Marietta slid onto the end of the bench at the Slytherin table, ignoring the heads turning her way.
"Did you hear about Eldritch Bradley?" She asked, her voice so low that Andrew, Rissa, and Jake had to lean in to hear the question.
"Who's Eldritch Bradley?" Andrew asked.
"A Ravenclaw in our year—" Rissa explained impatiently. "—hear what about Bradley?"
"Well, you know how Umbridge has been threatening detentions on anyone who so much as smiles in a way she interprets as mocking?" The other three nodded.
Since the last edition of the Herald, which had been distributed both to the students of Hogwarts and, by means of Fred and George Weasley, to the Wizarding World of Britain at large, under the name The Augery. Some hadn't believed the paper, but others had been furious, calling for the ministry to investigate the goings-on at Hogwarts and find out whether Dolores Umbridge really was doing everything they'd read about. The ministry had sent a wizard from the Department of Magical Education to observe the school for two days, and the next edition of the Prophet noted that no unsavory practices had been witnessed. Umbridge had been furious and, it was true, threatening to give students detention. Each time she almost followed through with the act, however, another teacher was on the scene, giving the student detention themselves. Andrew had gotten one from McGonagall, which consisted of him going to her office and reading aloud from the texts she had given him for his studies, and Adrian had reportedly been assigned to make tea for Flitwick on two separate occasions.
"Well, apparently Bradley was out wandering the halls at night and she caught him when no one else was around. The other boys in our year noticed that he never showed up, but they figured he'd gone to spend time with Bagby from Hufflepuff. But then he wasn't in any classes, and Eddie told Corrie, who reported it to Flitwick, and Bradley was back yesterday evening looking exhausted, and he told us she'd had Filch lock him up in one of the old dungeons—the ones even Snape doesn't use for class." Marietta paused, glancing up at the head table. "I have to go before she sees me, but let everyone know—they need to be careful. The ministry obviously doesn't care what she does here, and they have the control. Tell Adrian," she added, looking at Andrew. "Make sure he keeps it together."
With that, she was gone. The three sat in silence for a while, letting the news soak in.
"This is bad," Rissa finally said, her voice shakier than normal.
"It's not just what happened to Bradley, though, is it?" Jacob asked, the other two turning to him, confused. "I don't know about you two, but my dad was thrilled when he heard Umbridge would be at the school this year. He didn't talk like she was…y'know, one of them, but he knew who she was, said she was inadvertently helping the cause."
"You think she's going to bring death eaters into the mix?" Andrew's suddenly realized he could shear his pulse thrumming through his head, and tried to take a deep breath. Jake bit his lip.
"I…I don't know for sure. I don't think she will on purpose—she likes the control too much for that. I'm saying that I don't think keeping Bradley in that cell was the whole plan for his punishment. I think that maybe it got interrupted."
"Then Marietta's right. We have to let people know, and we have to be careful."
/
Night had fallen, but Andrew felt uncomfortably visible under the light of the nearly full moon, disillusioned though he was. As he made his way past the greenhouses, and later the gamekeeper's hut, he held his breath, feeling certain someone would jump out at him and turn him around, which would mean he'd have to start everything over again—and that was something he didn't relish. He reached into his pocket to ensure he still had the package containing the moth chrysalis which McGonagall had told him to acquire a few meetings prior. No apothecaries had held them, but the Weasley twins had somehow gotten their hands on one, at the expense of a pair of bemused looks and a sum of galleons Andrew was fairly certain bordered on extortion.
Finally, he entered the clearing where Care of Magical Creatures lessons were held, his eyes quickly finding a small cat sitting on a stool propped next to the material shed. Hopping down from her perch, McGonagall smoothly transformed, landing on her feet as a woman once more.
"I brought the chrysalis."
"Good—I have the phial. Now, follow me." They walked further into the forest than Andrew had ever been, the noises around them causing a shiver to run down his spine.
"It was nice not to have a leaf stuck to the roof of my mouth anymore," he commented, trying to ignore the noises.
A thin smile touched the Professor's lips at that comment, a kind which told Andrew she knew precisely what he meant, and had thought the same thing years ago.
"I still don't understand how you got that dew, though," he told her.
"As I told you last week, the MerChieftan was kind enough to harvest it from one of their fields in the caverns for you," she told him.
"Well yeah, but…how do underwater fields have dew?"
"Magic, I suppose," she told him, voice dry. Andrew was pretty sure that meant she didn't know either, and that she wanted him to leave it alone, so he slipped back into silence until she stopped him.
"This is where we will store the phial—you must remember the location and be ready to come here as quickly as you can when lightning next strikes. Now, add the chrysalis." She uncorked the phial, and Andrew dropped the chrysalis into the silvery mixture, which turned deep black as the new ingredient dissolved.
