Beta: Cloudy
(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*
Professor Dumbledore visited our home the first day of summer.
I honestly hadn't been expecting that. I came down for some breakfast only to find that Professor Dumbledore was seated at the table and quietly discussing something with Sirius.
Professor Dumbledore looked up and smiled at me. "Ah. Good morning, Rosie."
"Good morning, Grandpa."
"I see you too have excellent taste in slippers," he said with a twinkle in his eyes. I laughed, looking down at my cat slippers. Every Christmas I had sent Dumbledore socks and something else. Usually a pair of outrageous robes, or some silly slippers that only Dumbledore could pull off.
I proudly held up my right foot to show off the slipper. "It used to meow when I walked but then someone ripped out the squeaker."
Sirius coughed and looked away.
"Here for Paddy's famous soufflé pancakes?" I asked Professor Dumbledore as I took a seat at the kitchen table. Kreacher appeared beside me, pouring a strong brew of orange-spice tea. I loved being able to see Kreacher around meal times because it meant I could pat his head. He always had the cutest smile when I pat his head or praised him. I didn't see Dobby as often as Kreacher, but it wasn't any offense on Dobby's part. Kreacher was protective of me and didn't trust Dobby. The rare times I did see Dobby the House Elf was always happy to babble and admire the work clothes I got him. He looked extra snazzy in his little tuxedo.
I wasn't sure if Harry offered Dobby freedom, or if Dobby even broached the subject with Harry since they bonded. Would Dobby find it offensive to ask for such? Would Harry even consider offering it? As I had decided much earlier on, the House Elf slavery thing was something that needed to be fixed but it wasn't something I could fix within my spare time. I was only one person and my plate was pretty well full. Something as delicate (for I strongly suspected there was a magical and biological component mixed in and Dobby was a literal mutant) as freeing the House Elves deserved my proper attention.
Just as soon as I dealt with a certain threat to my family and life and whatnot.
I kissed the top of Kreacher's head as thanks when he finished pouring my tea. The House Elf mumbled something I couldn't hear before leaving, his ears bobbing happily.
"I have heard some lovely stories about Sirius's pancakes, but I'm afraid this will be a mostly business discussion." Professor Dumbledore then asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Much better," I said, looking over at Sirius who scooted his chair closer to me. "Aha. I sense someone's going to be pre-etty overprotective this summer."
"You sense correctly," Sirius said with an easy grin.
"Is Uncle Moony joining us?"
Sirius shook his head. "No. Only us four for now. Dobby's waking Harry up."
"I wish him luck," I said, knowing how hard it was for my brother to wake up in the morning. I took a long drink of my tea. When I missed my mouth the first time due to the tremble in my hands Kreacher enchanted the cup to rise to my lips. "Ahh. That's the stuff."
Harry stumbled down the stairs with wild bed head hair. "Hmm-hmm."
"Good morning to you too," I responded as he took a seat beside me. Harry peered curiously at Professor Dumbledore. "Yes, he's really here for breakfast, you're not dreaming."
"Mor—Mor—" Harry yawned. "Morning."
"Good morning, Harry," Professor Dumbledore politely returned. "Now that everyone is here, I'll begin."
Harry stole my cup of tea and chugged it like a prat. One of the House Elves magically refilled my cup while summoning Harry's giant wooden mug for his morning tea. Harry needed a lot of hot tea in the morning to wake up.
"I will speak plainly. With Voldemort's resurrection, it is imperative the two of you remain safe," Professor Dumbledore said. "For the first half of the summer you two will remain inside the house with Sirius at all times. You will be moved to Grimmauld's Place in the second half as it is under a Fidelius Charm with myself being the Secret Keeper and Sirius being the caster."
I nodded along, accepting such. I knew they'd want to protect us as best as possible. It made sense not to keep us in one place for too long. While our wards were fantastic—and Sirius already mentioned last night he'd be improving them over the summer—nothing could trump a Fidelius Charm.
"Secondly, it has come to my attention that Rosie is an accomplished Occlumency user," said Professor Dumbledore.
I coughed, avoiding Sirius's raised eyebrow. "Snape rat me out?"
"The very same day he found out," he answered with a smile. "You need to pass this skill onto your brother."
