Outside the Forbidden Forest, Felix, Professor McGonagall, and several students looked at each other through the thick curtain of rain. They held their wands up, and from the tips of their wands a thin stream of air poured out, forming a vague umbrella-shaped layer of air above their heads to keep the rain out.
The few people present tried to control themselves from looking at Professor Hap or giving any odd expressions. Because it was not the professor himself who was holding up his wand, but a Niffler. Valen sat on Felix's shoulder, as her eyes darted between the three students, Draco, Hannah, and Hermione, who the Great Demon King said would turn into little animals in a short while.
Harry and Ron are also present, and the excuse they made at first to observe the Animagus transformation process was sternly rejected by Professor McGonagall.
"There's no need for that."
But the two played the emotion card, "We're Hermione's best friends and are really worried about-" Surprisingly, Professor McGonagall looked at them critically for a moment before nodding her head in agreement. Harry and Ron mentally hailed their good luck.
"You can start now."
Professor McGonagall said the moment the first lightning bolt cut through the sky. Above the heads of the group, above the thick black clouds, a huge thunderbird in a magic form spread out its wings and circled and soared above the clouds little by little.
Hermione, Hannah, and Draco staggered into the Forbidden Forest when they heard the voice, scattered and ran in different directions, disappearing in the blink of an eye into the range of the raging storm. They needed to get the crystal vial of potion that had been hidden at the edge of the Forbidden Forest as soon as they could.
Professor McGonagall held her wand tightly in both hands, the rain blown by the wind wetting her hair and trickling down her somewhat pale cheeks, her knuckles whitening from the force of her clenching.
"They will be all right." She murmured.
Felix looked further into the depths of the forbidden forest, the rainstorm and darkness did not obscure his view as the three glowing silhouettes continued to fade away in the grey and white background, at which point Felix suddenly turned back to look in the direction of the castle from which they had come.
A flash of lightning streaked by, and he seemed to see a blurred silhouette standing on the castle balcony.
Felix narrowed his eyes.
Harry also followed Professor Hap's line of sight, then opened his mouth wide in surprise and exclaimed out loud, "Neville?" In the darkness, a blurred figure darted towards them, appearing and disappearing in the chaotic flashes of lightning.
Professor McGonagall jumped to her feet in surprise.
"You- Longbottom, why are you-" she asked speechlessly
Neville was breathing heavily, his face and body completely wet from the rain and covered in mud, as if he had tripped and fallen more than once midway. With a panting voice, he announced, "I - succeeded - at sunset today - I felt - -"
"You felt the throbbing of the Animagus?" Professor McGonagall finished the sentence for him.
"No... yes - that's right." Neville said amidst the rain.
"Then move as quickly as you can, it is still not too late." Felix said.
Neville nodded heavily and excitedly turned and ran towards the forbidden forest. Professor McGonagall looked at his back and uttered in a low voice that filled with excitement, " This is incredible, counting Longbottom, there are four ... all four of them have mastered the Patronus Charm ... This discovery is sure to be one of the most groundbreaking transfiguration theory in this century."
She suddenly turned to Harry and Ron and said seriously, "Potter, Weasley, you should never give up, it's totally worth a try ... I'll have to talk to Vergil and Jamilyn and suggest that they should take some time to learn the Patronus Charm ... "
Vergil and Jamilyn are the two seventh-year students from the Transfiguration Club who are still insisting on reciting the spell each day at sunrise and sunset.
Harry and Ron nodded wordlessly, feeling the mandrake leaf in their mouths become a little more important. The two exchanged a silent glance and made up their minds that it would be best to eat in the special canteen for the next period of time.
Felix looked up into the sky, dark clouds completely obscuring the moon, black clouds pierced every now and then by a flurry of blinding lightning bolts, leaving behind solid patches of light on the retina as thunder rumbled.
They waited in silence, and finally, the first person came back.
