The Dove
The next morning, I staggered down the stairs, and dropped three-fourths of the books in front of Jack.
"You read and comprehended all of these?" When I nodded, he stooped, picked up a book at random, and opened it.
"When was the International Statute of Secrecy signed?" I reacted like a snake.
"Sixteen eighty nine." He dropped that one, picked up another, and said,
"What is the primary ingredient in an Alihotsy Draught, and what does it cause?" I stood proud, and said,
"The Alihotsy Plant, it causes hysteria." He waved his wand, and the books floated back to the shelf.
"You're good. What ones do you have left?" I thought back to what I had looked over, and said,
"Secrets of the Darkest Art, Beginner's Guide to Apparation, and Animagus, a Study." He nodded, and watched as I stroked Ernest before hefting my bag.
"You've got all the books you need? Alright, let's go to breakfast. We're a tad early, so it should be pretty quiet." He led me down the stairs, through the castle, and into the Great Hall. He was right, it was nearly empty save a few teachers and the Headmaster. We sat at Ravenclaw table, and I dug into the food, trying to fill myself up quickly so I could go back to the dormitory and sleep, as it was a Sunday.
"Did you even sleep?" I shook my head, munching on a strip of bacon while I drained a goblet of Pumpkin Juice.
"Woof. You've got serious guts to pull an all-nighter like that." I nodded, swallowed, then spoke.
"I'm going to head back to the dormitory and sleep. Can you wake me up for lunch?" He nodded, and I stood to go, but was stopped by the Ravenclaw head, Professor Flitwick, who held out a schedule each to Jack and I before walking back to the front of the Hall.
"What've you got?" I perused my schedule, vision blurring in and out due to lack of sleep.
"I should go lay down." I stumbled out of the hallway, Jack in tow, and promptly fell down as soon as we were out of view.
"Oh, come on mate, let's go." He picked me up, and carried me through the castle, up the stairs, and through the door. As we entered, my eyes slowly drifted shut, and the last thing I remembered before I was asleep was the soft sheets of the bed covering me.
-
The next thing I knew, I was shaken awake by Jack.
"It's time for lunch, Dugan. You were out for a good seven hours." I got to my feet, feeling loads better, and viewed my schedule.
8:00 Transfiguration
9:00 Charms
10:00 History of Magic
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Care of Magical Creatures
2:00 Defense Against the Dark Arts
3:00 Potions
"Looks like fun to me." I chuckled weakly, and followed him to lunch. We sat, and I began to eat, slower this time. As I did I noticed that the Great Hall was emptying, and I finished my plate. As we stood to leave, I heard a voice behind us.
"Just a minute, you two." I stopped, as did Jack, and we turned to look at Professor Dumbledore, his half-moon spectacles barely blocking the gaze of the piercing blue eyes.
"It's good to see first years making friends, and I hope you'll provide a good example to young Dugan, Jack." He ended the sentence pointedly, looking at Jack, and Jack nodded vigourously.
"Of course, sir. I will, sir." The look stopped, and was replaced by a benevolent smile.
"Well, I bid you farewell for now." He swept past us, and Jack let out a sigh of relief.
"I don't know why, I always feel nervous when he's around. Let's get you back to the dorm." We traveled through the castle, me having slowly started to learn the path from Great Hall to dorm. We answered the question, entered, and I found Ernest by the fire. I picked him up, and hugged him to my chest as I discussed the books I had read with Jack. Ernest began to meow, louder and louder, and, without thinking, I took out my wand and said,
"Silencio!" He continued to open his mouth, but no noise emitted. Jack looked at me in surprise, and said,
"Wow. You really did understand this stuff." I grinned, and he looked at my wand.
"That's an interesting wand you've got there. What's it made of?" I handed it to him, and he examined it.
"Elder wood." He nodded, and handed it back over.
"With a dragon heartstring, I suppose? Good for charmwork, they are." I shook my head.
"No, thestral tail hair." His eyes widened, and he jumped back.
"Thestral tail hair? That's a very powerful core. Coupled with that wood..." He seemed to think to himself for a moment.
"You read the transfiguration book, so... Turn that chair into a pig and back." He indicated a chair, and I stood. I flicked my wand, and the chair turned to a pig with a poof. I flicked my wand again, and the pig turned back into a chair.