"I can certainly do my best."
"As you have proven to be a skilled Legilimency user, you should be capable of testing him yourself," said Professor Dumbledore.
"Ah, shit."
"As I was the one who got you into that mess, I will take responsibility and help."
"Thank you."
"As terribly unfortunate as it is, I must also insist that all posts between your schoolmates desist for the summer. The Ministry will undoubtedly be watching for owls," went on Professor Dumbledore.
Harry's brow furrowed at that. "No letters? Not even to tell them why we can't write?"
"Nothing," he insisted. "We must do what we can to ensure they cannot find you. If they are able to intercept messages they could provide misinformation to you, or to someone you are trying to reach. Professor McGonagall will write to Miss Granger's family about the situation, and I will be visiting the Weasley family later today. I am afraid it will be difficult for us to contact—"
I cut him off, "Don't worry about my snakes. They're smart to know now's not the time to be talking with me, either for their safety or my own."
Professor Dumbledore inclined his head. "I know it will be hard staying inside for so long, but I do hope you both will adhere to it."
"Sure," I lied, nodding firmly like I actually was going to do exactly that and not keep sneaking out to steal shit. I had a reputation to protect, everyone knew Gentleman Rose struck during the summer. It wasn't yet time to retire my magnificent title.
Besides, I had my eye on Italy next.
"Okay," mumbled Harry, struggling to keep his eyes open.
Professor Dumbledore beamed at both of us. "Wonderful. I won't take up much more of your morning."
The elderly wizard got up, exchanged nods with Sirius, then headed over to our fireplace to leave.
"Before I go... Would it be alright for Rosie to assist me with something later tonight?" Professor Dumbledore asked just before he stepped through the floo.
Sirius blinked in surprise. "Ah. Yeah? Rosie, you okay with that?"
"Sure?"
"Wonderful."
"Can I go back to bed now?" mumbled Harry as he slowly slid out of his chair and onto the floor.
Leaning down, I patted his cheek. "Sweet dreams honey."
"Nighty night," said Harry as he decided to sleep on the dining room floor.
(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*
Professor Dumbledore came by a couple of minutes after the sun dipped below the horizon. I had been lounging in the living room while I worked on my homework. Most of it was pretty easy. Potions and Ancient Runes were basically memorization, whereas Transfiguration and Charms required a couple of essays on chapters not discussed in class last year. Hagrid didn't give homework for his class, but he encouraged us to keep reading from our fluffy book and I was always down for that. There was something special about a fluffy book that purred at you when you read from it.
Sirius and Harry were out back, practicing flying in the dark for whatever reason. Honestly, it wasn't that difficult to fly at night—just get above the clouds and the stars provided plenty of light. There were also night vision goggles and an abundance of "headlight" spells. I didn't see the appeal of their practice, but I also wasn't a flying addict.
Professor Dumbledore stepped through the floo. "Good evening, Rosie. Are you ready?"
"Yeah," I said, standing up from the floor I had been laid out on. "Where are we going?"
Professor Dumbledore held out his arm. "I think you know the place very well."
I placed my hand on his arm, raising an eyebrow. "I do?"
With a snap and rush of dizziness Professor Dumbledore Apparated both of us to the gates of a very familiar place.
Lunar's Orchard.
The town had a literal wall built around it with a dome of invisible magic completely entrapping it. It was warded with the best protections money could afford, then enhanced further by many of the witches and wizards who wanted to protect their fluffy loved ones. I was proud of my citizens. We actually had some pretty smart cookies—retired Unspeakables, Cursebreakers, Raiders, Aurors, and a bunch of other magic-savvy types.
The end result was that my town was damn safe. Voldemort would have an easier time attacking the Ministry of Magic directly than trying to get into my town. Especially if he tried it on the full moon since all the werewolves that lived there were completely lucid and more than willing to tear a Dark wizard apart limb from limb.
Ah.
I stared at the entrance to Lunar's Orchard. Since Voldemort's resurrection, I ordered Fenrir to keep it shut down. No one was allowed in without heavy scrutiny and verification.
"Um," I said as I looked up at Professor Dumbledore with what I hoped to be a good poker face.
