章 38: Rebirth

As the rest of the day continued the gazes placed onto me had shifted drastically. The usual gazes of pity, rage and scorn had all but ebbed away, replaced with wariness and trepidation. For the final two lessons of the day both of the teachers I had for those lessons, Flitwick and McGonagall, stared at me with questioning gazes whilst teaching everyone. I was surprised that they didn't mention anything as despite their questioning gazes, they held themselves back from speaking to me about the recent events that had occurred.

At this point it was clear, Dumbledore had played his hand here. He was curious about me since the beginning of the year, using Snape to try and pull information out of me whilst also keeping his own eye on me as the year progressed. Throughout this year, Snape has appeared to me on more than one occasion trying to lure me into admitting that I'm more than I seem however I always evaded him, switching the conversation and redirecting the talks. Despite that, Dumbledore must have been convinced that there was 'something' to me as he didn't let up once during the year. Whether he was wary of another Orphan Slytherin that could turn into another dark lord or if he was trying to profile me as the Descendant of Merlin, his own machinations using Snape as a go between didn't let up even as the year was coming to an end.

No teachers appeared during the confrontation. That in its own right was suspicious. Its almost sadistic thinking about it. After all, if I were a 'normal' student that got beat up by those Slytherins, Dumbledore was essentially encouraging that bullying due to his own curiosity and would have allowed a student to get beaten up just to satiate that very same curiosity.

Due to my actions today though I expect that I will soon be called by him to have chat, so he can 'gauge' me. He will probably use the pretence of 'lets sort this bullying out' or 'I need to know why this event happened' to convince me to come to his office with no way of evading. When I do so, I imagine that he will try to make a link with me, trying to bring me to his 'side' especially if he believes that I'm the Descendant of Merlin.

After all, the threat of Voldemort was looming and Harry was to arrive at Hogwarts next year. Having a student helper alongside Harry would be incredibly beneficial to Dumbledore especially one with my prowess. He might even get me to look after Harry throughout the years I'm here or in his own manipulative way, push me towards Harry hoping I gain a friendship with him that seems 'natural'. The thing is though, I have no intention of falling under his wing and following his ideals. His actions caused too many people to die just because he was too scared to truly end his opponents, taking a non-lethal role in fights. Whilst I would need to cross the bridge of actually killing a person when it came to it, I was resolved that I would kill if it I deemed it necessary in my own mind. TLDR: Me + Dumbledore = conflict in ideals.

As lessons ended for the day, I headed back to my room in the Slytherin dungeons and checked over everything that I needed for tonight. I had prepared some healing potions, simple 'Wiggenweld potions' just in case anything disastrous happened and alongside that some other different potions and herbs as contingency. You can never be too careful considering that this ritual was as dangerous as it was meticulous.

I stayed within my room in Slytherin until night fell, waiting for the students in the dungeons to mostly be asleep. As the noises from outside my door dimmed out, I casted 'Furtim' on myself and headed out of the Dungeons carefully and headed directly for the exit of Hogwarts.

Walking outside of Hogwarts, the clouds were dark and the rain was pouring down brutally. The wind blew strongly and the thunderous cries from above resounded throughout the castle grounds. Pointing my wand up for a moment I casted an umbrella charm that shielded me from the rain whilst I looked for a place to finish the ritual.

Looking around for a location to finish this ritual, I deemed anywhere within the Hogwarts grounds themselves as a poor location choice. After all, there was the potential to be caught by Hagrid or any other teacher around if my Animagus transformation ends up being a bit too 'loud'.

It may seem weird saying that the ritual would be 'loud' however ever since I started chanting 'Amato Animo Animato Animagus' I felt that the magic coalescing inside me was… heavy. Almost like it was preparing for something greater than a normal Animagus transformation or maybe even the energy itself was fearful and heavy due to 'something' that was going to happen when the final part of the ritual was enacted... It could be me just overthinking it, maybe this is something that happens to all animagi, however that feeling of heaviness made me wary, wanting to be even more particular and careful when it came to doing the ritual.

