A Year in the Life of a Wizarding Werewolf

A Year in the Life of a Wizarding Werewolf

- If thrice you don't succeed, try try yet again

The weather turned cool, then cold and frosty, as the days churned by. Very soon, December was lurking round the corner, announcing its forthcoming sojourn with sleet, snow and chilly gusts of wind. There was a week to go before that dreaded time of the month. As the years went by, Remus had come to terms, with a reluctant acceptance, about his transformations. He still disliked them intensely, but at least he had stopped wallowing in the anger and self-pity that had shrouded him during the earlier years. Homework-wise, he was relieved that the reformed plan he had set out for himself that third week of term was paying off. He actually enjoyed some free time now on most evenings, where he could be found reading a novel by the fire-side, playing wizard chess with James, or going for a walk round the school grounds. Some evenings, when the wind wasn't too strong or nippy, he would go along with Sirius and Peter to the Gryffindor Quidditch practices.

The team was doing extremely well this year. Subsequent practices following that first one Remus, Sirius and Peter had attended had been just as good, if not better. There was the occasional off day, of course, but those were few and very far between. In their last match against Ravenclaw, they had steam-rolled past the blue-clad team, with James and Karla scoring three goals each before Caitlyn Orr streaked across the pitch to catch the Snitch from right under the Ravenclaw Keeper's nose.

Remus turned back to the last of his homework, a star chart for Astronomy. Across from him, James, Sirius and Peter were huddled over several books, occasionally jotting down some notes on a piece of parchment.

"What are you guys up to?" he asked finally, after observing a hushed, rather earnest, exchange between Sirius and James.

"Why, nothing," replied Sirius at once, looking at Remus innocently.

"We were just going through some Transfiguration homework," continued James.

"Might get us some bonus points from McGonagall in the next class, you see," finished Peter.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Nice try," he said sweetly. "The acting's improved somewhat." The three shifted uneasily. "But still, I am not buying it. You lot aren't going through all that Animagus business again, are you?"

Three guilty faces confirmed that he indeed, had guessed right.

"Busted, Moony," said James, with an expression of mock regret.

Remus wanted to, out of habit, rebuke them. The idea of becoming Animagi had first occurred to them towards the end of their second year, when the four of them had seen Professor McGonagall transform into a ginger cat, one with distinctive markings round the eyes, and then back again. They had been researching on Animagi ever since. As a werewolf, Remus would only be drawn towards attacking humans, not animals. His friends figured that if they could all become Animagi, they could have a monthly romp round the school grounds. However, several mishaps have occurred throughout their third and fourth year, and not wanting his friends to be caught out with one too many trips to Madam Pomfrey, and more importantly, not wanting them to do some irreversible damage to themselves, Remus had firmly requested they discontinued the idea.

But just as he opened his mouth, his conscience faded slightly, and something else took over. Excitement. Eagerness. He knew what this meant. If it worked, the days of being shut up in the Shrieking Shack would be over. He would actually have the company of his best friends on the nights he considered his most horrific.

He hesitated. "So, you guys really want to do this?" he asked cautiously.

They nodded.

"Really really? Absolutely sure?" he went on, not daring to let a glimmer of hope slip into his voice.

The heads nodded again, more vigorously this time.

A smile spread across his face, and his friends looking relieved, grinned back at him.

"So what stage are you at? What do you need to do?" he asked, leaning across the table to catch a glimpse of their notes.

"We've got just about everything," replied James, showing him a sheaf of parchments, detailing the materials required for the initial transformation. If this turned out to be successful, they would be able to transform into animals and back again at will. The initial process, however, was extremely complex, requiring not only a magical ability usually found in wizards much more experienced than OWL-level teens, but also a complicated potion involving numerous ingredients of a dubious nature, and an incantation in some form of ancient Greek, now virtually extinct. It had taken the end part of their second year and most of their third year to locate the data on the initiation process, and the first half of the fourth year to decipher the incantation and gather the correct pronunciation of the words. The ingredients for the potion were not easily obtained either. Remus had been extremely touched at the lengths his friends went to, to try and make his transformation nights more pleasant, and the time it took, especially for James and Sirius, who were not known for their patience. They had always told him airily that this was for their own sake, that being able to transform into animals at will would be a cool thing to do, and that it would provide them with even more adventures and fun while at school. But Remus knew that the main reason was because of him, and for that, he was eternally grateful.

