Hey! Sorry I took so long with this chapter. Unfortunately, I'm going out for a week and won't be able to upload. And to those of you who have read by other fanfic, The Battle, I promise I'm working on the sequel. I might upload the first chapter today, I'm not sure sorry.
Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. And that you will review. Reviews make me happy :) so enjoy and tell me what you think in a review. Or you can PM me. Anything works. Read on...
Remus got up early in the morning. He thought back to last night - how his two...friends had been so happy, how he had been included in everything and how everything would be ruined if they found out about him.
His secret.
He checked the calendar hanging on the wall, next to the clock. The next full moon wouldn't be there for another two weeks. Thank god.
His eyes wandered over to the clock and he yelped. It was 7:46am! They were going to be late! And the other three people in his room hadn't even woken up.
He got off the bed and went over to Sirius. He figured Sirius would be the easiest to wake up. Boy, was he wrong.
After a minute of poking and prodding and receiving only grunts and snorts in return, Remus gave up and went over to James.
He was still wearing his glasses, askew on his face and was clutching his pillow. One leg was dangling off the cot onto the floor and the blanket was nowhere to be seen.
He poked and prodded Potter before giving up. This was another lost cause. Remus was getting angry. He did not want to be late on the very first day.
And an angry Remus is not someone to joke with. Even at the young, impressionable age of eleven.
Remus went up to James and slapped him across the face. And it wasn't a slight slap either. James woke up with a start, his cheek red from where Remus had slapped him.
"Wha..? Why'd you do that?" he asked somewhat groggily.
"Because it's late and none of you were getting up." Remus huffed. "Now get up and help me drag Sirius to the bathroom."
"The bathroom? What's there in the bathroom?" James asked, fixing his glasses.
"You'll see." Remus grinned wolfishly.
James took Sirius' right arm and helped Remus drag him to the bathroom. Sirius was so heavy!
James left him and Remus carried ( read as shoved ) Sirius to the bathtub. "Sirius, I'm giving you one last chance. Wake up!"
Sirius' eyes fluttered and he mumbled something unintelligible under his breath. Something which sounded suspiciously like "Go to Hell, mother."
Remus scowled, his green-gold eyes flashing. "I am not your mother, you prat."
James brushed his teeth while Remus pulled off Sirius' blanket. Sirius got comfortable in the bathtub, obviously thinking that they were finally going to leave him alone.
Remus turned on the tap. Water came spurting out of the shower, right onto Sirius' face. James choked on his toothpaste.
I had no clue Remus was such a prankster, James marvelled, He'll seriously help with the pranks.
Sirius woke up to a mouth filled with water. He tried yelling at Remus, but of course, he only got more water. His legs and arms began flailing around as the water slowly filled the tub.
As usually happens when you are caught in such a situation, you stop thinking. Sirius made large puppy-dog eyes at Remus. His leg caught at the side of the tub and he winced.
Remus, finally understanding that Sirius was as dumb as they came, yanked him out of the tub by his collar. Sirius glared at Remus.
"Why on Merlin and his aunt Bettie, did you do that?!"
"I did that," Remus pointed at the tub and the water, "because you weren't waking up and I didn't want to be late on the first day." He paused, checking the time. "Speaking of which, we have twenty minutes before class starts."
Sirius gulped and looked at James. James stared at Remus. "Sirius get ready! And James stop staring at me!"
The three boys got ready and at some point of time Peter joined them. Nobody bothered asking how he woken up. It could've been Sirius' girlish scream, Remus' anger or James' coughing - it didn't matter.
They could NOT be late on the first day.
Getting dressed in record time ( 10 minutes ), they set off for breakfast. Peter had joined them and though he wasn't particularly welcomed, he wasn't shunned either.
That was good enough for him.
They reached the Great Hall and managed to get seats at the Gryffindor table. James and Sirius began piling their plates with everything within reach; Peter gobbled down half the eggs in under a minute; and Remus practically inhaled slices of bacon.
Sirius was surprised to find that he didn't have any letters - after all, he had been expecting a Howler at the very least from his mother. The owls had swooped down already and had dropped down packages.
