Animagus Potion and Halloween Night

19th October 1991, Hogwarts

I stood atop the Astronomy Tower and looked at how the potion in a small crystal vial in my hand turned blood red with the first lightning strike of tonight's storm. It was over a month-long bothersome process, but the Animagus Potion was finally complete.

It was a pain to have a Mandrake leaf stuck on the roof of my mouth for the entire month. The Mandrake leaf didn't taste exactly good so it disturbed my sense of taste and ruined my joy from food.

Why couldn't the Mandrake leaf taste like mint? I quite like its taste and I would even have a fresh breath as a bonus.

Now I have to go to some safe place where I can drink the potion and undergo my first transformation. The Room of Requirements would probably be the best. So after a short walk, I arrived before a tapestry depicting the attempt of Barnabas the Barmy to teach a bunch of trolls ballet. It was quite a funny picture. The trolls even had light pink ballet skirts.

If I ever became so bored to consider teaching trolls how to dance, then instead of ballet I would teach them Hip Hop or Irish Stepdance.

I turn off the Presence Concealment because, with it, I am invisible to the Come and Go Room's mechanism. I walked past the tapestry three times while thinking about a safe, spacious, and comfy room with a big mirror. After that, a door appeared on the wall opposite the tapestry.

Past the door, I was greeted with the sight of a wide room with thick columns hanging from the roof that looked like they were cut in the middle. The floor was covered by multiple large carpets and at the end of the room was a big fireplace. On one side of the room was a round table and a few couches and on the other side of the room was a giant mirror.

After I put Woody on the table, I walked to the middle of the room and took a deep breath. I gulped the potion at once and I could immediately feel a fiery pain all over my body as if I was being boiled from the inside. Then I felt an intense double heartbeat and in my mind appeared the shape of the animal I was about to transform into.

The first transformation was rather uncomfortable but quick. My whole body started to shrink and I had to go on all fours. My nails changed into claws and my teeth sharpened. A long fluffy tail grew from my butt and my body was being covered by dense soft reddish-ginger fur.

After the transformation was over, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Instead of a beautiful red-haired witch, I saw a cute Maine coon cat with pale green eyes and long reddish-ginger hairs. From the tip of my nose to the end of my tail, I would tell that I am about eighty centimeters long.

{This felt horrible. Almost like being set aflame.} Complained Agony.

'Don't worry. In the book was written that only the first transformation feels this bad. And with practice, the transformation becomes more natural and faster. Can we 'suit up' in this form?' I asked her.

{Yes we can.} She replied and dark purple goo enveloped my body. Now in the mirror was a dark purple cat with dark pink stripes, like those of a tiger and big white comma like eyes.

{This form isn't that bad. It's not as strong but it's definitely a lot faster.} Agony said and did a few laps around the room so fast that we were seen only as a purple blur.

After Agony was done playing, she returned to my body, and I could test my new form. Walking with four legs was easy and came to me naturally as if I always walked like this. I could also somehow control the movement of my tail. I can still conceal myself, use Demonic Energy, and use wandless magic.

As I was examining my Animagus form, I couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something more to my new form, something that I was missing. I intensely looked at my reflection in the mirror and concentrated on the weird unknown feeling coming from my mouth.

Seeing that nothing changed, I decided to change my method and simply follow this body's instincts. I opened my small cat mouth and from it suddenly extended multiple tentacles that then disappeared back as quickly as they appeared.

{Awesome.} exclaimed Agony, but I didn't pay her any attention as my mind was occupied by something else.

Holy sh*t. My Animagus form isn't a cat but a Flerken. An alien creature whose appearance and behavior closely resemble a normal cat if you ignore the many tentacles that can extend from its mouth and pocket dimensions in its stomach.

I wonder how it's even possible that my Animagus form is an alien creature. But it's not that I have any complaints. Flerkens are cute and I now don't need any storage item with expanded space inside them. As in my Animagus form, I have an extremely large if not an unlimited amount of space in my stomach.

Now let's try to change back. I pictured my appearance in my mind and the magic in my body began to move. The change back to my normal self was quick and only slightly uncomfortable.

I am very pleased with my Animagus and I am glad that it's different from my Patronus. Sure my Patronus is cool, but it wouldn't really be useful as Animagus form.

"Expecto Patronum," I said with a wave of my hand from which shot out a burst of silver mist that formed into a bright-silver translucent four-meter-long Tiger Shark that swam in the air around me.

Tiger Sharks are a solitary hunters in the tropical seas and apex predators that pray on almost anything they find, it can be fish, birds, crustaceans, seals, squid, dolphins, sea snakes, sea turtles, or other sharks. Really, it's more like Agony's Patronus than mine.

I will probably end it here tonight. I am rather tired as I haven't slept much for a few days already as I waited for a lightning storm to complete the Animagus Potion.

I cast off the Patronus and pick up Woody from the table on which I put him. Then I wished for a door that would lead to the dungeons near the entrance to the Slytherin common room. The Room of Requirements granted my request and another door appeared next to the one leading to the seventh-floor corridor.

As I got out of the door, I activated the Presence Concealment and then sneaked around the Slytherin Prefect on my way to the dormitory. When I silently got inside my room, I put off my school robes and quickly cleaned myself with magic. Then I get inside the soft embrace of my king-sized bed and immediately dozed off.

