11 Transfiguration

"When does the next class start?" Hermione's question slashes through the silence and knocks me out of my reading trance.

'In a little bit, we should get going,' I respond after comparing my pocket watch and timetable.

"Why do you have a pocket watch and how is it working?" Her question is only met with a facepalm as her mouth stays slightly open. This is going to be so much writing! Giving her a pained expression, I get to work on my response.

'To answer your first question, my wrist is way too small and too sensitive to have a watch so I use the pocket watch my Father had lying around. As to the second question, what?'

"Well according to Hogwarts, a History, electronics and the like don't work in places abundant with magical energy, Hogwarts being one of them. So wouldn't that mean that watches shouldn't be able to work?" Her tone only gets more and more uncertain as she continues to ramble.

Not wanting to write anymore, I set The Therapeutic Properties of Boggarts and walk to the window. Giving her a blank stare, I point to the massive clocktower in the middle of the courtyard.

Blush paints her face as she scrambles to pack up and tries to desperately change the subject, "What's your next class?"

'Transfiguration,' letting her change the conversation, we move to the Librarian's desk and check out our books.

'What room is this in?' Handing my timetable to Irma Pince, I point to my next class.

"Room 1B, you can get there through the courtyard. Now, don't you dare return those books in anything less than prime condition, or else the consequences will be as disastrous as I can make them." Grateful to meet another bibliophile, I give her a smile and a head nod.

Whispers continue to follow me through the shining day as I avoid the broken step and make my way to the courtyard. One of the summer's last breaths hits me as I enter the courtyard. Well-maintained vines spiral down the pillars holding up the overhang, protecting the walkway as it hugs the castle. Other walkways branched off as they slithered through the grass, all connecting to the Clocktower in the middle.

Thank Merlin for the shade; I sigh in relief. It's not like Vampires die in the sun; well, they do. What I mean is I don't die in the sun; it just feels like it. Taking the long way, I follow the wall and check every room for Classroom 1B. Unlike the DADA room, 1B's windows hung high, letting only light and the blue sky through. Magic filled the walls detailed with pillared arches. The three rows of desks are spaced far apart, filling up the room but still allowing for cages, bookshelves, chalkboards, and… are those golden cat statues?

Across the curved cornered room sits Professor McGonagall's desk filled with only a small number of nicknacks. Grabbing a seat near the front, an interesting sight catches my eye. Sitting tall and imposing in the middle of her desk is a silver tabby cat. Slowly, I approached it with caution. Something doesn't feel right. That cat doesn't feel normal. Could it be a Kneazle? Maybe, although it… feels closer to a human? Studying the cat closer I notice the square markings around the eyes.

'Does it feel nice to be in your Animagus form, Professor McGonagall?' Hoping not to be making a fool of myself, I hold my notepad up to the cat. The Silver Tabby stands up only to stretch its front paws. I only stare as it starts licking its paw and almost inquisitively looks up at me.

Springing off the desk and on to the teacher's chair. The cat within seconds morphs and grows into Professor McGonagall, sitting as stiff as a board.

"Ten points to Ravenclaw. I swear, in all my years only a few have been able to discern my Animagus form. How did you know it was me?" Professor McGonagall asked in astonishment as she sits, fully human, in her chair. How did I know? Well, I knew she was an animagus and I knew the basics of them but I didn't know what animal she was. What was that feeling? It was as if I could feel the magic inside the spell.

I just stand there in silence as a few other Ravenclaws and some Gryffindors wander in. Giving her a simple shrug, I move back to my seat and look to the front. Her eyes narrowed at me, she simply transforms back into the silver tabby as I turn my attention back to The Therapeutic Properties of Boggarts as we both wait for the rest of the class.

***

If the warping sound of Professor McGonagall didn't break me out of reading, then the clapping would have.

"I trust you all have your textbooks?" Silence follows her question. "Good, "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned. That being said, eventually, you will learn how to do this," Twirling her wand at her desk, the desk lifted off the ground and began to spin and twirl until it became an orange hog of the same size. More clapping peppered the room but was all quickly silenced by a hand motion from Professor McGonagall.

"Now that I've amused you all…" Her glare could be felt throughout the room, "Open your textbooks and begin reading the introductory chapter, I suggest you take notes."

***

-"For the rest of class, we will practice with the simple match to needle spell. The wand movement is a simple vertical flick," She adds to her verbal instruction with a simple demonstration with her wand as my already somewhat sloppy notes become even sloppier. I can't believe we're doing magic on the first day!

