A/N: Please remember, as I've stated in earlier chapters, that I have not read all of the Harry Potter books. I have only read PS, CoS, and PoA. I have issues with reading a book before I see the movie. I'll have GoF read sometime in December. But according to the release dates, I won't get to read OotP until 2007 and HBP won't be until 2008. Any spoiler information in my fics comes from spoilers I have picked up in other fics... Does that make sense? Funny how spoilers don't bother me, but actually reading the book before watching the movie drives me insane with comments like: Hey, so-and-so was supposed to say that line! It doesn't bother me to read spoilers or watch the movie before reading the book though... Basically I really have no idea what I'm talking about, so just enjoy!
Sirius Black could not remember the last time he had had so much fun! He bounced around the Hospital Wing, inspecting those lying on the beds with great care as he had for the last two days. Occasionally he would give out a great cheer and write something down on a piece of parchment. Once he was done writing, Sirius would give a gleeful giggle and bounce on his way.
After watching these antics, Remus Lupin and Harry Potter both decided that this was the perfect Christmas present for the ex-convict. True it wasn't his only present, as Christmas was still several days away, but if reactions were anything to go by, it was the best Sirius could have ever received...
"I've figured out another one!" Sirius called cheerfully from where he was standing next to a bed. "He might want the antidote right away, though... Poor Creevey."
Harry perked up slightly and wandered over. "What did Colin turn into?" He wondered, peering around the privacy screen at the boy on the bed.
The sleeping sixth year looked positively massive... But they had learned earlier that morning that Colin only looked that way. Whatever form he had taken was positively covered in long, fluffy fur that hid the scrawny sixth year from view.
"A hamster."
Wide emerald eyes turned to stare disbelievingly at Sirius. "A hamster?"
Sirius nodded. "Yes. At first I thought a puffskein, but then I brushed aside some of the fur. He's got claws on his hands and feet. Not to mention the big, sharp buck teeth and large eyes..." The Marauder looked as if he were torn with offering pity to the hamster boy or laughing his head off.
"He's always had large eyes..." Harry seemed somewhat thoughtful, but then shook it off. "Poor Colin. Well, have the cure ready for him. But let him decide if he wants to take it when he wakes up."
Sirius nodded, writing on his parchment.
Harry glanced at the parchment and smirked, shaking his head with amusement.
The parchment contained a list of names. Every member of the Order and DA that had taken the Animality Potion. Some of the names only had the single word 'Immune' written next to them, though a few of those still had nicknames. The other names were slowly adding more information.
Despite protests that someone on the Dark side might find the parchment and learn names they shouldn't know, Sirius wrote it anyway. He wanted to list who turned into which Animality species and, when he thought of them, give them Marauder style nicknames. Sirius was only allowed to keep the list when Moody tried to steal it from him and learned that it had been charmed in the same manner as the Marauder's Map.
"Any of them wake up yet?" Harry asked curiously. He and the original Animalities hadn't spent much time in the Hospital Wing, leaving that to Madam Pomfrey. Harry knew that Sirius' near-constant presence was irritating the mediwitch, but found it more amusing than anything else.
Looking thoughtful for a moment, Sirius flipped ran the tip of his quill over the parchment in thought. "Charlie has shown signs of waking." He led Harry over to the bed occupied by Charlie Weasley.
"And I thought being a pegasus was cool..." Harry's tone was frankly admiring as he peered at the sleeping Weasley.
From what they could tell, Charlie had the heart of a dragon from the moment he started at Hogwarts and now he had the body to match! Though he had already been more muscular than the other Weasleys from working at the dragon preserve, Charlie was now more massive and yet still had a lithe look. His feet hung off the end of the cot on which he slept, his body now too tall to comfortably sleep in normal sized beds. According to Madam Pomfrey, Charlie would be around six and a half feet tall when he stood, a good seven or eight inches taller than he had been.
Charlie was now a rich shade of blue, his tough skin shimmering in the light like a bed of sapphires. Harry was amused to note that, even in his Animality state, Charlie's body was covered in darker blue spots that could only be freckles. The dragon hybrid possessed sharp talons on his fingers and toes and, his short muzzle held wicked fangs that made Remus' werewolf smile seem friendly according to Sirius.
The dragon Animality also had a powerful seeming tail that was thick at the base and tapered to a point before flaring into a spade at the tip. The best part was that they now had another winged Animality on their side. Charlie's leathery dragon wings were impressive compared to the feathered wings of Galleon and Bolt. They had stretched the wings when they had finished growing for measuring and had found them to be nearly fifteen feet from tip to tip.
The best part, though getting Harry to admit such a thing, was probably the fact that Charlie's hair was no longer ginger. It made it so much easier on the eyes to see the relief of the dark blue locks atop Charlie's head instead of the bright ginger that was the Weasley trademark. Though Charlie's hair used to be short and have a slight curl, it now hung straight and down to the middle of his back, hiding a row of small ridges that had formed along his spine. This did nothing to hide the sharp, short horns on Charlie's head, however.
As Sirius and Harry looked at the sleeping dragon, Sirius was considering testing the school's motto about never tickling such a beast. Just as he was about to test the advice, Charlie stirred and pushed himself up from the cot. Turning around, Charlie blinked his eyes before turning a burning crimson gaze at his watchers.
Seeing the burning look, a massive grin formed on Sirius' face and he wrote something down. Once he finished writing, he turned the force of that grin on the newly awakened dragon.
