CHAPTER 18- THE ZOO
Nobody noticed Severus enter the classroom silently and take a seat in the back. He knew they were going to take their potions today and was very interested to see what Animagus form, if any, that Harry and Draco would take.
Ginny came forward slowly, showing her nervousness, standing in front of the mirror she drank her potion. Within seconds she felt some pain, then her body seemed to feel shorter and her weight was distributed differently. Her eyesight seemed keener and deeper. There was the urge to be feral yet a stronger urge kept it in check. She looked in the mirror and saw what she thought was a Leopard, only it was bigger. She was about the size of a donkey and gold in color.
Minerva looked at her, smiled. She then told her, "You are a Nunda Ginny. They are larger than the Leopard but very fierce and your color is very special as it makes you a magical creature, rare indeed."
As fast as it came it seemed to disappear, and Ginny was then in her human form looking at the mirror with a smile on her face, "Awesome" she said.
Percy was called forward next. His form came just as swiftly and caught him by surprise. If he was seeing correctly then he was, of all things, a lizard, although a rather large one. After looking at himself he turned back into his human form looking a bit disappointed.
Minerva said, "Don't be disappointed Percy you are a special Fire Elemental Lizard. You will be able to walk through and cause fire, enter small places, on land and in the water. You can also excrete toxic substances which can kill the enemy. You will become a very formidable Animaigus, one that we will have to be very careful around.
George was next and turned into a Hawk. He was told that he was gifted not only with flight but very high flight. He also had very good eye sight which could be used at long distances so would come in very handy. He has powerful claws and is strong and graceful.
Fred came forward hoping not to be a weird animal but he turned into a weasel which caused Draco to start laughing.
"Don't laugh too loud Mr. Malfoy, he is a weasel and his form is very versatile. He also, can get into small places, catch rodents and climb trees. He can also mark a trail with his scent glands so nobody gets lost. He would be a nice companion to have in a large forest or places where you might not have any sense of direction."
After that Fred felt much better about his form and walked away from the mirror with his head a bit higher.
Luna came up front next figuring to get it over with as she didn't feel she would be able to make the transformation. She consumed the potion and within seconds, much to her surprise a Thestral appeared in the mirror.
"Well, that's special said Minerva. You are one of the winged horses. You have many gifts such as being able to strike the earth with your hoof and making water spring forth. You are very clever or as Hagrid would say, 'dead clever'. Your sense of smell is very high and your sense of direction will come in very handy for leading. You are also a very fast flyer."
Luna was shocked and continued to stand there after her Animagus disappeared. Minerva had to touch her to bring her back to earth. Luna just smiled and walked to the back, her mind flowing somewhere as usual.
Neville finally gathered his courage and walked up front. Severus was also interested to see what would happen with this gentle boy who was so bad at potions yet so good with plants.
Neville drank his potion and soon he was looking at a very unusual sight; a Unicorn. Everyone without knowing why seemed to be moved by this. Minerva felt she had to put words to it so that everyone understood; "You are fierce yet all good, selfless, and have a great willingness to serve. Your form represents strength, fleet of foot and your horn can neutralize poisons. Your blood can keep people alive if you give of it freely, or make them wish they were dead if they take it forcibly. But most of all you are pure of heart and empty of evil." You are quite unique Neville in that I have never heard of a Unicorn Animagus.
"OK, Draco your next" said Minerva. He walked slowly to the front really worried about what form he would have and if it would look stupid to the others. He would just die if he turned into a rat.
Severus noted how nervous Draco seemed to be and he knew that pride and self esteem issues were probably the biggest factor. Draco didn't want to appear less, or second class, in anyone's eyes especially his friends. Draco didn't know it but he needed to feel wanted and needed. He was beginning to feel wanted by Severus but developing friends, real friends was new territory for Draco.
Draco drank his potion and in a few seconds everyone was running for the walls and the door. Severus stood up in a hurry and started pushing kids out the door. Albus who happened to be walking by ended up with a twin under him and one on top of him, thinking he had been hit by a couple of those muggle football players. He pulled himself from the pile and looked in the door trying to see what in the world was happening. What he saw made him speechless.
Almost all of the room was taken up by the form of a Dragon, a big Dragon. This Dragon had to bend his neck and head down and crouch in order to fit in the confines of the room. The mirror was thrown against the wall and in pieces but he didn't need it to know what his form was, all he needed to do was turn his head.
In Draco's case it seemed like it took forever for him to return to his human form. Albus ran over and picked up Minerva who had been pushed against the wall and was unconscious.