Professor Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he smiled kindly. "Come now, Rosie... or should I say Enáretos?"
"I think—I think I've been found out."
"Yes. I think so too."
I could try to bullshit my way out, but... I mean... It was Professor Dumbledore. If I still hadn't managed to fool him with the precautions I had taken thus far, I sure as heck wasn't about to do so in an unexpected confrontation.
There was only one thing left to do.
"Bu—bu—how?" I asked him in surprise.
Yep. Own that shit, Sirius didn't raise a little bitch.
Professor Dumbledore chuckled. "Care to find out?"
The gate opened up. Standing at the front gate awaiting us was none other than my lovely assistant, Anyo.
"Anyo!" I gasped, scandalized. "You betrayed me! Why?"
Anyo laughed lightly. "Forgive me, Rosie. Albus is... an old friend."
The way Anyo practically purred at the word friend made me raise an eyebrow. I looked between Anyo then Dumbledore, then back to Anyo.
"Oh," I said as I connected the dots. "Well damn it! I've been flirting with my adopted grandpa's ex-boyfriend this whole time? You shoulda told me, Anyo."
"Adopted grandpa?" Anyo echoed. "She adopted you?"
"Evidently," said a cheerful Dumbledore.
"I demand restitution. You must pay for your betrayal."
Anyo graciously bowed before me, his silvery hair bouncing under the moonlight. "Of course, my lady. What can I do to make it up to you?"
"Take off the mask," I ordered.
Anyo carefully removed the mask after a moment of bemused consideration.
"Holy shit," I whispered as I stared into a face too otherworldly beautiful to process.
"He's not that handsome," Tom protested.
"Totally worth the betrayal," I said with a firm nod, committing the face to my memory. In my first life, I had only ever seen handsome or gorgeous celebrities through a television screen. Now in my second life, I was blessed to experience such beauty first hand. Multiple times.
He looked to have been originally Middle-Eastern, so his skin was still pretty dark despite the undead state of his body. Certainly had an ashy overtone from livor mortis, but not the alabaster Hollywood had prepared me for. Goddamn gorgeous though, holy hell. Tom was eye-candy, but Anyo was the decadent dessert that looking at made you gain weight.
Anyo tutted. "I was expecting more of a reaction. You know Albus did a double-take the first time I took off my mask."
I patted Dumbledore on the arm. "I don't blame him for that. I am simply someone fortunate enough to have been able to see someone of equal beauty often enough that I've become adjusted."
Anyo clicked his tongue. Professor Dumbledore's eyes sparkled with mischief. "That wouldn't happen to have been your Yule Ball date?"
"Yep," I said, popping the p. "He's a regular snack."
"Snack?"
"Sorry. I meant a full-course meal."
Both men laughed which made me giggle while Tom sighed. Not a tired sigh more of a: Yeah, I expected that kind of sigh.
"Okay, okay. I'm assuming you brought me here for a reason," I said, still blatantly admiring the beauty that was Anyo.
Professor Dumbledore nodded. "Quite. I was hoping to talk with Fenrir Greyback about Voldemort's return. He will inevitably try to seek out Fenrir and the other werewolves."
"Fenrir won't betray me to Voldemort," I said confidently. "I kind of expected Anyo to sell me out to the vampire king or whatever—"
"Vampires don't have a king—"
"—and then I'd get to escape some Castlevania epic dungeon and castle and you know fight a bunch of evil kidnappers. Then Anyo and I would have a heart-to-heart about the betrayal and he'd realize that I was always going to be his friend so he'd switch sides and we'd kick butt together."
Anyo stared at me while Professor Dumbledore suspiciously turned his head away to deal with a sudden coughing fit. The crazy handsome vampire carefully said, "There is no vampire king. I only told Albus because I wanted his help to protect the town behind the scenes. There are certain situations that neither of us could foresee and prepare for that Albus could. He's helped expedite several new bills to ease the town's construction and legality standing."
I frowned. "No vampire king to fight?"
"No vampire king to fight," he assured me. "... I know a couple of liches that could use a good punch, if you're very determined."
Perking up at the thought of actually meeting and subsequently punching a lich, I chirped, "That'd be nice, thank you."