"Welcome back to the living... FireEye."
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Sirius was kept relatively busy the next few days as more and more of the new Animalities awoke. He seemed to want to be the first to greet each one and, if they had a new nickname, he wanted to make certain it was told to them right away so that they wouldn't forget.
After Charlie had awakened, Colin Creevey was soon on his feet. The boy had been embarrassed, admitting that he had lost his train of thought when taking the potion. When Hermione Granger mentioned that having a full hamster might make a good spy, Colin had considered keeping the form. But then he noticed the predatory look in Wildcat's eyes. It also hadn't helped that Kingsley Shacklebolt awoke soon after...
Kingsley, for lack of a better term, creeped out most of those there. His hybrid form seemed to slither when he walked, his forked tongue flicking out from between impossibly long fangs. He no longer had legs, both appendages having combined into a long tail that allowed him to be identified as a naga. From head to tail, Kingsley was covered in tiny scales, the color and pattern marking him as a python.
Harry had been fascinated by Kingsley's form and soon learned that the Auror could speak Parseltongue in his hybrid form. Walking in on the two hissing at each other was enough to give everyone else the shivers.
It was decided that, considering the enemy's penchant for serpents, that Kingsley would make a better spy during the pauses in the battle. The now terrified Colin was only too happy to take the antidote and wait for his next chance at becoming an Animality.
The next awakening was enough to cause giggles from the original Animalities. All seven were now with Sirius, Remus Lupin, Molly Weasley, Madam Pomfrey, Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall as they greeted the newly awakened members of their group.
And who wouldn't get a giggle with the sight of a much shorter Arthur Weasley bouncing out from behind his privacy screen like an over eager puppy. He was covered in ginger fur for the most part, though the tip of his long, bushy tail was snowy white as were the foxglove markings on his hands and feet. Even the dusting of fur from his chin down was white.
The newly dubbed Socks, much to his delight at the Muggle pet name, bowed grandly to the cheers his children were giving him and turned to inspect his relatively tiny hybrid form in the mirror. Small, no more than five feet tall if you didn't count the his large ears, and wiry.
"You know, who would have guessed at my age that I would be such a fox?" The humor of the eldest Weasley brought laughs all around.
Molly, one of those listed as immune to the Animality Potion, moved over to her husband's side and gave him a kiss. "Just as long as you remember that you're my fox."
Though they didn't know why, they had learned when taking the doses that Animagi, Werewolves, Veela and Metamorphmagi were immune to the potion. This had led to the discovery that both Molly and the eldest Weasley song Bill were Animagi.
Molly had been embarrassed to admit that she was an Animagus. Though she, like Minerva McGonagall, was registered. Her form was both surprising and expected of the Weasley Matriarch when she had transformed in front of them for the first time. Molly was a beautiful, obviously powerful, golden lioness. The tuft on her tail was the brilliant red of her hair and caused Sirius to delightedly give her the nickname Redtail. Though no one else called her that, Molly couldn't help blushing when Sirius used the name.
Bill Weasley had revealed himself to be more of a stud than anyone had suspected. When transformed, Bill was a rather impressive stallion. His coat was a pale grey that sparkled like silver in the light. Shimmering obsidian eyes had sparkled with amusement as he had tossed his long, deep auburn mane and tail. While showing off, he had clomped his black hooves and reared up to show his powerful equine body.
They had been outside at the time and, when Bill had pranced around like the brainless stud he pretended to be when flirting information out of Dark witches, Harry had shifted into his full pegasus form. After a bit of male ego posturing, the equines had taken off at a full gallop over the snow covered grounds. This had merely caused the others to roll their eyes and head back indoors.
Shaking himself from the memory, Sirius turned his attention back to Molly and Arthur. But that wasn't such a good idea since the lioness and fox seemed to forget they weren't alone. Turning awake, the urge to shout something about going blind being stifled, Sirius paced the hospital wing to see who would awaken next.
As it turned out, no one else would awaken until the next day. But first...
"Get a room already, you two!"
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The next morning started off rather energetically...
"If I ever hear that stupid... Nickname again I will personally rip your balls off and stuff them down your throat!"
Every conscious male in the Hospital Wing winced in sympathy while the females present couldn't resist laughing. The fight had come when Sirius had gleefully informed one of the three Slytherins helping of her nickname... To say the least, Millicent Bulstrode had not been pleased.
Sirius dangled in the grasp of the powerful hybrid Millicent had become, though it was entirely possible she'd have been able to hold him above the ground just as easily before the transformation. She was even more muscular than before, her body now covered in tiny green scales and powerful reptilian features making her look beautiful... If one were inclined to like the scaly kind!
With her sharp talons scraping his skin where she had a hand fisted into his robes, Sirius was inclined to hastily agree with the large girl he had identified as a Komodo Dragon. "Of course! I'll never say it again!" He yelped like the dog he was when the over-sized lizard girl dropped him on his rear.
"Good." Millicent hissed, showing the dangerous rows of razor sharp teeth that came with her form.
Considering that Komodo Dragons were known for infectious bites that caused death, Sirius gulped at the display. He made a hasty retreat, grabbing up his quill and scribbling the unfortunate choice of nickname for the Slytherin off his list.
"Honestly, Sirius... What girl would want to be called Godzilla?" Hermione rolled her eyes as she walked over to Millicent. As resident cranky female Animality, she figured it would be her task to help any other females that awoke with similar mindsets.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time..." Sirius could be heard muttering as Hermione and Millicent left the Hospital Wing together.