...

31st October

I sat on my usual seat at the Slytherin table and enjoyed the Halloween Feast. Thousands of live bats were flying in the air above us in clusters that looked like moving black clouds. There were also a lot of carved pumpkins of various sizes with candles inside around the hall.

I was enjoying my fifth beef steak with potato puree while Daphne and Tracey were talking among themselves along with an addition to our little group, Theodore Nott. I call him just Theo. He made a face as if he ate a lemon when I called him that for the first time. That was right after his introduction.

Theo was quite tall for his age but he was thin. He had neatly combed dark brown hair, grey eyes, and rather large front teeth. He joined our group at the start of October. He said that he doesn't want to be part of Malfoy's gang of bullies because Draco is, by his words, a bossy prat with daddy issues. I smirked slightly when he said that. Then there was Blaise Zabini, his roommate. But he said that he had enough of him as his arrogance and narcissism know no bounds.

Though Theo doesn't talk to me much. He is quite a bigot and he also fears me. He mostly talks to me about Potions as it's his hobby and favorite subject.

The feast was suddenly interrupted by Professor Quirrell who loudly sprinted into the hall with his turban askew and terror on his face. He quickly reached the staff table and stumbled against it right before Dumbledore's face.

"Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know." He then sunk to the floor and fainted.

Quite good I must say. Quirrell should have become an actor rather than a teacher. Or comedian.

There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.

"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

What a perfect idea. Did Dumbledore just forget that Slytherins and Hufflepuffs dormitories are located in the dungeons? Dungeons that a Troll, a four meters tall magical creature with immense strength that likes to feed on human flesh, is currently roaming in.

I somehow get the Snakes, but what did the Puffs do to him that he has to expose them to such danger?

As the Prefects led us into the dungeons, I quietly sneaked away. It's time to hunt a certain Troll. Why should I ignore all the magical ingredients that appeared right before my doorstep?

The Troll wasn't difficult to find as it was loud on its gigantic feet and it really stunk. Sometimes it's a curse to have sharp senses. Up close the mountain Troll looked truly ugly. I currently wasn't concealed, so it easily spotted me. It blinked at me stupidly and started to approach me. I led it away from the corridor that led to the girls' bathroom as I don't want any audience.

After a short game of cat and mouse, I stopped and faced the Incarnation of stupidity and ugliness. First, I cast multiple Silencing Charms around us, then I used my ability to materialize my PTRD-41 Anti-tank Rifle and aimed straight between its eyes. I pulled the trigger and the bullet pierced straight through the Troll's head. The feeling of killing something in one shot with a rifle was really satisfying.

The Troll swayed on its feet and fell back down with a loud thud. The stupid look on its face still lasted even after its death.

{You ruined its brain} Stated Agony with an unhappy tone.

'I doubt its bean-sized brain could have tasted any good so I am not sorry at all.}

I dematerialized the Rifle in my hand and vanished the bullet lodged into the ceiling. I then pull out a piece of paper from my pocket and skilfully made a paper crane origami from it and put it into my pocket.

Now then, the parts of the troll that have any value as ingredients are the heart, blood, and the whiskers that could also be used as wand cores. Though I don't have much time as the teachers are searching the dungeons and can come here any moment. So I transformed into Flerken, opened my mouth, and let the tentacles do their job. The tentacles fortunately didn't have taste buds.

I transformed back and looked at the empty dungeon corridor. Aside from the stench, there was no trace of the Troll.

Concealed, I went to the dorms. On the way, I was met with the sight of the Golden Trio being reprimanded by Professor McGonagall. She even took five points from each of them.

When I sneakily got into my room after I deactivated the Presence Concealment, I was under the direct gaze of two pairs of piercing eyes.

"Where were you? You suddenly disappeared on the way to the dorms." Said Daphne with a cold tone.

"We didn't tell the Prefects anything, so you don't have to worry about that. But I too want to know what you were doing with a Troll roaming the dungeons." Said Tracey.

Hmm. What should I tell them? 'Agony, any ideas?'

{Friendship is built on trust and honesty.} Agony replied smartly.

'You are right.' Let's be honest then.

"I was Troll-hunting."

They looked at me blankly for a while until Tracey broke the silence. "That sounds like something she would do." She looked at Daphne who sighed. "I somehow expected this reply."

The blonde closed her eyes and massaged her thin brows. After that, she opened her icy blue eyes and looked at me again. "What were you thinking while diving into danger like some Gryffindor?"

"I was thinking that I can't miss such fresh ingredients," I replied bluntly.

"Something must be really wrong with your head," Daphne said in disbelief.

"I heard that quite a lot." From others in the orphanage, from kids from back in the primary school, and the list continues.

"You didn't get caught by the Professors, right?" Asked Tracey and I replied with a shake of my head. "Isn't it fine then Daphne? She didn't lose any points from our House" Continued the brunette. "And I noticed that Suou sometimes disappears at night and she didn't get any detention yet. So she must have some way how to sneak around the castle unnoticed."

The brow above Daphne's left eye started to twitch. "She what?"

It was another fine evening in the Slytherin dorms.