The whole petting zoo

[Elizabeth Chatwin]

The feeling of becoming an animal intrigued Elly. Elly knew Professor Summers was one and she liked him the most. She also knew more Professors at Hogwarts had the ability to change into an animal. Professor Cliffeton was one as well, but she didn't want to get her head of house involved into this. They had to turn rats into rabbits and then they had to show the result to Professor Summers. This was the moment that everyone's rabbit was graded and he was still at his office. She had almost stalked him to ask her questions.

Elly walked up to the door and gave it a good knock. She could only hope he remembered how to become an animagus and so he could train her. It scared Elly, but at the same time she was ridiculously curious.

 

[Aeon Summers]

Aeon was surrounded by rabbits, following a lesson on animate to animate transfigurations. They hopped around the confines of his office freely, and he left them to their own devices until he was ready to turn them back into the less-cute rats they once were. They seemed to be having fun in their new forms - not that they knew any better, or what being a rat had even been like in this altered state, but they were visibly content nonetheless so he left them to it.

The professor's peaceful watching of rabbits bound around his office space was interrupted by a knock at the door, and he looked up, raising his wand toward the handle as he tried to guess who it could be. Kida? Katherine? Kalif? A lot of K names in list of staff members he knew, as it turned out. He gave his wand a flick, and the door swung open, revealing one of his store assistants. "Hey, Elizabeth! Welcome to the warren. What's up? Feel free to come on in, just close the door behind you before we lose a rabbit." He told her, keeping an eye on the lapins closest to the exit.
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[Elizabeth Chatwin]

The door swung open and Elly was greeted by a bunch of rabbits. When she was working in the menagerie she was used to this, but not at school. She had expected that the Professor would have turned them back by now. Elly tried to make a path through the rabbit mess and closed the door behind her. ''Nice pets, Professor Summers'' Elly seated herself down and looked at the Professor. She was pretty out of her comfort zone, but she wanted or desired the information. ''Actually, I didn't came here to compliment your pets'' Elly fidgeted with her hair and paused ''You are an animagus right?'' Elly was sure that the Professor could turn into a dog, he did that in their first year to show off.

Elly mumbled ''Can I ask you some questions about it?'' Elly asked shyly. She normally knew the answer to everything, but the books at Hogwarts weren't sure either. From four different books she got four different explanations and rituals.

 

[Aeon Summers]

Aeon took his own seat as Elizabeth entered, and shrugged his shoulders as she commented on the rabbits. "Cheers. You did a pretty good job today, too." He responded, looking around in vain for whichever one she had managed to transfigure earlier, but they all looked so similar it was hard to judge. Giving up, he leaned back in his chair, and listened, curious as to why she was here - whether it was about the menagerie or school. When she questioned him being an animagus, he perked up, wondering if she was interested for curiosities sake, or had ambitions to become one. The last kid he trained was Orwell, and that had been a headache at certain points given their clashes. Anyone else was probably preferable. "I am, yeah. I'm a husky." He told her, which he thought everyone knew by now considering it was generally a part of every new students introduction. Perhaps he needed to change into it more often. "Of course, fire away. Were you interested in learning to become one or?"
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[Elizabeth Chatwin]

When the Professor complimented her on her transfiguration work she was proud. Her rabbit did look pretty good and Elly was happy with the result, but that was not the reason why she came. She had a whole different plan in her head. The professor said he was a husky and Elly smiled. She wondered what she would be and if you could pick the desired animal. ''Eh, yes I am interested if it would be possible to become an animagus myself'' Elly said it rather shyly, she wasn't an expert on the topic. ''How did you become one and did you pick out the animal?'' Elly decided it was better to just ask questions and let the Professor answer them.

 

[Aeon Summers]

As Elizabeth told him she was interested in becoming an animagus, Aeon busied himself with rifling through sheets of parchment, eager to help her out and make some notes. It was always exciting teaching new people about animagi, whether theoretically or practically. "Yeah, for sure, if you work hard and practice for it enough. It takes a few years to do, but its worth the effort. Its a skill not many people have, but HNZ is kind of known for training so many of them. I mean, there's me, and Professor Frost, and even your head of house. We're all animagi and HNZ alumni., so we learned here." He told her with a grin. "You don't get to pick the animal you become, unfortunately. The one downside is that you could spend years training, only to find out you can only turn into a sea-cucumber, or a cockroach or something. Don't worry though, that would be incredibly rare. The animal you turn into reflects who you are, as a person. Its all based on your personality and inner traits. A canine might be known for their loyalty, whereas a witch or wizard who is deceitful might be like, a serpent. Everyones different. Anyway, there's a whole ritual you need to do. How do you feel about having a mandrake leaf under your tongue for a month?"
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[Elizabeth Chatwin]