"So, you got those black pin-headed beetle claws?" he asked, pointing to one of the ingredients listed for the potion. It had been something they had trouble getting a hold of before.

"Yup," said Sirius, pulling out a packet of suspicious-looking black scraps from underneath some parchment. "I took a quick poke round Knockturn Alley in August when I was in Diagon Alley to get stuff for school. These are left overs though. We've already made the potion."

"Last night," said James, answering Remus's question even before he posed it.

"So when are you-- " he began.

"We were thinking of trying it out tonight," whispered Peter, looking half-scared, half-excited. "Down at that secret passageway behind the mirror on the fourth floor. You know, the one where it opens out into a wide space partway through?"

That night, when the last of the students trickled out of the Gryffindor common room, James slipped up to the dormitory to get his Invisibility Cloak. He tucked it in front of his robes, and the four of them set off out the portrait hole.

"Why aren't you lot in bed?" asked the Fat Lady as she let them out. She was brushing her hair, getting ready to catch her forty winks herself. She then gave them a hard look. "You aren't supposed to be out and about after nine you know."

"Er, yeah," said Remus, thinking fast. "You see, Sirius here wasn't feeling too well. Throwing up and having the shakes and all."

Sirius tried looking as sick as he could, clutching one hand to his stomach and moaning softly.

"We just want to get him to the hospital wing," added in James earnestly, while making his way hastily down the corridor.

The Fat Lady gave Sirius a reproving look as they hurried up after James.

"You shouldn't be stuffing yourselves with all those nasty flavoured beans, I tell you," she called after them. "Earwax! No wonder you feel ill."

The four rounded a corner and James flung the Invisibility Cloak over them all. They then headed, rather laboriously, towards the mirror located on the fourth floor.

"Ouch! Stop stepping on my toes," yelped Peter.

"Shhh!"

"Will you stop elbowing me in the stomach?"

"Hey, walk a bit faster will ya, Moony. I keep tripping over you!"

They finally reached the mirror. James tapped it at the side with his wand, muttering, "Apertio!" The mirror slid to one side, and with a sigh of relief, the four stepped in and pulled off the cloak.

A quarter of an hour later, they reached an open space, hollowed out in the middle of the passageway and quickly laid out their things.

"Potion?"

"Check."

"Incantation?"

"Check."

"Cauldron?"

"Check."
"Wood?"

"Check."

James pointed to a small cauldron, a ladle and a pile of wood that he had left there earlier during the day.

"Okay then," said Sirius, clapping his hands together. "Let's heat up the potion first, shall we? Ignito!"

His wand ignited and he held it out to the pile of wood, setting the cauldron upon it. The wood caught fire and soon, blue-red flames were licking up the sides of the cauldron.

"Good. Ladle?"

Remus passed it over to him.

"Potion?"

"Here," said James, handing him the flask where they had stored it the day before.

Sirius tipped the contents of the flask into the cauldron and began to stir it with the ladle.

"We are supposed to drink this just after it comes to a simmer," he said, "but before it goes to a boil."

He looked intently at the liquid as James pulled out the piece of parchment with the incantation.

Remus observed his friends for a while, and then asked. "Which one of you is going try it first?"

The three of them exchanged looks.

"I will," said Sirius finally, "since James and Peter went the other times we did this."

"So, you are ready to concentrate then?"

Sirius nodded, shaking himself as if to get rid of any irrelevant thoughts and to loosen himself up to meditate.

Perhaps the trickiest part of the whole process was the skill that was required of the wizard himself. You had to be able to block out all external stimuli and focus within, to be able to sense what animal you would most relate to. It was dreadfully difficult to concentrate solely on your inner self without a trace of bias. Your thoughts, as Remus had often been told, inevitably turn to questioning what type of animal you would become instead, and then preconceived notions of cats, dogs or horses would materialise and drown out the whole meditative trance.

