More than Human
Chapter Five - Chambers & Charms
The Great Hall was a tumult of noise and activity as Harry and Hermione walked through the gilded doorway. As their entrance registered, the ambient conversation dropped to whispers as students pointed or leaned close to their neighbors and all attention seemed to focus on the two Gryffindors.
Hermione marched directly to the Gryffindor table with her head high while Harry dropped his gaze to the floor as he followed after her. A wave of excruciating self-consciousness swamped him once more. Hermione grabbed a seat at a fairly open area at the table and Harry took a place beside her. He noticed several other Gryffindors shift further away from him, and bitter bile stung his throat. They were afraid of him.
Seated across the table from Harry, Neville spoke up. "Wow, Harry! What animal are you going to be?" The lack of fear or malice in his roommate's question reduced Harry's innate discomfort at the question.
"McGonagall thinks I'll be a black jaguar." He answered as the dishes appeared before them. Harry's stomach rumbled at the smell of the sausages on the platter in front of Hermione. After she took a portion, she handed the meat platter to Harry who snatched several pieces off onto his plate.
A hand on his shoulder stopped him from putting the platter back on the table and turning to see who had touched him; Harry found Dean had taken the seat on his left. He motioned for Harry to hand him the dish.
Slightly bemused by Dean and Neville's open acceptance, Harry silently passed the tray to his fellow Gryffindor.
"How goes the change then, Harry?" Dean asked quietly.
"Could be a bit quicker and less dangerous." Harry replied.
Dean snickered at Harry's sour observation. "For you? I don't think that would be normal, do you?"
Harry scowled at Dean's rather accurate jest, his ears flattening out and eyes narrowing.
Ginny slid into the seat across from Dean and stared for a long minute at Harry. She cocked her head and gave a sharp nod before saying, "Looks good, Harry. Does Professor McGonagall know when you'll complete the metamorphosis?"
Harry shook his head as she grabbed the meat platter from Dean. Neville drew Harry's attention in order to have him pass the breadbasket. The smell of the bread lingered pleasantly in Harry's nostrils for a time, but he found that the thought of bread was now rather disgusting to him.
The group of Gryffindors around Harry kept a constant chatter going regarding classes, homework and school activities that was comfortable and easy. The meal period actually was passing by pleasantly and Harry found he was growing more and more relaxed as time went along.
Unfortunately, his comfortable state was not destined to last.
Luna Lovegood, who had drifted over to chat with Ginny first, had just queried Harry about some of the variables and realities of his Animagus changes when Malfoy and his ubiquitous cronies slunk into view. Ron, further down the table with Seamus and the Creevey brothers, glanced over as Malfoy stalked up to Harry, then pointedly turned his back on the confrontation.
"Well, seems that breeding really does bear true for some families doesn't, boys? Low breeding, that is." Malfoy's sneering voice caused the hackles on Harry's neck to rise and his ears to pin flat to his head.
Tension shot through Harry's frame, muscles tightening for action and a sharp painful sensation lanced through his jaws. Before Harry could respond to Malfoy's taunt, the supportive members of his House closed ranks around their friend.
"Bugger off, Malfoy," said Dean, rising from the table to loom over the three Slytherins.
Neville simply glared while Ginny and Luna's hands seemed to be conspicuously near their wands. Malfoy kept a wary eye on Ginny, obviously remembering their last encounter and hexing she had given him.
"Ignore him, Harry. He's just jealous because we already know what animal form he would take." Hermione said as she stared the blond, narrow-faced Slytherin down coldly. Malfoy's sneer became pronounced, but before he could speak, Hermione transfigured the empty platter in front of her into a ferret.
The surrounding Gryffindors all snickered as Malfoy flushed an angry red. His face contorted into a snarl as Hermione's transfigured platter-ferret began to bounce in front of her.
Crabbe flexed his hulking arms threateningly, but against the massed Gryffindors and one Ravenclaw, opted to do nothing else stupid. Malfoy started to try for another insult, but spied Professor McGonagall approaching and so settled for a deadly glare before slinking back off to the Slytherin tables. Hermione quickly switched the ferret back into a plate before the Head of Gryffindor House reached their group.
"Mr. Potter, a word if you please." McGonagall motioned for Harry to follow her. The knot of students scattered quickly. Hermione murmured that she would meet Harry at Charms class.
