Astoria smiles as Ayden sits down.
"Hi."

Llewellyn stepped into the classroom, looking rather worse for wear. He carefully sat down in a random desk and began looking around the room, over his shoulder, and at random students, narrowing his eyes paranoidly as he did so. His eyes continued shifting focus rapidly and his fingers drummed heavily on his desk, his left hand holding his wand so tightly his knuckles were turning white.

Tao walks in a bit sleepy eye'd and sits down next to Annie and Marth. She whispers 'hi' and begins to take out her things before class begins.

Martha smiles and nods at Tao, glad that her friend has been able to come to class. She continues to read her text.

Annie smiled and whispered hi to Tao as she leaned over to open her bag for a quill, ink and parchment.

Martha finishes the chapter she has been reading and decides to close her book. She takes out a piece of parchment and begins to write a letter to her parents as she waits for class to start.

McAiken looks up and see that the class is assembled. He makes a mental to reward them later for arriving in class in an orderly and calm manner. He is grateful they gave him a moment more to compose himself. He scanned the room and his mind thought about the decisions he make in dungeons. Yes, it was the right wrong thing to do. If he wanted to be here....McAiken shook his head slightly as if to scatter his thoughts and that was just why he did. The dungeon events were not important now, the students were.

"Last class we focused on how the transfiguration to an animagus happens. Today we will focus on what a witch or wizard experieces while in the animagi form." McAiken as he spoke began to relax. "I'm going to ask you to think about that for a moment. What does the witch or wizard experience? Do they mentally become a cat, lion, rat, stag or even a Komodo Dragon. Think back on you magical history. One animagi spoke very clearly on this point. Who can tell me who this is?"

Nadia straightened in her seat after she gave out the badge, to turn to the professor. She thought of the question, which took her long enough, then raised her hand to try, "Professor, could it be, Mr Sirius Black? He spoke about the difficulties of being a dog for so long. Like, I have heard you start thinking alike. However, the mental capacity of the animagus, different from a forced animal transfiguration, isn't tampered with. You pçkeep thinking striaght enough, as a human, to be able to turn back.

"I have also understood anybody can turn their magical shape into animals but they would change their mental capacitites unless trianed, hence the animagi magic being so comlicated."

"What differeniates an animagus from say someone who can just turn himself into an animal is the fact that an animagus retains his human mind whiile in animal form." Terry turns in Nadia's direction and takes her prefect badge back. "Thank you, Nadia, I had wondered where it had gotten to." She then turns back to the professor. Sirius Black did speak alot about how he escaped from Azkaban Prison using his animagi form, but Peter Pettigrew also spoke of his like as a rat while they were in the Shrieking Shake together during Harry Potter's third year."

"Yes, Sirius Black is one of the formost debated animagi in the last 100 years. He was able to survive Azkaban by changing into a dog. He spoke about retaining his ability to think during his transfiguration. We also know that McGonagall was able to read and study maps in her cat form. Some wonder in the bouncing ferret of famed Mad Eye Moody was an animagus and the answer is no. Draco Malfoy was a simple ferret. His attempts of escape from Professor Moody were animal instinct, nothing more." McAiken paused for a moment and took a sip from a cup on his desk.

"I can retain most of my mental abilities when I transfigure. Example I could recognize you if you entered a room, I would know how to get from point a to point b. I could use logic, and the list goes on.

Liam took notes on that and listened again toany more of the lesson

"Sirius's Padfoot had an animal conspiritor after his escape from Azkaban, with who he was able to communicate. Sirius was able to make him understand he was looking for the rat, Peter Pettigrew. Animagi have a way to communicate to other animal. Three Mauraders were able to protect and keep Remus Lupin out of trouble during his monthly transfiguration into a wevewolf while their were in their animagus forms.