"One is supposed to know what one will turn into, and not be guessing," Professor McGonagall had said, when James had asked her about it rather innocuously during their Animagus lesson a couple of years ago. "Like with wands, the form of animal chooses the wizard, not the other way round."

"How are you supposed to just know?" James had vented frustratedly afterwards. "I feel like I am a bit of everything. Which quality of yourself are you supposed to focus on anyway? I can't very well have a dog's head, a dragon's tail and wings of an owl now, can I?"

Still, that hadn't deterred them. The potion was now at simmering point. Sirius gave it one more stir, ladled a spoonful out, then took a deep breath and drank it in one gulp.

"Hot!" he gasped, panting slightly. Remus chuckled softly as James, Peter and himself began the incantation set in ancient tongues.

After they were finished, they turned to Sirius, staring at him intently, as he closed his eyes and tried to focus. There were several long minutes of dead silence whereby the air was so taut with anticipation and suspense that Remus was sure someone could have snapped it like a brittle twig.

Then the features of Sirius's face twisted. As Remus, James and Peter gazed, entranced, they saw his hands morph into big bear-like paws, covered in black fur, and a long tail appear from behind him, like a feathery whip. Then his face, apart from the vicinity around his mouth, which remained quite human-like, had turned into....

"A monkey?" asked Remus tentatively, peering into Sirius's transformed face.

"But look at those huge paws," said James, pointing at where Sirius's hands previously were. "And that tail."

"What are you?" asked Peter nervously, studying his friend with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

Sirius opened his mouth to speak, but could only manage a high-pitched screech of sorts. He cleared his throat and tried again.

"I don't know," he squeaked.

"How do we reverse it?" squawked Peter, his voice even higher than Sirius's. "Can you reverse it?"

"I can't!" gibbered Sirius, a bit frantic now. "I don't know how to!"

"I thought you just had to think hard about being human again," said Remus.

"Yeah, but I think I'm stuck, since the process didn't go as planned."

"Er, okay," said James, gingerly, trying to take control of the situation. "I think we'd better get back before anyone notices we are gone. Can you walk?" he asked, turning to Sirius.

Sirius could, as his legs hadn't quite transformed yet. They cleaned up everything rapidly, left the cauldron and ladle behind and flew up the secret passageway again. As they hurried towards their portrait hole, James pulled the Invisibility Cloak off them and tossed it to Sirius.

"Here, take that. At least you won't rouse the Fat Lady's suspicions that way."

"She thinks you're in the hospital wing anyway," added Remus.

Sirius flung it over himself and the four walked up to the portrait.

"Chudley Cannons," said Peter quickly.

"About time too," grumbled the Fat Lady, swinging open for them. "How long does it take for you to escort a friend to Madam Pomfrey? I need my sleep you know."

"Sorry," apologised Remus as he hauled himself through the portrait hole. "We just wanted to make sure he was okay."

Inside the common room, all three of them turned to Sirius, who was slowly slipping off the Invisibility Cloak.

"What happened?" asked Remus, feeling his panic rise now the shock was sinking in.

Sirius shrugged. Trying to lower his squeaky voice as much as possible, he said, "I was focusing real hard, and actually could feel it starting to work."

"And?" prodded James.

"But then my mind slipped a bit and somehow I was thinking of monkeys."

Remus sighed disappointedly, but James was growing excited now.

"You mean you felt it working?" he asked, his words tumbling over each other in his enthusiasm. "You really did?"

Sirius nodded.

"Oh wow!" he walked around Sirius, gazing at the black paws and the furry tail. "Oh wow!" he repeated. "Maybe, ole pal, you'd have been some sort of dog if that monkey thought hadn't entered your brain."

Remus remained silent.

"But what is he going to do now?" wailed Peter, wringing his hands nervously. "What are we going to do?"