"Of course, my lady," Anyo assured me. "It would be an honor to watch you punch an elder lich. I could have it set up to be your graduation gift if you so wish."
I smiled. "Gosh, that'd be the best present ever. You'd really go that far out of your way for me?"
"What can I say? I have a soft spot for genius red-heads," he teased.
I giggled, placing a hand over my cheek to mock a fake blush. "Awww. How about we head inside? Grandpa, I would love to show off my evil lab to you if that's okay."
Professor Dumbledore placed his hand over his heart as he said, "Granddaughter, I would love to see your evil lab."
My smile stretched widely. "Yay. Hey, maybe you could give me some pointers on what I'd need for an evil alchemy lab?"
"Are you interested in alchemy?" he asked as he extended an arm for me to take. I accepted it.
I nodded. "Yeah. I wish I could take it next year instead of sixth year."
"That's wonderful to hear."
(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*
While I showed off my lab to Professor Dumbledore, Anyo hunted Fenrir down. My dear fluffy buddy was hesitant upon seeing Dumbledore. Fenrir immediately shifted to a stand-offish defensive posture, his eyes darkening to suspicion as he purposefully stood between me and Dumbledore.
In an attempt to comfort my friend, I hugged Fenrir from behind and said, "It's okay. I won't let the scary man in polka dots hurt ya."
"Wha' do yeh wan'?" Fenrir growled, glaring at Dumbledore. He did relax a bit more from my hug, but it was clear that he felt uncomfortable by the Warlock's presence.
Professor Dumbledore held out his hands in a gesture of peace. "Only to offer my assistance. Voldemort will undoubtedly try to recruit the werewolves here."
"We'll rip 'is throa' ou' if 'e comes 'ere,'' snarled Fenrir, his accent thickening from anger. "We will prote' our 'ome!"
"Albus is an exceptionally talented wizard, Fenrir," soothed Anyo. "It wouldn't hurt for him to look over the wards."
"Look all yeh wan'! Then get ou'! Yeh—yeh ne'er 'elped us 'fore. Why now? 'Cause we go' some'in' yeh want. Yeh wan' us teh figh' fer yeh stupid war. Yeh're no differen' than Voldy-bitch 'far I'm concerned," spat Fenrir.
Dumbledore nodded, patiently listening to Fenrir's venomous tirade. "You've every right to feel that way, Fenrir. The fact of the matter is I did not help you as much as I should have. I acted with prejudice and foolishly believed the second-hand stories about you and your friends. Had Anyo not told me how well you've treated Rosie, I would not have believed you capable of such compassion for a witch. I was wrong, Fenrir. I am sorry."
Fenrir's eyes glittered with disdain, his body stiff with rage.
Yet my friend did not act on it. He sucked in a sharp breath, then shuffled over to stand at my side. He looked down at me, his voice gentler when he addressed me, "What're yeh wantin?"
"Only for you and everyone else here to be safe and happy," I answered honestly. "Professor Dumbledore's assistance on the wards would be invaluable. I would also like to add that I don't want my people to become involved in this war with Voldemort."
Dumbledore nodded once again. "I would not dare to ask them to fight for us. I only wish to keep the people here safe."
"Fine," he muttered.
I placed a hand over his arm. "My friend, I will never ask you to forgive anyone before you're ready, but I hope that you'll be willing to accept someone's help for the sake of protecting our home."
Fenrir softened, placing a hand atop my head. "Fer yeh, Rosie, I will."
(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*
That night, I went to bed feeling that Lunar's Orchard had literally become the safest place in Europe. Voldemort was not getting anywhere near my fluffy babies.
I also felt pretty good about how Dumbledore treated the whole thing. I was grateful he didn't ask about how I got the money.
Actually, Dumbledore didn't ask a lot of questions. Only things about the potions I had invented thus far and wondering what I had already done to prepare to take alchemy in my sixth year.
Huh. Kinda made me think if maybe Dumbledore knew more than he let on. Hmm.
With that fun little adventure pushed aside I was able to move on to properly prepare for the upcoming year. I would deal with my babeh snakes when I had a chance to talk with them, but there was one matter I wanted to conclude as soon as possible.
Dolores.
Dolores. Dolores. Dolores.
