Harry Potter and the Dark Lord

Chapter 42: Animagus

Summary: Set in Harry's sixth year. He encounters far more than he ever could have expected, but he does not have to go through it alone. An old friend returns to help him. Harry's defeat of Voldemort rests on him getting The Scepter of Light and Dark, something that would allow Voldemort to destroy the world if he can get the whole thing. Voldemort's powers are getting stronger and Harry has more than one encounter with him.

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This Chapter: Harry becomes an Animagus

Now...on with the story!


Harry was finally able to leave the hospital wing a week later. His arms were fully healed and the scars had begun to fade. Harry was never so happy that their school robes were long-sleeved. He didn't want anyone finding out that Voldemort had tried to get him to kill himself. He'd have to get Hermione to teach him a concealing charm for them.

Harry walked to Gryffindor Tower, thoroughly angered by Madam Pomfrey. Just before he left, she had told him that he wasn't allowed to go to Hogsmeade that Saturday, which was Halloween.

The week passed by without incident, and after breakfast on Saturday, Harry and his friends parted ways. Harry was heading to the library and Ron and Hermione were going to Hogsmeade. Harry knew exactly what he was going to research in the library, the tricky part would be getting Sirius to help him.

Once Ron and Hermione were gone, Sirius turned to Harry and asked, "So what are we going to do all day?"

"I know exactly what I'm planning to do, but I need your help on it. I want to become an Animagus." said Harry.

"I'm going to do it with or without your help, but I'd prefer with. I'm sure it will help when I'm battling Voldemort."

"Fine, I'll help you." said Sirius.

Harry walked off towards the library. Once inside, Sirius bounced ahead of him, pulling books off shelves. Finally, he stopped and looked at Harry.

"These are most of the books we'll need, but the rest are in the Restricted Section and we need a note to get in there" said Sirius.

"We don't need a note, you're practically a teacher." said Harry.

"Oh yeah, you're right." said Sirius and headed for the Restricted Section.

Harry waited at a table with the stack of books while Sirius got the others from the Restricted Section. Finally, he was finished and Sirius took them over to Madam Pince to check out. Madam Pince frowned disapprovingly at the books, but she checked them out anyways. They walked to Gryffindor Tower, Sirius carrying most of the books. Once inside the Common Room, they sat down in comfortable chairs next to the fire.

"Okay since I've already figured this out once, it should take a lot less time to learn, maybe a few months." said Sirius.

"The first part is the spell to change you into the animal you'll turn into."

"Umm, maybe we should go to the Room of Requirement for this." said Harry. He didn't think it was a good idea for others to know what he was doing, even Ron and Hermione.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." said Sirius.

They collected the books and headed to the Room of Requirement. When they reached the tapestry, he started. He had just remembered what had happened that night. He dropped the books and they fell to the floor with a crash.

"Harry, what's wrong?" asked Sirius.

"N-nothing" said Harry and picked up the books.

He didn't want to tell anyone what had happened, at least not yet. He walked back and forth in front of the tapestry, thinking about a room to learn to become an Animagus. The door appeared and they walked inside.

The floor and walls were cushioned and there were several chairs and a table on one side of the room. Harry put his pile of books on the table and sat in a chair.

"Might want to get up again, Harry. I've got to cast the spell on you." said Sirius.

Harry stood up and faced Sirius, who raised his want and said, "Transferme Animalle." Harry watched, fascinated, as his legs were covered in dark gray fur. His watching ended when he was forced onto all fours.

While on the floor, Harry grew larger and his vision sharpened. Finally, he stopped changing and he looked around for Sirius. Sirius was standing to his right, staring at his with a shocked expression on his face. Sirius finally recovered enough to changed Harry back.

"Transferme Reversa." said Sirius and Harry felt his body shifting back to normal. He ended up on the floor on his hands and knees. Sirius reached down and helped him up.

"What animal am I?" asked Harry excitedly. "It was definitely something with fur."

"You're a griffin." said Sirius.

"Wow." said Harry.

"I think we'd better stop for tonight. We can come back tomorrow." said Sirius.