"Just have to tell Madam Pomfrey, I guess," replied James vaguely, now peering into Sirius's monkey visage. "That is great!"

Sirius snorted. "For you yeah. It's not you who's stuck."

"Well," Remus spoke up finally, in a matter-of-fact voice. "We are just going to have to say Sirius was bugging the hell out of us, so we hexed him out of a moment's annoyance."

"But we've used that excuse already," reminded Peter.

"Then we're just going to have to say I wasn't careful when I was practicing my Transfiguration, and the spell hit him instead."

He turned to Sirius. "Come one then, you fluffy chimaera, we'll go to her in the morning." And with that, he propelled the other three up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

Remus spent part of the night rehearsing what he hoped would be a believable excuse for Madam Pomfrey regarding Sirius's accident. Then, before breakfast, the two of them set off for the hospital wing. The Fat Lady was too sleepy to notice them, merely swinging open in a daze before going back to sleep as they passed through.

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips most disapprovingly when she saw Sirius.

"Really!" she scolded, settling Sirius down on a bed. "What have you been doing?"

"It was my fault, miss," Remus stepped in hastily. "I was practicing for my Transfiguration practical early this morning with Sirius when my wand slipped from my hand. So the spell hit him instead."

He crossed his fingers tightly under his robes, hoping his story sounded genuine enough. "Can you fix him up?" he asked anxiously.

"Yes, yes, of course," clucked Madam Pomfrey in a business-like way. She studied Sirius for a few moments.

"Really, what has Minerva been teaching you to transfigure?"

Remus felt he had to be honest this time. "Rats mostly," he said, rubbing his forehead absently, a habit of his when he got flustered. "And rabbits."

"Hmmm," said Madam Pomfrey, her eyes darting back and forth between him and Sirius.

"But, er, but I lost concentration when the wand slipped from my hand," Remus explained quickly, sensing what Madam Pomfrey must surely be thinking.

"Hmm," she repeated, a little less sceptical, though all the same, Remus had a feeling she was still not entirely convinced. "Okay, I'll fix Sirius up here. You run along to breakfast."

With a huge sigh of relief, Remus made his way out of the room, giving Sirius a final wave of good-bye. He hurried along the corridors into the Great Hall. As he sat down at the Gryffindor table, James and Peter immediately swooped down on him, showering him with questions.

"Will he be alright?"

"Pomfrey can fix him back to normal right?"

"Did she suspect anything?"

"What did she say anyway?"

Remus loaded some bacon and sausages onto his plate and reassured them Sirius would be fine.

"She said she would be able to fix him up. And no, she didn't guess," he added, off their questioning looks. "Well, not the real reason anyway. I don't think she really bought into the whole homework mishap thing, even though I tried to make it sound as genuine as I could." He slid an egg onto his plate. "But, I don't think she guessed about the Animagus stuff."

After dinner that day, the three of them went to see Sirius. He looked slightly more presentable than when Remus had left him that morning. He still had his monkey face, but some of the fur on his hands had faded, and the tail had shrunk to half its size.

"Pomfrey said it will be another couple of days before it all goes away," Sirius informed them, the squeakiness in his voice now thankfully gone. "And I have to take this gawd-awful potion." He waved his hand towards a bottle sitting on his bedside table.

James picked it up and took a whiff of its contents.

"Blegh!" he exclaimed, choking and pulling a face. "It smells worse than Dungbombs."

"Tastes as bad as it smells too," said Sirius, gagging.

"At least Pomfrey can fix you up," said Peter, relieved and looking actually quite optimistic.

James changed the subject. "So, you reckon it nearly worked then?"

Sirius nodded. "It probably would have worked if I hadn't started thinking about those blasted monkeys," he grumbled. "Sorry about that."

James brushed away the apology. "How does it feel?" He asked elatedly. "Were you really able to feel what animal you might become?"

Sirius pondered hard for a moment. "Umm, it's hard to tell. It was as if this personality of mine just, like, took over," he said thoughtfully. "Like it kinda engulfs you for a bit. And it's not as if you pick and choose which personality trait either," he continued, looking at James. "It just comes. Like if you relaxed enough and focused on yourself hard enough, it would overwhelm you."