It was Hermione, her once fluffy hair now plastered to her face, her trouser legs stained with mud, and she was shivering from the cold, but she still clutched a small crystal potion vial in her hand tightly, the mixture of multiple ingredients in the vial now transformed into a blood-red potion.
"Professor, I did it, the potion-" she said excitedly.
Felix raised his hand gently with a smile on his face, and in front, behind, and left and right side of Hermione, four walls rose up to her neck and closed around her to form a space that joined together.
"Miss Granger, you are only one step away from success."
"Kee ki!" Valen cheered her on.
Hermione took a deep breath, pointed the tip of her wand at the spot where her heart should be, and with a trill she recited the incantation, "Amato Animo Animato Animagus." Then she drank the potion from the vial in one gulp and closed her eyes as she waited.
Several pairs of eyes were firmly fixed on her face.
"Profess, Professor ... It is a beaver - my Animagus form is a beaver." Hermione said without being able to control herself.
"Very well, that is what we expected." Felix said calmly, with a certain convincing power in his tone, and Hermione's teeth chattered as she struggled to hear what he was saying. "You should be feeling sharp pain and two intense heartbeats by now, you will have to blend into the other with no reluctance, there is nothing to worry about, you have experienced a dozen transfigurations, and each time you have wandered off to the edge of losing control, the feral rush from the Animagus is nothing compared to that."
"We are here." Professor McGonagall said in a strong voice.
Hermione shuddered and nodded slightly, and at that moment, the transformation began as the walls started to once again blend into the ground.
Harry and Ron had to desperately control themselves to keep from screaming.
They had seen Animagus transformation before, but when it happened to a familiar friend, they realized just how weird it was. Every part of Hermione's body was undergoing a complex human transfiguration - one that was far more advanced than what they had been exposed to in class - the wet hair shortening a little, her head and body shrinking as if she had suddenly fallen victim to the professor's zooming magic, the outline of her head gradually morphing towards that of a rodent, the clothes on her body constantly tightening and blending into her skin, and turning into a kind of dark brown fur, her hands and feet transforming into slender paws ... a beaver appeared in front of the eyes of the crowd.
"Splat!"
Hermione's wand dropped and bonked twice on the wet ground.
"Now, don't forget, you have to figure out how to properly place your wand before you transform." Professor McGonagall warned in the pouring rain, to which Harry and Ron obediently nodded.
Felix's eyes lit up as he stared unblinkingly at the creature in front of him, it was about two feet long, which made the beaver relatively large compared to rodents of the same genus, but it was still dwarfed compared to the other creatures. It was a good thing that no one in the scene cared what form of Animagus they might be; the significance of the magic itself was all that mattered.
From the view of magic energy, the creature in front of him was nearly devoid of any magical fluctuations, all magic was converged in the deepest part of its body, nearly solidified, and it was surprisingly somewhat similar to a squib.
There was a momentary flash of trance in the beaver's eyes as it let out two short grunts. "Snort-" the beaver glanced reproachfully at Ron, who had laughed out loud, and Ron apologized with a serious look, "Sorry, Hermione. I was looking for the wizardly features on you, and I thought it might be those big pair of teeth."
Harry desperately tried to hold it in to keep himself from laughing out loud along with Ron.
"Whoosh!"
Valen jumped off Felix's shoulder and stood in front of the beaver, gesticulating excitedly.
The beaver barked twice, but unfortunately, they still couldn't speak the same language.
The rain parted above Felix's head, and he leaned expressionlessly against the suddenly raised wall. At that point, Valen was already writing in the air with her exclusive wand, and the beaver glanced sadly at her wand, which had fallen to the ground, and then she looked down at her short hands, the whiskers on the side of her mouth curling up to reveal a pair of large slatted teeth.
A long, slender palm was brought toward her.
The beaver stared blankly at the small peas in Felix's hand with an expression of confusion. Then she slapped his hand away in annoyance, and she yelped with a note of anger.
Felix withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened.