Once the femme fatals had left, Sirius started gently poking at one of the other sleeping girls. The poked girl swatted at the hand and rolled to her side, mumbling something incoherent. Making an exasperated sound, Sirius reached out and smacked her gently on the forehead. "I know you're not asleep anymore..."
Moving with lightning quick reflexes, the girl shot up and had Sirius pinned to the bed before he could blink. She glared down at him, showing off little fangs as she growled. "How dare you interrupt my beauty sleep!"
Sirius laughed. "I had no idea you were so domineering, Parvati Patil..." He leered playfully at the witch. "But, you are no longer Parvati! You are now called Tikki!" He seemed delighted. "Don't you want to know why I would give you that name?"
Parvati's expression flicked rapidly from embarrassment to indignation to curiosity before she finally hopped up. As fast as she had moved to pin Sirius she was across the room and in front of the mirror that she knew would be waiting.
"Ahhhhhhh!" Parvati's scream was filled with teenage fury as Sirius laughed like a madman. "You named me after that stupid storybook character!" She turned a furious look upon the cackling Marauder.
"Well... What was I supposed to do when you turned into such a darling little mongoose?" Sirius grinned devilishly. "C'mere, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi..." He crooked a finger in invitation.
Parvati's eyes blazed with fury before she screamed, "Harry! I'm sorry, but you're no longer going to have a godfather!" The quick and fuzzy weasel of a girl darted after Sirius who had turned into Padfoot and fled the Hospital Wing.
Leaving the others laughing in their wake, a deep, pleasantly rumbling voice rolled over the laughter. "Gee... Don't I get a nice wake up, too?"
Turning to look at the sound, their eyes met the sight of a humanoid bear sitting up in the bed. He yawned. Despite the bear's hulking, formidable appearance he represented, he seemed to radiate 'cuddly teddy bear' more than anything else...
Ginny grinned, remembering who they put in that bed. "Good morning, Neville." She couldn't resist, her playful otter nature sending her over to give the big cuddly bear a hug!
Neville blushed, not that it could be seen well with the dark fuzz covering his face. "Morning, Ginny." He patted the redhead on the back and then got up... And up... And up...
"Good Lord, Neville." Harry seemed impressed as he looked up at the towering bear. "I think you've topped the lot so far. Definitely the tallest of the awake ones..."
Neville grinned sheepishly and lumbered off to the Hospital Wing's facilities without saying anything else.
"Bloody wicked, Lee!" The twins could be heard behind the screen that hid their best friend Lee Jordan from view.
George stuck his head out from behind the screen. "You guys have GOT to see this!" A strong tug was given and two tigers and Lee tumbled from behind the screen.
"Eeeeek!" Ron's girly shriek was followed closely by the eagle hybrid's sudden ascent to ceiling level at the sight.
Harry was hard pressed not to follow Ron's example as Lee came into view. He gulped, standing up and taking a step back.
Ginny had matched Ron for the initial scream, but her's soon turned into one of amusement. "That's great, Lee! How did you manage it?"
"Just talented I guess..." Lee's voice was a bit wispy. He untangled himself from the twins and stood, carefully attempting a few steps on his six legs...
To best describe it, Lee Jordan was a centaur gone wickedly wrong. He was only around six feet tall at the top of his dreadlocked head, seeming normal from the waist up, but from the waist down...
Ron's voice trembled from near the ceiling. "Bloody Hell... I thought we were done with those things in second year!"
"Doesn't look like it, Ron." Harry's voice was wary, eying Lee's form with interest. "That could be good in the long run, though. He might be able to go get the Acromantulas out of the forest to aid us."
Acromantulas indeed! For that is what Lee looked like, an Acromantaur! He had the large spider rear with six big, long, strong legs holding him up from the awkward join at his waist. A closer look revealed that Lee's dreadlocks had been replaced with wicked looking spines that he was currently experimenting with raising and lowering.
"Ew... This feels weird." Lee's look of disgust came when he experimentally laid down a strong, thick cable of webbing. "Nasty! As soon as the fight's over, I'm outa this form."
The twins were congratulating Lee on such a wicked look, speculating quietly on how to use Lee's spider self to terrorize Ron.
"I can hear you, you know!" But no one heard Ron as they were distracted by a doe bounding into the Hospital Wing.
The female deer, appearing much like any other female deer, skidded to a halt and transformed into the familiar face of Katie Bell. "Someone better come save Mr Black from Parvati!" She jerked a thumb over her shoulder before shifting once more to her Animagus form and bounding from the room.
"I'll take it!" Harry was on his hooves and out the door after Katie in a flash.
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Katie and Harry found Sirius and Parvati in the Great Hall. Sirius seemed to be painfully bent over one of the long benches while Parvati had him pinned down, her hands wrapped around his throat. Sirius' face was bright red. Despite Parvati's screeching in two or three languages, the scene wasn't exactly one to inspire worry. Most likely because Sirius was laughing his head off!
Harry shifted out of his pegasus form, the fur and feathers bleeding away until he was back to normal. "Er.. Are we interrupting anything here?"
Parvati froze.
Sirius twisted his head around to grin at Harry and Katie. "Yes! Mind coming back in an hour or so?"
That woke Parvati up! She screeched again and thunked Sirius' head into the bench and suddenly she was twenty feet away from him. "You keep him away from me!" She screamed as she stormed out of the Great Hall, most likely retreating to her dorm.
