Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Any characters or situations that are unknown in the HP series are the author's intellectual property and should not be used without permission.
Author's Note: This fic is written for Full Sail Nate's Challenge on Portkey involving Harry in an Animagus transformation gone wrong. The genre is drama/ romance with H/Hr as the pairing. Warning: there will be humor as well...All Animagus background information used here is simply the humble author's own invention. H/Hr interaction is up and coming in the next chapter. Enjoy and Please Review!
More Than Human
Chapter Two - Cause and Consequence
Harry groggily opened his eyes and found he was, once again, in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts. I have to stop
ending up here, he thought as he turned his head to look around the ward. It seemed that he was the only occupant
today.
As he tried to turn over to try to find Madam Pomfrey, Harry found he was bound to the bed by padded leather straps.
"What's this? Hello? Madam Pomfrey!" There was no response from Pomfrey's office, so Harry suspected
that she must be out of the wing. As he leaned up to take a good look at the straps, he caught sight of his bare arm
and shouted.
"What's going on here?"
The normal pale skin of his arm was now completely covered in brownish black downy fur. As he wondered what had
happened to him, Harry realized that he was able to see clearly, but that he wasn't wearing his glasses. His entire
body still ached, but the screaming pain he'd passed out from in McGonagall's classroom was gone. He also noted
he was in pajamas and not his robes, so some time had definitely passed since Transfiguration, though he was unsure
exactly how much had elapsed while he had been unconscious.
As a frisson of panic swept through him as he thought about his situation, Harry noticed a strange sensation in his
fingertips that felt like a rather pleasant stretching.
Harry bent his left wrist under the strap to take a look and gaped in amazement. His normally long fingered hand had
become heavier and broader with each the digits thickened and his thumb seeming to have shifted its position a bit on
his hand, though he could still close it into a fist that at least looked fairly normal. When he flattened his hand
out, however, inch and a half long, powerful looking curved claws extended from his fingertips in place of his
fingernails.
Harry's anxiety soared now. What had happened to him? He looked around desperately, hoping to spot someone for
assistance. The sound of distant voices came from beyond the outer double doors. He stared down the ward toward the
doors as his ears twitched and moved.
Hang on, twitched? Before his confusion overwhelmed his mind, the voices were suddenly clear and audible as
if only a short distance away.
"Are you positive that there is no transfiguration spell that can affect his condition, Minerva?" Madame
Pomfrey's query caused Harry's guts to freeze in terror. Was he now doomed to be stuck in whatever condition he
was in forever?
McGonagall's response alleviated his some of his fear as she said, " Harry's rather…precocious magical
ability is blocking the normal outside reversals, I'm afraid, Poppy. But, there is still a way to recover from this
change that Harry can yet achieve if he puts himself to the proper effort." She sighed and then continued.
"We should be getting back to him now, Poppy."
Madam Pomfrey agreed with alacrity and Harry heard the sound of their approaching footsteps. As he listened, he
realized that the footfalls were taking an inordinately long time to reach the Hospital Wing from where he had thought
they must have been in order for him to have overheard them talking. Concentrating, he found to his astonishment, he
could also discern the footsteps of two students ascending the stairs and beyond them, he heard Professor Flitwick was
instructing the first years on the Light charm in his classroom on the fourth floor.
Harry let his head fall back onto his pillow as he tried to make sense of what was going on. How could he have heard
Professor Flitwick from here? Why was he tied to the bed? Had he done something? Had he, god forbid, hurt someone? The
teachers' footsteps now sounded like the loudest marching cadence Harry had ever heard in his life.
They turned the corner and the cacophony of Ron and Hermione's anxious questions to the two older women was
anguishing to Harry's hearing, causing him to instinctively flatten his ears to his skull to reduce the impact on
his now sensitive eardrums.
"Professor McGonagall, what's happened to him? Will he be alright for the game against Slytherin?"
That was Ron, as always focused on his own priorities. Harry could now detect the maturity deepening of his
friend's voice clearly like a rough burr that irritated his ears a bit. If only Ron's maturity was more evident
in his head instead of just his body, Harry thought wryly. Harry felt that he had more important issues be worried
about right now besides Quidditch.
"What is going on with Harry? Can we see him now, Professor?" Hermione's voice was soft and level; its
contralto timbre was more soothing to Harry. "Miss Granger, Mister Weasley, I believe I told you both to go to
your classes." McGonagall's dry statement held hidden amusement and resignation. Both his friends protested
that they hadn't been able to visit him in Hospital like they would normally, and it was all very unfair.
Madam Pomfrey pushed open the door and caught Harry's glance. "Ah, awake are you, Potter. Minerva, you
should address his questions while I fetch him some Pepper-Up potion." Before Harry could respond, Madam Pomfrey
headed into her storeroom.
