#animagi

As far as we know, there was little research about werewolves, and most of it was about how to kill them or the dangerous beasts they were. So, probably, the fact that they didn't hurt animals/animagi was not public knowledge, and difficult to find. (Besides, it was probably not 100% verified that it would work).

This means, James, Sirius and Peter had to do real research to discover it. They had to be looking for a way to be with Remus/understand him better/help him and the research had to be thorough to find out a way to be near a werewolf without them hurting you.

Now, we should also remember that the Animagi spell was high-level and very dangerous. We see very few characters being Animagi in the HP series, and they are presentes as very talented wizards. James, Sirius and Peter did it as teenagers.

Of course, they were reckless and find it somehow funny (remember that Remus said they were the best years of his life, so he enjoyed it too even if he couldn't remember those nights), but that doesn't negate the fact that they cared enough to, once again, do the research. Because being reckless and stupid could also mean trying to see Remus-Moony as humans, or flying above the Forbbiden Forest, or whatever three teenagers could have thought of. But they really wanted to find a way to be by his side, with their friend.

All of this when they had been taught, for sure, that werewolves were monsters, untrustworthy, and not worthy at all. But they loved Remus to the point they dismissed all of that, because they saw REMUS LUPIN, their friend, not just a werewolf.

They were stupid and reckles, but it takes deep care to be so stupid and reckles just to help a friend, when the whole word is telling you that you should hate him and be afraid of him.

James and Peter are both prey animals, while humans are natural predators.

Of course they're still biologically predators. But the brain chemistry of a stag could 100% affect James, giving him major anxiety and making him jumpy at even the slightest thing. He might flinch at eye contact (humans, like all predators have forward facing eyes for target lock), jump at loud sounds, and be extra cautious. Particularly during Spring and Summer, when a deer is shedding and then regrowing their antlers, and are thus at their weakest. Luckily for James, in October deer biology has an uptick in testosterone for rut, so combined with human predator status and his own confidence, he probably wouldn't be anxious all year round.

Peter though.

Rats don't have a testosterone cycle, and Peter doesn't have natural confidence. Being part rat only enhances his already built in instinct of safety and survival being the most important, and to find the strongest hiding spot, or the strongest people to hide with. At school, that's the Marauders.

But when Voldemort comes knocking, it is Peter's animal instincts that tell him to switch sides. He's not just a scared coward, he's actually biologically wired that way. Rats aren't big or strong, so they have to be clever and alert and cautious. They've evolved to survive no matter the cost. And so that means giving Voldemort what he wants, because that is the only way Peter is going to survive.

Humans have a very balanced, pretty constant level of testosterone. Stags, do not.

Stags shed their antlers every year, in March/April. This is important for antler health - if they don't, they get too heavy and grow wrong and they don't grow nice new ones. From art and our assumptions, James has very healthy antlers, which means to some extent (perhaps not as extreme due to his human side), he has a testosterone cycle.

This means that in October, he goes into rut (quiet, omegaverse). He's more aggressive, eager to fight other males, and has a higher libido. (I've also just realised Harry being born in August means he was conceived around October/November sooo.... canon) It's likely the worst time for anyone to annoy James, but especially the dog and wolf that he lives with, and his temper is hair-trigger (poor Snape).

Then in March his testosterone drops dramatically. This causes shedding, which I reckon would be an itch or headache in human form that he has to turn into a stag to get any relief from, when his antlers finally fall. But also, the drop in testosterone would make him irritable, fatigued and lethargic. Which is fun right before your exams!

And then in the summer he'd hate head injuries even more cause the skin where the antlers regrow is very sensitive. Also, cause he's regrowing his bones, he'd crave calcium rich foods like cheese lol.

Ooh, and fun metaphor - while Remus' cycle is monthly and thus related to the moon, James' is yearly, and thus related to the sun 🌞

And for some extra animagus fun, let's look at what they can't eat! (They'd probably be more intolerant than deathly allergic due to their human sides, but still):

Dogs: chocolate obviously. Grapes/raisins, onions and garlic, macadamia nuts and avocado weirdly (it's the 70s he's fine on that one), caffeine and funnily, alcohol. Let's just say it makes Sirius a massive lightweight.

Stags: he's kind of alright, since while they're mostly herbivores they're opportunistic and can eat most things. However they are not equipped to eat with human levels of starch or fat, so James would probably end up eating a very low carb and low fat diet, no full English breakfasts for him!