Harry merely nodded as a reply, he was exhausted. Once back in the dormitory, Harry changed his clothes and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The next day was a Sunday, so after breakfast, Harry and Sirius told Ron, Hermione, and Ginny they had something to do, and hurried to the Room of Requirement. The next step was trickier, Sirius explained. Now Harry had to visualize himself changing into the griffin.

"It helps to imagine what you look like now, then mentally changing that picture." said Sirius.

Harry pictured himself in his head and pictured his legs and body becoming larger and covered with fur, and his arms turning into wings, and his head and upper body being covered with feathers. Harry could feel his body changing as he pictured the changes. Pretty soon, Harry was on the floor, a griffin once more.

"Ok, Harry. Now you need to do the reverse. Picture the griffin changing into you." said Sirius. Harry did so, and could feel the feathers and fur melting back into skin.

"Wow, Harry, you learned that a lot quicker than I did. Even after we finally figured out the incantations, I took us much longer to learn to transform. It must be the power from Merlin that helped you." said Sirius.

Harry began to grin wickedly. He had just thought of a brilliant plan. Quickly, he relayed his plan to Sirius, who wouldn't go through with it until Harry had practiced a bit more at changing. Once Sirius was satisfied with Harry's progress, Harry changed back into himself and they walked back to Gryffindor Tower. They entered the Common Room to find Ron and Ginny playing chess while Hermione watched.

"Hermione, can you play for Ginny for a few minutes?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, sure." said Hermione.

Harry grabbed Ginny's arm and led her up the stairs to the sixth year boys' dormitory.

"I'm going to pull a prank on Ron and I need you to get the first and second years out of the Common Room. I think half of them would drop dead with fright. I'll give you a couple of minutes, then I'll come down. Okay?" said Harry.

Ginny grinned and ran down the stairs, Harry following more slowly. When Harry reached the end of the stairs, he snuck a quick look into the Common Room. Ginny had managed to get rid of the first and second years, so Harry headed out to the Common Room.

Sirius's POV

Sirius waited patiently for Ginny to come back down so he could help her get rid of the first and second years. He saw her come back down and sprinted over to her.

He whispered, "Tell them there's a special meeting in the Great Hall for first and second years." Ginny nodded.

"First and Second years listen up. There is a meeting for all of you in the Great Hall in ten minutes. Please hurry, you don't want to be late."

Ginny spoke with an authoritative voice; none of the younger students questioned her and quickly left the Common Room. The older students looked questioningly at her, but she just shook her head and walked over and resumed her game with Ron.

Minutes later, Sirius saw a large gray eagle's head emerge from the stairs to the boys' dormitory. Several girls started screaming as Harry made his way over to where Ron and Ginny were playing chess.

When the griffin reached Ron, he reached out with his talons and grabbed the back of Ron's robes. The griffin picked up Ron and put him on his back. The griffin added Hermione and a giggling Ginny to his back, then took off out the window.

Students began screaming all around him. Sirius started laughing wildly. Several people gave him odd looks, but he kept laughing. It wasn't until someone said they were going to McGonagall that Sirius calmed down.

"Hey, everyone! It's okay. The griffin is Harry." said Sirius loudly. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Sirius went up to the dormitory. He sat down on his bed , wondering where Harry went.

Harry's POV

Harry dived out the window with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny seated on his back. He stretched his wings out and soared down to the grounds. He landed softly and his three riders climbed off. He transformed back into himself and looked into Ron and Hermione's astonished faces.

"How did you do that mate?" asked Ron.

"Its pretty obvious Ron." said Hermione knowingly.

"What?" said Ron, utterly confused.

"Harry's an Animagus, Ron." said Hermione.

"Oh." mumbled Ron.

"Wonder what everyone else thinks." said Ginny.

"Don't worry, Sirius is taking care of that." said Harry, laughing.

"Sirius helped you with this, didn't he?" asked Hermione.

"He taught me to become an Animagus, but the prank was my idea." said Harry.

"I think it was brilliant." said Ginny, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek.

"Um…..you guys, its nearly curfew." said Hermione.

"Two choices. You can risk getting caught walking back or you can ride me back up, since I'm the one who brought you down here in the first place." said Harry.

He transformed back into the griffin and Ron, Hermione, and Ginny climbed onto his back. He flapped his wings and soared back up to Gryffindor Tower.


Next Chapter: Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff