Closed A Glimpse of What Is to Come

[Charles Abberline]

Charles was sitting behind his desk whilst he waited for Harper to arrive. He had sent her a note through owl post earlier that day asking if they could plan another training session for later that day. He ended the note by saying that he had made some progress at long last in the hope that it would persuade her given the fact that he was calling on her on such short notice. He had started to meditate during the Christmas holidays but didn't get any visualisations until the end of March when tufts of greyish or brown fur began to appear in his mind. Unfortunately for him, the visions had never gone beyond that no matter how hard he tried to focus on the multicoloured fur he saw. That was, until yesterday evening, when he was pretty sure that he had caught his first glimpse of the animal he was trying so hard to concentrate on. It was nowhere near as clear as Harper had once described the visions of the bird to be but it was something, something he thought was worth sharing with his guide. Something that got him excited after months of hardly anything.

 

[Harper Alston]

When Harper had gotten the owl from Professor Abberline earlier that day, she had immediately cleared her schedule for the afternoon — not that there was much to clear. She'd originally planned to do some NEWT revision, but that could definitely wait. In his note, Professor Abberline had mentioned making progress in his training, and there were only so many things that could mean. For weeks now, he'd been getting flashes of visions but never enough to actually start self-transfiguring. Hopefully that had changed. In Harper's experience, having that first full vision had been an absolutely pivotal moment, allowing her to begin the next stage of her training in earnest.

The door to Professor Abberline's office was open, and Harper rapped on the frame before entering. "Hi Professor Abberline!" she greeted cheerfully as she took a seat opposite him. "I got your note. You mentioned you'd made some progress?" She'd come in planning on suppressing some of her eagerness, not wanting to put any pressure on him. But clearly that plan had gone out the window. It was hard not to feel excited. Very few people ever got far enough in the animagus process to have visions, and it sounded like Professor Abberline had gone a step beyond even that.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Did Charles feel bad for possibly interrupting any plans Harper may have had for the afternoon? Yes, especially with her final exams being only a few short months away. But that did not stop the man from being excited about his first semi-clear vision of the animal and wanting to tell his guide about it, though. In fact, he was so excited about this vision, that he was flipping through an encyclopedia about rodents while he waited for Harper. It had been a small animal though he couldn't exactly make up what kind of animal it was, and the only other description he had was that its fur was a mixture of grey and brown. Still, that would be enough for him to find it - if it was indeed a rodent, of course.

He looked up from a book he was flipping through when he heard the loud rapping on the frame and smiled brightly when he saw that it was Harper. He stood up from behind his desk and beckoned for her to enter his office ''Harper, do come in!'' the Professor said cheerfully. In contrast to the previous months, the man looked well-rested for once and his old jovial self again. ''I did, indeed,'' he replied. ''It's not much, so do not get your hopes up for any transfigurations just yet, but it's definitely a good start.'' He paused a moment to build up suspension. ''... I caught a glimpse of the animal, a proper glimpse!'' He could only hope that the visions would become clearer from this point forward. Of course they would, there was no doubt about it!

 

[Harper Alston]

Whatever news Professor Abberline had, Harper could tell it was significant. There was a verve to his demeanor that she couldn't recall seeing in many months. He looked a lot more like the Professor Abberline who had kicked off class last year with an enthusiastic congratulations and a startling self-transfiguration. Harper leaned forward slightly in anticipation, and she grinned when he finally broke the news. "That's great! Congratulations!" He'd led with the caveat that he hadn't managed any self-transfigurations yet, but that didn't matter. Those would come in due time now that he had a visualisation to guide him.