Walking through the Hogwarts grounds I decided to head out towards Hogsmeade, the road in-between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade to be precise. I'd still keep a distance from Hogsmeade village however the main step was to be as far away from Hogwarts as I could be to do this. Heading outside the grounds walls was a good first step. Heading out too far though would be folly if someone did indeed go wrong and I had to swallow my pride to get some help so a middle ground was needed. Not too close, but also not ridiculously far.

As I exited the grounds, I looked to my right at the abundant trees stretching out forming a forest nearby. Heading directly into the forested area I walked in deep, trudging through the mud until I found a clearing that seemed decent enough to finalise the ritual in. Looking up at the dark clouds above I could see lightning was starting to form, sending with it deafening booms as it fell from the heavens and crawled across the sky. It was a chaotic sight yet also fascinating.

Heading into the middle of the clearing I reached into my extension pouch for Merlin's adorned box. I pulled it out with still hands and opened the lid. Staring back at me was the Animagus potion I had made a few weeks ago now alongside Merlin's wand that was stored safely next to it.

"Lets just get this done…"

Taking the potion from the box I closed the lid with just the wand inside now and placed it back into my extension pouch. Looking at the extension pouch for a moment I wondered if it would be safe during the transformation. If I lost it, I would be losing a lot…

Id rather not take that risk. Heading over to the side of the clearing I found a rock next to a tree. Within the cracks of the rock, I placed the extension pouch carefully after taking out some of the supplies I had prepared for safety, placing them all in my pockets. Casting a few spells, I secured it spot, made sure it was protected and finally made it invisible as well so nobody but me would know it was there. I highly doubted any sane wizard would venture into the forest during this weather at this time but as the saying goes, better safe than sorry.

Walking back to the centre of the clearing my heart began to pound in rhythm with the thunder above. As the lightning crackled, I felt the blood within me quicken. There was no backing down now, I had to do this. Taking out the Animagus potion I had on me I uncorked the lid and brought it up to my lips. With my other hand I pointed my wand at my heart, in doing so losing my protection from the rain as the umbrella charm was un-casted. As the rain drenched my hair and dripped down onto my body, I steeled myself one final time and uttered;

"Amato Animo Animato Animagus"

As the words flowed out of my mouth and that 'heavy' feeling coalesced within me again, I drank the potion. The liquid flowed down through my body accompanied with a searing pain as it reached my bodies depths. As the potion fully entered my body, I felt myself start to pound all over as if every muscle, bone and skin cell had a heartbeat. To my chagrin though, there was pain accompanying this causing me to grit my teeth heavily as I endured. The magic that coalesced within me when chanting the Animagus phrase was reacting to the potion causing a clash. The residue magic from previous incantations of the Animagus chant was waking up as well, as if beckoned by the potion entering me.

Even though there was a pounding pain accompanying the ritual, everything seemed to be going well thus far. Time passed slowly as I withstood the ritual up to this point. After a few clashes between the coalesced magic within me and the potion I felt a change occur, as If my body was about to transform. As that change occurred though, something unexpected happened.

I felt all the veins inside me start searing, the blood within these veins hot. The pain increased tenfold as this happened causing me to fall to my knees panting as if I had been suddenly winded. It felt as though something was 'rejecting' the Animagus form I was trying to get. As my eyes started to blur, I latched onto what little consciousness I had left telling myself if I passed out now it would all be over.

Lifting my head up I looked Infront of me, within my blurred vision I saw something staring back at me. I couldn't tell if it was real or not, my mind was going through too much pain to even try and make heads or tails of it. Two purple eyes staring deeply at me with anger bringing with it a sense of deja vu. The potion and magic coalesced from the Animagus ritual within my body started to be burnt up brutally, as if being discarded like trash. I felt another pang of pain from a months' worth of work just disappearing from my grasp.

"Damn it… what the fuck… is happening…"

I could barely utter those words as the pain continued. It felt as though the Animagus ritual had failed however something within me was still trying to awaken. I started to yell out as the pain only grew, my blood feeling like magma and the magic within me starting to reach an 'overflowing' state like when I first used the breathing method. As it reached this overflowed state, it started to forcefully condense down as if being moulded by a hammer before filling again. This cycle made the magic within me feel chaotic, as if I was about to burst any second.

