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Infinity: Rise of an Empire
Chapter Four
"Morrigan," Harry blurted out, then immediately grinned, pleased with himself. That sounded like a winner.
Death, who had been in the middle of cleaning and putting away all evidence of their supper, looked over at him questioningly.
Harry sat as he did since waking, on the bedroll with his legs crossed, while Death moved to sit in a similar manner on the ground an arm's length away once she had finished cleaning up—which took her less than a minute what with magic and all.
Nearby, the fire crackled, casting flickering light and shadows across the otherwise empty room.
"I thought Freya might work too, but you don't look… Norse enough for that, I think," said Harry, who had been contemplating the matter of Death's new name all throughout supper. "Especially with that black hair of yours. I believe Freya's supposed to have blond hair, or in some iterations she even has white hair or platinum blond hair. Which I admit would have looked pretty cool, but I think it might stand out a little too much. And I'd rather not draw unnecessary attention."
Harry was actually contemplating having her wear a hooded cloak in the future so as to make it less obvious how beautiful she was. As a bonus, it kind of went with the whole Death incarnate thing to have a hooded cloak. The grim reaper was always depicted as such, but then again the grim reaper was never, as far as he could recall, depicted as a gorgeous woman. He wondered if she might start using a scythe as a weapon if he asked.
"I could change the color of my hair if you desire it, master," she offered easily enough.
"You can?! Do you have metamorphmagus powers or something?" Harry blurted out in surprise, before shaking his head. "No, forget it. Don't change your hair color. I've already decided on your name, so that won't be necessary. From now on, you're going to be called Morrigan." He paused. "Unless you object, of course."
Death, or now Morrigan, nodded once in acceptance. "I have no objections, master. Henceforth, my name will be Morrigan, unless you deem to grant me another one in the future."
"Great!" He clapped his hands together and grinned at her. "Glad that's settled then."
Morrigan smiled at him, and they stared at each other in silence for a few beats.
Harry broke the silence first. "Don't you… uh… want to know why I chose that name?" He had been expecting her to ask.
She shrugged. "Master, if you think this should be my name, then it will be my name. What more should I think about it for?"
Harry facepalmed and then let out a sigh. "A name is one of the most important things for someone to have. As such, the meaning and reasoning behind a name matters a lot. Since it's now your name, you should know why you have it."
If he was being totally honest, that was not the whole truth of why he wanted to tell her. He also wanted to share his thought process because he thought he was being clever and wanted her to know about it. Even more than that, he wanted her to approve of it—both the name and the reasoning behind it.
"My apologies, master, but I do not understand. What is most important is that you gave this name to me. Is it not?"
Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "Well… I suppose… there's nothing wrong with that logic. Whoever gives a person their name is also usually important. And I guess a name can be special simply because it was given by a… special person. And since I'm your… uh… master…" he said as he thought about it, feeling a little embarrassed at the thought of her accepting a name simply because he bestowed it upon her.
That level of devotion was still something he had yet to fully accept or even understand.
"Anyway," Harry pushed on with another shake of his head, "For the record, I chose that name because it's the name of the Celtic goddess of war and death, and it fits you perfectly in my opinion. I mean, not only in terms of what Morrigan represents, but also because… well… you look like a Morrigan now that I really look at you."
Her steel gray eyes fixated on him blankly as she tilted her head. "What is a Morrigan supposed to look like, master?"
"Uh…" Harry realized he had no proper answer for that and decided to simply gesture vaguely in her direction. "Someone like you," he said lamely.
Morrigan slowly looked down at herself, then back at Harry. It was clear on her face that she did not understand what he meant by that at all.
"So, Morrigan," he cut her off before she could say anything else and he might feel further embarrassed. That did not go how he thought it would. "How about you start teaching me about the best and fastest ways I can get stronger and gain power? Even some basics right now would be helpful so I can start practicing those methods right away."
Thankfully, Morrigan went along with the subject change without complaint. Harry suspected it had something to do with her utter devotion to his will, but he tried not to think about that because, again, he was ill-prepared to fully appreciate nor understand the gravity of her servitude to him at the moment.
"I am at your service, master," she said with a bow of her head. "This humble servant thinks the best place to start would be to cultivate your magical core. Your control over magic is largely dependent on the strength and stability of your core. Although it is not the only factor, it is the most important one. In general, the stronger and larger a mage's magical core, the more magical energy that mage can easily manipulate and the more powerful their magic will be."