"Well done, Granger. It looks like you can easily resist the feral nature in your body, which is good, now you can try to change back."
" You have even prepared this specifically, Professor?" Harry asked with a dumbfounded look.
"I did quite a bit of preparation for the test." Felix said calmly, "In addition to the peas, there are insects and pears that peacocks like to eat, plant seeds that squirrels prefer, and of course, I didn't prepare Neville's share, but his Patronus is a cat, and I happen to have dried, salted small fish here."
In the time it took for them to talk, Hermione finally found the trick to change herself back, and she smoothed out her messy hair. As she picked up her wand, she glared at Felix in dissatisfaction.
"Professor, you are so well-prepared." She said with a huff, she had almost failed to resist the temptation to try the peas before, it was hard to figure out how the professor had come up with it.
"After the transformation, your tastes would change." Felix said briefly as if he was explaining it to Hermione, his eyes still fixed on her, and Professor McGonagall couldn't stand to look at it any longer as she cleared her throat.
"Um... Professor? What did you find out?" Hermione said with a slight flush to her cheeks, her face burning a little from his attention.
"Soul nodes." Felix muttered.
"What?"
"I'm not sure," Felix said after thinking for a moment, "Wizards' souls are distinctly different from the ordinary person, and I suspect that magic plays a major role in that. One piece of evidence is that even ghosts are magical, which gives them the ability to interfere slightly with real objects. So what makes a wizard's soul so special, and what acts as the link between soul and body?"
"You think it's magic?" Hermione asked in a light tone, and at one side Harry and Ron exchanged a surprised look.
"Just a guess." Felix shrugged as the rain crackled against the leaves, and after a moment he turned his head to look into the Forbidden Forest, where Draco Malfoy appeared at the edge of the forest, almost ten minutes slower than Hermione.
But it could have been due to the fact that he had tidied up his clothes midway through; his hair was slicked back, and his clothes were dry as he strode unhurriedly towards them, and the red crystal vial in his hand held in the most prominent spot.
The corners of Harry and Ron's mouths dropped.
"Stinking show-off." Ron muttered in a small voice. Harry thought that was on point.
Draco was only slightly surprised to learn that Hermione had completed her Animagus transformation, but he didn't mind having an extra spectator around, and a few moments later he was proudly showing off his gorgeous, beautiful peacock feathers, and he even took two bites out of the pear that Professor Hap had offered.
As soon as he transformed back, Ron immediately and unceremoniously scoffed at his brief out of control behaviour, "This way he won't be flaunting around in front of us." He said to Harry with great foresight.
"I was just trying out the peacock's sense of taste." Draco retorted with a red face, Harry and Ron folded their arms in unison and gave him a sneer, determined not to acknowledge whatever Draco would claim.
Professor McGonagall ignored the childish behaviour of these men as she walked over to Felix and looked worriedly at the darkened forbidden forest.
"Felix ... Hannah Abbott and Neville Longbottom haven't made it back yet."
"There is no reason for them to be this late," Felix said with the same confusion, "I know the approximate location of where they hid their crystal vials, it's not too far from here, even if the path was harder to follow because of the rainstorm, they should have come back by now."
"They couldn't possibly be got lost, could they?" Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow.
They looked at each other, and both saw a look of disbelief in each other's eyes. Two students got lost together? But the possibility did exist, and Professor McGonagall told Harry and the others to stay where they were while she and Felix headed to the Forbidden Forest to look for them.
"You guys stay here, I don't want to find out that you are all lost too by the time we get Longbottom and Abbott back." Professor McGonagall said as Felix left Valen behind and pulled two flying brooms out of his ring, Professor McGonagall leaped into the sky as the two glided through the rainstorm.
"There."
After a few minutes of searching, Felix's magic perspective made a contribution, and they found Neville and Hannah about two kilometres from the edge of the forbidden forest, the two students surprisingly staying together.