"When you come to get it, it must be blood-red, or you are not to drink it." She looked at him, and he nodded to show his understanding, his eyes focused on the black liquid, now bubbling. McGonagall tucked it under the root of a tree, where it would be in the dark during the day as well as at night, then turned back to him. "The most important part of becoming an animagus is understanding what is happening—transfiguration has many moving parts—the details are of the utmost most importance. Explain it to me."
"Explain it to you?"
"Yes, Mr. Fawley—teach me how to become an animagus, and why that process works."
"Um, well, you start with the mandrake leaf and your hair, and the saliva and hair represent you, physically—they anchor you to your human self, right? And the mandrake leaf specifically signifies something that's human but not human, like you will be as an animagus. And you put those in a phial that's soaked up moonlight because that's all a concept—theoretical. It's tied to thoughts and ideas, and it represents the mind and human-like thought. The dew…it's impossible. It's something you can't comprehend and can barely capture, so it's the binding factor, the magic holding everything together."
"And the chrysalis?"
"Transformation—moving from one thing to another."
"And we use the death's head hawkmoth specifically because it is the most potent—the history of the species is full of superstition. There's two more pieces, Mr. Fawley: the incantation, and the lightning. The incantation—Amato Animo Animato Animagus—signifies the duality of your existence as a wizard and an animal. The lightning—"
"It's the energy source, right?" McGonagall gestured for him to go on. "Usually, the energy to cast spells comes from inside of us. But trying to use too much would be a problem—that's basic stuff. So, in this case, the lightning is the energy. The potion can draw from that to get to its final state, and we can use it for the first transformation. After that first time, our bodies know the transition well enough to do it without using too much of our energy.
"Well done, Mr. Fawley," McGonagall said. "This is something to be proud of."
"I'm not done yet," Andrew said, feeling his cheeks heat with pride nevertheless.
McGonagall didn't argue, only turned and headed back toward the castle, Andrew on her heels.
/
"Bletchley could be the size of a Norwegian Ridgeback, he still wouldn't have the brains to block the right goalpost—what—get them off!" Zacharias Smith's face was being attacked by bats made out of bogeys, causing everyone around him to take a hurried step back and look around for Ginny Weasley, the spell's most known practitioner. Instead, their eyes found a small third year, wand still raised.
"Shut up about my brother," Kevin said, and, lowering his arm, pushed his way over to the Slytherin team, where he'd been headed when he overheard Smith's words.
"Taken down by a third year, Zach?" Someone called, and the group around Smith began to dissolve into giggles.
"Just get them off of me," Zacharias screamed, hastily shutting his mouth before one could fly in. One of his teammates vanished the bats, and Zacharias spun around, looking for Kevin. "I'm going to get him back for that."
"Relax, Zach—he's just a kid."
"A kid who just attacked me, Belby. He deserves what he has coming."
/
"Are we sure this is safe? Everyone being together like this?"
"No one will be checking for students today—the Hufflepuffs are all celebrating with friends, so it'd be pointless to try to account for everyone." Miles tried to be reassured by Lee's answer, but the memory of how angry Umbridge had been recently, as well as the fact that Lee was, well Lee, held him back from being fully comfortable.
"Three cheers for Kevin and an incredible performance of the bat-bogey hex—inspirational stuff, Kev," Ginny said with a grin, which Kevin returned.
"He'll never live it down," Wayne Hopkins put in, looking rather more pleased than upset for his fellow fifth year Hufflepuff. The cheers faded away, replaced with chatter, only to pick back up when Tamsin Applebee, also a Hufflepuff chaser, entered.
Miles went up to his brother, lifting him down from the chair his admirers had stood him on.
"C'mon, Kev, we've got to go back soon—don't want anyone to ask questions about where we are."
"But—" Kevin cut off his retort with a sigh. "Fine—I've got potions homework anyway, and all my stuff for it is back in my room."
As they walked to the wall the DA used to make passages, Miles caught sight of Cedric. "You go on, Kev, I've got to talk to Cedric—I'll stop by in a few hours and you can ask me any of the questions you have about your homework. Kevin wrinkled his nose.
"You're horrid at Potions."
"Just because I didn't get a high enough OWL doesn't mean I can't do third year potions. But fine—I'll stop by to say goodnight anyway."
Once he was sure Kevin had, in fact, gone, Miles headed over to Cedric.
"There are a lot of people here," he said, gauging the other boy's reaction.
"I know," Cedric replied, his smile slipping. "Everyone wants to see each other, and celebrating a win is one way to do that, so I get it, but…it's risky."
"As long as it doesn't go too late—we can't just suddenly all appear in our dorms."
"I know," Cedric said again, and Miles took in how tired the other boy looked.
"I'm sure everyone knows, though, after last time. Everything will be fine."
"Right. Everything will be fine."