Four months had passed while in the time chamber. They were already working on the current fourth year material. They had settled into a good pace. Each teacher had brought a trunk full of reference books for Harry and Daphne to use on top of their own. Harry and Daphne found themselves with several hours of free time each night.
Daphne spent her time reading ahead in her books. She didn't want to waste an ounce of the opportunity Harry had provided. She would get the best grades she could possibly achieve. Harry spent his time in his room meditating. For what Daphne didn't know. Snapping her book shut, she decided to change that. She stalked over to Harry's room and knocked on the door. Not hearing a response, she opened the door and peeked inside.
She saw Harry sitting on the floor with his eyes closed and his legs crossed. He seemed so relaxed and at piece. She wanted to wake him up and ask what he was doing, yet part of her couldn't bring herself to disturb his peace. She sat down next to him and just watched him. Slowly, she copied his posture and tried joining him in meditation.
This would continue for another week. Daphne would sneak into Harry's room and join him in meditation. She didn't know what he was doing it for, but something about it made her feel connected to Harry.
Harry had finished meditating several times to find Daphne sitting across from him. He wondered when she would ask what he was doing. His own curiosity got the best of him, and he broke the silence the next night.
"Hey, do you want to know what we're meditating for?" Harry asked softly
Daphne gave a small squeak in surprise. Not once in the nights she had been joining him had Harry given the idea he knew she was there.
"I don't mind you joining me. In fact it's rather nice. I just figured you'd like to know what we're trying to do." Harry said, trying to ease her embarrassment
Daphne did her best to control her blush.
"Yes, I'd like to know what you're trying to do." she said softly
"We're meditating to become animagi." Harry said with a huge grin
Daphne was slightly confused. She remembered asking McGonagall about the animagus transformation, and she knew it involved a potion and keeping leaves in your mouth or something similar. She didn't know of any method that was purely meditation.
Seeing the look on her face, Harry preempted her questions.
"Now I know what you're thinking. This isn't the method McGonagall mentioned when you asked, and you're right. I wasn't satisfied with that method. So, over the summers, I did research. I mean, surely other countries have animagi or some equivalent. So, I kept digging until I found a method suitable to my liking."
"What kind of method is this then?" Daphne asked
"Well, as you've seen, the first step is meditation. Though what you're probably not doing or not noticing is your spirit animal. The whole purpose of the meditation is to find your spirit animal. To do that, you'll need to clear your mind and get a strong grasp of your magic inside you. Once you feel your magic, you need to let it envelop you. It will feel like you're drowning. Whatever you do, don't fight it. From there, your magic will manifest as a material plane of some form. For instance, mine is a forest." Harry explained
"Ok, I think I understand. What do I do then."
"Then comes the hard part. You have to find your spirit animal. Now, that doesn't sound too hard, but to start, you can have more than one spirit animal. The books said the most was five different forms. Once you find it, this is where it gets a bit tricky. You have to reach inside for your magic again. You have to will it to take shape, to copy that of your animal. Once that is complete, you must envelope yourself in this new shape. Let it take you. This will result in your first transition."
"That seems like a lot."
"It does, but you'll see it's not as hard as it sounds it just takes time. So you want to become an animagus with me?" Harry asked
Daphne seized the opportunity to spend more time with Harry and build a special bond with him by becoming animagi together.Many weeks would pass as Harry and Daphne continued their daily studies as well as their animagus training. It was late one night when Daphne achieved her first transformation.
She had spent hours walking through her magic's material plane. It manifested as a grassy plain with a couple of groves of trees loosely scattered. She eventually noticed a raven following her. It flitted from tree to tree as she wandered around the sparse groves of trees, and the bird circled high above when she meandered along the grassy knolls.
It took her way too long to realize it was the first and only animal she had seen so far. She quickly sat down and started meditating. The raven landed on the ground before her idly pecking the dirt. Soon, Daphne had grasped her magic and pulled like Harry said.
When she opened her eyes, Harry was sitting across from her with his eyes closed. Wondering why he was so big, she spoke up. Upon hearing a raspy caw, Harry's eyes snapped open, gazing down at her. A smile lit up on his face.
"You did it, Daph. You're a crow or a raven. It's definitely a raven." he concluded, flipping through his animal atlas
Daphne just cawed at him again, forgetting she couldn't speak. Harry chuckled before resuming his meditation. She cawed again.
"I'm guessing you want to know how to change back. It's the opposite of the change. Instead of pulling your magic around you like a blanket, you need to almost imagine stepping out of it. I recommend practicing transitioning back and forth so you get used to the feel."
Cawing once more, Daphne seemed to ruffle her feathers before she slowly turned back to her human form. She was so giddy that she practically tackled Harry to the ground in a hug. Harry simply wrapped his arms around her, enjoying her embrace.
"One question. The raven, did it touch you, or were you able to touch it?"
"No, why?"
"Like I mentioned, you can have more than one form. If the raven was your only form, it would've let you touch it or something similar. You won't be able to touch it until you find all you forms and they harmonize within your magic." Harry explained
"Back to meditating then?" Daphne asked slightly glum
"Back to meditating." Harry said, giving her hand a soft squeeze
Daphne, for all her want to bond with Harry, wasn't a fan of sitting on the floor for several hours.
-TGE-
Six more months passed as Harry and Daphne prepared to take their mock 'owls'. Since they were stuck in the chamber, they would take mock tests to see if they were ready to move onto sixth year material.In all this time, Daphne had found both of her forms. In addition to her raven, she had a honey badger form.
Seeing her badger form Harry's brain was overwhelmed by the one thought of 'cute'. He wasted no time picking her up, hugging her close and scratching her behind the ears. Daphne would never admit she loved every second of it. When she turned back, Harry choked down his embarrassment as the badger was technically Daphne.
Harry had found two of his forms. One was that of a black and brown king cobra. The other was that of a grey harpy eagle. He was sure he had one more, yet no matter how much he meditated, he couldn't find it.After passing their mock exam, Harry and Daphne spent the rest of the night practicing their forms. Daphne had mastered moving around in her badger form. Unfortunately, due to lack of space, she hasn't learned to fly in her raven form, but she did manage to learn to walk and hop.
Harry also mastered moving in his snake form. He also suffered the same restrictions as Daphne due to his bird form. He did learn to hop around, so he was happy with his progress.
-TGE-
It was the second day since Tora had seen her daughter. She was feeling oddly melancholic lately. Two whole days without Daphne. Leon couldn't help but laugh even when it drew his wife's ire.
"What are you laughing at?"
"You. It is funny from my point of view. You had to calm and convince me that Daphne would be ok going with Harry. Yet here you are acting like she broke your heart. Just think of it as if she were staying with Tracey for the holidays. She'll be back before you know it."
"Yea I guess you're right." Tora grumbled
She got up and gave her husband a kiss before flooing to her office. Leon watched her go with a smile. He went to his office to finish looking through school brochures. Beauxbatons was looking like the main pick, but he wanted to go over all the options.
(AN: there will probably be only one more chapter covering the whole time chamber learning stuff, ill probably try and make it a bit longer just to cover all the bits that need covering.
Also im torn between giving Harry his third and final animagus form(no magic forms) or leaving it something he never finds. i have a form in mind but its nothing final. leave a review whether harry should get his 3rd form or not and maybe a suggestion of what you want the last form to be(once again no magic forms)
