One Last Step

Grindelwald's Library, Nov 12th

Sprawled out on the floor, Viktor muttered a curse – his body having been forcibly changed from a bat back to a human being.

"I don't understand, you can't change back?" Harry asked.

"I don't understand it either." Viktor said angrily. "It's as if I can only manage half the transformation."

Having no idea what might be wrong, Harry said, "We need to go see Professor Rosemburg, maybe he'll be able to explain what's going on."

Viktor nodded his head, but before they left the room, he said, "Don't tell Kira."

"Huh?" Harry asked in confusion. "Why?"

"Just, don't tell her, at least for now." Viktor paused before adding, "You know I've never been the best student –"

"Only because you never actually tried," Harry countered. "You'd have to be blind not to notice your improvement this year. Those private lessons have really helped you."

Viktor shrugged, but he didn't deny that the special treatment he was receiving was helping him to become a much more accomplished wizard. "Harry, please. Just keep it between us for right now. Kira is proud that I managed the transformation before everyone else. I don't want her to think that I screwed it up somehow."

Seeing how serious Viktor was, Harry said, "Alright, I'll keep it between us for now, but you know if Calypso or Kira achieves the transformation and this happens to them..."

"Then we'll explain that it happened to me as well, but hopefully Professor Rosemburg can give us some answers to fix this."

Stepping out of the room, the two quickly made their way down to the second floor and approached professor Rosemburg's office. Unfortunately, two suits of armor were blocking the entrance. "He must be working with another student right now. Do you want to wait?"

Thinking for a moment, Viktor said, "Yes, I want to find out what I'm doing wrong, and if we put it off, I don't know when I'll have the free time."

"Alright, I guess we'll wait. I hope Rosemburg doesn't take too long, you'd think they would have chairs out here or something." Looking around the drafty corridor, Harry saw various weapons, portraits, and paintings on the walls. "What do you think the odds are that we could take one of those axes down and transfigure it into a chair?"

Walking over to the hanging weapons, Viktor cast a few charms to try and remove them before shaking his head. "I think they used a permanent sticking charm. Do you know how to undo those?"

"No, but I know that it can be done. It took my uncle a year or two, but he was eventually able to get rid of this bitchy portrait of his mother in his family's old house."

"Well, unless you've been holding back a lot in Transfiguration and know how to conjure, I think we're stuck standing."

"I'm waiting until this Christmas to start conjuring," Harry said casually.

"You're serious?" Viktor asked, surprised. "Rosemburg told me we weren't going to start conjuring until a month into next year."

"Good, I'll get a head start." Harry grinned. "I'm sure my dad will help me if I ask him, and it'll give me something to do over the holiday since I can't work on the transformation at home. My parents would freak out if they suspected I was trying to figure that out."

"Do you know where your..." Viktor trailed off as the two large suits of armor standing in front of Rosemburg's door moved to the side.

"I guess his meeting's over," Harry commented as the door opened. His eyes widened when he saw Calypso walk out of the Transfiguration professor's office.

Calypso seemed just as surprised to see him, and said, "Harry, what are you doing here?"

"Harry and I had a question about conjuring for Professor Rosemburg," Viktor lied quickly.

"What are you doing here, Calypso?" Harry asked.

"Conjuring, really?" Calypso asked Viktor with barely veiled sarcasm. Turning to Harry, she said, "I just had a question about my latest inanimate to animate assignment... I'm running late for a meeting with my father, but I'll see you later, right? Maybe then you can tell me what you're up to?"

Laughing, Harry said, "Sounds good. I'll meet you in Grindelwald's room later tonight."

Calypso smiled at Harry before quickly setting off down the corridor towards her father's office.

"Harry," Viktor practically hissed, "you said you wouldn't tell Calypso."

"You said not to tell Kira," Harry countered, "I didn't think you meant Calypso as well. And if you didn't want her to know, what were you thinking lying to her like that? You know she's a Legilimens. You might as well have just screamed 'I'm keeping a secret.'"

"She caught me off guard," Viktor admitted distastefully, "but that's besides the point. If I didn't want my girlfriend to know, why would I ever want you to tell Calypso?"

"Well, I'm sorry Viktor," Harry said, slightly annoyed. "Next time you tell me to keep a secret from Kira, I'll assume that you mean from Calypso as well. Don't worry, I'll think of something to tell Calypso about why we're here." Brushing past his friend, Harry pushed open Professor Rosemburg's door, and stepped into his office, an annoyed Viktor trailing behind him.