Panting for breath, Sirius picked himself up. He rubbed against his neck as his face turned back to a normal color. "Damn... She doesn't look it, but that mongoose form of her's is strong."
Katie, back in human form, rolled her eyes. "Well if you hadn't been a twit..." She turned and walked out, probably to talk to Parvati or check on Oliver.
Harry tried not to laugh. "Well, you are being rather obnoxious." He grinned.
"Aw, they love me. Don't for a minute think that they don't." Sirius winked before heading further into the Great Hall. It was nearly lunch time and he wanted to get a head start as soon as the food arrived.
"I think th..."
"Harry!"
Turning, Harry saw Hermione come dashing into the Great Hall. She sent a glare toward Sirius, letting the man know that word was already out, and then dragged Harry aside. After a whispered conversation in which Harry was first shocked, the two thirds of the Golden Trio really got involved in the topic.
Sirius watched, curious as to what would get the two so excited. But before he got a chance to spy, Hermione grabbed Harry into a hug before tearing out of the Hall as if her tail were on fire. "What was that about?"
"She tracked Oliver's species down." Harry carefully avoided eye contact. Knowing what Sirius would ask next, he added, "Fwooper."
Sirius was about to call Harry on the strange abundance of enthusiasm for such a simple thing when the comment hit. "Fwooper! That's great!"
Harry smirked to himself as Sirius whipped out his parchment and started working out a nickname for the former Gryffindor Keeper.
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It was toward the end of lunch hour that the strangest creature anyone had ever seen walked into the Great Hall. It was vaguely humanoid in shape and caused most everyone to stop what they were doing and stare.
The body was covered in shaggy, dirty blond hair much like a Wookie from the Star Wars series and had no less than three pairs of small furry wings along it's back. The purpose of the wings was a mystery as they were obviously too small for flight. A tail perhaps two feet long and just as shaggy was curled up rather like a husky's. Overlarge feet and hands similar to a gorilla's seemed slightly out of place.
Large, pale bue eyes seemed to stare off into space as a long, cow-like ear flicked lazily. It had a short muzzle that was oddly a cross between a beak and a pig snout. Three horns were situated on the creature's head, one on the forehead and one high above each ear. There were also horn-like spikes on each shoulder and on it's knees. The horns were all curved, as if crumpling in on themselves...
It wasn't until the creature seated itself at the table and began eating that anyone shook off their shock. Neville, the first to recover, noticed a familiar butterbeer cork necklace around the creature's neck. "Luna?"
Swallowing, the creature nodded. "Hello, Neville. I like your fur." Luna calmly went back to eating as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
George cleared his throat. "So, that's what a crumple-horned snorkack looks like?"
Luna paused, turning to look at George, or perhaps through George! "Of course not. This is what a hybrid crumple-horned snorkack looks like." She returned to her food, oblivious to George and everyone else's surprised looks and whispered speculations.
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After dinner, Fred and George started asking people if they had seen Hermione. But no one had seen the witch since she had spoken to Harry before lunch. When confronted, Harry denied knowledge as to where Hermione could currently be located.
Oliver had awoken around dinner time, half-amused and half-irritated with the new nickname Sirius had dubbed him with, the newly named Rant was forbidden to speak unless necessary after the first attempt. He was brightly colored, small feathers covering his body with blues, reds and purples. His feet were similar to Ron's, though not nearly as sharply taloned.
Like the other avian hybrid, Oliver had wings, though his were smaller and offset by a long purple and silver tail of rather attractive feathers. When the newly cured Colin had cheerfully suggested that Oliver could make a fortune if he sold his feathers for quills, Oliver had retaliated with a rant... It was that rant which allowed everyone to know that the Quidditch crazed hybrid carried the powers of his species. They already had a perfect plan for him once the battle started.
Only one person remained asleep in the Hospital Wing, his body slowly adjusting to whatever form it was taking. Draco Malfy and Millicent Bulstrode were often found checking in on the sleeping Blaise Zabini. Like Millicent, Blaise had decided to make his stand for the Light when Draco openly went to the Gryffindor table several weeks previous.
Blaise's form had easily been apparent to everyone and he had round the clock surveillance as a result. The sleeping Slytherin was massively muscular and tall. It was obvious to everyone that when Blaise awoke, he would be the largest of the hybrids. Large enough, at any rate, that the hospital cot he was sleeping on had to have an unbreakable charm cast upon it's frame.
It was while Millicent and Draco were checking up on Blaise that he finally showed signs of stirring. First wiggling and then stretching, Blaise rolled out of bed with a loud yawn and promptly fell over onto the floor as he couldn't coordinate his new bulk properly. Grunting as he landed, the stubby horn on his small muzzle hit the cabinet next to his bed just right and as the startled Wolf and Komodo Dragon hybrids dove for cover, the cabinet exploded with a loud BOOM!
"What in the world is going on in here?" Madam Pomfrey sounded furious as she came over. Her glare turned first to Draco, then Millicent and finally landed on a slightly dazed Blaise Zabini. "Are you all right, Mr Zabini?" She would have attempted to help him up, but he was much too large for her assistance.
The explosion drew the attention of those nearby and soon Charlie Weasley, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood were in the Hospital Wing as well. Seeing the situation, Charlie and Neville assisted Millicent in helping Blaise to stand. It took all three of them to help the Slytherin.
