Closed Everything You Want Is a Stone's Throw Away

[Charles Abberline]

Charles had summoned Harper by way of owl post. Now that he was settled in and well-adjusted to his new position as one of the Defence Against the Dark Arts professors, he reckoned that it was time for them to continue their training sessions. Their training sessions together over the break had paid off wonderfully and he could tell that the girl was close to accomplishing something that had looked hardly reachable when they first started her training. And by how easy she had made certain transformations look, Charles was more than confident to let her do transformations unsupervised soon, as long as she held on to the meditation exercises, that was. Part of the reason why he recommended that she mediated before every session was because of how impatient she had been at the start of their training sessions. But that version of Harper was nowhere to be seen these days. He was proud of her and how quickly she had regained her old skill and confidence and hoped that future training sessions would only go better and better, although he doubted there would be many. Charles waited patiently behind his desk, sitting in his late grandfather's old oak Wainscot chair and reviewing his notes on this week's class with the third years.

 

[Harper Alston]

Despite spending the past half hour meditating, Harper was a little nervous for this animagus lesson. It would be her first at Hogwarts in months, and even though she knew logically that the location of her lessons didn't matter, she couldn't help but feel that it might. There were some who theorized one's animagus form was a representation of one's most fundamental, most primal self. Harper didn't know how accurate those theories were, but she did know that it was easier to understand who she was and her place in the world when she was at home. That was harder to do in the magical bubble that was Hogwarts.

At least Professor Abberline was still her instructor. Harper had been sad to hear about Professor Drage's departure, but she couldn't deny the wave of reassurance she'd felt when she had learned that Professor Abberline would be taking over. She'd made a lot of progress under his guidance over the break, and she trusted that he could safely see her through the rest of her training. The rest of her training. Harper still got a little giddy thinking about how close she was to becoming an animagus. She could now individually transfigure almost any part of her body. There were still some self-transfigurations that she wasn't very consistent at doing, but hopefully those would improve with practice. And then it would be a matter of putting everything together.

Harper took a second to study the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom before entering Professor Abberline's office. She had never actually been in here while Professor Drage was still teaching, but she could tell which pieces of decor were personal touches from Professor Abberline. "I like what you did to the place," Harper said with a smile as she took a seat across from him. "Was that a jobberknoll in the cage by your desk?" In her quest to figure out her animagus form, she had learned a lot about birds and gotten pretty good at recognising certain species. Too bad she still couldn't identify the one in her visions.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charles had decorated his new office by putting a table with two chairs relatively close to the door, wanting to have a place where he could sit and talk informally with colleagues or even students. Not far away from the table, in the far left corner of the room, stood a large fireplace. It wasn't lit at the moment, though Charles couldn't wait to get a fire started in it. It was quite grandiose. A metre or two away from the fireplace stood his desk and Wainscot chair inherited from his grandfather. It was a rather old chair and he was amazed that he could still sit in it. Surely it would break down sooner or later. Behind the old oak chair stood a large cabinet with glass doors in which he had stored all his books and other odds and ends he had collected over the years. On the other side of the office stood a large wardrobe that rumbled at the sound of Harper's voice. It was the Boggart he would soon be using in one of his lessons.

He smiled when she mentioned the Jobberknoll in the cage back in the classroom. It was a good thing she'd mentioned the bird because he would need to feed it and move it into his office soon. ''It is, yes. I gave her the very creative name of Speckles,'' the Professor told her, thinking that he didn't have to tell Harper why he had named the Jobberknoll Speckles, it was quite obvious after all. ''And thank you. I was thinking of putting up a painting or two but haven't gotten around to doing it yet. Anyway, how are you? I hope that you've had a good break?''


masterful artwork representing the office

 

[Harper Alston]

Something rumbled as she spoke, and Harper glanced to the side of the room, where she spotted a large wardrobe. She was about to return her attention to Professor Abberline when her eyes widened in recognition. "Oh shi— sh... shoot. Is that a boggart?" For some reason, Harper hadn't considered the possibility that the DADA professors kept a boggart around for lessons, like some sort of strange classroom pet. She had assumed that they captured a new boggart whenever they needed one.

