Chapter 40: Aftermath
BG – Apologies for the delay on this chapter. Bank holiday weekend has hit hard and I had writers block for a few days so decided to let it rest. I will say that this will happen sometimes with me, little gaps like this, as I don't like to force myself to write. If I do, the story ends up losing quality. Thanks for understanding 😊
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The same looming darkness filled the plane I was standing on. A familiar sight, the third time I had seen such a view. The last time was when I was at the leaky cauldron, before that was when I died. Now though after an eventful night and a deep sleep I had arrived in this place again. The pressure I felt from last time had dissipated, I was standing strong and sturdily. Looking through the darkness, I walked on and on until eventually a familiar pair of eyes appeared again.
"There you are you fucker…"
Seeing the purple eyes, I was tempted to rip them into shreds the moment they appeared. The eyes stared at me with expectance.
"So, what are you? Are you Merlin or something else entirely birthed by him?"
The eyes didn't answer my questions… after all they were just eyes. But the gaze which was placed upon me shifted with the questions I asked. I was reading into that gaze to surmise what had happened, trying to decipher it as it shifted with the questions I asked. After some time, I felt my body feeling lethargic and tired, as if I was about to be pulled out of this place.
"Can't you at least say something? Surely you can utter some words especially after last night's fiasco…"
The eyes looked at me now with contemplation. A decision seemed to be made as I felt myself starting to wake up from this dreamscape again. As I was about to awaken, a single word filled my brain;
"ebrithil"
…Ebrithil?
.
Waking up after last night my body felt similar to when one was hungover. Aching all over and my head was killing. Looking over at the time I was surprised to see that it was still morning, I honestly expected to sleep through this day and have my door broken into by an angry Snape or something. Getting up I reached over to where I usually put my robes for school, however I was instantly met with disappointment.
The robes I had worn last night were torn to shreds during the metamorphosis. I call it metamorphosis cause compared to an Animagus transformation mine was millions of times more violent and seemed to completely rebuild my body. Looking over to the mirror in my room, my body visually didn't look too different, maybe a bit more sculpted but besides that my looks were the same. The only glaring difference on the surface was my eyes and hair.
Purple eyes and a purple streak in my hair… Nana and Melony are going to think I became a delinquent or something. How am I even meant to explain something like this…? Ah, that's right, I can just use the 'magic' excuse.
Pulling myself from my bed I got changed into some spare robes I had in my extension pouch. I had a bought three sets in Diagon Alley initially and now I was down to two after ruining one set of robes. Getting myself kitted out for the day, I headed out my room. Checking the charms on the door, I noticed nobody had tried to barge in on me. After yesterday's display of me taking out those Slytherins, the other Slytherins who have issues with me are probably holding fire for now, not wanting to risk anything.
Walking into the common room area the gazes that shot towards me were equal parts entertaining as they were annoying. Fear, trepidation, wonder, amazement and some surprise, all sorts of gazes flowed towards me giving me a prickly feeling all over. Yesterday's events alongside my now different eyes and hair had led me to become an attention magnet.
Not wanting to endure the gazes any longer I started to head for the exit, wanting to head to breakfast as soon as possible. Ever since waking up my body has been screaming for food, as if a pit was in my stomach. Heading towards the door, I had to stop in my tracks pretty soon as a certain teacher made his appearance; Severus Snape.
Walking in with the same cold gaze as always, he walked directly over to me. His eyes held questions and rightfully so. Looking at my hair and eyes, he couldn't hold it in any longer as he started to fire away;
"Oz… what happened to your eyes and hair?"
"Transfiguration"
"Transfiguration?"
