FicWad

A/N: First of all, I would like to apologise to any reviewers on Ficwad who gave a magical form as an animagus, with a valid reason, but for some strange reason Ficwad refuses to send me alerts about reviews/story alerts/author alerts and I only realised the number of reviews there actually were for the story after I posted the second chapter. Sorry. And thanks to everyone who reviewed.

A/N 2: This is one for any flamers, although it’s unlikely this far into the story. If you can write a better story, go ahead. I don’t mind anybody telling me the story is shit, as long as they can do better. Write one, send me a link, and then I might care. The other thing is that I’m well aware of the fact that my characterisation sucks, but I don’t really give a flying fuck. Admittedly though, it would be nice to join the mile high club.

Warning: There are jokes about Saint Nick being a paedophile ahead.

Chapter 3

If anyone was to look out of the windows on the night of the last OWL exam they would have seen a strange sight. Running along the edge of the forest was a snow leopard, its sleek fur seeming to shimmer in the moonlight. It wasn’t alone though. Beside it was a lioness, and further to the right was a bear. If one was to look even closer they might even notice a raven circling above the group, and an anaconda moving stealthily through the water, with an almost unnatural grace for an animal whose size was more comparable to a bus than a man at eight and a half metres (twenty eight feet) long.

The snow leopard was obviously the leader of the unusual group and as it turned into the forest the others followed, with the raven flying just above the branches and the anaconda dragging its weight along the ground.

The leopard stopped in a clearing and a few seconds later it had disappeared, only to be replaced by a young man with unruly black hair and green eyes which sparkled with the vivacity of youth, but managed to look slightly world weary at the same time. Immediately the other animals congregated around him, but he was completely nonplussed. He watched as the raven transformed into a girl of about the same age with bushy hair. The lioness turned into a young red-headed woman. The bear became a young man whose muscles had only recently started to show and the anaconda shrunk rapidly until it was replaced by a red-haired boy.

“I still can’t believe I’m a snake,” said Ron.

“Yeah, who would’ve thought that you were the heir of Slytherin? Everyone was worried about me, when they should’ve been watching the right-hand man,” said Harry.

“Shut up!” exclaimed Ron. “You were the one who found his rooms! Maybe it was knowledge that would only be unlocked in the man’s heir once he deemed them worthy.”

“Stop trying to deny it Ron,” argued Ginny.

“Okay, I’ll submit to the complete Gryffindor. How’d you end up being a lioness and not me?” complained Ron.

“Well, for a start, I’m presuming it has something to do with certain organs,” said Neville. The others laughed, but Ron looked confused.

“You’re penis Ron,” explained Hermione after a sigh. “He’s saying that you’re penis prevents you from becoming a lioness.”

“Exactly,” agreed Neville.

“You know what I mean,” said Ron.

“Yeah,” agreed Harry, “But, come on, your skills at chess couldn’t have come from being foolishly brave; you must have a certain level of cunning and a plan to win.”

“Ah well, it’s not half-bad: bring a snake. I mean, I can scare the shit -” started Ron.

“Language,” chided Hermione.

“As I was saying, I can scare more people than the bogeyman like this.”

“How’d you learn of the bogeyman? I thought it was a muggle thing,” commented Hermione.

“Yeah, it started off that way, but muggleborns sort of introduced it. Even Malfoy will have heard of the bogeyman. He hides in your closet and comes out to get you while you sleep.”

“He actually sounds like a rapist,” said Neville. The girls glared at him while Harry and Ron laughed. “What? Harry and Ron agree with me.”

“At least he isn’t as bad as Santa; he goes into little children’s bedrooms in the middle of the night and leaves them something from his big sack!” said Harry. Ron and Neville laughed.

“This conversation has gone way downhill,” said Ginny. “And I think we need to change topic. Hermione, do you have any ideas?”

“Oh no,” muttered Ron.

“Well, come to think about it; what did you all put for number fourteen on the test today?” asked Hermione. Ron groaned softly.

“Moving swiftly onwards,” said Neville as the group arrived at the hidden entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. “What are you going to do with all those books down there, Harry?”

“I’ll probably read them,” said Harry.

“But, they’re dark!” exclaimed Ron.

“That’s what I thought, and initially I decided to only read the light ones, but I read one about the theory of dark and light magic. It basically said that a spell can be classed as neither dark nor light, per se, but our classifications are based on their uses. The spells caster decides whether or not the spell is ‘dark.’ For example: the cruciatus curse. It is classed as dark because it is a torture spell, but it was designed for use in hospitals. It was originally meant to be used to restart a person’s heart.”

