Lupin's True Love Returns

Carey Ann Lupin

Story Summary:
Eighteen years have passed since Veronica was at Hogwarts. The Memory Charm is failing and Veronica is beginning to remember the times of fun and horror at the school. As a teacher she knows how to make class fun. She learned a lot while away including how to fight. Will she be able to teach Harry all she has learned or will she have to bring others in to help

Chapter 41 - Chapter 41 - Animagus Forms

Chapter Summary:
Sirius decided that it was for the best if he just got it over with. He came out from behind Sessho-Maru and changed into a large black dog. He barked several times before a tawny griffin joined him and screeched in his ear. Suddenly there was a white dog sitting beside both of them. It was taller than the trees and had blood red eyes. Tori shook her head as she stepped before the class.
Posted:
08/24/2006
Hits:
187
Author's Note:
Gee, everyone has to take an Animagus Potion. I wonder what their forms are goin to be.

September 16, 1996

Dumbledore leaned back in his seat slightly as he watched the professors gathered around him. They had added several since Thursday. The first were the ones that were in fact over five hundred years old. Inu-Yasha and his mate, Kagome, had volunteered to watch over the students outside at the lake. Miroku and Sango were...well he didn't want to know where they were. Lord Sessho-Maru and Lady Tori were sitting next to Remus and Veronica Lupin and talking about the next class that would have the Fourth through Seventh Years in it. Shippo and Rin were outside getting to know the teens that were out there. Jaken was down in the kitchens trying to tell the House Elves what to cook for his master and mistress. Then there were the ones from outer space. Obi-Wan sat to the right of Veronica while he had allowed his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, to join the teens outside. Kirara was winding her way among the professors, begging for any scraps that could be given. He watched as Veronica leaned over to feed the cat demon, all the while listening to the conversation between the three men seated near her. These people had met up with Veronica and Remus at Diagon Alley on Saturday. Sirius Black was chatting with Remy LeBeau, or Gambit as Veronica had called him, about Veronica and her daughter, Regina. This was one way for Sirius to learn everything that had happened to Veronica over the years. Nebula, or Smokescreen, and her boyfriend, Chris were seated at the far side of the table talking with Kurt and Hakkaku. Veronica and Remus were arguing over the number of egg rolls that were on her plate. The man didn't know not to mess with a pregnant woman's food, especially when she has cravings. Thankfully Logan, or Wolverine, as he was becoming known to the school, was outside. He was in charge of the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Years that were having a picnic by the lake. After the fright that most of the school had had about of the Death Eaters that had been hiding among the students, it was a good idea that Regina and Harry had brought up to him. It was a way for all the Houses to unite with each other and to introduce the young Mutants that were now attending the school. He turned slightly as he heard Ororo and Jean talking about a book on Japanese demons. Henry McCoy was seated close to the Gryffindor Table and talking with Scott Summers and Severus Snape. They were discussing what the X-Men would be teaching the students. Severus had reluctantly accepted the new professors. Dumbledore thought that he had done so because of Veronica. Professor McGonagall was talking with Koga and Ayame about classes and anything else that came to mind. Dumbledore never noticed that Veronica had climbed to her feet and was standing beside his chair.

"Headmaster?" Veronica laid a hand on his shoulder.

Dumbledore turned his head slightly so that he was gazing up at the young woman. "Yes, Professor Croft?"

"I just wanted to know how you feel about the new DADA classes."

"I believe that you and your friends are going to be wonderful teachers." He climbed slowly to his feet. "If you'll excuse me, I have some paperwork to finish for the governors."

"Of course, Headmaster." Veronica watched the old man make his way to the doors of the Great Hall.

Remus laid a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"It's hard to believe that Albus is such an old man." Veronica turned slightly to face Remus. "If I ever get that old, just shoot me."

"Never." Remus kissed her cheek gently. "Come on. We've got a class to teach."

