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The shack overlooking the lighted streets of Hogsmeade village was dark, with doors and windows shuttered to keep passerby from looking inside. Though it was the size of a small cabin, with a second floor and wraparound porch, it had been dubbed “The Shrieking Shack” years earlier, when the sounds of haunted howling filled its empty rooms. Rumors circulated of poltergeists and ghouls, keeping villagers and Hogwarts students away from the old shack, at least, most students.
In reality, the shrieks and howls came from the group of friends that had made the shack their regular haunt. A small, barely visible spark of light shown through the cracks of the wood covering the front window. Shadows danced inside, reflected from the light of the wand perched in the window to keep the room illuminated. A stag danced around the room, hooves clicking against the wood floor. A rat sat at the nape of the stag’s neck, tugging the hair there to hold tightly to his stead. They were joined soon by two large dogs, one wolf-like and the other dark and broad-shouldered.
They moved through the shack with familiarity, bouncing over boards that creaked and pulling cushions from the couch with teeth to make themselves comfortable on the floor. When they didn’t spend nights lounging around the old shack, they burned off energy running through the Forbidden Forest. But the moon was in its last quarter overhead and the full moon the week before had kept them busy chasing their were-friend.
Remus changed when the moon was full and bright overhead, unwillingly and viciously. He had ever since he was bitten as a small boy. The full moon was always the hardest and when he felt the most out of control in his own body, or the body that he inhabited when he transformed. Without the full moon, he could change at will. And it was much easier to control the terrifying and destructive urges that the body pushed him to perform. Tonight, worn down from the struggle of the previous week, he took form only to be with his friends. When they didn’t have to worry about losing him to the night. Remus, also called Moony, curled into a padded cushion on the floor and rested his head on the arm of the couch.
Bouncing on large black paws, Sirius bounded through the room with energy that was unmatched in the natural or wizarding worlds. The curl of his chops and flashing large teeth could be mistaken for a grin, but Sirius was always smiling. Certainly this would still be true as he transformed from man to dog. He was the last to perfect the Animagus spell, but the first to hold Remus down when his were-form was too much for James or Peter to handle. Running through the shack and jumping over the back of the couch, Sirius barreled into Remus, knocking him back onto the ground and nipping at his ears.
Peter jumped from where he’d been straddling James’ shoulders and curled over himself before landing on the ground with two human feet. The rest of his body popped into natural proportion as he stretched out his plump limbs.
“Leave ‘im alone, Padfoot.” Peter waved his hands over the pair and stomped his feet in an effort to capture their attention.
Sirius let out a playful bark, rolling off of Remus to lie face up on the floor. His limbs stretched and he hugged his chest as the shiny black nose and pointed snout shrunk down to a less pointed nose and chin. The boy's shaggy hair now limited itself to the top of his head and under his chin. His body shook as he laughed.
“Ol’ Moony can handle himself.” Sirius brushed a lanky hand through his hair as he sat up and directed his smile to the shifting werewolf behind him. “Right, man?”
Remus bent his head from right to left and back as the hair receded from his body and the werewolf returned to human form.
“My nights would be much simpler and much quieter if only you could control yourself, Padfoot.” Remus tugged at his ears, wincing. “You might as well have pierced them.”
Sirius howled with laughter again, holding his stomach. He kicked Peter’s shin and left the boy staggering as he fell back to rest on the ragged carpet lining the floor. Remus rolled his eyes and situated himself, once again, more comfortably on the cushions.
“What’s the plan tonight, boys?” Remus asked, eyeing James in stag form as he pawed at the floor and curled down to lie near them. “James? Or are we stuck with Prongs tonight? You know, I much prefer face-to-face conversation.”
James huffed, raising his head with eyes that grew rounder as his friends waited from him to transform back into the dark, handsome boy that they knew. He stretched, rearing up to stand on his back legs and transform. When his front hooves met the wood floor again, instead of the hands that the rest of the boys had expected, they stared. James reared again more quickly with no change to his body. His movements became more sporadic, bouncing from front to back hooves. When he froze, the boys saw wide-set eyes on the stag’s face that were filled with panic.
“James? James, are you okay?” Peter scrambled on his feet to kneel next to his friend.
“He’s fine.” Sirius drew out his vowels and smirked. As the closest thing that he had to family, Sirius knew James well. They had met on the train their first year at Hogwarts and instantly bonded over throwing Pumpkin Pasties through Peeves’ head. They were brothers. And James was always playing pranks on the rest of them to rile them up. “How hilarious would it be if he was stuck as a stag forever? Never gonna get Lily Evans that way, man.” He laughed.
“C’mon, Prongs,” Remus started, waving Sirius off as he teetered in his seat. But James was still in his stag form, now stumbling onto four lithe limbs and bouncing restlessly on them. His eyes squeezed tightly shut, as if to focus, but nothing happened.
“James, seriously.” Sirius laughed and got to his feet, walking to stand next to Peter. He slapped the stag’s back playfully. “Let’s go.”
“Don’t slap him!” Peter shoved Sirius away and ran his hand down James’ neck. “C’mon, James. You’re the best at this! You can do it.”