"The incantation is Par Acus," Her slow pronunciation is met with a piece of chalk floating up and writing the incantation. "Make sure that your wand movement is happening as you chant. You can find the matches in the draws of your seat." She ends her instructions sitting at her desk.

Immediately after her last instruction, I pull the drawer open to grab a match. I wonder what type of magic I'll be good at. Taking a second to center myself, I cool down the joy bubbling in my throat as I take my wand out of its holster.

Wait, what if I can't cast it? I mean, you need the incantation to do the spell but I can't say the incantation. Should I ask? But won't I look weird getting up in the middle of class? Groaning at the predicament I'm in, I write my question for Professor McGonagall before, shoving my stupidly long wand back into the holster as I push myself up.

A quiet murmur joins the chants as I approach Professor McGonagall's desk. I slide my question on the parchment she's writing on, causing her to jump. Hey, what was I supposed to do? Wait there and hope she notices a small child who can't audibly get her attention? 'I just realized, can I cast spells even though I can't speak?'

She begins to open her mouth only to stop herself. Her eyebrows furrow as you can see the gears turning. By now only a few students are practicing the spell, most of them watching me and Professor McGonagall,

"Miss Li?" Professor McGonagall asks as a Ravenclaw girl stumbles the incantation and jumps, causing the desk to ignite with flame. "Oh, dear."

Students begin panicking as Professor McGonagall calmly walks over to Miss Li's disaster. "Aguamenti!"

A stream of water fires from the tip of her wand at the flames, putting them out, "Calm down everyone! One of the most basic tenets of Transfiguration is to not stop a spell or get distracted while performing a spell, one point from Gryffindor. Are you ok Miss Li?" The modified black-haired Asian girl only nodded.

"Miss Li, can you please go to room 6A and ask Professor Bathsheda Babbling to come here if she isn't busy?" With the request from Professor McGonagall being the only thing on her mind, she sped out of the classroom.

"Everyone!" With her words the room falls silent, " I hope you all understand Miss Li's error and do not make the same."

Turning away from the rest of the class and to me, She squats down to where at eye level. I put the insult aside as the sincerity in her eyes becomes apparent.

"Grab your stuff and bring them to my office, I'll be there with Professor Babbling in a bit," Professor McGonagall reaches out for me only to stop and struggles to decide what to do. In the end, she just stands up and moves to patrol the room.

Doing what she says, I pack my sack, go into her office and slump into one of the chairs. Who's Professor Babbling? I've looked into the main teachers and she's (he?) isn't one of them. She must be a teacher for an elective. Does she have a similar problem as mine? I wish I had my copy of Hogwarts; A History. Well, worrying won't help anything so I might as well start reading, I wish. Opening The Therapeutic Properties of Boggarts, I struggle to focus on it as I wait for the Professors.

"Minerva has to supervise her class so it's just going to be you and me, I hope that's okay with you?" The dark-skinned woman, asks as she strides into her office.

A black cardigan-style robe hangs slightly too large for the young professor, acting more like a shall; with it occasionally falling off her shoulders and to her elbows. Under her rode are a sleeveless white blouse, faded blue jeans, and her wand holstered at her hip. Her long silky black hair is held in a bun, letting some of her, curly, hair frame her slim face.

Excited puzzlement spread across her face as her emerald eyes locked with mine, "Hello Catlyn, I'm Professor Bathsheda Babbling, teacher of Ancient runes and Spell Theory, is it ok if I take a look at the rune circle?"

I nod hesitantly. It would be nice to know more about my rune, or rune circle apparently, I should look into it. Taking off my sweater, I look up at Professor Babbling to see fury spread across her face and fire spark in her eyes. Remembering the cuts that pepper my body like freckles, I fumble to undo the top buttons of my shirt and loosen my tie.

Gabbing the chair next to me, she pushes it toward me and slides into it in one fluid motion. Hunching down to my eye level, she spreads my collar further to get a better look at the rune circle. Looking at her hands, my eyes widen at the sight of runes tattooed, with bright green ink, onto her knuckles and fingers.

A slight chuckle escaped her lips, "You interested in my tattoos?"

Curiosity drives my nod as her eyes sparkle, "These are Gnostic Runes. People apart from my religion, Gnosticism, get these when we're young. It's a rite of passage for us."

'Do they do anything?'

"Unfortunately for the world. The only magical runes left in the world are on ancient artifacts or you. The creation of magical runes is a lost art."

After an excruciating minute of her examining the rune, she finally buttons my shirt up and springs up.

Getting my sweater back on, Professor Babbling stays true to her name, "From what I can see, bare in mind I've never seen a working rune circle before, let alone a rune circle brand; your rune is designed to act similarly to a silencing charm. Lucky for you, it looks to silence your voice not mute it like a silencing charm would; so you should be able to cast spells."