"Amazing. The core combined with the wood and your genius make you a very powerful spellcaster, Dugan. Do you need to sleep?" I shook my head, excited for more spellwork, and he nodded.
"Did you read the margins on the books I gave you?" I nodded, and he strode to the other end of the room. Without warning, he brandished his wand, and said,
"Tantallegra!" The spell, in the form of white light, flew across the room towards me. I reacted like a whip, twirling my wand in a circle before shouting,
"Reverso!" The light rebounded, and Jack barely dodged it before shouting in return.
"Stupefy!" The light was too fast for me to speak, so I waved my wand with a slash, and an invisible Protection Charm expanded, sending the Stunning spell shooting across the room, where it hit a chair, knocking it over. The other Ravenclaws in the common room applauded, while Jack grinned at me.
"Very good." He made to walk towards me, but the Protection Charm was still blocking his path. I slashed my wand again, and the Charm dissapated. He slapped a high five and I sank into a chair next to the fire, him in front of me.
"Now that you've mastered the advanced stuff, your classes should be easy. Also, I think you should leave the other two books off, and focus on the Animagus one. At the rate you're progressing, we might be able to make you an Animagus by the end of the year." I grinned, overjoyed, and he froze.
"Whoa." I frowned, confusion filling me.
"What?" He grinned, and called some of his seventh year friends over.
"Look at this." He drew his wand, and I drew mine.
"Don't worry, Dugan. Just a Cheering Charm." I set mine down, and he waved his wand. I was overcome with joy, and the other seventh years chuckled.
"It appears that you are a Metamorphmagus, as well. I suppose you've been a little sheltered through your life, haven't you?" I nodded, and he waved his wand again, the Cheering Charm vanishing. Confusion overrode me, and he shook his head.
"Can you try to change?" I shrugged, and searched my mind for something about Metamorphmagi. As soon as I had thought about it, I pictured my mother. She had been able to change her hair colour at will. As I thought about this, Jack jumped and another seventh year jumped back, swearing in surprise. I looked at them, confused, and said,
"What's wrong?" I jumped in my seat, because I had just heard my mother's voice. I lifted my hands to my face, and saw that they were slim and the fingernails were painted blue. Surprise filled me, and, as I watched, they turned back into my hands.
"Bloody hell. You're a class five Metamorphmagus. If we can pull off the Animagus spell, you'd be an incredible Auror." Jack patted my shoulder, and I said,
"I'm probably going to go to bed now. Wake me up when everyone else is gone, and we can practice the Metamorphmagus thing during the night." He nodded, and I walked to the dorm, falling into my bed, excitement washing over me. I was asleep in moments.
-
"You ready, Dugan?" I nodded, standing in the centre of the room, Jack and two other seventh years standing in front of me.
"Dumbledore." I focused hard, and after a second I felt a long, white beard growing from my chin. I grew taller, and my eyes blurred from the absence of glasses. Another one spoke up.
"Oliver Wood." I shifted again, growing buffer and my vision cleared as the beard vanished.
"Harry Potter." I shifted once more, eyes blurring, and hair growing out on my head.
"Amazing! You've got it down. We need start the Animagus book as soon as possible." I turned back into myself, and grinned. Jack shook his head, and said,
"Get some sleep, mate. Your first day is tomorrow." I grinned again, and walked to my room. Falling into bed, I was so excited for the next day, I didn't fall asleep for another hour.
~
A few months later, I was excelling in my classes, and was being asked for tutoring by several first years and even a few second years because I 'accidentally' turned the desk into a goat my first day of Transfiguration. I declined them all, filling my time with homework and the Animagus book. It was some seriously tough magic, along with some seemingly redundant other things. I spat out the mandrake leaf, and threw it into the fire.
"That was the longest month ever." Jack chuckled, as did Marcy, the other seventh year that was aiding me in becoming an Animagus. She had the book open in her lap, and read the next section.
"Okay, the next part can be completed at any time, we just need a secluded area because it gets loud." Jack frowned.
"Shrieking Shack?" She nodded.
"We'd have to go through the Womping Willow first, but Dugan can Petrify it easily." I nodded from where I was, laying on the floor facing away from the fire, working on a two-foot long scroll on a Sleeping Potion.