The other three stared at him.

"H-how do you do it though?" asked Peter, looking as if this would all be way beyond him.

"I guess you have to know yourself well enough to let go. And when it starts to overtake you, just let it. My problem was I froze a bit, jolted, because I wasn't expecting it, so the concentrating lapsed and hence, monkey."

"But now you know you may well be some sort of a dog, it'd be easier right?" pressed James. "Like, you probably could think 'dog' to help it along even."

"Maybe," agreed Sirius.

"We are going to have to try it again!" said James excitedly.

"No." A firm voice came from behind him.

Sirius, James and Peter turned to find Remus, looking rather pale, frowning heavily at them.

"Remus-- " began Sirius.

"No," repeated Remus stubbornly. "I don't want you to go through all this just because of that one night for me. Someone's probably going to get hurt if we go on like this. What if Pomfrey couldn't fix you up?" he demanded, turning to Sirius. "What if it was irreversible?"

He swallowed hard, trying to control the bubbling wave of hysteria that had been welling up within him all day. It took a lot of strength for him to say no. After all, he had been looking forward to this as much as the rest of them. Looking forward to the possibility of freedom on the nights of his transformations, nights of gallivanting round the Forbidden Forest with his friends, instead of being encaged, left to deal with his anger and loss of mind alone, taking out the temper of the savage beast on the old furniture that lay about the Shrieking Shack and on himself.

"But Moony," said Sirius gently, "this isn't irreversible. What are you fretting about?"

"B-besides, we t-told you many t-times we want to d-do it for ourselves," stammered Peter, looking warily at Remus, but determined all the same.

"You don't understand," growled Remus, desperately trying to control the guilt he felt inside him while attempting to get his point across. "Please stop lying. I know precisely why you are doing it. I am not worth all this trouble!" he hissed in a furious whisper.

"Of course not," said James cheerfully, undaunted.

"You are worth much more," finished Sirius.

There was a brief moment's silence as his friends looked steadily at him. Then, trying to stifle a cry, Remus turned on his heel and flew out of the room.

He wished they would understand. He wished that they would just stop giving him that excuse of wanting to do it for themselves, and take a proper look at what was going on. In fact, Remus was quite livid at them for constantly brushing aside the real reason behind all this so nonchalantly. He was damned sure that thought of becoming Animagi wouldn't have ever crossed their minds if he, Remus J Lupin, hadn't been a werewolf. They were doing it for him, he knew that. They knew how miserable he was on the night of the full moon. They have often seen the gashes he had inflicted upon himself as he bit himself in anger and frustration from being locked up. He wished he hadn't been so open now, telling them how awful it is. He should have been able to cope with it on his own, to take what life has dealt him with more maturity and resilience. And to think you are a Gryffindor, he thought to himself in disgust. You don't even have the guts to fill a teaspoon! And now all this Animagus craze was his fault. If only he hadn't whined like a baby about the pains of being a werewolf. Sirius had been lucky. If something worse and irreparable were to happen, he would never be able to forgive himself.

Remus stumbled blindly down the corridor to the Gryffindor common room.

"Chudley Cannons," he mumbled inaudibly. The Fat Lady gazed down at him before huffily swinging open and letting him in.

He settled down at a table in the corner of the room and immersed himself in his homework. He was nearly finished his second assignment, some complicated simultaneous Prophelgebra equations for Professor Vector in Arithmancy, when James and Peter appeared through the portrait hole.

"Moony," began James uncertainly, as he stopped in front of Remus. "Y-you okay?"

Remus, still feeling rather strained with a mixture of guilt, anger and pride, remained silent.

"W-we just w-want to h-help, you know," said Peter in a trembling voice.

Remus swallowed hard, "I know," he said softly, "But-- "

"But what?" hissed James, challenging Remus to give him an answer, "but nothing!"

"Not nothing," Remus shot back. Then seeing several inquisitive heads turn in their direction, lowered his voice down to a whisper. "Not nothing. Don't you understand I don't want to get you into trouble?"

