hogwartsexpressed | the woods are lovely, dark and deep

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𝟏 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 – Maybe you zigged when you should have zagged, but either way, you don’t know where you are, or how to get back to where you’re supposed to be. Alternately, you’re part of the search party sent to go find the missing person, careful you don’t end up lost yourself!

𝟐 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 – Whatever you did you’ve ended up out in the forest after dark following after The Groundskeeper (or maybe you are the Groundskeeper). Careful, don’t hang too far back from the rest of the group, it’s dangerous out there.

𝟑 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒚 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 – Sure there might be spiders and centaurs, along with who knows what else, but you can’t deny how private the forest is, and how easy it is to steal away behind a tree with that certain somebody.

𝟒 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅/𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 – Maybe you’re after some extra credit, or just trying to suck up to a professor, heck, maybe you’re a professor trying to date a professor, or maybe it’s a full moon and you’re after some Fluxweed, either way, better be quick about it!

𝟓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔! – Death Eaters in the castle! Drama in Ravenclaw Tower! A Professor turned evil! An emotional exit and storming off turned cataclysmic! Dragons! Something serious has happened to bring you to the forest today!

𝟔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 – A Rite of Passage? Or maybe you lost a bet or ran your mouth too much for too long. Whatever happened it’s time to put up or shut up and gain bragging rights for the rest of the term.

𝟕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒆! – Whatever it was you were just doing, it’s time to get away, and what better way to make sure your retreat is covered than to cut a path through the Forbidden Forest?

𝟖 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒉𝒊𝒌𝒆 – You don’t get why everyone thinks this place is dangerous, you love coming to the forest for some fresh air and creature spotting/hiking/bird watching.

𝟗 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇/𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 – Exactly what it says on the tin.

𝟏𝟎 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒅! – Go wild! Live your life!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The whole thing starts because a game gives Hermione an inspired idea. They are studying for the exams at the end of sixth year, occupying the floor in front of the fireplace, books spread out everywhere, when the Marauders come in from outside. It's six in the morning if it is that, and they're the kind of boys who sleep over usually. That day, they trudge in, all four, with Remus walking in the middle, Sirius' arm over his shoulder. They don't notice the two girls studying in the Common Room, and to be fair, Lily and Hermione wouldn't have normally noticed anyone else when entangled in books, but that day is special.

Hermione's long suspected that Remus had a furry little problem, since stumbling onto the chapter about werewolves in the Library in her fourth year. But now that she looks at the Marauders, at how altogether unbitten they are, she realises that they must be giving Remus' werewolf something like protection, on the full moon nights.

"We should try to become animagi," she tells Lily after the boys have vacated the Common Room, none the wiser to them.

The justification is simple: there is a war brewing, and pureblooded prejudice is becoming more and more intolerable, and if the war breaks they will attack muggleborns first. Which her and Lily both are. "But if we're unregistered, we can stand a better chance of making a run for it. Or we just clawing them open - I'm hoping I'm a bear."

It takes the summer, and half of next year, for them to complete the studies, brew the potions and finish the rituals.

On Imbolc night, they're in the Forbidden Forest after dark, all the lines and circles drawn, the candles lit. They've set it up outside of the Centaurs' turf, and away from the spiders. At best, they'll run into some deer or actual wolves they can just chase away with some spells. Actually, at best they run into no-one and successfully become Animagi.

"Alright - ready, Lily?"

The suggestion came as a grim shock; as though her most rational and closest friend being driven to this point was more of a portent of the dark times than the terrifying rumors and dark, disastrous stories that had begun to pepper the headlines of the Prophet in growing number. Lily had needed to sit with it for a few days, neither accepting nor declining the proposition as she weighed it all out and began the research needed to undertake something like that.

Though she had to agree outright that Hermione would make an unparalleled bear.

It wouldn't do anyone any good if they botched everything horribly and ended up in Saint Mungos for the rest of their lives. Though she didn't like to think that You-Know-Who's followers would stoop so low, she imagined they would be easy prey with the rest of the sick and injured and the thought turned her stomach.

She agreed the next time she saw Hermione and the real work had begun. There was no shortage of effort, the instructions for becoming an animagus intricated and painstaking in nature. Things had to be done in a precise order, all of it culminating with their outing to the forest that evening, the moon was right for the last of the rituals, and finally, the potion that had been carefully brewing for what felt like an age would be ready to consume and the moment of truth would arrive.

"Ready," she said in a breath, locking eyes with her friend and giving her a firm smile before she took the two vials of potion and moved them to the center of the circle.

They had both memorized the words that needed to follow, recited in unison as the moon crested high in the sky. When all had been said and done Lily found herself holding her breath, as a distant clap of thunder in the distance seemed to answer their magical requests. She hoped it wasn't a bad sign.

They do the ritual exactly right - studious as they are. The potion, the thunderstorm, the moonlight, and the incantation. The books warn against the pain, of course, but this level of bone splitting agony is...difficult to describe in text.

As she transforms, she tries to pray for a large, threatening animal, hoping to see herself as indeed a bear, or even a wildcat. But when it's all over, what stands in a pile of her robes - later, she'll learn how to transform with them still on - is a very large cat.

"Mrowr."

Gobsmacked by pain more shattering than she could have imagined while preparing for this exact moment. While some of her clothing vanished, the black knee socks she wore on her legs stayed with her, becoming the black fur that grew up her front legs before yielding to vivid orange and brilliant white, the rest of her clothing left in a pile for her to scurry out of once the process of shifting had stilled to a close.

The cat across from her meowed and in response, the foxlet out a shrill little bark that could have sounded like the shout of a person.

Fox thinking is a bit more simplified than the usual rollicking pace her ordinarily active mind liked to set, and for the moment there was nothing else to really ponder than the smell of the grass around her, and how nice it was to get to hang out with a friend in the woods, swooshing her tail.

In the most primitive part of her brain, when the fox appears at her side, what Hermione thinks is:

FRIEND!

She haunches low on the ground, then tentatively inches forward, giving the fox a few sniffs until she recognises that this is Lily, and then headbutts her gently, pleased. They did it. They bloody well did it!

Now what do they do, other than sniff each other in the Forest?

I heard that Animagi can communicate via thoughts, CAN YOU HEAR ME?

"Meow?"

There's something about the twitch of the cat's whiskers that makes the fox feel comfortable having it so close. With a flick of her bushy tail, the fox stretched her neck out, craning to delicately touch noses with the cat while it sniffed at her.

Something giddy rippled through that rather basic fox brain, and she sprung into the air with surprising height for something that had been at a dead stop. The fox took a few more happy jumps before naked, but too amused and proud of them to be mortified, Lily Evans shapeshifted into a laughing heap on the grass.

"We've done it! We are the greatest magic-users of our day."

In the spirit of things, Hermione thinks - doesn't even have to thing very hard! - and is transformed back to her human, and naked, self. Laughter happens.

"That was...unbelievable! You're a fox!"

The socks that had shifted with her to become the fox's black legs had returned but switched to her arms which only made Lily laugh all the more, delighted by their success.

"You're a cat! A beautiful cat!" Pulling the socks from her hands Lily sat up properly, her hair falling past her shoulders enough to partly conceal the nudity she was seemingly oblivious to.

the woods are lovely, dark and deep

listen i had a great idea

omg you absolutely did

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