"Summoning visions in the future will be easier now that you know what to expect. It won't be long before you can start doing transfigurations," Harper said confidently. Progress during animagus training was rarely linear, but learning one's form was a pretty big breakthrough. She was hopeful that the next portion of Professor Abberline's training would be relatively smooth sailing. "What was the animal?" She knew from their past sessions that he'd seen gray and brown fur, but there were a lot of animals that fit the description. His form could be anything from a caribou to a kinkajou.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charles nodded in agreement, though he would have liked for the vision to be clearer than it had been. He could tell the shape and the colours of the animal but that wasn't going to make summoning visions any easier, unfortunately. Not unless he would figure out what kind of animal he had seen in his most recent vision. ''Well, see, that is what I am trying to figure out,'' the Professor answered, turning the encyclopedia on his desk around to show Harper what he had been doing before she arrived. ''I cannot tell you whether I viewed the creature from up close or from a distance but it looked quite small to me nonetheless.'' It wasn't a mouse, that much he was certain of, and it also couldn't be a rat because the animal in his vision had a bushier tail. But then what could it be? What kind of animal had a bushy tail and grey and brown fur? A squirrel perhaps or a woodrat? ''It has a bushy tail, so that is what I have been looking for in there.'' He tapped his finger on the book in front of him. ''Things are finally getting exciting, though. I think I can finally imagine how you felt when you saw the bird for the first time.''

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper glanced down at the book Professor Abberline had been studying. There were a number of diagrams and photographs of various rodents, and she watched as a marmot scurried in and out of frame of one of the images. "It's tough to get a sense of perspective in the visions," Harper agreed. "I always saw the falcon framed against the sky, so it was impossible to tell how big it was." She listened carefully to his description: small with a bushy tail. It definitely sounded like it was some kind of rodent; she couldn't think of any other furry creatures that would be that small. "Maybe your form's a chipmunk?" Harper was almost tempted to suggest that he ask Professor Cade for one of the practice chipmunks and see if he felt any sort of connection, though it was dubious whether that would work. She hadn't really felt any particular affinity for falcons until she had finished her training.

"Maybe it's a squirrel? Do chinchillas have bushy tails?" Harper couldn't think of any other bushy-tailed rodents. She grinned at Professor Abberline's excitement. "To be fair, I was also high on Felix Felicis when I first saw that bird," she admitted with a small laugh. That was technically one way to try and progress his training, but there were also downsides to that method. Harper wanted to make sure Professor Abberline actually learned how to summon one of those visions on his own, without the help of luck. "Your patronus isn't a small bushy-tailed creature, is it?" That would narrow things down considerably though Harper supposed if his patronus had those traits, he would have mentioned it by now.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Glad to know that he wasn't the only one who had a difficult time figuring out perspectives, Charles tried to think of various small creatures with bushy tails. Even with the encyclopedia, that proved a difficult task. ''I was thinking of a squirrel, too. There are species with greyish and brown fur and they are relatively small. And I don't think chinchillas have very bushy tails but I could be wrong about that. Could be a small raccoon or a skunk?'' He did not, for the love of Merlin, want his animagus to be a skunk, though. He chuckled at Harper's response. For a moment he wondered if he should also drink Felix Felicis and forcefully summon the visions that way. He still didn't have that much luck with it other than his most recent attempt in which he caught his first glimpse of the animal. Whether it would work for future attempts or not, he didn't know, though he could definitely see why Harper had done what she had done. It wasn't that easy to remain patient throughout the process. He shook his head when she asked about his patronus and picked up his wand from his desk. ''Expecto Patronum,'' the Professor said calmly, flicking and swishing his wand around. From the tip of his wand burst a dazzling silver light and a second later a rather large dog roamed the office. Charles looked at it for a moment before vanishing it and turning his attention back to Harper. ''Definitely a bushy-tailed creature but not at all small,'' he said with a soft chuckle.

 

[Harper Alston]

Squirrels definitely fit the description. Harper wasn't that confident in her knowledge about chinchilla anatomy to say whether their tails were bushy enough, so she shrugged."A raccoon would be pretty ironic for a former hit wizard," she said with a grin. "And a skunk..." she trailed off, unsure what to say. The problem was Harper didn't want to insult any potential animal since there was always a chance it could actually be Professor Abberline's form. (Although she didn't really think his form would be a skunk). "Aren't they usually black and white?" That wasn't a guarantee, however, since animagi could have rather distinct markings. Her own colouring as a kārearea was a little lighter than normal, matching her blonde hair. "Maybe a ferret? Or a weasel?" Did weasels even have tails?

Harper had never seen a patronus in person before, and she watched in awe as Professor Abberline conjured a large silvery dog. She smiled as it circled the office before disappearing. "Maybe your form is a puppy version?" Harper joked. She found it interesting that Professor Abberline's animagus form didn't match his patronus, and it made her wonder what form her own patronus would take. "Do you want to try summoning another vision?" she asked. "It should be a little easier now, and you might get some more details. Just try not to consciously think of a particular animal. Let the vision come to you."

