*Gobbledygook*
~Parseltongue~
-January 4th, 994-
Alex stepped into the courtyard that they used for their lessons with Merlin, finding the warlock waiting for them in the centre of the courtyard, sitting cross legged on the ground. They approached him quickly and gracefully sat down opposite, their legs crossed much like his were.
"Good morning young one," Merlin greeted; he had slowly stopped using little one now as they grew older and taller.
"Good morning old one," they replied with a respectful nod towards him.
"Today we are going to be accessing your Animagus form. You have studied the theory behind the transformation and have gone through all the motions needed to access your form and now all you need to do is find your form and then complete the transformation. That is what we are going to be doing today," Merlin said.
"Doesn't the transformation take years to complete?" Alex asked.
"It would for most. However, your mental discipline from all your work with Mind magics, and your connection with your magic, I believe you should be able to complete the transformation before the end of the day."
"Ok. How do I find my form?"
"You have studied the theory. How do you think you go about it?" Merlin replied and Alex fell silent to think back to what they knew about the transformation.
"Meditation? Your inner animal, which is your animagus form, is hidden deep inside you, in both deep parts of your mind, almost your subconscious, and in your magical core," they suggested.
"Correct. You have to mediate like you would to enter your mind and then take it to a deeper level, to find your inner animal." Alex nodded and closed their eyes, their hands resting on their knees, palms up. They slowed their breathing and let a sense of calm envelope them before sinking into their mind. They continued with that sense of calm and, rather than taking form in their mind and moving into their mindscape, they allowed themself to sink even deeper into their mind, to a level even deeper than their surface mind and their mindscape. They felt their magic slowly release from where they kept it tightly restrained around their body, absently noticing it flowing around the room as they let their consciousness search out their core being, where their inner animal resided. A bright light seemed to overtake the darkness that they had found themselves in. When the brightness started to recede, they found multiple animals surrounding them.
The first animal they saw, just right of directly in front of them, was a panther. The panther was large and pitch black, with bright green eyes the same shade as theirs were. They studied the panther even closer, watching as it moved and stretched, the small amount of light surrounding the animal reflecting off the panther's black fur to give it an almost blue sheen. The panther seemed to hold a graceful air around it, and Alex could easily see the strong muscles the panther possessed as it moved and stretched.
Alex turned their attention to the second animal, just left of directly in front of them. It was a phoenix. The phoenix was a brilliant red, the feathers the same shade as their hair, with a few feathers of gold, silver, and the occasional black scattered through the plumage. The beak was a gold that matched the gold feathers, and the feet were a silver that matched the silver feathers. The black eyes seemed to glint with hidden knowledge and power, even as flames flared around it every now and then.
They then turned their attention to the third creature. Curled up in a tight coil directly in front of them but a small distance behind the panther and phoenix was a snake. They watched the snake, the serpent seeming to watch them in turn. The snake was a deep emerald on top, but Alex could see a mix of black, silver, and gold scales covering the snake's belly. The snake seemed to yawn, exposing sharp fangs that Alex was sure could inject venom if the snake so desired.
They spent a few minutes examining each of their animals in great detail, moving around them to take in every side. They were sure that both the panther and snake could be extremely deadly if they desired, and the phoenix could match them in ferocity with its sharp beak and claws if provoked. Once they were sure that they knew each of their animals, they slowly pulled back. Their consciousness drifted up so that they reached their surface mind and their mindscape. From there, they pulled out of their mind, blinking as they came back to the present; they could be both in their mind and still aware of their surroundings, but not with the level of their mind they had retreated to.
"How did it go young one?" Merlin asked, noticing them come back to the present.
"Good. How rare is it to have more than one form? I remember reading that it was possible, but it was only briefly mentioned as possible."
"It is rare. Especially because many who would have the ability don't attempt the transformation, so they never know that they have more than one form. But no one has ever had more than two that I know of. If you have two forms, I will not be surprised. Most who have two forms always either have a combined or open core. Since you have an open core, I am not surprised if you have two," Merlin explained.
"That makes sense, and I do have more than one. But I saw three animals."
"Three? What three?"
"A panther, with bright green eyes and fur so black that sometimes the fur looked blue. A phoenix, with red feathers the colour of my hair and gold, silver, and black feathers scattered throughout the plumage. And a snake, I couldn't tell what type, of a deep emerald with black, silver, and gold scales on the stomach."
