Up To No Good

Chapter Three

James' first class was Transfiguration, which was taught by Professor McGonagall herself. James sat down, pulled his quill out of his bag along with some parchment, and waited until Sirius entered the classroom and sat beside him. He had almost gotten lost, as the castle was enormous and the stairs themselves were prone to changing their minds on where to be, but he had managed all the same. Class today was with the Hufflepuffs.

"Welcome to Transfiguration," McGonagall began. She was still wearing her emerald pointed hat, and she looked as strict as ever. "It is a complex and fickle magic, and thus you must divulge your full attention if you want to pass."

James set down his quill and lay his head on his hand.

"Now, what is an Animagus?"

Someone near the back raised their hand.

"Someone who can turn into an animal. Miss," he added.

"That is correct. Often this may be confused with the act of transfiguring a human being into an animal. Now, what is the difference?"

The student who raised their hand this time was Remus. "An Animagus transforms at will," he began. His voice was rather shaky. "They keep their human reasoning even when they are in an animal's state. When someone is transfigured into an animal, they lose all memory of being a human at all."

"Ten points to Gryffindor," McGonagall nodded. Then suddenly, she was gone. There was a collective gasp from each student as Professor McGonagall faded from view and a tabby cat appeared in her place. The cat had the peculiar markings around its eyes, which reminded James of her glasses.

For a few moments McGonagall remained in cat form, and then she transformed back into a human. Seeming pleased with their reaction, she continued: "Animagi are extremely rare, and to learn the talent is even more difficult. But it is not, however, the same as Transfiguration."

Sirius wasn't taking notes either.

By the end of the day, James had a generous stack of homework before him. He flopped down into one of the squashy common room armchairs before whipping it out, pulling out an elegant feather quill, and setting to work.

The common room was full of people groaning over homework. Some older students complained about the difficult incantations they had learned, others over Potions class.

"I reckon I'll just skip Flitwick's homework," Sirius sighed, snapping James out of his stupor as he scribbled something onto his parchment. "I don't want to spend my time making feathers levitate. What did you write on the properties of Dittany?"

James stared down at his own blank paper, before laughing. "Er... Well, here."

Sirius took James' scroll before scanning it. "I'm not sure Dittany is poisonous," Sirius placed a hand on his chin pensively. "What was it Beery said? It-"

Remus, the scruffy-looking boy in their year, was sitting near them and heard them. "I can help if you like," he offered. "I just finished mine."

James considered this before taking his parchment from Sirius and handing it to him. Remus read the essay before pointing at it.

"Dittany isn't dangerous. It heals wounds," Remus delivered. "Just scratch out that part and write about the properties."

"Thanks." James received his paper back before aggressively scribbling out the inaccurate information, wracking his brains for their Herbology Professor's words. Remus was reading Sirius' paper too, and soon the two of them had essentially copied each other's work; satisfied enough, they put away their papers.

"Potions tomorrow," Sirius remarked.

"I hear Slughorn isn't so bad, he just picks favorites," Remus said, poring over The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1.