"We're already in trouble. All the time."

"Real trouble," Remus cut in coolly. "What if Madam Pomfrey couldn't fix Sirius?" What if you got found out? I am not sure what the punishment for being an illegal Animagus is, but it wouldn't be just writing lines! Nor cleaning up Slytherin corridors for that matter," he added, glaring at James. "What if you couldn't change back? Do you think I want that to happen to you? Do you think I could live with it?"

"We are willing to take the risk," stated James mulishly.

Remus gave a scornful snort. "It's a ridiculous risk! Why?"

"Because we meant what Sirius said up in the hospital wing about being worth it," replied James, very serious now. "Besides, if any of us were in your place, wouldn't you be trying to become an Animagus so you could be with us on nights of the full moon too?"

Remus didn't have an answer to that.

"Thank you," said James in response to the silence.

"We just have to try again, that's all," he continued briskly. "We've used up the last of that Siberian Devil's Claw and the Pacific cuttlefish tentacles for the potion."

"We don't have enough of the black pin-headed beetle claws left over either," added Peter.

"We'll find a way to get some more," said James. "I think I can nick some more asphodel from the potions cupboard during class. We are running low on that too."

Remus looked on quietly as the two went through their notes. He was still not comfortable with the decision to carry on with the experimenting, but at the same time, he couldn't deny the feeling of happiness and eagerness that was surging through him once more, what this might eventually mean. He felt a glow of warmth starting to form at the pit of his stomach, that his friends were truly eager to do this for him.

At about half-eight, James put down his quill, after finishing his translation for Ancient Runes.

"Does anyone fancy a brisk walk for some fresh air?" he asked, yawning loudly and stretching himself languidly in his chair.

Peter glanced out the window. "It looks a bit chilly outside," he commented, shuddering and his eyes wandered over to the bright flames crackling merrily in the fireplace. There was no question as to where he preferred to remain.

"But I want some fresh air," wheedled James, standing up, looking very restless.

"Stick you head out the window then," offered Remus, who had just finished his work for the night and was tidying up the rolls of parchment and stacks of books on the table.

"Oh come on, you two! You need some of it yourselves by the looks of you," James said, making his way across the common room and towards the portrait hole.

Grumbling under their breaths, the other two put on their coats they had hung up by the doorway earlier on in the day and tromped out of the common room after him.

Once outside, Remus had to grudgingly admit that James had been right. The crisp chill of the air was extremely refreshing after the hours spent with his nose in the books in the warm common room.

The three of them took a walk down to the Quidditch pitch (which was now empty) and along the border of the school lawns. James was adamant about trying the Animagus experiment again soon, and wouldn't shut up talking about it throughout their whole walk. By the time they made their way back to the castle, he had managed to stir back up a considerable amount of interest and enthusiasm from the other two, ridding Peter of his doubts and Remus of his reluctance.

As they made their way to Gryffindor Tower, James paused along a corridor, deep in thought. Remus figured he was thinking hard about the Animagus procedure, and probably wondering where they may get a hold of the potion ingredients they were missing. He was about to give James a nudge along when he heard a familiar, and very unwelcome, voice.

"Students wandering around after nine o'clock, I hear?"

"Filch!" whispered Remus.

"Where, my sweet? Where did you spot them?"

"And Mrs. Norris," gulped Peter, fearfully.

They gave James a shove, jostling him out of his thoughts.

"Wha-- " he mumbled.

"It's Filch," hissed Remus urgently.

James snapped out of his reverie immediately. As Remus and Peter started hastening their paces up towards Gryffindor Tower, James scanned his eyes around and spotted a door just beside him along the corridor.

"Here!" he called out softly at the others, pulling the door open.

They flew in through the door and James turned the lock. Breathing heavily, they heard the caretaker talking to his cat right outside the door and held their breath. Filch and Mrs. Norris skulked along the corridor for what seemed like an eternity before those in the room heard Filch say grouchily,

"Little dirty brats. They must have scurried away, off to leave stink pellets and Dungbombs along the corridors again. Come, my sweet."

