Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and events from J.K. Rowling's wonderful Harry Potter books. I am writing this for my own enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of readers. Anything you recognize belongs to JKR. The rest belongs to me.
Chapter 33: Learning about Animagi
After a rather long and boring Double Potions class everyone headed to Transfiguration. After everyone sat down they glanced around, wondering where Professor McGonagall was. Usually she was ready at her desk, keeping an eye on the door to make sure nobody walked in a minute late. Not seeing her, the class didn't bother to keep their voices down. They horsed around and joked loudly.
Suddenly a loud 'meow' could be heard from the front of the room. Some of the voices settled as they looked for the source of the feline voice. A tabby cat with dark rims around her eyes jumped onto the desk and scrutinized the class before her. Some of the students exchanged awkward glances, wondering where the cat had come from. The kitty meowed again, this time louder and more demanding.
"Somebody tell that ugly old cat to get out of here before McGonagall catches her and transfigures her into earmuffs!" shouted Sirius.
The cat's eyes widened a little bit as she turned and hissed at Sirius. He howled in laughter. The cat hissed again, this time leaping off the desk straight at Sirius. Just as he expected to get clawed in the face he saw the most amazing thing- the cat transformed in midair into his Transfiguration professor. He sat there with his jaw hanging open as Professor McGonagall approached his desk and leaned over him, a very stern look upon her face.
"Well, I see you're back, Mr. Black," she said. "I am sure we will have plenty of time to catch up when you see me for detention tonight!"
"Professor," he muttered, "how did you, I mean, how-?"
Professor McGonagall returned to the front of the room and faced the rest of the class. "Every year I show a class this spell. I am an Animagus and as you could tell I can transfigure myself into a cat and back. It takes great discipline to do the spell flawlessly and there is a lot of risk involved in learning it. Also, some people in the past have used their Animagus form to become spies. That is why it is illegal to become an Animagus without getting a license and registering yourself and the animal you assume. Each of us is only able to transform into one animal, that is, if you are able to do the spell in the first place. It takes years to learn the spell and master it. I have attempted to teach it to a few of my outstanding NEWT students, but unfortunately the last few have ended up in St. Mungo's trying to get certain…animal characteristics removed from their form." There was some chuckling from the class. "Now that I have shown you that I am an Animagus, let us get back to our original lesson - transfiguring mice into water goblets…"
She set about teaching the lesson, however most of the students' minds were lingering on the show they saw at the beginning of class. Later that evening, after Sirius got out of detention he joined James and Remus in the dorm room while Frank and Peter were studying downstairs in the common room. Sirius still couldn't get over the fact that he hadn't found out about Professor McGonagall being an Animagus before.
Remus spoke up. "Well, erm…I already knew."
"How did you find out? Why didn't you tell us?" asked Sirius.
"Well, it's rather embarrassing, really," he started. "Do you remember last year after that one transformation where I got really bruised?" James and Sirius nodded. "That night I had been slamming against the walls and the shuttered windows trying to get out of the shack. I had been very close to escaping. Apparently, the townspeople feared that whatever was making the racket in the shack would be set loose so they owled Dumbledore asking for help. A little while later Professor McGonagall showed up, and not a minute too soon. She was in her Animagus form and started swatting at me, trying to keep me distracted from the shutters that were loosening. It worked long enough to get me through the rest of the night."
"What was she thinking?" asked James. "Approaching a werewolf and swatting you like that? Was she mad? She could have been bitten!"
Remus looked at his feet and said, "Well, erm, I actually did bite her."
Sirius' eyes widened as he said, "So you turned her into a werewolf?!"
"No, I didn't," he replied, shaking his head. "I was really worried about it the next day, but she explained everything to me. Apparently werewolves are only dangerous to people. Their bites only affect humans. Since she was in her Animagus form I wasn't a danger to her."
"Wow, that's amazing. And you were able to keep your mind off of escaping through the window?" James asked.
"Yes, actually she was almost able to help me keep my mind. Usually I don't remember much from my transformations, but she was able to keep me focused and that really helped me from hurting myself any more," replied Remus.
"Wait a minute!" said Sirius. "You said you didn't tell us about her being an Animagus because you were embarrassed. Why would you be too embarrassed to tell us about this?"
Remus paused a moment debating whether or not to say anything. "Well, erm, I actually didn't say that I was embarrassed. I just said the situation was embarrassing."
