MWPP: Through Moony's Eyes
Animagi
Life hadn't changed much since Remus told James, Sirius, and Peter that he was a werewolf. Though some odd things were certainly happening. Remus frequently noticed Sirius, James, and Peter in the library, which wasn't normal. But, whenever Remus asked what they were doing, they just said that they were doing school stuff. But, anybody who knew those three knew that was a down right lie.
The full moon was tonight and Remus figured that it was no use telling Peter, James, and Sirius not to come visit him tomorrow. He knew they would come anyways. The full moon jitters were starting to happen, the shakes, the fever, the headache.
"Hey James!" Remus yelled down a corridor. James turned around to see Remus running towards him.
"Tonight's the night," James said, a slight worry tone was in his voice.
"Yeah," Remus replied grimly.
"We're going to come and visit you tomorrow," James said.
"Yeah I figured, just come after nine," Remus didn't need them to see what Lily saw. After nine, Madame Pomfrey usually had him in a better condition than when he first arrives at the castle.
"Sure!" James exclaimed.
"So, you ever going to tell me what you, Peter, and Sirius are doing in the library?" Remus asked, changing the subject.
"Yes, but not today...hm maybe tomorrow," James appeared to be thinking. "Nope not tomorrow, the day AFTER tomorrow...yeah that's it."
"Fine, be like that," Remus said, a little disappointed.
"We will!" James said cheerfully.
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"I'll see you tomorrow guys," Remus said after dinner, to James, Sirius, and Peter. His symptoms were getting worse, he felt terrible.
"See you Remus, take care of yourself," Sirius told him.
"I would if I could," Remus responded. The three boys waved goodbye as Remus left out through the gigantic Hogwarts doors. He had already had said goodbye to Lily, and told her not to visit until nine. She agreed. Madame Pomfrey was waiting outside for Remus.
"Good evening Mr. Lupin," Madame Pomfrey greeted him.
"Hello Madam Pomfrey." The two made their way down the Hogwarts grounds. Making their way through fallen red and gold leaves.
"Will I be expecting visitors tomorrow?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"Yes, Peter, James, Sirius, and Lily said that they were coming."
"You finally told the three boys?"
"Well they sorta figured it out for themselves." They arrived in the shadow of the thrashing tree. It amazed Remus at how, such a violent tree could easily be quieted just by touching it. Madam Pomfrey turned to Remus.
"I'll see you tomorrow Mr. Lupin." Remus watched her as she turned on her heel and headed back to the castle leaving Remus alone with only the autumn wind to comfort him. He picked up the nearest stick and prodded the tree and instantly it stopped moving. Dusk was sweeping away into the night and Remus could feel the moon about to rise so, he dove into the roots.
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"Hey looks like he's waking up."
"Be quiet and maybe he could wake up in peace."
"Shut up Evans, Remus would want to wake up to the sound of MY voice."
"It would be horrible to wake up to the sound of your voice Potter, it sounds like a screeching cat."
"My voice is just changing, that's all."
"Oh is that what you call it? Your voice has always sounded like that."
"I resent that."
"Peace would be nice," Remus said softly, and cracked open his eyes. Four figures were hovering over him.
"Tough night?" Sirius voice echoed through Remus's head.
"You have no idea." Remus said, chuckling quietly. He must've not even made it up to the castle, he couldn't remember coming up to Hogwarts this morning. Madame Pomfrey must've already given him his medicines while he was asleep. He confirmed it, the taste of chocolate was lingering in his mouth.
"Eh, can I have some of this?" Sirius asked, pointing to a slab of chocolate on Remus's bedside. Remus gingerly turned his body to the side to see where Sirius was pointing.
"Knock yourself out Sirius," Remus said and Sirius grinned.
"Better than last time?" He heard Lily ask.
"I don't know, I don't remember anything." Obviously Lily still hadn't gotten the image of Remus last month out of her head.
"When do you get outta here?" James asked looking around Remus's solitary room.
"I dunno," Remus raised his voice a little. "Madam Pomfrey, when can I leave?"
"Not today, you passed out in the Shrieking Shack this month. Only did that once before, the first time you transformed here. I reckon it's because you were thinking about your friends which made your wolf self go insane because it couldn't bite any of those people you were thinking about. I think you'll have to stay here until tomorrow, maybe around lunch tomorrow you can be released," Madam Pomfrey said. Lily, Peter, Sirius, and James all looked uneasy, finding out that your friend wanted to devour you hours ago, isn't really a pleasant thought. Remus seemed to sense their reaction.
"I don't want to eat you," He said but he knew once the next full moon rolled around, and he was a wolf, that would change.