"It's about time someone else got a good battle form." Luna commented, looking from Charlie to Blaise. "An Erumpent..." She smiled. "I wonder what name Mr Black wanted you to have..." With that, she wandered out of the Hospital, probably to see what name Sirius had for Blaise.
"You know," Draco began thoughtfully. "I think she's saner now that she's part Snorkack..."
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Though smaller sessions had started as the new Animalities awoke, it wasn't until all were awake that the new lessons began. It was two days before Christmas and almost all were gathered in the Great Hall. The Animagi present were giving rudimentary lessons on changing form for when the Animalities took their booster potion to some while Remus Lupin and Fleur Delacour were assisting in the control department.
While no one had really thought about it at the time, they soon learned from Fleur that Veela were rather dangerous when they snapped. No one had known until these lessons just how much control Fleur and other half-Veela had to maintain on a daily basis. This was something Bill Weasley vouched for, having seen his fiancee when she lost her cool.
Remus Lupin was helpful as well, though he admitted that the Wolfsbane potion helped him maintain control. That had led to Sirius Black telling them a story about when the Marauders were still in Hogwarts and Remus hadn't had the perfect control he now possessed. Remus had promptly smacked Sirius upside the head and carried on with the lesson as if he were still a Professor.
The original Animalities were assisting as well, walking between the groups and giving pointers. Harry and Ron were explaining winged flight to Oliver and Charlie while Ginny was consoling the cured Colin Creevey on losing the chance to be one of the hybrids in battle. Draco wasn't being very helpful, though he got the twins to cheer up slightly by teasing Ron for being halfway across the room from anywhere that Lee Jordan happened to be located. Hermione was... Well, no one knew where to find Hermione.
The cougar hybrid was still missing and Harry still refused to say what he had talked to her about the day she vanished. This caused the twins to be depressed. Since the twins were the Alpha Males of Draco's 'pack,' he couldn't help his efforts to cheer them up. Thankfully Draco knew that teasing Ron would help him keep what Slytherin pride he still possessed while sucking up to his 'leaders.' This also provided him with a way to mask his own worry for the missing Alpha Female.
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"Blaise Zabini, stop bumping into things!" Millicent Bulstrode glared furiously up at the much taller Slytherin boy. It was bad enough that Blaise made the ground rumble when walking around, but for him to 'accidentally' bump into things just so he could blow them up and make the entire room rumble was rediculous!
"It was an accident, Millie! Honest!" Blaise crossed his arms over his chest, the gesture somewhat awkward as his arms were so much larger than he was used to.
"Your horn is on your face, Zabini! Do you honestly think I'm going to buy that you've been 'accidentally' smacking your face into everything?" Millicent glared evilly.
Blaise and Millicent were currently standing in the Slytherin Common Room. Draco Malfoy was seated on one of the couches nearby, barely paying attention to them. They were the only Slytherins present and quite alone as they claimed they needed to get away from the 'Gryffindork Germs' for a while. Blaise was playing with his new ability to blow things up. Millicent was merely worried about Blaise accidentally blowing up something that would break the windows in the common room and cause the lake to fall down on their heads. While her worries were justified with the abilities of an Erumpent in the room, they all knew it was unlikely that Blaise's explosive fluid would penetrate the charms to the windows.
"Draco, make her be sensible!" Blaise turned a look toward the Prince of Slytherin only to find that Draco was ignoring them. Sighing, he seated himself reluctantly on the ground.
Seeming rather smug, Millicent seated herself on one of the sleek black leather couches. "Draco... We understand your pack mentality now that we've had experience with animal instincts... But really! It's just Granger."
That seemed to penetrate and Draco turned a glare to Millicent that was almost hateful. He seemed to flicker slightly as he almost shifted into his hybrid form before regaining control. "You don't understand though. Komodo dragons and Erumpents aren't pack animals. They're like my family. Better than my family even!" He didn't have to explain what he meant by that to the other two Slytherins.
"Look, if something were really wrong, I'm sure Potter would have mentioned something by now." Blaise was a bit more helpful in his efforts. "I mean really! Granger, Potter and Weasley have been friends since first year. Not to mention that Potter has a herd mentality which is almost the same as your pack mentality. Granger and the Weasleys are probably the closest he has to real family and he's not worried about her."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Draco hated admitting something like that. "I'm going to bed." He got up, heading for the boys dormitory. Pausing at the bottom of the stairs, he turned to glare at Blaise. "Don't blow anything else up!"
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The day before Christmas came along and aside from control lessons, the castle was relatively quiet. Ron Weasley found himself walking down one of the halls on his way to the kitchens when a he was suddenly snagged and pulled into one of the many secret passages. His startled squawk was cut off when he found himself staring into the excited face of Hermione Granger.
"Where the bloody..."
"Shh! Come on, Harry's waiting." With that, Hermione dragged Ron through the passage and off to meet Harry... Where ever that was!
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That night it was more than the twins and Draco who were worried. With just Hermione gone and Harry unconcerned with her absence, they had felt a bit of peace. With all three of the Golden Trio missing, it was another thing entirely.
"Where is that blasted map?"
"Sirius, don't make a mess of Harry's things." Remus rolled his eyes before flicking his wand. "Accio Marauder's Map." The map flew into his hands only to be snatched away by Sirius.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Sirius waited impatiently as the black ink spider-webbed it's way across the parchment. "What the hell..."
Confused by the change in Sirius' expression, Remus moved over to look over his shoulder. There it was, beneath their Marauder's Map presentation...
