Chapter 2 Transformation
When she awoke she felt refreshed. After she had dressed and put on her gloves she realized that she had not even looked at her timetable. she did it with some trepidation and let out a sigh when she saw that her first lesson was transfiguration which had always been her worst subject. After Transfiguration, there was a lull as she had Defense which she had been mediocre at. Last for today she had a double lesson of Potion. Her second worst subject and the only subject she had disliked. She hoped that what her sister had said about Professor Slughorn was correct and that he was kinder than their old potion master. She paused in their common room to look for Rosie when she could not see her and her door was closed she decided to head to breakfast by herself. When she arrived at the main common room all conservation sized and they stared at her as she made her way to the fake wall. She pushed the red tile in the wall and it swung open she stepped out and heeded to the great hall. River ate her breakfast in solitude. When Rosie arrived she after some hesitation went to the Ravenclaw table which made sense but made River feel alone.
When she had finished eating she headed to her first lesson after picking up her school supplies. She arrived a bit too early, so she had to wait for everyone to arrive. She was going to have the same timetable as the Ravenclaw this semester. Rosie arrived a more dignified five minutes early they nodded at each other. She wanted to talk to her but considering that she had her hands full it would be impossible for her to reply without putting everything down. Which River was reluctant to make her do.
They waited for about a minute then she heard the noise of many footsteps and the rest of the class arrived with the professor in front. Her heart sank as with the entire class it made it clear how big difference in height there was between them and her. She had always been tall for her age and there was now a two-year gap between them.
She was briefly puzzled by their behaviour as it was weird to arrive as a group to the first lesson of the day. The inclusion of the professor in all of this was even more bizarre. She then noticed how terrified they were and her puzzlement of why they had arrived as a group vanished. She even saw some of them hold hands to give each other strength. It was almost comical, but River felt numbing sadness as they arrived close she tied to make herself look as harmless as possible. She did not seem to succeed as even the teacher gave her a frightened look before masking it with a forced smile and a nod. She waited for the entire group to pass until she and Rosie entered.
The first lesson where an introduction and with no practical component she had not had to try her ability that day. The teacher tried to hide her discomfort with her but did not manage it which did not help the mood of the rest of the class. They seemed to have a hard time following which was not helped by the professor forgetting where she was when River did any kind of motion. Rosie was greatly affected as she had to fell all the other student's emotions. She was restless and without meaning to she amplified the bad mood in the class. It made it hard for River to sit still and try to look unthreatening. When the class ended there was almost a stampede as the rest of the class bolted to the door.
The following lesson in Defence where a similar trying experience as the nervousness of her classmates had not dissipated. Professor Mcknight was hard to read and River was unsure what he felt for her. The lesson was an introduction to the theme of the coming lessons. The theme was magical creatures and fire. The idea was to first learn how different creatures reacted to fire than to learn a rather simple jinx that would create a warm illusionary fire for a brief period in which they could hopefully escape. The benefits of the spell were that it had no chance to create an unstoppable inferno with the weakness that it did not hurt the opponent. Rosie managed to have better control this time and without the teacher being visible afraid of her the edge of her classmates' fear seemed diminish slightly toward the end of the lesson. Rosie was in a thoughtful mood as they headed to lunch. When they arrived at their common room to put away their school supplies River asked Rosie" what did you feel from the professor?" She feared Rosie answer but she had to ask. Rosie was motionless for a bit before hesitantly gesturing" he seemed" she faltered "He probably needs more time" Rosie looked so uncomfortable River decided not to press her.
The time from their departure from the common room until she was seated in the dungeon classroom was filed with a weird sense of dread. She had been terrified of Professor Snape
And she had always dreaded the time she had to spend in the dungeon. It was weird that even after all she had been through she was still felt uneasy about the dungeon. Rosie meat her unease with a questioning look which she ignored. The dungeon was not as River remembered it but what was the change the potion master had done and what was her bad memories from the past she was unsure of. The potion master looked the class with a big smile that did not falter when he looked at them. They took a table that River was certain that they would have for themselves.
