Title taken from Ke$ha's "Animal."

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Fred needed advice.  That much was certain. 

He’d been working on a composition and the concept of self transfiguration – becoming an animagus, really – had come up several times.  He knew how useful it could be to his future plans: an auror needed to be able to disguise himself, after all, and though the books all indicated it was advanced magic, Fred was sure he was going to get an O on his transfiguration OWL. He even tutored his classmates in their OWL work!  It was one of his best subjects, along with charms and potions. 

So, after class ended, Fred sort of… stuck around.  He took his time in packing up his books and things and urged his classmates to go on without him – he’d catch up with them. 

Once the classroom had emptied out and Fred was reasonably sure that he wasn’t going to get laughed out of the room.  “Professor Singh,” he started, unsure and with a slight crack to his voice, “Do you have a moment for a… question?” 

Professor Singh carefully boxed up the clocks. One cuckoo was sat on his turban. He counted the clocks. One was missing. A cuckoo was the same size as a dove. It had a blue and grey body. Underneath its feathers were white and black stripes. Where had that cuckoo gone?

Fred Radley was last to leave. Professor Singh thought it was strange. But Fred did not do Divination which was next. When he asked if the Professor had time the cuckoo flew. Professor Singh glanced at it. He was more worried about Fred.
"Of course Fred. What is on your mind?"

The professor seemed to be busy with cleaning up, but Fred tried to assure himself that he wasn’t being a terrible nuisance.  Looking at him, Fred’s eyes settled on the bird that rested on his turban and blinked a few times, mouth open.  It flew away and Fred just… well… he shook his head.  This was totally weird.  Hogwarts was kind of a weird place though, wasn’t it?  Five years in, if he didn’t know that already, he wouldn’t even have a hope of passing his OWLs. 

Whatever the case, he shook his head and refocused.  “Um… I was just… I was wondering if you had any specific recommendations for a book on how to become an animagus?”  He felt his ears turning bright pink and gulped, trying to swallow down his anxiety.  “It was in a composition I was writing and I was sort of interested in learning it and trying… you know?” 

He rang his hands in front of himself and pursed his lips, “I mean, if you would even advise it?” he not so subtly asked for reassurance that the professor thought he could even do it. 

The 5th years had turned cuckoos into clocks for the lesson. Fred had been very good at it. Someone did not transfigure their cuckoo back. Professor Singh smiled. He put his hands together.
"Fred! I am so pleased you ask." Professor Singh said. "You have a natural aptitude for transfiguration. It takes skill to become an animagus. A lot of practise and patience. You must be prepared for disappointment. We do not choose the animal we may become."

Fred was shocked when Professor Singh was so enthusiastic!  The praise was not expected, though Fred did well in his subjects, he was of the mind that he could always do better and the idea of having a natural aptitude for anything was really mind-blowing. 

Flushing the brightest pink imaginable, Fred babbled a little bit and turned his eyes downward.  He was embarrassed, which was ridiculous because this was his professor and he was the person in the place to really know that.  “I read that,” Fred disclosed, trying to hide the hesitancy in his voice. 

“But, I don’t think I’d care much no matter what it was,” he shrugged, “I just – if you reckon I could do it, I’d like to try.  I just – I need a place to start.” 

"Yes. Yes." Professor Singh said. He smiled. The cuckoo cried. "I have a few books you should borrow." He said. "I will get them. Please would you transfigure the cuckoo back?" Professor Singh pointed. The bird sat on the desk behind Fred. He went to the bookshelves. He picked out two books. He brought them back to Fred and held them out. "The Animal Inside is anecdotal but I found it encouraging. Nature, Denature will be a challenging read. It uses NEWT vocabulary. I would be very happy to discuss. I have others but here is a start." These were the Professor's own books. He had read them when he was Fred's age. "Try and talk to Mr Woodward. Carefully." Professor Singh recommended. The caretaker was stuck as a lion. But he was a transfiguration expert.

Fred nodded eagerly as the professor indicated he would get him some required reading for the subject.  “I mean, you don’t have to do-“ he tried to assuage the professor, he’d probably destroy something or get it dirty… but the professor didn’t hear or – wouldn’t – so Fred was left with the cuckoo. 

He turned his attention on the bird and raised his wand.  Thankfully, he’d done well in class and with the precise wave of his wand, the bird was transfigured back.  Doing it the right way made him feel a little bit more confident about this whole venture. 

He didn’t know why on Earth he was doing this.  He’d made sure he had considered it long and hard, but waiting for Professor Singh to get back with the books.  When he did, he had two volumes in his arms.  Fred eyed them curiously.  “I’ll take care of them, professor,” Fred promised, looking at the books with curiosity, a little surprised when the name of the groundskeeper was thrown about. 

