Chapter 14 “ Transfiguration
Lupin had been in a terrible state ever since the murder of Mr. Watvey and his family. Not only had he not been able to pay his respects, but he felt guilty. He was convinced that if he had hurried up and gotten the locket back, this would have never happened.
“He refused to give it back, Remus, don’t beat yourself up!” Tonks said to him one evening.
The entire household was sitting in the kitchen after dinner along with Moody, who had dropped by to check on Lupin.
“I would have forced him, if it were me,” Moody growled, “but you’re not a violent man, Remus. I respect that.”
“Now we don’t know where the locket is,” said Lupin, burying his face in his hands.
“Probably still at his house,” Tonks pondered out loud. Lupin stood up abruptly.
“I’m going to go look for it,” he said, and he Apparated before anyone could argue.
“The fool, like he’ll find it!” Moody barked.
Harry privately agreed with Moody, but he wasn’t going to voice that thought.
“What I still don’t understand is this whole ‘R.A.B.’ thing,” Hermione said thoughtfully. “What is his importance? Does Voldemort know that we know about the locket? Is that why he killed the Watvey’s?”
“No, he doesn’t know,” Harry said confidently. “Someone saw the locket, and Voldemort knows that it is his. I don’t know what he thinks happened to it to get it out of that cave, but he doesn’t think anyone knows his secret. But Regulus knew about it, and that’s a big deal. He was also a good actor, for Voldemort still doesn’t know about that.”
“How does that help us?” Ron asked fiercely, obviously still confused.
“Because,” Harry responded, “it means that I can do the same.”
~*~
Lupin did not return until late that evening. He looked extremely exhausted and discouraged, having found nothing.
“I saw some of the things I sold him from here, but not the locket,” he sighed as he collapsed into a chair. “I’m going back tomorrow.
~*~
The next morning, the inhabitants of the house were thrilled to throw open a window and find a thin layer of snow covering the ground. The whole lot of them had been cooped up inside for so long that Harry was beginning to understand what Sirius had felt. He would do anything to be back at Hogwarts right now, maybe going to visit Hagrid or having a snowball fight outside with Ron. He was regretting ever leaving school.
Lupin had left bright and early to search for the locket, and he had not yet returned. Harry was anxiously awaiting his return, wishing he had gone, too.
“Harry, come down here and help us with this tree!” he heard Mr. Weasley say.
He entered the living room and was thrilled to see a large Christmas tree surrounded by members of the household. The twins were haphazardly hanging garlands, Ron and Hermione were preparing the ornaments, and Mr. Weasley was trying to trim oversized branches.
“Could you pass me that string over there, Harry?” Fred asked eagerly.
As Harry lifted the garland up to Fred, he thought he saw something glimmer in the deep branches of the tree.
“Hermione bewitched some fairies to hover inside the branches,” Mr. Weasley explained, after seeing the startled look on Harry’s face. “They certainly add some festivity, don’t you think?”
Christmas was mere days away, and Grimmauld Place was in the spirit. Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen baking cookies, and Tonks was whistling a cheerful tune. Even Harry, who had so much to worry about, had to laugh as Ginny and George danced to Tonks’ music.
Harry knew that it was now Christmas break at Hogwarts, and McGonagall had promised she would stop by to help Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny with their Transfiguration lessons. She arrived shortly after a fantastic winter meal, and they knew right away that she would be taking the lesson seriously. She led them into the sitting room and gave them each a box of tissues.
“You four have not been in school for over two months, and you are very behind, except for Ms. Granger. You have all successfully completed…er…well, completed animal to object transformations, and now we must practise the reverse, which some say is more useful. Sometimes it is useful just when you could use a companion.” She took Ginny’s tissue box and turned it into a parrot, which flew onto her shoulder.
“So concentrate on what animal you would like “ keep it small, Mr. Weasley “ and there is no need for incantations. Just give it a tap.” She tapped the bird, and it turned back into a violet tissue box, which she handed back to Ginny.
Ten minutes later, Harry had a box with whiskers, Ginny’s had ears, fur, and a tail, Ron’s had a dent from where he kept tapping it, and Hermione had a rabbit.
“You’ve got to concentrate as hard as when you are Apparating!” McGonagall sighed for the third time.
When she left after dinner that night, McGonagall seemed pleased with their accomplishments. Harry had managed to decrease the box to the size of a mouse and give it ears and a tail, but it was still made of cardboard. Ginny had accomplished the transformation and was stroking her purple cat, and Ron’s box nearly had the form of an iguana. Hermione had moved on to human transformation. She had changed her legs into those of a horse, but she needed McGonagall’s help to get back to normal. All in all, they were better off than they were when they had started.
“Day after next is Potions,” Tonks said brightly. “I’ll be teaching you. I was quite the Potions Master during my Auror training!”
“Yeah,” Kingsley grumbled reminiscently, “as long as you didn’t knock over the cauldron full of Boil Burst onto my feet. I couldn’t put my socks on for weeks.”