Her classmates arrived in pairs or small groups. "So class today we will start with a bit of refreshment of what we did last year as it was a time which most of us had a lot else to think about" Slughorn said with a humorous tone. River had spent the last two months revisiting so she had it fresh in her mind but Slughorn was interesting to listen to and he took out his wand and had the potion he discussed fly around the room so that everyone got to see them. As the lesson went on the class started to relax and towards the end they seemed to have forgotten her. The class ended with River feeling a bit more optimistic that everything would be okay. When she went back to her room for the day she collapsed in her bed feeling exhausted.
Before she was able to muster enough will to rise again, she heard a knock on her door and in came McGonagall. River stood up as they extended greetings River offered her the chair and the headmistress expected it. When the headmistress had taken her place McGonagall asked in her usual firm tone "So Blackwell how did your first school day go?" she thought for a second before answering "Better than I expected worse then I hoped" McGonagall nodded then said, "There has been a change to your transformation routine. You will be in the camp four days starting from the day before the transformation." River looked at her a bit confused. She wanted to say that she only transformed once doing the full moon but she knew that the McGonagall knew that so she just looked at her. McGonagall said in a tired voice "I know I know this is ridiculous and there should be enough to get you there on the day of the transformation. But people are so stubborn and this is how far I have been able to push at the moment. The reason I needed to wait to tell you this was that they wanted you to stay there for five days two before and two after and i was unsure if I could get them to reduce them." River nodded. McGonagall continued so "we will prepare extra homework for you as a way to compensate for the lost time" River felt relieved and nervous about extra homework. They spoke a bit more about the exact arrangement then she left.. She felt tired and decided to go to bed early. She was drifting to sleep than with a sudden jolt she realized she had not taken her potion. She was suddenly very awake as the thought of nightmares she had almost fallen into rattled her. She cursed herself as she still did not have any system to make sure she had taken the potion. She shuddered when she remembered the last time she had forgotten and vowed to find a way to remember. She went to her potion box which held thirty dreamless potions and she drank one of them. She knew that it would take her a moment to sleep after that so she took the time to do some homework until she felt that she felt sleepy again then went back to sleep.
The next day her classmates were a bit calmer if it was that she had not killed them yet or that the old teachers did not seem to mind her in the slightest she was unsure of. She was afraid to ask Rosie what the old professors felt towards her as it would have been a big blow to her if they secretly feared her. The closer the day to her transformation came the more nervous and frighten people became. This greatly affected Rosie as she had to feel the stress and anxiety constantly. She started to glare at people which did not help their anxiety. On a couple of occasions, she lost control and sent a wave of anger and frustration that everyone within fifty meters could feel which did not help. Two days before the transformation several people looked at her with an expression of pure terror then taking out something out of their pocket before relaxing. She assumed it was some sort of lunar calendar so that people would know when she was going to go wolf. The third time it happened Rosie sent a thought of pure anger at the poor fourth year Gryffindor boy. She saw him became furious for a second than when the thought left him he looked at Rosie with a terrified expression before he fled.
The day River would leave she felt extreme relief that she would be away for a couple of days. She had not even been back to Hogwarts for a full week but she felt wary already. The breakfast and lunch that day was a trial for Rosie as their fellow student's anxiety reached new heights. She desperately hoped that people would relax in her absent so that Rosie would get some rest River waved Rosie goodbye in their privet common room and. She hefted her bag on her shoulder and with trepidation made her way to the normal common room.
When she arrived at the normal common room it seemed that the entire Hufflepuff house was there. They stood still in a half circle around her and stared at her intently. She momentary freeze holding the door opened not wanting to go further. She got a sudden urge to go back to her room and hide. It was not until her gaze meet the headmistress McGonagall and Slughorn in the middle of the half circle that she felt that she could move again.
River was glad that Rosie was not here as the fear and anxiety she saw in the faces of the students would be torture to her. They were here to see with their own eyes that she was gone so that they could sleep tonight. McGonagall looked as stern as ever and looked around displeased with them. Slughorn too did not seem to be happy with her fellow students.