Severus sent a patronus to Poppy asking her to hurry down to the Transfiguration classroom quickly. Then he started looking for the rest of the children. The twins were fine and Ron had found a spot in the corner of the room to hide in. Ginny was under the Dragon at one time but now that he was in human form she was laying there unconscious.
Neville was on top of Luna in the corner. He had thrown her out of the way and then fell on top of her to try and protect her. Percy finally crawled out from under a table he had crawled under when he saw that Draco was going to continue to grow past where he was standing.
Hermione and Harry were still not visible. Then Severus heard a groan coming from under a number of caged animals that were usually kept in the room. He moved the cages working his way to the sound and found Hermione pulling herself up. She turned to Severus and said, "I'm OK but Harry is under here also and he is not answering me or moving.
Severus moved like a mad man, moving cages and boxes until he found Harry. It looked like he had hit his head on one of the cages and it was bleeding heavily.
Poppy arrived and Severus took her to Harry first as he was bleeding. She quickly fixed the cut but said he would have to go to the infirmary attaching a port-key to him. She then went over to Ginny and sent her to the infirmary also. Severus then told her that Minerva was over in the far corner. When Poppy got there Minerva was coming around but was still rather disoriented, so Poppy port-keyed her to the infirmary also.
Poppy then turned to Albus and Severus and told them to bring all the students so she could check them out but she wanted to work on the ones hurt the worst first and with that she also port-keyed to the infirmary.
Severus and Albus looked at each other, then looked at the class room and shook their heads. Albus said to Severus, "Am I crazy or did I see a Dragon in here?"
"You're not crazy Dad, Draco's Animagus is a Dragon. I guess we should have seen that one coming and moved things outside. You had best get to the infirmary so you can keep mom from going right back to work."
"No, not a good idea", said Albus, "I think Poppy will have more influence in that area. In fact I have known that woman to put the sticking charm on Minerva to keep her in bed. If I tried that she would kill me."
Severous laughed, "You're right about that. But I have orders to bring the rest of these kids up there, so I best get moving. Are you OK, you took quite a tackle."
"I'm fine and I will be up as soon as I put Minerva's classroom back together for her. I don't want her to have to come back to this."
Severus herded the rest of the students up to the infirmary so that Poppy could give them the once over. When he arrived everyone but Ginny was awake and talking. Poppy was busy healing cuts, bruises, and a couple broken ribs.
Minerva was sentenced to a night in the infirmary along with Ginny but the rest of them would be able to leave one at a time and all be excused by dinner time. Severus sent those who had been released to their dorms telling them to stay there until dinner and rest.
Mr. Filch came looking for them and was very disappointed that they would not be serving detention today. He had taken a shower and even washed his hair again in preparation for his new position as supervisor. As he walked away he looked a bit sad until Severus told him that he would be paid extra for the day anyway since he had prepared for it. This seemed to boost his moral and he walked with a bit more vigor in his step. Severus just shook his head. Who could have figured that given just a little promotion and the man could change so much. He needed to talk to his dad about this.
Draco was sitting over against the wall just watching everyone and feeling really bad. Severus came over to him and said, "Walk with me Draco." Draco stood up and walked with Severus toward the main doors. "Draco, are you OK?" asked Severus.
"I'm fine", said Draco, "I just feel bad about everybody getting hurt. Here I was really worried that I would turn into a rat or something but I never expected a Dragon. I had no idea what damage a Dragon could do without even trying."
Severus gave him a hug and smiled then said, "Yes, you are a rather large Dragon, we will have to make sure to take you outside anytime you start getting close to transforming. But the look on Professor McGonagall's face was priceless and I shall rib her about it for months I am sure, but only when I have a head start."
They had arrived at the Gryffindore entrance where Severus told Draco to go up and get some rest as he still had a lot of detentions to work on. Draco smiled and said, "You're telling me. You punished us for trying to kill ourselves and others and now you're trying to kill us and others in class. This place is brutal!" he said with a smile.
Severus smiled and gave him a pop on the bum, sending him in the doorway.
Harry finally made it back to the common room and found everyone sitting around talking about the day they were having. Ginny would have to remain in the infirmary because she had a few broken bones but was expected to be released in the morning.
Harry shared with them that the Order found Dudly and he was staying with his Aunt Marge who was a terrible person. She had ordered her bull dog to attack him one year and it chased him up a tree where he had to stay all through supper and well into the night.
Ron looked over at Draco and said, "Well Mate, next time you want to get out of detention why don't you warn us first," then he smiled. "That was really awesome and you are certainly no baby Dragon, that Dragon is huge, you could give us all rides do you know that?"
