May was the busiest time at Hogwarts, with students burying their heads in books in preparation for the upcoming exams.
Fred and George were clear exceptions. With their O.W.L.s rapidly approaching, they did not seem to care in the slightest. Instead, they spent their days writing letters to shops all over the country, heavily promoting their Shadow Stones.
Losing their primary source of income all at once was undeniably painful. After Dumbledore had strictly prohibited the sale of Shadow Stones within the school, they desperately needed to open up new markets.
Meanwhile, several days had passed since Peter Pettigrew's escape. There had been absolutely no news, nor were there any follow-up reports in the Daily Prophet. The Ministry of Magic had likely locked down all information.
Maurise, on the other hand, had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of a fierce thunderstorm. That way, he could finally stop performing the daily, incredibly tedious Animagus preparation rituals.
Finally, on a stormy night in late May...
Standing by his dormitory window, Maurise watched the raging wind and torrential rain outside and let out a long sigh of immense relief.
It was exceedingly rare to encounter such violent weather this time of year. But for him, it had arrived at the perfect moment.
It was time to move.
Maurise gently pushed open his dormitory door and made his way down the corridor into the Ravenclaw common room.
The fire in the hearth was dying down. Kyle was the only one there, fast asleep on a desk. Three or four unimaginably thick reference books were piled up beside him. He had likely drifted off into dreamland while revising.
Such a sight was all too common during exam season. Even among Ravenclaws, Kyle was exceptionally hardworking.
Maurise planned to wake him up when he returned.
He slipped out of the common room, exited the castle, and headed straight toward the Forbidden Forest.
At the edge of the woods, he summoned his skeletal unicorn and smoothly swung onto its back.
"Let's go."
The unicorn broke into a stride, its bony hooves making almost no sound against the muddy ground.
Raindrops smashed down heavily. Maurise gave his wand a flick and cast an Impervius Charm, perfectly shielding himself from the torrential downpour.
About five minutes later, he arrived beneath the massive tree where he had buried his Animagus potion.
He slid off the skeletal unicorn, crouched by the roots, and gave his wand a gentle wave.
A small vial flew out of the dirt and landed securely in his palm. The liquid inside had turned a deep, blood red.
Excellent. Maurise nodded to himself. This meant that, up to this point, everything had gone perfectly.
Suddenly, Maurise sensed something approaching.
He tucked the vial safely into his pocket and turned around. Through the heavy curtain of rain, several tall, blurred figures were marching out from the depths of the forest.
Centaurs.
Their eyesight was clearly far superior to his. Before he could even make out their faces, a furious roar reached his ears. "It is you! You have returned, evil creature!"
Another voice quickly followed. "Do not be impulsive, Bane. We agreed..."
Maurise shook his head.
How incredibly unlucky. He was referring to the centaurs, of course.
Unfortunately, he had far more important matters to attend to tonight. He had absolutely no time to play games with them.
He gracefully dismounted and unsummoned his steed with a sweep of his robes, letting the skeletal unicorn dissolve back into its magic circle. Immediately after, he waved his arm in the direction of the charging centaurs.
"Arise!"
One after another, skeletons violently clawed their way out of the muddy, rain-soaked earth.
That should keep them busy.
Having set up his distraction, Maurise decisively activated his Point-to-Point Teleportation, leaving the group of centaurs completely dumbfounded in the mud.
When his feet touched solid ground once more, he was standing safely inside the cabin of his Ship in a Bottle.
Now, no one would be able to disturb him.
Maurise offered a faint smile and spoke to the undead owl resting on a perch against the wall. "Time to work, Cinder. Stand guard around the ship for me. Do not let anyone or anything approach."
Even though the Ship in a Bottle was currently floating right in the middle of the Great Lake, having an extra layer of security was always a wise choice.
The Animagus transformation process absolutely could not be interrupted by any outside force. If it failed, the consequences would be catastrophic. As Professor McGonagall had sternly warned, the side effects included permanent half-animal mutations, among other horrifying possibilities.
Cinder ruffled its spectral feathers. It split off several shadow clones that slipped out through the cracks of the door while its main body remained perfectly alert on its perch.
Maurise walked over to a nearby armchair and sat down. Feeling completely secure, he pulled the vial of Animagus potion from his pocket.
The red liquid sloshed gently against the glass.
Who on earth had managed to invent something this complex?
A moment later, Maurise shook his head, casting the stray thought aside.
He raised his wand, pointing the tip directly at his own heart, ready to perform the final and most crucial step.
"Amato Animo Animato Animagus."
Having spoken the incantation, he downed the potion in a single gulp.
It tasted slightly bitter on the tongue, followed by a faint, lingering sweetness. But the flavor was completely irrelevant.
Within moments, a searing pain ripped through his body, swiftly followed by the sensation of a second, entirely separate heartbeat thudding in his chest.
Deep within his consciousness, the shape of his intended animal form began to materialize. Unsurprisingly, it was a raven, identical to his Patronus.
He lost track of how much time had passed.
When Maurise finally regained his senses, he realized his perspective was significantly lower to the ground, and his entire body felt bizarre.
The Animagus transformation was a success!
Maurise excitedly flapped his new wings. The movement felt incredibly light and natural, as if he had been born to fly.
He circled the room a few times before gracefully landing on Cinder' empty perch.
Cinder tilted its head, staring in sheer confusion at the pitch-black bird resting nearby. Where did its giant master go?
Meanwhile, Maurise carefully examined his new physical form.
This felt completely different from a standard Transfiguration spell. Regular Transfiguration only altered the physical exterior, while the Animagus magic was a far more profound change, intricately linked to a wizard's inner essence.
However, when Maurise turned his attention to inspect his own mental world, he froze completely.
"How can this be..."
Deep within his mental landscape, an entirely unfamiliar spell model had suddenly appeared.
This spell model was hidden incredibly deep. Only because his spiritual strength was exceptionally powerful was he barely able to detect its presence.
Moreover, the construct was incredibly crude, almost primitive. It looked completely different from the exquisite, flawless spell models recorded within his Book of the Magi.
Yet, it was undeniably a functioning spell model.
Without a doubt, this was the direct result of the Animagus transformation.
But... why?
Maurise mentally stroked his chin, falling into deep thought.
What a fascinating phenomenon.
He attempted to revert to his human form. The strange spell model did not disappear, it merely grew slightly dimmer. When he transformed back into a raven, the spell model flared to life once more.
After studying it for quite some time, Maurise formed a rough theory.
The entire, arduous Animagus process was, at its absolute core, merely a method to construct this semi-permanent spell model within the mind.
But this raised an entirely new question. Was the Animagus magic somehow related to the magic found in the Book of the Magi?
Maurise quickly dismissed the idea.
Although both utilized spell models, as he had clearly sensed, the Animagus model was incredibly crude. It felt like a half-finished product, and its method of construction was exceptionally bizarre. In stark contrast, every single model within the Book of the Magi felt like a perfected masterpiece, tempered through countless trials.
The two were fundamentally different.
It seemed this particular mystery would have to be set aside for another day to slowly find the answers.