“I – okay – I will,” Fred looked at him eagerly.  “Do you need the books back before the summer holiday?” Fred would have to schedule around that and OWLs, if Professor Singh did… that’d be a lot.  But it was something he wanted: he would do it. 

"No. You may return them to me next year. There are other ones in the library if I need them." He gave Fred a smile. "If you have any questions then send me an owl at school. They will get it to me when they can. I think I may go and visiting in summer." Professor Singh shrugged. "Is everything else going well Fred?" He asked.

Fred was surprised.  A professor was going to let him take his books home for the entire summer?!  His fingers tightened around the spines and he nodded quite seriously, despite the professor’s smile.  He’d take care of the books for sure.  “I’ll have them to you on the first day of next term,” Fred promised, the corners of his lips ticking up into a smile as he tried to relax. 

“Visiting where?” Fred asked without thinking.  His eyes widened: he didn’t want to pry.  But, it seemed like a logical question to ask because he didn’t know where the professor lived or if he even had family – well, he must have.  Everyone had a family, even if they were just abstract.  Now this was getting confusing. 

Fred shook his head willing himself out of the rabbit hole he was starting to fall down in his head.   “Oh! Um…” he processed his question and tried to think, “Everything is fine – studying for OWLs, I’m hoping to get at least 7,” he admitted.  “I’m really looking to enter the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, so I’ve got to do well on exams and get into all of my NEWT classes.” 

"Thank you Fred." Professor Singh said. He trusted Fred with the books. He was a good student. "I have faith you will do well in your exams. You put effort in. That is what allows you to succeed." Professor Singh nodded. "I want to go back to Punjab. I have a community there. I set up a school long before I came to teach here. I must visit and help them. Then if I have time it will be good to visit friends. Summer is nice in Britain but the world is full of wonders to discover. What about you Fred?"

Hearing a professor think that he would do well on exams was just the boost Fred needed.  As a Radley and a Hufflepuff, hard work was in his veins – what the professor said was essentially their family’s mantra (if they were to officially decide on one, anyway). 

“Thank you, Professor!” He was definitely nervous about these exams and the impact they would have on the rest of his life.  It was just about as nervous as he had been about what happened over break.  Thankfully, no one really from Hogwarts knew about it… except Hattie. 

A color rose to his cheeks as he thought about it and shook his head to refocus.   Clearing his throat, his eyes widened as the Professor Singh explained his summer plans.  “Blimey! A school in Punjab,” he breathed, “That’s impressive.”  He immediately felt stupid, of course it was impressive. They didn’t hire just anyone to teach at Hogwarts. 

As for his own break… Fred colored again.  “I’ll probably go home to Piddlehinton and help out in the pub,” like every year, “and babysit for my cousins…” it was easier to just say that, rather than explain the complex family network of the little village. 

Professor Singh smiled in appreciation. It took a lot of work to set up the street school. It was worth it. It was not grand like Hogwarts. But Hogwarts paid him enough. He could send some money back home. He could train more teachers.
"Admirable." The Professor said. "You must always look after family." Was Fred ashamed? "If you could go anywhere. Or do anything this summer. What would you do?" It was always good to dream.

Fred nodded at the Professor’s assessment.  The Radleys were masters at family first.  It’d been a team effort to raise him and they all really lived in the same village so all of his cousins got the same treatment.  He just wasn’t the baby anymore so the roles shifted a bit.  He just knew this summer was going to be full of cousin duty.

He didn’t even really dream of going anywhere.  It was just sort of what he expected to do and he didn’t spend much time thinking about what he’d rather do.  “Well, try and master this, first of all,” he shifted his arms so the books shuffled in his arms, indicating his real course of study for the season.  “But uh… if I was going to do anything else, I guess it’d really like to go to the Quidditch world cup, y’know?” 

"Only three years to wait." Professor Singh said. "I wish I saw Moldova win against China last year. 3 days of fine Quidditch. I enjoy watching Gryffindor just as much." Especially when they won.

Somehow, he didn’t expect Professor Singh to be a quidditch fan.  It wasn’t exactly the first thing that popped into his head when he thought of the Professor, but it was kind of cool.  “I listened to that match on the wireless!” Fred replied enthusiastically, remembering how he had to crouch under the blankets in his bed with his portable wireless, trying not to wake his mum. 

“It was a bloody good match,” he added with a grin.  “I was thinking I might try out for the Hufflepuff team next year – probably beater or keeper, I think.”