Sparks Fly || A George Weasley Story

Year 5: Not Just Men Who Are Dogs

A bright flash of lightning and thunder so loud that shook Hogwarts to its foundation. I sat up, not understanding how no one had been woken up by the sound as I had. But that was only the first thing that crossed my mind, what came next, and with more ferocity, was that tonight was the night. I had to drink that potion that had been brewing beneath my bed since the full moon in September. That one had been particularly rough on Heather. Remus had certainly handled it better, it almost made me want to believe what he told me about not really being a werewolf.

However, it wasn't the full moon yet, and this was the only chance that I would have before it came, I could feel it. So, I crept out of my bed, wondering whether or not I should wake Heather or not. If I took her with me, she'd be able to tell me what my form was, but without her, I'd have an easier time sneaking around. So, I decided that I was going to go by myself and just come back. She would need all the sleep she could get if the next transformation was as bad as the last one.

I knelt beside my bed, reaching under it and carefully pulled out the small cauldron as I tried to dig in my mind for the quickest way to get outside through the ways that Fred and George told me about. I really didn't want to be caught because if anyone found out that I was planning on becoming an unregistered animagus, they might expel me. What else would a girl be doing walking around the school with a cauldron in the middle of the night during a storm? McGonagall was an animagus for Merlin's sake, she would be able to sniff out my lie before it left my lips.

Doing my best to not wake anyone up, I made my way to the door, and thankfully managed not to spill any of the potion that I'd been working towards for almost three months now. I'd started holding the mandrake leaf in my mouth back in July. I'd had to start over with September because I hadn't put the leaf in my mouth the night of the full moon on which Heather was turned. Then, there was the getting up at sunrise and making sure to remember to say the incantation at sundown. This had been a very agonizing process over the last week or so because I hadn't really felt like doing anything. But, the time was finally here, and I was hoping with every fiber of my being that this wouldn't mess up.

According to my textbook, if done incorrectly, this spell could result in the most terrifying ways. I could end up as a half human, half animal for the rest of my life. If I didn't know what I wanted to do right now, there was no telling what would happen to my options if I ended up stuck with paws for the rest of my life. Maybe I could join one of those muggle freakshows, are those still a thing?

This is no time to be afraid. I had to do this for Heather, because it was all my fault that she was in this predicament to begin with. Should I be beating myself up for saving her life, I didn't know the answer to that. It was one of those things that didn't really have an answer besides, I have to do this.

So, as I slipped out of a small opening in the side of the castle, finding myself somehow out of view of both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers. The rain was coming down in sheets, and I pulled my top over my cauldron so that the rain wouldn't get into my potion and give me cat ears and a tail for the rest of my life. I hurried over to the tree nearby, making sure to check that it wasn't the weeping willow in hopes of some protection from the rain.

It was freezing out here, and my clothes were already soaked through. I was shivering and it took everything in me to keep my teeth from chattering. However, I was here, and I was dedicated to this, so I looked up at the sky as a bright flash of lightning lit up the castle, giving it an eerie look, and took a deep breath.

"Amato Animo Animato Animagus!" I shouted, bringing the cauldron up to my lips and proceeding to chug the entire cauldron of potion.

As soon as I swallowed the last drop, the ingredients came rushing back into my mind: my own hair, a leaf I'd carried around in my mouth for a whole month, dew off the ground, and a moth chrysalis. I started gagging, my body wanting to rid itself of those things that threatened to change it. I wasn't sure how all of this was going to work, but I knew that I had to believe that it was going to work, or else, it wouldn't. Intention was everything, and you can't have proper intention of you didn't believe.