Disclaimer: I own nothing. The chapter title comes from a line inShakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, just so you know.
(A/N: Sorry this is so late! There were a few problems in communications with my beta (my mom), so that delayed it. Then I was out most of the day today, and then I had problems putting this up. But here it is!)
>text> is animal-speak
Chapter 14: What's in a Name?
"Are all of you ready?"
Eager nods greeted Harry, who sighed. It had been three weeks since Harry had "kidnapped" his friends, and they had all been waiting for this moment.
"All right. You may start. I'll be in form, just in case anything goes wrong," Harry told them. When their eyes dropped shut, Harry signaled to Moony, who moved quickly for the boys' room. Harry shifted into his wolf form, and waited.
Hermione was the first one to change. Her body shrank, sprouted fur, and grew claws. In a minute, where she once sat, was a brown kneazle, with tan spots all over. The cat-like creature's eyes opened, and Harry saw Hermione's brown eyes looking at him. >Harry? Did it work?>
Harry wagged his tail. >Yes, it did,> he replied. He blinked, a bit surprised. How had he understood her, and replied in the same language? Ron's and Ginny's bodies shaking and shrinking diverted his attention.
A fox the same color as Ron's hair stood on four legs, a bit wobbly. >Harry? Wow, I did it!> the fox said, and Harry detected less of an accent than Hermione's in Ron's talk. He figured that Hermione's had a strongeraccent because Ron's fox form was closer to the canine family than a kneazle.
>Well, Mr. Wolf, how are you?> Harry whipped around to see a creature he had never seen before. Ginny's Animagus form looked like a cross between a fox and a wolf, and some species that Harry could only assume was a jackal. Her fur was a vibrant red that reminded Harry of a fire.
>Ginny?> Harry asked incredulously. The jackal flicked her tail at him, and started circling him.
>Ginny… I seem to recall that name from somewhere…> the jackal mused.
It was then that Harry knew that Ginny was lost in her form. >Ginny, I know you're in there. Listen to me carefully. Concentrate on asserting control over your form. Fight the animal within, and tame it.>
The jackal bared her teeth. >What on earth are you… Harry, help!> Harry knew that Ginny was fighting back by the change of tone in the jackal, from confused to frightened.
>Ginny, you have to show your form that you are in control! Ron, tackle her so that she can concentrate on her mind battle instead of her form running around> Harry snapped the order.
The fox obeyed, and leapt at the slightly bigger animal with a speed that astonished the watchers. In a few seconds, the jackal was down on the ground, pinned by the fox. Harry continued the encouragement, and Hermione joined in.
After a few minutes with the jackal still struggling, and no sign of progress, Harry let his own animal instincts take over. He stepped up to the squirming jackal, and nudged Ron away with his muzzle. The fox backed off, and the jackal immediately stood, ready to fight.
With one look at Harry, however, the jackal stopped, and her tail and ears lowered. She recognized the alpha stance in Harry's posture. Cringing slightly, the jackal poked her snout under Harry's muzzle. They both knew that the gesture meant the jackal surrendered. >Before I go, Alpha, I wish you to know that you would've made a fine mate>
Harry bared his teeth. The jackal sighed, and at once, her posture relaxed, and Harry could see an almost human light come into her eyes. >Harry? I'm sorry, I couldn't control…> Ginny would've burst into tears if her form could have shed tears.
Harry relaxed. >It's okay, Ginny. Just relax, and look around> Ginny took his advice, and lay down, trying to regain control. Harry wagged his tail, and went to check on Ron and Hermione, who had drifted away once Ginny gained control of her form.
He looked on, in disbelief, as the fox wrestled with the slightly smaller kneazle. >Come on, Hermione, surrender! I've got you beat!> the fox exclaimed, as he put his snout against the kneazle's neck.
In reply, Hermione somehow flipped the fox off of her, and stood up, snarling. >What were you saying, Ron?>
>Children, children, what are you doing?> Harry asked teasingly, as he stepped in between the two. Ron and Hermione looked at each other, then at Harry. Their eyes sparkling, they pounced on the wolf
Ginny watched them, internally laughing. Harry was only slightly losing, only due to the fact that he was outnumbered. She fought an inner battle, and lost.
Harry was laughing wolfishly; his mouth open and tongue hanging out. He managed to break free from both his attackers, and faced them. Ron was panting; he'd had to move quickly in order to keep Harry down, and avoid the wolf's attack. Hermione was low to the floor, hissing at Harry in mock anger. Normally she would never do this, but the feline in her was feeling playful, and Hermione decided to give in.
A slight noise made them all turn, just in time for a flaming blur to enter their vision and tackle the brown kneazle. Harry took the opportunity to do the same to Ron, who immediately surrendered. >Was that Ginny?> the fox asked incredulously, as he tried to find his sister.
