Even if he was facing the deputy headmistress and his voice had absolutely no need to be so loud for her to hear with her so close.
"Really? Please enlighten us, Headmaster," Professor McGonagall pushed as he mentally groaned.
...
A grandfatherly smile appeared on the headmaster's jolly features. "Mr. Potter has achieved something truly amazing for his age; something I believe that you yourself have often spoken highly about, Professor McGonagall," the headmaster explained to both the staff and the population of the hall whilst everyone suddenly looked at him.
Their combined eyes stared at him, which he pointedly ignored in favour of enjoying his evening meal, his mind running a mile a minute as to what was happening and how he should respond if this went down like he thought it would.
"I felt that awarding Mr. Potter 150 points for becoming an animagus, a skill you have often said takes years to master, if not decades to achieve by adult wizards and witches, was easily worthy of 150 points being rewarded, especially for a second year to master such a skill," the headmaster explained.
"Potter, an animagus? Don't make me laugh," Severus spat on reflex as several students giggled at the hidden insult.
"I must admit, I too find it hard to believe that Mr. Potter is an animagus, despite his superb skill in transfiguration. Becoming an animagus is an extremely hard skill to master; it took me just over 4 years to learn," Professor McGonagall seconded.
Realising that he had very little hope of keeping his ability secret with the whole hall hearing the headmaster's announcement, the cat was very much out of the bag, despite how much he wanted the bag to remain hidden away under a Fidelius. Of course, he could lie and deny any knowledge of the skill, but that would only buy him a limited amount of time before he was eventually discovered. It would then become public knowledge that he had lied... thus damaging his reputation.
And any rumours that he was an illegal animagus would be immediately investigated by the Ministry, ultimately leading to him being discovered and fined, and he had little doubt that some students would write home immediately to inform their parents of the latest gossip and events in the school... Also, being caught red-handed in breaking the law would alienate the ever-stern Madam Bones, who he was on rather good terms with at the moment and wanted to remain that way for a long time to come.
In addition, he couldn't use the childish excuse of being ignorant of the law after hearing both the headmaster's words and the events of the previous year. Plus, he was Lord Potter-Peverell; if he was questioned by the Ministry, his official status as Lord of those houses, rather than heir, would eventually be revealed to the world during the investigation.
This would allow the Ministry to prosecute him as an adult and to use truth serum on him. This could result in him revealing more of his secrets under interrogation and could even lead to him revealing his forceful recruitment of Rita, as well as being a Parselmouth, if the right questions were asked.
Both his and Sirius' political enemies would use the situation to their own advantage, leading to his name being smeared across the front page of the Daily Prophet, damaging his well-cultivated reputation and undermining their growing influence before it got too strong.
On the other hand, he also had the opportunity for his reputation to soar to even greater heights amongst his peers and their parents, whom they'd inevitably tell, especially after everyone had just heard both Professor Snape's and McGonagall's remarks about the difficulty involved in becoming an animagus and how they strongly doubted his ability to become one at his young age. And, truthfully, a tiger was a rather impressive form in any case, and it was nothing to be ashamed of.
His decision made, it was time for some damage control and perhaps some opportunity seizing. He silently and slowly stood up with purpose, grabbing the entire hall's attention and that of the gathered staff. Closing his eyes, his body started to glow with energy, his bones shifting and remoulding themselves, his muscles stretching to the muted silence of the Great Hall as his body started to grow longer, his senses becoming sharper, his sight shifting as his jaw began remoulding itself.
Opening his new eyes, he started to gracefully prowl around the silent Great Hall, his highly sensitive nose picking up the smells of different meats, which stirred his primal hunger. He glided gracefully, stalking between the house tables towards Professor Snape, whose mouth was hanging open, much like the stunned Professor McGonagall's.
Several cats suddenly gave him warning hisses from beneath the tables, which caused him to instinctively bare his teeth in response and growl, showing off his sharp 4-inch canines, causing several of the cats to quickly shoot out of the hall, whilst several owls flew to the safety of the rafters. Internally smiling at the response the animals gave him, he purposefully brushed up against his cousin, who had a massive smirk on her features, her fingers running through his fur as he passed, whilst several of her braver neighbours followed her example and took the chance to stroke his fur as well.
"I believe I rest my case," the Headmaster announced smugly to the whispering Great Hall as Tonks stroked him behind his ears, causing him to purr at the pleasurable sensation.
"Professor McGonagall, I think you now know why I smelled like cat earlier," Tonks announced to the stunned professor as several of her year mates in that class with her suddenly chuckled.
"It's just an overgrown cat," Ron said dismissively from where he was standing up on one of the benches to see better. He started to shift back to human form after hearing the insult.
"Mr. Weasley, sit down. All of you, sit down," the Deputy Headmistress barked, anger in her voice as students suddenly leapt into action around the hall. "And that's detention, Mr. Weasley."
"What for?" the ginger-haired idiot protested.
"For being an idiot," Harry added just as he stood upright on two limbs, attracting several different looks from around the Great Hall. "Remember our first transfiguration lesson? With you, Neville, Dean, and Seamus bursting in late to the lesson? There was a cat sitting stiffly on the desk?" he asked as Ron's face shifted into one of deep concentration and thought. Hermione rubbed her forehead in annoyance, whilst Ronald's older brothers just sniggered along with most of the Great Hall.
"I can't believe I'm related to him," he distinctly heard Percy say, getting his own chuckles.
"What is Professor McGonagall's animagus form?" he asked the confused boy as Hermione suddenly whispered in Ron's ear, the youngest male Weasley's face then morphing into one of horror as his eyes darted to his Head of House.
"I quote, 'it's just an overgrown cat,'" Harry offered, using the same dismissive voice as Ron had just used moments earlier, causing several more students to giggle.
As he moved back to his seat, he decided to remind everyone just why the tiger was considered so dangerous a predator and why so many eastern cultures had it as their symbol of power. "You know, Ronald," he announced, his voice carrying across the hall as everyone quieted down to listen.
"It only takes 100 psi to snap a human's neck; a fully grown male lion's bite is around 650 psi; a tiger's bite, however, is around 1050 psi. That's almost eleven times what is required to kill a human. In many parts of the world, tigers are the apex predator, killing anything that crosses their path," he lectured to the Great Hall. "I seriously doubt that a household cat can pop your skull like it's a balloon, right, Professor?" he asked the Head of Gryffindor House.
"Indeed," Professor McGonagall agreed.
"What is psi?" another student asked.
"PSI is a measurement of exerted force. PSI is short for pounds per square inch," Harry offered in explanation as he sat down next to Padma, recalling the details easily from his tiger fact book. No sooner had his bum touched the wood of the bench than the first of his housemates' many questions were launched at him.
...
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