a/n: sorry this one is so short! I have the rest planned out and I would check every other day or so for an update!

Ginny moved up the winding staircase at eleven forty on her way to her Level Seven Astronomy CAT. It was Wednesday night, and as she wound her way up the stairs, she shook herself awake. The nap she had taken that afternoon didn't seem to be helping her nerves any. She wasn't anticipating this exam, but the next, Transfiguration. She stepped through the final doorway of the tower and emerged into the balmy night air. Her professor coughed from the center of the parapet.

"Miss. Weasley, you are late! I clearly stated that anyone late would have less time to finish, and I am disappointed to point out that everyone else has already begun!" With a forceful shove, she pushed Ginny's exam paper into her hands. "Here. Begin immediately." Without another word, Ginny moved to a telescope on the balcony. The first few questions were simple; naming stars, mapping constellations, but as she moved through the exam, she was forced to answer questions about the alignment of stars and how they affect potion making. She groaned when she reached the end.

"Finally." Ginny whispered to herself. It was two in the morning. She turned her paper in to an annoyingly awake Professor Baxter and returned to her dorm, stumbling and mumbling all the way. Quite a few portraits insulted her as she walked past, and she finally got so frustrated that she snapped.

"Shut up! All of you! I spend two damn hours in the middle of the freaking night working on a mother f…"

"Miss. Weasley!" Towering above the girl was a particularly formidable looking professor McGonagall. "Your portrait hole is right there, Ginevra. I suggest you use it. Get some sleep and study in the morning, it's a tough exam." Ginny glared at the professor, but turned around to the Fat Lady and mumbled the password. Professor McGonagall turned and began to walk down the hall.

"Fig Newtons. That old bat always seems to pop up at exactly the wrong damn time." She muttered. The fat Lady gasped and McGonagall's voice echoed down the hall.

"Ginevra! I heard that!"

"Sorry Professor."

"Do put a sock in it, Ginny! Get some sleep. I wouldn't want one of my best students failing her exam would I?" The clapping of heels on stone announced her departure, and Ginny made her way up to the dorm quietly, flopping down on her bed without even taking off her clothing.

Morning came all too soon, and Ginny only had time to grab a blueberry muffin before she dashed to Transfiguration. The hall was packed with students in a long line.

"What's going on?" She asked the girl in front of her. The girl turned and flicked blonde hair behind her shoulder.

"She is testing us individually first and then we take the written exam after lunch, so as soon as you transfigure your object, you're allowed to leave until 1:00."

"Thanks." Ginny turned to see about six people lined up behind her. The line moved slowly forward as McGonagall tested person after person. When finally it was her turn, she moved to the desk at the front of the classroom. A note lay on the desk, and right beside the quill used to write it was McGonagall, sitting on the desk.

Mrs. Malfoy,

I am, as you can see, in my feline form. Use the spell that will force me to change into my human body. This is Phase I of your CAT.

-Professor Minerva McGonagall

Ginny enunciated the spell slowly and clearly without fault, and the cat morphed into her Professor.

"Very good, Ginny," Commented Professor McGonagall, straightening out her robes. "Now, please transfigure this feather into a gnome." Ginny thought for a minute and then muttered the correct incantation, causing the feather to make a small pop before it hopped off the desk and into the hall, running on its new legs.

"Good. Finally, please assume your animagi form." Ginny visibly tensed at this command, and months of training took over after that. She felt her body shrink as her bones became hollow and wings grew from her sides. When the change was complete, and elegant Snow Falcon sat on McGonagall's desk.

"Very good, Ginny. You are dismissed, full marks!" She smiled and Ginny cawed appreciatively before soaring out of the classroom over everyone's heads. Behind her, McGonagall smiled, waved a hand over the parchment with instructions on it to change the name at the top to match the next student, and then morphed into the small, petite tabby.

a/n: review, please!