Harry's tail wagged. >It appears so, Ron. Look over there, by the statue>
Ron looked vaguely around at the two-dozen statues still standing in the Chamber. >Oh, that helps a lot Harry, thanks.>
The wolf chuckled, making short little barking noises. He pointed with his muzzle, and the fox looked in that direction. Sure enough, Ginny was wrestling with Hermione, and winning. The kneazle surrendered, and the jackal gave a little howl of victory.
Harry trotted over to them. >What happened to relaxing, Ginny?>
The jackal grinned at him.> It went out the window. That was fun! Hermione, sorry about that.> She turned toward the kneazle, who was purring.
>No problem, that was fun!> Hermione said.
Ron came over. >I agree. We'll have to do that again sometime. Harry, when do we get our names?> Ron asked.
In answer, Harry went to the door that led to the boys' room, and barked slightly. The fox and jackal looked at each other, and grinned. Then they told their feline friend what Harry had said in wolf-language. It wasn't exactly complimentary.
Moony came out, and glared at the wolf, which looked up innocently at him. "Shadowfang, inside. You three stay out here. We have to agree on your names." When none of the others made a move, Harry wagged his tail at them, and went inside. Moony closed the door behind the wolf.
"Was that really necessary to say, Shadowfang?" Moony asked the wolf, who shifted back into human form.
"It was funny," Harry shrugged. Moony glared at him. Harry just grinned back. Moony sighed.
"We'll talk about your language later. What should their names be?" Moony asked him, still slightly glaring.
Harry ignored the glare, and thought about it. "Well, first of all, I don't want the names to end in –foot or –tail. I think those are too close to the original Marauder names."
Moony growled. "Definitely not anything ending in –tail. Now that that's settled, what are the names going to be?"
"Hmm…. Let's get Ron's first. He was really fast, so something like… 'Swiftpaw'?"
"Swiftpaw, eh?" Moony asked, rolling the name off of his tongue. "That will do. What about Hermione and Ginny?"
Harry grinned at him. "How about 'Firefur' for Ginny? The name explains it all, I believe."
Moony smiled. "Two down, one to go. What about Hermione?"
"I'm not really sure," Harry admitted. "She's tough. The only feature that really stands out on her is her spotted fur…"
Moony leaned back, thinking. "And I don't think that 'Spots' would fit her…"
Harry shook his head. "No, it wouldn't. Hmm… Oh, I know! What do you think about 'Dots' for Hermione?"
"That's perfect!" Moony exclaimed. "So, the new Marauders are Shadowfang, Swiftpaw, Firefur and Dots?"
Harry's eyes sparkled. "That sounds about right"
Ron looked up as Moony and Harry came out of the room. >So, what are our names?> Ron asked. Then he growled as the kneazle hit his head with her paw. >What was that for?>
The kneazle rolled her eyes. >Honestly Ron, you have no sense of subtlety at all. You should have asked like this…>
She sauntered over to Moony and Harry, and wrapped around their legs purring. >Shadowfang, Moony, how nice to see you! How did your deliberations go?>
Moony and Harry couldn't help laughing. "Very nice, Dots. Swiftpaw, you might want to take lessons." Harry reached down to pet Hermione.
Hermione purred. >Ah, that feels… Dots? I'm Dots?> She said, in shock. Her head turned, as she regarded the honey-colored spots on her fur. Hermione nodded in approval. >I guess it fits,> Hermione, or rather Dots, said.
Ron blinked. >Uh, that means I'm Swiftpaw, right?> he asked, a bit clueless. The jackal next to him suddenly flipped him over on his back, and held his paw captive. >Hmm… well, he was fast earlier. So, I guess it's okay. What's my name?> Ginny asked, still examining Ron's paw. Ron struggled to break free, but Ginny held fast.
"You're Firefur, for obvious reasons." Ginny looked at her fur, and nodded. She let go of Ron's paw as her started to twist, causing him to roll unplanned. The newly named Swiftpaw glared at his sister, who ignored him in return. The other Marauders were careful not to laugh or smile. Ron huffed in annoyance, and then gave it up.
>Thanks, Shadowfang. You know your name is too long, right? I'm going to start calling you Shade,> Ginny stated.
Ron and Hermione agreed. >Is that okay with you, Harry? Shadowfang will still be your official name, but it's too long for everyday conversation,> Hermione asked.
Harry nodded. "Shade's fine. Right now, I believe it's time for Study Hall. All of you need to shift back into human form."
The animals looked at each other. >How do we do that?> Ron asked.
Harry slapped his forehead with his hand. "Oh, did I forget to tell you that? It's really easy. Just think of becoming human once more, concentrate on your life, stuff like that."