"Mister Moony would like to apologize profusely to Mister Padfoot and himself, but the Marauder's Map is currently out of order...
Mister Padfoot wants himself and Mister Moony to know that Miss Wildcat is a very frightening woman... Beautiful and very brilliant, but scary!
Mister Wormtail wishes he could help, but he's in the rat house at the moment...
Mister Prongs agrees completely with Mister Padfoot and wants to note that Mister Bolt certainly is a handsome bloke, isn't he?"
"Those... Those..." Sirius looked torn between being impressed at Hermione and Harry's work on the map and furious that they were obviously hiding from everyone. "Brats!"
Shaking his head, Remus couldn't help but laugh.
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Christmas morning came like any other morning. The presents were all under a large tree in the Great Hall this year to encourage everyone to be together. Everyone trudged down for breakfast and presents only to find Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting at the single large table eating breakfast as if they had never been gone.
"Hermione!" The female member of the Golden Trio was hidden beneath the enthusiastic greetings of her boyfriends.
Harry rolled his eyes and Ron laughed as Hermione was forced to shift into her hybrid form just to withstand the strength of the twins' enthusiastic hugs.
Later, once everyone had eaten and the presents had been opened, Albus Dumbledore walked among the students and Order members. Since the castle was mostly empty, and his reason for being in hiding was nearly over, he walked freely among the Warriors of Light. Albus handed each that had recently taken the Animality potion a vial.
"Now... The effects of this potion will be almost instantaneous, no waiting days in the Hospital Wing. If the reaction the original seven had is any indication, you will be momentarily lost completely within the animal mind." Some of them gulped nervously while others remained impassive. "Well will stun each of you and, if you haven't roused in a few hours, you will be enervated. As soon as you awake, the lessons will begin again. I am sorry to have to cut the holiday short, but if all goes well, we'll have a nice, long holiday once Voldemort has been defeated." Surprisingly, no one flinched when Albus said the name. "Now... Bottoms up!"
One by one the new Animalities downed the vial and one by one they changed into the full animal forms of their species. Oliver Wood was first, taking into the air with a loud song that caused those nearby to almost instantly feel pain as their grips on sanity faltered. It took ten stupifies to take Oliver down and Nymphadora Tonks barely managed to catch him before he could hurt himself.
Blaise was nearly as difficult, the large, rhinocerous-like Erumpent starting to charge toward Minerva McGonagall and Molly Weasley before a quick Petrificus Totalis from George Weasley stopped him. Fred followed George's example and threw a Petrificus on Charlie before the large, blue-hued dragon could launch any sort of attack.
Deciding that Fred and George had the right idea, those not currently fighting the Animality Booster Potion paired up to freeze and stun the animals before the Great Hall could be destroyed. Parvati turned out to be the most difficult to subdue, the little mongoose easily slipping around the various animal bodies and hiding in the large Christmas tree before she was stunned.
The easiest turned out to be Kingsley Shacklebolt. The auror didn't need to be stunned or subdued at all. It merely took Harry speaking to him in Parseltongue for the large python to gather his senses. It also turned out that Kingsley didn't need any further lessons to turn back and forth between his forms. Apparently he had actually paid close attention to the Animagi during the previous lessons and was soon shifting back and forth between his forms.
Charlie soon woke, the dragon form allowing a better resistance to stunning spells and the brief nap granting him enough time to come to his senses. His full dragon form was impressive, nearly thirty feet long from nose to tail-tip and with a wingspan nearly twice that. He was obviously a unique species of dragon, one that caused Hermione to comment that she had always wanted a dragon before she pondered aloud that maybe she should start collecting Weasleys. Fred and George didn't seem keen on the idea though Ginny seemed to think it was hilarious.
Someone had wisely cast a silencing charm on Oliver before he had a chance to wake and, if not for the telepathic speech abilities that Animalities possessed, he would have been completely mute. As it was, the brightly colored bird seemed to be rather ruffled by the ordeal.
Ginny crawled into the Christmas tree, being the smallest of those present, and retrieved Parvati. Once the mongoose was free of the tree, Ginny seemed reluctant to let her go and asked her mother if she could get a pet ferret for her birthday... A white pet ferret that she could name Malfoy. Draco was not amused.
Millicent awoke next, the overly large lizard rather intimidating, especially considering that it was one of the few wizarding animals that even Muggles were aware of. Though Muggles assumed that the Komodo Dragon killed it's victims by the nasty infection caused by old food around it's teeth, the Komodo Dragon was really venomous, much like certain snakes. While the venom was nice, it was the Komodo Dragon's little known ability to blend into it's surroundings like a cross between a demiguise and a chameleon that classified it as a magical beast. Komodo Dragons, having gained dominance on their native island, rarely felt the need to use this ability however, which was why Muggles knew of the species' existance.
Arthur Weasley was prodded out of sleep by his wife, Molly. She had turned into her lioness Animagus form and was patiently staring down at the red fox as she nudged him with a paw. Soon after he woke, Molly convinced him to go for a run with her and the fox and lioness were soon gone to other parts of the castle...
Blaise woke, feeling rather grumpy, but thankfully not in the mood to charge or gore anything. The Erumpent didn't seem impressed with his bulk and wondered when they would be starting lessons to learn to change their forms.
Roused from slumber by Fred and George, Lee was soon convinced to be evil and snuck silently over toward Ronald Weasley who was staring at the sleeping Crumple-Horned Snorkack and attempting to determine how something like that could be real. In less than five minutes everyone was wide awake as The Golden Galleon screeched in fright while the giant acromantula Crawler, also known as Lee Jordan, fell over laughing.