The rest of the group laughed but agreed. Draco was feeling really warm inside. He was actually developing friends, real friends and not just a couple thugs who followed him around because a bunch of fathers who happened to be Death Eaters, wanted it to be so. He could carry on intelligent conversations with these people and kid with each other. It was quite an experience and he knew he didn't want to lose it.
But lose it he would once September came around, all this fantasy stuff would disappear. He knew come September life would not be so comfortable but until then he was going to enjoy every moment of it.
About that time Severus came into the common room seeking Draco. "Draco, please come with me we have to talk" he said, then he walked back out the door. Draco looked at everyone and shrugged his shoulders, he couldn't figure out what he had done wrong but it must be something. He slowly stood up and followed Severus.
The Professor was waiting for him outside the entry way and said nothing to him but started walking toward the Head Master's office. This couldn't be good thought Draco. Maybe his Father had found a way to have him removed from the school. Ever since they saw him at the Manor Draco had worried that something like this would happen, no matter what assurances Professors Snape and Dumbledore gave him.
When they reached Dumbledore's office they each took a seat in front of the big desk and Draco waited for someone to say something. "That is quite a spectacular Dragon you have for an Animagus form Draco" said Albus.
"Thank you, I think" replied Draco, still worried about where this conversation might be going.
"Calm down Draco" said Albus, "You're not in trouble, in fact we may have some good news for you in that at least you will have some choices in your life. We have presented our memories to the Ministry and they can now take your guardianship away from your Father since he is a Death Eater. Of course they won't force you but are giving you the option, or I should say options, to make some changes."
Albus continued, "You can become a ward of the ministry which means they will find you new parents and you will be allowed to continue to attend Hogwarts. You would keep the Malfoy name and would still be the Heir. Your Father will no longer have the right to disown you and rights to your inheritance remain in place if there is anything left to inherit when he gets through with it."
"Another option is that you can submit to your Godfather's claim to guardianship. This would also allow you to retain your given name and rites to your inheritance when the time comes. Again that is ...if... your father doesn't spend or transfer it all."
"Your third choice, should you desire, would be to be adopted by your Godfather. This would mean that you would have a name change and forfeit all rites to your Malfoy inheritance."
Severus then reached over and holding Draco's chin, looked him in the eye and added, "You need to understand Draco that this third option could not happen unless I desired it to be so. I feel you are like a son to me already and I would love to make you a part of my family. You need to know it would not change how I would deal with you as far as the expectations placed on you nor the accountability that I would hold you to. I will be OK with whatever you choose to do, whatever you are comfortable with, and if you need time to think about it we definitely understand."
Draco's jaw dropped and he looked like he had just died and gone to heaven. "Is this all real and not just wishful thinking. Is it something that would be final or can it be changed on me again in the future?" he asked.
"No Draco" said Albus, "Once you make your choice it is final."
"But what would make the Ministry act like that and give me choices?" asked Draco.
Albus smiled and said, "It would appear that Fudge is now very embarrassed about his close relationship to Lucius and all the financial deals that he had made with him over the years. He is now trying to back pedal in his efforts to keep people happy and not lose his position."
Draco studied his trainers for a long time then turned to Severus and with tears in his eyes he said, "I have wished for this for a long time but never thought it could happen. I would love to become your Son if you would have me?"
Severus looked him in the eyes and knew that he was speaking the truth. "You need to understand that this parent stuff is all knew to me Draco and we are both going to have to find our way through it all, but I would love to call you Son."
With that Draco did something he had never done before. He dropped all the façade he had been trained to hold up, and all the armor he had built around himself, and he grabbed Severus and held on to him, not as a boy trying to play adult but as a little boy, and he just wept.
Severus was caught completely off guard and really didn't know what to do. He looked over Draco's shoulder at Albus for guidance and Albus smiled then demonstrated with his arms that Severus should embrace Draco, and Severus did embrace him, not only physically but mentally and in a few moments legally.
When Draco arrived back to the common room it was apparent that he had been crying and everyone got upset. "They didn't spank you again did they?" asked Ron.
"No", smiled Draco, I have just been adopted by Severus, I have a new father. With those words the whole common room erupted and they all slapped him on the back and congratulated him and celebrated.
Harry finally said, "You know there was a lot of pain, and he rubbed him bum, that went into that adoption so I think you are now 'brother' to us all because we all have a piece of you" and he laughed. "Seriously though, you need to do something special for Cassy but I don't think it would be a good idea to tell her why or she might start punching everyone in the nose."
Everyone laughed at the thought of Cassy jumping on chairs and punching noses to see which of them turned into good deeds.