First Lesson in Change

She couldn't believe she was doing this. She finally reached the fourth floor and walked towards his office. She had actually wanted to take this lesson, this lesson that would strengthen her magic, and no matter how nervous she was, she was not going to miss this opportunity. Seeing his door, she bit her bottom lip and took a shaky breath before knocking on the door.

Richard's sensative nose alerted him to the presence of a student behind his door even before she'd knocked. It was a newer scent, which meant he knew of her but had not really paid attention to her before. He could smell the slytherin common room on her though so she was obviously part of his house. With a wave of his hand the door opened to reveal her even as he stayed put behind his desk,

"Yes Miss McCartney?" he asked warmly, not one for the whole 'cold slytherin' act, "Having any problems with the school?"

She was surprised once the door opened but no one stood behind it, more specifically he was still sitting on his desk. She walked in and looked at him somewhat nervously. Her nervousness was fairly obvious considering she was twiddling her fingers, biting her lower lip, and avoiding eye contact.

Hearing his comment, she could not help but be surprised at how fast he knew her name. She shook her head immediately not wanting to cause any trouble.

What kind of Slytherin are you! she reprimanded herself.

It wasn't that his demeanor was frightening, but he was powerful, she felt it.

"I-I was wondering if I could get your help f-for something I want to achieve in Transfigurations?" she said softly.

The girl was nervous but Richard could respect that to a certain degree, he himself had been nervous before his own Head of House when he had attended Durmstrang before the war. He smiled a little bit reassuringly and gestured to the seat in front of his desk,

"Well Transfiguration is my area of expertise." he replied with a happy smile, "What are you looking to transfigure Miss McCartney? I assure you that almost anything can be transfigured with enough hard work."

She did as she was told and sat down. She didn't want to twiddle her fingers in nervousness, so once hearing his last comment she lifted her gaze and looked at him head on.

"You said I can transfigure anything right?" she began, but rather than ask him to repeat himself she continued. "I-I want to transfigure myself"

She took a deep breath and looked at him directly, showing that she was ready to dedicate herself if it meant she'd reach her goal. Since the moment she heard that there was such a thing as an animagus, she was excited to do something challenging, and well ambitiousness was her nature.

Richard smiled warmly as she sat down, obviously nervous but using enough self-control so as not to show it outwardly too much. He met her gaze with his own calm gaze,

"Yes pretty much anything." he agreed before raising an eyebrow at her continuation. His smile didn't lessen any though so he was still smiling happily, "Well that is a bit harder but nowhere near impossible. So... what would you transfigure yourself into?"

He could see it into her eyes what she wanted though. She wanted to be an animagus. While not an animagus himself, Richard knew exactly how to become one and would happily help her achieve it.

She let out a real smile once she showed that he didn't find it to be too ludicrous. Her eyes brightened with excitement at the thought that perhaps he'd actually help her.

"I'd like to be an Animagus..I want to transform into into a fox" she said

She wanted to achieve something that her family was known for. All of her family, she'd recently learned had become Animagus by their sixth year, well being the ambitious girl that she was, for her the sooner the better.

She felt that the fox was like her. While it was sly, smart, and cunning, the foxes were known to be shy and careful, something like her.

Seeing her brighten up considerably when he told her that it was possible, Richard grinned happily. The one thing about teaching that he enjoyed was making students happy,

"Ah... the animagus transformation is very difficult but possible." he raised an eyebrow and smiled a little bit, "You very rarely know what form you shall take until you are mostly finished."

He stretched a little bit behind his desk and looked at her with great intent. Pausing, he reached under his desk and pulled a thick book out of his desk drawer. He handed it to her,

"Read this book." he instructed her, "It will teach you proper meditation techniques. When you can meditate properly I shall continue your instruction."

Her fingers flexed yearning to simply touch the spine of the book. She leaned forward acting as casual as she could, but her eyes could not hide the excitement that she was feeling. It was reading a book, her first step, then trying meditation. While it may be a slow process, she was ready to take those steps, because those were vital to her, two simply steps closer to her goal.

What did make her nervous was the fact she could not figure out, or choose what she would transform into. Maybe she would transform into a mouse, tiny and insignificant...that would break her heart. Or something like a delicate bird, so breakable and fragile. She tried not to frown at the thought. She had read somewhere that the animal did reflect the person themselves.

"T-thank you" she whispered, her eyes dimming slightly at her thoughts.

Richard, seeing that the student seemed to be getting a bit sadder now because of the harsh reality of not being able to choose the animal they could turn int, sighed a little bit and smiled reassuringly,

"Miss McCartney you do not need to be sad." he assured her with a happier smile, "The animal you transform into is a reflection of yourself. On that basis, even if it's not a fox, you will like it as it is a part of yourself."

She looked up at him and nodded, trying to make herself believe it as well. So she couldn't choose, but then again what can you choose in life? Not much, that's for sure.

"You're right Professor," she began "still that won't deter me from trying to achieve it" she said.

She hugged the book tighter to her chest and let out a smaller smile, it didn't deter her, it couldn't.

"When I finish the book, do I return? Or, or do I first try and meditate?" she asked.

Seeing that she was still happy to try and achieve her goal, Richard grinned happily. It was a good sign after all. The only reason more people weren't animagi was that it was something that required willpower. She had it so she could do it,

"Well done!" he congratulated her with a smirk, "The will to do it is one of the many steps to becoming an animagus. Keep it up!"

He nodded,

"When you finish the book you must learn to meditate from it." he grinned, "When you think you've got it down then come to me alright?"

Pushing her chair back, she got up and nodded. His praise did raise her self-confidence and she knew if he believed she even had some hope of achieving it.

"I will Professor Romain, thank you" she gushed and walked out of his office.

She had to get this, she had to meditate. She'd figured she'd finish the book by tonight, considering she had nothing else to do and she'd begin meditation tonight.