Once he had been awakened, it was all Hermione and Harry could do to keep themselves from changing Neville's nickname from Rumble to Pooh... Apparently his nap stirred a craving for honey in the bear Animality and he was soon found with his muzzle stuffed in a honey pot and cracking up those that knew of the Muggle character Winnie the Pooh.
The freshly awakened Luna stared with large, surprised eyes at the eagle hybrid and the acromantula before flying away... Ron stopped screaming and stared in disbelief as the bulky Snorkack creature that he had thought incapable of flight with it's tiny wings proved him wrong. Luna landed near the entrance to the Great Hall, changing to her hybrid form as if such activities were normal, and walked off to the Ravenclaw Common Room.
"This day is just too weird..."
Albus nodded his agreement. "I must say I concur, Mr. Weasley... Would you like a sherbet lemon?"
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With less than six days until the time they were given, the only residents of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry spent nearly every waking moment in training. All students that would normally have remained behind for the holidays had been sent off before the Order arrived to spend the holidays with friends. The only ones remaining were the members of the Order of the Phoenix and the DA turned Animality members.
Mornings were devoted to control and shifting lessons. In the afternoons, the Golden Trio mysteriously disappeared while a large group of Aurors that had arrived to assist taught physical combat skills. In the evenings, Ron always returned and was a great help with the battle plans. Sometimes Harry and Hermione came with him, other times they remained missing. At night, everyone crashed where they were to sleep, usually in the Great Hall.
Three days after Christmas, Katie Bell came bounding into the Great Hall waving a piece of parchment. "I finally found out why we couldn't find Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet!" Her announcement drew the attention of all the Gryffindor Quidditch players past and present. "Angelina's mother just found out herself. Apparently they eloped and are currently on their honeymoon in the States!"
Surprisingly, the news that the former chasers had eloped stunned everyone except for their former team mates.
"That's great! I'm glad they finally made it official." Oliver was in his full Fwooper form, it being the only way he could speak at all without driving people insane.
The next day, Padma Patil finally showed up. She had been too afraid to join the others and had missed her chance to become an Animality. She apologized to her sister for being a coward and said she was still too frightened to fight, but she would be helping Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing. Parvati welcomed her sister with open arms. After all, there was a reason Padma didn't make it into Gryffindor house. Padma began nursing training with Madam Pomfrey while the training intensified.
All there was left to do now was to wait...
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New Year's Eve
Everyone was jumpy, the lessons becoming dangerous as the nervous Animalities forgot their strengths. Nervous energy flowed through the castle as the minutes seemed to fly past.
The Golden Trio was clingy compared to their behavior over the last week. Everyone knew that it would come down to Voldemort and Harry, but they also knew Hermione and Ron would be at Harry's side. So basically no one complained, not even when Hermione, Fred and George all vanished for several hours.
Harry and Ginny seemed to reach some sort of agreement which, should Harry defeat Voldemort and return to her, would involve wedding bells as soon as Ginny graduated.
Ron spent an unusual amount of time talking to Draco, and no one seemed to know what was said between the two. Once he finished their conversation, The Golden Galleon spent time with his parents.
Before anyone knew it, they were all getting ready. New battle gear was given to those that didn't already have such garments. Tonks seemed to transform before everyone's eyes, the Auror putting aside her clever disguise of clumsiness and taking on a grace that was rivaled only by the felines among the group.
Albus Dumbledore, Filius Flitwick and Minerva McGonagall used their wand skills to disguise people as harmless students. More than one person was amused when Dumbledore ended up looking like Colin Creevey. The real Colin, after getting a picture of himself and his 'clone,' went to the Hospital Wing with Madam Pomfrey and Padma Patil.
Once everyone was ready, they went over the battle plan one final time before everyone trudged out to the grounds near the lake where they normally rang in the New Year.
"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2..."
KABOOM!
The Filibuster Fireworks went off with a bang that nearly caused the tense 'students' to fire off hexes. They sang and cheered, acting as normal as possible while they waited...And waited.
Finally, the cold and activities of the New Year couldn't compel them to remain outdoors any longer and they turned to head back inside. More than one person complaining about either the cold or the lack of activity only to halt as they saw a large group of Death Eaters, wands drawn, waiting for them in front of the castle.
"Now you're finished..." The hissing voice came from a creature with glowing crimson eyes right in the middle of the Death Eaters. "Kill them all!"
With those words, the curses started flying!
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Nearly two hundred and fifty Death Eaters had surrounded Lord Voldemort and, at his command, they charged, hexes flying, down at the group of fifty or so students. At least what they thought were students! Disguises dropped as the Death Eaters moved into a charge. It was obvious that they were hoping to overwhelm the students by sheer numbers. The Death Eaters charge faltered as reality sank in and their first charge was met head on with an annoyed Erumpent!
Blaise Zabini, protected by four Aurors casting shields and deflecting curses for him, charged in his full Erumpent form and drove his horn straight into the stomach of an approaching Death Eater. He whirled swiftly, flinging his head around and throwing the body off and into a group of five Death Eaters where it promptly exploded. The force of the explosion, not to mention the disgust of having a person's guts exploding onto them, brought down the five. Blaise continued without pause, tearing a messy hole into the opposition.
