章 14: Ch. 14 Animagus

Friday, November 29th, 1991

This has been a rather productive month.

After leaving the Ministry of Magic, I walked the streets of London, practicing Legilimency on passing muggles.

The first few I attempted it on could be called a failure. I was hit with a large amount of information at once, and the muggles made pained expressions and grabbed at their heads.

The information I gathered was so jumbled together, it was completely useless.

By early evening, I was able to efficiently pick up stray surface thoughts without any visible reaction from my victims. It reminded me of a radio. The people I used Legilimency on would broadcast their thoughts out for me to hear.

It couldn't be called a huge success, but it did lead me to a violent gang in the London Borough of Southwark.

I spent most of the night digging into each gang member's mind. After witnessing memories of rapes and beatings, I was unsympathetic to the pain I was causing them.

If I knew a spell to castrate the rapists, I would have gladly used it. Unfortunately, I had to settle on practicing how to plant false memories into their heads.

I made an exception for a particularly nasty individual. He was a rapist and pedophile. I removed several of his body parts but left him alive. He'll never be able to harm another person again or walk.

I repeated this theme, several more times over the next few nights. I would find violent criminals during the day and using them to refine my Mind Arts during the night.

I also relieved them of their firearms, money, and other valuables. Most of their money was donated to charities that assisted London's less fortunate families.

It was nice doing my little Robin Hood act. Those in need received a bit of help, and I advanced in my magic. Everyone benefits. Well, except for the criminals. It just sucks to be them.

To be honest, after diving into the minds of criminals, I have no desire to go looking deep into other people's minds. Some things cannot be unseen.

I think I'll try to stick to mostly surface thoughts.

One thing I did learn from my late-night adventures; the technology here is more advanced than I thought it would be. I shouldn't have been comparing it to the 90's of my world. With the likes of Howard Stark and Hank Pym, it should have been obvious.

The World Wide Web is only a few years old, but it's several years more advance than I expected.

I hit paydirt when one of the criminal groups I targeted led me to a pharmaceutical company.

The company was completely legitimate, but not all of its employees were. A small group of chemists is using the companies supplies and equipment to produce synthetic drugs.

I was able to infiltrate my way to the corrupt chemists under the Bedazzling Hex. Once inside their laboratory, I used the Imperius Curse to have them create a small batch of Nitramene. Once I had the Vita-Ray producing chemical safely inside my subspace, I Obliviated the muggles of the previous few hours.

I didn't want to risk damaging their minds too much. I plan to have this group create my super-soldier serum.

After the Halloween banquet and fronting the money for the wizarding duel tournament, I decided to replenish my finances. I acquired a male house-elf named Cody to help ease Trixie's workload.

Cody was noticeably older than Trixie but much more nervous. I can only assume he was once owned by an abusive master.

While Cody was busy with the manor upkeep, Trixie and I converted a basement room into a small enchanted forge.

We spent several days creating gold bars. Being able to create my own money has definitely caused me to value it less. I understand how fortunate I am compared to others, but I no longer worry about how expensive an item is.

That is especially true after my last gold delivery to Gringotts. The creepy little thieves didn't even attempt to purchase my gold this time. No, the little shits charged me a five-percent fee to convert the gold bars into Galleons.

I did meet with my account manager to use Clan Gringotts services. Now that my Hogwarts education was all but finished, I wanted to look into Soul Magic. I believe my freedom from Other Me lies in protecting my soul.

Account Manager Ruknar sent me a letter that night. Ruknar wished to congratulate me on becoming the third richest wizard in Britain. He also wanted to let me know Clan Gringotts is nearly finished with collecting books on Soul Magic for me.

If my guess is correct, that places Malfoy and Lestrange ahead of me as the richest wizards in Britain.

Of course, I didn't trust my entire gold supply to the goblins. I filled one of the trunks in my subspace with gold. I consider that my insurance policy for emergencies.

After finally getting a good grasp of the Hogwarts curriculum, I started to move into the study of rituals while waiting for my order. Words can not even begin to describe the versatility rituals can bring. They're nearly limitless.

Being able to use the Resurrection Stone to directly talk with some of the authors of published works is invaluable. Nearly every single one of them possessed rituals that were far stronger than anything that they published for the public.

What has really drawn my interest are sacrificial rituals. These are rituals that imbue you with traits of the animal you are sacrificing.

There are draw-backs to sacrificial rituals. While you can take on traits of the sacrifice, you run the risk of being physically and mentally disfigured. Vampires, Veela, and hags are some of the beings believed to have originated as a result of sacrificial rituals.

