Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.
Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if need be.
Author's Note: Don't mind me as I spend over 2.5K words ranting about a commonly misremembered bit of canon.
Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 14); MC4A
Individual Challenges: Shadow HP Bribery (Y); Gryffindor MC; Slytherin MC (x4); Hufflepuff MC; Rian-Russo Inversion (x3); Ethnic & Present (x2); Hold the Mayo; Neurodivergent; Zed Era; Old Shoes (Y); Bucket Listing (Y); Two Cakes (Y); Eating Cake (Y); Green Ribbon
House: Slytherin
Assignment No.: Term 14 â Assignment 02
Subject (Task No.): Animagus Training (Task#3: Write about someone trying to decide which animal to become as an Animagus.)
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Fantastic Beasts [103](Draco Malfoy); 365 Prompts [60](Table); Scavenger Hunt [33](Auror); Days of the Year [Jan 3rd](Someone stepping up or protecting someone else from a bully); Black History Month [15](Someone getting into "good trouble"); National Weddings Month [02](Groom); Crochet Week [10]("Loosen up"); Penguin Awareness [07]("Cheer up..."); Colours [05](Mint); Crystals & Gemstones [09](Being cursed); Tarot Reading [03](Someone's worry/anxiety affecting their life); Slytherin Characters [38](Draco Malfoy); But Can You Spell It? [N](New); Stop! Hamper Time (Cheeses)[Roule]("...just go one day..."); You Get My Love (Love Languages)[09](Priceless); Would You Rather (13)[Potion]; Gwen's Candy Shop [Bowl 2](Autism); That Lovin' Feeling [List 1](08)[First Defense]
Other MC4A Challenges: FaB [2C](Cat); Set [1D](Studio/Workshop); WiB [5D](Box); Vocab [4D](Incredible); Ship (Heroic Shadow)[Fa Med 2](Conservatory); Fire [Med](For a God's Love); Chim [Karma](Copper); Hangman [04](Neurodivegent); Hunt [Fa Set](Conservatory)/[Wi Items](Tree);
Representation(s): Desi & Autistic Harry Potter/Blaise Zabini; Fae/Siren Blaise Zabini; Aurors
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Misshapen Pods; Second Verse (Middle Name; Unwanted Advice; Lock & Key; Lovely Coconuts; Trickster's Union; Lyre Liar; Most Human Bean; Muck & Slime; Corvid Brain; Hot Apple; Bad Beans; Dog Star; Inky Shadow; Under the Bridge; Ariel's Temptation); Chorus (Endless Wonder; Wabi Sabi; Bee Haven; Machismo; Peddling Pots; Tomorrow's Shade; Larger than Life; Unicorn; Bast's Blessing; Creature Feature; Wind Beneath; Abandoned Ship; Piper Mix; Turtle-Duck; Sitting Hummingbird; Hot Stuff; Mermaid)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3(Terrarium); SN(Rail; Negate); FR(Satisfaction; Liberation); O3(Orator; Oath); AD(Assumption); Measure(Zymurgy; Ennui); DP(Yearn); Share(Nepenthe; Ameliorate; Augur)
Word Count: 2577 words
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Small Problems
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"I have decided to become a falcon," Draco Malfoy declared as their group of cadets filed into the large conservatory filled with a variety of plants and even an enchanted fountain which would be used as a workspace for their Animagus training. Draco pointedly took a seat near a potted tree that had large enough branches to support a raptor of any size.
Harry expected one of the others to speak up about the obvious issue here, but no one did. Even the instructor for the course didn't raise his eyes from the box of soothing mint green potions that he was checking over at the table placed in the front of the classroom. It was times like this that Harry regretted not following Ron into the maintenance training program or even taking up one of the scribe openings like Hermione.
Harry certainly wouldn't wish either of his best friends were stuck there with him putting up with Draco Malfoy. He was certain that pompous git was only in the Auror Academy as an attempt to make up for his family being on the losing side of the war. As a way to shift public opinion, it wasn't a terrible choice. It certainly made for a decent story, just like all the charities that now had Narcissa Malfoy as a member of their organizing board. No one was buying the same Imperius lie that Lucius had used to escape justice after the first war, which was incredible progress overall, but at the same time, no one was rushing to make any of the captured Death Eaters stand even the barest minimum of trials for their crimes.
There had been more criminal procedure done over Harry casting a Patronus Charm to save his life and the life of a muggle who already knew about the wixen world than there had been over people attempting to commit genocide.
It was almost enough to make Harry decide to fuck off to the muggle world entirely.
Yet here he was: enrolled in the Auror Academy despite having promised to die with the Elder Wand's allegiance still tied to him. It was just as stupid and reckless as Hermione had always accused him of being, but it was still the only thing other than Quidditch that Harry was any good at doing. Andromeda had been quite clear about how devoting his entire life to his godson was not an acceptable use of his time.
And putting up with Draco Malfoy being an absolute idiot was just the price of keeping Andromeda happy.