Peter had got a heavy letter from his mother telling him how proud she was that he had gotten into Gryffindor. In five pages.
Professor McGonagall came around to the Gryffindor ten minutes later, a disapproving frown on her face as she caught sight of the four boys. She handed over their timetables, making sure not to touch any one of their sticky hands.
The red haired girl from the train came over from the end of the table with three other girls.
"Lily Evans, Professor McGonagall. We wanted to see our timetables,"
The other three girls nodded in agreement.
"Marlene McKinnon," was a blonde haired beauty, even at the young age of eleven. And she knew it. McKinnon had sparkling blue eyes, her face was flawless and actions graceful.
"Mary McDonald," was a brown haired brown-eyes girl with a small petite body. She also looked a little too much of a goody-two-shoes.
The last girl, "Jacqueline Belmonte," was an italian beauty, but it was obvious she didn't care about her looks from the way her hair was tossed into a small, messy ponytail and the frown on her face. She had black hair, barely reaching her shoulder and wide black eyes, which were currently occupied in glaring at everyone near her.
Professor McGonagall nodded and handed over four timetables. The girls took them, and without a backward glance, walked away; presumably to their first class.
And then, she turned around and glared at the boys. "You are going to be late if you don't leave for Charms, right now!"
Remus checked the time. "Holy—!" he yelped. Grabbing his book bag, he ran out of the Great Hall without waiting for his friends.
James and Sirius look at each other and shrug, still taking their time. Professor McGonagall glares at them, and then finally yells, "MOVE!"
"Geez! What's her problem?" Sirius muttered, as the three of them made their way to the Charms classroom on the first floor. They arrive just before the bell rings, to signify the beginning of the period.
Sirius took a seat next to Remus, while James sat with Peter who looked like he might almost die from happiness. Their professor, a tiny man who introduced himself as Professor Filius Flitwick began the class with roll call.
"Charms is not an easy subject, as some of you may think," he squeaked. "Some will find it easy, others will not. Charms is not only charming little spells you can show off to your friends at a dinner party." He scowled, looking comical.
"Charms includes stinging hexes, long-lasting curses and also much more darker spells." Then he stopped, looking fearfully at the at the group of first years in front of him.
"Take this down!" Professor Flitwick ordered and the class, comprising of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs groaned. Sirius glanced at Remus who was concentrating on the Professor.
He looked awfully similar to the Ravenclaws, Sirius thought regretfully.
"Charms," Flitwick began in a self-important tone, "is the art of changing an item, without changing its necessary nature. It is one of the most important subjects you will be taking, here at Hogwarts."
The sound of quills scribbling on parchment was the only noise to be heard. Sirius glanced over at James who was staring blankly at the Professor. He had a weird dreamy-eyed, lovesick look in his eyes as well.
Sirius glanced around to find out the reason and found Lily Evans scribbling furiously, sitting next to Mary McDonald. Sirius smirked and nudged Remus and nodded towards both of them.
"James is in love," he cooed. Remus looked amused at him before turning back to his notes.
Flitwick droned on, "Charms is not the same as Transfiguration." before he could continue, he was interrupted by a girl from Hufflepuff.
"Sir, how is Charms different from Transfiguration. You haven't really explained that part,"
Sirius gave a snort of amusement. Remus looked at him, grinned and rolled his eyes, muttering "Suck-up,"
"Yes, Miss?" Flitwick questioned.
"Patterson, Jeanine Patterson."
"Well, Miss Patterson, I was coming to that point. In future pleaser refrain from interrupting me. I will give you time to ask questions every class, but wait until I do."
Jeanine shrank back from Flitwick, his size had not removed the sting from the words.
James and Peter hadn't even been paying attention to class, until the girl interrupted and got scolded. A piece of parchment was shoved under their books, with the names of famous singers. They were playing hangman.
Sirius and Remus were currently trying to draw a copy of the girl. Nobody liked a goody-two-shoes, suck-up.