Charmed with a funnel type spell, Oliver Wood flew over another group of Death Eaters. This was a minor bit of joy for Oliver as he had been given specific instructions to sing praise about Quidditch at the enemy! While such a thing might seem silly, the fact that Oliver was currently a Fwooper gave his normal Quidditch rant a power more effective than normal as the sound of his song, funneling down on the Death Eaters, drove them to insanity. When later asked, Fred and George had told them that they hadn't really noticed a difference from when Oliver had been Captain of the Gryffindor team...
A stream of fire rained down on another group as Charlie Weasley flew overhead. He landed soon after, using talons and tail-whips to do damage to the burning Death Eaters. Occasionally he would breathe more flames onto his opponents, showing no mercy as he allowed his dragon mentality to take over and brutally attack the Death Eaters.
Nearly managing to escape the battle, Peter Pettigrew found himself trapped by Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Though the two were rather brutal in punishing their former fellow Marauder, they did not kill the Wormtail, instead forcing him into his rat form and locking him in the jar Hermione had once used on Rita Skeeter. Sirius would be free once the battle ended.
Everywhere one looked, Death Eaters were falling. They would be dueling with a seemingly normal person and be shocked nearly senseless when that person turned into an animal before taking the duels to a level most wizards were incapable of handling. Some half-breed animals would appear seemingly from nowhere as they shifted from smaller forms to larger, taking the Death Eaters out from behind.
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The battle seemed to have become a free-for-all and Kingsley, his purpose as a spy hardly necessary, slithered over to where Dumbledore and McGonagall were talking with an owl hybrid resumed his own hybrid form. "I can't find Voldemort. And I haven't seen Potter, Granger and Weasley since the fighting began."
"Thank you, Kingsley. Severus?" Dumbledore turned to the dark gray owl hybrid who nodded in reply before shifting into a full owl form and taking off in search. "Let us hope that all goes well..."
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Fred and George, found nearly in the middle of the remaining Death Eaters, were back to back in their hybrid forms. They didn't know how they had managed to get right in the middle of things and were hard pressed to keep the Death Eaters away. The twins alternated between throwing pellets filled with a powerful skin irritant and throwing curses when backup arrived.
Knocking Death Eaters aside, and in many cases, trampling right over them, a large silver stallion with a dark red mane and tail broke through the surrounding circle of black robed wizards. The stallion was followed by a large lioness and soon Bill and Molly Weasley were with the twins. The twins were shocked to see their mother so viciously fighting and couldn't hold back the grins.
"Glad to see you could join the fun, mum." Fred called cheekily before stunning another Death Eater.
Molly smirked. "Why in the world would I want to miss this? Did you two really think you got your prankster streak from your father?" She grinned at her startled sons before showing them a very nice hex that painfully downed three Death Eaters at once.
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Not far from where the Death Eaters had originally been gathered around Voldemort, the Inner Circle were nervously gathered. They hadn't expected the side of Light to return their attack, especially not so violently, and they were about to make a run for the wards to flee. Of course they never had a chance when a voice spoke out of nothingness.
"So nice of you to wait here for me..." The voice was familiar, especially to one of the Death Eaters.
"Millicent?" The man looked around for the girl he knew.
"Hello father..." Millicent's hissing voice was the last thing the man heard before the hybrid girl appeared in front of him and sank her sharp, venomous fangs into his throat. Within moments her father was dead and the brutal young Slytherin woman seemed to vanish.
"Where the hell..." Bellatrix looked around wildly, casting jinxes and hexes as she searched for the blood traitor girl. Even with the other Inner Circle members, save Snape, assisting, they didn't stand a chance as the Komodo Dragon hybrid took them down one by one.
As Lucius Malfoy turned to flee, he came face to face with a familiar white wolf. Backing up, the elder Malfoy only had time to scream before the wolf attacked...
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In the Great Hall of the castle, the important fight was taking place. Harry, Hermione and Ron, all three in their human forms, were taking on Voldemort. Voldemort had fled into the castle almost as soon as the fighting had started and the Trio had followed. They had found him en route to the Chamber of Secrets and had fought him back to the Great Hall. All four had cuts, bruises and were bleeding in various places. Considering that no one had yet to attempt the killing curse, the Trio seemed to be evenly matched to Lord Voldemort.
Things took a turn for the Light when the Trio all managed to cast an Impedimenta simultaneously and throw the Dark Lord back. Voldemort lost his grip on his wand as he flew into a wall, the wand skittering several feet away from his hand.
Instantly pressing their advantage, the Trio began flinging hexes at the downed man. Their curses caused bones to audibly crack and blood to flow before Voldemort's wand jumped back into his hand with a silent spell. Swinging his arm in one swoop as he fluidly rose from his crumpled location, the Trio suddenly found their wands flying from their hands and into Voldemort's.
Standing, Voldemort tilted his head back and cackled. "Finally, Potter shall die and I'll kill a blood traitor and a mudblood in the process!" As he continued to laugh, preparing to fire off the killing curse, Voldemort's attention was drawn by the vaguely familiar sound of metal clicking against metal. He turned to look at the trio and stepped back, bumping into the wall with his eyes wide.
Harry, Hermione and Ron stood confidently despite the loss of their wands. Each wore a smirk as they raised the Muggle guns Hermione had purchased and taught them how to use. The clicking had been the sound of those guns being cocked and ready for use.
"If it's all the same to you, Tom..." Harry smiled almost pleasantly. "I think we'll take a rain check on those deaths."
BANG!
-:The End:-