December.
It was the last month of the year.
Though the atmosphere at Hogwarts was still tense, the ease of the approaching holidays had crept in unnoticed, helping the students relax.
Sixth-year Hogwarts students could often be seen screaming as they fled punishment from their Schedules.
Early morning.
A scream rang out in Ravenclaw Tower.
A balloon hammer that inflicted little pain but plenty of humiliation tirelessly chased Case, who had forgotten to recite her incantation.
Case screamed. No matter how she fought back, the hammer would not stop until she recited the entire incantation.
With great difficulty, she finally recited the full Animagus incantation as the morning sun rose.
The hammer above her head vanished with a pop.
She had already reached the second stage of becoming an Animagus.
The Animagus transformation was an extremely advanced form of Transfiguration, and equally complex.
At the beginning, anyone learning to become an Animagus had to hold a mandrake leaf in their mouth from one full moon to the next.
The leaf had to remain in their mouth throughout this process. If it ever left, they had to start all over again.
When the second full moon arrived, they had to put the saliva-soaked leaf into a small, transparent vial and let it absorb the moonlight. If they were unlucky enough to encounter an overcast sky, all their efforts would go to waste.
Even after completing those steps, they could not let their guard down. They also had to add one of their own hairs, a teaspoon of dew from a place untouched by sunlight or humans for seven days, and a Death's-head Hawkmoth chrysalis.
Once everything was ready, the vial had to be placed somewhere dark and undisturbed to await a thunderstorm.
This could take a long time-months, or even years.