“That is way over my head,” stated Ron.

“Spells aren’t ‘dark,’ the wizards who use them are,” stated Harry, “Simple enough for you?”

“I think so,” said Ron, “But it’ll take a while for me to overcome that.”

“Do you know that, technically, the animagus potion is dark?”

“What?” asked Hermione, having been interrupted out of her reverie on the examinations.

“Yeah,” said Ginny, “It’s blood magic.”

“Exactly,” said Harry.

“But doesn’t dark magic warp your magic?” asked Neville.

“Nope, it’s the initial guilt that most people suffer subconsciously that actually causes the bad reactions,” explained Harry.

“So you mean that, as long as you were comfortable with dark magic and felt it wasn’t wrong, you could use it without any side effects?” asked Hermione.

“There we go,” said Harry. “Open.”

“That still creeps me out a little,” commented Ginny.

“You’ll get over it,” assured Neville. “Harry, what’s wrong?”

Harry was clutching the sides of his head. His face was pale and he had broken out in a sweat. Almost immediately after Neville had said that Harry fell to the floor, unconscious, and his body started to spasm rapidly.

“It’s his magical maturity!” exclaimed Ron. “Grab his legs Neville. We need to get him into a bed.” Hermione raised her wand, but Ron warned her against it. “Don’t, Hermione, using magic could have side effects!”

Ron and Neville grunted with the effort of carrying Harry’s body through the large chamber to the private quarters. They quickly manoeuvred him to the bed, all the time being kicked and hit by Harry’s flailing limbs. They lay him down as gently as possible and sat down to wait. Nobody was sure how long it would take.

Minutes later Harry’s body stilled, an unearthly light surrounded his body, which began to rise off the bed. The pale gold light pulsed in time with Harry’s audible heartbeat. The teens sat by watching, almost enchanted by the unearthly sight. Images began to flash through the air in front of them.

There was blackness, a large fat man hitting a small child with messy black hair, the same boy being thrown into cupboard, the darkness again, a small fat child surrounded by expensive presents, while the other looked on. Then there was a snake behind some glass and the glass seemed to disappear. A young boy watching as a recognisable half-giant destroyed a door. A boy meeting a family of red heads appeared, a mirror and then the same mirror, but with a man wearing a turban. Next came a chamber, with a huge snake, then a man, surrounded by dementors being attacked by a stag. The images started to speed up: Cedric, a green flash, Voldemort reborn, a pair of spectral images, a large catacomb, a girl and a jet black snake, the same girl turning into an osprey, a group of five animals running along the edge of a forest.

Finally the images stopped and the people realised what they had just witnessed: Harry Potter’s life had flashed before their eyes. The young man’s body lowered back onto the bed, but it was still surrounded by the golden light, except it was brighter now, and had traces of a dark yellow running through it.

The other four teens sat in silence for a few moments, considering what they had just seen before the silence was broken.

“Who was that girl?” asked Neville.

“Dunno, but she was wearing a Slytherin crest,” hissed Ron.

“It was Greengrass,” said Hermione.

“I’m going to find her,” said Ron.

“I’m coming with you,” declared Ginny as Ron stood up. “Umm, Ron, how are we going to get out of here?”

“I’m fairly sure I can replicate the sounds Harry makes whenever he opens or closes the passages.”

Sure enough, fifteen minutes later Ron and Ginny were looking over the Marauder’s Map in Gryffindor Tower. “Where is she?” growled Ginny, “She’s not in her the dungeons.”

“There,” said Ron as he stabbed the parchment with his finger, “In the library.” Her dot was grouped with two others, labelled Tracey Davies and Blaise Zabini.

“Hurry up; they’ll probably be leaving soon!” exclaimed Ginny. The two red heads sprinted out of their dormitory and down the stairs; slamming open the door which led to corridor the library was on.

Ron checked the map again; they were still inside. He motioned to Ginny to stand by the other side of the door as he put the map away. They stood quietly for a few minutes, and Ginny was just about to ask Ron to check the amp again when the door swung open quietly.

They watched as the trio of Slytherins exited the room before emerging from the shadowy alcoves they had been hidden in. They chose their targets – the two closest to them – and fired disarming hexes. Daphne and Tracey’s wands flew from their hands. Ron caught Tracey’s while Ginny let Daphne’s clatter on the floor.