"A stronger core also means you can cast more spells, last longer in battle, and recover quicker too, among many other benefits," she continued. "As your magical core grows, you will also experience changes to your physical and mental abilities. You will naturally get stronger, faster, and more durable. Your mental faculties will also improve, and you will find yourself able to think faster, better multitask, and remember things easier."
"Strengthen my magical core," Harry echoed thoughtfully. From what she told him, that really did sound like the best way to start becoming more powerful.
He had always felt some source of magic from inside himself. Whenever he cast a spell, he felt magical energy seemingly flow from somewhere within him, through his wand, and then out into the world. But it baffled him as to why he had never formally learned about it in all his years at Hogwarts, nor how to properly strengthen it, as he was apparently about to learn shortly.
"Yes, master," said Morrigan. "Your magical core is what separates you from all other living things that cannot use magic. It not only generates magical energy on its own, but it can also absorb and manipulate magical energy from your surroundings."
She raised her hand, palm up, and a perfect white sphere of magic winked into existence above her palm.
"Each being lucky enough to be born with a functioning core is born with one of varying size and strength that will naturally grow and evolve as that being ages. That growth can then be accelerated with proper training and constant practice, though there are other ways to empower one's core besides training and practice. We can discuss those methods later."
Harry already had a guess about at least one of those methods: rituals. He frowned at the thought. Hopefully he wouldn't ever need to do any rituals, since as far as he knew they were often dark magic and involved some sort of terrible sacrifice. He wanted to get more powerful quickly, but he wasn't prepared to go that far to achieve that goal.
"Generally, a person born of a lineage of powerful mages will be born with a denser and higher quality core, and thus have both higher magical potential and a greater chance to reach that potential compared to those born of lesser lineages. However, that is not always the case, and it is not impossible for someone without any pedigree to become incredibly powerful," she explained.
The sphere in her hand swirled and grew larger, eventually changing colors as it continued to expand. Every now and again it would contract, but overall, it was getting larger as time passed. Harry understood this to be a demonstration of the development of a magical core over time, and he got the concept well enough, thankful for the visual aid.
"I think I understand," he said. "But how exactly am I supposed to strengthen my core? What exactly is a core, anyway? I've never even really heard of magical cores outside the context of wands and other magical foci. Nobody at school talked about the magical cores inside our bodies. And I don't remember reading about it anywhere either."
"It's better if I show you, master," Morrigan said mysteriously as she gracefully waved her hand and the sphere disappeared.
-=H=-
It all started with calming and clearing Harry's mind, then entering a meditative state. That was easy enough, considering it was the prerequisite for the basic Occlumency exercises he had been doing for over a year now. Entering a meditative state was relatively simple after his mind was calm and clear.
Harry was grateful that he was, if only barely, now a Second Level Occlumens thanks to his diligence and the fact that he didn't have much else to do while hunting down escaped Death Eaters. It was not like he had been on vacation or anything like that.
The Occlumency book he happened to stumble across during his globe-trotting pursuit of the remaining Death Eaters had helped considerably, but it was only a beginner's primer.
There were supposedly 7 levels each to Occlumency and Legilimency, with each one progressively harder to reach, let alone master. Further progress in the powerful Mind Arts would require much greater training techniques and far more knowledge than he currently possessed.
Once Harry was in a state of meditation, Morrigan proceeded to use her mental magic—Harry hesitated to call it Legilimency because of the lack of eye contact and because it simply felt different, and he made a note to ask about that later—to enter Harry's mind.
Her presence in his mind was very obvious, but he had a feeling she was doing that on purpose. Probably to get him more quickly acclimated to her presence. According to her explanation, foreign presences in one's mind naturally evoked mental defense mechanisms, so he needed to both accept her presence and control himself in order to not try and fight her presence in his mind.
Indeed, some part of him did feel on edge at first when she entered his mind. Like there was some unconscious alarm system that began to sound the alarm over an intruder. But he managed to quell that disturbance and he gradually relaxed.
Although her clearly foreign presence was somewhat uncomfortable in his mind, it wasn't overly unpleasant, and her mental image was certainly as appealing to the eye as her normal physical appearance. While her mental projection's appearance looked the same, her clothing had changed from the leather superheroine outfit she was physically wearing to that of a silk ballgown that would not have looked out of place on royalty—if the royal colors were black and silver.
She really does look like a Morrigan, he thought to himself.
Under Morrigan's guidance, along with knowledge she directly imparted from her own mind—something that surprised, frightened, and excited Harry given the possibilities that opened up—he finally discovered not only how to access his magical core, but also what it looked like and how to strengthen it.