Veronica rolled her eyes as the many professors made their ways to their classrooms. As she and Remus stepped into the Entrance Hall, they saw the Seventh Years hurrying to their common rooms to change into their new uniforms. Her eyes skimmed over the crowd and took notice that none of the X-Men students were among the milling teens. She nodded slightly knowing that those students, along with the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Years, were outside already. Remus hurried her outside. Once they were on the stairs that led to the grounds, Veronica saw Logan and Regina sparring in the center of a crowd of students.

"She's learned much, mon ami." Remy draped an arm around Veronica's shoulders, making Remus growl at him.

"Yeah. She's about to learn even more." Veronica shrugged off his arm and hurried down the stairs.

"I must be losing my touch. It used to be that she would laugh at me when I did things like that." Remy turned to look at Remus.

Remus grabbed Remy by the lapels of his duster and jerked him forward until Remy was less than an inch from his face. "Let me remind you to keep your hands off my wife."

"What will you do if I don't?" Remy looked into Remus's blazing amber eyes.

"I'll rip you to shreds and feed your bits to the giant squid."

"You do not look like Wolverine."

"Wolverine is a gentleman compared to me. Just remember not to mess with this wolf's mate or you might live to regret it." Remus shoved Remy away from him before turning to look down at the courtyard filling with students.

Remus hurried down the stairs. The students were lounging on the grass and talking quietly among themselves. He watched Regina flip over Logan and manage to avoid his claws.

"Come on, old man. You can take a little girl." Regina stuck her tongue out at Logan as she had been taught.

"I don't want to hurt you, Rosie." Logan circled around her carefully.

"You never could before." Regina flipped over Logan as he lunged for her. "You missed."

Veronica pushed her way through to the edge of the crowd of students. "Enough, you two."

"But Mother." Regina straightened her uniform slightly as Logan's claws slid back into his arms.

"I don't need to be taking you to the Hospital Wing. And you should know better." Veronica moved back through the crowd as the rest of the Seventh Years hurried down the front steps to the castle.

Veronica moved toward the rest of the teachers. Chris and Nebula were seated on a boulder set away from most of the group. Harry handed Professor McGonagall Leo so that he would be safe during the class. There was a smaller chance of him getting injured during Transfiguration anyhow. Severus made his way down the steps of the castle carrying a large box. None of the teens could see inside of the box but Veronica knew what it contained. The Animagus potion. The one potion that would be able to tell a person what their form could be. Severus sat the box at Veronica's feet.

"I hope that this will be enough, Professor Lupin." Severus motioned to the box.

Veronica mentally counted the number of students in the class before looking into the box. "I take it that there are several trays in here."

"Yes. There are three trays with about sixty phials on each." Severus crossed his arms slightly.

"That should be more than enough." Veronica gave Severus a dazzling smile. "Thank you, Professor Snape."

Severus turned on his heel and made his way back into the castle. Remus made his way over to Veronica and looked down at the box.

"What did he bring us?" Remus tapped the box with his foot lightly.

"Nothing that you should worry about." Veronica looked out over the students and saw that the Seventh Years and the X-Men students were wearing their uniforms. "May I have your attention!" All the students turned to look at her and the other DADA professors. "I will ask each House to stand so that we may transfigure your clothes into your training uniforms. Gryffindor!" Thirty teens climbed to their feet. As soon as Veronica changed their robes into the skin tight uniforms, they resumed their seats on the grass. "Hufflepuff!" The Hufflepuff teens scrambled to their feet and just as quickly sat back down. "Ravenclaw!" The teens hurried to their feet and carefully examined their uniforms as they resumed their seats. "Slytherin!" Not one of the teens climbed to their feet. Veronica snapped her fingers once and changed their uniforms were they sat. "If they don't fit right, then it's your own fault for not standing when I called on you." Veronica straightened slightly. "Today we will be learning about Animagi. Does anyone know how Animagi differ from, let's say, werewolves?" Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny had raised their hands as had most of Ravenclaw. "Let's call on...Miss...Davidson."

A Fifth Year Gryffindor jumped to her feet and twisted her hands. Victoria Davidson was small, weight wise, for her age but she towered over Ginny by a good six inches. "An Animagus can willingly turn into an animal. But a werewolf is forced into the transformation."

