A very big thank you to 'Dragonfish35' for being the first patron.

For those who are wondering, the next chapter of 'The Fourth Beast' will be coming out within next 2 weeks. It is already out in the site-that-cannot-be-named.

Disclaimer: A General disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter, or any other characters or IPs from other franchises written in this story.

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Conqueror of the Skies, he has known many names; the Dragon King, the Hallowed Father, the First Sire. For he is the Star of Destruction.

Harry opened his right eye, just a fraction, and then looked around him cautiously. Realizing that he was not in front of the sun or whatever that roared just now, he opened both of his eyes. He tried to recall what he had just heard but it was a bit fuzzy. Something to think about but this had to be put aside for now since he had something bigger to worry about.

"Okay, where is this?" He was in the middle of nowhere. Well, technically it was a steppe if he was not mistaken. And it looked endless. Yes, he could see the mountains but they were very far away. He just hoped that he did not have to go there to find his new summon.

Luckily, the tutorial had told him about this unique phenomenon before; about how certain high-ranking summons would teleport him to a different location to establish the contract between them. But the tutorial had also pointed out that this was a very rare case, like a one-in-a-million kind of rare.

"Something caught your fancy, little one?"

Harry jumped and felt his heart bursting out of his chest. When he landed on his feet, he was facing the person.

Harry could not guess the person's height or age but he sure looked strong. Messy pitch-black hair, just like his, with a large badly stitched scar on his right cheek, the man looked as if he had stepped out from one of the fantasy shows he had seen with Jirachi. To be honest, his armor looked cooler than anything Harry had seen. Especially what he was wearing on his arms; from the elbow down, they were covered in white cloths with pieces of metal strapped together creating makeshift gauntlets.

They looked freaking awesome.

The man was sitting near a campfire, and Harry finally noticed that the small fire pit was releasing blue flames. Usually, people would notice this first but the man was filled with this aura that demanded attention.

Timidly, Harry took a step forward, "Are you my summon?"

The person in question chuckled, which Harry took as a good sign, before answering, "Who knows?" Before he pointed at the log opposite of him, "Have a seat, please."

Harry nodded and slowly started to walk toward the wooden makeshift seat. But as he was about to seat down he finally saw the person's eyes. An unusual shade of yellow irises with slit pupils that were beaming with power.

"You are fascinated by my eyes?"

Harry blinked, and blushed when he realized that he was looking too intently, "Sorry, it was rude of me."

"No apologies needed," The corner of his lips twitched before he leaned forward, "But I am curious, what do you… think of my eyes?"

"They are awesome!" Came the instant reply that even surprised the person.

"Is it the vision of an innocent child or the wonders of an untainted mind," The smile on his face became more genuine this time, "Maybe both perhaps."

Harry just tilted his head, not knowing what to answer since he had zero clue what the person just said.

The man looked at him once more, and something in that gaze made Harry to sit straighter, "May I know what is your name, Summoner?"

"My name is Harry Potter."

"Harry Potter… it is a good name. And what is it that you seek from me, young Harry?"

Harry ran that question in his mind a few times before figuring out what the man asked him. When he did, the answer was instantaneous, "I want us to be friends."

A small chuckle left the man's lips, "You want to befriend your summons, is that all?"

Harry bobbed his head up and down, "Yes. And, Jirachi wants the same too."

"Your other summon?"

"Yes, and he is my best friend too."

The man nodded his head before returning his gaze to the fire pit, "I see now why he heeded your call."

Harry wanted to ask what he meant but held his tongue.

"Very well, I shall accept your offer of friendship."

This made Harry jump and stand on his feet, "You really mean it?!"

With a chuckle, louder than the last time, the man stood up and extended his hand, "Yes, Harry, I really mean it."

With a grin large enough to reach his ears, Harry shook his hand. And when they were done, Harry started to hop on his place, "Yes, I have a new friend!"

He stopped when he realized his blunder. He turned to face the man with a bashful look, "May I know your name?"

The man smiled and ruffled his hair, "You can call me Bahamut Junior."

In a flash, the scenery around them changed and now they were back at the dungeon.

"Waaaah~ Harry~"

And he was immediately greeted with a tackle hug from his best friend. After Harry got his footing under control, thanks to Bahamut, he hugged him back, "Jirachi!"

"You were gone for so long~"

Harry felt bad when he heard that, "Really, was it that long?"

Jirachi leaned back and counted with his tiny hand before looking at Harry, "Yea~ You were gone for one whole minute!"

Harry blinked a few times as he did not know how to answer that. It definitely felt like more than a minute to him.

Luckily, he did not have to answer as Jirachi looked past him, "Is he our new friend?"