She had a moustache in green; purple hair; claws instead of nails, painted pink with orange polka dots; her eyes had been given a maniacal twinkle with violet and red and there was peach blood dripping from her mouth. They had also drawn a weird squiggle next to her and labelled it as her brain.
Boys will be boys.
They spent the rest of the lesson taking notes on Charms. The four boys had Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall next.
"Oh joy," Sirius muttered. James whacked his arm. "Ow! What'd you do that for? And why did you do it and not Remus?"
"Why can't James hit you?" Remus asked while James was temporarily speechless. Recovering, he began flailing his arms around, almost hitting Peter in the eye.
"Oh sorry Pete, didn't see ya there."
"James can't hit me when it's related to studies. That's you!" Sirius protested.
"He's got a point there," Peter pointed out.
"Thank you Pete. At least somebody recognises my superior logic."
"Oh shut up Sirius."
"Let's just get to Transfiguration. I don't want to be almost-late for this lesson as well."
As they were walking down one staircase to the second floor, Remus asked, "Why did you hit Sirius anyway?"
"Yeah, why did you hit me? What's so special about Transfiguration?"
"Uh... I went through the books in the summer, and...liked it?" James' preference came out as a question as he didn't know how his friends would react.
"Here I thought Remus was the only nerd!" Sirius was giggling, giggling.
"I am not a nerd!" James whispered horrified.
"You read the book," Sirius paused, wheezing with laughter, "during the summer break. Why?"
"I dunno. I was just flipping through and it was interesting." James shrugged.
"James! Even I didn't read any school book in the summer, and I'm more studios than you. How's you manage to read? Did your head almost explode?"
"No it most certainly did—!"
"Hey James, I bet Professor McGonagall will love you. Her little-wittle perfect student." Peter cried out.
"Bloody Merlin." James growled out and stomped away. The other three had to run to catch up to him. They were almost three-fourths there, when one of Lily's friends ran into them.
It was Mary McDonald.
"Hey Mary," Remus said kindly.
"Hey," the other three followed suit.
"Oh, thank Merlin. Is this the right way to Transfiguration? I got lost a while ago and couldn't find the classroom."
"Yeah, it's supposed to be right in this direction." James said.
"You can come with us, if you want." Sirius offered, warily.
"Thanks. I'll tag along if you don't mind. I bloody well don't want to get lost again!"
So, the five of them reached the Transfiguration classroom a few minutes early and were greeted with an angry Lily.
"Where were you Mary? And why are you with them?"
"It's nothing Lily. I just got lost and couldn't find you guys. I just ran into them a few minutes ago and tagged along. Didn't want to get lost again."
"Oh, alright then. Marlene save a place for you next to her." Marlene waved, doodling on a spare parchment. The italian girl, Jacqueline was sitting next to Lily paying no attention to anyone.
The four took their seats at the back of the classroom - they were definitely lucky - Sirius with Remus, Peter with James. James and Peter had gone back to their game of hangman, so that left Sirius and Remus for conversation.
Well, technically no conversation could take place because the bell rang and a tabby cat entered the room.
The cat stalked into the room, ignoring looks ranging from disbelief to amusement. It went right up to the desk and took a huge leap and landed softly on the top. It looked at them through wide brown eyes, gazing at them unblinkingly.
Sirius was staring at the cat as if it was something rotten. "What is up with that?" he hissed to James who was sitting on the desk next to him.
"The cat? God knows. Ask Remus, I'll ask Pete. Maybe we can find the answer."
"Remus.." Sirius whispered, "do you have any idea why there is a cat sitting on the desk where our teacher should sit?"
"Maybe it's a test or something. Or maybe Professor McGonagall is an Animagus," Remus shrugged.
"Holy Hell! That actually makes sense!"
"Sirius? Sirius! What makes sense? Oh, and Pete said that he can't figure it out either."
"Remus did. He brilliant."
"What's the reason?"
"James," Sirius began seriously, "it is either some sort of a test or Minnie is an Animagus."
"That's brilliant! It has to be one of them! And who's Minnie?"
"Prof. McGonagall. I heard Dumbledore calling her Minerva yesterday. Obviously, I'm not going to call her Minerva. Minnie seems to be an appropriate nickname."
