Closed More than a passing fancy

So maybe it was more than a simple thought, he’d poured over all of the books he could find on the subject in the library, but it wasn’t like there was a lot of information on how to do this sort of thing. After all, that would only make it more easy for students to do this in secret and he knew that could be dangerous. Animal transfiguration had always been talked about as being quite dangerous, and so becoming an animagus was presumably also quite dangerous, though he wasn’t sure he was particularly interested in getting into trouble about wanting to learn more. There were many reasons as to why he wanted to do this, or at least to find out more information, his family are loud and over the top, none of them would do something like this, so it would be something just for him. The fact that it would be a physical manifestation of his studies, of his choice to be different to them. His choice to be academic, and really just the freedom and ability to be in solitude. That’s all he wanted honestly. So he knocked on Professor Pirrip’s door, hoping the man would have at least one recommendation on what to do.​

Eli didn’t know a lot about the new Transfiguration Professor and that was a bit daunting because it meant he didn’t really know what category to put him in, since all the Professors at the school had a category in his mind and he put them firmly in there when he could. There was the “Actually worth listening to” category filled with the professors he respected and found useful, like Professor Moncrieffe who was no nonsense and got her point across very well or Professor Josephs his head of house. Then you had the “Tolerable, I guess,” professors he didn’t mind, but wasn’t overly invested in like Professor Landon Carter who was sometimes useful but mostly not worth listening to too much. And then there was the last category, “Why am I even here?” for the professors he found the most unbearable, like professor Grayveson. At the moment he didn’t which category Professor Pirrip was in, and that made him nervous because it was hard to know how to approach a professor he hadn’t yet categorised. As he was told to enter, he quickly headed in and smiled lightly, a little nervous but he knew what he wanted. “Sorry to disturb you Professor, I had a kind of personal and I guess academic question, I wanted to talk to you about.”​

Eli nodded as the Professor told him to take a seat and quickly sat. Now that he was in the room and about to speak, he didn’t feel as nervous. He’d frequently found himself in the office of a professor when he was back in Mohoutokoro as a day student because he was always interested in learning more so this almost felt normal. “Last year,” he started because that seemed like the place to start, “we learned about Animagus, and the professor talked about what they were, the fact they could become an animal - I liked that it seemed like the pinnacle of a transfiguration study, that to become an animal was sort of the culmination of years of study and training,” he said, trying to think of what else there had been. “I love Transfiguration, it’s my best subject and it’s what I want to focus on in my life, I want to be that guy people know for my ability in transfiguration.” He added, rolling his shoulders a little as he watched the man’s reaction. “Sir, I want to learn more about Animagus and what it takes to become one, I’ve read everything in the library about it, and I’m eager to learn more.”​

It felt like he was being patronised, at least a little bit. Shouldn’t everyone who was in a school have ambition? Why was it so strange that he would have ambition? It took him a moment to let what the man was actually saying sink it, and Eli had to pull himself off of hit soap box. Of course the professor would think this of him, it wasn’t just a small extra credit thing he was asking for, this was a skill that took years of study to master, and he knew that and he was ready for it. He knew he was ready for it, and more than that, he was willing. He couldn’t hide the disappointment on his face when the man essentially told him no, and he didn’t really like the way it made him feel either. Rejection sucked at most points, but having it from someone he wanted to admire stung. Even though he might have been right about his age, his ability to understand the fundamentals, like the Up command, that didn’t mean he agreed with it. “Second year Transfiguration is a little more complicated than the ‘Up’ command Sir, I can turn a beetle into a button,” it was a useless point, but he could still do it. Even when he was learning to fly with the Up command as the Professor put it, he was still on the broom. “Professor my mum has always taught me that the best way to learn to fly is to get on the broom and just do it, it’s not about how much you study, it’s about the willingness to take risks, Sir, I’m willing to take risks.”​