"A panther is not unusual, and I feel suits you. You are incredibly graceful and quick on your feet. You can be incredibly dangerous if you chose to be and are not afraid of going an extra distance to achieve your goal, and you are an inspiration to many who you interact with. You have an innate strength in you, in both character, body, mind, and heart, and have learnt to rely on yourself.
"A phoenix, again, suits you. And I am not surprised that you have a magical creature as a form. Only those with an orange or white core have ever been seen to have a magical form. A phoenix represents those pure of heart, someone who will protect the innocence, even if that brings harm to themself or leads them to harm in doing so. They are powerful in magic, mind, body, and spirit, and are loyal to those who have gained their trust. And they are incredibly kind and compassionate creatures who want to heal and protect more than harm.
"As to your third form, I am unsure how you have a snake as an animagus form. I have never heard of a case where someone had a form of a snake. However, I can still tell you why a snake fits your personality. You are cunning, sly, and sneaky, able to slip out of many difficult situations. You prefer to escape a confrontation when possible. However, if cornered or provoked you will attack and be a highly aggressive, fierce, and deadly force, and not back down." Alex considered what Merlin had said before nodding. Everything he had said seemed to fit them and their personality.
"Could the fact that I'm a Parselmouth have influenced my forms and given me my snake form?"
"It could have done. Parselmouths are rare, as you know, and normally extremely secretive. The only Parselmouth that I know of is Salazar, who has no desire to complete the animagus transformation. However, the source of your form doesn't change the fact that you have three forms, three different animals you can change into," Merlin said. "You have studied the transformation and the theory behind how you change into your form."
Alex nodded again and shifted so they were in a crouched position rather than a seated position, knowing that that position would be easier to transform from. They reached into their core and to the place they had found their animals, slowly using their magic to coax their panther forward and towards the surface. They felt their limbs start to change and ignored the weird feeling, focusing fully on coaxing their panther to the surface. Their magic spread out across their body, not just underneath their skin but above it as well as their panther finally reached their surface mind and took its place, moving forward a bit more until it was at the very front of their mind and the transformation had fully occurred.
Alex shifted around, getting used to the movement of four legs rather than two. They stretched and walked around the courtyard, getting used to their new form. They could feel the mind of a panther fusing with their human mind, could feel the instincts and thinking patterns of the panther becoming more prominent. They continued getting used to their new form even as they also worked to combine their animal instincts and thought processes with their human ones, without allowing the animal mind to overtake the human mind. They half entered their mindscape and duplicated the main room of their mindscape, putting three smaller duplicate rooms coming off that main room, making sure the new rooms didn't disrupt the other rooms in their mindscape.
In one of the new rooms, they started organising their new thought patterns, instincts, and thought processes into the room to prevent the panther mind overtaking the human mind. The animal mind taking over the human mind was one of the biggest risks of the animagus transformation; if the two minds weren't cohesive and fused together, then the animal mind could completely overpower the human mind, which basically killed the wixen and left them completely as the animal.
Once their panther mind was fully integrated into their mindscape, they came to a stop in front of Merlin and slowly pushed the panther away from the front of their mind and into the room set aside specifically for the panther. As the panther disappeared from the forefront of their mindscape, they slowly shifted back to human and back to their crouched position in front of Merlin.
They repeated the same process with their other two forms, first the snake and then the phoenix; Merlin had suggested doing the phoenix transformation last since changing into a magical creature was harder than a non-magical creature, with the magical creature being more intelligent and complex, making the transition, especially in the mind, a harder process. Each time, they moved around the courtyard, getting used to their new body while simultaneously organising the new room in their mind to integrate each animal into their mindscape.
By the time they had finished that, they still had some time left for their lesson with Merlin. So Merlin suggested that they practice shifting forms so that they could do it seamlessly, rather than the slow transformation that was their first transformation. So that's what they did, practicing calling the animal from its room in their mind and to the front of their mind, their body transforming at the same time. They had gotten the shift to only a second or two by the end of the lesson, and Merlin was smiling with pride.
"Well done young one. I had no doubt that you would manage it. When you have free time this week, practice shifting while moving or from one animal to another without having to switch back to human," Merlin suggested.
"I will. I'll see you tonight."
"Tomorrow. I have work to do today that will take me out of the castle today."
