In Front of the Castle
 

The grounds immediately in front of the castle are packed down by centuries of feet walking across them and up into the castle.

Cassandra walked out to the grounds in front of the castle, the monkey still asleep in her arms. "Hello headmistress..." she said in a whisper. "Weasley told me this was Vincent, a Gryffindor boy transfigured into a Monkey. He's sleeping now, but he was hard to catch."

Hermy arrived by the Headmistress, her arms starting to ache slightly from the Penguin cradled in them. It would be worth it though if Finn returned to his normal form.

She nodded politely to the Slytherin Prefect, before turning to the Headmistress. "I have reason to believe this is Finn," she said, as Hermy decided her arms needed a rest.

She gently sat down, laying the penguin in her lap. She didn't want to wake the little fellow and had no idea how long it might take for everyone to congregate here. Plus she needed her arms to be ready for the quidditch game. "How many are we expecting?" she pondered aloud.

The fox followed behind the two legged creature who was holding the black cat, acting almost as a guard for the two of them. He knew that the little cat was very important to him and he was going to make sure that she was protected, as well as the two legged creature who was carrying her.

Suddenly, a strong flash went through his head. "She is your sister, stupid!", the voice said. The fox wondered how on earth a cat could possibly be his sister but didn't question it, because it all somehow made sense.

Looking down, the fox noticed that his color was fading, his fur was receding. What was happening to him?

The cat meowed at her friend the fox and curled up next to him, she was scared and although she didn't want to go back into the cages, she did want to go back up into her tree.

The fox laid next to where the cat was, watching and making sure that no one came near either one of them. He was extremely watchful and cautious not to let anyone suspicious come near. He somehow had a feeling that there was danger closeby.

Jason made sure the fox was here. Then he saw the black cat- his other cousin and then panda. and the squirrel monkey. Jason hopes more animals come here. "Grunt" " job for the Wild Boars" jason says.

The cat hissed at The Read Haired twolegs who walked up to where she was.

Jason has learned to talk to animals. "Monica, I know it is you, I will not hurt you" "Be good black cat. "Talk to Excelsior and Clifford- they hear me and they know I mean them no harm. " Jason told the cat. Jason waves his wand and fish come out so the black cat can eat the fish.

The fox - was that even his name? - looked over and saw the fish appear for Monica to eat. He shook his head, how did he know that the cat's name was Monica? He tried to bark in appreciation but found that he was unable to bark anymore, what was coming out was more like the sound a human would make, if they were just learning to speak for the first time or something. What was happening to him? He tried again to bark and the actual words "Thank you" came out. Very clear and distinctive. He was slowly becoming no longer a fox.

Jason heard Excelsior, the potion is working. I am so happy. Jason beamed from one end of his mouth to the other. "Excelsior, is that yopu, what happened to you? Jason asked. Jason waved his wand and had pitaotoesfor Excelsior or the Red Fox.

The fox, or whatever he was, began to eat the potatoes. Confusion was swarming around his head, he wasn't sure what was happening or who he was at this point in time. Everything seemed to be changing inside his head. He recognized the person who had given him the potatoes, they were related, cousins or something. The other one, the black cat, was his sister.

He stopped. How could he be related to a cat, and also to a human?

James stared, amazed. Excelsior was almost back!

"Excelsior, the cat is not a cat either, she is Monica, your cousin. " Jason speaking to animals easily now. " Black Cat, have you been sprayed by the good humans in the cupboard ao you can become yourself again, Moica" Jason told her.

The fox could feel his entire body changing. His tail was shrinking away, his head was changing shape and form, he was losing all his fur, he was becoming much larger in size. Something was definitely happening. He looked at the two people there. "Jason? James?", he said.

"Wow '!! Jason exclaimed. Jason is in amazenent of Exce;sior changing back to himself.

Somehow the fox had become a boy. He looked around in confusion of his surroundings, clearing his head. "What happened?", he asked.

Tommy had been at the lake when she noticed that fox that someone had told her was a Slytherin student. She almost fainted when it changed into Excelsior. "Oh my God!" She cried running over to him to help him stand.

Excelsior, yeah, that's who he was, he realized. Blinking, he began to rise to his feet. It felt strange to stand on two feet again, yet somehow straingely familiar. "Thank you," he said to the girl who had helped him, he did know her from somewhere as well as many of the others. He looked and saw the black cat, his sister Monica. "She still isn't back yet," he said. "We have to help her."

"Cousin, you are getting better" Jason beamed. " I like you more as a student than a Fox" Jason told Excelsior.

The cat was beginning to get scared, she hadn't eaten the fish, and her hackles were beginning to rise, when suddenly she saw a face she recognized somehow in what was once her friend the fox.

"Has everyone been taken care of?", Excelsior asked. "Monica needs our help." He looked at Jason. "Thank you for taking care of all these animals," he said. "I hope you are rewarded for everything you've done. Monica, don't worry, I am going to make sure that you get back to yourself. Who else hasn't been given the antidote yet?"