The half circle opened and let her and McGonagall pass. They headed out from the common room and the students follow them. She felt like a prisoner heading to her execution. When they arrived at the great hall the rest of the houses joined them as they headed toward the outside of the castle.
She felt awful she knew that all the securities details were not there because the teachers thought that she was going to run. They were there so that people would feel safer and it was one of the reasons she was even able to attend Hogwarts. It still felt like she had done something wrong and it filled her with shame. She tried to conceal it and hold her head high.
Almost all the students had the same fearful stare as if they looked away for a second she would transform and eat them. There was one main exemption the Ravenclaw prefect. His face was contorted in hatred and his hands were fists. When they locked eyes for a second she halted for a moment before quickly catching up to her escorts. She felt a shiver down her spine and wondered if a werewolf had killed someone he cared about. An unfortunately not too uncommon story.
Then she heard an argument and turned to see the head boy of Ravenclaw arguing with the prefect. It was impossible to hear what they were arguing about but it seemed like the head boy won as the prefect drooped slightly and with not even a glance back at her as they left.
They headed to the castle grounds where it seemed that the rest of the castle living population waited for them. The people behind her filed in so that she felt completely trapped. She forced herself to look like this was not bothering her even if the only thing she wanted right now was to hide. They all looked at her as he would transform at any moment. There where tension as the headmistress took out a single normal looking brown shoe. The headmistress moved it so that River and Slughorn could touch it. She felt silly as there were about five minutes until they were going to leave. She touched it and felt her nervousness for what was going to happened damped her awareness of the people around her. This was her first time using a portkey. This was even a unique one that was reusable to the extent that normal portkeys were not. She heard McGonagall countdown to zero and then she drew in a lase. then she felt a pull from her stomach as she fell forwards. There was suddenly a lot of wind as she, McGonagall and Slughorn were transported. Her hand felt like it was glued in placed and just as suddenly they arrived and she fell and hit the ground. She did not hit the ground hard but she felt the wind go out of her. She just lied still for a moment when she looked up she saw that McGonagall and Slughorn seemed fine if a bit windswept.
They had arrived at a huge clearing in a dense forest. McGonagall surveyed the trees then went toward a gigantic oak on the other side of the clearing. Slughorn helped River to her feet as McGonagall taped the oak with her wand and muttered something. River gasped as a gigantic concrete wall appeared in front of her with an imposing gate of black stone just a couple of steps away from her. It took her a moment to realize that it had already been there and was just now that they were able to see it. McGonagall knocked on the gate and after giving it a password that River did not manage to overhear the gate opened wide.
The area inside the gate was huge. The view was dominated by a big two-story building of the same black stone as the gate on the top of a hill. When she looked around she could see two groups of ten of identical large cottages. The cottages had bright red walls and a black slanting roof with a chimney. She could see a roof on the other side of the hill indicating that there were even more cottages. She was temporally stunned as she realized that she had all this for herself. When they had talked about a camp she had not envisioned that it would be something this huge.
When she came back to herself she saw that Slughorn looked pleased with her expression and McGonagall looked at her patiently. River blushed slightly before asking "what is this place?" McGonagall was the one to respond "this was a top-secret ministry refuge that Scrimgeour had built before his death. unfortunately, his plan to fill this refuge was cut short with the takeover of the ministry so that only half of the cottages were filed. He managed to keep it hidden from the rest of the world so that neither we or the Deateters cold find this place." The cottage they entered was the only one with a tiny difference and that was a sign with her name on it.
inside of the cottage was a table with four chairs, a sofa, a comfy looking bed, a fireplace of red bricks, a wardrobe a big mirror as well a trunk to put her things in. There was even to her surprise a door to a bathroom. It was far grander then anything she had expected.
She saw a potion on the table and with a smile recognized wolfsbane. It affected the best inside her so that she could control herself when she transformed.
