Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling. I am in no way affiliated with her. This is not a profitable work. No copyright infringement is intended. Thank you.

Mutom Beatitus

Chapter 1; The Escape

"How about a lion?" Ron suggested. Hermione shook her head in exasperation/

"Oh, honestly Ron," she sighed, "I wonder if you even read the chapters."

"Well it's not like anyone else does!" Ron defended, "Only you do! Which is—which is brilliant," he finished lamely.

Knowing he meant well, she smiled affectionately at him, and replied, "Well, if you had bothered to read, you'd know that you have to start smaller. Transfiguring me into a lion would be ridiculously difficult for just starting off-"

"I turned Parvati into a mouse in class!"

"Exactly. Mouse to lion in a big leap."

"But lions are cool!" He protested.

"They're too big."

"A small lion, then?" She shook her head. "A kitten of a lion?"

She was about to say not again, but she considered it for a moment. Kittens were considerably simpler than lions, and a good deal smaller, and weren't too too great a leap from mice. He could turn her into a ferret or a weasel of course... except both of those animals had funny connotations in her mind. Plus, kittens were cuter. Ferrets were kind of creepy, with their long, slender bodies, and their sneaky little eyes, cats were more open and honest...

"Fine, Ron. You can turn me into a kitten. And only because you need a good grade on this, and I can hardly turn myself into one on my own." Not yet, anyhow. She secretly planned on becoming an animagus, though she didn't know if a cat would be her choice. Professor McGonagall had chosen the cat, though, and surely she would know best.

"Right, so, just stand there."

"I know." She opened up to the right page in the text for him.

"Right," he swallowed, which was probably a bad sign, and swished his wand about in a complicated movement before murmuring, "Mutom Beatitus!" and pointing his wand as Hermione.

The transformation was entirely uncomfortable, and Hermione found herself reminded of a certain incident in Second year, but when it was complete, she felt alright, if a bit queasy. She looked down, and realized with a start how close she was to the ground. Looking up, she could see Ron beaming down at her—and rightly so, she thought, as he seemed to have done a good job.

"Now, to change you back... What spell was it again?" She tried to tell him, but it came out as a meow. She watched nervously as Ron leafed through his textbook and gave a sigh of relief. "Here it is," he murmured, more to himself than to the little brown cat at his feet, "Mutom Monachus."

No! She wanted to yell. That spell was wrong. Didn't he know anything? Sure, she'd found the first spell for him, but it hadn't been because she'd though he couldn't, she had just been nearer to the book. That spell would change her into something else entirely, and it wasn't made to change a cat into anything, so the side effects would be entirely unpredictable and possibly severe.

Smiling nervously down at her, he pointed his wand. Her eyes widened as she saw the words beginning to form on his lips, and she bolted out of the room faster than she thought she could have.

"Hermione? Wait!" He ran after her, but he wasn't as small or quick as she was, and he knocked things over as he darted about the common room behind her. She managed to jump through the portrait hole just as it was closing behind Neville Longbottom [who nearly tripped over her in the process] and continued to run down the corridors.

"Hermione! Come back!" she could hear Ron behind her as she raced past students' feet. "Accio Hermi-" Hermione didn't know why he'd stopped, but a loud crash interrupted him mid-spell.

After running a while longer, and jumping down a few staircases, Hermione finally felt safe. Now all she had to do was either wait it out until Harry or Ginny or someone sensible could find Ron, or find someone herself.

Now walking at a much more relaxed pace, Hermione took the time to really look at her surroundings. The school was larger, and taller, and a lot less interesting as a cat. She knew that cats could only see some colors, but that part of her vision didn't seem to be affected; Ron had probably not done the spell flawlessly. But that was alright, for a near-colorless world would be a much more confusing one.

As she continued to walk, she felt a little colder, and realized that she might have jumped down a few more staircases than she should have—but one doesn't usually keep track while trying to escape. If the school had felt unfamiliar before, from this new perspective, it definitely was unfamiliar now. It wasn't entirely different, just too different for her liking. Hermione enjoyed being in control, and knowing things, and having things sorted out... sure, adventures were exciting, but they were messy and stressful too.

The more she walked along the colder she felt, even with her caramel-colored fur. She felt herself shivering, and tried to think of things besides the uncomfortable environment she was exploring. She thought of tests... charms tests. Swish, flick to the right, slight nod up...

Her strategy inevitably worked, and the more she thought of different spells and spell-books the less she thought of wear she was going, and so she was taken completely by surprise when she felt huge, warm hands grabbing her on either side.

~x~