Plot had proven a difficult opponent to face. I had made some changes to the canonical story but there were things that continued to happen despite my interference. Some change could happen—I had successfully saved Sirius—but some things appeared fated to be.
I hadn't gone out of my way to make change for the sake of change, rather I focused on developing things I liked. Ever still, I thought that I made enough of a difference, I should have seen more of a drastic contrast between the two worlds.
Yet things were not terribly different, certain events still occurred like clockwork even if components had been removed. Sirius was not in Azkaban yet Rookwood escaped it and forced dementors onto Hogwarts. Peter Pettigrew was still the one who resurrected Voldemort despite the fact that he had been in hiding for over a decade prior. Voldemort still came back year four from the Triwizard tournament.
Fate—or the Power of Plot—was a powerful component that I could not ignore. It was somehow manipulating things out of my vision in a way to force certain circumstances to happen.
It almost didn't matter who performed the events, so long as the events still happened (Rookwood took Sirius's place; I took Harry's place).
Dolores Umbridge was a woman I made an honest attempt at murdering early on but the cunning irritation escaped. She shouldn't have. It was a perfect raid, yet she somehow slipped away unscathed.
It didn't feel like a coincidence. I had made plenty of attacks on enemies—destroyed political opponents and sucked them dry of their money and power—yet she was spared? Worse yet, was she protected by Fate?
I could only conclude that the Power of Plot needed her alive to fulfill a certain role, then she was free to die. More specially, freed to be torn apart limb from limb by my vengeful fluffballs as a Christmas gift.
I wasn't certain if that was wholly accurate—she could have simply been that lucky—but it was what my gut was telling me and I had learned to trust my instincts. If I wanted her dead, I needed someone to fulfill a certain part.
As I replaced Harry, and Rookwood replaced Sirius, someone needed to replace Dolores.
But for what? What event or circumstances were required to keep that bitch alive?
I highly doubted Fate needed my brother to be tortured.
No, no.
After careful consideration, I concluded (rather confidently) that she was kept alive because someone needed to be the DADA professor for year five.
The position was cursed—blatantly apparent—and Dumbledore was out of options to hire. No one wanted the position.
Back in my parents' generation—Lily, Severus, James, and so on—Aurors were substituted in on a yearly contract. Unfortunately, every Auror that was assigned the post met a grisly fate at the end of the school year. The Aurors started maiming themselves to get out of the mission, so Dumbledore graciously retracted his contract with the Auror Office and started head-hunting himself.
Given that we needed every able-bodied loyal Auror to fight Voldemort it was doubtful that Dumbledore would try to reinstate the contract. I knew he would be desperate next year when he threw Severus onto the position—it helped that he also needed Slughorn—but for now, he was out of cards.
Which meant that Dolores swooping in and filling the role—torture bitch aside—was a cruel necessity.
Therefore, to successfully remove Fate's protection on Dolores I needed to find someone else to fill that role.
Easier said than done, but I figured I could manage.
Ugh. I really wish I knew how powerful of a component Plot was at the start of my second life. I only really confirmed it after seeing Peter Pettigrew of all people resurrecting Voldemort instead of Rookwood. Where the fuck was Rookwood? Why the bloody hell was Peter there?!
Regressing—
The teaching position for DADA had as low of a standard as the Board of Education could give it. No matter how dire or difficult it was for Dumbledore to find someone, the worst-case scenario was hiring Aurors to teach again. Due to having a lethal Dark Lord on the loose Dumbledore wanted to avoid that option as it would inevitably result in Aurors panicking and maiming themselves to avoid it, or worse, dying in the position. The Board didn't care for the Aurors safety and well-being so they wouldn't budge on lowering the standards any further. I didn't disagree with them there as frankly, it'd be dangerous if they lowered it any further.
As it stood the wizard simply had to have an A in DADA N.E.W.T.s. That's it. It was previously a whole host of N.E.W.T.s and an O in DADA but it had been painstakingly lowered to a single N.E.W.T. of DADA with a minimum score of Acceptable, the lowest passing grade.
