17

The next morning, Snape came to breakfast with a small smile on his face. In fact, it was so small that people, who didn't know him well, would have overlooked it. Dumbledore noticed immediately, of course.

"Severus, what has you in such a good mood today?" he asked as the potions master sat down.

"Several reasons," Snape explained and poured himself some coffee. "I slept well and uninterrupted for once. I was at a party yesterday. We lived through that workshop without having any new dark wizards at our hands. And most importantly, when I called Eilidh this morning, she turned visible for me."

"Ah," Dumbledore sighed happily and poured a generous helping of honey onto the pancakes in front of him, "the joy of bonding with a new pet! I will never forget how I got Fawkes!"

"I don't think I ever had the privilege of hearing this story," Snape pointed out. He shovelled bacon onto his plate. The sweet aroma from Dumbledore's was strong enough to make him sick and bacon was the only food available to cover the sticky smell.

Dumbledore beamed at the potions master. "It is a great story!" he cried and proceeded to tell it in detail.

Halfway through the tale, the Dark Lord and his entourage made an appearance and the dark wizard listened politely to the story. He even asked a question here and there. Dumbledore was delighted.

The opening of the advent calendar brought many pieces of parchment. The Dark Lord got up to explain to the puzzled students what the first years had made and there was a rush to try and guess the trigger words.

Draco Malfoy succeeded first. His parchment answered to "Slytherin" and every time the word was said it folded itself into one of three different stars.

"Excellent work!" the blond cried toward the first years at his table. Given the trigger word, it was safe to assume that one of the house's own youngsters had made his star.

Sybil Trelawney had got a star parchment, too. She prophesized that it would take her well into the new year to guess the phrase. She was wrong, though. Her star formed as soon as she asked Hagrid to pass the salt.

The teachers laughed at the divination teacher good-naturedly and she joined in merrily.

Somebody had put a small soft toy into the calendar, and it was Neville Longbottom who got it. The boy cuddled the plush sheep enthusiastically and his dorm mates teased him mercilessly. The whole Gryffindor table roared with laughter when the toy bleated at the boys angrily.

The Dark Lord's present of the day was a cookie cutter. It changed into the form the Dark Lord asked for. "Ah," explained Dumbledore, "dear Harry taught the little ones how to make these while you were in quarantine."

"I missed the cookie baking?" gasped the Dark Lord. "I was looking forward to it!"

"I'm sure we can arrange another session," soothed Snape.

"Excellent!" cried the dark wizard. "Lucius, Bella, we're going to make cookies this afternoon."

"I will personally take care of organising everything," cried Dumbledore. "And I will join you!" He brandished the rolling pin he had got from the advent calendar.

"I was hoping for a baking event, my Lord," drawled Bella. "It is always a great honour to work in the kitchen with my Lord. Severus, did I tell you about the sushi we made the other day?"

The potions master admitted he had not heard that story and the witch described in loving detail how good their Lord was with a knife.

Snape got a tartan tin with ginger snaps. He looked down the table to McGonagall and raised the tin questioningly. The witch nodded that, yes, it came from her. The potions master mouthed his thanks. McGonagall's ginger snaps made excellent treats for a quiet evening on the sofa.

The potions master banished his new tin to his quarters when he spotted some excitement at the Gryffindor table. Of course he had nothing against Gryffindor making fools of themselves but enough was enough. How long did they want to tease Longbottom? The soft toy was not that funny. The head of Slytherin sauntered to the Gryffindor table.

"What is happening here?" he asked sternly when he reached the house of the lions.

"Ron got a book!" Potter said excitedly.

"Weasley has a book? I can see how this has you all worked up." Snape looked at the golden boy down his nose.

"It's a book on becoming an animagus!" cried the teenage hero. "My Dad was an animagus!"

"I don't think that Weasley has the intellectual power to become an animagus," Snape pointed out. He looked at the redhead doubtfully.

"Severus, be nice," McGonagall admonished her fellow head of house from behind.

Potter rolled his eyes. "It has a chapter on how to discover which animal you will become!"

"There is no such spell!" interfered McGonagall.