Harper smiled when Professor Abberline revealed the jobberknoll's name. "Very creative. Did you name the boggart too?" she asked with a grin. At the mention of paintings, Harper glanced at the walls. "The normal kind or the talking kind?" She supposed with the latter, you would never get lonely. "My break was good! Although I suppose you already know what I did for most of it," she said with a small laugh. After Professor Abberline had given her permission to practice on her own, Harper had spent a lot of time drilling the smaller transformations. But even before that, she'd done a lot of meditating between their lessons in Brightstone. "I did get to see my first pro Quidditch match," she said, smiling at the memory, "and visit some of my friends." She could tell that she was growing further and further apart from her muggle friends, but she only had to make it through one more year at Hogwarts. At least she had her magical friends — though she could tell that there were some aspects of her life that they couldn't relate to either. Pushing this thought away, Harper returned the question: "How was your break?"

 

[Charles Abberline]

'That is a boggart, indeed,'' Charles answered. He didn't like to keep the creature in a wardrobe in his office but didn't know where else to put it. ''I fear that this might be the only place where I feel it is safe until I can discuss boggarts with the third years.'' He guessed that he could have put the wardrobe in the Professor's common room, as it would be perfectly safe there, but that would mean moving the creature again and he wasn't looking forward to doing that again. Not when moving it into this wardrobe had been difficult enough. ''You aren't frightened of them, I hope? I can assure you that the wardrobe is locked tightly and that it cannot escape unless I unlock it.'' They could always move to the classroom if the presence of the boggart made Harper feel uneasy.

He shrugged. He hadn't given much thought to what kind of paintings he wanted to hang up on the walls, only that he wanted to hang up something to make the office feel less empty. And then there was the question of who would he like to hang up if he did decide to go for talking paintings or portraits. Eh, that didn't matter now, there was plenty of time to think about it. He smiled when she told him about her winter break, happy to hear that she did other things besides anything animagus related. ''Did the team you're rooting for win the match?'' He remembered his first pro Quidditch match and how excited he had been to watch it, even though he was never the biggest fan of the sport as a child. It was the same feeling he felt when watching his favourite professional football club play for the first time. That reminded him, he should go out and watch a football match again soon. ''Not bad at all,'' Charles replied with a smile when Harper returned the question. ''I mostly spent the remainder of the break on preparing for this job but I did get to see the country at some point.'' The spare time he got from being put on standby by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was something Charles had desperately needed. So much so that he was actually less tired these days. ''There's actually something I wanted to mention. Remember when you asked me why I had never tried to become an animagus myself? Well, I've thought about it and decided that it might not be a bad idea to become one.''

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper shook her head, her gaze still lingering on the wardrobe. "No, I'm not frightened of them. I'm just surprised." She had successfully banished every boggart she'd ever come across, and she was confident she could do it again if needed. If Harper was being honest, she was a little curious to know if her boggart had changed since she last saw one during OWLs. After all, the accident last year had given her a new fear. But she wasn't curious enough to try and find out. Harper turned back to face Professor Abberline. "I guess I never really thought about where you guys keep the boggart in between lessons." A private office made the most sense, she supposed, though if it were her, she'd probably just stick it in a random supply closet somewhere.

She nodded. "They did! My friend was playing too, which was pretty cool." Honestly, getting to see and cheer on Chloë again had been the highlight of the match. Harper still thought Quidditch as a sport didn't make much sense, but it was fun to watch, especially when her friends were playing. She smiled when Professor Abberline mentioned getting to do some travelling over the break. During their animagus lessons, she'd gotten the impression that his hit wizard job had kept him very busy, so she was glad he'd managed to get something of a break before the start of the school year. "You're from England, right?" She knew he lived in Brightstone now, but his accent had always sounded vaguely English. Harper nodded again when Professor Abberline brought up their old conversation about becoming an animagus. She had a feeling she knew where this was going, but it wasn't until he confirmed it that her face split into a grin. "Wait, really? That's awesome!" Even though she knew animagus training wasn't for everyone, she was a big proponent of giving it a try if someone did have the interest and skill. "We'll be able to communicate in animal form," she said excitedly. Gaining the ability to talk to other animals was something Harper was very much looking forward to. She just hoped Professor Abberline's form wasn't some sort of fish. "What made you change your mind?" she asked curiously.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charles smiled at Harper's answer. A lot of people were frightened of boggarts even when they knew the Boggart-Banishing Spell, which he thought was quite silly. While he could understand that facing one's greatest fear might not be for everyone, he did hope that people would stop being frightened of them. There really was no need, but then again, it also didn't help that boggarts would turn up at dark places unexpectedly at times. ''I reckon that they are usually looked for in the same week that the lesson takes place. I, however, was fortunate enough to find this one hidden underneath one of the couches in the student lounge. And rather than keeping it there and waiting for it to scare a group of first years, I figured that I might as well store it in that wardrobe until I can teach my third years about them. I'll release it somewhere dark once I'm done with it.'' One of the abandoned classrooms was probably a good place to release the boggart, though he would have to put a sign on the door outside to warn any students wanting to have a look inside the classroom.

