Chapter 21: The setup
He goes to the quidditch pitch to talk with the pair of jokesters and casts a quick spell reminiscent of the spell Tom Riddle used to write his name in the air, calling them down.
The twins come down real quick.
"Hey mate, it's great to see ya, but maybe after practice?" said George.
"I just need you to contact someone who can take a Norwegian Ridgeback to a reserve. Do you know anybody like that?"
"Yeah, we got a brother who works at a dragon reserve in Romania. We'll send him a letter, should arrive back in a day, but we got to fly back; see ya, yeah," Fred says quickly, flying back with George quickly following behind.
He heads to Hagrid's hut, tells him the news, and then leaves.
Later, Harry and Ron visit Hagrid to find an egg in the fireplace.
"What's with the egg, Hagrid?" said the no longer bespectacled boy
"It's a dragon, Harry. Gonna name them, Norbert or Norberta."
"What?!? And you're going to keep it?" said the boy incredulously
In contrast to the more sensible one, "Wicked!!" said the short attention-spaced redhead.
"Unfortunately, no," said the downtrodden groundskeeper
"What? Why not? Sure, you can't keep it in your hut, but why do you have to give it away?" said the incredulous Ron.
"Apparently, it's illegal to own the thing, so a friend of mine said he'd get in touch with some people. He said he'd get a response soon, and I should sit still for a bit."
"Well, that's unfortunate, but can we at least see the thing hatch?" said the two hopeful
"Aye, feel free. It should only be a couple of days until then."
Back to our MC
"Another failure! "Aurelius couldn't help but complain after failing so many times.
Aurelius went back to the common room and talked to Nagini. They were getting to know each other better each day. He learned a lot about the darker side of the wizarding world. And it was only then that he remembered how dark the magical world could be. Spells that made all of those horrible things that you only read in books occur. Do you want to start a war where all the muggle governments fight each other? It is entirely possible with a few potions here, a few bribes there, and plenty of confundus spells. And if you aren't strong enough to resist these things, you might as well slap a collar on your neck. In the wake of that reminder, he made a note to look up some spells to protect himself in case of trouble.
He had waited for Harry and Ron to meet with Hagrid so that he could tell him that the twins would contact him and they should get a response soon.
He went to find Professor McGonagall to ask her about permanent transfiguration. While his ability to make his transfigurations lasted long enough for his bars of soap to be used up. It was only just barely. Even with his obvious talent in the area, Minerva hesitated because it was even more advanced than the books she had previously recommended, on top of the fact that most of the knowledge on the topic is highly theoretical and based on accidents. She didn't want it to divide his attention too much. In the end, she only reluctantly agreed when Aurelius swore to her that he would only study it during his free time, without sacrificing his time meant for homework or preparing for exams.
And after more than thirty times, he still hadn't succeeded. While it wasn't magically too draining, it was incredibly frustrating.
"If you keep this up, you aren't likely to succeed," commented Nagini, who was watching him to entertain herself. "You've focused too much on trying to get results that you're unable to focus. I know you want to improve as quickly as possible, but you must go at a reasonable pace you can handle; otherwise, you'll burn yourself out."
"You're right," Aurelius sighed wearily and sat beside her.
"Stop trying for a few days, do something else to relax, and then when you try again, your mind will be clearer and more perceptive," Nagini stretched her back as she spoke, "Too many people don't end up realizing that their effort and hard work turns into an unhealthy obsession," she added with a sad tone.
Aurelius nodded without question and thought about what else he could do. Since coming to Hogwarts, he focused on making money, inventing or learning, searching for his birth mother's treasures, and avoiding trouble. He hadn't even tried to use the philosopher's stone shard because of his distrust of Dumbledore. He would only try to study it when he returned home in the summer.
"Nagini," Aurelius called suddenly, "Do you know the fidelius charm?
When he thought of home, he immediately associated the dangers of the magical world he had just pondered with discrimination against squibs and suddenly became anxious. Muggle parents are minimally protected by the Ministry of Magic and its laws, but squibs are considered worse because they are considered almost like angels falling from grace, and its statutes act as such. They aren't treated horribly but have no real protection against their families who disowned them or other nobles. Granted, they've been left alone for over a decade, but with my prominence, it's only a matter of time before they become targets.
"Sure, but I need you to be there to set it up." Said Nagini.
"That's fine, and I want you to become the secret keeper of my house," I told her.
"I'm already a totem guardian. Another similar title is no big deal," Nagini said casually with a shrug of her shoulders.
