Capítulo 4: Meeting Wizards
The monster tore through the webs and broke branches in his path, smashing his way through small trees with barely a thought in his mind. The corpses of huge spiders remained behind him, with broken heads, severed limbs and slit bellies. Clear, yellowish blood covered Dan's claws and legs. His mouth didn't close anymore, emitting purple sparkling smoke.
He ran on all fours like a beast, rapidly teleporting from place to place, killing every spider he met, even if they didn't look him in the eye. The last spider was leading him somewhere, Dan was sure of it, but destroying a colony of huge creatures was tiring and he just wanted to stop, but couldn't.
In his blind fury, he didn't notice the narrow river and hit it with his clawed hand. A low cry of pain escaped his throat and he pulled his hand out of the water as quickly as he could. The boy-turned-Enderman glared at his burnt hand, the pain so intense it was as if he had been doused with acid. But then he caught a reflection of himself in the river, forgetting all about the last spider.
He finally stopped his rage, just staring at his reflection in the slow river in silent horror, adrenaline leaving his bloodstream.
Black skin covered his face and skull, the same color as his entire body; deep-set purple eyes that glowed softly in the shadows of the forest. A wide, toothy mouth extending from ear to ear, but he had no ears. Dan didn't recognize his own reflection, and that wasn't surprising. It was not his body.
His face and chest were covered with scratches, but no blood flowed from them, his skin was too thick to be pierced by such weak creatures. The bruises on his body weren't visible, but he definitely felt them, small bumps on his body full of pain.
'What happened? Why did– I was so angry... Damn it, an I actually an Enderman?!'
The realization last night wasn't as impactful as the one that happened right now. Dan had a bad habit of pushing bad thoughts into the background of his mind to deal with them later, but he couldn't do it again. Not when the problem was right in front of his eyes. Not when he was the problem.
Mantis climbed out of the pocket of his shorts and climbed onto his shoulder, also staring at the reflection in the water. Dan's little friend sensed that he wasn't in the best place right now and patted his cheek, giving him his support.
Dan took a deep breath and gently stroked Mantis' head. "{Thanks buddy, I needed that.}" He rose to his feet, shaking the blood from his limbs. "{I think we both need to rest right now.}" Dan said and collapsed under a nearby tree.
There were no caves around to hide in, or trees with spreading branches to hide in. There were only conifers in this part of the forest, on the branches of which each needle pricked annoyingly into his skin. Even now the floor was strewn with a mixture of maple leaves – where did they come from anyway? – and coniferous needles. But beggars can't be choosers, can they?
Dan looked down at his still slightly bloody hands and frowned. The very idea that a couple of hours ago he had simply destroyed a couple of hundred giant spiders seemed unrealistic. What world did The Wanderer send him to? Was this one of the worlds Dan knew? Why is he– well, The Wanderer has already answered the question "why" in a way. He was curious and he did what he did.
Mantis jumped off his shoulder and climbed a tree, food promising to return in a couple of minutes. The little guy gotta eat, after all. Speaking of food...
Dan's stomach growled, reminding him of his existence. He frowned, looking down at himself. Knowing that he had a stomach was useful – Dan doubted he had all the human internal organs – but now he'll have to find food in this forest.
With the help of teleportation, even the worst hunter will be able to catch prey, but in order to catch something, the hunter must find this something first.
Tired, hungry and irritated, Dan sat alone under a tree, listening to the sounds of the forest around him. Waiting for the return of Mantis. He cleared a small part of the ground in front of him and began to draw his old self next to his new face. The ground was hard and not at all suitable for drawing, but Dan didn't care.
Looking at the finished pictures, Dan couldn't help but frown even more. His body and face were completely changed, twisted into a parody of a person. He had nothing left that connected him with his past, except for clothes, and they wouldn't last long.
It was one of the first life lessons Dan learned.
Leaves crunched behind him, alerting him to someone approaching. Someone big. Someone heavy.
Nothing lasts. Especially peace.
Teleporting onto a tree branch, Dan landed next to Mantis, startling him. But as soon as the insect realized who appeared next to him, he immediately calmed down and climbed along his leg up and onto his shoulder.
A huge man with thick hair and a beard stepped out to the place where Dan had just disappeared from. He was twice the height of the average man and three times as thick.
"I swear I saw something here," he muttered and stopped under the tree, right next to Dan's drawing.
"Hagrid, did you find something?" A voice sounded from the depths of the forest and two more men approached the tree.
Dan just stared at them without even blinking. He knew these people, at least two of them.
'Rubeus Hagrid and Severus Snape. The third one is Peter? No, Peter is a traitor, the teacher was Remus Lupine? Lupon?' He thought, trying to hide in the shadows. 'If it's not a crazy coincidence, then I'm in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.'
Many people, upon learning that they were reborn in the world of magic and wizards, would've been happy, orgasmic, even. The mere thought that they are capable of using magic will occupy most of their minds for a long time. Unfortunately, Dan had a couple of problems with this world.
For starters, he wasn't human anymore. Magical creatures, even intelligent ones, were dirt underfoot in the eyes of many wizards. Goblins, Vella, Centaurs and many other races were treated as beasts by British Ministry law. Some more than others.
The only ones who were considered even lower than Magical beings were the Muggle-borns. According to many wizards, the creatures at least belonged to the magical world, Muggle-borns had no power here.