As Harry followed the Transfiguration professor, he saw Hermione approaching Ron from the corner of his eye.
McGonagall lead Harry all the way back to her office and bade him to take a seat in front of the desk. Gingerly, Harry sat, careful to arrange his tail to wrap comfortably around and down from the seat.
His claws kept catching on his robes at the most inopportune moments, such as now while his Head of House was watching. Frustrated, Harry jerked his front claws free with much more force than he intended and ripped his robes badly.
Peering through his lashes to gauge his professor's demeanor, Harry was surprised to see a small wry smile and soft look at his predicament, but she caught him looking and reverted back to her stern facade. A quick wave and a muttered "Reparo" fixed his robes and then Harry quickly turned his attention to Professor McGonagall.
"I'm very pleased that you have the talent for the Animagus change, though given your lineage, I should have expected a rather precocious demonstration of talent might occur."
Her voice was less sharp as she continued. "So few individuals choose to explore the possibility of animal forms, much less have the innate talent to achieve the metamorphosis."
McGonagall peered over the top of her square rimmed glasses as Harry tried not to look uncomfortable with her scrutiny. She added, "Though, given what I now know about your father and his school companions, I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised."
Her earlier statement garnered Harry's attention, "Do you mean, Professor, that you didn't expect anyone in the class to be an Animagus?"
"It takes a great deal of magical talent and focus to be able to even visualize one's internal core enough to discover the animal within; and even for those who can, many flee from the visualization, unable to reconcile themselves to what they find there. Those who are unable to accept what they see usually reject their inner animal so completely, the magic twists in upon itself to prevent an Animagus change from ever occurring." McGonagall's mouth pursed tightly for a moment and then she continued tartly, "You should already know this if you have kept up with your reading assignments for class."
Harry saw the proverbial thin ice now stretching out before him and quickly nodded. McGonagall appeared somewhat mollified.
"Now, have you experienced any further shifting in your physical form?" She asked.
Harry nodded and then pointed out the changes he had noticed upon waking this morning. The Transfiguration professor looked pleased at the inventory and opened a drawer and extracted a potion from her drawer and handed it to Harry.
Puzzled, Harry took the potion and questioned, "But, Professor, I thought pain potions couldn't be used during the Animagus transformation?"
"This is not a pain potion, Mr. Potter. It is a very mild sleeping potion. Your physical discomfort cannot be alleviated without risk, but it should not rob you of sleep either." She rose briskly and shooed Harry from the office to Charms class with instructions to expect a tutoring session tomorrow evening in his chambers off of Gryffindor Tower.
Her final comment rang in Harry's ears as he climbed the stairs to Professor Flitwick's classroom.
"Do not do anything deliberately to progress the change until I will be able to observe and guide you, Mr. Potter. To do otherwise would be extremely unwise. Do I make myself clear?"
_____________________________________________________________________
Charms class was a bit of a struggle for Harry as holding a wand in his paw-hands for lengthy periods caused great discomfort. Also the changes in his voice box and jaw alignment caused some of the incantations to come out skewed or slurred.
Rather than scoring Harry down, Professor Flitwick actually awarded points for the spells Harry completed successfully. Since Harry rarely received points from the diminutive Head of Ravenclaw, some grumbling about favoritism of "Dumbledore's pet" came from some in the class.
Professor Flitwick heard the insult come from one of his own Ravenclaws and instructed the offender to the front of the class. Morag McDougal looked very nervous when her Head of House told her that he would be charming her throat and jaw to approximate the changes in Harry's to demonstrate the difficulty that the Gryffindor was overcoming.
Morag struggled mightily for several minutes before becoming completely frustrated and simply giving up. She had been unable to make any of the class spells function, which was a first for her. Professor Flitwick removed the charms and addressed the class once Morag returned to her desk.
"Overcoming an obstacle such as Mr. Potter's is no simple feat. We will continue in next class on casting simple charms with the impediments that Miss McDougal had cast upon her." The rest of the class groaned in dismay at the tiny Professor's pronouncement.
The class was dismissed then for luncheon. Most of the students left quickly, still shooting covert glances at Harry and muttering amongst themselves. Harry lingered behind to thank the Professor.