I can't pass out. I need to keep my wits; I need to stay awake. One moment of leisure, one moment of allowing the pain to knock me out could send me back to that familiar 'darkness' again.

Everything up to now had been smooth sailing for me. Whilst difficulties did appear here and there, I was able to sort out those difficulties with relative ease. Whether that be nanas illness or so called 'bullying' from the Slytherins, I was always able to solve it coming out on top in the end. However, this was on another level, this was the first time 'I' had been truly tested in this world, in this second life of mine. The pain that spread was sending signals that this was a matter of life and death, if I fell unconscious, it would be over.

Every fibre of my being refused to be beaten by this. If I were to die now that would make this second life meaningless, nothing but a failed dream. Each time my consciousness was about to black out I bit my tongue keeping myself awake, causing blood to drip onto the stodgy mud underneath me. Visions of New Leaf, Nana, Melony and even people like Gwendolyn from the Leaky Cauldron, the shopkeepers in Diagon alley and Tonks were filling my head as if telling me that if I failed now, I would be leaving these people behind. Nothing but a passing wind rather than the storm I wanted to be in this world.

My palms that were grabbing onto the ground were digging into the wet mud, bleeding as the grip onto the earth increased with the pain I felt. Looking down at my right hand I noticed that it was bubbling, as if I was transforming. Shock filled my senses as I saw this, I thought the Animagus ritual had failed yet I was still transforming into 'something'. However, unlike a normal Animagus transformation this one seemed gradual, like it was slowly recreating my body instead of transforming it in one go. At the moment all I could see was one thing, one sign that I was in the midst of transforming into 'something'.

A single black scale had appeared on my right hand and that scale was starting to spread up my arm.

The panic that filled my brain over the situation I was in right now was forced down as I kept myself focused and conscious. The scales that started to spread were like daggers piercing into my skin each time they formed. Within my body it felt as though everything was being broken down and rebuilt again, over and over. The blurred purple eyes in front of me were now looking at me with pride and expectance, as if it was happy with the events going on and looking forward to what would come next.

"You… fucker…"

I wanted to shred those eyes to pieces even if they were only an illusion. Anything to stop this unbearable pain. I reached slowly into my pocket and drank a Wiggenweld potion hoping that would numb the pain somewhat however it literally did nothing. I took other various herbs and potions I had prepared, scoffing them down however as they entered me nothing happened at all, as if I was simply just drinking some water. The scales on my right hand had now spread up to my shoulder and around my entire right arm.

I fell onto my back as I felt my limbs weaken, looking up at the thunderous clouds above as I did so. Lightning rippled through the clouds in rhythm with the pain I was feeling. Lifting my arm up with great difficulty I looked at the now fully transformed arm. The black scales and claws that replaced my skin and nails were glistening due to the rain falling onto them. It held a wild, beast-like, aura to it…

My eyes shut tight as the pain increased even further, my bodies transformation only speeding up as time went on. The scales spread from my right arm down my body as my body also started to change. I felt my entire 'form' begin to grow as the scales finally fully coated me. The cries of pain coming from my mouth started to change from cries to roars.

From my shoulder blades I felt as though two steel rods were extending outwards and growing also. A strong wind now being caught in whatever had just grown out of me. As my body started to reach completion with this transformation, I felt the need to jump up, to soar into those thunderous clouds above me. I didn't know how I'd even do that or why the thought came to mind, however it felt as though I could achieve it right now if I just managed to move. Sending out a violent roar, I soared into the sky and through the thunderous clouds. As I arrived on the other side, I saw a bed of black clouds beneath me, rumbling with lightning and thunder. Above that bed of violent clouds was a peaceful night sky, the moon now shining down upon me.

The pain was still filling my body however the ecstasy of rising above the black bed of clouds overshadowed that pain. I felt the need to let all my rage, pain and anger out with one last cry;

"GROAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

The lightning crackled in harmony with my roar, the stars above and the moon glimmered down onto my body. I looked at myself properly for the first time as the pain was now starting to fade. My black scales glistened under the moonlight and also blended into the night around me. Shock overwhelmed my senses as I realised what I had become.

A dragon. I had transformed into a dragon.