"Five points to Gryffindor, Miss Davidson. That is correct. We also have a mutant who can change her form. Wolfsbane, would you please demonstrate?"

"Yes, Lioness." Rahne climbed to her feet and shifted into her red wolf form. Slowly she started to shift back into her human form but stopped half way. She walked around the class for a moment before shifting all the way into her human form.

"Thank you, Wolfsbane." Veronica turned back to the class. "You might be wondering how she's able to do this. She is a Mutant that has the ability to change her form. A Metamorphic Mutant. Rare but not unheard of. There are others that are Metamorphic Mutants, such as Cannonball, Shadow Cat, and Colossus. They can each change their form at will. Rahne is the only one that can change into an animal just like an Animagus. If Padfoot would demonstrate, we'll get on with this afternoon's lesson."

"Why don't you demonstrate?" Sirius turned to look at Veronica.

"I can't transform because I'm PREGNANT. Can you understand that, Padfoot?" Veronica had yanked her wand from the slim pocket along her thigh, making Sirius jump behind Sessho-Maru.

"Gotcha." Sirius dared to peek around the demon lord only to duck back again.

"Get out here, coward." Remus grabbed Sirius's arm and dragged him out in front of the laughing students. "He was able to face Bellatrix and death but not you. Go figure." He rolled his eyes as Sirius ran back behind Sessho-Maru. "You'd better transform before Lioness does something that you won't like."

"Like rip off your bits and use them for bait." Veronica glared at Sirius through narrowed eyes.

Sirius decided that it was for the best if he just got it over with. He came out from behind Sessho-Maru and changed into a large black dog. He barked several times before a tawny griffin joined him and screeched in his ear. Suddenly there was a white dog sitting beside both of them. It was taller than the trees and had blood red eyes. Tori shook her head as she stepped before the class.

"This is Lord Sessho-Maru's true form. When he is really angry or annoyed, he'll change into a large white dog." Tori crossed her arms and glared up at her husband. "Are you going to change back?"

The dog quickly shrank until Sessho-Maru was once again standing beside his mate. "Now you know that not only mutants, witches, and wizards can change like this. Akumas can as well. You never know if a demon is among your people or not."

"That's interesting." Draco glared from his spot at the back of the class.

"What we are going to do today is work on the Animagus Transformation. Anyone that has a form will have a special class in the evenings. The first thing that you have to do is take this potion. It will put you to sleep so I suggest that you lay down immediately after taking it. You'll be out anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour. Anyone without a form will have the evenings free to pursue their own training." Veronica started to reach into the box when Logan laid a hand on her forearm. "What, Wolverine?"

"We should go over the rules so that anyone that didn't hear 'em this morning will know what they are." Logan crossed his arms as Veronica stood up again.

"You're right. I expect everyone to listen carefully and obey these rules or there will be hell to pay. And trust me, you don't want to mess with me." Veronica took a deep breath. "Rule number One - When one of us tells you to do something, you do it. No questions asked. Rule Number Two - Don't piss Wolverine off. He might take off your heads."

Logan stepped forward. "Rule Number Three - You will wear these uniforms to class. None of this idiotic robe stuff. You'll need to move and these uniforms will do just that."

"Rule Number Four - You will call us by our codenames while in class." Scott moved to stand with Veronica and Logan. "None of this Professor stuff. Rule Number Five - You will work as a team. You have a war to fight and you'll need all the help you can get."

"Our codenames are - Lioness, Moony, Padfoot, Nightcrawler, Storm, Wolverine, Beast, Phoenix, Polaris, Havok, Cyclops, Koga, Lord Sessho-Maru, Inu-Yasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Kirara, Ah-Un, Jaken, Smokescreen, Chris, Master Kenobi, Anakin, Rin, Gambit, Lady Tori, Ayame, Ginta, and Hakkaku." Veronica watched as each of the teachers waved slightly or bowed. "Some of the students also have codenames. During class or in a fight, they will be known by them. They are - Paws, Dazzler, Sunspot, Rogue, Iceman, Cannonball, Shadow Cat, Psyche, Colossus, Wolfsbane, and Sunfire. Any questions?" No one raised their hands. "Good. I'll pass out the phials. Once you receive the potion, take it. We'll talk to you one by one as you awaken."