"You're staying here over Christmas, right, Marcy? Jack and I are." She nodded, and flicked her straight blond hair from her face.
"Looks like you'll need to drink a gnarly looking potion for this, Dugan. It's pretty specific. Powdered Unicorn Horn, Lacewing Skin, Mandrake Root, and... Oh boy." I looked up.
"What is it?" She shook her head.
"The substance used in the core of the drinker's wand." I frowned.
"Does that mean I'll have to break my wand? "She shook her head.
"No, just the same thing, which means..." Jack cursed.
"Thestral tail hair. Well, I've seen someone killed, so we can do it, it's just the finding of the thestral is the hard part." I piped up.
"Well, Hogwarts has the largest domesticated herd of thestrals in Britain." Jack shook his head before grinning.
"Boy am I glad I made you reread Hogwarts, a History. So we need to go into the Forbidden Forest, which is forbidden from students entering it, pull out a tail hair of a thestral without getting killed, make the potion, and get you to the Shrieking Shack, drink the potion, and perform the spell." I sighed, before rolling up the parchment to finish later.
-
"Well, there's no time like the present, so let's go." I jumped to my feet, pulled my cloak around me, and followed the two seventh years through the halls. It was good that I was behind them, else we would have been caught when McGonagall stopped them.
"Where are you two going?" Quick as a flash, I cast a Vanishing spell, and stood quietly behind them, invisible.
"We were just going for a walk together, Professor." Jack stealthily wound his hand through Marcy's, who smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Where's Mr. Kehoe? He usually is with you." Jack gulped.
"He's back in Ravenclaw's common room, working on History of Magic homework." She glared at him for a second longer before nodding. I knew that my Vanishing spell only had moments left, and I heaved a sigh of relief when she swept past into the staffroom. I reappeared, and sighed again as we resumed our quick walk, Jack letting go of Marcy.
"If you ever touch me again, no amount of Skele-Gro will be able to fix you." Jack laughed, and we hurried through the snow, Jack melting it in front with a heating spell. Once we had reached the forest, I relaxed, if only a little. We moved quicker, as the snow was somewhat blocked by the trees, and I was glad it was daytime. Presently, after what felt like hours, Jack spotted one.
"I see one. Whoa, he's beautiful." Marcy shoved him forward with a strip of raw meat, and he fed the thestral. It was a tie between the two strangest things I've ever seen, the vanishing raw meat, or when Jack reached back and pulled on an invisible stand of hair. When it released, he put it into a bottle, and looked back up.
"Oh, bollocks." He turned, and made to run, but he was pushed to the ground by and invisible force.
"Help!" Marcy swore, and drew her wand, but I was faster. I slashed my wand in a horizontal line, sending a wave of fire towards where I hoped the thestral was. It collided with an invisible form, a deep sound assaulted our ears, and must have carried all the way to Dublin, how loud it was. I put my hands over my ears, jabbed my wand in the vague direction of the noise, and shouted
"SILENCIO!" The noise cut out, and Marcy hauled Jack to his feet before dragging me towards the castle. I barely had the strength to cast a Vanishing spell over the three of us as we dashed inside before the staffroom door burst open, revealing McGonagall and Professor Snape. They dashed in the direction of the forest, and we flew up the stairs, through the hallways, and up the stairs. We were so disoriented that we forgot about the knocker.
"Where do Vanished objects go?" Marcy gasped out, "Nonbeing." The door swung open, and we collapsed in. It shut, leaving us laying on the floor, panting. After a minute, Jack turned to me.
"That was some powerful magic, back in the forest." I nodded, and spelled out the words with my wand in the air, because my chest was still heaving. Secrets... Of...Darkest... Art.. He nodded, and we laid there for a while, panting, while the first year girls watched us curiously. Eventually, I sat up, and walked slowly to my room, followed by the two seventh years. I had set up a little Potions room in there, and they weaved through the piles of books to the cauldron, before Jack carefully removed the invisible hair and dropped it into the cauldron. The potion hissed, and turned black.
"That looks appetising." Marcy gagged, and Jack picked up the ladle.