When the Professor said it took a lot of hard work and practice Elly didn't really know if she could do it. Her school and Quidditch work were already a big load and she didn't know that animagus training was a lot as well. She did wanted to be one badly so she was going to push through. There were three animagi at Hogwarts so there was always someone to train her. When the Professor said you couldn't pick an animal Elly got a bit sad. What if her animal was destined to be an ant or a fly. Apparently there was a ritual for this and Elly was a bit scared.

''Ehh what?'' Elly said in shock. ''If that is what is required to do then yes'' It did sound ridiculous and Elly was already thinking of one hundred things that could go wrong with a leaf in your mouth for a month. It did sound a bit weird, but the Professor must have done this before. ''Are you sure you have done this before Professor?'' Elly asked shyly.

 

[Aeon Summers]

Aeon grinned at Ellys response, it was pretty typical, and no doubt he'd had the same expression when he first learned about the ritual. A mandrake leaf under the tongue had sounded ridiculous, and when he was thirteen, he couldn't see how it was at all related to animal transformation. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing. I'm a descendant of Falco Aesalon, the first known animagus. It runs in the family. I've trained a couple of students in the past, though not all of them saw it through to succession. It's an ability you really need to dedicate yourself to, and not everyone has it cut out for them." He told her sincerely, since some of his students had given up or deemed it too difficult partway through. The mandrake portion itself was lengthy, and usually had to be repeated multiple times until it was done right. "Don't worry too much, you won't have to start with the leaf right away. I can take you through some theory work first so you have a better understanding, and we can go through the rituals later. If you want to go through with it, it might be a good idea to let your parents know too, just so they're aware of the training, but ultimately what you do and learn is up to you."
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[Elizabeth Chatwin]

When the Professor said he had done this before Elly was glad she had picked Aeon to teach her how to become an animagus. He seemed to have enough connections to make it to a success. She was only scared she was going to end up as a leech or something. Maybe her animagus form was meant to be a sea cucumber. Not wanting to think about it anymore, she wanted to start the process. When the Professor talked about letting her parents know Elly wondered what her dad would think of it. ''Eh, Professor how would I explain this to my dad.'' Elly muttered ''He finally got a grasp on the magical stuff, but I doubt he believes people can change into animals at will.'' Her mom never shared a lot about her magical ability. She didn't even know if her daughter would poses the magical trait. In the end she had to share some things with dad and thus he started to know about the magical world. They even made a floo powder fireplace in the living room so Elly could get to her mothers house easily. ''That would be nice Professor, the theory that is'' Elly didn't know if she could go through with it if she had to start with mandrakes in her mouth.

 

[Aeon Summers]

Summers clicked his tongue. "I'd probably start by saying, "Hey dad, I'm going to learn to turn into an animal - just like in animorphs." Or something. Find a reference he'll understand. Honestly Elly, the more he learns about magic, the better off everyone will be. It's better than keeping him in the dark, I'm sure." He told her. Magical and non-magical life was so vastly different, and no doubt difficult for someone who'd grown up living life one way to wrap their head around, but at the end of the day, it was better for a parent to understand their children and their childrens lives as best they could, if they wanted to properly support. "Anywho, I need to finish untransfiguring these rabbits and grading everyones work, but I'll make you some notes to start preparing and set up a meeting time so I can go into further detail on your training and whatnot. You're in Quidditch right? We'll have to work around your extracurriculars, but it shouldn't be too hard to slot time in."
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[Elizabeth Chatwin]

The Professor was right and Elly shouldn't keep him in the dark. Elly decided to tell him over the break a letter would make him more confused. ''I will tell him over the break then, I don't think he will respond good to a letter'' Letters could confuse her dad even more than she wanted so this was better. She did need the support in this progress. Elly smiled when the Professor talked about transfiguring the rabbits back to their frog like state. ''Good luck with that Professor'' Elly still didn't know how you could turn back something that was transfigured. She did know that finite didn't work on things that were transfigured. ''That would be amazing Professor, thanks'' Elly paused ''Yeah, I am the keeper of the team.'' She was so hopeful at this moment and couldn't wait to start the progress.