Looking up from his desk, Rosemburg smiled when he saw his star student enter his office. "Mr. Potter, what can I do for you today?" The cheerful greeting seemed to dim somewhat when he saw Krum follow Harry into the room.

"Sir, Viktor's discovered a problem with his Animagus transformation," Harry explained, sitting down in an open chair. "He was able to transform for the first time a few weeks ago–"

"Is that true, Mr. Krum?" Rosemburg interrupted. "You were able to transform?"

"Yes sir," Viktor said, an almost mocking smile appearing on his face.

Rosemburg looked distastefully at Viktor before snapping, "Then why have you waited so long to inform me? If you intend to complete the transformation, you need to know the final step in the process, or did you intend to give up living as a wizard and to spend the rest of your life in your animagus form?"

Viktor and Harry shared a surprised look with each other. Eventually it was Harry who said, "Sir, we thought that once you were able to will yourself to transform that's all that you had to do."

Rosemburg looked between his two students for a moment, shaking his head in displeasure. "It is not, Mr. Potter. Now, Mr. Krum, what is your form?

"A bat, sir."

"Very well. Now, while the theory of turning yourself from a human into an animal is the same as turning yourself from an animal back into a human, there is one noticeable difference. Can you tell me what that might be?"

There was a pause before Harry said, "What you're starting the transformation as?"

"No, Mr. Potter, what you start as has little to do with the process. When you began trying to will yourself into your form, what did I tell you to be especially careful of?"

"Panicking. Keeping our emotions in check." Harry replied, remembering all too well what happened to Calypso.

"Exactly. So, Mr. Krum. How well did you adjust to becoming a bat? Were you calm? Patient? Or were you like the vast majority of other Animagi who couldn't comprehend the vast physiological changes your body had just undergone?"

"I, I thought I handled it fairly well," Viktor said defiantly.

"Really?" Rosmeburg said sarcastically. "You believe that your human mind – a mind that has spent seventeen years giving you the same sense of self – flawlessly adjusted to suddenly having wings, different eyesight, and a massive readjustment in mass? I'll ask you again, how did you handle it?"

"I-I flew around the room until someone transformed me back."

Rosemburg scoffed. "Your body reacted to a primal stimulus in the bat's subconscious – a subconscious that merged with your own when you were in that form. That is why you probably flew aimlessly around the room until someone turned you back. Now, knowing what kind of mental focus it takes to transform from a human to an animal, do you really think you were in any mental condition to turn yourself back into a human?"

"No, sir," Viktor admitted.

"Sir, how can he overcome that to turn back?" Harry asked.

"There are two schools of thought on that, Mr. Potter." Rosemburg explained patiently. "Mr. Krum, the first option is to will only a small part of your anatomy into a bat. Now that you know what your form is, you can try to change a little bit of yourself at a time. By remaining mostly human, you'll slowly expose yourself to the change gradually. That way when you change your entire form, it's not so jarring to your mind. Unfortunately, this method tends to take an even greater amount of mental focus than the initial transformation as you're not trying to change your entire being, only a small part of yourself. However, the very will power it takes to undergo this process has proven to help improve the speed of your transformation from human to animal and vice-versa."

"Sir, it seems like that might take a long time," Viktor said. "Is the other method quicker?"

"The other method is essentially to continue as you currently are. You transform the entire way, get stuck in your form, and have someone change you back. Eventually, you will acclimate to the change enough to attempt to turn back to normal. However, there is a strong possibility that you won't be truly ready when you try to turn back. So, to answer your question, I suppose that this method might be quicker, but it's not necessarily safer. In all likelihood, if you choose this method, you will rush the return transformation and end up hurting yourself. I understand that you both witnessed Ms. Rosier's failed transformation attempt?"

Harry and Viktor nodded.

"Well, from what she explained to me, she was very fortunate. Imagine turning from a bat into a human, but returning with the lungs of a bat and quickly suffocating." Seeing both his students look suitably horrified, Rosemburg said, "A failed return transformation can be far more dangerous if you use the second method as you won't know exactly when you've acclimated enough to return successfully. You're likely to screw up several times, in very gruesome ways. That's why I suggest the first method, but the choice is yours, Mr. Krum. You may do as you wish."

"I- thank you, sir." Viktor said, slightly pale. "I'll give both options a good deal of consideration."

"Yes, you do that." Rosemburg said indifferently. "Now, was there anything else?"

"No, sir." Harry said. "Thank you for explaining everything."