Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [138]
“Oh thank goodness you’re okay, Harry,” she said.
“Why, what happened?” asked Harry. His brain was still feeling fuzzy.
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” said Ron.
“What? You mean, you don’t know?” asked Harry. All four of them shook their heads.
“All we know is that you’ve been unconscious for an entire day,” said Hermione.
“The rest of it’s still a mystery,” said Ginny.
“Well, what do you know?” asked Harry.
“Well… Malfoy used some kind of spell that produced a large beast. No one really got a good look at it since as soon as you fainted, he made it disappear. Once it was gone, we found you on the floor, unconscious. The smoke from the fire probably got to you.”
“Either that or the spell Malfoy used,” said Ron.
“Or from the shock of seeing what he conjured,” said Cho.
“What spell did he use?” asked Harry.
“I… we don’t know,” said Hermione. This came as a shock to Harry. If anyone would know what spell Malfoy had used, it would have been her. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“So…” said Harry slowly, “Malfoy beat me… he won the duel….” Everyone except for Ginny sighed. She put her hands on her sides.
“Really now,” she said, “can’t you just be happy for Draco?”
“Ginny,” said Ron flatly, “nobody here will ever feel happy for Malfoy, and no one here knows why you do.”
“Oh you guys,” said Ginny arrogantly, “you just don’t know the true Draco. What you see is some twisted version of him, molded by his father. Whenever he’s not thinking about his dad, or his plans, he’s really… sweet.” Harry, Ron, and Hermione shuddered at the thought of a “sweet” Malfoy.
“Well, I just wish I could’ve beaten that… “sweet” Malfoy,” said Harry.
“Don’t worry,” said Hermione, “you’ll get your chance again.”
“What do you mean?”
“Remember? The day after the Quidditch final, the day before the O.W.L.s, we’re going to have another duel, at breakfast, for the entire school to watch. You can get him back then.”
“Great,” sighed Harry, “I couldn’t even beat him today. How could I possibly even fare against him the day after the Quidditch Final, and the day before the biggest test of my life?”
Harry was let out of the hospital with his friends, he had apparently gotten over whatever had caused him to faint, and there was no point in holding him any longer. Instead of enjoying the rest of the day off, though, Harry collapsed into his bed, and fell asleep. The next day, though, he didn’t get much of a break. He had Animagus lessons in the morning with Ron and Hermione. The lessons, however, were more fun than they usually were. Professor McGonagall seemed to be in a good mood about something, and instead of staying inside her small office for their lesson, they went outside, far into the grounds and had their lesson there.
For the first time, Harry flew through the open air as a gryffin. It was a wonderful experience, even better than flying with just the wings. The gryffin’s body was surprisingly more aerodynamic than a human’s, so Harry could shoot through the air at fantastic speeds, leaving birds miles behind him.
After several hours of flying around, and getting used to staying as a gryffin, Harry flew back down to Professor McGonagall, where Ron and Hermione were; Ron as the chameleon, and Hermione as the unicorn. Professor McGonagall clapped her hands together, and smiled.
“I’m very proud to announce,” she said happily, “that you three are now almost official Animagi.”
“Almost official?” asked Hermione, morphing from her wonderfully beautiful unicorn body into her human form.
“Yes,” said Professor McGonagall, “I can clearly see that you are all perfectly able to transform quickly and efficiently, and hold your transformations for as long as you would like. The only step left is to register you three.”
“And when will we be registered?” asked Ron, swiftly popping out of his tiny chameleon form.
“You will all be registered as Animagi on May 28th, it is the one day I have off for