At the confused stare, I give her, she sighs, "Think of your body as a room with music in it. When a silencing charm is cast on the room, it mutes the music, stopping it enterally. If that rune circle was engraved onto the wall, it would prevent the music from escaping the room, locking it in. In theory, the magical meaning of your incantation should escape your body even if the words do not."

At my head nod, her smile brightens, 'do you know me?'

Confusion flashes across her face only for a facepalm-like expression to replace it, "Of course you don't remember; you were unconscious when I met you." *I'm a friend of your dad. I was the one who taught your dad BSL as well as helped your dad understand your rune.*

*Do I head back to class now?* I ask, dreading the whispers and attention that I'll get once I go back.

"How about you try here first," She says as she grabs a matchbox out of a pocket, grinning.

Taking a big deep breath, I take the matchbox out of Professor Babbling's extended hand and grab a match out of it. Setting the match on the desk, I draw my wand out of its holster, wanting to savor every moment. Pointing my wand at it, I wave it up and down in a fluid motion as I say the incantation, only for no sound to come out as usual.

For a fraction of a second disappointment rises in me, only for something else to join it. The feeling of that strange energy builds up in me, along with an overwhelming wave of nausea. A hunger deep and primal builds in me as I can feel the building energy flow into my arm, draining more of the very essence of my being as it goes. Darkness creeps into the corners of my vision as pain hums through my entire body.

"Catlyn?" I vaguely hear a panicked voice through the fog that rolls into my head. Confusion merges with the pain as I slip into the darkness, letting it fill my vision.

**Bathsheda Babbling**

I sit on the edge of my seat as Catlyn waves her wand at the match. Focusing on her mouth, slight disappointment hits me as her mouth soundlessly makes the incantation. Well, just because the meaning of the words makes it though doesn't mean her voice will. The match starts to shift as her eyes begin to glow. Soundless cries escape her lips as she begins to act like she just got hit with the Cruciatus Curse.

"Minerva!" I yell into the other room as Catlyn falls to the floor. Her skin becomes impossibly pale as blue veins only become darker. Sweeping her into my arms, I struggle out of the office as Catlyn writhes in pain.

"What happened?" Minerva's voice chokes with fear as she rushes.

"I don't know. Even if the spell failed it wouldn't have this effect. I'm taking her to the hospital wing."

"I'm coming with-"

"No. Stay with the students," I cut her protests off, not caring about seniority as speed through the room.

"I'll at least contact Dumbledore," Minerva scoffs as we burst into the courtyard. Legs pounding, I speed up as Catlyn's writhing calms. Not good.

"Expecto Patronum!" I hear Minerva behind me cast as a white cat of energy sprints through the air, almost disappearing against the clear blue sky, and towards the Headmaster's Office.

The wind whips my face as my feet squash the grass under me as I cross the courtyard. Legs pumping, I burst through the door and back into a hallway. Left, right, right. Adrenaline pumping, I almost plow into a Ravenclaw Prefect.

"What's wrong with Catlyn, Professor Babbling?" Penelope asks as she opens the door leading out to the suspension bridge.

No time to comment, I leave her question hanging in the air as the bridge sways under our feet. The soft breeze, ever-present today, pushes against us as Penelope passes me to get the door open. How can an old man be that fast, I think as we run into Headmaster Dumbledore. without Comment, Dumbledore joins our march to the Hospital Wing.

"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey asks as we leave the paved courtyard and blast through the double doors. Nodding my head at Penelope, Madam Pomfrey shares a look of understanding as I set Catlyn on the closest hospital bed. Turning, Madam Pomfrey goes with Dumbledore to treat Catlyn as I move to Penelope.

"What happened to Catlyn? Is she okay?" Penelope asks in desperation as I push her out of the Hospital Wing.

"I don't know. Sorry, but you can't be in here," I reluctantly tell her as I shut the door.

"Giving her blood doesn't seem to be working," Madam Pomfrey spits out as she feels Catlyn's forehead, who's now shirtless and still. Not a single area of her skin wasn't filled with scars.

"Catlyn and Minerva were wondering if she could cast spells even though she's mute so they called me. I said it would be fine but when she tried it, she started convulsing," I tell them, pushing past my anger. I'll need to have a talk with him later.

"Were her eyes glowing?" Dumbledore asks me as Madam Pomfrey checks her heart rate and races over to a cabinet.

"Yes. Why?" I respond as he takes his wand out of his sleeve, "What are you doing Headmaster?" I almost scream it as he fires a pure white beam from his wand, hitting Catlyn.