Chapter Four: Inner Animagi

A/N: Since I wrote this, JKR has said in a chat that wizards do not get to choose their animagi form. I like the method I came up with in this chapter, so it stays anyway. Thanks for reviews; I hope you enjoy the remainder of the story.

More than ever, Peter just wanted to be out of his house. He concentrated on how happy he was to be seeing James, Sirius, Remus and Lily again as he finished getting ready. Finally, he and his parents arrived at King's Cross Station. As soon as they were on Platform 9 ¾, his mother smiled and said, "You'll be fine now, won't you?"

Peter, seeing James and Sirius with their parents and Sirius' younger brother, nodded and walked over to them shyly, though he had known them all for most of his life. They greeted him warmly and Peter was pleased to note that James and Sirius seemed just as anxious to go. Once Remus and Lily arrived, they all boarded the train, though Lily opted to sit with some of her Ravenclaw friends. The boys found a compartment and changed into their robes.

Realizing that the Marauders were finally alone together, James began to talk excitedly about their inner animagus tests.

"We can do them right here," he exclaimed. "On the way to school!"

Sirius and Peter both nodded, but Peter was a bit nervous. The first test consisted of concentrating very hard on one's best quality, the trait one would like to have dominant in their animagus, and repeating the spell. If it worked, images of several possibilities would emerge from one's wand. What if he didn't have a strong enough trait? What if he didn't have an inner animagus?

As Peter worried, James read the instructions to them one more time and said, "Ok Sirius, you go first."

Sirius nodded and gripped his wand, his eyes tightly shut.

"We have to get as far back as we can," James warned. Remus and Peter obeyed and he went on. "What quality are you concentrating on, Sirius?"

"Loyalty," Sirius replied, eyes still closed.

"Good," James said. "Focus on it and say the spell."

"Manifeste animagus!" Sirius cried. From the end of his wand shot a cloud of smoke, which formed the images of a Kneazle, a big black dog, a badger and a dolphin. Peter gasped, as did Sirius when he opened his eyes.

"Wow," he said breathily.

Remus, who had been appointed to take notes, quickly jotted down Sirius' animals and looked to James. James waved away the smoke shapes and asked, "Want to go next, Peter?"

Peter thought quickly and decided he should go next. 'That way I'm not last, if I can't get it to work,' he thought. "I'll go," he said, "but I'm not sure which quality to focus on."

"Pick one that will be useful," James suggested. "But don't worry too much, the spell will find your animagus, not just the ones that match your trait."

Peter nodded and ventured, "I like to watch things, to pay attention. So I guess I'll focus on observant."

Remus nodded approvingly. "That's a good one, Peter."

Still nodding, Peter closed his eyes and focused on being observant. "Manifeste animagus!"

He could feel the wand in his hand produce the spell but he hardly dared to open his eyes. What if nothing had actually happened? Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw in front of him, made out of smoke, a snake, an owl, a rat and a hawk. He felt very relieved. Not only had the spell worked, but also he had some fine animals inside of him. Smiling, he watched James prepare.

James, focusing on honor, recited the spell and watched thin wisps of smoke form a lion, a stag, and a quarter horse. He surveyed them carefully as Peter collapsed onto a seat. The shapes dissipated as he thought, 'The spell really takes a lot out of you.' He could see James and Sirius felt drained as well. Remus volunteered to hunt down the food cart for them, to get their energy back. Soon, and gratefully, they were feasting on pumpkin cakes, Chocolate Frogs and Wiggling Worms.

The four boys were surprisingly very quiet and thoughtful the rest of the journey. The train pulled into the Hogsmeade station and a familiar, though unexpected, voice called, "Firs' years, this way!"

"Hagrid!" Lily's voice answered excitedly, across the crowd from Peter. Hagrid smiled in her general direction, his entire face lighting up.

"'ello, Lily!" He called back. "Look wha' I get tuh do now!"

"Congratulations!" She called back, before Peter lost sight of her as the students surged towards the carriages that awaited them. He had hoped to share a carriage with Lily, but it proved impossible to find her in the crowd, even with her distinctive auburn hair.

The boys grew livelier on the carriage ride, amid the excited students and looking forward to the feast and the sorting. Peter remembered nostalgically his own sorting, which had turned out to be much easier than he had anticipated, though it had been nerve wracking to sit under the sorting hat for minutes waiting for it to decide. Then the carriages arrived at the castle and he was brought back to the present. The students walked into the Great Hall, which was decorated for the Start of Term Feast and sat down at their house tables.

Peter saw Lily at the Ravenclaw table and smiled shyly as she waved at him. Then Professor McGonagall led the first year students into the hall and lined them up at the front. She placed the sorting hat on a five-legged stool. The first years watched in wonder as the hat began to sing.