His core was housed in what looked like a vast and endless void of outer space. Harry actually briefly wondered if they had, in fact, gone into outer space at some point, for in the distance he saw pinpricks of light that appeared to be stars, and the faint splashes of what appeared to be space clouds were also visible, further emphasizing the effect. Vague memories of pictures of outer space filtered through his mind from magazines and television programs he had seen.
Harry spent quite some time ogling at the realistic and quite literal out-of-this-world environment of his core. He couldn't help but wonder what it would really be like to travel beyond the confines of Earth and to explore the great unknown of space. That brought him to the curious question of why wizards had not, as far as he knew, attempted to go into space already.
Surely, magic would have made traveling across space and surviving there quite easy. At least, that's what he thought anyway. So many possibilities. So many questions. He filed that line of inquiry away for further examination at a later date, however. There were more pressing matters to deal with first.
Harry's magical core itself was unassuming at first, though he could clearly feel it radiating with power. It was spherical in shape, as Morrigan had demonstrated earlier, and was, to his surprise, completely transparent. Within the sphere there was a maelstrom of golden-white energy that writhed and pulsed.
Relative to the size of Harry's and Morrigan's current mental projections, the core was approximately the size of Hogwarts, if Harry were to guess.
The very center of the core was almost blindingly bright, and when he focused on it, he could feel it pulsating with immense power. Additionally, there were occasional arcs of what looked to be white lightning emanating outwards from that inner core, and those arcs brushed the inner surface of the transparent sphere.
After studying it for a moment, Harry thought it was almost like looking at an extremely agitated Remembrall, but one of massive proportions. Worryingly, it also looked like a Remembrall that was about seconds away from possibly exploding, based on the roiling maelstrom of energy contained within it.
Harry could actually hear and feel the core thrumming with power, and he marveled at the experience.
"Do all cores look like this?" he asked Morrigan.
With a gentle shake of her head, she said, "No, master. The manifestation of a magical core depends on the interpretation of the core's owner, so cores can vary widely in appearance. The reason your core looks this way is because I thought it was the best suited for your needs, and so I imprinted that knowledge on you before we began. The manifestation of one's core is extremely important because it becomes the basis of all interaction with, and strengthening of, that core. A poor or deficient manifestation can be detrimental to cultivating one's core."
She continued to explain that without her direct intervention, Harry wouldn't have been able to properly see or interact with his core in the manner he needed to since he lacked the necessary information for his mind and his magic to model it after. And if he had tried it haphazardly on his own, he could have limited his future growth.
"Since you are now deeply connected to cosmic energy due to your status as a Master of Death," she explained further while her hand swept around towards the stars and the representation of outer space that they were floating in, "And since you have the opportunity to live for all eternity, I thought it best to use a universe model to depict and house your core. Since space is infinitely vast, your core, and thus your power, should have infinite room to expand."
"Thanks?" Harry wasn't quite sure what to say, and he was still wrapping his mind around everything she had told him.
He added learning more about space and science to his ever-growing to-do list since he had a feeling that greater knowledge about those subjects would undoubtedly be helpful for his training. There was really so much about the world that he still didn't know or understand, both magical and mundane.
"Master, you will better understand the reasons I set things up for you in this manner once you strengthen up your core enough for it to evolve and enter the higher stages of cultivation," she told him, and he had no choice but to accept her words at face value since he really didn't know any better at the moment.
"Okay," he said, looking around and then focusing back on his core. "So, how do I strengthen my core and make it evolve?"
Morrigan took her time to respond, perhaps to carefully convey the information in a manner he would understand.
She first explained to him the concept of a cultivation path.
"It is a system, or roadmap if you will, for clearly defining magical power levels that are based on the state of your magical core. Such a system provides clear definitions of power levels. Think of them as steppingstones or mile markers for which an aspiring mage cultivator could reach for and measure themselves by."
"So, maybe like… the different floors of a building?" Harry could understand that well enough.
Morrigan nodded. "Yes, I believe that analogy works well, master. A cultivation path is like the map of a building. It tells you how many floors there are and shows you the different paths to travel between floors, such as stairs or elevators or ramps. But it's also not a complete map."
Harry furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"
"A cultivation path might show you one way to get to a higher power level, or it might show you a dozen ways. Or a hundred. But in the vast cosmos, there are technically an infinite number of ways to ascend and gain power. So, while a path may show you some of those ways, there are still others that you might accidentally stumble upon, or ways that you might even create on your own," she told him, and that seemed to make sense to Harry.