 

[Charles Abberline]

A raccoon would indeed be rather ironic for a former Hit Wizard but when thinking back on the vision, Charles found it hard to say if a racoon was indeed the right size. Why did this need to be so difficult? He wondered how long it would take before they would find out which animal he saw in his vision. He also wondered how useful the animal was going to be in his day-to-day life. What if he eventually decided to go back to the Ministry and work for Law Enforcement again? How useful would his animagus form be then? Hopefully, just as useful as Harper's falcon, which would no doubt come in handy if she was going to continue to pursue a career as an Auror. ''I think you are right on that,'' the Professor said, very much relieved that a skunk was out of the question. ''And here I thought that this was going to be easy at first. Hah, seems that even with a lot of knowledge about the subject, one can be wrong about things.'' Of course he had known that this process wasn't going to be easy, but still, he would have liked to receive less clouded visions by now.

It wasn't difficult to miss Harper's expression as his Newfoundland Patronus roamed around the office, which made him furrow his brows. Surely this wasn't the first time she had witnessed a corporeal Patronus? He knew that the Patronus charm was a complicated and difficult spell but the upper years discussed dementors and Patronuses, didn't they? Huh. Perhaps he should teach her the spell once his training was finished since it was a pretty vital spell for her eventual Auror training. ''Yes, let's try that,'' he said, sitting back down in his chair again. He closed his eye and tried to steady his breathing again. It was always a little awkward with her in the room but he reckoned it was something he would have to get used to. Did she feel the same way during her training? He couldn't blame Harper if she did. It took several minutes before anything resembling visions started happening. He could see the creature again but everything was blurred and out of focus. Honing in on the blurred animal in front of him, Charles tried his best to move closer towards it. It took him several more moments before he reached the animal. ''I can see it more clearly,'' he said, the colours of the little creature more vibrant than ever. ''It's... small... It could be a squirrel or a ferret... Or a weasel, actually.''

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper was also relieved Professor Abberline didn't think a skunk fit his personality, deciding to trust his instincts on that. She would rather avoid having to do these lessons with a bubblehead charm. "Hey, you've made a lot of progress already," she said with an encouraging smile. "Like I said, it took me liquid luck and like a year and a half of practicing before I had my first vision. You've only been at this for a couple months, and you're already having consistent visions." They might not have been the clearest visions, but they were still a lot better than nothing. Some people took decades to become animagi. "Besides, you can get pretty far transfiguration-wise without knowing your exact form. I spent most of training thinking I was an owl, and I know some people have done self-transfigurations without having clear visions." Harper did not mention that she knew this because she'd once come across Rosemarie practicing unsupervised. The girl had managed to grow and ungrow fur without having any real idea what her form was. Harper wondered if she'd ever finished her training; she would have to ask later.

As Professor Abberline closed his eyes, Harper very quietly took out her wand. He was just trying for another vision, but she wanted to be ready in case anything went wrong. She waited patiently as he meditated, trying not to make any noise. It was a little awkward just staring at him like this — she had much preferred being on the other side where she could at least focus on a vision — but she knew she had to be on high alert. To her relief, nothing bad happened. Quite the opposite, actually. "That's great! A squirrel or a weasel," Harper mused. "Any of those would be useful." It wasn't like an elephant or a lion — forms that while impressive were pretty much impossible to use without attracting unwanted attention. "How are you feeling? Do you want to try some self-transfiguration?" The visions could be draining, especially at first, but if Professor Abberline was up for it, she thought he was ready to give to give self-transfiguration a go.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charles found it difficult to accept the encouraging comparison Harper was trying to make. She'd been in her fourth year when she started her animagus training so it wasn't much of a surprise that she had struggled with things at first. He was just a little disappointed that things perhaps weren't going as quickly as he had hoped that they would go. She would graduate soon, and while he would like for her to continue teaching him even after Hogwarts, he reckoned that she probably had things she wanted to do as well. Things were only going to get more and more exciting after Hogwarts, after all. And then there was his own job - teaching four classes took a great deal of preparation beforehand and could be very draining at times. ''Let's just hope that what I'm seeing in my visions is correct. Could you imagine if I transfigured myself into a totally different animal?'' the Professor said with a soft chuckle. While he thought that it would certainly be funny, it would without a doubt be quite a setback as well. He frowned when Harper told him that she knew people who had tried self-transfigurations without any clear visions, though. ''Not one of my other students, I hope?'' he asked with an inquisitive look on his face.

