Exciting News (Naomi & Finley)

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What Finley hated most about Hogwarts was when he and Naomi got split up from classes. For one, it meant he didn't have the moral support he'd become used to with having Naomi around. And secondly, it meant he never really knew where she was when he'd finished his lessons. Which meant he had to simply hope he could find her afterwards.

Especially today.

The moment Transfiguration had finished, Finley had thanked the professor and ran the whole way to the library. With a stitch that he was ignoring the best he could, Finley had searched through the books as quickly as possible before finding a rather large book on Animagi.

Hopping from foot to foot as he waited for the librarian to finish checking the book out, Finley put it in his bag and took off once more. Running up towards the Ravenclaw Tower, Finley didn't stop for anything. The riddle for the door way had been his only block, and after a few moments of thought, he'd shouted the answer in his haste, before tumbling through the door.

To say he was excited was an understatement.

But there, in the common room was Naomi, with a book. Grinning, Finley hurried over to her, pulling out the book and putting it down in front of her. His eyes moved to hers, his grin not faltering for a second. "I'm..." He paused, trying to catch his breath. "I'm g-gonna learn t-to be an A-Animagus!" He announced to the witch, waiting for her reaction.

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Naomi got out of class early, and decided to curl up in the common room to wait for Finley to get out of Transfiguration. She was in the middle of reading The Tales of Beedle the Bard and was glad that she got some time to get further. She had just finished the story about the Three Brothers when Finely actually fell through the door.

About to go check if he was ok, Naomi was forestalled by Finley getting up and rushing over. He had clearly run mot, if not all the way here, since he was panting and red faced and carrying a large book, which he plopped in front of her. She was going to ask what was going on, but he answered her question before she even opened her mouth.

Blinking in surprise at the sudden announcement, Naomi took a second to process it, then grinned. "Finley, that's great! Do you know what you're going to be? Do you need help studying the spells? How long is it going to take?" Excited questions spilled out as Naomi thought of what a great boost this would be for her friend when he accomplished his goal.

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The surprise on Naomi's face was surprise that Finley took to be the good kind. Hopefully she wasn't the bad kind, because that wouldn't be helpful right now, but even as Finley sucked in some more air to try and get his breathing back down to normal, he couldn't help but grin as he took up the chair opposite Naomi, pulling the book back towards him.

The question of what he was going to be made Finley shake his head. "Ap-Apparently it g-goes with your p-personality." Finley explained, giving a small shrug because he didn't have a clue what kind of animal would fit his personality.

"There a-aren't spells." Finley replied to the second question, his grin getting bigger in that moment. "W-well, no incantations." He added a moment later, because obviously it was magic.

The question on timing made Finley pause, simply looking back at his best friend for a moment. He hadn't looked at that. So, the boy opened the book, scanning the index as quickly as he could. Flicking to the page, Finley quickly read aloud the sentence. "P-part of the process b-by which one becomes an A-Animagus is holding the l-leaf of a mandrake in their m-mouth for an entire month." He explained, before wrinkling his nose and scanning the page some more.

"I c-could learn b-before we l-leave!" Finley finished, looking up to Naomi with pure excitement glistening in his eyes.

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Naomi tried to think of what animal Finley would be, based on his personality. All she could come up with was mouse or rabbit, and she didn't think Finley would want to be one of those. Maybe he would be a bird of some sort? As long as he wasn't an owl...

Nodding, Naomi resolved to read up on Animagi as much as possible as soon as she had the chance. She knew it could be a dangerous process and she wanted to make sure she knew as much as possible about it in case something went wrong.

"Before we leave school for the year, or before we graduate?" she asked. Naomi thought it took longer than that, but maybe she was wrong. Anyway, maybe Finley would do it faster than normal. Besides, there was nothing more fun than a challenge and doing something so difficult in such little time would definitely be a fun challenge. "This is gonna be great," she told her best friend excitedly. You could be one of the youngest Animagi ever!

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Finley couldn't help but frown, looking back at the book when Naomi asked for clarification. "It says a m-month with the leaf... T-Then it's p-practice..." Finley tried to explain, though his knowledge on the subject was not in the slightest bit ready enough to field questions on timing.

"You could be one of the youngest Animagi ever!"

"You t-think so?" Finley asked, the idea lighting up his face in an instant. Such an achievement would be awesome! "D-do you t-think I w-will be able t-to?" Finley asked, his worry getting the better of him now as he looked to his best friend for reassurance.

"S-should I talk to a p-professor? F-for the p-plant? And g-guidance... Or..."Finley asked, trying to work out the best route forward as he looked back down at the book.

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Nodding, Naomi showed that she understood. "The timing isn't precise then. That's ok, we'll just figure it out as we go!" A month with the leaf in your mouth... That surely wasn't it! There was probably more to it, but from the looks of Finley, he hadn't done much research on the topic. That's ok; they could read up on Animagi together.

"I do think so," Naomi told him firmly. "With practice, you'll be able to do it soon! And since you're starting in your third year, you'll definitely be able to finish before we leave school, which will make you one of the youngest Animagi around."

Naomi tapped her chin while she thought. "Well... she said eventually. "You'll definitely need to talk to somebody about getting the Mandrake leaf, although I don't know who, since we don't have a Herbology professor. And you should probably talk to Professor Hollands since being an Animagi is mostly Transfiguration. Do you want to do some research first?" The more they knew before going to a professor, the better.

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Finley simply nodded about the timing, it only seemed to say a month for the plant stage of the process. He couldn't deny that there was probably a lot more to it than just that. He did wonder how long it would take to master, but he had already decided that this was something he was going to stick at. He wanted this more than anything he could say.

This was, finally, something he could excel at. Or exhaust himself trying.

The encouragement from his best friend only helped to fuel Finley's ambition in that moment. If Naomi believed in him, then he was almost certain he could do it. "T-thanks." Finley told her, his smile not faltering for a second. This would, likely, be the happiest Nomi had ever seen him in their friendship, but no doubt it wouldn't be the last.

Her comments about him needing to speak to Professor's had made Finley open his satchel, pulling out his pen and a piece of paper. "I'll a-ask Professor H-Hollands to help m-me." He explained, already scribbling a note with too many 'pleases' and 'you don't have to's' in it.

Looking up at the comment on research, Finley motioned to the book before him. "P-please!" He insisted. "H-help would be g-good!" He added, giving her a warm smile.

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