Taking Flight
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Chapter Five: Hungry Like the Wolf
"Alright, so this ritual was one James, Remus and I created using our understanding of ancient runes, arithmency and human transfiguration. Remus is a genius when it comes to numbers, your dad was a Transfiguration prodigy and I've always been a fair hand at Runes and we had needed something to focus on while the girls were planning Prongs and Stripes' wedding. Hence, the ritual, though I use the term lightly. No goat sacrifices here."
"Of course, when he says fair hand, he means a certified Runes master by the age of seventeen," Remus quipped dryly. Harry goggled, but Sirius just continued talking.
"The runes are all designed to strip you down to your baser, animalistic form. You know: food, fight, fuck or the three F's, as Stripes called it. They'll also cause your magic to run free through the room, you'll fall into a trance and in that hallucinatory state, you'll be your animal, metaphysically speaking. You won't change physically - not yet - but in your mind, you will have. When you wake, the ritual will be over and the research will begin, but we'll get to that when you wake up. If you can, try work out what your form is while you're still in the trance, but it's not absolutely vital. Your instincts will come through after the ritual, so if you don't work it out, we'll be able to from those."
"So what do I have to do now" harry asked warily, eyeing the first circle of runes. There was a concentric array of them, the central circle of which had an elemental golem at all four cardinal points: earth at the eastern point, water at the south, air at the western point and fire at the north."
Remus handed over a brownie. "Normally I wouldn't condone this, but it's sometimes helpful when you're not in your right mind. Most of the original Order used this method. Enjoy your first time being high. I hope it's simultaneously your last."
Sirius grinned reminiscently. "We used to smoke weed fairly regularly. Of course, no one knew it was dangerous at that point. Merlin, those were the days…"
Harry eyed the hash brownie warily, shrugged to himself and took a bite. This summer would surely be full of new experiences. This would hopefully be one in a long line of them. He chomped down until all that was left was crumbs, was ushered into the runic circles by Remus and instructed to sit down in the middle of the four elemental, palm sized golems. Sirius began to chant and Harry closed his eyes, lulled into a mindless trance brought on by the magic, the marijuana and the soothing cadence of Sirius' voice.
-!- -#-
"A wolf," Harry declared quietly. Awareness had come to him in bursts, but through all of it, that fact rang loud and clear: his animagus form was a wolf. He lifted his head, rubbed uncomfortably at his strained neck and cast his gaze around the room, vaguely curious. Sirius and Remus were no longer in the ritual chamber with him, though he doubted it would be hard to find them.
Lackadaisically, Harry rose to his feet, stepped out of the concentric circles of runic arrays and treaded out of the room on heavy feet. It was obvious he was still mildly buzzed from the marijuana, but he couldn't muster enough interest to be properly concerned about it. Instead, he focused on the chill that seeped through the pads of his feet, sought out abstract pictures in the white marble floors and became soundly distracted from his original task. Sirius and Remus could wait - he doubted they'd mind.
Shaking himself, Harry continued on his way, but given that he was unfamiliar with the place, it still took him a further ten minutes to locate the family dining room. There, Sirius and Remus were eating lunch and he wondered, fleetingly, what they'd done about the Order of the Phoenix. How long had he been out?
"Hullo," Harry greeted, shuffling into the room. He flopped gracelessly onto one of the available chairs, reached for the bowl of crisps and ate slowly, all the while both elder wizards eyed him expectantly.
"Nope, Moony, we're not going to get anything out of him while he's still so baked. How much Mary Jane did you put in the brownies?"
Remus snorted. "Enough to last a few hours," he answered, "I forgot to take into consideration the magical influence. He'll be like this until evening, at the very least."
"I'm right here," Harry interjected mildly.
"We're aware," Sirius deadpanned. "Did you see your animal?"
"I did."
"Well?" Remus pressed.
Harry grinned. "Well what?"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "What's your animal, Harry?"
"I'm a wolf," he answered. "I can't say more than that, I suppose."
"That's all we wanted to know," Remus answered glibly. He got to his feet. "I'm going to go check out the creature texts in the Potter library while I'm here." He departed and Sirius turned to Harry, grinning.
