Scars: Scars Saga 1

Kate Potter

Chapter 24: Kate Potter

The very skies were black with shame

As near my moment drew

-Bastard by Robert William Service

Death did not come quickly, or at all. It seems I was not meant to die just then. After a few hours, maybe it was only minutes, it's hard to say, the man left. I was left seizing on the floor. I knew just what he had cast on me: the Cruciatus Curse.

Thought after thought raced through my mind, broken images that didn't make sense. Sirius turned into a crazed animal that attacked everything. I saw James laughing cruelly over a mangled body. Peter held me close and kissed me with great passion. Remus lay dead with a blank look in his eyes.

Over and over these images played through my mind before they all became contorted and unrecognizable. All the while I continued to shake uncontrollably.

One image persisted over all the others. One image remained unchanged: a large, muscular, black car. It was more than just a cat though; it was a great a cat, a leopard. Her spots were visible when viewed at the proper angle and in the proper light. She came bounding in to each image, persistently. Steadily she was growing larger, becoming stronger until hers was the only image I saw.

I focused on her. I focused on how she moved. I focused on the way she flicked her tail. I imagined the way the ground would feel beneath her velvety paws, or the way the wind rushed by her when she ran.

Slowly I could feel my body changing. My legs were becoming shorter but  stronger, and they were curving at a different angle. My back lengthened as my head and my neck came down level to it. I sprouted a tail out of my...tail. My ears shifted on my head and became rounder. And whiskers grew out the side of my nose. Perhaps best of all though, the pain weakened considerably.

While in the form of one's Animagus, one takes on all aspects of their animal: what they like to eat, how they like to eat, what they think, and how they feel. A leopard's pain receptors are different than a human's, meaning the same injury won't affect them quite the same way. The Cruciatus Curse is mostly a mental thing. It causes very little physical damage, but it can destroy the mind if used persistently.

While in my Animagus form, my mind, my emotions were simplified. The change allowed me time to heal the broken images and set them straight. It allowed me time to regain control.

After lying there for a while, I sat on my hind legs. My tail curled around me. I took in the room with my cat eyes, hoping to see some weakness my human eyes had missed. I saw nothing.

My ear twitched. What was that noise? It was a low whistling sound mixed with a soft hum. My ears stood erect as I listened. I began to follow it. It was coming from the bathroom. I pushed the door open with my nose. It was air, a small stream of air. I could almost feel it move my fur.

I sniffed around the room until I detected the source. The air was coming from behind the water basin I used to wash my body. I pushed it aside and discovered an air vent. I could sense the magic was weakest here. Of course the vent was too small to crawl through, even in my human body. Still, I had found my way out.

Digging out the vent wasn't easy, even in my Animagus form. The barrier still hurt, but my paws were tougher than my hands. I could feel the magic give way, little by little, but I began to wonder if it would be enough. Even if I got out of the room, what would I do after that? I'd still have to escape from the rest of the house; I may need help in that area. Or rather, I might need help fighting the man and woman. If only there as some way I could get a message out or send some sort of signal.