Chapter 22. Transfiguration

The weekend quickly passed, and before I knew it, classes had already begun. The very first of which was Transfiguration. Heading off to class together with Pansy, we were flocked by all the Slytherin girls, vying for some more of our beauty potions. During the weekend, after seeing Pansy, It got to the point that I had to begin selling some of my supplies to keep them off of our backs. Until the girls could make them on their own, I was already gaining a surplus of Galleons. Many of which I would have to use, to have Nalby purchase more ingredients for more potions. ‘Is this how a business starts?’ I thought while taking my seat, the loose change clanging in my pockets.

All of the boys in the class quickly became enamored with the sight of the girls’ beauty, and fair skin. Even the boys from Gryffindor were affected by their charm, staring absentmindedly towards all the Slytherin girls. This obviously caused the Gryffindor girls to glare at their male counterparts. Taking my seat, what took my attention was the board written with what we would study for the day. Standing beside it was a cat proudly eyeing each of us. Its gaze then met mine, and we both stared at each other. Each looking into the other’s being.

Pansy then opened her book, and stole my attention by asking me a question over the material. “How do you change a matchstick into a needle?” I glanced at her, then back at the board, the last part of what we would be doing was trying to change a matchstick into a needle. I shrugged and opened my own book on the topic, reading chapter one to the best of my ability. There were a few parts of it, I didn’t truly understand, but the gist of it was using our energy to change the properties of objects we wanted.

It was then I noticed that there was no teacher present, it seemed that this was a mostly self study class. Or the teacher was too lazy to come in. I glanced at the cat sitting idly on the front desk, just as it looked over at me. I tilted my head at it, and it responded in kind. The cat felt like it was studying me for some reason, I could feel the strange amount of intelligence it had behind those vertical eyes. All animals have a sort of intelligence, Val was proof of that, but magical creatures were smart enough to be rivaled with humans. Sometimes outclassing them in subjects. ‘This is no mere housecat.’

I got up from my seat to take a closer look. “Can you get me a matchstick as well?” Pansy asked beside me, taking out her wand after finishing the chapter. I glanced at her and nodded, before making my way to the front desk. I took a couple of matchsticks, and then directed my attention to the cat, staring intently at me. It was giving me the sense of distrust, ready to smoothly back away from my hand if I were to try and touch it. ‘This is why I learned to cook.’ I smirked as I placed my hand inside my robe, and took out my food bottle.

This interested the cat, and as I sneakily popped it open, she smelled the air while taking a step closer to the bottle. There weren’t many pieces left, but I decided to let her have a piece. “Can I have one?” Val whined as he saw what I was doing from inside my sleeve. The cat startled back at the sudden hissing, and her distrust in me skyrocketed, as she glared at me up and down. I scoffed while placing a piece down for her, and took a piece inside my sleeve for Val. The cat stared intently at my sleeve, as I placed my food back in my robes and went back to my seat with the matchsticks.

As I was taking my seat, the door to the class erupted open, gathering everyone’s attention. We all stared at Potter and Weasley hurriedly taking their seats before the teacher would notice. I rolled my eyes while sitting down in my chair, giving Pansy her matchstick to practice with. I glanced up at the cat, sitting at the desk, jumped up, and transformed into the professor that read off all the names for the sorting hat. I felt my stomach drop, realizing she was an Animagus. ‘Those really exist!? I thought it was some old wives tale!’

She admonished Potter and Weasley, and after she was done, she looked over at me. “And Peterson, if you could see me after class.” I bit my lip in angst, nodding with a downtrodden expression hidden from the other students sitting behind me. Only Pansy sitting beside me seemed to know. “She heard, didn’t she?” Pansy asked, immediately figuring out what happened by my expression. I just nodded silently, wondering how I might deal with my parents forcing me to be rid of Val.

The class continued, blisteringly slow as my mind kept falling further into despair. Val whimpered in my sleeve, coiling around my arm while apologizing for talking. “I’m sorry… Please don’t abandon me…” Finally I couldn’t take it any further, and finally stood up in my seat, gathering the professor’s attention. I noticed a small room beside her desk, which I assumed was her office. “Professor, I just remembered I have another assignment after this class. If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, may I talk with you in your office during class?”

McGonagall raised an eyebrow at the Slytherin boy, she was already aware of his condition, almost all the staff was. However the hissing that came from the boy was something else altogether. Rumors of the Chamber irked themselves in her mind, he was a Slytherin after all. Dumbledore gave his approval of the boy, but McGonagall knew of Dumbledore’s habit of not seeing what he didn’t want.

“Very well.” She said while opening the door to her office with a spell. Peterson coolly walked inside, and she followed behind him. “I want to see quills on parchment when I get back.” McGonagall pointed at the students looking up, wondering what was happening, getting their noses back down into their books at lightning speed.

Entering her office, she glanced at the boy sitting in the chair while glancing around her office. He seemed to be naturally curious, the same as that boy. Once the door was closed, she noticed his attention squarely rested on her. His blue eyes almost seemed to be piercing through her, like Dumbledore’s. “I’m sure I have some explaining to do, however first I must ask to remain calm.” He started diving into the deep end after a small sigh hidden under his breath. McGonagall was silent, but on edge as she nodded.

With another small sigh, he slowly raised his sleeve, revealing a black snake coiled around his arm. The snake ducked lower under his sleeve, timidly avoiding her gaze. It hissed in a strange way, that almost sounded like crying. “Ah, c’mon…” She saw the boy sadly pet the snake’s head trying to ease the crying creature. While silently watching all of this, she thought back to what Dumbledore said about the boy, a talent for animals.

The boy then looked at her while still easing the snake under his robe. “His name is Val.” McGonagall frowned at the boy, happily flaunting the rules of the school. ‘Most likely going to use his family’s influence to try and strong arm the school.’ “You bring a pet into my class, one that isn’t even sanctioned by the school for you to bring. You will find yourself with a weeks worth of detention while you send it home." The boy frowned as his eyes avoided hers, she was sure he would push back, and he did, just not in the way she expected. “I can’t send it home…” But he didn’t.

McGonagall squinted her eyes as he continued on. “My parents are against creatures… They don’t know he exists…” He was tapping his foot in silence as McGonagall thought. It made sense why they would be against creatures, almost all noble families disdained magical creatures, but this boy, was against that. Against his parents already at the age of 8. “He’s smart, and doesn’t bite!” He immediately yelled with a pleading expression. McGonagall frowned in distrust. “It is a creature that has a venomous bite, we cannot simply take the chance of your word Mr. Peterson”

After a few seconds of silence, the boy sighed, and he took out a small bottle of ink from inside his robes. He then pointed at an empty parchment on her desk, his frowning gaze of tarnished pride looking to be validated. “If you let me borrow that parchment, I can prove that Val is much more than you give him credit for.” McGonagall raise a brow, distrust in the young boy, but curiosity nipped in the back of her mind. She silently waved her wand, the parchment floating just a few inches towards him. The boy then quickly lowered his arm on her desk, and watched silently as his pet snake slithered from his sleeve.