"Better eat up, Harry. Moons and I will have to take off soon. Congratulations on the wolf. We'll be sure to help you out as soon as we can."
Harry nodded his acknowledgement and began to eat his way through the lunch offered. When he was done, the three wizards left Potter Manor, Harry for his Camden flat and the two Marauders for Order headquarters, wherever they were. Remus and Sirius had implied that it was in London, but beyond that, the fidelius charm that had been used made further specifics not possible. Harry was aware that it was a Black family property, but was genuinely not interested enough to go digging. Both godfather and could-have-been pseudo uncle had made it abundantly clear that the Order of the Phoenix was doing very little in the way of preparing for and/or preventing Voldemort's inevitable reign of terror and therefore, Harry had no interest in running the risk of being strong-armed into moving in. He was enjoying his newfound freedom, thank you very much.
-!- -#-
That evening, once his buzz had finally abated, Harry made his way down to the first floor restaurant of his apartment building, ordered himself some dinner and took a seat near the back. He watched those around him as he waited for his meal, curious to find that most of the restaurant's clientele was made up of teenagers that ranged between fourteen and eighteen, in animated conversation about anything and everything. He saw a psychedelic array of hair colours, an eclectic collection of piercings and haircuts, so many different clothing styles and such things. Not for the first time, he envied their ignorance.
"Battered fish, salt and vinegar chips and a bottle of lemonade." The dish and drink were set down in front of Harry by a busty brunette with blue streaks through her hair, a nose piercing and a pretty smile. "Anything else I can get you, number seven?"
The girl took hold of the number in question, flicked the thin stand between her fingers and waited expectantly for Harry to answer. He did not disappoint.
"No, thank you."
"Sure," she acknowledged, "Just wave me over if you change your mind. I'm Bobby, by the way - Bobby Hunter."
Harry smiled, nodded his acknowledgement and answered, "Harry - Harry Potter."
The waitress girl took off to tend to her other customers and Harry dug into his dinner, famished despite the obnoxious amount of food he'd snacked on during the course of his day. The elves would no doubt be displeased that he'd skipped out on one of his potion laced lunches, so he promised himself not to make a habit of it. Besides, it wasn't as though they wouldn't force feed him a vile of the funky tasting concoction anyway.
He finished up within half an hour and Bobby strolled over, notepad and pencil in hand. "Can I get you dessert?"
"The fudge brownie sundae, please," Harry answered.
"Good choice," she acknowledged, cleared up his dishes and informed him, "I'll be back with that shortly."
When she did, she gestured to the empty seat across from him. "Can I sit here? I'm on my break."
Harry, impressed by her forwardness but still out of his depth, nodded his acquiescence, took a mouthful of chocolate fudge brownie and ice cream goodness and hummed his satisfaction. The dessert was delicious. "Where have you been all my life?"
Bobby laughed aloud, brown eyes dancing as she watched him practically molest the food. "You like? I'll let Paul know."
"Paul?" Harry queried. "Is he the genius who made this heavenly concoction? Gods, can I buy him?"
"Yes, he's the chef here. He's also my uncle. I help him out during the summers. I haven't seen you around before."
"I just moved into an apartment upstairs," Harry admitted. "I used to live in Surrey with my aunt and uncle, but I've recently been emancipated."
"So you live alone?" She queried, curious. Harry nodded. "Must be nice. I live with my older brother and his wife. It's alright, but they have young children, so it gets a bit suffocating sometimes. It's why I live with my uncle during the summers. I get away from the rug rats, Uncle Paul gets cheap labour. Win/win."
Harry didn't ask about her parents and she didn't ask about his. Instead, they talked about the places they'd explored thus far, about favourite music and movies. Harry's were a bit out of date and limited beyond that and somewhere between starting and completing his dessert, they made plans to watch the newly released comedy 'Billy Madison' that coming Friday night. Then Bobby returned to her shift and Harry returned to his apartment, wondering what he'd gotten himself into. Whatever the case, Bobby was a pretty girl who was easy to talk to, it wouldn't hurt to catch up on muggle culture and it was obvious that Voldemort wouldn't be on the move anytime soon. Dinner and a movie with the girl wouldn't hurt anyone.