The Summer After First Year

Easter break was over, and final exams were looming. Evita set aside two days to review History of Magic and scored highly after a frenzy of memorization. She did very well in her other subjects, too, and was visibly delighted as she held up the report card showing she was first in her year.

Hufflepuff did not win the House Cup that year. Evita, who planned to join the house team in her second year, wrote James a restrained reply and prepared to learn some Quidditch skills over the summer.

She crammed everything into her suitcase and carried the little case aboard the Hogwarts Express. Sitting in her seat, she watched the scenery fly past the window until she arrived at King's Cross Station.

"Weiwei!" Lily, standing a short distance away, waved and said with a smile, "Welcome back."

Evita ran over, beaming. "Good afternoon, Lily. How are we getting back?"

"Apparition," Lily answered. "It might be a little uncomfortable, and you'll need to hold tightly onto my arm."

"I know that magic," Evita said, showing off a little. "You have to pass a test before you can use it."

"Yes." Lily nodded. "It's very convenient magic, but you have to be proficient. Of course, it isn't difficult to learn. The most important things are the three Ds: destination, determination, and deliberation."

With that, she led Evita some distance toward a secluded spot. "The most important thing of all is that we can't let Muggles see us. That would be troublesome. Are you ready?"

"Mm!" Evita nodded, a little excited, and held tightly onto Lily's hand.

Soon, they were back in Godric's Hollow, with the familiar house in sight.

Evita hopped up and down twice on the spot and greeted them enthusiastically. "Good afternoon, James, Sirius, and Harry!"

Although they hadn't seen each other in a long time, Harry showed no shyness. "Good afternoon, Sister Evita."

"You still remember me, Harry." Evita leaned closer, touched and a little curious.

Harry held up the ugly-cute toy in his hand. "Mum told me."

Evita remembered that it was indeed the toy she had given him, but she was even more curious. "Did Lily describe what I look like, too?"

Harry's little face scrunched up. After a long while, he said rather seriously, looking very deep in thought, "The doggy said it after he suddenly got big at night."

Evita said, "Huh? What doggy?"

Her gaze darted around before finally settling on Sirius, who looked very pleased with himself.

Lily covered her mouth and laughed. "James and I always thought Harry had suddenly started behaving himself at night. Later, we discovered that Sirius had been sneaking in to soothe him all along."

"This really is the most exemplary godfather I've ever seen," James teased with a perfectly serious expression.

"Wow," Evita exclaimed.

"But... a doggy?"

"Magic that lets us turn into furry creatures or other forms," James answered in summary. "It's called an Animagus. The aliases shown on the Marauder's Map I gave you have to do with our Animagus forms."

"I assumed you already knew," Lily added. "You're a clever and knowledgeable girl, after all, aren't you?"

"Of course," Evita said, making a request. "I just wanted to see it with my own eyes."

A paw patted her on the back. Evita turned instinctively to see a bear-sized dog sitting on the floor. Before she could say anything, Harry excitedly raised his hands and pounced on him, burying his face in his fur.

"He's so tall!" She traced a line in the air with her arm. "Almost as tall as I am now."

She plopped down on the carpet and asked with great interest, "Can you eat chocolate now?"

The black dog tilted his head, a distinctly human look of confusion in his eyes.

"The biggest difference between wizards and Muggles should be magical ability, right? So are animals that Animagi turn into the same as real animals?" Evita rattled off several questions, her eyes sparkling as she eagerly awaited an answer.

Sirius looked left and right, then picked up a Chocolate Frog from the table in his mouth, tore it open with his paws, and swallowed it in one bite. Then he raised his head and shook it proudly.

Evita thought, ...Are all Gryffindors a little reckless?

James picked up Harry, who was clinging to his godfather's long fur and had nearly smothered himself, and shook his head. "Sure enough, I'm the more sensible one."

Lily looked as though she wanted to say something, but in the end she put on a formulaic smile. "Weiwei, you wouldn't want to practice becoming an Animagus in your second year, would you?"

"Of course not!" Evita declared confidently. "I want to join the house team and become a Seeker. I won't have time to study that."

Lily looked relieved. Sirius, who had already changed back, asked, eager to stir things up, "If you learned to become an Animagus, what animal would you want to turn into?"

Evita's interest was immediately piqued, and she answered without hesitation. "I want to turn into a blue whale. Is that possible?"

Sirius stopped rocking his chair back and forth. James sounded uncertain. "You mean the blue whale in the ocean that's at least twenty or thirty meters long?"

Evita nodded vigorously.

"Weiwei," Lily said tactfully, "I think blue whales probably can't survive outside the ocean."

"But an Animagus doesn't seem to be the same as a real animal. What if it's possible?"

"Then Hogwarts wouldn't have room for you," Sirius said. "Just imagine a thirty-meter-long behemoth appearing inside the castle. Perhaps you could open your mouth wide and let the teachers and students have lessons in your stomach."

He gradually fell into thought, then his eyes lit up. "That actually sounds rather good."

Evita began imagining herself turning into a blue whale and crushing all her enemies at once, though that would most likely hurt her allies too.

But a blue whale probably couldn't move without water, so she would need to crush one batch, turn back and move to another spot, then turn into a blue whale and crush another batch...

"If you could do that, no wizard could defeat you," James said teasingly. "Not even Voldemort."

Evita didn't know which word had triggered Harry's start button, but he repeated, "Can't, can't."

"That's right, you can't," Lily agreed with her son. "The animal an Animagus turns into is related to the wizard's personality and weight, unless you can weigh around a hundred tons, Weiwei."

Evita was very disappointed. "All right..."

Related to personality... She blinked, curious about what animal she would turn into.

A bird? They could fly, making them among the most desirable Animagus forms. A cat or dog like Sirius? She loved petting furry animals, so if she couldn't pet herself, she would probably be a little sad.