A/N: Here's the other chapter I promised you for your reviews! Make sure you pay close attention with this chapter 'cause later on it will be VERY important!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the stuff J.K. Rowling created.
Chapter Five
The History of Shape-shifters with Weasley
"Hey Weasley!" I yelled when we walked into his classroom. We had just come from Charms, something I wasn't allowed to participate in, so I had fallen asleep and gotten in trouble. But not too awfully bad, thanks to James who said he was just practicing a sleeping spell on me. The professor believed him for some reason and congratulated him for doing such a good job and praised me for willing to be the test-dummy. So now I think he expected me to be the boys' prop until I got my wand and could participate. Fun.
"You're certainly in a better mood today," he replied with a warm smile. "And it figures you'd make friends with those three. Have you boys been keeping her out of trouble?"
"We're trying to," Remus said.
"But as you know that's no easy feat," Sirius added.
"That is true," Weasley agreed.
"Stop by on Quidditch tryouts though and you'll see something she's good at professor," James had to add, not able to keep his happiness to himself.
"I just might do that," he said. "Alright, I hate to break it up right now, but I'll talk to you four later. We've got a lot to cover today, so we've got to get started."
When everyone was seated and quiet (Weasley must've been a feared and respected professor) he stood in front of the class and spoke. "This year we are going to be learning about the creatures out there and the ways you can defend yourself against them. So naturally you'll be learning about history too. I don't like it anymore than any of you do, so knock it off or else we will not fight against them in class!" he snapped when kids started to groan. They shut up. "Today we will be discussing shape-shifters. Who can tell me what a shape-shifter is?" He looked over at our table. We must be his pick of the day. "Nike?"
"A shape-shifter has the ability to change form, and I'm pretty sure there are different types," I replied automatically. James raised an eyebrow at me, apparently impressed I knew that much.
"Right, and what can the different groups do?" Weasley asked.
"Some change into animals while others change into humans. Some can change into things or objects, like a building, and others change into Earth's features, like water, trees, dirt, grass, etc."
"Very good! Twenty-five points to Gryffindor," he said, pleased. I'm sure I looked confused about the points or whatever, but Weasley shook his head. Add that to my list of questions. "Now, Mr. Potter, are there any other groups in the shape-shifter family?"
"I think so. There's a Boggart, which is almost like a demon and it changes into your worst nightmare or whatever scares you the most. It's usually the only type of 'shifter that exists that's classified as evil. And then there's a rare group of 'shifters that can change into anything and everything," James said.
"Right. Twenty-five more points to Gryffindor. Now, each group of shape-shifters—"
A boy from Hufflepuff raised his hand.
"Yes?" Weasley acknowledged him.
"Aren't Animaguses—"
"Animagi," Weasley corrected.
"Aren't Animagi and werewolves shape-shifters too?"
"Good question and five points for Hufflepuff. Animagi, werewolves, and shape-shifters are commonly put in the same category, but they are nothing alike really. They're all completely different things. Mr. Lupin, can you tell us why?"
Remus stiffened behind me and James and Sirius looked worried. "Animagi must go through a very long and difficult process and can only change into one animal after they've completed the process. They can't stop being an Animagus and they can't change animals once they're done."
"And a werewolf?"
Remus was quiet for a minute. "A werewolf doesn't have a choice. Once they get bit, they're a werewolf forever, and there's no changing it. Think of it as a permanent disease. On each full moon a werewolf will transform into a monster and have the urge to bite more humans and turn them too. A werewolf is so bloodthirsty, it could kill its best friend."
"Twenty-five points for Gryffindor," Weasley said. "Does everybody understand?" When no one replied he said, "Good, because tomorrow when you step in my class you will have a quiz about what those three kindly informed us of. Now, I'll ask one more time, are there any more questions?"
"But aren't werewolves fake? And the shape-shifters? Because if they all are, then there's got to be more monsters out there…like vampires," a Gryffindor girl asked.
"She must be a muggle-born," someone whispered.
"Five more points to Gryffindor for such an excellent question. They all are very real. Don't you worry, we'll be covering vampires and werewolves soon," Weasley assured her. I, for one, agreed with the girl. If vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters and whatever else was out there, wouldn't I have at least seen them? Maybe they had existed once and were all extinct now.
"Now, back to shape-shifters. Who knows the labels of the different groups? What about the symbols and what they mean? Can anyone tell me anything about those?" He received no response.
"Mr. Black?" he tried. Sirius just stared at him blankly.
Weasley sighed. I think he had expected more from us. "Okay, the group that is most common is the ÆnIml-shifter, which is the shape-shifters that can turn into any animal. The next three are tied; the Eorþe-shifter, which can shift into any of the Earth's features, the Persone-shifter, which can shift into any human being, Sustantivo-shifter, which can turn into any object or thing, and the Boggart, which as we all know, can shift into any of your worst fears or nightmares."
Weasley turned to a blackboard and drew something that looked like a crescent moon turned upside down so the sides were facing downwards with a star in the middle of the open area. On top of the crescent was a curved sword going through a pyramid. On the pyramid, located in the middle, was a pharaoh, and to the right of him was an oak tree. Above both the tree and the pharaoh was a falcon with its wings spread out, looking like it was flying away from the pyramid.
"All shape-shifters bear this symbol, which is simply called the Crescent, for obvious reasons. The falcon stands for the ÆnIml-shifter, the pharaoh stands for the Persone-shifter, the tree stands for the Eorþe-shifter, the pyramid stands for the Sustantivo-shifter, and the crescent moon and star stand for the Boggart." He had everyone's attention now.