"Not at all, Mr. Potter." The Head of Ravenclaw said serenely. "Most people go through life with the blinders that fate and circumstances have given them. Only a few ever truly appreciate the difficulties others might encounter until they themselves have to suffer them."
Harry realized that the Professor's comment was more personal than he had thought. Given Flitwick's skill and talents, Harry had not ever stopped to consider the problems that the small statured wizard would have encountered.
"I'm sorry that I never appreciated your own difficulties, Professor, and that I had to learn this way to recognize them."
The Head of Ravenclaw House laughed softly with a bright and open smile. "At least you see them, though I should consider it a great compliment that you looked past them and only saw my skill and knowledge instead."
Harry was a bit confused by that statement. How had Professor Flitwick known that Harry had only focused on Flitwick's acumen? Hermione, who had come back looking for Harry, rescued him from the befuddlement caused by Flitwick's final statement.
She hurried Harry to the meal in the Great Hall, stating that they could make it back to Gryffindor Tower after lunch to change books before going to Potions if they dined early.
Lunch was very similar to breakfast for Harry. The same group of supportive Gryffindors closed ranks around him and buffered him from the others in the House. Malfoy and his brutish minions stayed at the Slytherin table, although periodic bursts of malicious laughter indicated Malfoy was certainly wasting not a moment of Harry's misfortune to mock his rival.
Midway through the meal, Harry was reaching over to the platter to snatch a particularly juicy bit of roast beef but was thwarted when Hermione speared it onto her own plate. He quickly looked round at the other platters and spotted another slice on a platter between Seamus and Dean.
As Harry attempted to grab the meat, Seamus moved toward it as well. A sudden loud snarling scared Seamus into jumping back from the plate and Harry secured the prize. Powerful impulses were now sweeping through Harry, almost overwhelming in their intensity.
How dare this one challenge me! How dare he trespass on my territory! Harry's thoughts were becoming drowned out by that angry growl in his mind. The same sharp stinging sensation in his jaws that had occurred during the morning's confrontation with Malfoy added a tinge of red to the darkness sweeping over his consciousness. Muscles began to tense and breathing constricted despite Harry's best efforts to regain control.
A soft hand touched the side of Harry's face and broke the grip of the dark emotions. His whiskers twitched at the pleasant brushing and suddenly, Harry was back in control. He gasped, dizzy from the changes, and turned to stare into Hermione's concerned gaze.
"W-w-what happened?" he asked, dazedly
"You were growling at Seamus, Harry. It was frightening me." Hermione replied.
Harry looked back toward Seamus, who sat motionless, his wide eyes still reflecting abject terror. Am I losing the battle against the spirit-jaguar? Harry wondered frantically.
"I'm sorry, Seamus, I didn't realize-" He could not finish the apology because Seamus shot to his feet and stormed up to the Head table to angrily address Professor McGonagall.
Harry looked down, shame eating at his heart. Why did I do that?
Seamus had been cool to him up until now, but he hadn't been actively hostile like Ron. As he glanced back up and toward the table, Harry met Ron's gloating smirk for a long moment.
Pain lanced through Harry again, but now in his heart. Ron's animosity was palpable despite the lengthy table span between them and Harry could not see any way to alleviate the situation. His redheaded friend refused to allow him any chance to talk about his problematic Animagus change. Harry looked down at his plate; the coveted slice of meat now was the last thing Harry wanted at the moment.
His shoulders slumped as he sighed heavily. Why can't this just be over? Harry questioned silently, Why does it have to be so difficult? With his eyes on his plate, Harry missed Ron's expression change from self-gratified malice to pain-filled ambivalence. Ron glanced away quickly as Harry looked up to watch McGonagall descend from the Head table.
McGonagall swept down the aisle with Seamus in tow. She quietly asked what had transpired, and Harry held nothing back, describing the feelings and shifts as he remembered them. She seemed taken aback for a moment, and then asked what had provoked the altercation, causing Harry to point at the offending roast beef on his plate.
"Ah, food aggression." said Professor McGonagall as her tense posture relaxed somewhat.
Harry gaped as his teacher patted his shoulder and then turned to look at Hermione when she uttered a soft "Oh."
"This is actually a good sign, Mr. Potter. I was concerned that you had not as of yet encountered some of the most primal drives of your particular form."