Thankfully, Charles had seen the animal more clearly in his vision. He opened his eyes, the colours of the animal's fur still clearly an image in his mind. He nodded his head in agreement, relieved that it indeed seemed to be more of a smaller animal, as it would certainly prove useful in some situations. He could already imagine being on patrol at night in his animagus form, which would especially be fun around Halloween, he reckoned. ''I'm alright, I think. It's a little draining at times but I think that I am fine.'' He stood once more and walked to the centre of his office for more space. This would be the first time that he would try any form of self-transfiguration animagus-wise, so it was both exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. Perhaps he should think of this as another attempt at regular self-transfigurations? Would that make things easier for him? Charles rolled up his sleeves and gave Harper a nod before he closed his eyes again. He tried calling forth the image in his head of the small rodent creature with its vibrant colours while also trying to focus on one particular thing. If he could self-transfigure a patch of fur on his right arm, surely that would help figure out things? So he held out his right arm and tried, and tried, and tried, but nothing felt different, not once did it feel as if something was growing on his right arm. That was okay, that was fine, it was his first attempt, after all. But then again, it would have been incredibly satisfying to open his eyes and stare at a patch of greyish or brownish fur. ''Do I keep trying?'' Charles asked when he opened his eyes. There were times when he had pushed Harper but also times when he had her take things slow, so he wondered which approach was she going to use on him to get him through the process.

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper smiled. "I'm sure we'd figure it out pretty quickly if your visions have been wrong." If he transfigured his skin into red scales, for example, instead of grey and brown fur, they'd know something was up. From what she'd read, it was pretty rare for someone to complete their training as a completely different animal than what they'd expected. Usually people picked up some clues throughout the process. There were always exceptions, however. "Just make sure your visions are coming from your subconscious and that you're not trying to will them into existence." She supposed there was a small danger of getting too caught up on the wrong animal and having your expectations influence your vision, but a little speculation was pretty normal. It was hard not to wonder what animal your animagus form would take. At Professor Abberline's question, Harper shook her head. "No, just something I read about," she lied. There was a reason her form wasn't a rat. Besides, it wasn't a complete lie. She had indeed come across the occasional mention of animagi self-transfiguring themselves through pure instinct.

Professor Abberline seemed to be feeling well enough to try some self-transfiguration, and Harper felt a mixture of nerves and anticipation as she followed him to the centre of the room. He had once confessed that he was scared of accidentally dooming his students. Now she was struck by the same fear. It didn't matter that she was now a fully registered animagus; she didn't want to inadvertently cause Professor Abberline to botch a transformation or otherwise hurt himself. Harper took a few steps back, giving him plenty of room, but kept her wand out as she studied his expression, watching closely for any sign of distress. After several long moments, he opened his eyes, and Harper's gaze went to his untransfigured arm. "If you're still feeling okay, then yes." She trusted that he would tell her once he became too fatigued to continue. "You've done wandless magic before, right? It's a little like that — or at least for me, it is. Instead of having a wand to channel your magic, you have to do it yourself and lead it to the part you want to transfigure, all the while keeping the vision in your mind." Harper had no idea if it was like that for all animagi, but all she could really do was describe her own experience. "But stop if you feel any pain. It might feel a little uncomfortable, but it shouldn't be painful."

 

[Charles Abberline]

There was a moment of doubt when Harper told him to avoid willing the visions into existence. While it was true that he used the art of meditation in order for the visions to come to him, it did at times feel like he was willing them into existence. What if he saw a small rodent in his vision because he was subconsciously thinking of rodents at the time? Oh, Merlin, why did he think that this wasn't going to be as complicated for him? For once he wouldn't be surprised if his confidence was going to end up working against him. He knew that he had to be patient to end this process successfully, but why was he so adamant about finishing things so quickly then? Well, he knew why, but surely that wouldn't matter that much? Perhaps he should take his own advice and meditate more often, as it seemed to have worked alright for Harper in the end. ''Ah, so you know the people you read about?'' Charles asked with a questioning look, grinning slightly. He got the feeling that she wasn't being entirely truthful with him but he also didn't want to press her any further on the matter. If she did know people that were attempting self-transfigurations without someone there to guide them or without any visions, well, surely she would tell them not to do so. She knew how disastrous things could get when left unsupervised, after all.