"What do you mean?" asked James.
"It's not so much that I bit Professor McGonagall…it's, erm, where I bit her, actually," he replied.
Sirius and James exchanged amused glances before asking in unison, "WHERE?"
Remus turned a deep shade of red before replying, barely above a whisper, "Her bum."
At first there was silence among the three boys until all at once the room was filled with loud laughter. James was almost in tears thinking about the situation. Remus couldn't help but join in the laughter, shaking his head all the while.
"Wait!" shouted Sirius. "Now I remember!" He turned to James and asked, "Do you remember that one week where she refused to sit down?" He looked to Remus for confirmation, who nodded. That sent more gut-wrenching laughter around the room. "Remus, I tell ya, mate. It sure isn't dull having a werewolf for a friend!"
Suddenly Remus' smile froze in shock as he stared toward the door. James and Sirius, not quite done laughing, had noticed Remus' expression and turned toward the entrance to their room. Their faces quickly became sober as they saw Peter standing there, his eyes wide and staring back at Remus.
"He-he-he…." stuttered Peter. "R-R-Remus is a…a…a w-w-werewolf?!"
Sirius quickly grabbed Peter by the arm and pulled him into the room as James shut the door behind him. Remus stood there, still as a statue. He was sure the secret would be revealed to the school. He was certain his days at Hogwarts were coming to an end, and that he would have to leave the only two friends that had ever truly accepted him.
Peter was on the verge of hyperventilating. "H-h-how…R-Remus…w-w-were-"
"Oh shut up, Peter!" roared Sirius.
James joined Sirius in front of Peter and together the two of them towered over the short blond boy. Peter looked up at them in fear.
"Okay, Peter, so you found out about Remus," said James. "He is a werewolf. He has been since before you ever met him. Here's the deal - you keep your mouth shut and maybe Sirius and I won't pound your face in, okay?"
Peter looked at Remus and then back at Sirius and James. He never saw Sirius and James more serious before. He gulped and nodded, feeling that agreeing was his best option to make it to his 13th birthday in one piece.
After a few minutes Peter finally caught his breath and his voice started to settle. "I don't get it, how could you be a werewolf and allowed to come to Hogwarts?"
Remus filled Peter in on the story he had told James and Sirius about how Dumbledore had arranged for him to attend Hogwarts. Peter nodded as Remus told his story.
"So you're actually locked away during your transformations? Well, that's not so bad then," said Peter.
James and Sirius looked at him, surprised and almost impressed. "You're taking the news pretty well, Peter. I would have expected you to run away screaming," said Sirius.
Peter gave a nervous laugh and said, "I was just surprised, that's all. When did you two find out?"
Remus replied for them. "They figured it out and confronted me. I asked that nobody else be told. I'm sorry for not trusting you, Peter."
Peter smiled and said, "That's okay, I understand. And not to worry, mate. I'll keep your secret. I'm just sorry that you have to go through the transformations like that."
"Yeah, I wish we could help," said Sirius.
James suddenly became lost in thought. His silence drew Sirius' attention.
"What's up, mate?" asked Sirius.
"I was thinking, Sirius," said James.
"Uh oh. Don't strain yourself!" joked Sirius.
James gave him a dirty look and said, "What if there was a way to help Remus?"
"What do you mean, James?" asked Remus. "You're already helping me by keeping my secret and accepting me as your friend."
"I meant helping you during your transformations," replied James.
"There's no way to do that without putting yourselves at risk," said Remus.
Sirius started to catch on and said, "That's not true, Remus. What were we just talking about earlier?" Remus looked at him quizzically before Sirius said, "Professor McGonagall!"
James spoke up. "Yeah! If we learned how to become Animagi then we could help you through the transformations. You said yourself that you were better able to keep your mind with McGonagall's help. Imagine having us there instead every full moon."
Remus shook his head. "Even if you wanted to become Animagi it takes years to learn and Professor McGonagall already said she'll only teach the outstanding students in her NEWT level classes- that's years away."
Sirius grinned and said, "You have so little faith in us. We're the Marauders and we can certainly pull off some measly Animagus spell. We'll just have to start learning now."
"But it's illegal!" squeaked Peter.