"Alright then. I hope your work is successful and I'll see you tomorrow," Alex said, gracefully rising to their feet and waving before heading towards the forest where they had most of their lessons with Ric, since it taught them to use their surroundings as well as their magic and physical capabilities; today they had Offensive and Defensive magics. They easily found the clearing that they used for lessons with Ric and lent back against a tree to wait for him to arrive – he had a lesson with the apprentices before his lesson with them.
Less than a minute after they had arrived, Alex decided to use their time productively and keep practising with their animagus form. They wanted to keep the fact that they had more than one form a secret from the others, for now at least, so decided against shifting between animals when Ric could arrive at any time. Instead, they shifted into their panther form and bounded up the tree they had been leaning against, practising transforming between panther and human as they climbed their way through the trees around the clearing.
They had only spent around 5 minutes in the trees before Ric appeared, seemingly in a hurry if the way he jogged into the clearing was anything to go by. They watched from the tree they were perched in as he looked around the clearing, his confusion written all over his face; they understood why though, since they had never been late to a lesson and always beat him there when he had a session with the apprentices beforehand. They decided to show themself, eager for the lesson to start, and did so by jumping out of the tree they were perched in, landing in a crouched position, having transformed back into human as they landed.
They laughed at Ric's reaction to their appearance as they rose to their feet from the crouching position; he had jumped and let out a noise of surprise that was a mix of a squeak, a squeal, and a yell, while at the same time pulling his sword from its scabbard on his waist and falling into a fighting stance.
"Hey Ric. I mastered the animagus transformation with Merlin today," they said with a smile.
"I did notice that Flame," Ric replied, sheathing his sword, and relaxing from his fighting stance.
"Yeah. I'm a panther. What are we doing today?"
"Today I'm going to start teaching you how to apply the Fundamental magics in an offensive of defensive way," Ric said, before launching into an explanation of exactly what they were going to be learning and how the Fundamentals could be used to defend yourself or to attack a threat.
Alex and Godric headed up to lunch together, after Alex had convinced Ric to keep their successful transformation a secret from the others, at least until dinner that night so they had a chance to tell the others themself, before going separate ways; Godric to his next session with the apprentices, and Alex to their next lesson, this one with Helga in the Hospital Wing for a healing session. They had reached a stage in their healing lessons where they simply helped out in the hospital wing with whatever was happening – whether that was restocking supplies, healing small injuries from the apprentices, healing injuries from a duel, passing out potions for an illness, or anything else that needed to be done.
"Today's a slow day and I'm almost done with a stock check X," Helga called from the supply cupboard. They joined her in there to see what she had already listed as needing to be topped up.
"Do I need to get anything Hel?"
"So far everything is pretty well stocked apart from phoenix tears. Can you pop over to Godric's quarters and see if Fawkes is willing to donate some more?" Helga asked.
"I can probably get them easier than that," Alex replied. "I just need you to collect them."
Helga turned around to ask what they meant just in time to see them transform into their phoenix form. She blinked in shock before collecting a handful of small tubes specifically for phoenix tears from the supply cupboard. As Helga held the first tube under one of their eyes, they started quietly singing like they had seen Fawkes do, trailing off as tears started to fall from their eyes. They continued crying until Hel had filled each of the tubes with the precious tears. While Helga returned the now full tubes to the supply cupboard, Alex shifted back to human.
"You completed the transformation?" Helga asked. Alex nodded.
"Just this morning with Merlin," they confirmed. The two of them weren't able to continue talking after that though, as two of the apprentices hurried into the Hospital Wing, a third apprentice lying on a floating stretcher beside them, and they both hurried to help.
After their shift in the Hospital Wing with Helga, Alex headed down to the dungeons for their Parselmagic lesson with Sal. They smirked slightly as an idea came to mind about how to tell Salazar about their newest achievement, smoothly transforming into their snake form as they entered Sal's personal chambers where they had their Parselmagic lessons; they were there before Sal, since he had a potions session with some of the apprentices before their lesson. They curled up on the couch while waiting for Salazar to finish with the apprentices. When Salazar entered his chambers, Alex watched him look around for them before his eyes fell on them curled up on the couch. He paused for a second, but otherwise didn't react.
~Hello Little Snake,~ he hissed, as if it was an everyday occurrence to find them waiting for him as a snake.
~Hello Zar,~ they replied.
~I see you have gotten your animagus transformation. Little Snake and Snakelet suit you even better now.~ Alex transformed back to human and grinned.