"The houses at Hogwarts are/Represented by animals four/ I will tell you about them/ But you will long to know more/

Hufflepuff's is a badger,/ Who is just and true/ They are not afraid to work /And will always stand by you/

A serpent represents Slytherin /The most cunning group of all /They have great ambition and/ Fear no one, great or small/

Lions stand for Gryffindor/ The brave and the daring/ They will make many friends/ With their selflessness and caring/

Ravenclaw's is a raven,/ The most intelligent of birds/They delight in wit and learning/ And most of all, words./

And there you have them, /All four grand Hogwarts beasts/ Put me on and I will find the house/ That suits you most, not least," sang the hat, as the students listened in quiet wonder, especially the first years. When the song was over, they all applauded loudly and McGonagall cleared her throat.

The sorting began as the hat was placed on Anderson, Timothy's head and he was put into Hufflepuff. Nothing noteworthy happened until after "Fletcher, Medea," was called. She was a nondescript girl, and she was quickly sorted into Slytherin.

The Slytherin table erupted with cheers as she joined their ranks. Peter watched the girl sit down and his eyes met the almost black eyes of Severus Snape. Peter's eyes opened wide in alarm as Snape's narrowed with hate. Peter quickly looked away from his former leader. He had almost dismissed from his memory the portion of his first year when he had fallen under the influence of the dominating, power hungry Slytherin.

He fixed his eyes upon the boy who was next for sorting. "Fletcher, Mundungus," Professor McGonagall called.

"Must be twins," Peter murmured.

James and Sirius snickered as the boy stepped forward. 'He looks just like you'd imagine someone doomed with that name to look,' Peter thought with a bit of a smirk. Remus silenced his friends sternly as they watched the small, mousy boy with large glasses sit rather self-assuredly under the sorting hat. It wasn't long before the hat announced, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Mundungus walked calmly over to the table while the Gryffindors applauded loudly, while thinking it very odd indeed that twins were sorted so oppositely.

"We can have some fun with this one," Sirius declared, smiling evilly.

Peter eyed the new Gryffindor wearily. "I'm not so sure it'll be so easy," he replied.

After the sorting of Wilkinson, Tyler, Professor Dumbledore stood and addressed the students. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I have two announcements to make before the feast commences. First, the Forbidden Forest is, of course, forbidden for all students. Second," he paused menacingly. "Please enjoy the feast." The headmaster smiled and waved his hand as he said this, and food appeared on all of the tables, piping hot and smelling delicious.

Peter helped himself to large amounts of turkey and cake, and felt very full, but very happy when the feast was over. He and the other Marauders, and the rest of the Gryffindors, followed Prefect Meg Weasley, Arthur's sister, to their tower. When they reached the portrait of the fat lady that protected the entrance to their common room, Meg announced, "The password is Devil's snare. Please remember it, as you won't be allowed in without it." The portrait swung open and the students filed in, Peter still repeating the password to himself, as he had a habit of forgetting them.

Going up the stairs to their dorm, he and the others found all of their things already there, as they expected. At the same moment, they all realized Austin's bed would remain empty this year. Silence fell over them as they began to unpack some immediate necessities, and was only broken by a knock at the door.

"Professor McGonagall here, may I please come in?" A voice called through the door.

'McGonagall?' Peter mouthed, confused.

"Sure, Professor," Remus answered, shrugging at Peter.

The head of Gryffindor house entered, Mundungus Fletcher behind her with his trunk.

"Good to see you again, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Black, Mr. Pettigrew, Mr. Potter," the stern witch began. "We have a bit of an unusual situation here. The first year dormitories are full, but Mr. Fletcher is without a bed. Since you have an open one, we would like to move him in with you."

James looked at each boy, and Peter nodded his consent, as did Sirius and Remus. James turned to McGonagall overly innocently and replied, "Of course, Professor, we'd be glad to have him."

McGonagall must have been preoccupied with start of term worries, because she didn't pick up on James' expression, which was perfectly obvious to Peter. She merely nodded and said, "I knew I could count on your help," and hurried away.

The new boy set his trunk near the empty bed as Remus began introductions.

"I'm Remus Lupin," he began, "and this is James Potter (James smiled), Sirius Black (Sirius waved), and Peter Pettigrew (Peter shyly nodded)."

"I'm Mundungus Fletcher," the boy said, shaking hands all around. "But please, call me Fletcher."

"Alright, Fletcher," James responded, his smile growing larger. "Was that your sister who was sorted into Slytherin?"

Nodding, Fletcher replied, "Yep, Medea and Mundungus. We're still not sure what our parents were on when they named us. I swear they would be hippies if they were Muggles."

"So you're from a wizarding family?" Peter asked.

Fletcher yawned. "Yeah. What about you guys?"

Sirius laughed. "We're an odd mix. Peter, James and I are pure blood, Remus is half-and-half, but brought up Muggle, our friends Lily and Austin are both from extremely Muggle families. But Austin's moved to France now. It's his bed you're using."

Peter flinched at Sirius' words. They sounded so cold, like Fletcher would always be an outsider. But Fletcher didn't seem uncomfortable at all, merely stretched and began putting on his pajamas. Peter felt relieved, but James and Sirius exchanged an odd glance before getting ready for bed.