Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 81: A Magnificent Beast
"Ohh… this feels so weird!" Peter was the first one to experience the full changes.
His body began to shrink more and more as it morphed its shape. He went to all four legs and emitted noises that were no longer human.
"Squeak!" Peter had taken the shape of a small brown rat. He panicked and started running all over the living room with his little legs, while Remus called for him repeatedly.
"Peter, come back!." Remus shouted.
Next came Sirius. Black fur covered his entire body and morphed to resemble a large black dog. Unlike Peter, he did not freak out immediately but instead became excited with his new form.
"Wuff!" Sirius barked at Remus while waging his tail with happiness. He was trying to speak, but of course, he was unable to form proper words so he could only bark at him.
"Amazing. You guys did it!" Remus said with enthusiasm as his eyes moved to James.
He was the one taking the longest to change, and this made Remus wonder if there was some issue with his transformation.
James had his eyes closed as he was in deep concentration. Pale white fur was covering most of his body.
"Ehm… James, is everything alri—" Remus stopped mid-sentence when he heard James' body making some strange noises.
His muscles and bones seemed to be twisting in unnatural ways.
Remus gasped as he thought that James must be in tremendous pain right now, but his friend didn't utter a single sound of complaint.
James kept himself calm despite the situation. He had experienced many crazy things during his previous life and could at least manage to maintain his composure.
Although this was the first time he performed this particular ritual, it was easy to guess that what was happening to him was not normal.
James had done plenty of reading in advance, just in case he had to do something to help Sirius or Peter. But he was not expecting to be the one to be in trouble.
'Just focus… and keep your magic in control.' The transformation was messing with some part of his magic, and it was causing problems. This is why he was having so much difficulty changing.
Since he was now James Potter, he had assumed that his transformation would be a simple stag and was more than ready for that.
It became quickly obvious that this was not the case. The white fur on his skin was the first clue.
The fact that the creature that he was transforming into had its own magic power was also unexpected. The book only mentioned transformations into non-magical beasts.
He clenched his teeth as he felt the bones in his arms begin to shatter. The pain was excruciating, but he could not let it dominate him, or he was likely to die.
"Should I call one of the professors? Maybe McGonagall?" Remus was certain that she would know what to do, as the professor was an Animagus herself.
"N… No…" James managed to utter some words despite the trouble. Calling the Professors was not going to save him. This was something he had to fix himself.
Peter had concluded his panic attack after sensing that something was not right with James, and the little brown rat was now looking up at him from beneath one of the couches.
"Uuuu…" Sirius emitted a whimpering noise while in his dog form. He wished he could speak or do anything to help James, but he was at a loss right now.
Remus clenched his fists. He was now regretting not having paid more attention to the Animagus ritual. He only did a bit of research at the beginning and read the materials that Sirius brought, but didn't bother with it afterward.
This was because James seemed to have everything under control, so he was not very concerned about it. His friend had become so competent that he had lowered his guard a bit too much this time.
And now, there was nothing he could do to help but watch his friend struggle.
"Grrr…" James groaned. His arms and legs snapped back into their original position.
'I can do this…' It was a complicated process, but he was starting to get the hang of it.
Normally, the Animagus would just have to follow the flow and allow their body to change into its determined animal shape.
But because the creature that James was changing into was a magical being, this came with the complications of having a different magical energy that he needed to adapt to.
This added another layer of complexity to the process, as the way magic worked for beasts was completely different from humans.
Instead of having a generic source of power that they could harness to create spells, what magical beasts had was more in line with innate abilities that they could trigger at will.
James needed to understand these abilities and weave them into his own magic while at the same time making sure that his body was changing in the correct way, otherwise...his limbs would begin to break apart like they were doing before.
"Wait… I think he is doing it!" Remus' eyes opened widely. He could now see James' body transforming properly, and whatever issues he had before, he seemed to have solved them by himself.
Remus, Sirius, and Peter stood in their places and watched as James' body grew in size.
His hair turned long and silvery white fur seemed to glisten like metal, and his face became elongated. Pristine horns emerged from the sides of his head, growing and expanding while forming more complex shapes.
The process took almost a minute, and by the end, the group was staring at a massive stag with large horns and beautiful pure silver fur that almost seemed to glow.
"Wow… I have never seen a stag like that." Remus muttered while staring in disbelief at the creature that James had turned into.
James turned toward the voice of his friend. His mind was still a bit foggy, but he could see everyone clearly. In fact, he could see things more clearly than ever.
He then made a gesture with his head to point at the front door of the house with his horns.
But more than anything, James was now feeling the urge to...go outside and run free while in his animal form.
Remus realized what he wanted to do. "James, you… you wanna go outside?"
[Image]
James tapped the wooden floor with his hoofs to say yes.