Veronica walked through the students and handed each one a phial. The only one that she didn't give one to was Regina since she already knew her forms. Regina watched as one by one the students slipped into a deep sleeplike trance. Harry had his arm slung over his eyes as if to keep the sun from blinding him. Regina walked through the students and saw several of them twitching slightly.

"Mother?" Regina glanced at Veronica talking softly with Tori, Kagome, and Sango.

"What is it, Paws?" Veronica moved to stand beside Regina.

"Is it normal for them to twitch like that?" Regina stared at the student twitching slightly at her feet.

"Yeah. Most will twitch like that when they don't have a form. But few who do have forms twitch like that." Veronica glanced at Sirius. "Padfoot did."

Sirius looked up for the parchment that Remus had written several notes on. "I did not!"

"Did too. I was there remember." Veronica stuck her tongue out at Sirius.

"How could I forget?" Sirius whipped his head around as the first student started to come around. "I should have known that Harry would be the first to wake up."

Veronica knelt next to Harry as he rubbed his eyes under his glasses. "Tell me what you saw, Harry."

Harry looked up at his aunt and gave a small smile. "I saw...I saw... a black peregrine falcon with a lightning bolt of white feathers above its left eye."

Veronica leaned a bit closer. "Were there any others?"

Harry gave a short nod. "Two others."

"Tell me later, Harry." Veronica twisted slightly when she saw Ginny starting to come around as well. "Did you see anything, Miss Weasley?"

Ginny nodded vigorously. "I saw a hawk of some kind and a Snidget."

"Rare but not unheard of. Considering that you are a fair flyer I would think that you would be a type of bird." Veronica gave Ginny's shoulder a slight squeeze as Hermione and Ron started to come around. "Of course the four of you would be the first ones to wake." Veronica looked at Hermione trying to take deep breaths. "Well, Miss Granger?"

"A Unicorn. I didn't think that you could become a magical creature." Hermione turned to Ron as he gave her a big grin. "What about you, Ron?"

"An Aethonan. A great big chestnut horse with a bright red mane and tail." Ron pulled Hermione over to him.

Veronica rose to her feet as a Fifth Year Gryffindor jerked herself up into a sitting position. "Are you alright, Miss Davidson? Did you have a form?"

"A small white fox." Victoria Davidson looked up at Veronica. "What kind of fox is white?"

"An Arctic fox. A rare animal indeed." Scott stood over the girl. "We've got more waking, Lioness."

Veronica nodded. "Right, Cyclops. Everyone spread out." Veronica turned to Regina. "That includes you, Paws."

"Yes, Lioness." Regina hurried over to kneel between Marina and Jessica. It surprised her how fast the two girls had become friends. "Hey, Jess. How'd you sleep?"

"What truck ran over me?" Jessica rubbed the back of her head as Marina rolled over onto her stomach.

"I don't know but it hit me, too." Marina glanced at Regina, who was grinning like the cat who caught the canary. "What are you smiling at?"

"It's not like the Blackbird landed on ya." Regina giggled as the two girls glared at her. "Did either of you have a form?"

"I did." Jessica and Marina had spoken at the same time. They looked at each other and smiled. "You did. What was it?"

Jessica grinned slightly. "My form was a white tiger."

"Mine was an arctic wolf." Marina looked around her. "Was I the only Slytherin to wake up?"

"So far. Harry's got a form but then again so do Ron, Hermione, and Ginny." Regina scrambled to her feet as Jessica looked over toward the new students.

"Doesn't look like any of the X-Men have a form." Jessica followed Regina's lead and climbed shakily to her feet.

"At least not yet." Regina rubbed the back of her neck. "Lioness said that most people wouldn't have a form. I guess that means that we're some of the lucky ones."