"You can't," Harry said, swallowing down the shiver of dread that always bubbled up whenever he corrected anything that anyone else said. It had been years since the punishment for doing so had been anything more than the loss of house points and maybe detention, but he still found himself bracing for a blow that might never come or might knock him to the ground. Still. Someone had to say something.
"Wrong as always, Potter," Malfoy drawled. The blond draped himself over his chair rather than sit down properly like everyone else in their class had. Harry shuffled his feet, nervous at now being the only one standing as well as having started yet another argument with the Malfoy heir. He did tend to have arguments with him often enough that the head of the Academy was threatening to expel Harry as a disruptive influence. "I can be whatever I want, no matter what you have to say about the matter."
"You still can'tâ"
"Oh, loosen up, Potter!" Theodore Nott interrupted. Harry tried not to look at him in the face. Every time he had since this optional part of their training had been announced, all Harry could see was how mouse-like his features were. If he looked at Nott now, as they argued this particular point, Harry was going to lose control over the involuntary laughter that he had been forced to stifle so far. "Cheer up, will you? Everything's going to be okay, even if we don't follow St. Potter's whims."
Before Harry could respond to the obvious taunting, Blaise Zabini nudged the chair next to him away from the work table he was sitting at. It was a clear invitation to sit next to him. Zabini had been doing things like that all of the last month since their group had started at the Academy. Every single time, Zabini wouldn't utter a word nor did he seem offended if Harry didn't accept the overture. Yet Harry had picked up on a pattern that the other five members of their class didn't seem to have noticed.
If Zabini interrupted an argument that had been escalating, then Harry would soon be proven right or some small act of karma was soon going to occur.
With no more grumbling than he would give his chores as a child, Harry sat in the offered seat. He told himself that he couldn't afford to alienate the only ally he seemed to have in a group that was overwhelmingly made up of the children of Death Eaters who had not outgrown the beliefs of their parents. After all, Susan and Neville had both opted for other careers despite having once been determined to follow in their relatives' footsteps. Zacharias Smith was the only other DA member in their group, and he was just as unpleasant as he had been back at Hogwarts. Any ally in these conditions was valuable, but one who didn't seem to want anything in return was priceless.
The instructor cleared his throat loudly as if impatient to start the class. Harry glared at the tabletop rather than antagonize the senior auror. The peevish man was probably already going to report to the higher ranked teachers about Harry's new argument with Malfoy. What would Andromeda do if Harry had to go home and tell her that he had gotten kicked out of the Academy? Zabini nudged his leg against Harry's and then didn't move away.
It was more reassuring than it should have been.
"Now that you are all settled," Selwyn started (Harry managed to keep from flinching only because of the practice that he had had as a child), "we are going to begin the basics of Animagus training as it pertains to your duties as aurors. It is not required that you complete this course to graduate from the Academy, though you will find that certain positions within the Auror Corps are restricted to individuals who have done so. Did everyone receive their packet of information?"
There was a murmur of noise as most of the class gave noncommittal sounds of agreement. Having passed through the trainee break room to fix a cup of hot chocolate on his way to morning classes, Harry knew that those same people hadn't bothered reading the packet of information that he had stayed up to review. They had been bragging about it over cups of tea.
"But did you read it?" Harry muttered under his breath. Or at least he had planned for it to be that quiet. Unfortunately, this seemed to be one of those times when his voice betrayed his control and decided its own volume. He felt his cheeks began to heat with the embarrassment, even if the flush probably wasn't enough to be visible on his darker skin yet.
"Merlin, Potter," Smith cursed into the tense silence of the plant-filled classroom, "can we not just go one without some kind of incident occurring? You always have to start something, don't you?"
"That's enough, Smith," Selwyn snapped. Harry felt vindicated for a moment. Then the instructor continued speaking. "And you, too, Potter. Now, as mentioned in your packets, while traditionally, Animagus transformation has been taught going from human to animal, the process is far more time consuming than the Academy can allot to teaching the technique. Thus why you will be learning how to transform back into human from animal form first. Once you have mastered that portion, you should be able to master going the other way more quickly. There is a spell which will transform you into your animal forms, but we will be using a potion instead."
Selwyn gestured to the box of potions still sitting just off center of his right hand. He whipped out his wand and sent the box floating around the room at a leisurely pace. It paused for each cadet to take one of the potions for themselves.
Harry pulled out his own wand (his original holly one, not the plainer version of Elder Wand that showed up occasionally, even squeezing into his wand holster with his actual wand) and began casting the series of spells to verify that the potion wasn't poisoned and hadn't been tampered with since it was sealed. The Academy taught them during the first week. Because he had also found out about his allergy the hard way, Harry added another one to verify that this potion did not contain peppermint.
Next to him, Zabini did the same. He even copied the spell to detect peppermint. Knowing how common an ingredient peppermint tended to be as well as how much brewing enhanced the potency of the plant, Harry could understand the need to be careful. It was actually a silent comfort to know that there was someone else with the same allergy.