"It is a pleasure to meet you, young fae. My name is Bahamut Junior. But please call me Bahamut."

Jirachi left Harry's embrace and floated toward Bahamut, "My name is Jirachi," Then he puffed his chest, "I am the bestest summon ever!"

Bahamut chuckled before nodding his head, "It is an honor to meet the bestest summon. I hope that we will get along splendidly, and I know that," He examined his surroundings, "Together, we will conquer many dungeons and raids."

Harry grinned before remembering something, "Bahamut, is it okay if I check your status?"

"Thank you for asking. But it is your duty as a Summoner, Harry," He smiled reassuringly, "You need not ask."

Nodding back, Harry spoke up, "Bahamut's status."

…

Name: Bahamut Jr. (Human form)

Level: 1 / 100

Type: Ultimate (Reflection of the True Dragon King)

Race: Elder Dragon

Health: 450 (7.5 per minute)

Mana: 600 (12.5 per minute)

STR: 20

CON: 15

DEX: 25

INT: 25

WIS: 250

DEF: 15

Loyalty: 80

…

Harry actually rubbed his eyes before reading the status screen page a few more times. Then he looked at Bahamut who returned his look with a raised eyebrow and back at the screen.

"It says you are the Elder Dragon."

"I am an Elder Dragon, Harry. I am not sure if this… world has any of my kind, but I am not the only one."

Jirachi floated closer to Bahamut. And then he started poking his arm, "But you are not a dragon."

He opened his mouth but paused for a second before speaking up, "How about a fun little test for both of you? Try to figure out what I am. I believe the clues hidden in my status should suffice. Are you two up for it?"

Harry exchanged glances with Jirachi before nodding his head, "We can do it."

"That's the spirit. Now," He waved his right hand to point at their surroundings, "Would you mind giving me a tour of this dungeon? I am also quite keen to know how you two handled it."

Harry and Jirachi both smiled from ear to ear as they started to share the events that took place in the dungeon.

Of course, they started all the way from the beginning; from the request to the planning, to gaining an unexpected ally, and their battles inside the dungeons. Bahamut, who was using the broken cross as a stool, would even ask questions here and there while praising them many times.

"I have to admit, I am thoroughly impressed by what you have achieved."

Hearing Bahamut, an adult, saying that felt really good. And the way Jirachi was puffing up his chest, it seemed he was feeling the same.

"Now," Bahamut stood up, "If you two are not tired, would you mind showing me the location where the elites were?"

Harry glanced at Jirachi who looked fine and then at the party screen which showed that Jirachi was fine, "Sure, it is not far."

"But why do we need to go there?"

Bahamut scratched Jirachi's head making him giggle, "Just a hunch, Jirachi."

The walk there was not quiet either. He asked if they had any tactics planned for the dungeon and was impressed when they told him that they had a battle strategy. To be fair, it was not much of a strategy, but it was something Harry and Jirachi came up with when they finished reading 'How to be a Great summoner: Beginner edition'.

Basically, they went with the defensive route. Harry played the support role by attacking when it was needed, constantly checking their Health and Mana, and saving his mana for his 'Sano' spell since it was the only healing ability they had. Jirachi, on the other hand, was the brute force. His job was to smack their enemies around. Simple tactic, he knew, but it worked.

It did not take long for them to reach the outer section of the guard office. Harry stopped again for a silent prayer dedicated to their ghost friend. After he was done, he faced Bahamut, "This is where we fought."

Bahamut looked at the broken gate, "Did you go inside?"

That statement made Harry a bit nervous and Jirachi to float closer to him, "No, we did not. Do you think there are more of those elite zombies?"

"I do not believe so. But let's keep our guard up, yes," With that Bahamut started to walk toward the gate, and Harry and Jirachi followed behind him.

When they passed the gate, Harry immediately had his grimoire out. Jirachi was also very close to him, and he was examining their surroundings.

This area looked exactly the same as every other section in the dungeon; old, dirty, and spooky. And the small guard house, which was in the middle, was in a completely ruined state; there was no roof, and huge chunks of walls were missing… it felt like if Bahamut were to give it a kick, the whole house would just collapse immediately.

"You have not investigated this area after defeating the elites, correct?"

Harry shook his head, "No."

"So, how about it?" Bahamut faced them with a small smile, "Our first team mission – exploring this area to see if anything has been overlooked."

"Will any elites pop up?"

Bahamut scratched Jirachi's head again making him smile, "I feel sorry for any enemy that comes up since it will be facing the 'Bestest' team."

Harry smiled. He really liked the sound of that. But within less than two minutes they found what Harry and Jirachi had missed on their previous run.