Professor McGonagall landed angrily from the sky and then opened her mouth so wide in surprise that she didn't even notice the rain pouring in.
The two students - only one person on the scene, to be precise - and Neville trudging through the mud with a red squirrel in his arms, and the rain trickling down his hair, when he saw Felix and Professor McGonagall, Neville seemed to breathe a huge sigh of relief.
"Oh - thank goodness - Professor, you're here at last, Hannah, Hannah's here." He showed the two professors the red squirrel that lay peacefully in his arms.
"Longbottom, what the hell is going on here?" Professor McGonagall cried out, as she glared at the red squirrel, "Is this Hannah Abbott? She took her magic potion in advance? Didn't I tell you that you must return with the magic potion and take it under the supervision of the Professor?"
The red squirrel shuddered.
"All right." Professor McGonagall sighed and compassionately took the red squirrel from Neville's arms and stepped aside to carefully reassure Hannah.
Neville, meanwhile, stammered to explain what had just happened.
"After I got the potion, I was going to head back, when I saw Hannah walking past in the distance, that was in the direction further inside the forbidden forest, and I thought I was going in the wrong direction ... " "So you decided to follow her to make sure and confirm. " Felix asked. "Yes, Professor." Neville said softly, "Hannah was running fast, and my vision was so bad in the rain that I almost lost her a few times, but I probably guessed she was lost."
"We could guess that too, but why did she break the rule and take the potion?"
"Oh, Professor ..." At this point, Hannah, who had managed to regain her human form under Professor McGonagall's guidance, said with a sniffle, "I'm so sorry, I, I lost my way... ...and was worried I wouldn't make it in time, so I decided, decided ..."
"Decided to transform in a corner where no one was around." Professor McGonagall said in a stern tone.
"Yes, that's right," Hannah cried, "I'm sorry, I was so scared and worried that my months of hard work would be wasted, so my head got confused and I, I did well on the controlling feral side part of the lesson ... "
"Miss Abbott, the lesson that Professor Hap and I prepared was not meant for you to use as an excuse to take risks." Professor McGonagall said sternly.
"Professor McGonagall," Neville said, mustering up his courage, "Hannah actually regained her own sanity, and it was me who felt that it was time to go back to the site -"
"That's very thoughtful of you." Professor McGonagall said with a grunt, she looked up at the sky, almost an hour had passed, and the clouds began to grow thin, and the silhouette of the Thunderbird faintly became visible.
"You have delayed too much previously, Mr. Longbottom, I suggest you to transform here, with Professor Hap, and I am watching ... you do have your magic potion with you, right?"
Neville nodded his head hurriedly.
A few minutes later, he transformed into a tortoiseshell cat, identical to his Patronus form. The tortoiseshell cat meowed twice, and a small smile appeared on Professor McGonagall's tense face, but it was gone in the blink of an eye.
So by the time Felix and Professor McGonagall returned from the Forbidden Forest, all four students had completed their Animagus transformations. Professor McGonagall didn't mention Hannah's blunder in front of Harry and the rest and simply told them that Hannah and Neville, the two of them had completed their transformations in the Forbidden Forest because of time constraints.
"That's cool!" Ron said enviously.
The atmosphere on the way back was very relaxed and Ron kept asking Neville and Hermione how they felt when they transformed, "Is it any different from normal transformations?" By the time they returned to the castle, Hannah was already talking and laughing normally.
"You guys have a good night's rest tonight and don't try to transform in private," Professor McGonagall said, "Come to my office tomorrow morning, and I'll use the two days of the weekend to get you familiar with transformations as quickly as possible, and - you have a bunch of forms that you need to fill out."
She used her wand to summon a few cups of hot cocoa, and after watching them finish it, she let them go back.
"Minerva, don't be too harsh, at least it turned out well, well -" Felix stammered, seeing a sudden smile spread across Professor McGonagall's face as she leaped up and said with joy, "What a day to remember, Felix! I must go back for a drink."