Instantly Blaise had wheeled around with his wand already drawn. He looked between the two before aiming at Ginny.

“Move and I hurt her,” he ordered. Ginny had her wand pointed at his face while Ron covered the other two.

“You do, and I hurt these bitches,” declared Ron. They stood at a stalemate for a few seconds before Daphne placed her hand on Blaise’s arm and forced him to lower his wand. He sent a questioning glance at her, but she ignored it.

“What’s up?” she asked casually. Ron spluttered.

“What did you do to Harry?” questioned Ginny vehemently.

Ron regained his voice. “Move, I think you know where to go.”

Daphne looked confused for a second before smiling and turning on her heel. Tracey followed her, but Blaise needed an encouraging look from Ron to start moving. Ginny knelt; still keeping her wand trained on Blaise and picked up Daphne’s wand.

The odd procession didn’t encounter anyone else as they walked from the library to Myrtle’s bathroom, which Ron breathed a sigh of relief for. Daphne was in the lead and the other Slytherins reluctantly followed her into the bathroom.

“What are we doing here?” demanded Tracey.

“Shush,” hissed Daphne. “How do you propose we go any further?” She sounded smug and smirked at Ron, who returned the look.

“Open,” he muttered, remembering how Harry had said it. Daphne’s eyes widened as she heard the stone sliding out of place to reveal the entrance. She looked up with a determined look on her face.

“Don’t even think about it,” threatened Ginny. “Down you go.”

Daphne glanced about, worried about what would happen to her. She couldn’t see an escape route and reluctantly lowered herself into the tunnel. She heard the others following her and made a quick, and risky, escape plan.

As she fell she transformed into the osprey and flew out at the bottom, waiting for Tracey and Blaise. They landed within a few seconds of each other, with Blaise landing roughly on top of Tracey. The gaped at Daphne, and only managed to move out of the way before Ron toppled out.

He glanced up and instantly transformed into the anaconda; he heard Ginny do the same as she landed. The giant green and brown anaconda slithered forwards and encircled the two stunned Slytherins as Ginny morphed back.

She pointed her wand and Daphne’s at the osprey and demanded “Change back, now.” The osprey glanced around the room before Daphne regained her human form. “Don’t try the wolf either, we know about it.”

Ron changed back and ordered “Lead on.”

The rag-tag group quickly reached Slytherin’s private quarters. Blaise and Tracey peered around in awe as Hermione and Neville joined them, aiming their wands.

“What’s with the hostility?” asked Daphne, who was still remarkably calm.

“And where’s Potter?” snarled Blaise.

“Shut up!” shouted Ron. “Hermione, bind them.” Hermione nodded once before using the same spell that she had used on Neville in first year, effectively petrifying them. She then waved her wand toward Daphne, muttering an incantation so the Slytherins wouldn’t hear.

“What did you do to Harry?” demanded Ron.

“Nothing,” spat Daphne. “Now let me go.”

“Balls,” said Ron.

“Why do you think I harmed Harry?” asked Daphne, genuinely curious.

“We saw parts of his memory; you were in there quite a lot recently.”

“And; what is your point?” questioned Daphne.

“Why were you so involved?” Ron voice was low, dangerous.

Daphne sighed as she realised she had to tell the truth. “Alright, Harry saved me from being raped by Malfoy just over two weeks ago. He brought me down here and since then we would spend most nights studying down here.”

“Balls,” commented Ron.

“No, it’s not,” said Harry from the doorway to the bedroom. “What she says is true.”

The others stared at Harry mutely. The magical maturity had changed him physically as well as magically. Before he had been short and skinny; now he was just over average height at just over five foot ten and had muscled up as well. His hair had grown longer as well, which surprised Harry as it had refused to grow or be cut in the past. The most startling thing was that he could see without the use of his glasses.

“What are you on about, Harry? What has she done to you?” asked Ron, still staring at Harry.

“What she said is true. You saw my memories apparently, that should be enough proof.” Ron hung his head, his temper cooling as he realised Harry was right.

“What happened to you, Harry?” asked Hermione, nodding towards his body.

“I don’t have a clue; I thought it would only change my magic,” replied Harry, instantly understanding what Hermione was talking about.

“I think I know,” muttered Tracey quietly. “I’m presuming that you’re the one who gave Daphne the animagus potion, right?”

“Yeah,” Harry said.

