Chapter 16
The Room of Requirement had been almost always occupied as of late. Jude, James, and Emma always used their free time to go in and practice their patronus charm and their animagus shifting. So far, even after months of practicing, James was the only one who could get far. He had summoned a full patronus, a stag like he had assumed, and transformed into his animal; a stag as well.
To Jude, Emma seemed like she wasn't even trying. Every time they got into the room, she was very weak willed when trying to transform and never put enough power behind her spell for the patronus. He wondered what got her so worked up since every time they brought it up, she became so flustered. James didn't notice, and it made Jude all the more frustrated at the two.
The only thing that gave him the slight bit of happiness was when his patronus actually began to take shape. It was…
The three of them watched as a lion roared from the wisps of smoke before disappearing completely. James barked a laugh, "Now that was wicked."
"Yeah it was," Jude whispered, still in awe. He was surprised his wand hadn't fallen from his slack hands. He blinked himself out of his daze and turned to the only female in the room, "Emma, don't you wanna try again? Maybe this time it'll work."
Emma snapped her gaze to his, her green eyes widening as her cheeks began to burn again, "I-I couldn't possibly. One failure is enough for me." She cleared her throat awkwardly, "Besides, I think we need to take a break. We've been at this for hours."
James gasped, scandalized, "Emma Thorne willingly taking a break? Say it ain't so." He threw his arm around Jude, pretending to faint on him, "Jude, I don't think I can take this anymore."
"Ha ha, very funny," Emma mumbled, grabbing her satchel. "I was saying we should take a break because we have an essay due in 2 days. I need some peer review on it."
James straightened with a deadpan gaze, "Yep, there she is. Never mind, mate, it's not the end of the world."
"I got scared for a moment."
Emma glared at the two who simply grinned amusedly, "I honestly don't know how you two have good grades when all you ever do is goof around whenever we have a study group."
The two boys exchanged glances before James shrugged, "It's a gift, Emma. Part of it comes from your great peer reviews."
"Don't try to flatter me," She mumbled, the blush on her cheeks becoming darker. She pulled out her parchment and quills, "Let's get to work, shall we?"
James, being a bit tired, followed her lead and took her papers to look them over. Jude took a seat on the floor, a few paces away, watching as they silently communicated while reviewing the paper.
Really, how did these two not see it?
With a shake of his head, he inhaled deeply and began to meditate. If James was able to transform, he wanted to be able to as well. He was a little scared to do so indoors, but to heck with it, he wanted to see what he could do.
Transforming was not how he thought it was. He read that it felt like sunlight hitting your face and your body growing without you really feeling it. He hadn't known what that meant. He did look up the difference between that and werewolf transformations, and apparently, werewolf transformations were much worse since the bones were shifting and there was no magic involved. Animagus transformations involved magic which was why it never hurt to switch forms, but it did take an awful lot of energy.
He concentrated more on the sounds of the jungle. Up to the swift wind passing above and the leaves rustling below. The sunlight was warm, warmer than he had ever felt it, and pleasant. It all felt so real, like he was actually away from Hogwarts and in the jungles of a country he'd never been to.
"Jude!"
Jude turned to his friends, his eyes wide with confusion. Emma seemed a bit frightened. It was noticeable with the way she clutched James' sleeve. What was wrong? He gazed down at the floor and found two massive paws where his hands were.
Oh. He transformed. Into a giant lion.
James gaped in awe at his friend and gave him a thumbs up, "That's brilliant, mate."