands of hair to it, stir five times counter-clockwise with wand, and then watch it for signs of..." oh, no, there's a spot over the next word..."
"I'll do it first," said James, the ever-brave Gryffindor. We crowded around him, wondering what would happen. James bit his lip, pulled out his wand, and yanked some hair off his head. He selected three hairs, and threw them into the potion, which let out a puff of dark smoke. He put his wand in, stirred it and then pulled his wand out.
When he pulled it out, the potion stuck to it briefly, leaving a part of the potion sticking straight out of the cauldron. Slowly, slowly, the lump changed... formed four legs, a head, and many-tined antlers. "Whoa," I said, never imagining this, and the tiny stag pranced around the top of the potion.
"Great. Of all the things I could be I'm a deer," muttered James, looking thoroughly disgruntled.
We all laughed, even Remus, his nose finally out of his book.
"It's called a stag, Jamesie," said Sirius, pretending to wipe tears from his eyes. James just fumed more.
Sirius decided to do it next. The figure, this time, was lower to the surface of the potion, and seemed furrier... a miniature dog was soon wagging its tail and running around the edge of the cauldron.
"A dog's good," said Peter.
"Better than a ruddy deer," muttered James
Me next... I was wondering what I was going to be...would I like what I was going to be able transform into? I hoped so...
Three long hairs fell into the potion as it was stirred. My wand out, the potion changed... roughly the size of Sirius's dog, but skinnier. It formed a head with a long muzzle and pointed ears. The four-legged figure threw his head back into a mute howl.
"A wolf," muttered Remus. "That's nice."
Me? A wolf? What did that say about me?
Apparently, Sirius was wondering the same question about himself:
"Why, may I ask," he said, "am I a dog and not a dinosaur?"
Remus flipped through the pages of the book. "Well, it says that a person's Animagus form is a reflection of themselves."
"Does it say what that means?" asked Sirius.
"It means that your shape is a visible form of your personality," I said. "For you, that's a dog, which means you're loyal, friendly, energetic, and you like to lick your own-"
"OKAY! I get it! You can shut up now!"
Peter was having a bit more trouble. On the third time, though, he succeeded, and the tiny amount of potion that vaguely resembled a rat started its scurry around the edge of the cauldron.
There were many potions and spells to go, but at that point, we all felt like we were almost there. But, you know how it goes, as we got closer to our goal, James and Sirius's heads began to swell, and as much as I tried, I think mine did too. I guess it was hard not to, given what we were accomplishing. Still, at some points, it felt like I was holding up the giant heads of two boys whose shoulders were too small to support them.
Whew. That was a bit tedious to write, but now that it's written the passage of time until the Marauder's fifth year will be quicker (two or three chapters per year). Also, I made Juliet's future Animagus form a wolf for a three reasons:
One: Wolves live in packs. Juliet and the Marauders have a little pack of their own.
Two: She seems similar to both Sirius and Remus. Kind of halfway between them. I didn't picture her like that, but in the story she evolved herself into that.
Three: A wolf fits with the other Marauders' forms. If I had made her something like an orangutan, it wouldn't have fit.
Ps. Sorry about the orangutan thing, I just got the Art of Diskworld. Just something for all you fellow Pratchett nuts out there. TURTLES ALL THE WAY!!