Great Hall - Monday (Lunch Time)
He sat down at the Hufflepuff table the next morning, right next to his currently gossiping cousin. No one objected to him sitting there with them since it was now well known that they were family. He took a ham and cheese sandwich from one of the silver serving trays as he waited patiently for the exchange to end.
"Hey Tonks, can I talk to you in private in a couple minutes?" he asked, wanting to share his new secret and accomplishment with his beloved cousin.
"Sure Harry," Tonks quickly agreed, before turning back to her friends.
"Thanks," he replied, whilst silently shifting his attention back to watching the Great Hall for anything of note. His eyes caught Penny's briefly, the pair of them just looking at one another, causing his emotions to begin to stir restlessly before he looked away.
"Mr Potter, where were you this morning? You missed your DADA lesson again," Professor Flitwick asked, taking him by surprise as the short professor suddenly appeared behind him.
"Sleeping. I'm not much of a Monday morning person," he answered easily, with a minor grin, as several students turned to look at the unfolding exchange, giving him curious looks. "And you should call it drama class, Professor, or how to do your hair for maximum effect, since we haven't been taught anything related to the subject," he commented as several male students chuckled around him, whilst others grumbled in agreement at the truth of his assessment.
He watched as the Charms Master puffed himself up like a puffer fish in response. "Harry, you can't continue to skip DADA lessons just because you disapprove of the professor's teaching style," the Charms Master lectured. "That will be detention this Saturday morning; I'm most disappointed in you," the short professor said, shaking his head in disapproval, trying the guilt trip card on him again, to similar results as last time.
Realising that he would be forced to miss Quidditch practice and that most of the team would be on his backside about it, he recognized the Charms Professor's clever little game. But he didn't care too much; it was just a game, one which he had no long-term interests in.
After all, he seriously doubted that he would go professional after leaving Hogwarts. Although starting up his own team and building his own grand stadium, that sounded much more lucrative.
He smiled back at his Head of House, unconcerned. "Alright then," Harry quickly agreed with an uncaring shrug of his shoulders, the tiger in him demanding that he not back down in the face of such a blatant challenge.
Eventually the pair of them made their way to the Swansong Rooms. "So what did you want to talk to me about, Harry?" the pink-haired 'puff asked, as she threw herself onto one of the comfortable leather couches and got comfortable.
He smiled back at her while he pushed his hair out of his eyes. "Tonks, I want to show you something amazing," Harry told his cousin.
"What exactly do you want to show me, Harry?" Tonks enquired, with a hint of eagerness.
"I finally achieved my animagus form last night, and I wanted to show it to you first," Harry expressed with a pride-filled smile, wanting to show off his greatest achievement yet to someone he cared about, whose opinion and respect mattered greatly to him. And it was an open secret amongst his family that he was learning to become an animagus, like his godfather and father before him, so Tonks was a safe choice.
"Really?! You've done it?" Tonks exclaimed excitedly, whilst bolting upright in her seat. "Sirius said that it would take years to achieve your form. Even Professor McGonagall said it takes a long time to master, even by adult wizards and witches."
"Well, I've done it," he boasted proudly. "And I'm rather happy with my alternate form."
"What is it?" Tonks asked excitedly, like a kid at Christmas.
"How about I just show you," Harry responded with a feline grin, as he willed his body to transition, summoning the inner tiger that was always with him now. His body suddenly felt hot all over, and his bones began to shift and transform, his body becoming longer, his senses becoming sharper, his sight shifting, adjusting, as his jaw disconnected and remoulded itself to that of an apex predator.
...
"How about I just show you," Harry expressed with an eager grin. She watched in mute silence as her cousin's body changed, his limbs started glowing with whitish-gold energy, his body leaning forward and falling heavily onto all fours. He shifted before her eyes as she watched his teeth shift, growing longer and sharper, as a tiger suddenly appeared out of the light.
Gasping for air, as she'd unknowingly held her breath, she took in Harry's impressive and deadly beautiful feline form, even as Harry slowly started to advance towards her, his amber eyes locked onto her, holding them as she felt a shiver of instinctive fear race down her back at her recognition of a predator.
Warily she watched him advance on her as she registered his powerful muscular legs, longer she assumed to help with jumping and lunging at prey. She noticed too how his tail swung side to side in time with his strides.
He suddenly turned to the side and brushed up against her legs, just like Shadow did whenever he wanted attention. A loud giggle escaped her lips at this and helped her to relax and let go of the death grip she had on the wand she didn't even realize she was holding. She smiled down at her feline cousin as he gracefully jumped up onto the couch next to her, his claws obviously retracted as she didn't hear the leather of the couch being punctured.
His mightily large head fell to rest onto her lap whilst she mentally registered just how heavy he was. He tilted his head to one side to look up at her with the same deep amber eyes, a bit of a grin on his face, although the facial muscles obviously weren't intended for such a thing.
Instinctively stroking his rich auburn, gold-striped fur, she noticed that it was layered with softer, finer fur nearer to his pelt. He gave a rumbling purr of approval to her gentle touch, encouraging her further as she gently stroked the back of his ears, but at the same time noticing scars hidden beneath the fur. "You're beautiful, Harry," she whispered, giving words to her thoughts, as she continued to stroke Harry's rich fur, whilst wondering what it was like to be a tiger, as she felt the hard muscles beneath her fingers.
Then the answer came to her, 'Powerful... and deadly.'
...
She subtly sniffed the air as she once again examined her prized seventh-year class of students. All 15 of them were dutifully working on their independent transfiguration skills, as they vigorously revised the material for the upcoming NEWT-level examinations.
However, today for some reason, she just couldn't get settled, couldn't relax; there was a new smell around, a powerful, heavy musk hanging in the air, tugging at the instincts in the back of her mind. Her inner cat sensed danger, the need to flee from that of a larger predator nearby, lurking, hunting, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end and her ears to twitch at every sudden sound.
"Mr. Redstone," she suddenly snapped at the seventh-year Gryffindor, the seventh year spinning around in panic. "Less time talking with Miss Kessler, more time focusing on your own work," she lectured, whilst giving the boy a stern look of disapproval and the silent promise that she would be watching him.
Continuing to move amongst her students, she noticed that the smell, the heavy scent, was lingering around Miss Tonks, one of her star pupils, causing her to move in to investigate the Hufflepuff more closely. After several long minutes of discreetly studying Miss Tonks, whilst subtly sniffing the air around her, she confirmed that Miss Tonks was the source of the thick, heavy scent. "Miss Tonks, are you wearing a new type of perfume?" Professor McGonagall enquired.
"No, Professor," the pink-haired girl replied, her face showing signs of confusion as the rest of the class listened in.
"Nothing new today? No new shampoo or body wash, for instance?" she enquired, trying to solve the mystery of the new odour.
"No, Professor, I used the same ones I always use," the seventh year replied, her hair taking on a hint of red.
"Never mind then," Professor McGonagall answered, dismissing the issue and allowing the girl to get back to her work. Several minutes later she suddenly recalled where she had smelled a similar scent before, her old mind recalling the Muggle zoo she had once visited.
"Miss Tonks, do you have a cat?" she suddenly asked.
"No, Professor, the closest thing I have to a cat of my own is my cousin's, Shadow," she replied, giving her a confused look.
"Don't take this the wrong way, dear, but for some reason you smell like a cat today, and it's roused my feline senses," she offered in explanation whilst tapping the tip of her nose, the Hufflepuff in question suddenly blushing red in embarrassment.
...
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