"Yeah, I was testing out some ideas and this happened. I imagine it'll disappear… eventually"
With this excuse I could tell Snape was not buying it, he wasn't exactly in a place right now where he could press me any further though. He bit his tongue before letting out a long sigh, now mentioning the main reason why he had come here to me today;
"It was brought to my attention yesterday that you, Oz, engaged in combat with Zach Doreen and his compatriots. The headmaster wishes to speak to you further about the matter, to ensure that it won't happen again"
"Won't happen again hmm? How funny"
What a lame excuse to get me to go see him after all this time. I had some words I wanted to trade with Dumbledore anyway at this point and despite my lethargic condition I was brimming with strength after last nights metamorphosis. As a matter of fact, my magic felt refined nearly tenfold in comparison to before. It feels as though I could probably cast most of the spells I learnt this year wandless now, if needed.
"Did you know Snape, despite the number of students at that event, no teachers intervened? Makes you wonder what you were all doing"
Snapes expression twitched slightly before furrowing his brow to explain;
"There were teachers on standby, we encourage friendly competition at the school so a teacher would have stepped in if it started to cross the line-"
"11 vs 1 is not crossing the lines still?"
Watching Snapes face twitch and change as I chided about the events yesterday was entertaining. I decided to let him be for now as I sighed;
"Whatever, tell the headmaster Ill see him later then. After lessons I'm assuming he wants me to go?"
Snape nodded at my words. Giving a smile back and spoke again;
"Sounds good… Anything else you want to ask today sir?"
Snape clicked his tongue silently as he told me 'That was all', heading off straight away after. The surrounding Slytherins in the common room were whispering about the situation that had just occurred whilst some were referencing the beast roar last night. Speaking of the roar I made, I didn't realise how damn loud it must have been to reach all the way to here and Hogsmeade village as well. It felt great doing it but a note going forward should be to keep that sort of roaring under wraps.
Thinking about the dragon form again though, my mind lingered back onto the dream I had earlier. Those purple eyes didn't give many answers, simply staring blankly at me and slightly changing depending on my questions. In the end though, a single word reverberated through my mind;
'Ebrithil'… if I wasn't mistaken, wasn't that 'ancient language'? I think Ebrithil means master, so, was the purple eyes calling me master?
There were too many things I didn't know at this point that frustrated me to no end. I thought coming to this world I'd learn a few spells and have a good time but now everything seems to be unfolding. The undercurrents of the wizarding world never exposed in the canon were rearing its head showcasing that Harry's canon really was a small fraction of what the world truly had to offer.
I stayed lost in thought for a while longer until I felt my stomach rumble again, basically yelling at me at this point to get some food. Feeling this sensation, I started to head out of the Slytherin dungeons and towards the great hall for breakfast.
I was looking forward to a good meal.
.
The great hall was filled with people feasting when I entered. I took myself quietly over to the Slytherin table and sat on the far end, where the food was untouched. Getting a plate ready I started to scoff down all sorts of food to fill the void in my stomach. Lifting my head every now and then I saw the gazes of other students scoot off of me as my eyes locked with theirs. It was starting to get exhausting, this sort of situation…
Something else though that was interesting was the glows from last night, I was still seeing them now. Some were subtle, some were powerful and some were wistful. Different magical objects gave off different glows, even the students all had a different glow to them which only meant one thing.
The ability I had gained through these purple eyes was the ability to see magic. It will take some getting used to, but this ability was one that would be heavily coveted by any wizard or witch if it wasn't so hard to attain. After all, witches and wizards use magic in their day to day lives and have to learn how to guide it in order to cast spells. Whether wandless or with a wand, you guide that magic and cast a spell. Being able to 'see' that magic in action would give me the ability to micromanage it, refining my spells to a ridiculous degree. This paired with my control of magic already was like giving wings to a lion.
I was still pissed off about the violent nature of the metamorphosis but I couldn't be too pent up about it in the end, the perks were immense after facing that tribulation. If Merlin possessed this sort of power all those years back, I wonder what ever happened to him… A man like that vanishing off the face of the earth seemed ridiculous now considering the recent events. What was the old era of the wizarding world even like?
Finishing my last plate of food, I started to shift myself, as if to get up and leave. However, as I was doing so someone sat opposite me with a smile on their face. Looking at the person in question I recognised her instantly;
"Tonks? To what do I owe the pleasure"
Tonks had sat opposite me. It was ballsy considering she was a Hufflepuff sitting at the Slytherin table… then again, she struck me as the type not to care about that sort of thing.