That immediately eliminated most of my werewolf buddies in Lunar's Orchid since almost none of them officially sat in for testing. The ones with wands knew well enough how to use them, but due to the number of staggering laws stacked up against them, werewolves weren't normally allowed to take the O.W.L.s let alone N.E.W.T.s. It also took out any potential vampires Anyo wanted to throw under the bus which he was tragically disappointed by.
Odette did test the waters for some of her wizard and witches contacts but the ones that were smitten enough to do her bidding were too stupid. The smartest one scored a P in their DADA N.E.W.T.s and Odette warned me she had no expectations of them getting smarter in time.
I did try a couple of blackmails through my alias as Enáretos but, well... The reactions were startlingly similar to when Draco had me break his arm, so his team could avoid playing in bad weather. At the time I admired Draco's tenacity and was impressed by how far he was willing to go to avoid an unfavorable situation.
Evidently, that was the norm. Witches and wizards were totally okay to maim themselves to get out of something unpleasant. The few people I had contacted were suddenly thrown into comas that would last a year, or contracted a rare and dangerous illness that was super contagious and would also take about a year to treat.
I mean... By that point, I had to respect their determination to avoid the job.
'Course it made it a lot harder for me.
It took a week after the meeting with Dumbledore that I bit the bullet and reluctantly dug back into my savings. Kreacher had finished selling all the stuff I stole last summer and I made a decent profit off Lunar's Orchard so I was at a good amount, but it wasn't as much as I would have liked.
Surely, surely, there had to be at least one desperate witch or wizard that would risk the curse with enough money?
Time would tell.
With Dumbledore's elated permission—he smiled so happily at me when I suggested it—I put forward ads in dozens of publications across the world for the position.
Hopefully, I'd find a substitute before the summer ended and could get rid of Dolores Umbridge prior.
The BEST news I received that summer was when Sil let me know that she found something on my wish list. My darling House Elf at Lunar's Orchid had been doing such a marvelous job managing my home there, I was very grateful to have her. She and Kreacher got along well enough that there wasn't any dispute between them when I needed something done. My savings were kept at Lunar's Orchid, after all, so when I told Kreacher to use it he had to retrieve it from Sil.
Sil was a smart cookie and picked up managing finances well enough—I encouraged her to sit in on Muggle classes for it, as well as any subject that caught her fancy and she'd like to learn more about it. So far she had only listened in on investments, taxes, and managing finances, but I hoped one day she'd find something that'd spark her interest.
I had her do most of my shopping—Kreacher had the connections to sell underground, but Sil was better to use when purchasing items since no one would recognize her—and there was one item on my wish list for several years.
Calling it hard to find would have been an understatement. The creators were murdered before they could share how to replicate it, and a lot of them had been destroyed. What was available was either broken or extremely sought after and hard to find at a decent price. I was fine to steal it myself, but I'd have to find the right one in the first place.
Sil had found it—out of all places—in a Muggle market.
I couldn't believe it. Such a versatile and beloved item in a Muggle market! Used by some Muggles for cheap tricks until someone got too spooked and wanted to sell it. Sil bought it up right away.
A vanishing trunk.
The vanishing cabinet at Hogwarts was too big and bulky. But a trunk I could fit at the end of my bed?
Perfect.
Stash one in my room at Hogwarts, and the other at Lunar's Orchid. Instant transportation!
Now I just needed an easy excuse to stay holed up in my room all year so I could sneak out and experiment in my lab instead.
Or, even better, carry out with my Gentleman Rose thievery over the weekends instead! I couldn't do it often over the summer, and there were houses begging to be stolen from.
Oh, Magical Luck, please let me come up with an excellent reason to be holed up in my room for long periods of time and have no one bother me. Please.
Tom had graciously taken up being my private math tutor over the summer. Remus could not assist me in learning the necessary information for ritual magic, nor was anyone allowed over. Remus moved to Grimmauld's Place to begin assisting the Order—although Dumbledore made Sirius swear not to tell us any details. We would learn more about the situation after we were moved under the Fidelius and Harry learned Occlumency.
To my elated surprise, Harry was rather adept at learning Occlumency. All those years of spending his time sitting at home reading fantasy books gave him the discipline to sit still long enough to meditate. He had some romantic ideals about being able to battle people inside his mind so he was an eager beaver to learn.