--------------
#paladar blade, Thanks for all your love and support.
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Happy Reading!!!
#paladar blade, Thanks for all your love and support.
Read 50 days or 100 chapters in advance on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: www.p@treon.com/Crazy_Cat.
Happy Reading!!!
"Happy birthday, Ron." The next day Harry woke up with a yawn, and subconsciously closed his mouth halfway through it, alertly sensing the mandrake leaf in his mouth with his tongue.
He looked around the dormitory; Seamus and Dean had gone out and Neville was not there, which he found odd, but then it occurred to him that Neville was going to Professor McGonagall's office this morning to receive guidance on Animagus.
"With pleasure, with pleasure." At that moment, Ron said in a daze, stepping on a small pile of packages as he put his feet on the floor. In an instant he became awake, "Presents!" Ron yelled at the top of his lungs and started to open the presents without even changing out of his pyjamas.
Harry tossed a fancy-wrapped box onto his bed, "Your present." Then began to change.
It only took him two minutes to remove his pyjamas and change into his robes, and when he had finished this he glanced at his watch and breathed a sigh of relief, thankfully, he had made it in time.
"Where are you going - heh, thanks Harry, this is a great present." Ron said as he waved the Quidditch keeper's dragon hide gloves that Harry had given him, he sat on the floor with a pile of wrapping paper scattered around him and said with a raised eyebrow, "This year has been a bumper harvest, all the presents I've received have gone up a notch, I really hope to be an adult again next year - where are you going? "
He asked again, this time he finally averted his eyes from a heavy gold watch.
"I've got an appointment with Professor Bagshot." Harry muttered.
"Oh what a bummer, I was hoping to go to Hogsmeade with you," Ron said, " If Fred and George had a shred of conscience, they would consider giving their brother a discount on his coming of age day ... " He counted the presents again and said disgruntledly, "Maybe I'm overthinking it, they didn't even send a present."
"Maybe they are planning to personally hand it to you." Harry reminded.
Ron thought about it and cheered up again, "You're right ... but it's best not to get my hopes up, they've been quite busy lately, I guess they just dropped off a box of Dungbombs at the Hogsmeade branch."
Harry and Ron parted at the castle gates, "I'll bring you the Honeydukes sweets." Ron said, walking towards Filch as Harry descended the stone steps and made his way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Grindelwald was already waiting there.
They strolled slowly through the grass, the soft sunlight spilling over the treetops, the air mixed with a damp vapour and the scent of fresh grass, and Harry saw the whomping willow from a distance, it looked harmless, swaying gently in the breeze.
"Harry," Grindelwald said, "you have learned a few spells, but I have noticed that you are far from being truly powerful."
"I'm sorry," Harry said, somewhat uncomfortably, "I'm not very skilled ... yet."
"That's not the reason." Grindelwald whispered, "Although I teach the theories, the models of the spell in class, it is to take care the progress of the average person, of the ... mediocre students."
Harry looked at him in surprise.
"People are different, and most of the people you meet - if there are no accidents - will just spend their whole lives bumbling along, their greatest use being to keep magic alive."
Grindelwald walked slowly forward and Harry followed, and he said, "Sir, I disagree with that." Grindelwald glanced at him, "Then tell me what you think."
"Er -" Harry quipped, "Wouldn't it be nice to bumble around and be peaceful, that's the way I like to live, and I think judging someone's worth based on their magic abilities is too, too... ..."
"Utilitarian?" Grindelwald asked with interest.
"A bit." Harry said honestly, thinking that Professor Bagshot must have been influenced by the ideas of the dark wizard Grindelwald, as he had read a similar description in the travelogue he had found in the library.
"I don't think - well, there's no need to divide people up in terms of their usefulness. Like my friend Ron's family, Mr. Weasley works at the Ministry of Magic, and he's recently been preparing a new Muggle Protection Act, and I think this whole thing would be kind of significant, but it doesn't have much to do with magic, does it? And Mrs. Weasley, she's a housewife and a wonderful person who looks after the whole family ..."