He smiled again. ''You don't play yourself, do you? Ever thought about it?'' Quidditch always seemed like a fun thing to do even though he knew that he wouldn't be very good at it. While he could fly on a broomstick these days, Charles had been awfully bad at it when he was younger. ''I am. I'm from Lincolnshire, though I'm glad to admit that my accent is somewhat diminishing the more time I spend here in New Zealand.'' He remembered a video-thingy of a farmer in Lincolnshire getting quite popular in the Muggle world a while back because of the man's thick accent. It was quite fun to see even if it had made him awfully aware of his own accent. ''I bet some of my teachers had a difficult time understanding what I said,'' the Professor said with a small laugh. For a moment he had been worried that going back to England for the break would restore some of his thick Lincolnshire accent, but it hadn't, thankfully. He'd feel sorry for those who would have to listen to him if his accent had indeed returned. He figured that Harper might express happiness over the fact that he wanted to become an animagus too. ''Hold your horses, I don't expect anything significant to happen anytime soon. I might know the theory well but that doesn't mean I'll get it right immediately.'' He hoped that he could do it successfully a year or two from now, but that might be wishful thinking on his part. ''I thought that it would be useful if I wanted to continue instructing students. Teach them properly without having to fear that I might doom them.'' He smiled weakly as he remembered how uncertain he had been at first to help Harper with her training. She had looked quite disappointed when he told her that he wasn't an animagus himself, and while they eventually managed to get it working, he didn't want any future students to suffer from his inability to understand what they were going through during the process.

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper tried not to grimace when Professor Abberline mentioned where he'd found the boggart. She would definitely be double-checking the student lounge couches before taking a seat from now on. At the question about Quidditch, she shook her head. "No. I like flying, but I don't really like the idea of getting hit by bludgers," she said with a smile. She also had issues with the structure of Quidditch, which heavily favoured just one player. It was completely antithetical to the idea of a team sport. There were other flaws with the game, but it was very popular in the magical world, so she kept those opinions to herself. "I've always preferred muggle sports anyways." Which was perhaps an understatement considering her life had once revolved around them.

She didn't know where Lincolnshire was, but she thought it was interesting that he'd grown up in England. Hogwarts seemed to have a lot of international students and staff. "Are any of them still around?" Harper asked when Professor Abberline brought up his old teachers. Compared to some of the staff, he was on the younger side, and she wondered if they'd shared any professors. At the very least, she assumed he'd had Professor Styx — the former Slytherin head, not the Transfiguration professor, though now that she thought about it, he'd probably had her too.

Deciding to become an animagus was a very personal decision that you could only make for yourself. That didn't stop Harper from encouraging anyone with an interest to go for it — or feeling excited whenever they did decide to pursue training. "No, but already knowing the theory will be a major help and save you a lot of time." She'd spent nearly two years slogging through dense texts just to learn the theory. Professor Abberline's next statement surprised Harper, and she shook her head, expression softening. "You haven't doomed me. I couldn't have made it this far without your help. I could barely transfigure a single feather when we started." There were definitely downsides to learning from a non-animagus. She couldn't deny that. Sometimes Harper felt like Professor Abberline was just as in the dark as she was when a certain self-transfiguration failed or went wrong. But there were upsides too. She was forced to think more deliberately about her magic so that she could explain what was happening to Professor Abberline. She couldn't just rely on intuition, as she had with her other instructors. Plus, it was nice to have an outside perspective. There was a reason why she'd chosen to continue her lessons with Professor Abberline this semester instead of going to Professor Styx.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charles chuckled at the answer Harper gave him. It was a fair reason and one that had been on his mind as well when he first thought about potentially joining the Ravenclaw Quidditch team all those years ago. That and the fact that he sucked at riding a broomstick. He had often wondered why there wasn't any other sport just as popular as Quidditch in the Wizard World but always knew the answer to that question. What was more fun, a Quidditch match or people throwing magical marbles in a circle? Even as an avid chess player, Charles knew that riding on a broomstick was more enjoyable to watch than moving a bunch of black and white figures on a chequerboard. It sucked but that was simply the way it was and the way it would probably always be. ''I cannot argue with you there,'' Professor Abberline replied, thinking that football was a lot more fun to watch than Quidditch anyway.

