Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 80: The Three Animagus
"Come on, wake up."
"Uh...wha—" Peter felt his body being shaken and opened his eyes in surprise. "What is...going on..."
"You too, let's go, we may not have a lot of time."
"Urgg..." Sirius groaned. "What time is it?...oh shit!" He stood up from the bed. "Did we fall asleep? Are we late?"
This woke Peter completely. "Oh no! We can't be late for Charms again!"
"Relax, you're not late for class, and lower your voices. It's just 1 A.M. Everyone is sleeping." James told his friends.
"What?! Why would you wake us up then? Oh bloody hell, I'm so tired..." Sirius glared at him.
"James?...I don't understand." Peter didn't think that James would just do this to mess with them.
"It's not a joke. Look out the window and you will understand." James pointed outside.
Heavy rain was constantly hitting the glass windows. Sounds of thunder could be heard while the wooden window frames shook and trembled. Once every few seconds, the room would get illuminated by lightning.
"Merlin! That's an intense storm outside." Peter exclaimed.
"Seems like more reason to stay in bed. I can't believe you'd disturb my rest like that. Not cool, man." Sirius grumbled.
"What I can't believe is that you two are so daft," James responded. "Why would I wake you up during a thunderstorm? You can't think of a single reason?"
Peter gasped as he realized. "The Animagus!"
"Ah...that's right. We need a thunderstorm to finish that ritual." Sirius then understood.
"Finally...we may not have a lot of time, so c—"
"Hmmm...what is going on?" Remus was stirred awake by all the noises. "It's morning already?..." He glanced at the window.
"Not yet, but we have something important to do." James threw some robes at him. "Get dressed. You may as well come too, in case something goes wrong. We may need someone to call the professors."
"Go...where?" Remus asked in confusion.
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"Ahh! This is so scary!" Peter shook while riding his broom under the heavy storm.
Lightning bolts seemed to be landing all around them. The wind was extremely strong, and it made the rain get in their eyes, preventing them from seeing anything.
"Couldn't we have walked outside?!" Sirius tried to wrestle control of his broom. Not only did he have to fight against the weather, but he also had to carry a passenger.
"Don't be silly. It's one in the morning. All the exits of the castle are closed at this hour, and the janitor is patrolling the hallways. Flying out of the window was the only way out." James said as he held onto Sirius.
Since he was the only one without a broom, he had to tag along.
"I can see the Whomping Willow! We're almost there." Remus pointed below them.
"Don't land too close to it. I don't feel like getting smacked." James told them.
The Marauders got off their brooms and rushed for the secret entrance that would lead them to the Shrieking Shack.
"It's so rare to be here on a normal night..." Remus said as they arrived at the basement of the house. He only came here during full moon nights when he had to transform. It felt strange to be here, knowing that nothing bad was going to happen to him.
"Not sure if you can call this a normal night." James commented.
"Well, you won't be transforming tonight, but if everything goes well...we are." Sirius rested his broom against the wall.
"We should have brought a change of clothes...I'm cold..." Peter gasped as his wet clothes clung to him.
All of a sudden, he was hit by a gust of hot air that seemed to dry him instantly.
"Whoa!" Peter exclaimed and saw James pointing his wand at him.
"There you go. All dry now." James said.
"Was that a variant of the Ventus charm?" Remus looked interested.
"I can teach it to you another day. Now, let's get everyone dry, and you go to the living room while I fetch the potions I left in the attic."
"Why the living room?" Peter asked.
"Because it's the most spacious place in the house. We don't know what kind of animals you'll be turning into...it could be something big." Remus answered.
"Like a dragon, roar!" Sirius chuckled.
"The living room is not that big..." Peter said.
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"There's something nasty inside my potion..." Sirius made a face of disgust as he stared at the flask that James handed to him.
"What is that?..." Peter was making the same expression.
"The crystal vial contains the leaf that we had inside our mouths for a month, a chrysalis of a Death's-head Hawk Moth, and a few other things." James commented.
"That sounds truly gross...I'm glad I don't have to drink that." Remus said.
"James, are you sure that's how you were supposed to do it?" Sirius asked.
"This isn't going to kill us...right?" Peter looked ready to throw up.
"It shouldn't...now." James removed the cork from the vial. "Don't waste time, repeat the chant and drink it."
They all knew the chant by muscle memory at this point. They had been repeating it for over a month, every morning and late afternoon.
"Amato Animo Animato Animagus." They all said in unison.
"Bottoms up." Remus cheered for them.
Sirius and Peter closed their eyes, covered their noses, and drank the whole thing.
James looked at them and wondered if he should have told them that a single sip was enough, but decided against it.
"Urgg...it was as gross as it looked." Sirius groaned.
"Mmm...I don't feel any different? Did I transform into something?" Peter asked while looking at his friends.
Remus had also been expecting something to occur immediately. "Huh? Didn't the book say tha—"
"Give it a moment." James could feel his magic stirring. The others hadn't realized it yet because they weren't attuned like he was. "It's about to..."
"Ahh!" Peter screamed when he saw brown fur emerging from his skin and his fingers started to shrink.
"This feels...weird...." Sirius's nose became longer and changed its shape while his skin became covered in thick black fur.
Remus stood there, watching in awe as his friends transformed into different creatures.
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