The next morning, Sirius, Regulus, Severus, and James walked into the headmaster's quarters. Capella, Lyanna, Narcissa, Arcturus, and Melania were already there. They looked surprised to see James with them.
"We have something to talk about with all of you," Sirius began, sitting on the sofa next to Capella and Melania.
"Go ahead," Melania encouraged with a smile.
"Well, yesterday, we... er… found out that Remus is a werewolf," Sirius began.
Arcturus and Melania exchanged knowing glances while Capella, Lyanna, and Narcissa gasped.
"Remus is a WEREWOLF?!" Capella asked in shock.
"Yes," Severus confirmed.
"So we were right," Capella said quietly. "We suspected it, but to hear that it's true, wow'''. Well, at least now we know for sure! So, what now?"
Sirius gave Arcturus a questioning look. Arcturus nodded.
"We should all do animagus training," Sirius stated.
"Wait, isn't that for older students?" Capella asked, confused.
"No, not exactly," Narcissa put in. "I learned it when I was twelve. My mother taught me. I'm a swan. Andromeda is a British Shorthair Cat."
"Wow!" James exclaimed. "A cat, like McGonagall!"
"Will it be Professor McGonagall teaching us?" Capella asked.
"I will teach Sirius, Regulus, Severus, James, and Capella," Arcturus stated.
"When can I learn it?" Lyanna asked.
"Over the summer, I will give you a book to read, and you can practice meditation. Then, when you begin your first year in September, I will teach you as well," Arcturus informed her.
"Oh, thank you!" Lyanna said excitedly.
"So, you will teach us?" Capella asked, gesturing to herself and the other Marauders.
"Yes, I will," Arcturus confirmed. "But it will be hard work. You may also be tempted to try it on your own. You all need to promise not to attempt transforming without me supervising you. Is that understood?"
"Understood," everyone replied.
"And when he tells you not to do it without him there, he means it," Narcissa warned. "I attempted my animal form by myself, and, well, I was stuck in my swan form for hours. Mother was not pleased. It took her forever to figure out how to get me back to my human form, because she had not been there to see how I transformed in the first place, so you do not want that to happen to you."
"I remember your mother telling me that story," Melania said with a laugh. "You definitely learned a very important lesson."
"Now, we will start our lessons next week," Arcturus informed them. "First, we will talk about different meditation exercises that are used to find your animal."
The Marauders were all excited. Lyanna was slightly disappointed that she couldn't start learning yet, but she knew that she would start learning meditation during the summer, then the actual transformation process in September.
That next Wednesday, Sirius, Regulus, Capella, Severus, and James sat in the headmaster's quarters, ready for the first lesson to begin. As they sat, waiting for Arcturus to get done with what he was doing in his office, James broke the silence.
"I wonder what animal I'll be!" he said excitedly.
"I don't know, but remember, we have to learn meditation first so we can find our animal," Regulus reminded him.
"I know meditation already from doing Occlumency," James responded.
"There's meditation for Occlumency, then there's meditation specifically for animagus training," Sirius pointed out.
"Oh, great," James muttered.
"Just don't fall asleep this time, James," Severus stated.
"Oh, I would never!" James exclaimed.
"So, if that's the case, then why did you tell us that you fell asleep while meditating during your Occlumency lessons?" Capella asked.
"Oh, right, I did tell you that," James said with a sigh of defeat. "Alright, fine. Maybe I did, but don't worry! I won't fall asleep this time!"
Capella glared at James before grabbing one of the pillows on the sofa and throwing it at James.
"Oh no," Regulus groaned, ducking before an incoming pillow could hit him. Capella and James seemed to be having a pillow fight, but soon, they ran out of pillows to use, so they started throwing other soft things.
"What is going on here?" Melania asked, stepping into the room. She surveyed the mess before giving Capella and James a stern look., "Who started this?"
Capella and James started putting the blame on each other. "Capella started it," Sirius informed his grandmother.
"Wow! Thanks, Cousin!" Capella said with a glare.
"Capella, why did you start throwing things at James?" Melania asked sternly.
"James was just being James," Capella said with a sigh.
"James, why did you continue the fight?" Melania asked.
"I was just having some fun," James defended himself.
"Both of you, start picking up this mess, without using magic," Melania ordered.
"But!" James started.
"No buts," Melania said sternly. "Now, get started. You have your lesson soon."
Capella and James started cleaning up, putting everything back where it belonged. Finally, Arcturus entered the room just as they were finishing.
"Is everyone ready for their first lesson?" he asked.
"Yes!" everyone exclaimed excitedly.
"Good. First, we will focus on meditation exercises that will help find your animal when the time comes," Arcturus explained.
"Will we find our animal today?" James asked excitedly.
"No, James," Arcturus said with a chuckle. "Not today. But you will find your animal soon, once you've learned all of the meditation exercises that will help with this."
With that, they started going through several different exercises. Sirius and Severus were much better with meditation than Regulus, Capella, and James. While James did not fall asleep, he definitely was a distraction. The lesson ended with everyone on edge. They hoped that the next lesson would go smoother. Sirius knew that it would get easier for his friends. For Sirius, he was very good at this already, but he certainly understood why everyone else was struggling. It did not help that James was so distracting.
"It'll get easier, I'm sure of it," Sirius said as they headed back to their common rooms.
"Agreed," Severus said. All in all, it was quite the interesting first lesson.