''Some of them are. Professor Kingsley and Professor Carter, for example. And I believe that Professors Josephs, Haden and Alcott-Ward also taught me at some point.'' Thinking back on it, his own time at Hogwarts really hadn't even been that long ago, but half of the Professors that taught him no longer taught at the school. It was also odd to know that some of these Professors were his colleagues now. He still entered the Professor's common room with trepidation at times even though he was allowed to go in there these days. ''Old man Styx and Professor Summers were still around when I was a student, which we may have in common, I believe.'' It worried him a little that so many teachers were coming and going. He could envision himself being a teacher at an old age but there really was no certainty behind the vision. Not when one worked at Hogwarts, apparently.

''You'll recall that I said that I might doom students,'' Professor Abberline said with a slight grin. ''I know I haven't doomed you but that has mostly to do with you and not me. You already possessed all the knowledge one needs to become an animagus when I took over from Professor Styx, and you had already worked on self-transfigurations with Professor Summers. All I did was make sure you'd get your confidence back and teach you to be patient, and I like to believe that I succeeded in that.'' He paused before continuing, smiling at Harper. ''I just want to be sure that I won't doom those who are just starting their training, like Ms Fuentes or Ms Chatwin, for example.'' He then pushed himself up and off the chair ''Now, I think it's time to continue your training. We'll discuss mine once we're finished with yours. I've got a favour to ask of you once you've completed your own training anyway.''

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper was a little surprised when Professor Abberline agreed with her. Even her muggleborn and muggle-raised friends had eventually grown to prefer Quidditch over non-magical sports. "Do you play any?" she asked curiously. She was also surprised to hear that so many of his former professors had stuck around. In her experience, the turnover at Hogwarts had always been pretty high — though she supposed it made sense that the heads of house would have longer tenures. Harper wondered if he found it strange working alongside his former teachers. She certainly couldn't imagine ever thinking of her professors as her equal. Even during the break, when Professor Abberline had returned to his hit wizard job, she had still referred to him as "professor." "Was Professor Styx as strict then as he is now?" she asked with a small grin. Well, technically, she didn't know what Styx was like now. Maybe he'd gotten cheerier after retirement. (She doubted it).

Though Harper appreciated Professor Abberline's words, she thought he was being overly modest. "I think you're giving me a little too much credit. You've helped me understand my visions better, and all the extra lessons have been really helpful in giving me time to practice." Professor Abberline had been unbelievably generous with his time, especially over the break. Ironically, the one thing Harper wasn't sure he'd taught her was to be patient. She still felt this racing urge to finish her training as quickly as possible. Her eyes widened slightly when he mentioned the other students he was teaching. She knew about Rosemarie, of course, but she hadn't realised Estella was also learning to become an animagus. "I'm sure they'll be fine too," she tried to reassure him. After all, Rosemarie had somehow already taught herself basic self-transfiguration — though Harper decided not to mention this to Professor Abberline. As he stood, she gave him a curious look, wondering what favour he needed. But that curiosity was overshadowed by the excitement at the idea that the end of her training was just around the corner. "Okay, what should I focus on first?" she asked as she stood and moved to the centre of the room, trying to prepare herself to transform.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charles smiled. ''I play the occasional match of football, whenever I'm back in England, that is.'' It had only been because of his former colleagues at the British Hit Wizard's office that he got into football, but as an Englishman, he may just get away by saying that football was in his blood. ''I'm not particularly good at it but I'd like to believe that I am an alright centre-back.'' Kicking a ball was easier than flying a broomstick, after all. He was a staunch supporter of Lincoln City, even though the football club wasn't performing very well in their league. But what else was one to expect when rooting for a lesser club? He chuckled again, finding it rather funny to think about Styx as anything but strict. ''I'd like to think that he's still as strict and sour-faced as he was when he taught Defence Against the Dark Arts.'' He didn't know where Styx was these days, or what he was doing with his retirement, but Charles was secretly glad that the old man wasn't teaching anymore. He had never been very fond of the man. ''You know, I never got the impression that he liked teaching at Hogwarts - he was always so gloomy.'' He probably wasn't the only one who ever thought that.