Hermione was the first one to become human once again, followed by Ginny and then Ron. They looked around, as if seeing the Chamber for the first time.
"A bit confused, much?" Harry chuckled. Their heads swiveled to look at him, and they blinked. "Let me explain. Now that you've become an animal, and had another mind with you, your two minds havemerged. After the first time, you'll notice a few changes in your lives. In your animal form, you keep your human mind, and still know human speech, but still have the form with you. You can't speak like a human, but you can still understand what a human says if you know that language. In your human form, you retain a bit of knowledge about your animal's language, as well as retain a bit of your animal senses. Am I incorrect in assuming that you now see better, have an enhanced sense of smell, and more sensitive hearing?"
All of them shook their heads. "No, you're correct. Is that why you could understand us while you were a human, and we were animals?" Ginny asked.
Harry nodded. "Yes. Hermione, I think you'll understand what cats are saying. I'm still trying to figure out how you understood what us canines were saying."
Hermione looked at Ron, then Ginny, then back to Harry. "Maybe it's because I knew them personally before transforming. That link between us would've made it easier to understand, and because I was a magical creature, it helped me figure out what all of you were saying."
"That might be it," Harry said thoughtfully. "I'd have to look it up, but that sounds like it might be right. I'll do that during Study Hall."
"Which is now," Moony stepped in, now used to his role as chaperone and teacher. "All of you have ten minutes to get your stuff and go to the Common Room."
With good-natured grumbling, the teens went to their rooms to get their books and other assorted stuff for Study Hall.
Study Hall was an idea that Harry had taken from the muggles, and used it as a solution to a problem. Ron didn't like the idea that during his stay, he had to actually complete his homework. In his past years, he stayed up the night before classes to do that. To him, it worked well, and as he told Harry and Moony, if it wasn't broken, why cast a Reparo on it?
So, Harry came up with the idea of Study Hall. It was one hour in every day where all of them went to the Common Room to work on their homework, do research, or other various quiet things. Ron reluctantly agreed, upon hearing that he wouldn't be forced to study, and used the time to draw up various Quidditch strategies, and read some books on the game. Before the transformation, however, Ron read every book he could on his Animagus form, the red fox. Harry had warned him that if he didn't he would probably lose his mind at the first transformation, or worse things.
Moony, during Study Hall, sat in his favorite chair, reading a book or the newspaper (Hermione's Daily Prophet subscription was still active, and the owls delivered it with Harry's permission). Occasionally he looked up to see if the teens were working quietly. Whispers were allowed, as long as they stuck to work-related subjects. He enjoyed his role as chaperone during Study Hall, the one time that the teens were mostly quiet.
The Common Room that Harry had created was particularly comfortable, and the preferred location for Study Hall. Each of the residents had a couch and a recliner in their choice of color, due to the fact that an argument had sprung up over Harry's original choice. Ron, in particular, was opposed to the emerald green and silver of the Common Room before Harry changed it. He didn't like the Slytherin colors, even though they were in the chamber that Salazar Slytherin built.
Ron chose red, of course. Hermione decided on gold, and Ginny on a midnight blue. Harry stuck with a green that matched his eyes, and Moony smiled as he requested dark silver. The carpet beneath the wooden tables, couches, and other furniture items was a neutral black. Even with the various colors, the Common Room looked good, and was comfortable.
Moony looked up from his chair, and smiled. Harry was quietly explaining to Ginny how different ingredients in a potion affected the density and other physical and magical properties. Ginny was listening attentively, taking notes so that she could do a good job on her Potions essay later on. Hermione, as usual, had her nose deep in a book on Arithmancy. Ron, still refusing to do his homework, was concentrating his attention on a piece of paper in front of him, most likely some new Quidditch play. The werewolf shook his head, and returned to his book on magical creatures.
On the occasion that, during Study Hall, one of the students wanted to make a potion, there was an area away from the Common Room that had several cauldrons set up, and a cabinet full of some of the basic potions ingredients. Harry still hadn't shown them his personal potions cabinet, full of the more, for the lack of a better word, illegal potions. Also in the cabinet were the dangerous ingredients that might be needed for a potion, including his charmed and warded box of what was left of the basilisk that had once inhabited the Chamber. If one of his guests needed an ingredient that he had in his personal cabinet, Harry would retrieve it in private. No one had asked where the ingredients were, due to the fact that they were grateful to have the ingredient. Besides, the items Harry gave them were extremely hard to get and expensive, so they figured that Harry put them someplace safe, in order to prevent misuse.
Harry was an unofficial tutor to Ginny, as she had the same classes that Harry had last year. With the studying that he'd done before the rest arrived in the Chamber, Harry's knowledge of various subjects was good enough so that he could explain the concepts Ginny was struggling with.