"Is that a…"

"Yes Harry, it is a treasure chest."

Inside the guard house, just after the door… or at least where the door would have been, there it was. It looked exactly like any typical treasure chest; a large wooden box with metal frames around it. But it looked quite out of place since the box was very clean, like spotless kind of clean.

"Harry look," Jirachi floated toward the box, "There is no lock."

Bahamut patted Harry's back, "Go on, open it."

Harry nodded at Bahamut before walking toward the treasure chest. The moment he touched the lock, the box opened by itself scaring Harry and Jirachi.

Received 1 'Scroll of Fire Blast I'

Received 1 'Potion of Invisibility II'

Received 1 'Potion'

Harry's jaw dropped, "How did I miss this?"

"Do not blame yourself," Bahamut stood next to him, "Without a question, you two have done a remarkable job completing this dungeon. But every dungeon," He paused as if he remembered something, "Well, almost every dungeon can be completed in various ways. And I believe it is one of the lessons this tutorial dungeon wanted to teach you."

"You mean we could have defeated the dungeon boss another way."

"Two ways actually," Bahamut ushered them outside, "First is to use the invisibility potion and take a stealthier approach."

"I know! It's the hit-and-run strategy."

Bahamut smiled at Harry, "Correct. Also, you two noticed how empty the central graveyard area was, right? I believe that place was meant to be used for the boss fight."

This confused Harry, "But I thought the boss area was that small place in front of the chapel."

"True, but that did not mean the boss could not have been moved to another location."

Harry mouthed 'O' before looking ahead, not sure if he would have chosen that path even if he had the potion.

"That sounds fun," Jirachi floated toward Harry, "We could have hidden and attacked like that ninja from the movie."

Harry gave Jirachi a deadpan look, "Jirachi, you remember the size of the dungeon boss, right?"

Jirachi blinked a few times before looking away, "Our way was the best way."

"Correct," Bahamut came closer and gently grabbed both his and Jirachi's shoulder, he had to bend down to do so, "And let no one tell you otherwise. After all, you received an additional reward for that."

This made both Harry and Jirachi smile.

"Let us depart, I believe we have found and learned everything that is required from this dungeon. Also," Bahamut looked at the sky, "I do not believe we should spend too much time inside a dungeon."

That, Harry wholeheartedly agreed.

Surprisingly, the moment they got out of the dungeon, the door disappeared.

"What was that system?"

The silence… woke Harry up. The tutorial mode of the system was no more. He looked down trying to hold back his tears.

A large hand gently touched his shoulder, "Harry?"

Harry quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve before smiling back at Bahamut, "I am fine Bahamut."

"You are not fooling anyone with that strained smile," Bahamut who was bending down to his level stood up and ruffled his hair, "Know this Harry, I am here. If you wish to share your burden, if you wish for advice or two, if you wish for me to handle your enemies, I am here. I will not force you to do anything, but remember this, if you need me for anything…"

Then he pinched Harry's nose making him yelp, "Ack!"

"I am here."

Harry unknowingly smiled at Bahamut before he looked at Jirachi. Seeing his sad but expectant gaze, Harry knew what he had to do.

So, he told Bahamut about the tutorial mode.

He told Bahamut what the tutorial mode was, how it helped Harry to understand the system, and how it guided both Harry and Jirachi. He told Bahamut that the tutorial system was a friend to them. And he left.

As for Bahamut, he listened without interrupting. And when Harry was done, for a moment, he did not say anything. Finally, a minute later, he spoke up, "Let us go back; to your home."

Harry did not expect this.

"I believe your home may have the last piece I need to solve this puzzle."

Harry just tilted his head at Bahamut, Jirachi did so too. This made Bahamut laugh, "I think I know what the tutorial is trying to achieve here. But just to be sure, I need to check your place."

Harry nodded his head before leading Bahamut back to the house.

During their short trip, Bahamut explained what the second way of defeating the dungeon boss was. It was basically utilizing the fire scrolls to the max. If everything went smoothly, Harry and Jirachi would have two of those scrolls. The idea was to initiate the fight using one scroll and use the second when the effect of the first would wear out. Of course, both of these attacks had to be critical hits. After that, the boss most probably would have died, and if not, it would have a minuscule amount of Health left which would not have been a problem for Harry and Jirachi.

"Here we are."

Harry rushed to the door and opened it for Bahamut. For some unknown reason, he was feeling a bit nervous. Of course, Bahamut did not say anything. But surprisingly, the moment Bahamut entered the house, his armored shoes disappeared leaving him barefoot.

"Whoa~ How did you do that?"