McGonagall quickly swept into the ward in a swish of tartan, closely followed by Hermione and Ron, who started
rushed past her to reach his bed first.
"Harry! How are you feeling?" Hermione would have grabbed Harry's hand, but McGonagall prevented the
touch. "Just a moment, both of you. I need to check Harry first before anything else." She said sternly as
she held her wand above Harry's head and whispered, "Anima est". After a few moments, the wand
tip glowed a brilliant blue-white and McGonagall sighed in relief.
"Good. You are in control, then, are you not, Mr. Potter?" The professor started to remove the binding
straps as Harry began to vent his questions.
"What's happened to me? How do we fix it? Why was I tied up? I didn't hurt anyone, did I? Can I-…"
His head of house stopped his questions. "What has happened, Mr. Potter is your natural propensity for doing
something on a practical level that you have not completed all your theoretical study to achieve. I believe that you
instinctually went from your meditation for your animal form into the actual quest for it." Finally free of the
restraints, Harry sat up and swung around on the bed to face his teacher.
Hermione immediately perched on the bed beside Harry, but Ron hung back behind McGonagall, staring down at his feet
as if they were the most interesting things in the room. Harry frowned in confusion at Ron's preoccupation, and was
about to speak to Ron when his teacher conjured a mirror in front of him and Harry could see his reflection for the
first time.
In place of his regular features, a broad feline nose dominated his face, offset a bit by the large green eyes
caught up at the corners. His face was also covered in the same very dark brownish black down which highlighted the
intense color of his eyes even more. Two rounded ears stuck up through the black mop of hair and moved to catch the
sounds around him. Peering closer, he could see the faint outline of black circles around his eyes and the off center
lightning bolt remained as well on his forehead. When his jaw dropped open in shock, large and powerful canine teeth
were visible. Harry could not help but recoil from what he saw. "P-p-professor, what am I?" he asked,
shaking.
Hermione reached out and tried to pick up his hand, but he jerked it away, terrified that his claws might hurt her.
But, Hermione was not deterred from her goal, and chased his hand down and captured it.
McGonagall had been conjuring a chair and so had missed the byplay between the two teens sitting on the bed.
"Mister Potter, I think I can safely say at this moment that you do possess the Animagus ability. In spades, I
should say."
She continued, "I attempted to reverse the change at the time it manifested in the class, but your innate magic
rejected any attempts to ameliorate the problem."
"Problem, Professor?" She nodded gravely, "Problem, Potter. You weren't prepared for the actual
quest for the animal form and so you instinctually panicked when the change began. You can think of it rather like a
reflex. Your magic was driven by your fear and shock into freezing you halfway through the transformation. Normally, in
class, you would have begun with small, localized changes such as growing fur, changing hands or feet, etc. Not a full
scale change as you are embarked on currently."
"But if you can't reverse it, what can be done? I don't want to be like this forever!" Harry's
voice rose due to his frustration and fear. Hermione squeezed his hand tightly to reassure him, but remained
uncharacteristically silent.
"No, unfortunately, outside assistance with this change won't be possible, Potter. The only outside way
might be for Headmaster Dumbledore to attempt to overwhelm your natural resistance, but both of us feel that to be a
risk we should not take unless there is no other alternative."
"But why not, Professor? Professor Dumbledore has to help Harry!" Ron spoke up and won a frowning glare
from McGonagall for his trouble.
"Because Mister Weasley it is very likely that Harry's magic would be exhausted in the attempt and he would
possibly die."
Well, that put a new twist to his predicament, Harry thought.
"If outside intervention isn't feasible, is there anything that Harry can do for himself?"
Hermione's voice cut through Harry's despairing thoughts, reminding him of the conversation he'd overheard
between Madam Pomfrey and McGonagall. As if his thought had conjured her, Pomfrey arrived with the promised Pepper-Up
potion.
As Harry tried to drink the potion, he made the mistake of inhaling first. The incredibly powerful smell of the
potion caused him to start sneezing violently and uncontrollably. Pomfrey snatched the potion away before Harry could
spill it and waiting for the involuntary response of Harry's olfactory system to stop.
When the storm of sneezes ended, Harry woke to the fact that he had fallen onto his side and his head was cradled in
Hermione's lap as she stroked his arm. Ron had finally overcome whatever his misgivings and was now seated behind
Harry and restraining his legs from thrashing and sending Harry to the floor. With both his friends so close, Harry
found he could clearly differentiate their smells. Hermione's scent was a pleasant combination of cool fresh water,
linen, old parchment and lavender. Ron's scent was a bit more pungent with musk, grass, pine and sweat with
something acrid underlying it. With shock, Harry's changed senses gave him an answer.
Fear. Ron was afraid of him.
