The Project

Durmstrang Library, Oct. 3 rd

"Why do you want to study all the way back here?" Calypso asked with a bored expression on her face.

"Because no one ever comes back here," Harry whispered, "and I didn't want to be overheard by anyone."

"It's called a silencing spell, Harry, now can we go back to our normal table?" Calypso asked, moving to leave.

"Wait." Harry grabbed her hand and practically pulled her down into a nearby chair. "I have something I wanted to show you."

"It had better be good, Potter," Calypso said, folding her arms and looking impatiently at her friend.

"Oh, it is, don't worry." Harry stood up and pulled several old texts on goblins off a nearby shelf and placed them in front of Calypso.

"Mackrack the Magnificent: A Biography of 11th century Goblin Warlords, Kriegrump: How to cook Goblin Style, and Fleshrice the Foul: One Goblin's Attempt to Tame a Hydra. Harry, if I were you, I'd make your point very quickly before I decide to hex you for wasting my time," Calypso warned.

With a roll of his eyes, Harry tapped each of the books with his wand, revealing their actual titles.

"An illusion?" Calypso asked, sounding impressed.

"After your father decided to test me for them, I decided they might be interesting to read about," Harry explained.

"Well how would you feel if one of your worst students suddenly became one of your best?" Calypso asked. "You've really impressed him lately, Harry. He was really surprised with how easily you were able to counter your opponent's spell chain in your last duel. You haven't been holding back during our duels, have you?

Harry grinned slightly at Calypso's praise. It hadn't taken long for him to re-establish himself as one of the top students in his Dark Arts class once he began casting his spells with negative intent behind them. In fact, his spells were now consistently among the strongest in the class. The sudden turn around and increased intensity of his curses was something that Professor Rosier was very quick to spot, and he had begun having Harry duel more frequently to see the extent of his improvement.

"Calypso, if I held back during our duels, you'd probably curse me into a million pieces." Harry pointed out before lowering his voice. "Listen, over the summer Professor Rosemburg sent me a letter. Basically, he said that he was upset that I didn't get the top spot in his transfiguration class." Seeing that he had Calypso's undivided attention, Harry pressed on. "He also sent me a book on advanced human transfiguration, including the Animagus transformation."

Calypso sat up straight before turning her attention back to the books in front of her. After reading the new titles, Calypso smirked and looked up at Harry. "So when do we start?"

"You really want to try it?" he asked. "Not many people can do it."

"No Harry, I don't want to try it, I want to do it," Calypso clarified. "The Rosiers have had a number of Animagi' in our family line, and I believe your grandfather possessed the talent, right? So you probably inherited it. Obviously, Rosemburg clearly thinks you could manage it as well."

"How did you know my grandfather was an Animagus?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Animagi need to register across Europe," Calypso replied. "Not all of them do, of course, but those who do are a matter of public record."

Looking confused, Harry asked, "And why were you looking at an old list of Animagi?"

"Do you think that you're the first person to think that this would be something worth trying?" Calypso asked. "It's essentially an automatic 'M' for whatever year of transfiguration you are in. Not to mention how useful it would be having an animal form."

"You weren't seriously thinking about doing it by yourself, were you?" Harry asked. "Even Rosemburg told me not to do that. It's supposedly really dangerous."

"That's why I was looking at the Animagi list," Calypso explained. "The ability is usually passed on, and I needed to know who else I could potentially work with."

Harry nodded his head. It made sense. Still, he couldn't help but think Calypso was holding something back from him. "Okay, so when do you want to start?"

"Immediately."