Harry Potter: 19 Years Later

Chapter 40: Transformation In Transfiguration

When Rose woke up the following morning, she couldn't help but sigh happily as she realized her loving boyfriend was lying beside her. Scorpius looked as peaceful as a small child in his sleep, his mouth opened slightly as he snored quietly. Rose breathed in his scent, the faint aroma of his shampoo filling her nostrils. She really didn't want to get up and begin her day. A whole day of sleeping next to Scorpius sounded heavenly.

Slowly, Rose let her eyes shut again and she cuddled closer to Scorpius's body. About a second later, she felt his chest rumble as he chuckled and muttered, "I saw you staring at me."

Rose immediately blushed. "Sorry."

She glanced up at Scorpius and saw him gazing down at her. The morning sunlight shone through the window and onto his blonde eyelashes, making them appear golden. His gray eyes were droopy from sleep, so he vigorously rubbed them to rid of the tiredness. Rose thought Scorpius looked adorable in the morning. And that morning voice...

"What time is it?" Scorpius asked, yawning and sitting up on the mattress, which was still situated on the floor of the previously wrecked room.

Rose glanced at the wall. The clock was fortunately still intact after the accident yesterday, and read 7:45 a.m.

"Oh my goodness!" Rose exclaimed. "We have fifteen minutes until class!"

Upon hearing this, Scorpius's eyes widened in shock and he instantly flipped off the bed and dashed to his wardrobe, pulling out random parts of his school uniform. Rose giggled at his sudden rush of energy, and then felt it herself when she realized she had less than fifteen minutes to make herself look decent for the day. She rushed out of the room and down the steps until she made it down to the common room, then darted up the other set of steps up to the girls dormitories. The bathroom was full, and Rose knew she wouldn't have time to brush her teeth and freshen up. Luckily she knew a charm to instantly clean her hair, face, and teeth.

Seven minutes later Rose was down in the common room, where Scorpius was standing there waiting for him. His shirt was wrinkled and his hair was sticking up in random places, but they didn't have time for Rose to force him to go back upstairs and fix himself. The halls were full of bustling students rushing to get to class, so it took even longer for Rose and Scorpius to make it down to the first floor where the Transfiguration classroom was. Then Rose thought about McGonagall and how she and Scorpius agreed they'd talk to her this morning about the strange things going on with Albus and Holly. Maybe they could talk to her after Transfiguration.

Finally, the two made it to the Transfiguration classroom with about five minutes to spare. Rose sat in her seat and tried the catch her breath. She was never almost late to a class, so the rush this morning was pretty overwhelming.

Holly walked in, with three minutes to spare, with a happy smile on her face like she didn't have a care in the world. She sat at the table in front of Rose and Scorpius and greeted them as she sat down. Rose noticed that the seat beside Holly was empty, which belonged to Albus.

"Holly, is Albus alright?" Rose asked her best friend curiously.

"Oh, yes, he's much better than he was. Madame Carmine just wanted to keep him in the hospital wing one more day. He should be back in his classes tomorrow," explained Holly. Rose nodded in understanding.

Professor McGonagall strolled into the classroom, signaling that class has begun. Everyone hushed as she leaned against her desk, ready to discuss what the lesson would be.

"Good morning class," she said. "Today will be a simple day. I want you all to read chapter 36 on page 419, then afterwards write an essay on the main difference between Transfiguration and the Animagus transformation. It is due at the end of class."

After McGonagall explained the instructions, she walked over to the blackboard and wrote down the chapter and page number. Rose was already three pages into the chapter about Animagi, and found herself entranced by the information. She wondered what it would be like to have the ability to transform into any animal she wanted at will. Then she remembered the story Uncle Harry once told her about the Marauders, James Potter (Uncle Harry's father), Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Rose recalled from the story that the Marauders were all unregistered Animagi.

Rose, whose attention was not on chapter 36 in the Transfiguration textbook anymore, suddenly was daydreaming about transforming into a free, soaring bird. She pictured herself growing long, majestic wings and feathers that would help her soar through the sky. The image was enticing and thrilling to her. With each passing second, she wanted to become a bird more and more. Oh, how she wanted to fly!

Then, a funny feeling started to overcome Rose. Her vision became clouded and discolored, like she was looking through water. Rose's head and body felt lighter, feeling like she could easily float to the ceiling. Her hearing became sharper and every sound around her felt closer than they seemed. Voices in the classroom were calling to her, but she felt no need to answer to them.

Every time Rose moved her head, it jerked like the movement was shocking her. She looked down and noticed that everyone was towering over her, like she had shrunk. No, she was already shrinking. That was the funny feeling that was taking over her body. Rose felt as light as a feather now.

Speaking of feathers...

Her body didn't feel like it was covered with skin anymore, but instead feathers, nor was her hair flowing down her back and shoulders. She tried speaking, but her voice didn't come out. She squawked. Rose finally realized what had happened. Glancing down at herself, she squawked again in horror.

Rose had turned into some sort of large bird.

As if on instinct, she flapped her wings as she panicked. McGonagall rushed over to her, confusion and shock evident on her face. Rose couldn't decipher what she was saying; every individual voice in the room sounded like they were screaming. Her wings continued to flap, until Rose felt herself rising into the air. Now she was flying!

The distance between her and the ground grew, and Rose felt the urge to fly around the room. It felt incredible to fly. Her thoughts about being a bird had somehow made her literally transform into one. How was this possible? It scared Rose at how much she wanted to fly out the window and soar far, far away from Hogwarts.

"Rose!"

Rose was able to pick out who had called her. It was Scorpius. He was waving his arms in the air trying to get her attention. His quick arm movements certainly caught her eye. She flew like a torpedo towards Scorpius, until she used her talons to land on his shoulder.

"OW!" Scorpius yelped, though Rose didn't notice how sharp her talons were. She was drawn to Scorpius now more than she was to the idea of flying out the window.

"Mr. Malfoy, quickly! Lead Miss Weasley to the middle of the classroom!" McGonagall shouted. Rose could barely hear her over the voices of the panicking students.

Scorpius began walking slowly to the center of the classroom, with Rose still clamped onto his shoulder. She accidentally squawked again. Then she heard McGonagall yell something while pointing her wand, and Rose saw a flash of blue and white before she felt a warm sensation hit her. She knew she'd been hit with a spell. Almost instantaneously, Rose lost her balance and fell off of Scorpius's shoulder and onto the floor.

The last thing she remembered before her vision finally blacked out and she fainted was the feeling of her body growing in size again, and each of her senses returning to normal.

~ ~ ~

Holy crap, this chapter was crazy! I can't believe this story is 40 chapters long!

This chapter required a good bit of research on Animagi and Transfiguration on Harry Potter Wiki, so I feel pretty good about the material. I hope you enjoyed!

Please vote and comment! Thanks for reading!