The Shadow of Slytherin

Howl at the moon

Still adjusting to the changes your body goes through over the course of the holidays, you consult with Atticus, who although angered by his friends' recklessness and endangerment of you, does not let his emotions get in the way and helps you with some cravings you start having as well as teaches you a few tricks to focus your mind.

However, other than helping you as you struggle through the process, he does not converse with you or anyone else. During class, as Alex tells you, Atticus focusses on books, pays attention, but at the same time cannot hear a word they say, and later they cannot find him as he has vanished the moment he steps through the classroom door.

Alone in your struggle, you ask Natty a few more questions about her childhood, hinting at her transformation into an animagus, and she tells you how her father helped her the entire way, keeping an eye out as sometimes, she would have episodes where she could not remember were she had been. Other days would feel as if two people lived inside her, but the family tradition asked for it. At your troubled face, she suggests a few herbs to help you calm, noticing a change in your behaviour.

"I will try it thank you Natty"

"Any time, Salem. Just tell me if there is something you need. It sounds like you are debating whether to become an animagus or not, but may I suggest to speak to my mother about it. The process is tedious and dangerous if you are on your own. It can cause a lot of harm, and if you leave out a step or do not follow it perfectly it can destroy you" Patting you on the back, Natty walks with you to the library to pick out a few books, marks the pages she deems useful, and hands them to you. "These will help, and if you decide to become an animagus, although headmaster Black has forbidden it, I'd be delighted to help"

***

With all information you can gather from the books, you sit in silence on top of the Owlery, the calm wind blowing against your back. Page after page, your fingers fly over the letters studying the spells that can ease pain or sharpen focus, potions, herbs, more and more you are drawn into the book, the cold wind tearing on your back, but a sharp pain rises from within your chest, tearing on your muscles that contract causing you to fall to the ground, writhing in pain as you struggle to breathe.

Owls hoot as they fly by, landing on the stone around to watch your aching body twist in pain. Cracking, popping, your body starts to distort when a sudden heat rises from your chest, streams through your body to your fingertips and crawls across your skin.

Your eyes begin to burn, but as you close them and focus, like the book tells you, the pain lessens until your body cools down. The aching bones calm. Strings of red light linger in the air around, small sparks shooting off your body as you ruffle through your hair and sit still, the rustling of leaves from nearby trees in your ear, the smell of fresh air, the stream that rushes along the Owlery and into the black lake close to the castle.

Blood runs from your nostril, the fine red lines forming on your lips as the blood seeps into the small creases. A metallic taste washes over your tongue as it wipes the blood, leaving a dark red stain under your nose that finds itself on your sleeve.

With a deep breath, you stare at the moon above, crescent, only a few more days until the full moon. A tear rolls over your cheek as you exhale and let the last bit of pain drain from your body.

***

After another full moon, Atticus appears, dishevelled, the hair hanging over his shoulders, dull and felted, knots of moss and dirt stuck in it. The clothes torn, seams ripped and the arms covered in scratches and gashes that he refuses to let you heal, he drops onto his bed, shutting the door into Alec's face. It takes him some time, not a word about where he has been or what has happened, but when he learns of Alec's invitation to the RoR, his eyes glow dark and before you can say anything, he has gripped Alec tight and drags him out of the common room.