Hermione's scent held no fear at all, which Harry appreciated. Ron's fear was waking animal responses in him
that Harry did not like to contemplate at the moment. Harry sat up and away from his friends, unsure of how to deal
with this new information. He gave McGonagall a desperate look.
McGonagall recognized his distress and spoke commandingly to the other two Gryffindors. "Miss Granger, Mister
Weasley, could you both return to Gryffindor Tower and retrieve Mister Potter's books for his classes and a change
of clothing and robes. He will need to stay in Hospital overnight, but he will attend classes tomorrow."
Ron took the order with an almost relieved look and headed for the Hospital doors immediately. Hermione looked as if
she wanted to protest vociferously, but McGonagall cut off any resistance by quietly requesting that she return with
the books and apparel alone. Hermione looked nonplussed for an instant, then glanced at Ron's retreating back and
grimaced before nodding in agreement.
"I'll be back in just short while, Harry. I promise." With that, Hermione left the ward in pursuit of
Ron.
Harry hung his head in his hands, his depression palpable. Pomfrey bustled back up with the newly scentless version
of the Pepper-Up potion. He took the potion silently and felt its energy throughout his body. It also seemed to sharpen
his senses acutely as well. McGonagall spoke up after Pomfrey had retreated back to her office.
"Now, tell me, Harry. What is your form?"
"I'm not exactly sure, Professor. I think it's a Leopard, like the one you showed us in class. At
first, I thought it was a lion." McGonagall reached over and pushed Harry's pajama sleeve back and examined
the fur and its shadings carefully.
"No, not precisely a Leopard, I would say. See the spot pattern?"
Harry stared hard and saw that the spots seemed to form circles like he had seen on the Leopard. He said as much to
McGonagall, who pursed her lips and pointed to one of those circles. "See the spot in the middle of the
circle?"
"Yes, but does that mean something?"
"Your form is a melanized version that colloquially is referred to as a "Black Panther" though it is
neither black nor a panther. This melanized form appears in the Leopard, but also in the larger cousin of the Leopard.
I believe, Mister Potter, that your form is that of a Black Jaguar."
"Jaguar? Not a Leopard?"
"The spot pattern confirms my suspicion as well as the changes to your form. You have gained quite a bit of
mass above your normal amount though your form is reflecting a sub-adult animal, which is correct. Jaguars are the
third largest of the Big Cats, after Tigers and Lions. A fully-grown male Jaguar can weigh up 120 kilograms and can
pull down prey as large as cattle and horses." McGonagall peered over the top of her square glasses seriously.
"Your animal form came to you in your visualization?"
"Yes, Professor, though at the end it seemed to be stalking me. I ran…"
"Ah, I see. Potter, your retreat from the image came at the worst time I'm afraid. Now, your inner image is
at war with your animal image. Until you can complete the full transformation, you are in peril of becoming stuck as
you are permanently."
"But exactly how do I complete the change? If my magic is set against it…?"
"Your mind holds the key, Potter. Your visualizations got you into the change, and they can also lead you
through and out again."
Harry found he was loathe to think about going into a visualization again, given the results he had the last time,
but there seemed to be no other way for him.
"Should I try another trance, now?"
"No, rest until tomorrow, Harry. The reflexive nature of your response to protect yourself cannot be easily
overcome. Give it and yourself a chance to relax first. If you are able to calm your fears and accept what is
happening, you may notice your changes will continue gradually. This would be the most excellent sign that you will be
able to complete the full shift and then return to your normal form." That sounded reasonable to Harry and he
nodded, finally hopeful that he could deal with change.
"One word of caution, Harry," McGonagall's voice and eyes were filled with grave concern. Harry,
unused to his head of house using his given name, met her eyes instantly.
"You need to be aware that this slower Transformative cycle allows for more integration of the animal's
sensory perception for the wizard. This will allow you greater use of the enhanced senses, even while in human
form." He started to smile at the thought, but McGonagall continued quickly. "However, there will also be
greater difficulty in controlling instinctive responses to stimuli. Hence, it was this concern that had me check to see
if you were in control or if your psyche was overwhelmed by the animal form."
This is the part I'm definitely not going to like, I can already see it, he thought as McGonagall stood
up and Vanished the chair she had conjured previous. She then turned back to the young man on the bed and said,
"You must remain in control, Harry, for your own sake as well as for the sake of your fellow students. If you
become feral, then we will have no choice but to intervene. Either we will have to force the change back, and in so
doing risk your life or you will have to caged for the rest of your life." Harry was sure that his eyes reflected
the horror of those alternatives to his teacher, for she closed her eyes as she finished, "This is one of the
hardest things about the Animagi, Harry. Sometimes magic isn't always enough to save someone."
Harry lay back down on the bed as McGonagall left the ward in silence.