Closed Taking Chances

[Harper Alston]

Harper didn't have Transfiguration this semester, but that didn't mean she'd stopped thinking about it. In fact, the subject occupied her mind a lot these days in a way that none of the other subjects she enjoyed ever had. Her last Transfiguration class had been more than eight months ago, and yet she was constantly wondering about the limits of the magic. The possibilities. How far she could bend and warp the rules governing transfiguration. How far she could stretch herself.

Once the idea had lodged itself in her mind, Harper knew it wouldn't go away until she did something about it. That's how she knew she needed to talk to Professor Summers. She'd thought about waiting until second semester, when she had Transfiguration again, but she had barely lasted two weeks into the new year before caving. Besides, Harper had always been a "why not?" sort of person. She knew what she wanted. She knew what she needed to do to get there. Why not set the whole thing in motion now instead of waiting?

Harper took a deep breath and knocked on the office door. "Professor Summers? It's Harper — Alston," she added belatedly, in case there was another Harper at the school. She really hoped he was in his office. After building up this moment in her head all break, she wasn't sure what she'd do if he wasn't there.

 

[Aeon Summers]

Aeon had been occupied pouring over various interior-decoration magazines for inspiration while he busied himself setting up his office for the new term. A more modern interior, perhaps? It would be a welcome change to the rest of the castle more old-fashioned look. Like stepping into another world, he imagined. He flicked through the array of floating magazines and pressed a finger to his lips while he considered how to transform his furniture, but paused when a knock came at the door. He flicked his wand toward it. "What can I do for you, Harper?" He asked once the door had opened. He waved a hand at the ring of levitating magazines and they parted for him to better see the girl who'd stopped by.​

 

[Harper Alston]

The door opened, and Harper found herself staring at... magazines? She tried to make out the words on one — something about seven new interior decorating trends that you must try this year — before the floating periodicals parted, revealing Professor Summers. "Oh, umm..." The levitating magazines had thrown her off, and it took her a second to remember that he'd asked her a question upon opening the door. "Sorry. The magazines, I got—" she realized that if she didn't get to the point soon, she would start rambling and waste both of their time. Harper shook her head slightly, as if to clear her thoughts. "—Never mind."

She focused her attention on Professor Summers and tried again. "I want to learn to become an animagus." The words were a bit blunter than she'd planned, and they came out in a rush. But now that her request was out there, she felt much better. Harper stood a little straighter, her shoulders relaxing. "I know it's not part of the normal curriculum or anything, but I really like Transfiguration, and I want to learn. You mentioned in class once that Hogwarts is known for training animagi, and I want to sign up." Did one... sign up? It occurred to Harper that though she had done a fair amount of reading on the process of becoming an animagus, she hadn't thought to ask around and figure out how one actually received that training at Hogwarts. Were there forms? An application? A formal program? She decided it didn't matter. Now that Professor Summers knew what she wanted, hopefully he'd tell her what she had to do next.

 

[Aeon Summers]

Aeon made a shooing motion with his hands, guiding the magazines to his desk when Harper appeared too distracted by them. They piled up one after the other in a neat stack, and he clasped his hands together to listen to the girls question - or request, to be more accurate. His face lit up at the mention of becoming an animagus. Another protege! Lovely. "Wonderful! Very ambitious. Let's see..." He began, gesturing for her to take a seat while he stepped over to one of his filing cabinets, and sifted through the folders within. "Aha!" He said, prising one out to quickly skim through its contents. A lot of Outstandings, by the looks of it. "Yes, well, you do meet the prerequisites for it. This could certainly be arranged. While no, it's not a part of the curriculum, we do have a history of training animagi. Interested students can enrol in the program, assuming they meet the criteria. " He set the folder back into the cabinet and nudged it closed. "That being said, you can master Transfiguration without becoming an animagus. What has you interested in becoming one in particular?" He queried, moving over to take a seat behind his desk. Not that he thought it particularly mattered, though he was interested in where students drives came from when it came to the study.​

 

[Harper Alston]

The relief that swept over Harper when she saw Professor Summers break out into a smile made her realize just how nervous she had been. Soon she was wearing a matching expression. She'd never really thought of herself as ambitious before, but she straightened at the word, finding that she liked it. Harper took a seat and watched as Professor Summers flipped through some files. The mention of prerequisites caught her off guard — she hadn't even realized there were any — but it didn't matter. She'd met them and soon she'd get to start her training.

Harper had known the question of why was coming, but she still had to think for a second. She knew Professor Summers was looking for something other than just wanting cool shapeshifting abilities. "Mastering Transfiguration is a big part of it," she said. "I like that there are so many rules in Transfiguration and that they build on each other, and becoming an animagus feels like the final step." Magic as a whole had never made much sense to Harper, but Transfiguration did. There was a logic to it that appealed to her. Moving through the different types — first inanimate to inanimate, then inanimate to animate, and so forth — felt a bit like building a puzzle, and the most difficult type of transfiguration, self-transfiguration, had to be the final piece. She knew it was probably a bit foolish to expect that the chaos of the magical world would suddenly make sense if she could just understand the rules and put the entire puzzle together. But that didn't stop her from holding on to the hope it would.

"Something about the challenge of self-transfiguration is also really appealing," Harper continued, hesitating as she tried to figure out how to explain herself. "Like, it's wandless and nonverbal, and you're doing it to yourself. It seems like it takes a lot of self-control and strength, and I want to see if I can do it." Harper had grown up playing sports, and she'd loved every minute of it. And not just the competition aspect, but also the endless conditioning and training. She liked feeling herself get stronger, faster, more agile. She liked that she could train her body to do whatever she wanted. Being able to shapeshift into an animal would take all that to a whole new level; it would be the ultimate form of self-mastery.

There were other reasons, too — reasons rooted in insecurities that Harper kept buried deep and refused to examine too closely. But Professor Summer didn't really need to hear those. Besides, she wasn't even sure how to articulate her desire to prove herself, her innate need to see how far she could push herself. So she stayed silent, hoping the reasons she'd offered would be convincing enough on their own.