"Yeah. Merlin doesn't know how I got a snake form, but he thinks what it represents suits me. We put it down to me being a Parselmouth."
"That sounds like a reasonable conclusion, but I can't say that that is definitely why. Now, today we're starting healing spells that are specific to Parseltongue."
Alex headed over to Rena's study after their lesson with Sal, Rena's study being where they conducted their language classes. They used to have shorter lessons in each of the different things they were learning, which meant they had a lesson for magical language and human language each day, but now they only had two of each language lessons a week, with the lessons being much longer.
Today was a review lesson for the various magical languages that Row had taught them, and the two of them simply sat in the study talking about their days, switching languages a lot; they had a game to see if they could continue talking without replying to each other in the same language or a language used in the last three switches – it was harder than it seemed, especially because there was some languages that Alex was just so much more comfortable with, such as Gobbledygook and Fae, and there was some languages that they really struggled with, such as Jotun and Genomon. During their talk, Alex mentioned having mastered their animagus transformation, which Row congratulated them on. They also mentioned how they had used it to surprise Ric during their lessons, but didn't mention what their form actually was, and Rena didn't ask.
Rowena and Alex headed down to the Great Hall for dinner together after their talk, the others already there waiting for them; they often went overtime while talking, while the others lessons with the apprentices had a definite finishing time. Dinner was uneventful, as most of their meals were – the apprentices coming and going throughout the meal time at the smaller tables throughout the hall – until Ric brought up how they had surprised him with their animagus form.
"I didn't get a good look at them, but their panther seemed very fierce and graceful."
"Panther?" Helga asked. "They're not a panther. X showed me their form, and they are definitely a phoenix. They helped me stock up on phoenix tears without having to ask Fawkes for some during their shift in the Hospital Wing."
"No, Emerald is definitely a Panther. I know I didn't see their form for long, but I at least did see that they were a panther, which they also confirmed."
"I was actually under the impression that Snakelet was actually a snake since I found them waiting for me as a snake before our lesson today," Salazar said calmly. The three of them went back and forth about what creature their form was, while Rowena turned to them, where they were watching the small argument with a small smile.
*Multiple forms hatchling?* Rowena asked quietly, switching to Gobbledygook to prevent the others from listening in; they could all speak it, not fluently, but just enough for interactions with the goblins at Gringotts, so they wouldn't be able to follow the conversation between Rowena and Alex without serious concentration.
*Yep. Three forms. A panther, a phoenix, and a snake. Old Man wasn't surprised by me having multiple forms or having a magical creature because of my core colour and type.*
*Yes, I can see that. But three rather than two?*
*Merlin and I think it's because I'm a Parselmouth and that that gave me the extra snake form.*
*That does make sense,* Rowena agreed, before turning to the other three sitting at the table.
"Maybe you three could just ask the Hatchling what their form is, rather than arguing over it," she suggested.
"We were not arguing Rowena. We were simply discussing the topic," Salazar said.
"It is a good idea Rena," Helga said. "What is your form X, if you don't mind me asking."
"Can I show you?" Alex asked. They had an idea how to show them, but they weren't entirely sure it would work – they could hope though.
"Go ahead Flame," Godric agreed. They stood from the table and stepped out a bit so they had room to transform and would be visible to their four mentors. They let out a breath and called up their panther, feeling the animal slink out of its room and to the front of their mind as their magic surfaced and changed their body to that of their panther.
"See. I told you they're a panther," Godric said as Alex started to move, crouching down and calling upon their phoenix, wanting to shift directly between animals. They jumped up slightly as their phoenix surfaced and their panther was forced back into its room, completing the transformation between panther and phoenix while in mid-air, flapping their wings to stay in the air. The four at the table watched them as they flew over to the table and perched on the back of Sal's chair, Salazar turning to keep them in sight. They let out a trill before calling up their snake and gently pushing their phoenix away, shifting to their snake form and winding themself down Salazar's arm.
~Multiple forms. Very impressive Little Snake.~ Alex slithered off Sal and on to the ground before shifting back.
"Thank you, Sal," they said as the others just watched them, seemingly in shock.
"You're just full of surprises, aren't you Emerald," Godric said when he shook his shock off.
"I like to think so," they replied, flashing the Gryffindor Lord a smirk before wiping their face and sitting down, making sure to keep that memory in an easily accessible place in their mindscape; the reactions to their forms had been brilliant.