“Thanks for that, by the way,” commented Tracey, “Anyway -”

“You gave them the potion as well!” shouted Ron.

“Shut up, Ron,” said Ginny with a roll of her eyes.

“As I was saying, becoming an animagus before your magical maturity usually has some side effects. I’m presuming you’re a bird of some sort. That would explain your eyesight.”

“Wait, you’re saying I’ll be more like snake?” asked Ron.

“Exactly,” replied Blaise. “The same thing happened to my father as did Harry; he had glasses but became an owl animagus and he doesn’t need them anymore. What type of bird are you anyway?”

Harry was shocked by how calm the Slytherins were; nearly every Gryffindor would have been raging by this point. “Umm … I’m a steller’s sea eagle.”

Blaise looked thoughtful. “Dark with white markings?” he asked. Harry nodded. “Yeah, usually hunt by themselves and are known to be aggressive and agile, but will defend its current mate at nearly any cost,” the tanned wizard commented.

“That’s it,” agreed Harry. “What’s your form?” he added.

“We,” Blaise nodded to Tracey, “Don’t know yet. We haven’t found anywhere to make the change and Daphne refused to tell us where. We’ve been carrying the potion round with us in case we find somewhere we could use.”

“Go ahead,” said Harry.

“You mean it?” questioned Tracey, who was still quite suspicious.

“Yeah, this is where everyone else first transformed; you might as well try it here as well.” Tracey glanced nervously towards Ron. “Don’t worry about him. He’ll probably huff for a minute or two and even if he doesn’t I’ll protect you.”

“And me,” offered Daphne.

Blaise already had the bottle out. “On three,” he said as Tracey scrambled inside her pocket for the bottle.

“Don’t forget to add you own blood,” added Harry.

“Right, I nearly forgot. You know how it is. I really want to find out what my form is.” He withdrew a small dagger from his robes and Hermione gasped. “It was a present from my brother when I got my letter,” he explained.

Soon both potions had the blood in them and Blaise was counting, “One; two; three.” On three both Slytherins titled their heads back and swallowed the potion. Blaise grimaced as he tasted it, but Tracey’s face remained anxious.

Within seconds both teens were on the floor. Tracey was screaming from the pain, but Blaise barely made a sound. Soon they began to shimmer and change shape.

Harry watched as Blaise grew to about six and a half feet (one metre ninety) and start growing black fur along his body. He then turned his attention to Tracey who was now beginning to take the shape of her animal. She was obviously a snake. She appeared to be changing colours as she changed: from a dark brownish red, nearly black, to a light straw colour.

She settled on a dark brown snake about seven feet (two metres ten) long. Harry didn’t recognise the species, but Daphne’s gasp led him to believe that she did.

“What is she?” he asked.

“A fierce snake, also called the inland taipan,” she replied.

“What’s so special about that?” asked Ron moodily.

“It’s got the second most poisonous venom in the world, but, if it and the basilisk were the same size, the inland taipan would be able to kill more people in one bite.”

“Is one of them saying that there is one more deadly than I?” The basilisk had slithered unnoticed into the room.

“Just if you were the same size,” explained Harry as the inland taipan and the black jaguar which Blaise had become stiffened.

“These ones were not here before,” commented the basilisk.

“This is Tracey and Blaise,” said Harry. The two teens in question were obviously shocked.

“They seem afraid. Get one of your friends to tell the one that is not snake about me.” Before Harry could do anything Ron was explaining, in English, about the basilisk. The others stared in shock at him.

“What?” he asked.

“They’re speaking parseltongue, Ron,” explained Neville.

“So? The basilisk put that spell on us last time.”

“It wore off,” chipped in Hermione. “You can understand parseltongue.”

“Shit,” muttered Ron.

“Anyway, I’m presuming that the one that is snake can understand us,” said the basilisk.

“Yes,” said Tracey. “What’s your name?” The inland taipan slid along the floor towards the basilisk.

“You may call me Caedes Visum, although just Caedes is acceptable. Now the reason I am here is that I felt a disturbance in you magic,” said the snake as it turned to face Harry. “It is stronger now; I think it was your maturity?”

“Yes,” replied Harry.

“Umm … this may be … interesting. Close your eyes and concentrate.”

“Okay,” said Harry sceptically.

“Now, try to feel the bond; you are supposedly good at occlumency. It should be a link from deep within your mind.”

Harry searched through his mind until he found what the basilisk described.

