Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [66]
“I don’t think so Ron, they’re on our side, we don’t want to take advantage of them,” said Hermione.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s just that… any opportunity to not use a spider, I’d prefer,” he said as Harry and Hermione laughed.
CHAPTER 14- Dueling and Morphing
The next few weeks of school went very well for Harry. They were not doing anything new in any of his classes, so every free moment he had, he practiced changing himself without a wand. By his next meeting with Professor McGonagall, Harry could make his fingers grow more than a foot and back to normal in less than a second. Ron and Hermione were able to do almost as well, but Hermione was actually having a little trouble. Since she was studying for the O.W.L.s every minute, she didn’t have much free time to practice.
When the day finally came to begin their next level of training, all three of them walked up to the Transfiguration classroom feeling quite confident in their ability. When they walked in, though, they were shocked to see smoke filling the entire room. Harry began to panic, what had happened to Professor McGonagall? Was she okay?
“Professor!” he yelled as loud as he could, hoping she would respond to him. Did someone set fire to the room?
“Over here Potter, over here!” came Professor McGonagall’s voice from across the room. She didn’t sound like she was in the least bit of trouble, in fact, she sounded excited. Harry walked towards her voice, coughing and wheezing the whole way. The smoke was so thick, how could professor McGonagall not be in trouble?
When he saw her, however, he realized why she wasn’t in trouble. She was inside a giant bubble that was perfectly clear of smoke, except for a thin line of it that was escaping from a small hole in the bubble. Professor McGonagall had a grin on her face as she was stirring a multicolored potion that was frothing and bubbling all over.
“It should be ready soon Mr. Malfoy!” squealed Professor McGonagall with delight. Harry looked over to the other side of the bubble and saw Draco Malfoy standing there with a very wide grin on his face.
“Why is he making his potion already!?” asked Ron angrily.
“Mr. Malfoy’s potion required a bit more… preparation than a normal Animagus’ potion would,” said Professor McGonagall.
“Why is that?” asked Hermione, sounding hurt. She wasn’t used to others doing more advanced things than her.
“Because,” said Professor McGonagall, “I am pleased to announce that Mr. Malfoy will be Hogwart’s first Polymagus!”
“You mean… that Malfoy!?” asked Ron, in surprise, pointing a finger at Malfoy.
“Yes I do Mr. Weasley,” said Professor McGonagall. “You three can start on your potions now, I have three cauldrons set aside for you. Professor Fletcher will assist you.” She waved her arm lazily behind her, indicating three small black cauldrons.
“But, how do you know he’s a Polymagus and we’re not?” asked Hermione, almost on the verge of tears.
“Actually,” replied Professor McGonagall, “I have just discovered a spell of recent invention that allowed me to discover this. The spell lets one Animagus see the human form of another Animagus. When Mr. Malfoy did a transformation, and I used the spell, and I couldn’t see him, I knew that there were only two possibilities: either he is not an Animagus which cannot be true since he transformed before my eyes, or he is a Polymagus. The spell cannot be used to detect those.” Malfoy gave a sinister smile. He was really enjoying this, thought Harry, being better than them.
“So, you just had to be better than us, didn’t you Malfoy?” asked Ron, practically spitting. Professor McGonagall looked appalled.
“What do you mean Mr. Weasley!?” yelled Professor McGonagall. “Being a Polymagus is a very rare gift! In fact, I can only think of three wizards in the history of magic, not including Mr. Malfoy here, who were Polymagi. This is certainly not something that he chose to have.”
“Yeah Weasley,” said Malfoy, almost sarcastically. “Of course