Rats: wow I thought they were indestructible but at least for pet rats, the list is long. Chocolate, citrus, mango, uncooked beans, blue cheese, caffeine, licorice, poppy seeds, raw cabbage, Brussels sprouts, peanuts, rhubarb, dried corn. However this list is partially due to the dose, so given the size translation between a rat and a human, he'd probably be more fine with his intolerances, since for example they say "dont give rats caffeine" cause any human amount would kill them cause theyre just so small. They also apparently can't vomit, which is fun.

It depends on the headcanon cause it could just mean that they need to be careful not to eat these things too soon before transforming, and that their human stomachs are fine with it still. But it'd also be hilarious if they had to change their diet overnight cause a bunch of things suddenly make them quite ill. Also James being the only one able to digest caffeine is funny, at least in safe amounts. He wouldnt be chugging wizard red bulls because apparently, deer are already prone enough to just dying from over-exertion or stress that caffeine would be a bit of a nightmare for his heart!

More things I discovered in my research: dogs are chemically predisposed to feel unsafe without their pack 🥺 he'd have genuine physical separation anxiety due to his loyalty to his friends 🥲 (dont think about canon dont think about canon). Also dogs don't sleep in 8 hour blocks, so he'd nap a lot during the day instead.

And I've seen people talk about Sirius as a seeker before, and it's great for both the Gryffindor-Slytherin brotherly rivalry, and also because dogs are born predators even more than humans are, and have both faster vision and mental target lock for this. What I'm saying is I bet Harry wasn't the first to catch the snitch in his mouth! Meanwhile James as a chaser works really well cause stags both have herding instincts (good team captain) and being prey have high awareness and hyper-vigilance and good peripheral vision (which is more ironic cause glasses and bad eyesight give you absolutely none)

Step Fucking One is to keep a mandrake leaf in your mouth for a MONTH (full moon to full moon). If you remove it or swallow it, you have to start over. And no-one who knows any of these guys would believe them talking that little for a whole month.

At the next visible full moon (if its cloudy, start again), you have to add that leaf to a vial hit by moonlight. Also in the vial goes:

One of your hairs

The chrysalis of a Death's-head Hawk Moth (who btw, form their chrysalises underground)

A silver teaspoon of dew taken from a place that had not seen sunlight or been touched by human feet for a full seven days.

If they're doing this at Hogwarts then the last one isnt too bad cause its Scotland and theres no sun there. But human feet also includes their own in the process of collecting it, mind you!

Then you wait for an electrical storm. During the wait, you have to chant 'Amato Animo Animato Animagus' with the tip of your wand over your heart at sunrise and sunset every day without fail. Again, you fail any of this and you start right over from the beginning.

And then, finally, when an electrical storm starts you drink the potion, chant the spell one more time, and turn into an animal.

Now I do not believe that any of the Marauders could do this on their first try. Think about it - they can't even do the mandrake leaf part during school cause they'd have to talk and eat so much that it would be impossible, and Sirius couldn't do it at home! And also, according to Hogwarts Legacy, learning about animagi is 3rd year content.

So I bet they started then, which means on top of the full month and then the probably several months waiting for an electrical storm (theyre apparently relatively infrequent in Scotland), they must have tried several times, either getting cloudy full moons, spending time sourcing the ingredients and messing up individual steps. They spent two years on this project, because "Anything for our Moony"

Also it could not have been a surprise for Remus. Even if they did the mandrake leaf bit over the summer (unlikely, Sirius was still living at Grimmauld when they became animagi), he lives in a dorm with them, and would notice them chanting spells at sunrise and sunset (also them just being awake then lol).

It also makes a lot more sense him knowing, cause apparently it's very easy to panic when first transforming. You're in a whole new body with a decent amount of animal instinct being injected straight into your brain, so Remus probably had to calm them down and stop them running off the first time.

It's not documented whether becoming one as a kid means your animagus form, so I'm going to assume that as 15 year olds, Sirius was technically a puppy and James grew into his antlers after transforming lol.

Of course in the long tradition of lactose intolerant people, he just eats it anyway and suffers the consequences. But it does give Remus a good excuse to steal the chocolate from him every single time he buys any.

(The first yes is like "yes, it's automatically part of the spell)

Because like