Jenna glanced up from her notes at the name McAiken had just mentioned. Remus Lupin... Her mind raced back to a story she had once heard when she was younger. Someone had mentioned his name and condition, although it was barely audible. Now that it had been mentioned again she was keen to learn more. She stared at McAiken, almost pushing him to go on about the subject.

Martha puts away her letter and takes notes carefully, listening to every word Professor McAiken says.

:: Ganymede was so out in space at the moment. All she heard was 'Blah Blah.. blah'. She played with her hair for a few moments before trying her best to pay attention. Slytherin was slipping rather sharply and she needed them to get back into the lead. Ganymede finally thought of a good question.
She raised her hand and asked, "Professor, When one is an animagi, does the animal's appearance age along with the human form?" She decided to restate it in another way, "Such as, does the animal form go from kitten to cat to old cat as the human form goes from child to adult to old person?" She lowered her hand and waited. ::

Jaren started taking notes rather rapidly, with a concentrated expression on his face. He'd spent a good portion of his fourth year figuring Animagi out, only to have it as an actual class lesson in his sixth year.

But whatever gives.

"That's a good question, and frankly that is a debated topic. As a wizard or witch gains magic powers in certain areas but their phsyical bodies age. Yet you have to remember we live much longer lives than muggles. As an animagus wizard or witch bodies age their animagus form adapts. But it doesn't age like a normal animal, if this were true Peter Pettigrew who remained a rat for thirteen years would have died. This proably doesn't answer your question but it the best we have at the moment. Magic grows, it changes. A wizard today can perform more spells, and brew more potions than a wizard a 100 years ago could. I mentioned Remus earlier and as many you know he was a werewolf. For many years he suffered terrible transformation at full moon and was very wild during them. Just before Remus taught here at Hogwarts, a potion was created that eases these times for werewolves. They are no longer a threat to others at long as they consume the potion. Who can name that potion?"

Nadia took notes every now and then, pausing to look up and watch the professors. She was still slightly confused if she had gotten the question answer right. Nevermind that. At least she could review things she had read and also finally returned that item. Mind, she would have liked to use that excuse for something else but, well, whatever. And she didn't fail to notice the small change of mood in the profesor from where she entered to now. Well, at first she thought it was sad or mad, but now it proved to be nervous what she perceived, in contrast to this relaxed expression he now wore.

"Wolfsbane potion, I believe?" Jaren replied.

Kay raised her hand. "It is called the Wolfsbane Potion, sir."

Nadia raised her hand, "The Wolfbane -" but, she was quite a bit too late. Happens when you have your concentration elsewhere. mind, she had never before blacked out completely from the class like this. It was a bit later, when she tried to recall what they were talking about as if the professor's words echoed in her mind enough for her to re-listen, that she could come up with the answer. But you always knew that. She lowered her hand slowly.

Correct. So you see an animagus can still think like a witch or wizard but you need to remember one of the most important facts about becoming one. When I transfigure into my form, I lose the ability to perform any other magic besides that. The spell to transfigure uses all my magical talents for that time I stay in my animagus form. I can't so much use the simplest of other spells. So the spell is in some way dangerous. Example, James Potter was a stag, if he were in that form and a hunter tried to shoot him. James could not use the spell we learn in your first lesson this term to transfigure a large stone into a shield. He would have had to first transfigure into a physical human body."

That brings use to how an animagus returns to their human form." McAiken stopped for moment, "Are there any question up to this point?"

Martha looks over her notes again to make sure that everything is clear in her mind. She shakes her head 'no' and waits for the professor to continue.

Nadia raised her hand, "If you are not able to use the simplest spell, how can you turn back to human which is another complicate transfiguration spell? Or it wouldn't matter because, umh, it's a wandless magic?" she asked a bit confused.

:: Ganymede pondered a few moments and decided to ask another question. It was a bit off topic, but did have something to do with animagi. She raised her hand, "Professor, when one is in the animal form, does it eat just as the animal would? Would it thirst for raw meat if a Tiger?" She asked. ::