"Um, ok," James started breaking the awkward silence. "Just make sure your back tomorrow in time for McGonagall's lesson, it's supposed to be very interesting." James looked over at Sirius who grinned a mouth full of chocolate.
"You didn't do anything did you?" Lily asked suspiciously.
"Not this time Evans. The lesson is just on something that Sirius, Peter, and I have been reading up on."
"I think I better go Remus," Lily said. "I bet James's and Sirius's fan clubs are waiting out in the hall," she said sarcastically.
"I bet Remus's fan club is waiting for him in the library," Sirius teased. Remus laughed softly. He may have a couple girls who have a little crush on him, but Sirius and James have girls all over the castle eyeing them wherever they go.
"Ok Remus, we'll be seeing you tomorrow," James said and Lily, Peter, James, and Sirius walked out of the room.
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Transfiguration was with the Ravenclaws the next day, which was pretty good because Gryffindors and Ravenclaws usually got along pretty well. Remus stepped into the classroom a tad bit late. Madam Pomfrey decided that he needed more rest and it took Remus ages to convince her that he was well. It really didn't matter though, how late he came into class. On a regular occasion, if somebody walked into McGonagall's class late, they would have detention and house points taken away. But McGonagall always had to let in Remus late, considering that he couldn't help it.
As soon as Remus stepped into the classroom McGonagall fell quiet. Remus nodded his head at her and she seemed to understand instantly.
"Take a seat Lupin," she said and Remus took the desk closest to him.
"Now, can anybody tell me what an Animagus is?" McGonagall asked. Remus's and Lily's hands instantly went into the air and surprisingly, so did two others. James, Sirius, and Peter were sitting in the front of the classroom and Sirius's and James's hands were in the air. McGonagall looked as surprised as Remus and Lily.
"Yes Black?" She asked, expecting a ridiculous answer.
"An Animagus, Animagi for more than one person, is a person who has the ability to turn into an animal at will." Sirius said.
"The person has no choice of what he or she will turn into, what they turn into is based on their personalities," James continued.
"It is very difficult to learn how to do," Sirius said.
"And dangerous," James said.
"And illegal."
"Which is why all Animagi must register with the Ministry of Magic."
"Things can go horribly," Sirius said.
"Horribly," James continued.
"Wrong."
"An Animagus keeps some of their human characteristics."
"For example," Sirius said.
"If an Animagus cut off a finger," James continued.
"Than something from his or her animal form will be missing,"
"As well," James finished. The class was silent from shock. They all never expected James and Sirius to even know what the topic of the class was. McGonagall looked the most surprised.
"That is correct Black and Potter, now if you can all turn to page 626 and read the chapter," McGonagall said, still bewildered at the fact that Sirius and Potter were actually paying attention. Remus opened his book and skipped over the parts that Sirius and James had already covered.
Animagi keep their minds when they transform,
Unlike other transformations, such as a
werewolf transformation. Animagi are able to
reach out to things in their animal forms when
regular humans can not. For example, a
werewolf is almost unreachable in his or her
wolf state. But, when an animagus turns into
his or her animal form, they are able to calm
a werewolf down and distract a werewolf so
it will not have to attack itself.
Remus tore his eyes away from the page. He had finally figured out what Sirius, James, and Peter have been up to. Remus hurriedly went over to where Peter, James, and Sirius were sitting.
"You didn't," Remus whispered to them.
"Oh but we did," Sirius replied with a smile.
"We knew you'd figure this out," James said.
"Are you doing this too, Peter?" Remus asked turning to Peter.
"Yeah, I am," Peter replied sadly.
"You guys, what you are planning to do isn't a little school prank! You're talking about breaking the LAW! Not to mention the fact of what happens when Animagus transformations go wrong. Do you even know what happens to those people who try to transform illegally?" Remus said, getting frustrated. He was happy that his friends wanted to do this much for him, but risking their lives was going way too far.
"Yes, actually we do," James started.
"Anderson, Evan, wizard who tried to transform into a racoon. Nearly did it but now he's stuck with a permanent tail and black and white stripes," Sirius informed him.
"Dalman, Amy, witch who successfully turned herself into a squirrel, but was never able to turn back," Peter said. Yes, Peter did his research too.
"Braswell, Corey, wizard. Half of his body is a monkey and the other half is human. So he has 2 monkey feet, a tail, and from the stomach down, he's extremely hairy." James said.
"There are many more stories but we do not have time to tell them all," Sirius stated. "For in about 30 seconds, McGonagall will come bursting out of her office screaming 'BLACK, POTTER, DETENTION!' because we jinxed a board in her office to flash JAMES AND SIRIUS: ULTIMATE PRANKSTERS!" Sirius said calmly. Sure enough, the second Sirius finished his sentence, McGonagall came storming out of her office.
