Harry Potter, age twelve, was nearing his thirteenth birthday. The thin, wiry preteen was laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, having an idle conversation with Hedwig, his owl, about anything and everything that came to mind. Though he couldn't understand her, or most likely vice versa, he felt some comfort talking with someone while his "family" were downstairs together, leaving him alone.

Sighing, he sat up and stretched. Hearing the satisfying pops in his joints, he smiled and got out of bed. He lifted the loose floorboard under his bed to reach in and grab what he needed. Grabbing the two text books and his potions set along with his stash of ingredients, he put up many charms up around his room. He found out last year that he could cast magic outside of school if it wasn't in front of Muggles.

He had asked Professor McGonagall, his Transfiguration professor, for extra credit over the summer as he was falling behind because of the whole Chamber of Secrets fiasco. She agreed and let him do research on Animagi. Before he had to leave Hogwarts to get onto the Hogwarts Express, the stern Scotswoman gave him two books. One was on registered Animagi and how to register as one, and the other was basically an old textbook that wasn't used in years, judging by the dust on it, mixed with a notebook in the back. The second one was an old potion textbook on how to find out if one was an Animagi, how to find one's form, and how to shift back and forth between the human and animal form. The notebook was written by the Marauders, an apparent group of pranksters that used to go to Hogwarts.

Harry had heard of the Marauders from the teachers and of course, the Weasley Twins, Gred and Forge, who idolized them. However, he heard that there were only four. The notebook had five different handwritings.

The notebook read, "Wormtail, Moony, Padfoot, Prongs, and Scales are proud to present, How to Become an Animagus! (The Proper Way)" The introduction of the notebook had five different handwritings, one for each name, and the one that was the most used was Prongs. He smiled and read on. It was the instructions that were from the beginning of the book, but they were different, as if someone didn't agree with them and wrote it their own way. The instructions were in the handwriting of Scales, the side effects were by Wormtail, the mischievous uses were by Padfoot, the warnings against use by those with creature blood were by Moony, and everything else was by Prongs. It was concluded by a small message stating that they had other works, some made together, some made by each of them individually, and that the reader should try and complete the collection.

Harry was shocked. Professor McGonagall gave him a notebook on how to become an Animagus! He went to work. He set up his cauldron and filled it with distilled water, setting it on the proper temperature as was told by Scales. He followed the directions to a T, using the magic of muggle timers to tell him when to stir, when to stop, when to add, when to simmer and when to raise the temperature. When it was finished, he found that the color was the exact shade as was shown in the textbook. Prongs said that one had to drink it when it was warm, and when they knew that they wouldn't be disturbed by anyone for at least three hours. He put all of the potion into vials and cast a warming charm on them, so that they stayed at the perfect temperature. With that, he started his essay and did his chores.

When the Dursley's went to bed, he locked his door so no one would disturb him. He sat on the bed, grabbing one of the many vials./p

"Wish me luck, Hedwig" he told his snowy owl, who gave him a positive sounding hoot. He inhaled deeply and exhaled. "Over the lips and past the gums, look out stomach, here it comes" he said before he knocked back the surprisingly tasty potion. He passed out soon after.