She put down the bag on a stool and turned as McGonagall said "You are free to use all the facilities here. The central building is where your food is prepared and you are free to take anything from the fruit garden on the other side of the hill. We will be going after we see that you have drunk the potion is there anything you want of us before we leave. "no headmistress" She drank her potion and was glad that she was unable to taste the potion. When she looked up McGonagall gave her a sad expression "I am again so sorry we need to do this ridiculous circus " River tried to give her a reassuring smile and responded with " I can understand their fear" there was a moment of awkward silence before McGonagall said with her usual stern expression back in place "see you the day after the transformation" then both she and Slughorn went out and closed the door behind them.
She started by putting away her extra cloth and other things she had decided to take with her. When that was finished she figured it was just as well to start her homework now before the transformation robed her of all her strength. Even if she wanted to do anything except her homework right now.
She worked until she felt hungry and then she went to the central building. Inside was what looked like a muggle school cafeteria. She went to the kitchen and opened one of the freezers with had her name on it. There where instructions on how to heat up the food and what she would too after she had eaten it. Inside was a lot of food boxes with glass lids with labels for dinner, lunch, and breakfast. She took one with hamburgers then went to the dining era and with a press on a button the food heated itself. After dislodging the fork and knife from the lid and ate. She hoped nobody had gone through too much effort to make it tasty as it would have been a waste. When she was finished tidied after herself. The silence and complete isolation were already starting to unnerve her the spacious area seemed to amplify that sense. She went back to her cabin and continued to do her homework. When she felt too bored with the homework she went to bed.
She woke up early the next day and completed her homework and then was bored again. She decided to explore her new world. First she went to the gardens which were on the other side of the camp. There she saw several rows of fruit trees she knew as well as some that she did not recognize. There was also a section that was walled in that had a potion ingredient sign on the gate leading into it.
Then she went to the big house to explore it completely. On the first floor except for the cafeteria and the kitchen, there were also several meeting rooms, showers and to Rivers surprise even baths as well as a sauna. It woke a memory from when her family had taken a trip to Sweden. After her melancholy had passed she went to the second floor. There she found a library as well as a board game room. The rest of the rooms were locked and River decided not to even try to unlock them until she could ask McGonagall about them. The library was divided into section and under the charm section, she found an interesting book called odd charms. She was browsing the different charms when she saw a charm for extra physical strength and she felt intrigued by it. She knew that It was not a wise to charm oneself with a new charm when you were not sure if you could pull it off and with no one to patch you up if you mess up. Then she rationalised that the charm did not seem to be too far from her skill level and there was a full moon today which would remove anything she did to herself. It was still not a wise move but she decided to try it. She went outside to be sure that if she did something that would prevent her from moving she would transform as fast as possible. She spent some time on dry runs with a stick. When she was sure she had it nailed she took a deep breath and cast the charm. She felt the tingling sensation that signified that some part of her spell had gone right. Her apparent success made her feel a bit smug then she felt her limbs loss strength and she sat down before she could collapse. Then as fast as her strength had left her it returned. Feeling a bit embarrassed but not dejected she tried again this time nothing happened. On the fifth try, she finally felt a bit stronger. It took her almost to dinner time to finally be able to make it last for a minute. There was a charm that would make it last even longer and one that would protect her limbs and bones from the strain. But they had to wait for another time. She back to the central building to eat. Then she returned to her cottage to await her transformation.
The waiting was hard on her as she wanted to avoid being a wolf for as long as possible and she hated the wait. It was at this moment she realized to her annoyance that there was no clock in the cabin. She tried to read the odd charms book she had borrowed from the library but eventually she gave into her impatience and she did not want to accidentally fall asleep and have the transformation wake her up. There were two windows in the cabin that was streaming in the moonlight. An irrational part of her still felt like if she avoided the moonlight she would not transform but she knew It would just delay it. A simple solution then would just to avoid moonlight for one day every month which not hard to do. She stripped off her clothes to protect them and with a deep breath, she crawled unto all fours to save herself of some small amount of pain if she fell over doing the transformation. She braced herself from the insane amount of pain she knew was coming. With a last deep breath, she stepped into the light and looked at the moon.