James shook his head, staring at his friends with eyes wider than when he’d first started to panic.
Remus stood from his spot on the floor and rushed toward his friend. Always the rational one of the bunch, he picked up James’ wand from where it lay on the window sill and held it up in front of his friend. “James. Think clearly. Clear your mind completely. Recite the spell.”
James stomped his front hooves on the ground and huffed impatiently.
“He can’t do it!” Peter held his face in his hands.
“He has to change back, Peter. He did it countless times before any of you could.” Remus concentrated on James, locking eyes with him and repeating the spell slowly for him in a low voice.
“He’s definitely messing with us. There’s no way he’s not.”
“Is this a joke to you, Sirius? James could be a stag forever! He’ll miss our O.W.L.S!”
“Shut it, Wormtail.”
“Would you both shut up?” Remus fumed, tucking the wand in his robes next to his own. “We have to… get him back up to the castle. Maybe Dumbledore will help! He’ll know what to do.”
“We’re not telling Dumbledore. He’d have our heads.”
“We have to, Sirius. He can help us fix this.”
“So you’re just planning on marching up the front steps, past all of our classmates, and into Dumbledore’s office to tell him that three illegal Animagi, four students, were out all night and can’t figure out how to turn their best friend back into a human? We’ll lose house points!” Sirius shook his head and paced across the room. Remus watched as he marched back and forth. Regardless of his dramatics, Sirius had a valid point. They couldn’t go to Dumbledore. Not this time. This was bigger than being out past curfew or clogging the boys’ toilet with Cauldron Cakes. It was illegal magic.
“What if we just go up to the common room? Sneak ‘im in. We can all go to sleep and in the morning we’ll go to the library and figure it out.” Peter tried to reason with his friends, fidgeting with his hands as his eyes darted between them.
“Deer don’t know how to read,” Sirius laughed, the pitch higher than usual. “Hell, James can’t even read.”
James trotted toward him and shoved him with his horns playfully.
“Stop,” Sirius said lightheartedly. “Fine. I guess a stupid book can’t hurt. But I really think we should just tailor your robes to fit around your larger-than-usual hindquarters and just make this work. Imagine our next Quidditch match. McGonagall will kill ya.” James shoved him again and Sirius ruffled the hair on James’ head.
Remus ran his hands down his face, exhausted and clearly over the situation already. “Alright. But we have to go quietly.” He gave James and Sirius a stern and pointed look before turning to the other boy. “Peter, lead the way.”
Peter smiled and waved with a flick of his hand. A moment later, he was back in rat form and scurrying across the room toward the closet door. Inside, he entered the tunnel that would lead the group back to the Whomping Willow on the school grounds. As the only one small enough to touch the knotted root that would paralyze the tree, he led the group through the tunnel. Remus followed next with Sirius and James behind him.
“Okay, but what if I rode on your back? You know I’ve always wanted to!”
“Shut up, Sirius. Do you want to get caught?” Remus hurried forward, but looked back over his shoulder at his friends as Sirius laughed loudly and James trotted along next to him.
Sirius drew a line across his lips with his wand, as if to zip them shut, and elbowed James playfully as they followed. At the end of the tunnel, Peter held the root as the rest of his friends emerged from the tunnel and tumbled out onto the green grass of the school lawn. As soon as his friends were past the reach of the tree’s branches, he scurried toward them and transfigured back into a boy.
Moving as quietly as possible across the expanse of the grounds, or as quiet as was possible for three boys and a stag, the group persisted. They climbed the stone steps carefully, flinching as James’s hooves clicked on the hard surface and echoed through the room before them.
“He’s too loud,” Peter whispered as loudly as he dared.
“Give me your socks.”
“What?”
“Give me your socks, Peter.” Remus hopped on one foot as he pulled off his own shoes and tugged at the sock on his foot. “Both of them. We’ll put them on his hooves.”
Sirius doubled over, trying to contain a fit of laughter as his friends stripped their feet.
Once both boys had removed their socks, and without the help of Sirius, they lifted James’s hooved feet and pulled their own socks up tightly over his legs.
“Okay, try now,” Remus said, urging James to take a step as he and Peter shoved their feet back into their own loafers. The sound wasn’t quiet, but it wasn’t nearly as loud as it had been without the socks on James’ hooves. “That’ll have to work.”
Sirius continued to laugh, pointing at James’ feet as they entered the castle and hurried to the stairs that would lead to the Gryffindor dormitory.
“Quiet! We have no way of knowing if we’re going to run into someone and I wouldn’t be able to hear them coming anyway with your ridiculous chortling.” Remus stopped in front of them and peaked his head around the corner. The others clattered into his back, but fortunately there was no one there to discover them. The paintings were quiet around them, but for the soft snores of those that slept. With a finger at his lips, Remus turned to his friends before rounding the corner and swiftly climbing the stairs to meet the Fat Lady painting that acted as their entrance to the Gryffindor common room.
“What’s the password again?” Peter whispered.
“You don’t remember the password?”
“Of course he doesn’t. He never remembers anything.”
“Shut up, Sirius.” Remus rolled his eyes.
“It’s Jelly Slugs!” The squat boy bounced on his toes, proud to have remembered.
