A/N: I couldn't help myself. I am so looking forward to the next couple of chapters, I had to post this so soon. Plus, I am officially done with calculus AB! That's cause for celebration (until I get my AP scores back). So celebrate with me!

Chapter Nine: Transfiguration

Harry only just made it into the transfiguration classroom before the bell. Hermione glared reproachfully at him from the desk in front of him while Ron asked him what had taken so long.

"Professor Deere wanted to know if the DA's still on," Harry whispered back.

"Is it?" Ron sounded hopeful. Harry was about to reply when Professor Deere spoke.

"So, NEWT transfiguration!" Harry didn't miss the excited glint in the new professor's eye. "Congratulations all, you exceeded everyone's expectations!" James smiled broadly at the mismatch of house colors in front of him. "Unfortunately, the expectations just got that much higher."

Hermione sat up straighter in her chair while Ron shot Harry a what-are-we-doing-here expression. Harry shrugged and turned back to James.

"This year is my favorite year, anyone know why?"

Hermione's hand instantly shot up and James pointed at her. "Is it because we're going to study human transformations?" she asked curiously.

"Yes! Now, human transfiguration is perhaps one of the most difficult things you will ever do in the classroom. It takes practice and a good deal of luck, but when you learn it, you can become just about anything. Or anyone," he added, almost as an afterthought, but somehow Harry knew he was just adding flare.

Something in James's eye told Harry to raise his hand. "Like who, Professor?" he asked.

Instantly James's face lit up. Harry was hit with a sudden memory of the same excited glint in his godfather's eye just before he pulled a prank.

"Well," James pretended to think. "For example." James pulled the hood of his cloak over his head and turned around. The room was silent for a long couple of seconds before their teacher faced them again. "Like this."

Hermione gasped, and she wasn't the only one. James's eyes were now an emerald color and his hair had turned charcoal black. He was the splitting image – minus the scar – of her best friend.

"Wicked!" Ron said.

James laughed and waved his wand in front of his face to dispel the magic. "That was human transfiguration," he said, unnecessarily.

"Professor Deere?" Hermione started.

James's eyes shot to the doorway, a guilty look springing onto his face. "Where?" Then he realized whom Hermione was addressing and laughed loudly.

Everyone looked at each other, trying to figure out the joke. "Professor?" Hermione asked timidly.

James pulled himself together enough to say, "Sorry. I thought my wife was here." He pulled off his brown, squared glasses and wiped imaginary tears from his eyes. "Why don't you call me Professor Paxton, or just by my middle name? It might save some time."

"What's your first name, then?" Susan Bones asked. Then she realized what she'd said and blushed.

James smiled kindly. "Paxton."

"So you don't have a middle name?"

"No, I do. It's Paxton. My parents had a stutter." There were a few snorts in the back, but everyone seemed afraid to laugh. Harry wasn't surprised to see a flash of disappointment in Professor Paxton's eyes from his joke's lack of reception.

Hermione decided to pull the conversation back to her original inquiry. "Are you an animagus, Professor?"

"I am," James answered plainly.

"What is your animal?" Ron asked at once.

The glint was back in James's eyes. "Not telling."

Hermione looked disappointed, but asked, "Will we be learning the transformation, Professor?"

James instantly went back into "teacher mode". "I will NOT be teaching the animagus transformation," he replied slowly, accenting each no. "There will NOT be a sign-up sheet in the top left-hand drawer of my desk at the end of class. There will NOT be animagus classes starting in October."

Hermione turned around to glance meaningfully at her best friends. Ron raised an eyebrow, not getting her meaning. He looked questioningly at Harry.

Harry leaned in to whisper in his oblivious friend's ear. "She's saying we should sign up."

"But he said there wouldn't – Oh! Got it." Hermione rolled her eyes.

The next thirty minutes of the class were spent in relatively the same manner as the first, but Harry had trouble paying attention. His mind kept drifting into thinking about the animagus training and his godfather. What animal would he be? What would his godfather say if he were a stag like his father? Would he be a stag? Was his inner-animal a stag? Did your patronus reflect your inner-animal?

Harry was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of a hesitant knock on the classroom door.

"Yes?" James called. "Who is it?"

A Hufflepuff third year, who Harry recognized only by sight, opened the door. "Professor? Professor Deere told me to tell you that the twins have escaped and it's your turn to find them."

"Thank you. Please tell my wife that I'll get them." He waited until the Hufflepuff had closed the door again before James turned back to his class. "Twenty points to the house that finds the little rascals."

Hermione looked scandalized; Harry, on the other hand, looked down at his shoes. He raised his hand after a moment's contemplation and before Hermione could interrupt. "Professor Paxton? I think I might know how to find them."

James looked surprised and Harry had to wonder if he'd just been making a joke. "Well, Ha--Mr. Potter?"

Harry turned to Hermione and whispered quickly, "Summoning charms don't work on people, right?"

Hermione nodded slowly. "Why?"

Harry ignored her in favor of standing up and saying clearly, "Accio my shoelaces!"

Hermione's mouth dropped open comically and Ron looked at his best friend before bursting out laughing. Everyone else, including James, stood confused.

A minute later they all heard two shrieking five-year olds and Padma Patil flung the door open just in time. The twins crashed into Harry, knocking him down with a strangled "Oomph!"

"Again! Again!" Daisy ordered from on top of Harry's chest.

"Yes, again!" Mary agreed, her voice a little muffled as her head was nuzzled into Harry's cloak.

"Little help here," Harry breathed, spitting out Daisy's hair. He realized how red the twins' hair was. It was a rich shade of auburn, not unlike the color he'd always heard his mother's had been. Then the hair was out of his face and he forgot where that thought had been going.

"You okay?" Ron asked, pulling his best friend to his feet.

"Yeah," Harry panted. "Guess I didn't think that through, huh?"

"Of course not, Harry! Think about what could have happened if something or someone had been in their way? They would have run straight through!" Hermione cried, handing James Mary, who she'd pulled off Harry while he was getting Daisy. "You could have wrenched their arms out!"

"Hermione," Ron said slowly, "They're fine."

"Yes, Miss Granger," James agreed. "In fact, I do believe they enjoyed the ride." Everyone looked at the twins, who were happily playing with the shoelaces tied to their wrists like bracelets. "What I would like to know is: how did you know they would have your laces?"

Harry blushed and was about to answer when the bell suddenly rang, making him jump.

"Alright, time's up!" James said, "Homework is read the first chapter of your book. You'll be answering pop questions next class, so actually read!" he added as everyone gathered their things. "Oh and, twenty points to Gryffindor!"

A/N: I've said this before, but I wanted to reiterate. If you are going to alert DEERE FAMILY, please review. It doesn't have to be long, but my sister and I have this running competition for who can get the most reviews. So far she's winning by about fifty. Help the underdog?