Essentially, the various systems of cultivation made it easier to achieve greater power by breaking up the process into clearly defined levels or steps for a mage to work towards. By progressing through the levels, a cultivator could then measure their progress and also figure out how much more they needed to improve to reach the next level. But just because a path showed some tried and true ways didn't mean there weren't other methods and ways to get to the higher levels out there.
"Hmm." Harry stroked his smooth chin in thought. "What's the best cultivation path to follow, then?"
"There is no one best path, master. But there are paths better suited to certain people, based on their temperament, abilities, potential, and their goals. There is technically no set universal system for cultivating one's core, only that it's possible to cultivate. The path of cultivation depends on the cultivator entirely, but it is not a decision one makes lightly. Choosing a better-suited path makes it easier to cultivate, while choosing an ill-suited path will make it incredibly difficult to advance."
Harry took a deep breath, his mind already swimming with all the new information she was flooding it with, but he was not drowning. Yet. "Okay. I think that all makes sense. So, which one would you recommend for me?"
"The prevailing core cultivation system of this world, that is the one used by the most people, is an 18-realm or stage system, starting with what is called the Physical Realm and ending with Ultimate God Emperor Realm," Morrigan explained with a straight face. Harry thought that title was rather obnoxious, if someone were to ask him about it.
As if agreeing with his thoughts, Morrigan made a face as she continued, one that conveyed her dissatisfaction. "It's overly complicated and thus arguably harder than it ought to be to advance between Realms, especially since within each Realm there are 9 levels."
"That… seems like a lot," Harry said, eyes widening. 18 stages with 9 levels subdividing each stage. He did the math. That was 162 levels in total. Definitely a lot. Too much, even. But then again, it was all subjective, so perhaps to people who practiced that system it wasn't too much at all.
"The system I would recommend for you is different because it only has 9 stages, master," Morrigan pointed out, and at that, Harry felt a minor wave of relief that there would be less stages and thus less things to remember.
"Each stage is further subdivided into 3 levels or tiers within them, starting at Formation, Mid, and then Peak. The 9 stages, from lowest to highest, are: Foundation, Spirit, Core, Planetary, Stellar, Interstellar, Galactic, Universal, Dimensional. I believe you'll find this much easier to follow and understand than the other systems used on this world."
Morrigan paused, apparently to give Harry enough time to process what she was saying, which he was grateful for.
"Why don't more people use the simpler system you're making me use?" Harry asked.
"Largely because the system they know and understand, which is known as the 18-Fold Path to Enlightenment, has been passed down for thousands of years by human ancestors who were powerful enough in ancient times to be considered gods, thus cementing it as the one true path for cultivation in many people's opinions. Not that it has dissuaded other cultures who have come up with their own systems independently prior to discovering each other, of course."
She clasped her hands together, her movements fluid like she was in the middle of a graceful dance. "But I digress. Besides the fact that the 18-Fold Path to Enlightenment exists, the other reason they don't practice this simpler system is because they don't know about it, as far as I'm aware. There are perhaps some few out there who practice something similar, but I can confidently state that this exact system is unique to you."
Again, that all made sense to Harry. Having a unique system of cultivation was probably a good thing too. "So, what stage am I at now?" he asked, curious to know how strong he was on this newly imparted ranking system.
"You are currently in the Mid level of the Formation Stage, master," replied Morrigan almost immediately.
He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. That was actually lower than he thought. "Is that… bad?"
"Based on historical information, I believe it would normally be considered in the upper echelons for someone of your age and experience, master. But since I am not omniscient, without more information I cannot say for sure what your standing is relative to your current generation in this world. I do apologize if this is an unsatisfactory answer." She lowered her head in apology, her pleasant voice tinged with regret.
Harry raised his eyebrows at that, surprised that given her identity she was not actually omniscient. Though he supposed that would have made her even more difficult to comprehend than she already was.
"If you wish, I could try and find out for you, but it will take me some time," she offered.
"That's alright," he told her, genuinely believing it to be so. "I definitely don't consider myself to be the strongest wizard in the world or anything, so I'll gladly accept an above average designation. Especially after everything I've gone through. Besides, I'll be getting stronger soon, right? So, no need to trouble yourself over that matter."
Morrigan smiled, and Harry felt his heart quicken.
"That is a good attitude to have, master," she said approvingly.
Harry's grin briefly returned, and light danced within his eyes. "I do wonder if I have what it takes to get to the top, though. Can I truly reach Peak Dimensional levels of power?"
Morrigan's reply was swift and full of conviction. "Your future greatness is assured, master. You will become incredibly powerful. Whether that happens in 10 years, 100 years, or 1000 years is entirely up to your efforts. Know that every step of the way, Death walks by your side." Then she blinked, seemingly realizing something, and then corrected herself. "Or… Morrigan, rather."