Ever the humble person, Charles quietly thanked Harper for her kind words with a polite nod. Both of their efforts had been essential to her success, that he would admit, though he still thought that the reason for her success mostly lay with her. He smiled at Harper's curious look and wondered how long it would take her to connect the dots and figure out what his favour might be. While he was excited about starting training for this himself, he knew that he could be patient and find someone who could teach him how to do self-transfigurations properly. And who better to teach him than someone who was about to finish their own training and become a full-fledged animagus? It was quite a big favour, of this he was very much aware, but he couldn't think of anyone better to teach him. He thought about it for a moment. She could do most of the self-transfigurations he asked her to focus on nowadays, and with the training coming to an end soon, he was struggling a little to come up with a part of the transformation process that she hadn't mastered yet. It was a good thing that she had been so successful lately but that didn't make the final steps easier. ''Why don't we start today's training with facial transfigurations? Reckon you can do the entire face?'' he asked, moving along with her to the centre of the room.

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper froze at the mention of football, and she was surprised to realise that she didn't feel any of her usual bitterness. Granted, she'd spent a lot of the break trying to rebuild her relationship with the sport. After quitting last year, she'd tried to erase all traces of it from her life since just thinking about football hurt. But in the process, she'd only made herself unhappier. The truth was football — playing it, watching it, discussing it — made her happy even if it also made her a little sad. "I used to play too," she said with a smile. "But I was a centre-forward." It was a little easier to talk about the sport with someone who didn't play competitively, unlike most of her muggle friends. Harper was unsurprised to hear that Professor Styx had been just as dreary when he'd taught Professor Abberline as he was now. "I had the same impression," she admitted. "I never understood why he kept teaching if he didn't like it. But I guess he finally did quit." It was a little funny to think about how different his replacements were. Walking into a sunlit DADA classroom with a snack table had been quite the shock.

It wasn't surprising that Professor Abberline had decided to jump straight into one of the more complex transfigurations. Ignoring the usual flutter of nerves, Harper nodded. "I haven't done just the face in a while, but I think so." Though she was loathe to admit it, she still had some lingering anxiety from the accident, so when she practiced, she tended to either transfigure individual facial features or her entire head. Harper took a few moments to centre herself before opening her mind to the vision. It wasn't strictly necessary, but she figured it was better to be overly cautious for this first attempt. Brown and blonde feathers blanketed her face as it shifted so that she had two beady eyes and a yellow beak. A few feathers sprouted along her neck and the back of her head, but for the most part, she'd managed to contain the transfiguration to her face. After a few moments, Harper reversed the transformation, which took much less time. "Sorry, I think I did part of my neck too," she said, touching her fingers to the part of her neck where feathers had been. "But I think I got all of the face." It had felt right, but she still need Professor Abberline's confirmation since she tried to avoid doing facial transfigurations in front of a mirror.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charles straightened when Harper told him that she used to play as well. He didn't know that many people that played football in New Zealand so was always quite surprised when he did come across someone else who played it, or had played it. ''Hogwarts has made things difficult, I reckon?'' he asked, not failing to notice that she said it in the past tense. These things happened a lot to Muggleborn students, which was why he found it odd that no one had advocated for certain Muggle games to be played at the school as well. He had been so disappointed when he found out that there wasn't a chess club he could join when he went to Hogwarts. He had to start one himself at some point, which wasn't easy either. Well, maybe that was why there weren't any clubs around for Muggle sports. ''You'll not mind me admitting that I'm glad that he has left, then,'' Charles said. He knew that it might not have been very professional to tell a student that he wasn't very fond of Kalif Styx as a teacher but that didn't stop him from doing so anyway. The man was no longer a teacher at Hogwarts and something told him that Harper wouldn't mind it either.

