In The Shadows² ★ Draco Malfoy

*Saving Harry (P1)

Briar was ready to become an animagi but now came the hard part...waiting. Waiting until an electrical storm arrived, but unfortunately there had been none all winter, and so far into spring there was still nothing

What had taken her mind of it all was the euphoria of Gryffindor winning the quidditch cup this year. The team had beaten Slytherin to victory, and seeing the sour look on Malfoy's face was victory enough for Briar. The party in the common room until 4am had been the real victory though, and when Professor McGonagall had shown up to silence them, they could all see the smile tugging at her lips still

But the damper of the situation was that Malfoy's dad had won his trial against Hagrid for the execution of Buckbeak, his hippogriff, because of how much Malfoy milked the injury. And tonight was the execution

Briar wasn't planning on going to watch. But as she sat in her common room and heard a loud rumble of thunder, she shot up from the armchair

"Hey, what-"

"I'll be back, later" Briar said to Henry before she sprinted up to her dorm. She pushed off her mattress and collected a box hidden underneath it, pulling out its contents: a crystal phial containing a mandrake leaf she had to carry in her mouth for a month, one of her hairs, a silver teaspoon of dew, and the chrysalis of a Death's-head Hawk Moth. And she was relieved the see the contents inside had turned into a blood-red potion

She stashed the potion in her pocket and grabbed her wand before racing back out of the common room, past all the scolding teachers, out of the castle, and into the forbidden forest

She ran until she was sure she was deep enough, and by now the sun was beginning to set, making it darker with every second

Briar held the phial in one hand, her wand in the other, and placing its tip against her heart before speaking "Amato Amino Animato Animagus"

She lifted the phial to her lips, pouring it down her throat and managing to swallow it, despite its foul taste. 

Almost instantly, Briar dropped both the phial and her wand as pain shot through her, making her fall to her knees in agony. Her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest, as if there was two hearts in her chest and she couldn't take. Briar doubled over, gasping for air or something that would stop this pain and make it go away

Letting out a scream, she closed her eyes, but as the scream morphed into a howl they shot open again. Against the twigs, where her hands had been were now paws. Her sight was now sharper, more clear, and her ears seemed to be picking up sounds from ages away

Cautiously, she took a step forward, and then another, and then another, until she was running around the forest in joy. She skidded to a stop in front of a puddle that had formed under the pouring rain, finally taking in her reflection

She had jet black fur, with a long snout, two beady eyes, and sharp, pointy ears. Twirling around she noticed that all of her fur was black, except for a tuft of white at the end of her tail. A black fox.

Briar smiled in her head, but suddenly she picked up noise 

"Hagrid we can't-" that was Harry's voice

"Go! Before they see ya!" 

She quickly sprinted back towards where she had left her wand, picking it up with her teeth and running towards the sound. She arrived by Hagrid's. More precisely, by his pumpkin patch and hiding behind the stack of them was Harry, Hermione, and Ron

Briar's mind somehow seemed to shift her back into human form and she ran towards her friends

"Guys!" She hissed