"Well, I heard all sorts of murmurs on my table about you so I thought I'd just talk to you myself… I didn't believe the talk about the purple eyes and streak in hair but now I'm here…"
Tonks took a long deep look into my eyes before giving a light smile;
"It's a really nice colour. Why did you feel the need to do it though? Not receiving enough attention?"
"Trust me I've had my fill of attention… This was something that happened during practice with transfiguration. I would revert it but I'm afraid ill make my eyes an even crazier colour… My hair might go bright pink as well or something"
Tonks laughed at my playful comments. For a metamorphmagus like her, my comments might be relatable to hear about. As her laughs came to a stop, she shifted the topic of conversation;
"So, Oz, did you hear the beast roar last night?"
"I did… pretty sure the whole castle heard it didn't they? I wonder what beast it could have been to make a roar that loud"
Tonks put her finger on her chin as she started to think for a moment. Looking at her think, I blurted out something that was on my mind up to this point;
"Aren't you supposed to be doing the ministry programme Tonks? Why are you at school now?"
Tonks seemed a bit stumped by my words as she awkwardly smiled;
"Well… I came back yesterday as there was something I wanted to see. I ended up staying here for the night and heard the beast roar"
Thinking back to yesterday, there was that canon shift in regards to Tonks coming back from the ministry to see the fight unfold against me and the other Slytherins. She was probably referring to that when she mentioned 'something she wanted to see'.
"I thought Mad-Eye Moody of all people would be pretty stringent with you… is he not upset you are shirking work?"
"Well, he originally would have been a bit pissed. The beast roar that happened here sort of saved me as his attention shifted, telling me to gain information on it"
The 'beast roar' situation was something Moody would probably place interest in now that I thought about it. I honestly wondered how Dumbledore would cover it up. The main point of contention with the events was that the beast appeared just outside of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade undetected. Since that happened, Hogwarts 'security' was under question allowing such a beast so close by.
If I were in Dumbledore's shoes, I would probably try and rectify the situation by…
As I was thinking about what Dumbledore would address the school with, the man himself appeared in the great hall at the head of all the tables in his usual spot. Walking up to the podium everyone in the great hall started to silence as they looked expectantly at the headmaster. Tonks also quieted down as she looked towards the headmaster, still sitting opposite me on the end of Slytherins table.
Dumbledore gave off a warm smile as he started to speak;
"Good morning students. As you all heard last night, a beast roared just outside our castle walls. Let me be the first to assure you that this situation was under control. If the beast was to enter our grounds, then we would have retaliated, however as the mantra of Hogwarts says, 'Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus', there was no need to provoke the passing beast if we could help it"
All the students in the great hall seemed to collectively agree with Dumbledore's words, exchanges of affirmation and understanding being passed around. It was probably only me that saw through the lies that were coming from his mouth due to being the culprit of the situation in the first place.
"Hogwarts is a place that wants to make its student body feel safe. The beast has now passed by these lands, as confirmed by the Hogsmeade search parties that went to check the forest nearby. You all have nothing to worry about… Now, I wish you well on another day of lessons"
Dumbledore's eyes scanned the crowd, as if looking for someone. That gaze eventually fell onto me. I avoided his gaze just to be safe and noted that the glint in his eye I saw for a split second showcased extreme intrigue and curiosity. I sighed as I stood up from the table, speaking over to Tonks;
"Well, it was nice to talk to you again Tonks. I doubt Ill see you now until maybe the end of the year. I imagine you'll be working at the ministry though so we should cross paths again"
Tonks seemed startled by my sudden words as she was still racking her brain over what Dumbledore had said. She gave me a warm smile and spoke;
"Feel free to visit me in the ministry anytime Oz. I look forward to seeing how you grow"
Giving her a nod, I started to depart from the great hall and off to my first lesson of the day. Later today would be my first confrontation with Dumbledore.
I would need to be careful.
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