"Different you mean." Marina looked around at the rest of the class. "It doesn't look like that many from any of the Houses have forms."

Luna Lovegood was slowly starting to sit up. "Which way did the Crumple-Horned Snorkack go?"

"A what?" Regina knelt next to her.

"Never mind. It would take too long to explain it to you." Luna flipped her hair away from her face.

Regina rolled her eyes slightly. "Did you see a form, Luna?"

"Yes." Luna brushed the grass from her skirt.

"What was it?" Marina leaned forward slightly.

"I saw a cheetah." Luna looked up at the older girls.

"You saw the fastest animal on the planet?" Jessica gaped at the younger Ravenclaw.

Luna nodded as Draco started to come around. "It looks like Draco has a form."

"I wonder what it is." Regina scrambled to her feet and made her way over to Draco. "What did you see, Malfoy?"

"I'm not pursuing my form." Draco crossed his arms angrily.

"Why not, Malfoy? Afraid it's too wimpy?" Harry made his way over to the girls and Draco.

"I've already been this form." Draco glared at his archenemy.

"It can't be any worse than the white ferret you were in Fourth Year." Harry watched Draco's face turn red with anger. "I don't believe it. Your form is a white ferret!"

Ron whipped around to look at Harry and Regina laughing at the fuming Draco. "Do you mean we get to see the Amazing Bouncing Ferret again?"

Regina looked at Ron's hopeful face. "I guess so." She looked from the laughing boys to the fuming one. "Anyone care to fill me in on the joke?"

"You had to be there, Reggie." Harry laughed while trying not to get hit by Malfoy.

"Really?" Regina looked between Ron and Harry. "Was it that funny?"

"No. These two think it was hilarious but Malfoy could have really been hurt." Hermione came up behind them.

"Hermione, you always ruin a good thing." Ron draped his left arm across Hermione's shoulders.

"Malfoy could really have been hurt that day." Hermione scowled at Ron's smiling face. "Why are the two of bringing this up now?"

Regina leaned over so that the rest of the waking students couldn't hear her. "Malfoy's an animagus and his form just happens to be a white ferret."

Hermione covered her mouth to keep laughing out loud. "I don't believe it."

Regina shook her head as she made her way through the stirring students. She knelt between Beth and Lindsey. "Hey, girls."

"How can you be so happy when we've got killer headaches?" Beth ran her hand through her shoulder length black hair.

"Really." Lindsey laid her forehead on one of her knees. "I guess you want to know what our forms are."

"You guessed it." Regina gave them a mischievous smile.

"Mine was a red-tail hawk." Lindsey flopped back onto the grass.

"I'm a red fox." Beth glanced over at her sister. "Do you think Katie, Tabby, and Justin will have forms?"

"They might." Lindsey looked over to Katie, Tabby, and Justin. "Let's ask them."

Lindsey and Beth climbed to their feet. They both clutched their heads as Scott and Jean made their way over to the small group.

Jean rushed over to Lindsey and helped her sit back on the grass. "Are you alright?"

"Just a little dizzy. I'll be fine." Lindsey lowered her head slightly.

"What about you, Miss Byars?" Scott rubbed his hand across Beth's back.

"I think I'm alright." Beth took several deep breaths. "We wanted to check on our friends."

"Just stay put, kid." Logan towered over the two teens. "I'll check on them."

"I'll help." Inu-Yasha jumped over to Tabby and Katie and helped them to sit up as Logan helped Justin. "You okay, brat?"

Katie straightened her glasses as she turned and looked at Inu-Yasha. "I'm fine, sir." She looked around at the still sleeping teens. "Why haven't they awakened yet?"

"Probably because the potion is still working on them." Beth and Lindsey had finally made their way over to their friends. "Did you have a form, sis?"

Katie nodded. "Sure did. My form is a red wolf."

"Not bad. Wolves are pack animals as are most of the forms given today. There are a few that are solitary but most everyone has a pack animal." Inu-Yasha shot a look at Tabby. "What about you?"

"I saw an eagle owl." Tabby bowed her head slightly. I won't be a part of the pack.