"Okay, now we stir five times clockwise, and... it's ready. Flask, please." I handed him one, and he filled it with the liquid. As soon as he hard corked it, the cauldron emptied.
"What the...." I frowned, and Jack shook his head.
"Forget it. Let's go. You think you can do another Vanishing Spell?" I shook my head, and he sighed.
"Well, I hate to do this, but I need you to shift into Filch. I shuddered, and felt myself turning older, my back hunching ever so slightly. I shifted back, and cursed.
"Ugh. Let's wait as long as possible before we do that." Jack nodded, and looked at Marcy.
"We need an excuse to be escorted by Filch. Here, kiss my cheek." At first, I thought she would refuse, but, after a moment, she leaned in, and planted a kiss on his cheek, leaving a mark of lipstick.
"I see what you mean." Marcy then began to kiss him all over his face. Once she had finished, I was a little grossed out, and Jack was looking like it was Christmas. Oh wait, it was. Tomorrow, at least. He then played with his robes a little, as did Marcy, and we walked out of the dormitory. Once we reached the bottom of the stairs, I shifted into Filch.
"Ugh, good Lord. Let's do this quick." We moved as quickly as we could with my impediments, past Quirrel, who seemed on edge more than usual. I bared my teeth in a smile at him, and he smiled back nervously before hurrying past us. Once he left, I shifted back, and we dashed across the snow towards the Womping Willow. I raised my wand, and cast a Petrifying spell. It did nothing. I frowned, and made to step forward, but Jack caught me.
"Be careful. It can reach quite far." As if on cue, the tree's branches whipped around, passing so closed to me I felt the tips of the twigs on my face.
"Bloody hell. Oh, wait-Ernest, no!" Ernest had dashed past in a white blur, dodged the tree's attempts to squish him, and had placed a paw on a knob on the tree. Instantly, the tree froze. We darted forward, and into the passageway, Ernest in the lead. Jack cast a Lumos spell, as I was saving my strength for the Animagus spell. We crawled through, it being tougher for Jack and Marcy than I because they were much taller, and we arrived at the Shrieking Shack. It was a run-down place, furniture falling apart, windows boarded over, with cold drafts leaking though. Marcy muttered a spell, and a dull flame emitted from her wand, warming us. Jack handed me the flask, and I downed it, gagging at the taste. Once it was empty, I threw the flask to him, and doubled over, trying to keep myself from vomiting.
"That tastes awful." He laughed weakly, and said,
"You know the spell. Whenever you're ready." I did in fact know the spell, and it seemed obvious after I had read it. The only part that made it different from just saying it was that you had to really mean and want it. And I did. I would be making history, the first Metamorphmagus and Animagus to ever exist. I drew my wand, and pointed it at myself. I focused on what I wanted, focused harder than I had ever before, and shouted out the spell.
"ANIMAGUS!" A bright, purple light shot out of the wand, and hit me square in the chest. The resulting boom was deeper and far louder than the one in the forest. Jack and Marcy already had wax in their ears, yet it still seemed to hurt their ears. For me, the noise was dull after the initial boom, like it had quieted around me. I was floating in midair, the purple light surrounding me. All of a sudden, the light shot inward, and I screamed at the burning pain that filled every inch of me. I dropped to the floor, and began to shift, but this time into an animal. When it finished, the noise stopped, the pain vanished, but I was no longer a person. I couldn't see what I was, but I knew I had wings, because I could control it. My vision wasn't skewed like I thought it would be, and I could see quite clearly. Jack and Marcy were standing in front of me, thunderstruck. I found that it was almost the same feeling as using my powers as a Metamorphmagus, and shifted back into a person.
"So? What do I look like?" Marcy's mouth was agape, while Jack was still staring at the spot on the floor that I was laying on before I stood.
"I-uh-well-hmm. You were a dove, and... Smile." I frowned, but bared my teeth.
"That's what I thought. Feel your teeth." I reached up, and ran my fingers along my teeth. They were no longer human teeth, but closer to that of a bird's beak, tougher and closer set. Marcy nodded, still dumbfounded, and continued.
"You've gotta be drained. Let's get back; it's almost time for dinner." She punched Jack in the shoulder, and he followed her numbly, as I led the way back to the Great Hall.