“Quiet down, Peter.”
“I told you I knew!”
“Jelly Slugs!” Remus spoke at a rushed but regular volume. The Fat Lady raised her brows at the group before shaking her head and swinging the frame open. Behind the frame, a short tunnel was revealed. It led into the common room for all Gryffindor students. Remus went inside first, looking around the common area quickly before waving the rest of the group inside. There were a couple of girls curled over books next to the fireplace, sleeping soundlessly, but there were no other people in sight. Sirius opened his mouth to make a joke, but closed it quickly when he spotted the pair.
One girl stirred, shifting on her crossed arms. The boys stood still and stared at the top of her blonde head until they heard her slow exhale turn into a loud snore.
Peter covered his mouth, muffling a laugh and following as Remus walked quickly across the room. Sirius followed Remus and Peter through the room, moving as quietly as he had in his life so far. James trailed slowly behind him.
Once they reached the stairs to the boys’ side of the dormitories, Sirius moved to help push James’ back end up the steps, hoping to make it easier to get him up to their beds. Remus and Peter shuffled up the stairs quickly in front of them, checking doors along the way to be sure none of the other Gryffindor boys caught them sneaking up to bed. It wouldn’t be the first time that the group had come back to the castle late in the night, but it was the first time that one of them was still in their transfigured form.
Nearly to the top of the staircase, Remus diverted the group to the left and opened the door to the dormitory that was shared by all of the fifth year Gryffindor boys. Thankfully for them, there were only four fifth year Gryffindor boys. They rushed inside.
“I didn’t think we’d make it!”
“Did you see those girls? Who stays up that late reading?”
“I didn’t know you could move that fast, Peter!”
“Shut up, Sirius.”
“So, do we tuck him in bed or something?” Sirius pulled off his robes and dropped them at the foot of his bed.
James stood next to his own four-poster and glanced around at the boys.
“I mean, how does a deer sleep in a bed?” Peter removed and folded his robes carefully.
“I don’t know, genius, you tell me.”
“Do deer sleep standing up? Like horses?”
“I’m sure he would be more comfortable that way.”
“Then you read him a story and tuck him in, Peter.”
“Shut up, Sirius.”
Peter buttoned up his own pajama shirt before moving to James’ bed and pulling the already disheveled covers down.
“Climb in? I think it could work.”
James lifted his front legs up onto the bed and hopped on his back legs, unable to get them up with him.
“Remus, help!”
Remus, at his side table with his nose stuck in an old copy of Advanced Transfiguration, looked to his friends with a blank stare. He’d immediately started looking for an answer to their situation and had yet to strip himself of his robes.
“Can’t you see I’m trying to figure out how to get us out of this mess? What about Sirius?”
“Sirius is no help!” And Sirius was no help, as he had already tucked himself into bed, flannel sheets and covers pulled up to his nose.
“It’ll be fine,” Sirius breathed out the words quietly before taking a deep breath and rolling over into the fetal position.
Remus rolled his eyes and slammed the book shut. Peter jumped where he stood, but the only sound from Sirius was a loud, reverberating, and obviously false snore.
“Here,” Remus said, coming up behind James and lifting his hindquarters up onto the bed. James stumbled on the mattress but managed to curl up and rest his chin on the headboard. Peter pulled the sheet and blankets up over the body of the stag with a smile.
“He can at least be comfortable,” Peter grumbled.
“Shut up and go to bed.”
“Do you think he’s hungry?”
“No.” Remus sat on his own bed and kicked off his shoes.
“What do you think deer eat? Leaves?”
“Ham, probably,” Sirius muttered from under his covers.
“Shut u–,” Remus started, before Peter rushed from James’ side to the end of his own bed.
“I’ve got some chocolate frogs in my trunk from Christmas!”
“Deer can’t eat chocolate, you dolt.”
“He’s not really a deer!”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Peter shook his head and opened his trunk. From inside, he pulled out three chocolate frog boxes. He’d already taken the cards from inside the lids and added them to the album that held his collection. Chocolate frog card collecting was one of Peter’s treasured hobbies.
“I don’t know, I’d really like a bite of one of those frogs, honestly.”
Peter jumped where he stood, Remus dropped the pajama pants that he’d been pulling up, and Sirius rolled over quickly in his bed. The familiar voice came from James’ bed. Where the stag had been tucked under thick crimson covers, a disheveled James Potter now lay, smirking and still in his dirty school robes.
“What?”
“How did you–”
“You’re alive!”
James sat up and burst out in laughter. “You seriously thought I was going to be stuck as a deer forever? C’mon. I’m better at magic than all of you combined. Give me back my wand, Remus. You trying to steal my magic or something?”
“You’re an idiot.” Remus pulled his pajama pants back up and secured them at his waist before digging the wands out of his robes and tossing James’ across the room to him. “I can only assume that you did this on purpose.”
“I’m so happy you’re okay, James.” Peter rushed to James’ bedside and handed him a chocolate frog. “I don’t know what we would have done if you’d–”
“I told you.”
“What?”
“I told you he was messing with us. You never listen to me.”
“Shut up, Sirius.”