"Dude! Do you know how much that would piss her off?"
"Sure do," Sirius said, grinning maniacally.
Just then, Professor McGonagall ( the cat ) changed back to its human form. She was leaning against the desk, a stern expression on her face while looking over her students.
Sirius couldn't help it. He yelled, "WE WERE RIGHT!"
James, Peter and Remus all swivelled around to watch him, as did the other people in the classroom. Professor McGonagall was almost scowling at him, from behind her glasses.
"You were right about what Mister Black?"
"About you being an Animagus, Prof. Remus, here," he said, yanking the poor boy up, "figured it out when I asked him."
McGonagall gave Remus a kind smile before staring down at Sirius. "No more interruptions, Black. I don't care what your excuse is."
"Sure thing Minnie,"
"What did you call me?"
"Nothing Professor."
"Anyway," McGonagall began, her voice laced with sarcasm. "I gave you that demonstration since many of you here want to become Animagus. For starters, the transformation of a human into his corresponding animal comes under Transfiguration. If you wish to become an Animagus, you will have to work very hard indeed in my class."
"Transfiguration, unlike Charms is the change of objects with respect to their molecular structures. Every time you transfigure something, you are changing its inner, molecular structure."
There was a frantic scribble of quills against parchment.
"Transfiguration is systematic and needs discipline. Transfiguration is closely linked to the Muggle science. Muggles have explained molecular structure and it's alteration in science and hence, Transfiguration is easier for those with scientifically-inclined minds."
"What is she talking about?" Sirius hissed.
"Shut up. This is bloody fascinating!" James whispered back.
"Transfiguration is directly affected by five factors. They are body weight of the object, viciousness of the object before transformation and after, wand power, concentration of the caster, and an unknown factor commonly called Z. This factor has not been determined. It's presence however, has been proved."
Everyone was fascinated with the talk. McGonagall did not take any notice f the attention and continued on as before.
Lily Evans raised her hand. "Yes miss Evans?"
"Animagus is the transformation of a human into one animal Professor. Is it possible to transform yourself or another person into multiple animals?"
If Professor McGonagall's talk hadn't aroused curiosity, Evans' question certainly did. There was a low murmur of voices in response to this question.
"There are two types of transformation in Animagus transformation - Animagus doesn't mean that you can change into only one species. One is the Trans-species one which I just demonstrated and the other is Human Transformation."
"What is the difference Professor?" Elizabeth Cray called out.
"Human transformation differs from normal Animagus transformation. In this, the human can change into a plethora of different animals, but they do not retain their level of intelligence. They take on the animal's intelligence."
"What if the animal is stupid Professor? How does the human change back?" Daniel Finnigan asked.
"The human doesn't. This form of transfiguration is not recommended at all and is very rare. Few wizards choose to take this risk."
Everyone was hanging on to the Professor's words. "That's all I'm afraid I can tell you without confusing you further. If you still wish to know, ask me in third or fourth year."
Jacqueline and James let out twin sighs. "Transfiguration is divided into four types - Transformation, Vanishment, Conjuration and Untransfiguration..."
The rest of the class was not in the least as interesting and when the bell rang, everyone scrambled for the door.
"What do we have now?" Peter asked.
"Free period. Yay us." Remus replied, checking the timetable.
"At least we don't have any homework." Sirius said brightly.
"Yet." James added gloomily.
"What's up with you Gloomy Gus?" Sirius asked.
"Nothing. I really liked Transfiguration, wanted to know more about the Animagus transformations."
"Yeah mate. That was actually not half-bad."
After lunch, they had another free period, followed by double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. Their Professor, Sprout spent the entire period showing them different types of plants and their usefulness, properties and regions.
Then they had Double History of Magic, in which Professor Binns began their curriculum. They snored soundly - at least James did- in his class while he droned on about the First Goblin War.
Finally, finally, they got to leave for dinner. There were no announcements and such and the four went to their dorm early to discuss their prank ideas.
They couldn't think of anything extraordinary and fell asleep early. They were exhausted.