"That's why no one will have to know but us, okay?" asked James. Trying to pacify him he said, "Why Peter, I bet we could even help you to become one as well!" Peter looked hopeful while Sirius rolled his eyes in doubt behind him.
Remus shook his head again. "I can't have you guys breaking the law and putting yourselves at risk for me. What if you end up in St. Mungo's like McGonagall's last students?"
"The matter's closed, Remus," said James. "Tomorrow night I say we take out the invisibility cloak and peruse the Restricted Section. We're bound to find information there on how to successfully pull of the spell!"
"Agreed," said Sirius.
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Over the next several weeks the Marauders all took turns searching the library for information on how to become Animagi. James would wake up each morning exhausted. In addition to the Animagus research he also had his studies and quidditch practice. Toward the end of October the Marauders gathered in their dorm room to piece together the research they had acquired.
"Okay," started James, "it says here that the first thing we need to do is brew a potion. Once we take it then we will need to use a charm that will cause us to develop into our Animagus form for 10 minutes. During that time we need to study our reflection in a mirror and learn all the details to help us later on when we start transforming ourselves."
"That doesn't sound too bad," said Peter.
"No, it doesn't," said James, "however the potion will take six months to prepare."
"Six MONTHS?!" exclaimed Sirius.
"That's what it says," James replied. He looked at Remus, who was looking very ill due to the upcoming full moon in two days time. "We're here for several years, Sirius. It may take a while to do this but it'll be worth it."
Sirius glanced at Remus and back at James. "You're right. What next?"
James looked at his notes and said, "After we memorize our Animagus form, we are to practice transfiguring inanimate objects. That's so we can get the finesse of each detail, so we will be less likely to make mistakes on ourselves." Peter made an audible gulp at that thought.
"Ok, then what?" asked Sirius.
"Then we start on ourselves. We are to start with small things like transfiguring a foot into a paw or a mouth into a beak. Then we work our way up to the full transfiguration," said James.
After a few moments Remus spoke up, "I can't let you do this. It's too dangerous."
Sirius smirked and said, "Sorry, mate, but even your werewolf strength won't stop us. Besides, it's our decision. It's not your responsibility."
"Not my responsibility?!" yelled Remus. "You're only doing this to help me! How is it not my responsibility?!"
"Maybe it started that way, but you're not the only reason we're doing this," said James. When Remus looked at him dubiously, he explained, "If we pull this off, imagine all the things we could do. If we felt like exploring the grounds after curfew or checking out Hogsmeade on our own we wouldn't need my invisibility cloak." Sirius and Peter nodded their heads in agreement. They all knew that Remus was the reason they were trying to become Animagi, but they didn't want him to feel guilty or responsible. Besides, James felt he had a point - they COULD have some fun at the same time.
Remus finally threw his hands up and said, "Fine! I see you're going to do this no matter what I say."
"Alright!" said Sirius. "When do we start?"
"As soon as possible if we want to get this potion ready by the end of the school year," said James.
"What kind of ingredients do we need for the potion?" asked Remus. When the other three looked at him in question he replied, "I may not be happy you're doing this, but I'm certainly not letting you do this without my help."
"Great," replied James. He looked back at his notes and said, "Most of the ingredients shouldn't be difficult to acquire. There could be one problem however…"
Sirius started to drum his fingers on his nightstand. "Well, are you going to tell us or wait for us to guess?"
"Phoenix ashes," said James. "We will need two grams of phoenix ashes. Where on Earth will we find that?"
"Not a problem," said Sirius. "Dumbledore has a phoenix in his office. I saw it - name's Flocks or Fawkes or something like that."
"Dumbledore's office?!" cried Peter. "How on Earth do we break into his office?"
James turned to Sirius and they gave each other an evil grin. "Sirius," said James. "How do you feel about causing some major mischief? Enough to land you a visit to the headmaster?"
"I was beginning to think you'd never ask!" said Sirius.
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A/N: Okay, the Animagus plan is now underway. Can't wait to show you how they get the phoenix ashes… So did you like the stories behind how the Marauder's found out about McGonagall? What did you think of how Peter found out about Remus?
Thanks to the latest reviewers: MysticalMacaw, Remus'sweetie, Harrysgrl (x3), Watermelon!, Dobbygrl, Golden Phoenix, and Anonymous.
Next chapter: The Marauders get the necessary ingredients for the Animagus potion.