"There is, Professor!" Potter opened Weasley's new book and handed it to the cat animagus.

McGonagall examined the book and spell diligently before she declared it safe.

"Well," she told Potter, "the spell looks easy enough. Go ahead!"

"It's Ron's book," said Potter. He gave the book back but looked at it longingly.

"I have news for you," drawled Snape. "More than one person can learn from one book. That's why we put them into libraries."

Potter nodded enthusiastically. "You are right. But I think Ron should go first because it is his book."

Weasley accepted the book back and read the page in question. "That looks easy," he confirmed.

By then the whole hall was listening. Two heads of house at a students' table attracted attention, no matter how harmless the reason for their presence.

"Well, then show us which beast lurks inside you!" cried Malfoy junior.

"I don't have to ask which animal you would turn into," spat Weasley and cried his spell.

The youngest Weasley brother promptly turned into a fox. It jumped onto the table and ran the whole length up and down before he turned back into the gangly boy.

"Excellent work, Mr Weasley!" cried Dumbledore from the head table. "Ten points to Gryffindor!"

"Now you, Harry!" cried Weasley.

Potter obliged and turned into a black kitten. Granger squealed with delight and grabbed the small feline to scratch its ears. "Let me do that!" cried Ginevra Weasley and stole the kitten from the bushy-haired witch.

"This looks fun!" cried George Weasley. He repeated the spell and turned into a raven. He flew up to the rafters and was lucky that the headmaster had paid attention. The old wizard caught the boy in mid-air when he turned back into his human form in mid-flight.

"I advise against anybody below NEWT-level trying this," cried Dumbledore. "And do under no circumstances try it unsupervised."

Those who were old enough were quite enthusiastic about trying the spell. Soon cats, birds and rabbits popped into existence all over the hall, only to turn back into teenagers moments later. Some of those who liked their potential form declared that they were going to try to become an animagus. McGonagall promised to offer a workshop in the new year.

Pansy Parkinson turned into a big blue butterfly. Millicent Bulstrode became a stork. Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle both tried the spell but neither of them was able to perform it.

Draco Malfoy turned into a white ferret. Potter and his friends roared with laughter. Draco glared at them angrily but ignored the Gryffindors when Pansy declared that he was an extremely cute ferret.

"This looks like fun," said the Dark Lord. "What do you say, Lucius, should we join the fun?"

Of course the Malfoy patriarch did not deny his Lord his fun. He obediently turned into a polar bear. It seemed Lucius was impressed with his form for he roared proudly. The hall fell quiet and everybody admired the huge creature.

Bellatrix, it turned out, was a secret goat.

Dumbledore tried the spell, too, and turned into a bumblebee. Snape was not surprised. He had suspected for quite some time that the headmaster was an animagus, too, and a bumblebee seemed a fitting form for the ever-merry wizard.

At last the Dark Lord cast the spell and turned into a reindeer. Dumbledore clapped. "What a Christmassy form, Tom! Wonderful!"

Snape was almost overlooked but then the Dark Lord remembered that the potions master had not tried the spell yet. "I don't think I would make an interesting animal," Snape tried to escape his fate.

The Dark Lord glared at him and the potions master gave up. Of course he didn't need any spell to know which animal he was going to turn into. He had mastered the animagus transformation years ago but he never made it official because he found his form not fitting for a Deatheater. In fact, he only transformed when his apprentice asked him to. The girl found his form cute and she had a way of playing with his feathers.

Snape muttered the spell under his breath and promptly turned into a flamingo. He flapped his wings proudly before he turned back into his human form. Somebody at the Slytherin table catcalled and Snape bowed to his house.

"You are full of surprises, Severus," cried the Dark Lord and Dumbledore agreed.

The various potential animagus forms were the talk of the day. The younger students were eager to try the spell when they were old at dinner the students still discussed the various forms.

Dessert was a treat. The Dark Lord, Lucius, Bellatrix and Dumbledore had baked a large variety of biscuits. They were lovingly decorated with colourful icing and silver pearls. The students praised the group's work and ate every single biscuit.