Remus gave them a few minutes before peeking out the door to check if the coast was clear.

"Hey, you guys, look!" James cried out, looking around the room. "Do you see what it in here?"

Remus poked his head back into the room. "What?"

But he didn't have to wait for James's answer. Two walls of the room were bookshelves lined with volumes upon volumes on Transfiguration and Animagi. The other two were shelves housing all the ingredients they would ever need for the potion, while lying on a table in the middle of the room, was a roll of parchment. James picked it up, his hands trembling with excitement and it was the incantation, complete with pronunciation instructions. Remus and Peter looked over his shoulder.

"Oh," said Peter, pointing to a word halfway down the page. "I think we got the inflection of that word slightly wrong,"

"And that too," said James, indicating another one further down. He looked round the room. "This is brilliant!"

"I wonder why we haven't noticed it before," Remus voiced out loud. "A room solely housing information on Animagi in Hogwarts? Strange, don't you think?"

"Who cares?" said James, brushing off Remus's comment and dashing over to the potions cabinet.

"It just seems weird, that's all," said Remus, trying to shrug off the funny feeling he had.

"This is Hogwarts," said James, now emptying the shelves with potion ingredients. "What could be here that could possibly be worthwhile being afraid of?"

He rummaged through more of the shelves. "Look at this! The Devil's Claw and cuttlefish tentacles." He opened the jar and took a quick sniff.

"Good quality too. I could only manage some mediocre stuff the last time, since they normally cost a unicorn's horn. And look, here are some black pin-headed beetle claws too. Top quality!"

He hopped over to where Remus was and brandished the jars triumphantly in front of him, looking absolutely elated.

"And here," squealed Peter from the other corner of the room. "They have instructions on how to relax when trying to relate to your inner animal. And a potion to go with it as well!"

He grabbed three bottles of the potion and came over to the other two, dumping them onto the increasing pile of things James had already hoarded.

"I wish there would be some sort of short bulletin, in bullet points, to like, summarise what's in all these books." James sighed, waving his hand at the vast number of books that lined the two walls. "We'd never get through all this!"

As if the room had heard him, a couple sheets of parchment appeared in thin air and floated down onto the table in front of them. On it, as requested by James, was a series of concise instructions on how to become an Animagus.

"Wow!" exclaimed James. "How about I wish for a Silver Arrow 1500?"

"James!" admonished Remus, though not without a smile.

"What? Just checking."

Although no Silver Arrow 1500 appeared, James was jubilant with their haul from the room.

"We'd better get back quick," said Remus, looking at the clock that hung on the wall. "It's nearly ten."

The three of them gathered up everything, trying to tuck as much as they possibly could up the front of their robes, and crossing their arms in front of them to prevent the jars of potion ingredients from clattering onto the floor.

"We really should have brought the Invisibility Cloak with us," muttered James as they hurried along the corridors up to the common room, hoping not to meet up with anyone this time.

"Not to mention our map," added Remus. "But we never expected to stay out this long."

They reached the Fat Lady portrait without further incidence.

"Chudley Cannons," called out Remus, and they climbed in.

"Speaking of the Marauders Map," said James, as they hung up their coats by the doorway, "we should add that room to it. I don't remember seeing it there before."

"Nor me," said Remus and Peter together.

They went back to that corridor first thing the following morning, before breakfast, but the room wasn't there anymore.

"Strange," said James pensively. "I was sure it was here."

"Ditto," replied Remus, puckering his brow at the blank wall where he was sure the door had been. "Wonder what happened to it."

"Maybe it moves around," suggested Peter. "Like those moving staircases. Those were a nightmare to plot on the map. And I don't think we've even gotten all of them yet."

"Ah well," shrugged James. "At least we will have some good news to tell Sirius today. We can get cracking on the Animagi process as soon as he gets out of the hospital wing."

With that, they hurried off for breakfast, the glowing feeling that had been swelling at the pit of Remus's stomach now burning ever more.