During our lessons I also found out that Harry's scar had bothered him a couple of times in the year and he didn't tell me.
I hit him repeatedly in the arm for keeping that secret. He insisted he didn't want to stress me out while I was fighting dragons and shit. I hit him harder. He tried to snark back and honestly I really had no other choice but to fight him for my honor. Sirius broke us up after I got a clean kick in the groin.
Occlumency training was done in the morning after breakfast, then in the afternoons we went our separate ways. Since I had nothing else to do over the summer besides study that's what I ended up doing.
Or, well, not study so much as being tutored by Tom.
Who was extra smug about it.
Don't get me wrong, he was a damn good tutor (the bastard, couldn't he be bad at, like, at least one thing?), but holy smokes did he have an ego the size of the sun.
Oh well. At least he was pretty to look at.
Evenings turned into family time (Harry, Sirius,and I would watch movies or play a board game—and yes, I did get to listen to Tom make snarky comments throughout the whole experience) then at night I'd sneak out to fulfill my duty as Gentleman Rose.
All in all, a pretty good start to the summer.
(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*
"Right. Animagus," I repeated back. Harry and I were seated in the living room one lovely evening. Harry was getting extra antsy from being confined to the house for so long, Sirius decided it was time for us to officially transform. It had caught me off guard—Tom was in the middle of a long-winded lecture on harmonic equations—so it took me a few minutes to process what Sirius was saying.
"Both of you learned your forms at school, right?" Sirius wanted to confirm.
Harry nodded. "Yep!"
"Yeah," I answered, my face screwing up. "I didn't have time to practice though."
"That's fine. I'm going to assist both of you in transforming," Sirius said with an easy smile.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "You can do that?"
"Yep. Both of you focus on your forms and I'll do the casting. We'll do it a few times in the week until you get familiar with the sensation of transforming then you should be okay to do it on your own."
I cheered. "Heck yeah! Fluffy time!"
Harry and I exchanged high fives before taking a seat on the living floor. Sirius pulled out his wand.
"Ready?" he asked.
I concentrated on my form, closing my eyes. "Yep!"
There was a snap then a rush of—rush of—
It is a sensation as if I stood at the edge of a pit. I jumped into that pit and it was filled to the brim with warm, purring fur. Falling completely through the pit, I opened my eyes and found that I had considerably shrunk in size.
I stared down at the black paws on the carpet. Although I would no longer use two legs to walk around, the sensation did not feel odd. I expected the transition from human to animal would have been disorientating, or require an adjustment but I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong. The books described it as slipping into a coat that fit you perfectly, and that depiction was entirely accurate.
I hopped up, waving my tail around as I examined my body. Each movement came as naturally as breathing.
Then Harry let out the single most adorable little mew.
Instantly, I bounded over to my brother who had transformed into a black, fluffy Siberian kitten. As a red fox I was bigger, I was extra careful to nuzzle him. Harry chirped at me, his mews coming out in high-pitched trills as he eagerly nuzzled me back. A half whine escaped me as I squealed from how utterly adorable my brother had become.
I flopped over onto my back, wiggling around in delight. Harry's butt quivered in the air as he prepared to pounce upon me. Then he leaped up, landing softly on my white-furred belly, mewing in triumph. My tongue lolled out as I played dead, Harry mewing that he had slain me in one blow.
Sirius transformed into his animagus—a large black wolfhound—and flopped beside me.
I rolled over, knocking Harry off my stomach so I could pounce upon my godfather. Sirius was quick to react, jumping out of my way and letting out a playful growl.
Harry jumped onto my back, mewing at me to charge.
As you wish! I thought, yipping as I chased after Sirius.
Yes.
What a good way to start the summer.
(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*
Bucket List Completed:
54. Become an animagus
ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ
Welcome to year five. This is the year when things are taken up a notch. For my sensitive readers, please pay attention to any warnings issued at the top of the chapter.
As aptly put by Thomas Paine, "The cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf."
Answer: Invest in the Weasley joke shop. Then with whatever was left over, put that toward the necessary fees / licenses / buildings needed to own a pet griffin & hippogriff & wolfhalf & owlcat. Gimme the fluff and feathers.
Question: What would be your animagus form?
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