Charles nodded his head and then readied himself for another attempt at self-transfiguration once again. Wandless magic was something he'd been getting better and better at as time went by so he was semi-confident that this was something he would get the hang of eventually. Be the conduit, Charles reminded himself as he closed his eyes once more. How difficult could that be? Be the conduit. It proved to be just as difficult as he thought it, unfortunately. After taking several moments to steady his breathing to get into the right mentality again, he just couldn't recall the visions. He even stretched out his right arm again in the hope that it would have any effect on it. It didn't. He let his arm fall beside him and opened his eyes. It seemed as if something was mentally blocking the visions to come forward. Could it be his impatience? Probably, he thought. ''I'll just have to keep on trying, I'm probably just a little tired,'' Charles said, not wanting to sound like a defeatist. At least his failures would give him something to do over the school break, he would have to focus on mediating more often.

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper blinked, and it took her a moment to recognise her mistake. "Oh, I didn't mean to imply that I personally knew them," she said lightly, hoping that was a reasonable enough statement. She had to resist the urge to try and explain further since she knew that would make her sound defensive. Lying to a former hit wizard probably wasn't the smartest idea, but Harper didn't see much point in dobbing on Rosemarie now. The incident had happened a year ago, and she had already warned Rosemarie of the potential consequences of practicing unsupervised. Whether the Hufflepuff listened to her was an entirely separate matter, but Harper hadn't heard of any more self-transfiguration mishaps, so she assumed Rosemarie hadn't done anything too dangerous.

Thankfully, it seemed Professor Abberline had found her wandless magic comparison at least semi-coherent. Harper readjusted her grip on her wand and watched silently as he tried again. Her gaze traveled to his arm as he extended it, but nothing seemed to happen. At last, he opened his eyes. "Totally understandable," she said with a nod. "It's pretty draining. But you'll get it eventually." Harper tried to give Professor Abberline a reassuring smile. She was a little disappointed he hadn't gotten further, but she was also relieved that nothing bad had happened. "Besides, you've already made a lot of progress. You now have a better idea of what your form is," she said, hoping that a little perspective would make him feel better. "Keep meditating, and we can meet again next week?" Of course, she would be available sooner than that if he made any sudden leaps in progress again. Harper idly wondered what would happen if Professor Abberline didn't finish the process by the end of the semester. She didn't mind continuing their lessons after she graduated, but she also knew it would be more difficult then. She would have her own job to worry about, and they wouldn't be able to meet nearly as often. Despite the challenges, however, she was committed to seeing this through. Professor Abberline had continued her animagus lessons even after he'd left Hogwarts, and she would happily do the same for him.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Glad that Harper seemed to understand that he couldn't continue on now that he was starting to feel tired, Charles walked back to his desk and sat down on the edge of it. He knew that he had made a lot of progress by seeing the vision more clearly and he knew that it was going to help him tremendously with future visions, but the disappointment that he hadn't been able to grow out a batch of fur was putting a damper on things. ''If I've learned anything it is how you must have felt during your lessons with me. I'm sorry if that made these lessons unbearable at times.'' Only now did he truly realise how difficult this whole process was actually going to be and that the road ahead was long even for some as experienced with transfiguration magic as him. He thanked Harper for her reassuring words with a nod and said, ''Next week sounds great,'' trying to hide his own disappointment with a smile. ''Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I might actually turn in early for the night. I'll let you know if anything exciting happens before next week,'' he added as he pushed himself off the desk and towards the office door. ''Oh, and Harper, if you, theoretically, do know people that have been attempting self-transfigurations without any supervision, would you please be so kind as to remind them that there's someone willing to teach them? Thank you.'' With one last knowing look and a smile, Charles led her out of the office and closed the door behind her once she was out of view.