Harry, in turn, either turned to Hermione or Moony for help when he needed it. Hermione also asked Moony for help when she absolutely had to. Ron didn't do any homework, so didn't ask anyone for help. When he finally wised up, it was almost a given that he would ask Hermione for help.
"So mixing a warm-blooded animal's blood with a cold-blooded animal's…" Ginny trailed off, looking at Harry in confusion.
"Is an invitation to an explosion, unless a stabilizing ingredient is stirred in clock-wise," Harry finished. "Unless a stabilizing ingredient is stirred in between the two bloods' addition, stirred in clockwise." He looked at Ginny, his eyes asking if she knew what types of ingredients to add.
Ginny brightened. "Like powdered moonstone!"
Harry beamed at her. "Very good, Ginny!"
"I think I have it now, Harry, thanks" The redhead smiled shyly. Harry smiled back, and with a nod of his head, went to his own chair. Ginny started on her essay, looking at her notes occasionally, marveling on how easy Harry made Potions seem.
Harry opened a book on how spells were made. He had already read most of his books, and finished his homework, and was bored with what he was going over. Tutoring Ginny relieved his boredom temporarily, but that only lasted for the first twenty minutes of Study Hall. So, he asked Hermione for a good book. Hermione had given him the spellbook, thrilled that Harry wanted it, and telling him that the book was easy, all he had to do was read.
The book fascinated Harry. It explained how different elements were in magic itself. Those elements performed different functions, and when placed in a certain way with an incantation, were classified as a spell. It wasn't completely clear, but as Harry understood it, the spoken incantation helped the elements act in the way they were supposed to, but weren't necessary if the caster knew how the elements fitted together.
Or something like that, Harry mused. As he read the chapters and looked at some of the diagrammed spells, he grinned. He was determined to learn all this, so that he could complete a plan that was hatching in his head.
Well, there it is! The Marauder names are finally revealed! I know that not much happened here, but... let's just say I had a lot on my mind during the writing of this chapter.
For all those that want longer chapters: I'm working on it. I'm trying to get a nice size that I can continue to write at without becoming bored as I write. Right now I'm writing about five pages for each chapter, and I'll try to up that. For those that wanted to know what Harry said in wolf language (and did say in this chapter): Use your imaginations. I'd rather not say exactly what he said (my mom might take offense...), so I'll just leave that to your imaginations. For those who guessed Swiftfoot for Ron's name: I'd love to give you a lolly, as you were so close, but I don't think it would be fair to the others... Congrats on getting close, but as I explained in the story, I didn't want the names to be that close to the original Marauders' names.
Okay, another new format for responding to reviews! Tell me what you think of it, please!
These reviewers get a lollipop(s). Froboy (o--, o--), Kyle Broflovski (o--) for their (albeit late) answer to ch 8 question
These reviewers were just plainhyper ( ;-) ): PsychicLunar,elil eloin, Cynthia1850
And these reviewers' reviewsbids me to answer them personally.
ambiance15: You didn't really read what I said carefully, did you? I was going to put my e-mail up so that I could personally respond to the reviews, but I wasn't sure. I'm not a moron, but you are. If you can tell me where in the rules it forbids putting your email up, or responding to reviews at the end of a chapter? My dad and I looked in the TOS, and nothing was there about any specific way to answer reviews. I know very well what word count is, and personally, I don't give a flip about it. I'd personally like for people to read my fic because they like it, not because it's big. So, all in all, your brain is the size of a peanut, and you need to piss off if you can't act mature about reviewing. How old are you, five? (no offense to any five years old out there... if you're reading this, I'm amazed that you're smarter than this idiot here)
Red Death: Because you acted mature, I'll be nice about it. If you would please tell me where in the TOS or on the site where FFNet specifically mentions replying to reviews? Like I said above, my dad and I looked all over the site, and we couldn't find anything on it.
I loved all of your reviews, and I'm sorry I couldn't answer each one of them, but there's not enough room. Thank you all! (thanks to Nights Silhouette for the helpful suggestion (o-- for you) ) I'm really glad that you're liking my story!
Yay, A&Q time!
Answers: Ron is Swiftpaw, Hermione is Dots, and Ginny is Firefur.
Questions (yay, new ones! I can just hear all of you saying "Finally!" ;-) )
1) What is Harry's plan? (Happy guessing!)
2)How long do you think it will take Ron to start doing his homework? (just guess..)
3)Poll: Should Neville and Luna become Marauders? If so, what will their forms and names be? You now know the guidelines for the names, so have fun. If I actually use your suggestion(s), you get extra lollies.
There you go! Until next update!