The more rituals you subject yourself to, the more your body and mental state will reflect it. It's not hard to imagine rituals being the cause of Voldemort lacking any humanity. Especially considering the creation of a Horcrux is a ritual.

Despite the possible risks, I have created a sacrificial ritual that should reduce the possibility of any side-effects. I can't take credit for the ritual. I summoned twelve of the most experienced wizards to combine their knowledge for its creation.

The Resurrection Stone truly is something to be feared. I was hesitant to use it after the episode with Cadmus, but I didn't want to take a chance of creating a faulty ritual.

The only question I've been debating on is what to use for the sacrifice?

I could use a dragon or a giant. Either one would give me enhanced physical strength and increased magic resistance.

A basilisk or nundu would do the same as a dragon but enhance my reflexes as well. The problem with either one of them is how incredibly difficult they are to capture alive.

The only recorded nundu to be captured took a team of one-hundred wizards working together. The nundu really does earn its moniker of the wizard killer.

I could go a completely different route for the sacrifice. Instead of using a magical animal, I could use Ego's seed. I'm not really sure what I would gain from it, though.

I still have a bit of time before I have to decide on what to sacrifice.

This brings me to the purpose of tonight. I was able to successfully complete my Animagus potion last week, and there is finally a lightning storm raging outside.

Before stepping out of my manor, I remove all my jewelry and clothes. I'm not sure how the first transformation will work, but I don't want to risk destroying my enchanted items.

Standing naked to at the rear of the manor, I look down at Trixie and Cody. Cody looks like his usual nervous self, but Trixie is a bit different. She has her hands over her eyes, but I can still see her peeking through her fingers.

Naughty girl.

I speak to my house-elves before stepping out into the pouring rain. "Remember, wait until I transform until you bring the mirrors out. And be on alert. I may not have full control of my new form. I don't want to accidentally hurt either of you."

I'm quickly soaked by the freezing rain and immediately regret removing all my clothes. I'm afraid to use any protective spells. I don't want them to interfere with the ritual.

I come to a stop roughly one-hundred meters from the manor. Bringing out my wand and the Animagus potion, I stand ready.

The moment a bolt of lightning flashes across the sky, I place the tip of my wand to my heart. "Amato Animo Animato Animagus." I quickly down the potion after finishing the final incantation.

Before I can store my wand in my subspace, it falls to the ground.

My fingers merge into a single claw, and the ground falls away. My world seems to be bathed in light as if night has already ended. I'm able to make out individual branches swaying in the wind over four-hundred meters away.

Craning my long neck around, I take in the sight of my body. Thick red scales run down the length of my torso. A long red tail has a row of short spikes running from the tip and up onto my back. My arms seem to be replaced by massive leathery grey wings.

As I see the glistening scales, I realize it's still raining. Closing my eyes, I take everything in. There is no longer the sting of cold rain beating on my body, only an awareness of it raining. There is no pain. No anger. No sorrow.

There is only awareness.

Like how I am aware of two tiny creatures approaching me. I slowly turn my head towards the short beings. I quickly spot Trixie and Cody running towards me. A large mirror hovers above their heads, protecting them from the rain. It seems as if I'm looking down from a two-story window.

The sight of Trixie pulls up feels of protectiveness and family. It appears I do have emotions in this form.

Trixie's squeaky voice carries to my ears over the pouring rain. "Master Dragon Sir! You're a dragon!"

If I could facepalm right now, I would.

The deep rumbling of my voice seems to vibrate the very air around me. "Geh zu'u los, Trixie."

It takes me a moment to realize I spoke in Dovah. It looks like the dragon language comes naturally to me in this form.

Concentrating, I repeat myself. "Yes, I am Trixie. Bring the mirror forward." Even in English, my voice vibrates the area.

Trixie raises her arms up, and the mirror levitates towards my face. I get the first real look at myself. I have the head of an ancient dragon from Skyrim.

That makes sense. With dragons being immortal, their power isn't based on age, but their understanding of Thu'ums.

I only have five complete Thu'ums and nine other Thu'ums that have one or two words in them.

Once I complete a sixth Thu'um, my Animagus form should change to that of a revered dragon.

It's hard to accurately gauge my size but, I feel like I'm larger than a weak Skyrim dragon. At the very least, I would say I'm slightly larger than the dragon that escaped Gringotts in the Deathly Hallows movie. It could just be my imagination.

At the sight of my intimidating reflection, I raise my head to the sky and release a roar of dominance. Instinctively, I launch myself into the night sky. With only a few beats of my wings, I am already flying within the clouds.

As I soar through the night sky, I come to a realization. I absolutely love this.