No one else seemed to be doing any of the required spells.
"How does the potion know what animal we want to become?" Malfoy asked once the now empty box had landed back on Selwyn's desk. "Or do we concentrate on what we want when we drink it?"
Harry barely resisted saying something again. Most of the restraint for that was due to Blaise's hand which was suddenly on his leg under the table. Glancing at the man showed him staring at their instructor with clear anticipation. Selwyn looked as nervous as a groom at a wand-point wedding about needing to answer the blond prat's questions.
"The potion takes care of that aspect," Selwyn hedged. Harry rolled his eyes in frustration. He opened his mouth to tell Malfoy the truth again. Blaise's grip on his leg tightened just enough that Harry turned towards him instead. Blaise shook his head. Harry reluctantly settled back into silence. "Now, take a sip of your potion and return it to your table quickly. You should feel the effects quickly. Once you are in your new forms, try moving around the room to get the hang of your animal forms. This first time I want you to all wait for the dose to wear off rather than attempt to revert on your own. I will be on hand to move those of you with aquatic forms to the provided water source."
There were clatter of noises as everyone moved to follow the instructions and Selwyn sprung into action to transfer endangered students to the fountain.
Harry barely managed to get his potion vial placed on the table before the transformation swept over him. The entire room seemed to grow exponentially as he shrank to an impossibly small size. He immediately hunched down to protect himself. His ears pressed back against his head to block out the noise echoing around the space. His tail puffed out even as he wrapped it around his small body.
A yip drew his attention to the animal on the chair next to his. The black fox was huge compared to him. Assured of Harry's attention, the fox gave another yip to celebrate. He pawed the air before turning in a tight circle that ended with him sitting on his haunches facing Harry. Harry perked his ears up, interested in what the fox seemed to be communicating. They came back down as a shadow fell over them.
"Black fox," Selwyn intoned as he noted it on his clipboard-bound parchment. His eyes flicked over Harry. He looked confused. "A kitten?" His expression cleared immediately. "No, rusty-spotted cat. Not bad, Potter, but not optimal for field work. One turn about the room, gentlemen."
They both hopped down from their chairs. Blaise had an easier time of it, being the bigger. Harry had a much harder time and ended up falling to the ground instead. Moving came naturally to him once he was there, however. The real problem came in how much more everything seemed with his new senses. Fortunately, he had Blaise with him to keep him from getting lost due to distractions.
When a honey badger that Harry instinctively knew was Smith had come near them, Blaise had stood over Harry protectively. While the growling from Smith had seemed frightening, the answering growl from Blaise had only made Harry feel safe. It was odd being protected, especially against something as harmless as being sniffed.
It was still nice.
After a turn about the room, Harry and Blaise settled under their table to watch the other stumbling and hopping about. It was fairly clear that none of the others with non-aquatic animal forms had adapted to the different ways of moving. Looking at the other animals, Harry didn't see any that would fit what he knew of Malfoy's personality. He did see a hawk hopping around the room, flapping its wings every few feet, but judging by the pied coloring of its feather, Harry knew it had to be Millicent Bulstrode.
Malfoy was the very last student to revert back to human form.
He pulled himself over the copper rim of the fountain like a creature in a horror movie. The red splotches on his cheeks spoke volumes about his mood. Being dripping wet was probably not helping his temper.
"Who tampered with my potion?" he demanded. He stomped his foot in frustration when no one rushed to answer his ridiculous question. "Someone must have! So who thought it would be funny to make my potion turn me into, into, into THAT!"
"A goldfish is a noble form," Selwyn simpered, back to being nervous. Harry still did not understand why no one just told Malfoy the truth. Everyone knew that Animagus forms were representative of a wix's core self, their so-called soul. It wasn't anything that someone could just choose. Even if they had managed to get past third-year Transfiguration without discovering that little factoid, it had been in the information packet for the course. Oh, wait. "Goldfish are symbols of prosperity, after all."
"I wanted to become a falcon! I had decided!" Malfoy stomped his foot again. "I had decided!"
Blaise snickered beside Harry. Malfoy's attention snapped to him instantly. Blaise smirked at him as Malfoy pointed accusingly at his fellow Slytherin.
"What did you do, Zabini?!"
Instead of telling him, Blaise tapped Harry's leg and waved his hand toward the irate blond. Harry tilted his head, confused for a moment, before he understood what Blaise wanted. Harry straightened his back and faced Malfoy fully.
"You cannot choose what animal you become," Harry stated with the same swotty voice that Hermione used whenever she corrected someone, especially back when they were only first-years. "Magic decides what you become and it's not something which can be changed. It is said that your animal form is a manifestation of your true self." Harry made his face mimic the smirk on Blaise's face. "And you would have known this if you had paid attention in Transfiguration class or, you know, had done the reading."
Malfoy's outraged squawk was hilarious.