'Her status as both means that my home is essentially perfectly protected. She can't betray me. She couldn't be coerced by magical methods like veritaserum, imperius, or legilimency, which quite frankly should be most people's first concern with those you lower your guard around during a bloody war. After all, look what happened to Harry's parents. They had great protection but were betrayed, resulting in their demise.'
"You're going to see the dragon's egg in a couple of days. "Nagini asked interestedly, "Can I come with you? Even I haven't seen a dragon hatching."
Aurelius nodded. "Since you've got a wand and have gotten to a good level of silencing and disillusionment, there shouldn't be an issue. In the worst-case scenario, you'll have to swap into your occamy form and act like my pet."
Nagini would be with him in her occamy form if she wanted to tag along. She'd avoid seeing people but would have to act like a magical creature so they wouldn't suspect that she was an animagus; even though animagus forms of magical beings are extremely rare, it doesn't hurt to be cautious.
The next day
The letter arrived, and the twins got back to Aurelius during breakfast in the great hall.
"Hey mate, got the news." Said George
"Our brother, Charles, said he can seek the little beastie at night at the astrology tower." Said, Fred
"Thanks mates. Here are a few galleons for your troubles." I told them
"Much obliged," they said in unison while leaving.
"Man, I swear they have to have practiced at least a quarter of their responses," I said
Move to the day of hatching.
"Hey Nagini, we should head over to Hagrid's place. Do you want to head in occamy form or disillusionment?"
"Hmmm, I'd like to keep my occamy form a secret for as long as possible, but seeing would be difficult, so perhaps I'll just watch it from that form."
"Alright, I don't want to change my hair, though, since I want to keep my morphing ability quiet, so you'll have to come through disillusionment first near the hut, then come on my shoulders along the way."
"I can work with that." She said with confidence.
They arrive at Hagrid's hut, knowing the dynamic duo will come shortly after.
"Hey, Hagrid. I've got news and meet my friend. I call her Asclep." Told Aurelius.
"Oh my, is that an occamy?" said an excited half giant.
"That she is," he said in response.
"What does her name mean?" said a curious Hagrid.
"Well, her name doesn't mean anything in particular, but it comes from the snake from the rod of Asclepius, which is the Greek god of healing." I told him off the top of his head.
"A rather fancy name, but anyway, what makes you come by?" asked Hagrid.
'Here comes the boys,' says a voice of my guardian in my head
In comes a knock on the door
"Who is it?" asks the bearded man.
"It's Harry and Ron," said the no longer bespectacled boy.
"Come in, boys. The hatching is coming soon." Said the excited half giant.
They enter
"What's he doing here?" said the annoying boy.
"Same as you, I assume; please continue, Aurelius." Said the kind, tall man.
"Well, I talked with the twins, and they said that their brother, Charles can take him off your hands to a sanctuary in Romania, but he'll need to pick him up at the astrology tower tonight. I won't be available to do that, so I wanted to let you know so you can plan accordingly." I told him
"If I'm frank, I'm not sure, but I can't ask you for any more help than you already have, so I'll figure something out." Said the worried half-giant.
"Well then, let me help," says an excited Harry, who wants to be helpful
'Well, that was far easier than I expected it to be,' said my guardian, thanks to our bonded link.
'Indeed, as I told you, Harry is very predictable, and no doubt in my mind Ron will concur,' I responded, thinking to her.
"Yeah, we can help. After all, this is my brother we're talking about, right?" said an equally determined Ronald
'I know they're just children and Gryffindors no less, but you'd think they'd at least make a plan before they make a promise like that.' Said the occamy riding on my shoulder.
'Chances are Harry already has a plan; what he lacks in brains, he makes for in quick thinking, especially when he has an invisibility cloak so powerful that it's like wearing an overpowered piece of gear to play hide and seek. Unfortunately for him, he forgets it in the tower. Lucky us, and from what I can tell, there is no bloodline restriction, so I can use the thing.' He thought happily to his partner while keeping his face neutral.
They viewed the beauty of life when Norberta came into being and was fed its blood and whisky mix.
Later that night, Ron and Harry take the little dragon to the astronomy tower. At the same time, a waiting Nagini is hidden under disillusionment, silencing, and notice me not charms waiting for the cloak to fall off, and they leave. She retrieves it after the dynamic duo gets caught and gets detention with Hagrid.
She returns and informs Aurelius of what happened.
'Well, I guess I was right and was able to set them up to canon.' I thought.
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