"Their eldest son, Bill, used to work as a Curse-Breaker at the Gringotts, but he applied for an office job because of the war, I think with his personality he'd like to do something more adventurous, oh, not now ... his girlfriend's there too; their second son, Charlie, is raising dragons in Romania, and their third son Percy, just like Mr. Weasley, works in the Ministry of Magic, but I reckon his job consists of writing reports all day long ..."
"The only ones who have continued to study magic after graduation might be Fred and George, who runs a joke shop and spend their days working on various prank props; Ron dreams of becoming an Auror, and Ginny is still too young, but I think she has the potential to be a professional Quidditch player ... "
Harry snapped his fingers and listed the members of the Weasley family one by one.
"If we go by your idea, most of them would be classified in the useless group, but I don't think they would even care about such a rating, they just want to go on with their lives."
Harry said it in one breath and took a few deep breaths after finishing it. Professor Bagshot didn't say anything for a long time, which made Harry wonder if his tone was too harsh and aggressive, he didn't quite dare to look the professor in the eye and lowered his head to stare at a small patch of plants on the ground.
"That makes me a little envious of their family, Harry." Grindelwald said, and then he turned the tables, "I just have a question, when that Voldemort was wreaking havoc, did your dear Weasley family also lead their little lives without a care in the world?"
"Imagine what the scenario would have been without Dumbledore, and without Felix Hap. Oh, if I remember correctly, the Weasleys are purebloods, and if they displayed compliance to Voldemort, they should be able to lead a good life ..."
"They wouldn't submit to Voldemort's evil rule!" Harry retorted in a loud voice.
"Then they would be killed." Grindelwald said faintly, "As weak as this little plant." He walked over to Harry and crushed the plant Harry had been staring at earlier under his feet, a surge of anger welled up inside Harry, but then he suddenly thought of something ...
It was the scene where he was practicing the Patronus Charm in Professor Hap's office. To inspire the will to fight, he had entered a vision set up by the professor, in which he had seen many terrible events, where everyone had fallen and Voldemort had won, and it was that time that he had inspired the immensely powerful Patronus.
"If you don't want your fate to be at the mercy of others, you must wield great strength, like Hap, there are few people in the world who can threaten him. But if he is cold enough to not leave even one last weakness." Grindelwald's eyes glinted strangely, " I am darn curious."
"But the war is over, Voldemort is locked up in-"
Harry quickly stopped talking to stop himself from spilling the secret that Voldemort is in Classroom Seven. Professor Bagshot didn't seem to notice his slip of the tongue though, and continued in a flat tone, "There will always be conflict, can you guarantee that a terrible dark lord won't arise among your classmates? And never underestimate the warlike nature of Muggles; look up their history, and you'll find it's a history of war."
"There won't be a war," Harry said urgently, bringing up what Sirius had told him earlier, "The Ministry of Magic has found a way, and the Minister of Magic and the Muggle Prime Minister are in constant contact, as long as- "
"What about the influence of the populace?"
"-both sides are able to, er, what?" Harry asked, a little confused.
"You're ignoring the influence of the populace on the Muggle government, I know how those politicians roll, they may deceive, incite and seduce the masses, but they will never allow themselves to be put on the wrong side of them, and if a significant number of Muggles are in opposition towards the wizards, there is absolutely no shortage of despicable politicians that do not have the ruling position, they will use that opportunity to stand by them and to speak for them. It would only take a small spark ... puff, with the careful design of a thoughtful person, the so-called peace you are talking about would instantly be reduced to ashes." Grindelwald stated icily, "It's all too easy, and it is bound to happen."
Harry listened in shock, they had discussed the subject of muggles and wizards before, but never with such a blunt and even bloody tone as today. He gulped and tried to speak, only to find that he seemed to have lost his vocal cord.