"BLACK, POTTER, DETENTION!" McGonagall shouted. "Class dismissed." Everyone filed out of the classroom, yet another day they get out early because of James and Sirius. The door slammed shut and everyone scattered in different directions to go to different classes. Remus and Peter instantly put their ears against the door to hear what was going on. There were shouts coming from inside, most likely McGonagall.
"NEVER IN MY 16 YEARS OF TEACHING HAVE I EVER HAD SUCH A PAIR OF TROUBLE MAKERS! YOU WOULD THINK THAT REMUS WOULD HAVE A GOOD INFLUENCE ON YOU!" Laughter was heard from inside the classroom.
"Remus can be just as bad as us sometimes, he's just smart enough not to get caught. The first day we met him he outsmarted us," said Sirius's voice.
"Actually, knowing him and Peter, they're probably standing right outside the door, listening to everything we're saying." James voice rang. All of a sudden, the door that Remus and Peter had been leaning on gave way and they landed on the floor with a THUD. Peter and Remus both looked up in the eyes of a furious Minerva McGonagall.
"LUPIN, PETTIGREW, DETENTION!" McGonagall bellowed.
"For what!" Remus asked.
"EAVESDROPPING!"
"Oh."
"Pettigrew you will be polishing the trophies," McGonagall said, and a whine came from Peter. "Yes all 914 of them. Potter, Black, and Lupin," She said, turning towards them. "Since you now obviously know that Lupin is a werewolf, you will be fixing the shrieking shack, without magic."
"But...but Professor, it'll only get ruined in 29 days!" Remus pleaded.
"Dumbledore figured that in the shape the Shrieking Shack is in, it won't hold up for another transformation of yours, Lupin. Dumbledore was going to go fix it himself, but I think that it would be better serve as a punishment for you three. That way it the Shrieking Shack will stay up for at least another year."
"Pettigrew, your detention will be served at eight tomorrow, and Lupin, Black, and Potter, your detention will be starting at six tomorrow. You are excused." Remus and Peter slumped out of the classroom, but Sirius and James came out as happy as ever.
"Sorry Pettigrew, I guess me, Remus, and James got off easy," Sirius said, once they were out of earshot of McGonagall.
"First of all Sirius, the correct way to say that statement would be Remus, James, and I. Second, we did NOT get off easy. Everything in that place is broken and needs to be fixed, including the shack itself. This has got to be at least a four hour job. And all of this WITHOUT magic!" Remus said, banging his head against a wall.
"Don't do that Remus, we need your brain power," James said, pulling Remus away from the wall.
"That's right, because you don't have any yourself," Remus said.
"That's right," James said nodding. "Hey! Wait a minute!" James said finally realizing that Remus had just insulted him.
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Remus, James, and Sirius arrived at the Whomping Willow at exactly 6 o clock. Remus made sure that they were on time.
"So exactly how do we get in again?" Sirius asked, looking puzzled.
"Leave that to me. I've never really gone down here when it wasn't a full moon night," Remus said, picking up a giant stick. He touched the trunk of the tree and it immobilized. James and Sirius stared with open mouths. "Follow me," Remus said as he climbed into the Whomping Willow. Leading his two stunned friends into the darkness and into the Shrieking Shack. The Shrieking Shack had broken wood everywhere, things that used to be chairs and dressers.
"Boy Remus. You really are destructive aren't you?" James commented, looking around the shack.
"Yeah," Remus said darkly. "And the sooner we finish, the sooner it will be destroyed once again."
"I suppose we should get started then," Sirius said and each of the boys grabbed an item to fix.
"So, you're really going to go through with becoming Animagi?" Remus asked, even though he knew that their mind hadn't swayed on the idea.
"Course we are Remus. We aren't just going to sit here and watch our friend beat himself up once a month."James said.
"But, I could accidentally bite one of you. And I could never live with myself if that happened."
"Well it just won't happen then," Sirius said as he threw down a fixed chair, causing it to break again. Sirius looked down at the chair and scowled.
"Just think Remus," James said looking out into the night sky. "All those scars you won't get, there will be no more reason for you to bite yourself."
"That's true, but still, this is you risking your LIFE!"
"Which is half the fun," Sirius said with a grin.
"Well if you aren't going to leave this idea, then you better let me help you."
"We could always use your brain," James said with a smile. When they were finally done, at ten o clock, Sirius looked around the spotless building.
"You know, this place looks a little TO clean," Sirius said with disgust. "Make sure to really mess it up good for us, Remus."
"I shall do my best Sirius," Remus said smiling.