And Dan was technically a Muggle-born Being. His position was so shitty that it was hard to imagine– no, not hard to imagine, but rather hard to believe.
But this information was not the first thing that flashed through his mind as soon as he realized what world he was in. It was something else.
'I know jack shit about Harry Potter.'
And wasn't that the sad truth? Dan has never been a Harry Potter fan. Of course, he knew about its existence, knew the faces of many actors and even remembered a couple of quotes and strange facts that no one needs. He's just never been a fan of the series and now it's come to bite him in the ass.
"There must have been someone here," Hagrid said, knocking Dan out of his depressing thoughts. "The tracks have often disappeared, like he's been jumping long distances, but they just end here."
Snape looked around in annoyance, trying to hide his shiver from the Dementors' cold. He found it odd that they still hadn't encountered a single Dementor in the forest, and that worried him. "Dumbledore needed to call the Aurors... Lupin, now would be a good time to do your part."
Remus took a deep breath and jerked away from the tree in surprise. He lifted his head up and met Dan's gaze.
This was the first mistake.
'This thing looks like a Dementor without a cloak.' Remus thought.
Rage began to boil in Dan's body again, and he sat down on a branch, preparing to attack.
Hagrid and Snape followed his line of sight and also saw the "monster" that Aragog was describing.
This was the second mistake.
"... I'm looking into his eyes." Lupin muttered as he slowly raised his wand and moved away from the tree, Hagrid and Snape following him.
"You, idiot!" Snape hissed as his wand followed Dan. "That was the only useful advice from the spider and you ignored it?!"
"Quiet, both of you!" Hagrid bellowed. "I've never seen anything like it, but he doesn't look too aggressive... More curious."
Remus and Snape looked at Hagrid in shock, as if they couldn't believe what he was saying.
This was the third and final mistake.
Dan didn't make a sound, he just pushed off the branch towards Remus, claws outstretched, aimed at his neck.
Several things happened at the same time: Snape sent a bone-breaker curse at the creature, Hagrid shoved Remus aside and got in the creature's way, and Mantis held on to Dan's shoulder like his life depended on it.
The bone-breaker was supposed to hit the monster's collarbone, but it vanished into thin air, leaving behind a cluster of purple sparks. In the next second, he fell on the shocked Hagrid from behind, trying to dig his claws into his back. The giant grunted in pain and swung his arm wide, knocking Dan to the ground.
"Hagrid!" Remus yelled as he sent a silent stunner at the monster. Snape joined in the attack, sending a blood-boiling curse at Dan's blind spot.
He teleported again, dodging the spells and appearing over Remus. Dan dug his claws into his shoulder and felt a morbid sense of satisfaction as the man screamed in pain. The monster was so engrossed in Remus' screams that he didn't even notice when Hagrid came up behind him and wrapped both arms around him until he was airborne.
"Calm down, boy, we're not here to hurt you!" Hagrid spoke up, trying to calm Dan down, and Dan actually stopped for a second, no longer twitching against the giant's grip.
"We're very much here for that!" Snape muttered, not taking his wand off the monster.
''Deep breaths, Dan. You can't lose your mind now. These are people, just as intelligent as you are. Not these lowly creatures that looked down upon you. Calm down, be quiet.' Dan convinced himself.
He let out a breath full of purple smoke and patted Hagrid's arms lightly, telling the giant to let him go.
"You calmed down?" Hagrid asked and when Dan nodded, he released him to the ground.
Now that Dan was standing at full height and wasn't blinded by a veil of rage, Enderman suddenly realized that he was the same height as a giant. Sure, he was much thinner than the bearded man, but that didn't make him any less terrifying.
The atmosphere was tense. Remus had already stopped the bleeding in his shoulder, but even now Dan could tell that the wound would leave a scar. Hagrid dusted himself and Dan off while saying something about changing clothes later, and Snape watched Dan cautiously.
Dan, in turn, tried to look above the heads of wizards around. He didn't want to fight them again.
"{Sorry-}" Dan spoke, but hearing inhuman sounds from his own throat, he abruptly stopped. He clawed his neck in annoyance, drawing Snape's attention to the clothes on his body.
"Where did you find this?" The Potions Master asked suspiciously and Dan couldn't blame him. He looked like the kind of guy who killed people to steal their clothes.
'I remember he was a real bastard in the movies and books. Why is he like this, again?' Dan thought for a moment and pointed to his throat, giving a hint that he couldn't speak.
"Severus, I don't think he's capable of human speech." Remus was a little pale, but still on his feet, holding a flask of some kind of potion, which he finished in one gulp. "Koff- obviously he understands us, but he can't answer." He added.
Hagrid scratched his beard in thought. "Can you write?"
"{Yes.}" Dan nodded and felt Mantis climb onto his shoulder to look around, only to be met with Hagrid's face.
Hagrid and Mantis stared at each other in surprise for a couple of seconds, until the little guy jumped back into Dan's shorts pocket with a squeak.
"Where did– no, it doesn't matter now." Hagrid shook his head. "Do you have a name?" He asked instead.
Dan nodded again and walked over to his drawing on the ground. He removed the leaves that hid him from view during the battle and wrote his full name on top.
[Danil Grigorievich Khromov.]
The three wizards looked at his work and when they realized what exactly they were seeing, only one thought flashed through their heads.
'Fuck.'
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