"Nifty trick to make my life easier."

Jirachi floated between them and then started to wiggle his tiny feet, "And I don't need any tricks."

Bahamut chuckled before scratching Jirachi's one of the yellow pointy crowns. Harry felt like this was something Bahamut would be often doing from now on, and ruffling his hair.

"So, this is where you stay?"

Harry averted his gaze before nodding his head, slowly, "Yes, this is my aunt Petunia's place."

Bahamut gave him a look and Harry knew what he wanted to ask, so he answered before he could, "My parents are dead."

"I am sorry to hear that."

A simple condolence but Harry felt the sincerity behind those words. He gave a shaky smile before quickly adding, "It's okay. I don't remember them," He looked down and whispered the last part, "I heard that they were not good people."

"Your aunt said that?"

Harry nodded once again.

Bahamut did not say anything except for taking a few steps forward before stopping completely. Harry gave him a confused look before noticing how his nose twitched a few times.

"Harry, where do you… sleep?"

Harry froze. But before he could answer, Jirachi did. He floated toward the cupboard and pointed at it, "He sleeps here."

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, not knowing what to say.

"It's small but it's okay."

Harry looked down. He really did not know what this emotion was, but he felt really bad that he could not find a better place for Jirachi to sleep. He knew Jirachi was completely fine with this arrangement, but he was not.

He saw Bahamut bending down in front of him, but Harry still could not meet his gaze.

"This is my belief Harry, and I can be wrong about it. One of the reasons why the tutorial mode shut itself down was because it was not meant to help you further than this point. After all, that was why it was known as the 'Tutorial mode'."

Harry finally looked up and found Bahamut's soft gaze watching him.

"It had taken that step to protect your heart. You see, I have checked both of your statuses."

"Wait, we can do that?"

Harry looked to his side to see Jirachi leaning on his arm. When Bahamut gave a slight nod with his head, Jirachi immediately shouted, "Status!"

The usual screen popped in front of him, and Jirachi just looked at it in wonder.

"Anyone can clearly see that the bond you two have is very special. But after checking your statuses, I truly understood how special it really is."

Harry did not say anything. But his questioning gaze made Bahamut smile, not the usual tiny one but a big one, "It is extremely rare to max out the loyalty of a summon so soon."

Jirachi puffed up his chest, "Our bond was max from the start."

The shock in Bahamut's gaze was not lost on Harry. Soon, the shock turned to wonder, "Truly, a one-of-a-kind bond you two have."

"That is why we are best friends," Jirachi hugged Harry who returned it immediately.

"I am sure you two will become much more to each other in the near future."

Both Harry and Jirachi looked at Bahamut in confusion. It was Jirachi who spoke up again, "Like bestest friend?"

Bahamut chuckled openly at that, "Who knows? The possibility is there, no?" Then he locked his gaze with Harry, "Even though your first summon has such a high value in loyalty, you did not comment on mine."

Harry recalled the number he had seen on Bahamut's status screen, "80 is a high number, right?"

"In normal circumstances, it would have been considered the highest and the rarest value. But to you, this can be viewed as an adequate value. Still, Harry, this did not change your perspective of me. And the system, I mean the whole game system wants to protect that kind-hearted perspective of yours. Of course, the question from your side remains – what does this have to do with the tutorial mode?"

Harry let out a small smile and nodded. This was something he really wanted to know.

"You see, Harry. The tutorial, no, the whole system relies on numbers and data. It can only give advice based on these. I will admit that these kinds of advice would have assisted you greatly but at the same time, without you knowing, it would have made you too reliant on numbers."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Because you cannot count emotions. At least, you are not supposed to. And before you ask," Bahamut gave him a knowing look, "Loyalty point does not reflect our emotions. It is there to give you a basic idea of how close you are to your summon. After all, you do not constantly check loyalty points to see if Jirachi is happy or not, if he is hungry or full."

His eyes started to become itchy as he finally understood the meaning behind the tutorial's words, "He left to protect me."

"As it was his job," The large hand that started to ruffle his hair calmed Harry down instantly, "Cherish the memories you had with him, I am sure that is what he would have wanted."

Harry wiped his eyes with his sleeve before nodding his head, "I will."

"Good," Bahamut stood up and looked around, "As for the second reason, it wanted you to make your own road, your own journey. There are many ways to interpret it, but I would like to think that it wanted you to start your own adventure."

"Yay~ I want a new adventure."

Harry smiled widely at Bahamut and then at Jirachi, but then it hit him, and the smile waned, "Does it mean we have to run away?"

"Will your aunt be sad if you leave?" Harry shook his head at Bahamut's question, "Then I don't think we are running away. We are just going on an adventure, a long adventure. We may come back, we may not, who knows."