"Why is the Boggart's symbol the moon and star?" a boy from Ravenclaw asked.
"Excellent question. Five points to Ravenclaw. Now, when do you have nightmares?"
"During the night, when you're asleep," the boy replied, realization covering his face. "Okay, I get it."
"Most of your fears usually lurk around at night too, do they not?" Weasley persisted.
"Yeah, I guess they do," the boy replied.
"All 'shifters have this symbol on the back of their necks. They are born with it there, and it will never fade. It will always be a dark black ink color and it is very elegantly drawn."
"Why are their symbols on them?" a Hufflepuff asked.
"No one knows, not even most shape-shifters know. The ones that do keep it a secret I guess. Ten points to your House for rendering the teacher speechless." The boy seemed pleased.
"The type of 'shifters that can change into anything and everything imaginable, including bringing your thoughts to life, is the Ankh-shifter. They have all the abilities of the other shape-shifters, except many more. The Ankh-shifters however, also have this symbol, but one other, which we do not know the name, so we just call the Ankh." He turned to the board again and drew something that looked like a cross with a loop at the top.
"No one really knows where this is located on them, because the Ankh-shifters are usually kept hidden and in secret because they are almost always in danger. Mainly because there is usually only one Ankh-shifter alive at a time. No one knows why, but as you can tell, they are the rarest kind of 'shifter. Yet they are believed to be the most powerful and dangerous."
"Why are they in danger if they are so powerful and dangerous themselves?" another Ravenclaw asked, bringing logics into this.
Weasley shook his head. "Again, no one knows. I think it's because the evil side wants to control their powers to take over the world. But, we'll probably never know."
"Aren't there kings and queens in their society?" I found myself asking. Everyone in the room looked at me like I was crazy. But Weasley just seemed impressed.
"Yes. Each type of 'shifter has their own royalty and their own king or queen that controls their kind. However, the Ankh-shifters are the elite group. They have a royal family too, but not only is that royal family's head in charge of all Ankh-shifters, they are the king or queen of all shape-shifters in the world."
"Why is there royalty and those who are in charge?" Remus asked.
"Well, again here we are not sure. But I think it is because 'shifters can get out of line and become a threat to every society," the professor replied.
"But if the Ankh-shifters are always evil…then how does that work? Do the other shape-shifters absolutely have to listen to the Ankh-shifters?" I asked.
"They're always evil?" a Ravenclaw girl asked.
"Yes, they are," Weasley said, giving me a peculiar look. "That's why all shape-shifters are generally considered evil. No shape-shifter can resist the order of the lead Ankh-shifter, not even the others of the Ankh-shifter royal family."
"How are they called to rule?" James asked.
"No one knows except the Ankh-shifters. But with the other types of shape-shifters, the one who will lead usually has an extraordinary amount of power that is unlike any other of their kind at the moment. Whichever family that 'shifter is born into, they become the royal family. Does that make sense?" There was a chorus of 'yeah's and 'yes sir's.
"Is there an Ankh-shifter alive right now?" Sirius finally piped up.
"No. Not that we know of," Weasley answered. "But there could be. Like I said, Ankh-shifters are rare and are usually kept hidden, even from themselves. They don't look odd or superhuman or godly, they look like a normal human-being, or we have reason to believe they do."
"Oh," Sirius said. He sat there thinking for a moment. "Then who controls all of the shape-shifters right now?"
"When there isn't an Ankh-shifter, all the lead shape-shifters of every group form this council, and from there they rule and make decisions. Hence why the shape-shifters as a whole are generally peaceful right now."
"So the council doesn't exist when an Ankh-shifter is leading?" I asked.
"That's up to the Ankh-shifter. But in the course of history, that's never happened."
"Okay, wait. If there's only one Ankh-shifter at a time in a long span of time, how do they reappear? How is that possible?" a Ravenclaw asked.
"It only takes one parent to be an Ankh-shifter and all the children of those parents will be Ankh-shifters, and so on and so forth. Ankh-shifters also live longer than our kind does, and longer than the rest of the shape-shifters. They live even longer if they are part wizard too. They could practically live forever if they were given the chance."
"That's possible?" Sirius asked.
"It is possible for there to be half-and-halfs for all shape-shifters, but they're rare and powerful."
He looked at a silver watch on his left wrist. "I hate to say it, but we're out of time for today. We'll get to more of this tomorrow. Like I said earlier, when you step in my door, be ready for a quiz. Tomorrow we will learn a little bit on how to fight some of these 'shifters if you ever come across them and they are a threat." Kids started to buzz with excitement. "You may go now," Weasley dismissed us.
A/N: I created all of this using different languages for certain things. Sustantivo means either 'thing' or 'object' in Spanish. Persone means 'person' in French. ÆnIml means 'animal' in French. Eorþe means 'earth' in (I think) French. And then Ankh means 'life' in Egyptian, and the Ankh is a symbol that the pharaohs usually wore. And of course I didn't create the Boggart, but my research said they were a type of shape-shifter, so it works out just fine I think. Trust me, there's a reason for this lesson, but you'll see why in a different book…(the title's a hint, really).
Anyways, hope you liked it and it didn't bore you! Next chapter has an old favorite! Trust me, you'll love her!
Oh, and if even more people review, the deals the same! I have plenty of chapters to spare…I am currently writing the 28th chapter of this book…so there's a lot more!
Please review!
Nike