Charles watched as the transformation began and walked around her to get a proper look at the transformation as a whole. Everything was looking fine so far and with no complaints about breathing, he thought that she had done an alright job for someone who hadn't practised it for some time. He smiled when Harper apologised for transfiguring part of her neck. He had noticed the feathers along her neck and the back of her head but thought nothing of it. He didn't mind that a few of the brown and blonde feathers had sprouted along her neck and the back of her head, as he was sure that doing the transformation a few more times would fix that problem. She'd have to do the entire head at some point. ''No need to apologise. I bet you'll get to control it better the more you practice it,'' They had very much reached the stage in her training that Charles found himself less and less worried about Harper and her ability to transform herself into an animal. She was able to correct her mistakes at a reasonable pace these days, so there really was no need for him to be on top of it every single time they trained together, or even outside of their training for that matter. It made things easier to know that she'd be fine, especially now that he was going to get a lot busier teaching three years instead of just one. ''Why don't you give it another go? Alternatively, you may try to do the entire head now if that is easier than just a part of it.''

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper smiled a little sadly. "You could say that." She'd tried her best to continue training during the school year, even roping her friends into one-on-one matches. But no amount of pick up games could compare to actual in-game experience (and that didn't even touch on all the other disadvantages she'd faced). Still, she couldn't help but wonder if she had worked just a little harder, spent a little more time training, been a little more talented, would she still have been competitive? "I'm not surprised since him leaving is kind of the reason you have this job," she joked. "I think a lot of people were pretty happy when he left." Her included. Professor Drage and Professor Maxwell had been much better teachers. They were proof effective teaching didn't have to involve intimidating students. And of course, she was glad that Styx's departure had indirectly made it possible for Professor Abberline to secure a permanent position at Hogwarts.

In the grand scheme of things, Harper knew a few extra feathers weren't a big deal, especially since she was working towards a complete transformation. But she still wished she had better control over these self-transfigurations. The fear of losing control and getting stuck had long since dulled, but it was still present. "I'll try the face again and then do the entire head from there." Harper cleared her mind and allowed her face to transform. She could almost feel the magic surging in her, pushing her to go further, but she held it back. The skin on her neck itched, and she could tell that she hadn't been completely successful in containing the transfiguration. Harper sighed. Maybe next time. She let the transfiguration continue, and her head and neck shrank and transformed into that of a bird. Her vision was instantly awash in strange colours, and she stumbled slightly. Hopefully this process got less disorienting with practice. After a minute, Harper undid the transfiguration, blinking slightly as her vision returned to normal. "I think my body can sense I'm getting closer to finishing my training, if that makes any sense." she said after a moment of reflection. "Every time I self-transfigure, I feel the urge to keep going and try to complete the transformation."

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charles couldn't help but feel bad for Harper and the fact that she hadn't been able to properly do the thing she loved doing because of Hogwarts. Perhaps he could talk to the new Headmaster about introducing Muggle sports to the school's many extracurricular activities. It would without a doubt make Muggleborns feel more included if the school was more open-minded about things like that. He grinned at the joke, indeed happy that the old man's resignation had very, very indirectly caused for Charles to be able to teach this course to the youngsters. Though he didn't question Styx's ability to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts, he did hope that his pedagogical skills were better than those of Kalif Styx.

Charles watched cautiously as she tried to attempt the face a second time, wand at the ready in case something would go wrong. While he trusted in Harper's ability, having his wand at the ready was a sort of habit he had taught himself during his time as a hit wizard. Thankfully, he didn't have to step in to help, as everything seemed to be going just fine. Apart from the stumble, which he reckoned might have been caused by the sudden change of sight, nothing seemed to be off. That was a good thing. ''I think that it makes sense. Your body is slowly getting more and more accustomed to that of the bird, which makes it easier for transformations to happen. You'll have noticed that yourself whenever you're doing limbs these days.'' It very much made sense to him and it didn't come as a surprise that Harper was beginning to feel the same way. They'd been going over this for months now, after all. ''The urge to keep on going and complete the transformation is your body saying that it is ready to connect everything you've been practising - do it all at once and you'll transfigure yourself into the bird.'' A part of him wanted to make a Voltron reference but he wasn't sure if she knew that particular Muggle television show. ''I have to admit that I am inclined to have you try and complete the transformation in the near future, if you think that you are ready for that.'' He believed that she was close to finishing her training and doing the final transformations to fully transfigure herself into the bird, but did she feel the same way? He wouldn't mind continuing their training sessions for a little longer if she thought that she would need more time, though he also wanted to encourage her to simply try it and see how well she would fare in transforming the whole body.