“Now, feel the magic through it. Concentrate on that magic and let it flow over you.”

Harry did as the snake told him. He let the magic of the bond flow through him, into his arms, his legs and his torso, until his body was tingling. Suddenly he felt his body change and he heard the people who were still humanoid gasp.

“Open you eyes,” commanded Caedes, “But be careful.”

Harry felt his eyelids opening slightly, then he realised the difference. He had a third eyelid! He left it closed and opened the others. He blinked as the light hit his eyes and then stared around the room. He was looking up at the others, except Tracey who was the slightly smaller than him and the basilisk, who was the same size. He heard something which sounded like a laugh come from the snake.

“This is definitely interesting. The first magical animagus is a basilisk.” Harry was shocked.

“You mean ... I’m a basilisk?”

“Exactly, now you’re catching on,” replied Caedes sarcastically.

“But I thought it was impossible.”

“Long ago, people thought that having two animagus forms was impossible,” countered Caedes.

“Wow,” said Harry.

“Yes. I’d imagine that your form is a reflection of the bond with me. As I grow so will your form. I suspect that you’re the first because nobody else has ever formed a bond with a true magical animal before their magical maturity.”

“What about Tom Riddle?”

“A true magical animal,” said Caedes scornfully. “The impure one was barely powerful enough to move, let alone allow its bonded to take its shape. Anyway, I feel as if I’ve monopolised too much of your time. I must leave.”

“No, it’s alright,” said Tracey hurriedly. She had transformed back into the inland taipan after the potion wore off.

“That was the polite way of saying I was going to sleep,” said Caedes.

“Oh.”

“Well, I will meet with you again Speaker, and your friends,” said Caedes as he left. Harry turned back into himself again, only to be confronted by Hermione’s endless questions.

“Harry! What did he say? Why have you got a basilisk as an animagus form? How do you have three forms?”

“Three?” interrupted Blaise.

“Thanks,” said Harry. Hermione looked confused, for once, and the others laughed as Harry transformed into the snow leopard.

“Ah,” said Blaise.

“C’mon, it’s getting late and it’s well past curfew. I’m going to bed,” said Harry. He turned and led the others out of the room. He quickly lit his wand to light the way. “I’m really going to miss this,” he said.

“Miss what?” asked Daphne.

“Doing magic,” he replied.

“Why?” asked Blaise.

“‘Cause you aren’t allowed to use it over the summer,” explained Harry.

“You mean you haven’t had the tracker on your wand removed?” asked Tracey.

“What? You can remove that!” exclaimed Harry.

“Yeah,” said Blaise, as if it was common knowledge. “Give me your wand,” he said. Harry thought for a second and threw it to him. “Actually, that reminds me; I think these two,” he indicated towards Daphne and Tracey, “Could do with their wands back.”

Ron fumbled in his pocket before handing it back, as did Ginny. Once Blaise was satisfied he started to wave his wand over Harry’s, chanting under his breath as he did so. Harry’s wand glowed for a second and then Blaise smiled, handing it back.

“Can you do that for mine?” asked Neville.

“Sure.” Blaise repeated his actions over Neville’s wand. “There’s a block on here too,” he said as Neville’s wand glowed with a red light. “Just give me a sec and I’ll remove it as well.”

No more than twenty seconds later Neville’s wand glowed softly as Blaise returned it. “That was a nasty piece of work,” he said. “There were some serious blocks on it. The fact that you were able to use magic with it at all shows how powerful you are.”

Neville looked angry for a second. “Damn Uncle Eddy. He never did like anybody else. He told me he was helping me, but he actually limited my magic.”

“I would check into Saint Mungo’s as well,” advised Blaise, “To see if there are any blocks on you personally.”

“Thanks.” Blaise ended up casting the same charm on the Weasleys’ and Hermione’s wands as well as they walked back towards the exit.

Before long they were outside Myrtle’s bathroom and the Slytherins were bidding the Gryffindors goodnight and vice versa.

“I’ll keep an eye on Ron,” whispered Harry to Daphne, “It’s almost guaranteed that he’ll do something stupid about this before long.” Then he added, a little louder, so that everyone could hear him, “So, we’ll see you here at ten tomorrow night?” he asked.

“Definitely,” agreed Tracey.

“Until then,” said Harry as he turned and started walking back to Gryffindor Tower.

*

Thanks for reading, now review. Can anyone tell me the meaning of the basilisk’s name?

Thanks
Concealed-Convict