A Lion's Honor & Pride (Harry Potter) (Under Editing)

Chapter Sixteen: Animagi

In no time at all, Defense Against the Dark Arts had become most people's favorite class. But no one else cared that Professor Lupin's robes were patched and frayed. His next few lessons were just as interesting as the first. After Boggarts, they studied Red Caps, nasty little goblin-like creatures that lurked wherever there had been bloodshed, in the dungeons of castles and the portholes of deserted battlefields, waiting to bludgeon those who had got lost. From Red Caps, they moved on to Kappas, creepy water-dwellers that looked like scaly monkeys, with webbed hands itching to strangle unwitting waders in their ponds.
But Snape was in a particularly hasty mood these days, and no one was in any doubt why. The story of the Boggart assuming Snape's shape, and the way that Neville had dressed it in his grandmother's clothes, had travelled through the school like wildfire. Snape didn't seem to find it funny. His eyes flashed menacingly at the very mention of Professor Lupin's name, and he was bullying Neville worse than ever. But he surprisingly calm down whenever he comes across Ariana and started acting better from his earlier moods.

Ariana slipped into Ancient Runes without even a glance at Hermione. Hermione has been extremely cranky and was keeping to herself throughout the weeks of school. So, Ariana has decided to sit down with Harry, Devin, Jaxon, Neville, and Conor.
Ariana's musings were cut short as Professor Babbling started handing back their homework assignments. She smiled to see an E on top of the paper. It really was amazing that preparing just a little for the class made everything just a little bit easier.
Once all of the homework had been returned, Professor Babbling introduced the subject of the Agrippan method of Ancient Runes where each letter is assigned by picking which rune they liked the most. After explaining the concept, each of the students carefully picked out for their assignment.
"Very well," Professor Babbling said as she walked around the room checking everyone's work. "For your homework assignment, I would like you to write about yourself. Don't be afraid to write about what you like or dislike. The runes would will help you reflect which part of you reflects yourself. I expect no more than four numbers in your essay. You may start now."
As all of the students started working on their assignments, Conor noticed Hermione's hair was becoming frizzy with stress and saw dark colors underneath her eyes from her lack of sleep. She's been overworking herself in her selected studies.
Harry looked up slightly to see a small note has lightly landed in front of him as he finished writing his answers regarding his respective runes.
Harry tore it open at once. It said, in a very quick scrawl:
"It's almost time for it happen. The potion is almost completely ready. — J."
Harry picked up his quill, and wrote down: "Let's get ready. I'll see you later. — H" on the back of the note, and sent it back to Jaxon secretly without the professor noticing.
When class was over, Harry carefully set the spell to dry his ink and carefully rolled up his scroll. He was actually surprised that he was almost done with the assignment. Glancing out the window, he made a face. It was raining again – honestly, practicing Quidditch in the rain wasn't one of his favorite things to do. But, by night hours, he and his friends will get to work.

In the Room of Requirement, Ariana and her friends were getting ready for their secret project. They already knew that Harry is a natural Animagus through his late father, who hasn't registered himself as a stag Animagus to help one of his werewolf friends. But since Conor was bitten by Greyback, they decided to keep him company with his transformations. Elijah has decided to help them make the potion, since he's the best in their year and has sworn to secrecy for them.
"Now that we all have the ingredients, let's start brewing the animagus potion," Elijah said as he accepted the mandrake leaf from Devin.
The five of the Marauders nodded in understanding as Elijah revealed the purpose behind their gathering of ingredients. The five Animagus potions was a complex and powerful magical concoction that allowed a witch or wizard to transform into an animal at will. It was a rare and advanced form of magic, and the thought of having an ability like that is a welcomed trait they would love to have at their disposal.
With Elijah's help, they began the long process of brewing the Animagus potion for the five other Marauders. The Marauders dedicated themselves to mastering the spellwork and would sometimes help with whatever Elijah needed as they each worked on the potion.
As the weeks passed, their respective progresses steadily became perfect. Their respective talents and hunger for adventure made them promising for becoming Animagi. They each decided to register themselves after they were done with their school years.
Ariana had took out an Animagus book to help them figure out what type of creature that they might turn into. They around knew that Harry was a natural Animagus, a great stag, much like his late father. But to the rest of them were an unknown mystery.
"Okay, this book should help us identify ourselves of what type of Animagus we might become," said Ariana.
As she pulled out her book, it's a thick, navy blue book with silver trims. On the cover were two rings, the outer one has intricate designs while the center ring depicted a lavish landscape of vibrant green mountains, colorful trees with purple and blue hues, and on the side of the image was a butterfly, it's wings adorned with luminescent patterns that made it pop. Around the circles were six gemstones; gold, silver, amethyst, emerald, pearl, and sapphire.
When Ariana opened the book, she landed on the first page. The illustrations were unlike the ones they had seen on the tapestry. They weren't stylized or exaggerated in any way. These images looked as real and accurate as Jaxon's drawings, only with color that seemed to pop right out of the page like iridescent butterflies.
Harry pulled out a piece of paper and a quill to write down everyone's personality while Ariana gets ready to read from her book.
"Neville." Harry locked eyes with the nervous boy. "I know that you're friendly and brave. You're loyal and have a knowledge regarding plants."
"And I know that I want to be a Healer one day," added Neville.
"It says here that there's a chance that you'll going to become an Elk Animagus," informed Ariana.
"Really?" Neville smiled brightly at that.
"Jaxon." Harry nodded to Jaxon. "You're friendly and brave too. But you're both mischievous and talented with magic."
"I want to be a great Auror one day and capture those good for nothing Death Eaters," added Jaxon fiercely.
Ariana hummed softly as she went back a page and found the information she was looking for. "It says here you might become a Dog Animagus."
"Sounds fun!" Jaxon grinned excitedly at the sound of that.
"Devin." Harry exchanged a smile with Devin. "You're brave and valorous, with great intuition and confidence as well as being kind and protective."
"Sounds about right." Devin gave a proud smirk to Ariana, who had rolled her eyes at him.
She started searching for Devin's unknown Animagus till she found it. "Found it. It says here that he might become a Lion Animagus." Surprisingly, she mentally added.
Harry smiled at Ariana while Conor took a turn with the book, so he could guess what type of Animagus she might become.
"Ari." Harry gave her a calming smile. "You're pretty bold and sarcastic. But at time, you're also strong-willed and rebellious at times."
"This page has mentioned that Ariana might become a Lioness Animagus," informed Conor.
"That fits perfectly." Devin leaned against Ariana, causing her to shudder slightly as he lightly touched her and yet tried to ignore him.
The four of them had started to chant the incantation Amato Animo Animato Animagus with the tip of their wands placed over their hearts. Ariana could have sworn that she had felt a second heartbeat in her chest as she continued the Animagus incantation.