 

[Harper Alston]

For much of Harper's time in the wizarding world, she had always been uncomfortable with the idea of magic being used on her. It scared her to think that someone could make her legs collapse from underneath her or blind her or force her to throw up slugs with a simple wave of their wand. Even getting wounds healed with magic felt unnatural to her. So the fact that her body was getting accustomed to that of a bird felt like a small miracle. The difference, she supposed, was that this magic was coming from within her. Harper had started this process hoping that learning to become an animagus would give her a better understanding of the nature of magic. And in a way, she'd succeeded. She could understand now that magic was natural, that maybe the boundaries between what she thought of as the "normal world" and the "magical world" weren't as sharp as she'd once believed.

Harper nodded when Professor Abberline mentioned she'd probably noticed the difference while transfiguring her limbs. "Yeah, whenever I do my arms, especially, it just feels... natural. I have to stop the feathers from going past my shoulders." Her heartbeat picked up at the thought of completing the transformation in the "near future." She'd wanted this for so long, and for a while, her goal had seemed like another impossibility. But now it was within reach. "I'm ready," Harper said immediately. "Or, I definitely will be ready soon," she amended. "I think I just need some more practice transfiguring multiple body parts at the same time," she said, thinking back to he past practice attempts. She could do a pair of wings easily. Or a pair of legs. But it took a little more concentration to do, say, a head and a wing simultaneously, and she assumed doing her entire body would be even more difficult. "I should probably also work on doing the transfigurations faster," Harper added after some more self-reflection. Okay, so it seemed she still had a ways to go before she could turn into a bird in the blink of an eye. But at least she had all the basics down.

((Sorry this took forever x.x))

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charles stroked his beard, wondering for a moment what would happen if he told her not to stop the feathers from going past her shoulders. She wouldn't have to do all the body parts at once, of course, but what if she combined her arms with her neck and her head? It was at points like this that he wished he had the magical ability to turn into an animal himself, just so that he would know what it would be like. He chuckled softly when Harper corrected herself and nodded in agreement, thinking that she was right to say that she would be ready soon. Very soon. A part of him was happy that her training was coming to an end. She had worked hard for it since their conversation in the hospital wing and he could tell how much it meant to her. Another part of him was sad that it was ending soon, as it had been a fantastic opportunity for him (for them both, really) to study this particular kind of magic. It was also a nice distraction from the chaos that came with being a teacher at Hogwarts. ''I don't think that it is necessary to focus on faster transfigurations,'' the Professor said, surprised that she thought that she would have to spend time on that. She was already pretty quick in her transfigurations and untransfigurations, so much so that he thought that it was only a matter of practising transfiguring multiple body parts at the same time. ''The more you practise, the easier it will become. And the easier it will become, the quicker you can do it. That's my theory, at least. A good example of that would be your limbs.'' He didn't want to discourage her from doing so, though, so added, ''But don't let me stop you from working on faster transfigurations. It's always good to practise more.''

don't mind this, I'm blaming it on covid

 

[Harper Alston]

What Professor Abberline was saying made sense. The speed would come naturally with practice. Still, Harper felt an urge to hurry the process along, not out of impatience, but out of the knowledge that what she wanted was finally possible. She was capable of doing the transfigurations faster. It was just a matter of practicing until she got there. "I know. I guess I just want to be able to do it as smoothly as Professor Summers and Professor Styx. They can transform in an instant." They didn't have to gradually coax their animal forms from their bodies as she sometimes did. Harper could still remember the first time she'd seen Professor Summers transform, shapeshifting midair as he leapt onto his desk. She wanted to be able to do that.

"And I'll probably have to be faster for my licensing," she added as an afterthought. After all the progress she'd made over the summer, Harper had set the end of the semester as a deadline for herself. It wasn't a big deal if her training extended past then, but she still hoped she would be ready to register with the Ministry over the summer break. She hadn't done much research into that process yet, but she knew it was pretty extensive and that they would test her abilities. Of course, that was still several months away, and there was no sense in looking too far ahead. She had more practicing to do. "Should I do my head again or try a different transfiguration?"

