The next morning, James went to see Gryffindor after his class.

He explained his problem, and Gryffindor promptly said this: "I'm not quite sur it's fitting for a first year to master this book.". He stopped, and when he saw James' sad face, he winked at him.

"Prove me wrong, and I'll lend you the book.".

Gryffindor then said goodbye, before stepping out of the room.

James forgot to answer, as his mind was already 100% focused on finding a proof, a token, that will mean enough to Gryffindor so that he can get this book.

The more he thought about it, the more he wanted that book. And the more he wanted that book, the more he thought about it.

Finally, he thought of an idea. The idea frightened him, but he didn't know any better: he was going to kill the manticore he saw a while back in the forbidden forest.

Apart from the fact that it was pretty much impossible for a normal first year to do so, it was still very difficult to do so – even the seventh year would not do this easily.

Besides that, it was a brilliant idea: no first years could do that, it was exquisite enough to take Gryffindor's interest and it could hone James' magical skills!

He convinced himself that it was a good idea, and finally started thinking of a strategy.

The next day, James found himself at the forbidden forest's border, while reconsidering his plan.

He thought that it might not work but reassured himself with confidence in his ability to run.

The real problem was after killing the monster. He needed proof, proof of its death. Well, he knew how to do so, but the idea practically made him puke already.

He started walking towards the beast, more or less, and after some time it found it.

It was at the same spot as last time; still guarding the trapdoor, as if nothing happened.

Speaking of things like last time, the atmosphere was still eerie as ever. He still had the impression of being observed, and it was still very dark. What was unlike last time was his fear. It had practically disappeared – actually, more replaced by the fear of the manticore.

After seeing the beast and approaching it a little more, it finally spots him.

The monster immediately rushed towards James, and he evaded the attack quickly. This continued for quite a long time, as James' stamina was much better than last time, and his dodging skills honed a lot more.

What James was waiting for though, was that the beast's stamina decreased, so that there will be an opening. It was the same tactic as the one he used against Haley back in the Christmas vacations.

And, after dodging some more, the opening finally arrived. James used the Reductor Curse, but missed and shot the beast's leg. The leg burst open, and, even though it was a scene to puke at, James found himself with a certain, inexplicable, satisfaction. His inner voice was saying: 'I'm strong now. Very strong!'.

With one of its legs missing, the beast started seeing James as a real threat. And while he was celebrating, the beast became more and more ferocious. It was now two or three times faster, and James dodges quickly came more and more difficult to do. The beast even started using his venomous tale, which was a lot stronger than its claws it had been using until now.

James was now thinking of retreating. Even with a leg missing, the beast was still stronger than ever. He tried to cast some spells, but just didn't had the time to do so!

While he thought all that, the beast nearly ended his life with its tail. Now, James had tears in his eyes, seeing the end of his life approaching.

He was thinking: 'I need to find a way out! Anything, anything at all, even the darkest of magics will do!'.

And, as if responding to his wish, the stone he had in his inner pocket started glowing, a lot. It was too bright to look at, even when it was still in his clothes.

Suddenly, James felt a newfound magical power inside him. He felt he was a god right now, all mighty and powerful!

Also, new spells were now rushing through his head. He didn't realize it at the time, but they were all very evil black magics.

And now, his mind was going blank from power. The only thought that was in his head was: "I can, and I will, crush this ugly thing in front of me.".

It was not in line with his usual thoughts. His demeanor also changed, and he had now one reminiscent of a king walking among his lowly subjects.

He had a disgusted facial expression while looking at the beast, and, with just a raise of his wand, the beast's neck was cut off, its life along with it.

But it didn't stop there. To get the proof of kill, James now intended, unlike his original plan, to make a cloth out of the manticore's fur, like Heracles with the Nemean lion.

And with just another flick of the wand, the beast's fur was stripped of its body, and soon was magically refined, midair, into a cloak he could wear.

James reduced the cloak to be the size of his palm, and disappeared, like Slytherin used to do.

He returned to the dorm immediately, before using another curse to make him sleep exactly the right time.

The next morning, he was in a bad mood. For some reason, he wanted to kill everyone that talked to him. He now had the power to do so, after all. It seemed over the night he became quite irritating and acted now all high and mighty.

He didn't go to classes, and instead practiced spell in the common room.

He apparated in front of Gryffindor to hand him down the fur after the professor's classes.

The man had a very troubled expression, before slamming the manticore-made cloak into the ground and shouting: "You don't realize what you have done!".

Then, James, sensing danger, used a very, very, evil curse, just with his instinct; the Killing Curse, probably the vilest of them all, to Gryffindor, that immediately defended it. Gryffindor was mumbling: "Oh, poor child.".

He then used a very powerful white magic to bring James down, but it didn't work.

After that, the red-haired man disappeared, and a few seconds later returned, along with Slytherin.

The fight was very fierce.

James started by using the Reductor curse on the classroom's various objects, before throwing the pieces violently at the professors.

Seeing it didn't work, he switched to more powerful black magic. He first used a curse that made his wand shone with a dark blue color, before a weird dark green liquid spit out. It was a corrosive dark magic, that attacked every surface it touched. It was very dangerous and damaged the classroom quite a bit.

James used this spell a few more times, and fortunately for the others, they were powerful enough to prevent it from attaining them.

James now used an even more vile dark magic, one that could really kill the professors, should ii hit them.

His wand shone green, and two balls flew fast towards the two other men.

Slytherin and Gryffindor had two completely different reactions. Gryffindor took out the sword from his waists, and cut the spell completely, while Slytherin simply counter attacked with the same spell, essentially negating the two.

While James knew how to perform all the spells, and had a lot more magical power, the two were still not in adequation; those curses still put a very big toll on his body, and he didn't have much magical power left.

He used his final curse, the one he used before; the vilest of them all, Avada Kedavra, the Killing Curse.

Powerful Killing Curses poured as Gryffindor and Slytherin protected themselves, before James, exhausted, stopped for a moment.

They used this opening to counterattack. It was still the good old tactic, waiting for a breach in the opponent's defense.

James, focused on his own power, didn't even realized that he was 'overpowering them', and that they only were on the defensive side.

It was not that they couldn't have subdued him before, but they didn't want to harm him, and Slytherin didn't want to use black magic, so they used this basic strategy.

The two parted ways, and they positioned themselves in opposite direction, the two facing James. He could barely defend one, and so obviously couldn't defend the two. Those spells hit him hard, and he fell. The last thing he heard was Slytherin clicking his tongue.

When he woke up, he found himself in a very big room, with multiple wards.