Harry could see that Jirachi was happy, excited even, but for him, it was too hard of a decision to make.

"Let me show you something," Bahamut spoke up as he gestured for them to follow him outside.

It was late evening. And since it was the holiday season, not a single person could be seen. Bahamut smiled after he was done scanning their surroundings, "Perfect," Then he faced Harry, "Still, just to be on the safe side, may I have the invisibility potion, Harry?"

"Yes," Harry replied back in a heartbeat. He immediately opened the inventory and wanted to smack his forehead when he realized that he did not check the new item. It was something he should have done the moment he got the item.

"Well, better late than never," He whispered to himself.

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Potion of Invisibility II

Effects: Upon drinking, the user will become invisible to the eyes of regular humans for 10 minutes. This effect can be dispelled.

Stock: 1

Sell Price: 25 Galleons

…

"Wait, so you want to use it?"

Bahamut took the potion and started to examine the content inside the bottle, "Yes, and do not worry, since we are in the same party, you two will be able to see me just fine," Then he opened the bottle and chugged the potion in one go, "Questionable taste but better than the herbs," He let go of the bottle and it immediately disappeared, "Now, Harry, Jirachi, remember the small test I had given you to figure out my identity."

Both of them nodded.

"I take that back."

And then, right before their eyes, Bahamut started to change.

His clothes burned and disappeared as his size grew… and grew. It was not just his size. Everything changed. It was so fast that Harry did not know what was happening but within a blink, instead of a man, there stood a dragon in front of him.

A large bipedal dragon whose wings covered the entirety of his aunt's house, and he was taller than their school building.

"It's a dragon!" Jirachi screamed, then turned to him, "He's a dragon!"

Harry realized then that his mouth was open. Closing his mouth, he smacked his lips a few times before craning his neck to look up, "You are a dragon."

"I never denied it."

Suddenly, he realized something, "Wait! Status! Status!"

…

Name: Bahamut Jr. (Dragon form)

Level: 1 / 100

Type: Ultimate (Reflection of the True Dragon King)

Race: Elder Dragon

Health: 750 (10 per minute)

Mana: 250 (5 per minute)

STR: 30

CON: 20

DEX: 10

INT: 10

WIS: 250

DEF: 30

Loyalty: 80

…

Harry blinked a few times just to make sure he was seeing it right. Because he was quite sure that some of the numbers were different.

"I have two forms," Bahamut bend down, cautiously, "And I can switch between the forms whenever I want."

"That…" Harry looked at Jirachi, and then both turned to Bahamut.

"Is so cool!"

"Is so cool!"

The deep chuckle from Bahamut felt like a rumbling of a storm, "I am glad that you two appreciate my other form."

"Are you kidding me! You are the most… most…"

"Coolest!" As usual, Jirachi helped out from the side.

"Coolest dragon I have ever seen."

"Then let this dragon show you something more," Bahamut put his right hand beside Harry, palm facing the sky.

Harry looked at the hand, then at Bahamut, "You want me to…" Then he pointed at the hand again.

The chuckle was the only answer he got.

He was scared but the fear vanished instantly when he saw that Jirachi was already on board. With a smile, Harry followed.

The skin was rougher than he expected but luckily he was not sitting. Yes, he was literally standing on top of the palm while holding a finger… a claw.

"Hold tight."

Harry immediately closed his eyes as he felt the wind hitting him. He had to face downward otherwise it was hard to breathe. After a moment, the wind stopped and everything felt normal.

Harry slowly opened his right eye but the sight in front of him made him stand straighter and look around, with his both eyes wide open.

They were on top of the clouds.

It was as if in an instant the world became so big… so vast. He could see not just Little Whinging but the towns, and the streets beyond it. He never knew a street could be so big and wide and could stretch for so long that it felt endless. And it was just outside of Little Whinging. He also did not know that the town just beside theirs had such a beautiful lake.

And then there was the sun, slowly disappearing beyond the horizon.

"This is…" Harry did not know what to say. Saying this scenery 'Beautiful' would be undermining it. It was more than beautiful.

"Breathtaking, is it not?"

Harry looked at Bahamut and then at the sight in front of him, "Breathtaking… Yes, it is breathtaking."

For a minute or two, maybe more, no one said anything. This silence was quite comforting.

"Jirachi, Bahamut," Harry finally broke the silence while still looking at the sun which now completely disappeared.

"Let's go on an adventure."

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Done

Hope you all enjoyed it. Also, if anyone is interested, here is the invite code to my disc*rd server

KryqJxfMCD

Until next time…