"Well, we need more eyes in the sky." Logan thumped her on the back.

Tabby blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. "Thank you, sir."

Logan didn't hear the tears in Tabby's voice as he looked down at Justin. "What did you see, bub?"

"A brown bear." Justin shrugged slightly. "I guess that's appropriate. I mean I do like to sleep and eat."

"Brown bears can be ferocious when attacked." Veronica stood over the Justin, Tabby, and Katie. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I think we're all fine, Pro...Lioness." Tabby bit the inside of her cheek to remind herself not to call Veronica Professor.

"Good. It'll be a while before everyone else wakes up." Veronica started to write down the names of all the students that had animagus forms as Susan Bones rubbed her forehead and sat up.

"That hurt." Susan looked up at Sessho-Maru, who was helping her sit up.

"Did you see a form, pup?" Sessho-Maru gently rubbed Susan's back.

Susan nodded as she took several deep breaths. "I saw a snow leopard."

"Interesting." Sessho-Maru rose to his full height. "We must put Miss Bones on the list of students that are Animagi."

"Got her." Veronica wrote each name and what their form was. "I'll make a schedule for this training."

"Who all is on the list, Lioness?" Logan moved through the rest of the waking students who were shaking their heads as their friends asked if they were going to be Animagi.

"Let's see." Veronica looked down her list. "Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Jessica, Victoria, Marina, Beth, Tabby, Katie, Lindsey, Justin, Draco, Luna, and Susan all have Animagi forms."

"Looks like we're going to have a half-way decent class." Sirius watched the teens gather their things and hurry back into the castle.

"Schedules for Animagus training will be passed out tonight at supper!" Veronica's shouts traveled after the students. "As usual they're in a hurry to get away from the lot of you."

"Us?" Alex draped an arm across Veronica's shoulders. "I was told how much homework you like to give out."

"Do you want to be four inches tall again, Havok?" Veronica's eyes narrowed as she glared at Alex. "Because if you do I can make it permanent."

Alex held up his hands in defeat. "I give."

Logan watched Veronica move toward Kagome, Sango, Ororo, Jean, and Lorna. "At least you learn fast, kid."

Richard Fox made his way over to Veronica, Kagome, Sango, Ororo, Jean, and Lorna. "Excuse me, Professors."

"Mr. Fox, what can we help you with?" Kagome smiled softly, putting the young man at ease.

"I think you should know that I also have a form." Richard bowed his head slightly.

"Why didn't you say anything, Mr. Fox?" Ororo's soft voice made Richard look up at her.

"I'm not sure. I think it was because so few are Animagi." Richard looked around the women.

"Well, I'll put your name on the list. What animal did you see?" Veronica wrote Richard's name down on her list.

"I saw two. One was a timber wolf." Richard stopped when Veronica held up her hand.

"Those with more than one form will be in a special class. Tell me in that class, okay?"

"Sure, Professor. I'd better head to the library." Richard hiked his book bag higher onto his shoulder.

"That gives us five kids with more than one form." Lorna watched the men start to organize the first years that had come out the front doors.

"Well, we'll worry about that later." Veronica started toward the first years when Remus hurried over to her. "What is it, Moony?"

"We're just going to go over some defensive spells and moves with the first years, if you want to go and work on those schedules." Remus watched his wife carefully. It wouldn't do for him to wind up in the Hospital wing because he made her angry.

"Good idea. I'll take Henry, Remy, Sessho-Maru, and Obi-Wan with me. We'll work on them together." Veronica watched as the four men she had mentioned moved toward them. "Is that okay with you?"

"They better keep their hands to themselves." Remus kissed Veronica quickly, making some of the first year boys pretend to gag with the girls sighed with happiness.

"They will. You know Sessho-Maru won't let anyone near your mate. We'll be in my office if you need us." Veronica made her way over to the front steps.

Sessho-Maru, Obi-Wan, Remy, and Henry followed after her. They knew that they were going to have a lot of work to do.


:Watches bouncing white ferret: This is so much fun. I think I'll go work on some more.