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charles listened to what Harper said and thought that it was only fair that she wanted to be able to transform as smoothly as her previous two instructors could. He decided not to say anything else on the matter, though. She would be able to do so in time, he was sure of it, so there was no need to keep encouraging her whenever he thought that she was too hard on herself for not already being able to do something. ''I've been wondering about your license, actually. You'll need to fill in a bit of paperwork for the Animagus Registry, which will likely take ages to be processed properly. I could pull some strings to get things moving more quickly, so you may want to consider filling in said paperwork the moment you know what kind of bird you'll be. That way you'll be able to officially transform without the Ministry giving you trouble for it,'' Charles told her. ''Try and do it one more time. If you can successfully do it without any wandering feathers, then we can switch to other transfigurations,'' he added.

 

[Harper Alston]

Maybe she was counting her chickens before they hatched by discussing the licensing process before she had even finished training, but Harper had never believed in that saying anyways, not when it came to her personal ambitions. "That would be great, thanks," she said, brightening at Professor Abberline's offer. If real flying felt anything like the swooping feeling she got during her visions, she knew she would be spending a considerable amount of time in bird form after her training. "Does the Registry usually receive a lot of applications?" Harper asked, wondering if that was the reason it took them so long to process the paperwork or whether there was another explanation — like bureaucratic red tape. Professor Abberline hadn't exactly been the most complimentary of the Ministry during their past conversations.

Harper nodded and readied herself, taking a few moments to visualize the desired transfiguration. She touched her collarbone, trying to imagine an invisible line extending across the base of neck to her shoulders. She allowed the transfiguration to wash over her head, and soon as she felt the skin beneath her fingertips start to shift, she cut off the flow of magic. As far as Harper could tell, she'd managed to contain the transformation, but she waited a few moments for Professor Abberline to check for stray feathers. She then transfigured her head back. "Was that better?" she asked, suppressing a yawn. Lately, it took more effort to stop a self-transfiguration than it did to allow one to continue.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charles smiled and said, ''Not at all, on the contrary, I think only a dozen or so animagi are registered in the Animagus Registry at this moment. It's just that the Improper Use of Magic people have their hands full with investigating incidents all week to keep track of the Registry. Thankfully, someone in the office owes me a favour.'' He never thought that his old contacts at the Ministry of Magic would come in handy for things like this but he was happy that he could potentially help Harper out. And if he did ever try to become an animagus himself, well, he figured that there would be no real rush for it to be registered, not now that he was teaching at Hogwarts.

He watched as she transfigured her head once more. Even though this magic was extremely fascinating to him, it was still a bit strange to see one part of the body be that of the animal while the other remained human. At least the transfiguration looked loads better than the botched one from half a year ago. ''That was perfect, well done,'' the Professor said with a smile, not failing to notice that Harper suppressed a yawn after she had transfigured her head back. While he was eager to carry on with the training session, there would be no point in continuing if she was growing tired. ''Why don't we end things here for today? You've made great progress already and I wouldn't want to keep you from your studies - seventh year can be quite busy, after all,'' he added.

 

[Harper Alston]

"I didn't realise the Registry fell under them," Harper said, raising her eyebrows a little. It made sense, she supposed, especially since failing to register was illegal, punishable by a stay in Azkaban. Still, having the Department of Magical Law Enforcement oversee the registry felt like overkill. After spending so much time immersed in this magic, it was sometimes difficult to remember that much of the world viewed animagi with distrust. She thought back to the election debates, when the moderator and several of the candidates had lumped the werewolf and animagi registries together.

Harper returned the smile, glad she'd finally managed to stop the errant feathers. She was tempted to protest Professor Abberline's suggestion that they stop, and if it was any other type of magic, then she might have. But self-transfiguration required her full concentration, and she knew firsthand the dangers of pushing through and forcing a transformation when she wasn't completely focused. Harper nodded. "I do have a DADA essay I need to work on," she admitted as she pocketed her wand and stood. "Thanks for the lesson." No matter how many of these training sessions they had, Harper always made sure to thank Professor Abberline at the end of each one. Despite what he'd said earlier, she knew his help had been invaluable in getting her to this point.