The other classes were interesting but nothing worth writing home about. Darius was easily able to keep up with the course material with no problems at all. But what Darius was really looking forward to were the results of the two requests he had put forth in the library. He had petitioned for access to the alchemy and ritual books. They were all in the Restricted section due to the danger associated with them but as he had found out earlier, an interested sixth or seventh year may petition for access to them. He wasn’t sure if Dumbledore might have some reaction about that but technically there was absolutely nothing wrong with what he had done.

Moody’s next class a week later was just as avidly attended as the first one. For someone known to be a grim and paranoid man, the guy was a remarkably good teacher. Of course, being a Master Auror who had trained several of the best in the forces, he would have to be.

“All you brats need to know that battles and fights are not a pretty thing. Its not like duels where you have only one person attacking you and there are rules in place to protect you. A true fight is a no holds barred fight to he death where the opponent will be ready to use every dirty trick in the book to defeat you. And like it or not, you have to do the same if you want to survive. And so, I come to the point of this little speech, every little advantage or surprise can provide that edge in battle that leads to your victory.

The most effective and easy way to do that is to use non-verbal spells. Most qualified fighters can do it, at least for their most common spells. It gives that split-second advantage that can be capitulated upon to attain victory. Non-verbal magic uses nothing but your own force of will and familiarity with the spell. Now, I want you to take down some of these notes I write on the board. They are tips and tricks given to Aurors to help them achieve non-verbal magic easier and with less effort.”

Following that little speech, the class was completely buoyed up and hung on his every word. They eagerly took down all his notes and lessons. Even Darius did so. After all, all he knew came from books from the RoR and his personal practice, he had never had any formal instruction on the subject whatsoever.

“Non-verbal spells are just the same as the normal ones except that you form the magical spell without relying on a verbal incantation. That’s why I stated that it is easier if you are more familiar with the spell. Each spell has its own unique magical signature and once a person is sufficiently familiar with it, they are able to form it without using the verbal incantation as a crutch. The alternate path, without the necessary familiarity, is a sufficient understanding of the spell. While that is slightly more difficult, it is more all-encompassing and helps to learn newer spells far more easily.”

The class started off with basic body-binders. Darius would have personally had them do stunners but it was not his show to run here. Still, it was a fairly intense lesson and the students were dead tired by the end of it. Other than Darius, there were only six other students who managed to cast the body-binder non-verbally by the end of the lesson. It wasn’t a bad result per se, but Darius could see why so many wizards simply didn’t bother to use non-verbal spells.

Moody was really good though, he didn’t give a damn whether he was teaching just students and focused his full attention on them. A lot of the students were able to finally cast the body-binders by the end of the lesson, but they were too weak to be able to hold anyone. It was a stepping stone to finally succeeding though. But the class ended soon enough after that. Moody told us we would be continuing the lesson for the next few classes though.

In other news, Darius had started helping Hermione to achieve her animagus form. He had promised her he would, and this was the best time to do it. Life might start getting a lot more hectic soon enough and it was best to get it done with now.

“So, the first thing you need to know is you can’t try too hard, Mione. I know you like being good at everything and pride yourself on your ability to easily grasp any kind of knowledge but that will actually work against you her. Discovering and acknowledging your animagus form is an esoteric and vague journey and doesn’t rely on the solid logic and facts that you prefer.”

“But how can that be? Professor McGonagall has always taught us that transfiguration is one of the most precise magical disciplines and proper focus and control is necessary at all times.”

“And that is true only while you are still learning. It is a useful crutch at the beginning, sure, but after you are done with the basics, your proficiency in transfiguration will depend solely on your grasp of the subject and your imagination. Did you know transfiguration is the practical subject with the least number of spells taught in Hogwarts. It is because, after the basics, all wizards have to turn inwards and realize how they want to use and shape the magic.

Animagus transformation is a very high-level self-transfiguration and I’ll make no bones of the risks involved. But that’s also the reason that each witch or wizard has to find their own path through the process.”

“Very well, but I don’t like it. How do we begin?”

“First of all, there are three ways to do this. You must choose one of them. The first and most effective, is to meditate and discover your spirit animal within your very mind. The best way to do this to simply visualize yourself under a large tree in a dense forest and wait for your animal form to approach you. The pros are being able to transform very quickly and having to use minimal magic for it. It is also common to gain at least some form of the animal’s senses in exchange. The transformations are also very smooth and effortless. This is the method I used. The cons are a long duration to achieve it as well as lower chances of success than the other methods.

Second way is to use a mandrake leaf. The process entails keeping a single mandrake leaf under one’s tongue for and entire month. The leaf induces a slight soporific as well as hallucinatory sensations but you’ll have to put up with it. It is within this seemingly drug-induced state that one is able to meet their spirit animal. After the month is over, the same leaf is used to brew a slightly complex potion which is ingested before your first transformation. Pros are that it has a much higher success rate than the first, about 1 in 2 can achieve the first step. Though the first transformation after taking the potion is still iffy. It also provides fairly comfortable transformations. Though it does have a much lower chances of giving the enhanced senses. Cons are that the senses are not as enhanced as in the first method as well as a chance of mandrake leaf addiction after using it for an entire month. Also, regular day to day work and interactions may get slightly affected by the effects of the leaf.

The last method is to concoct a very complex potion called the animagus revealer potion and to take it on the night of a full moon. The potion will forcibly change one into their animal forms but only work once. The person has to make sure to identify their form before they transform back. Alternatively, they may have someone watching over them and have their help in identifying the form. Once the form is identified for sure, the person has to systematically transform various parts of the body to get used to the feeling before finally attempting the whole transformation at one go. It is also advised to have someone nearby to undo any glitches caused during the initial transformations. Pros are that this method has the highest chance of unlocking the animal form. Cons are that it also has the worst level of transformations and doesn’t give any of the animal senses. The transformations are like an ill-fit glove, barely able to wear them properly and at great discomfort when doing so.

So, what’s your choice?”

Darius knew the answer before it even came of course, but he still looked at her with curiosity. And it was just as he had predicted.”

“The first one of course. I want to do it the normal way, not using some short cut.”

“Good on you, we begin now!”

And so, began Hermione’s training to become an animagi.