"Wizards are the true peace-loving community, for thousands of years we have not needed strict order to be at peace, we have mastered great powers without abusing them; on the other hand Muggles, their civilization was born out of war, however, it is absurd that ... wizards when they should have established order, chose to stand back because there were always foolish muggles who would harm our children when we weren't looking ... This made the muggles arrogantly think that they are the masters of the land. The wizards have become the outliers in turn."
"With Professor Hap ...," Harry said in a hoarse voice.
"Do you think he'll succeed?" Grindelwald glanced at him calmly, making Harry wince as he feared the professor would say something even more dreadful, but Professor Bagshot simply said gently, "Well, maybe he will. Is that why you're planning to pin your hopes on someone else and close the door yourself and pretend everything is peaceful? Sounds good, I remember that's what that Potions class professor did." He was referring to Slughorn.
Harry's face burned, a little ashamed of himself, but it was more mixed with fear.
Because he knew that even Professor Hap was not certain, so theoretically what Professor Bagshot had said was entirely possible, and at that moment he thought of the Dursleys, of Uncle Vernon, and if wizards were really exposed to the world at large volume, would they allow a wizard to come into their lives openly and brightly?
Harry didn't need any hesitation at all to answer that question; when he thought about the way Uncle Vernon treated the bums on the street, the way he treated himself ... well, he would have absolutely blown up the government hotline.
How many people like him are out there? If they got together, there would be protests accompanying them, and after that would things go the way Professor Bagshot had predicted, with some of the government officials taking the lead in compromising and the situation going in an unknown direction ... Harry recalled the muggle parade in the first Defence Against the Dark Arts class, and those icy stares seemed to fall on him again as if they had crossed the time.
Harry's expression became heavy, and his limbs felt like lead as he followed the professor in a daze. He couldn't think of any good way out of it, and then he suddenly noticed Professor Bagshot stop and say, "We are here."
Harry looked around in bewilderment; they are standing deep in the Forbidden Forest, surrounded by tall trees, but it is only March and the foliage is not exactly that thick yet, so he can see the sky overhead through the sparse foliage.
"Remember the magic I taught you, try it." Grindelwald said calmly as if those previous conversations hadn't ever happened.
Harry waved his wand carelessly and the spell hit the trunk of an enormous tree and the trunk shook for a moment. Which he didn't consider decent enough, "Oh, sorry, I will try again." He tried to calm down and waved his wand a second time, this time the powerful spell broke the thick bark of the tree in two.
Harry looked over at Professor Bagshot with a touch of satisfaction. The professor's earlier words had still worked, and Harry still hadn't come up with a foolproof solution, but he felt that he would never stand by and hide if things did go in the worst possible direction.
Not to mention that Harry thought he might well be Auror at that time, with his loved ones and everything he valued standing behind him, and there would be no turning back.
"Not enough," Grindelwald said aloud, looking unimpressed, "You can do better than that."
"I did my best." Harry said.
"Do you think I'm playing house with you?" Grindelwald reprimanded him, "Why didn't I find that little muggle-born girl who does so much better than you in class."
"I wonder about that too." Harry said stiffly.
"If you didn't have the potential I wouldn't have bothered wasting my time at all, there aren't many in the whole school that could surpass your magic power and that's including the Professors, your biggest problem is that you never once considered how far you could go! Magic isn't a rigid thing, you're shackling your own powers."
"I don't have-"
"Then show some real power, or go back and pray that bad luck won't befall you and pray like a coward that you will be shown mercy by the big man-"
A sudden explosion came from the forest. The tremendous impact churned hundreds of huge trees into pieces as if there had been a massive explosion. The space within a radius of two or three hundred feet was flattened, and further away the trees swayed east and west as if they had experienced a violent typhoon.
Broken wood and branches were falling in droves, and Harry stared in disbelief at what he had done.
"Look at that, Harry! Look at that!" Grindelwald said in a loud voice, his eyes sweeping over the vast expanse of the debris before him, "That's what you're really good at."