"How is this good, Professor? I felt like I wanted to… attack Seamus!" Harry stated.
The Professor nodded. "Yes, I said good, Potter. Now that you've experienced the rise of a primal instinct, you will find it easier to recognize them and in so doing learn to control yourself accordingly."
Seamus' face had been steadily reddening as the conversation progressed until he could not restrain his outrage. "Professor! He wanted to attack me!"
"Yes, Mr. Finnegan, I am fully aware of the situation as you have related it to me. My hearing is quite good and your voice more than loud enough to be heard clearly. You will note, that given your normal teenaged male behavior at mealtimes, you would have been likely growled at whether or not Mr. Potter was human or jaguar." Seamus sputtered at that and looked ready to protest once more, but McGonagall cut him off smartly.
"Your wise response not to challenge Mr. Potter is to be commended as you assisted your housemate greatly with the correct action. 5 points to Gryffindor."
Seamus was caught completely by surprise by the praise, since he had only rarely earned points from his strict Head of House. The bold Gryffindor's actions in class more often cost house points around Professor McGonagall, so he was sufficiently distracted by the point award to wander off down the table to share his tale of good fortune with Lavender and Parvati.
McGonagall returned to her place at the Head table, leaning over to answer quietly when Professor Sprout queried her.
Harry turned back to question Hermione with his eyes as well as voice. "Food aggression?"
Hermione smiled and just nodded.
"Couldn't you have warned me?" Harry asked.
Hermione raised an eyebrow and asked, "Didn't you read Chapter 5 regarding instinctual behaviors and what Animagi need to do regarding them?"
Harry's perplexed expression did not change, and Hermione sighed heavily before quoting. " 'All normal animal forms have similar base instincts and response to stimuli. The developing Animagus must be able to identify these instincts arising from their animal form and then exert the force of their own will and intelligence to subordinate them.' "
"Oh," Harry uttered as he stared down at his plate and replayed the recent events in his mind. Hermione, sensing his discomfort, stroked his shoulders comfortingly.
The touch help settle him and with a lighter heart, Harry turned back to the food on his plate. The conversation drifted to the upcoming Quidditch match between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. He listened idly, focused more on his meal, when a soft thud at his right side captured his attention.
Crookshanks raised his squashed face to Harry's and gave a short purr. The wizard looked up at his female friend, but she obviously had not heard or felt Crookshanks' arrival.
{Give me some meat...please} A new, unfamiliar voice softly pleaded to Harry.
Shocked, Harry looked around to place the voice, but many students had already headed out of the Great Hall, and the group of Gryffindors was still engrossed in their conversation, though Hermione's eyes looked decidedly glazed.
{Meat, please....so hungry} Harry looked down and with a shock, realized the voice was Crookshanks'.
Harry cut some small bites off the meat and fed them to the ravenous cat, who purred loudly enough to attract Hermione's attention.
{Friend, fang brother...your enemies are stalking you}
Harry asked quietly. "Are these enemies close?" He felt rather than saw Hermione's attention focused intently on him. Crookshanks placed his front paws on his leg to raise his face toward Harry.
{Yes...they do not mind the wind as they move...I will watch them for you, brother}. The large ginger tomcat cat leaped to the floor and disappeared through the double doors. Harry started to finish his meal but the silence of his compatriots made him glance up warily.
Hermione and the others were staring at him so intensely that he was unable to stop the reflexive glance over his shoulder to verify that he, Harry, was the focus of their attention.
"What did I do?" he asked his friends, thoroughly confused.
"You were snarling at Crookshanks." Hermione stated flatly.
"No, I was talking to him. He wanted some food. You heard me, didn't you?" Harry goggled as Hermione shook her head slowly
"You could understand him?" Ginny queried quickly.
Harry nodded dumbly as Hermione brightened and dug quickly into her book bag for their Animagus textbook. She located the heavy tome and pushed her empty plate aside to open and leaf through the pages until she reached an advanced chapter.
"Here, in chapter 4, 'Animagi develop the ability to communicate with animals of similar species to their animal form after a short period into their change.' "
She looked up from the book with a brilliant smile that caused Harry to smile back in response.
"You're still progressing forward, Harry! Isn't that wonderful?"
Harry nodded and then looked to the large clock on the wall above the double doors and felt his heart drop into feet. It was time for Potions class.