...
In the evening, Harry showed up at the Headmaster's office.
"Harry, you're here." Dumbledore said gently, as usual, Harry noticed the Pensieve placed on the table, the silver substance inside swirling rapidly, and he guessed that the Headmaster had probably just used it.
Dumbledore held his wand against his forehead and drew out a new memory, and placed it in the Pensieve, before attempting to grab Harry's hand.
"We have to speed things up, we have a lot to do today."
Harry avoided it. He lowered his head to not look at Dumbledore and gazed into the Pensieve.
"But, sir, I'm not sure of the point of doing this. I know it's a lot of trouble to deal with the soul fragment in my head, but I can't figure out - what's the point of just looking at all these things that have happened when I can't even use magic?"
There was a moment of silence.
"Ah, Harry." Dumbledore said in a slightly distressed tone, "It seems I must reveal some information so that what we are doing now will become more valuable in your mind ... In short, I want you to have the ability to know right from wrong, and the courage to make the right choice when it matters. "
Harry sat there staring dully, feeling insulted, what image did he really have in Dumbledore's mind?
"Don't get me wrong, Harry." Dumbledore said, "You are one of the people I have ever met who have come closest to possessing saint-like qualities, one of a kind even. Given that I've seen too many students in my fairly long life, that's actually quite a remarkable assessment."
Harry fidgeted a little, his face burning, he hadn't expected to hear such a blunt and welcoming compliment from Dumbledore, especially since he had just lost his temper, and he tried to look softer.
"Of course, I'm not saying that you don't have flaws and problems, in my opinion, it's a good thing that you're still a normal person and hasn't become arrogant because of your fame or because of the strength you have beyond your peers. Because of this, I expect more from you and I will not treat you as an ordinary student. As an example-"
Dumbledore held up a finger.
"Did you feel fearful of your own abilities, even a little, when you were learning magic with Professor Bagshot?"
Harry was a little lost in thought as he thought about how easily he had destroyed a small block of Forbidden Forest during the morning under Professor Bagshot's tutelage. He did feel incredulous along with a twinge of fear and even wondered for a moment if he had been possessed by Voldemort.
"I - you know, sir?"
"Yes, I know." Dumbledore said calmly.
"That is an ability you have in your own body," he said, seeming to read Harry's thoughts, "and I'm sure Professor Bagshot has relieved you, although I'm not sure what reasons he used, but his ideas are not necessarily suitable for you."
"Not necessarily suitable for me?" Harry muttered and repeated.
"Only you can find the answer to your question, Harry." Dumbledore said seriously, "I can't help you on that point, other than borrowing Alastor's mantra: Constant Vigilance, Harry. Force without thought can easily devolve into violence."
Harry was struck by a flash of clarity.
"So you're showing me those memories because you want me to harness my power?"
"That's a question we can leave for the later part of the discussion. In fact, I would prefer for you to pay more attention to the choices made by the different people in my memory, and especially to the situations they faced at the time. It would be nice to generate some useful reflections." Dumbledore said, "The reason for using my memories - forgive my arrogance - is that I have seen too many men and women in both their sorrows and joys."
As he watched Harry fall into contemplation, Dumbledore said cheerfully, "So - let's get into today's lesson."
He stood up and bowed slightly as if preparing for a magnificent feast.
"I shall have the pleasure of sharing with you the insights I had as a student, you will find them slightly trivial as more than one person is involved, some of whom I still keep in touch to this day, perhaps you have even heard a name or two!"
"Let the adventure begin!"
--------------
#paladar blade and #Educated_Blade, Thanks for all your love and support.
Read 50 days or 100 chapters in advance on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: www.p@treon.com/Crazy_Cat.
Happy Reading!!!
#paladar blade and #Educated_Blade, Thanks for all your love and support.
Read 50 days or 100 chapters in advance on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: www.p@treon.com/Crazy_Cat.
Happy Reading!!!
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