Harry's grin widened a fraction as a soft chuckle escaped his lips. He stared at his glowing magical core in deep thought, imagining what a future of seemingly endless possibility might actually look like. Then, he shook himself out of his brooding and turned to her.
"How strong are you on that scale?" Harry found himself asking.
Morrigan gave him what amounted to a shadow of a smile, but for once she did not answer.
-=H=-
"Think of your core as a muscle, master. The more it is worked, and the more strain and pressure it endures, the stronger and larger it becomes," Morrigan told him.
They were back in the real world now, sitting across from each other in the middle of the makeshift shelter that Morrigan had created. The fire continued to burn nearby, and the room was comfortably warm.
"Of course, that does mean you must give it time to properly rest and recover every now and then. But those times will be fewer and farther between the stronger you get."
Harry understood that concept readily enough, and while he could reasonably deduce some practical ways to strengthen his core on his own based on that concept, he resolved to listen intently and absorb everything that Morrigan had to say on the matter. She was the expert here, after all.
"There are several ways to strengthen your magical core, each with varying degrees of effectiveness, just as there are many ways to exercise muscles to stimulate growth and improve physical strength." She paused as she brought out the white orb of energy again over the palm of her right hand.
"The easiest way is to simply survive and get older." The ball of energy gradually expanded again, contracting every so often and gradually getting larger and brighter. "Over time, a magical core matures as it is constantly absorbing and producing magical energy while the host's body matures too. There is some relation between physical size and core size and magical power, in that regard. As you might expect, this method results in the least amount of growth and strengthening of the core since it is ultimately passive and is therefore not advised for anyone who wants to do more than merely exist."
"Definitely not an option for me," Harry said. With all this potential and untold possibilities, how could he sit still and merely exist?
Again, Morrigan graced him with that almost ethereal smile of hers that made his breaths shorter and his heart beat faster. He tried to get a hold of himself as he listened to her continue her teachings.
"I would recommend two methods for you to train, master, and then we can add a third method later on once you are further along and have better control over mana," she said. "The first method is the most basic, and that is to simply 'cultivate,' which in this case means to consciously absorb mana from your surroundings and feed it into your core directly. Almost everyone does this, and I will guide you through that the first time so that you know how it feels to do it properly."
The ball of energy hovering over her hand briefly returned to its original size before streams of energy—or mana, technically—suddenly began to flow from the surroundings and into the ball. The core began to glow brighter much faster, and it grew in size much quicker too. Motes of energy, like specks of dust or stars, floated and whirled in the air around the ball, and Harry found it mesmerizing.
Harry blinked, tearing himself away from the spectacle. "And the second method?"
"The second method is much less practiced but stems from the understanding that your core is like a muscle, master. You must purposefully squeeze and drain your core of mana until you expend everything except the last drop of it. If we were to put it into numbers, I would ask you to use 99.99% of your mana reserve." The ball of energy suddenly stopped absorbing energy and then waves of energy issued forth from it, washing over Harry like waves at sea. With each wave, the ball dimmed, until the ball, still enlarged, looked almost like an empty spherical husk with only the barest of light glowing within.
"You must remember to never fully drain your core, master. Doing so can be… extremely painful, and recovery will take far longer than it would otherwise."
"Duly noted," Harry said. He was not so sure if he had the ability to properly gauge the amount of mana left in his core, but he would do his best to avoid depleting it anyway.
Morrigan banished the ball away and clasped her hands together on her lap. "Do you have any questions, master?"
Harry leaned forward slightly. He had many questions, but only one that he wanted to ask at that very moment.
"When can we begin?"
-=H=-
If Harry had to describe the experience of cultivating, he would say it was similar to breathing while solely using a third lung. Except you could breathe in for ages and didn't really need to breathe out. You could also feel the threads of 'air,' or in this case mana, that you were 'breathing' in from your surroundings.
It was a very surreal experience, and one that took some time to get used to. Despite the strangeness of how it felt, largely because it was new and unfamiliar to him, he could not deny that it also felt exhilarating. He literally felt more energized and vitalized.
He was in a seated meditative pose—you could technically cultivate in any pose you wished, but some poses were easier and more conducive to the practice—with his legs crossed beneath him and his arms folded at his sides so that his hands were close together, palms up, in front of his abdomen.
His physical posture and state in such a way made it easier for him to guide mana into himself from his surroundings. That had honestly been the most difficult part about it at first. The reaching out to the ambient mana and then pulling it into himself to absorb it.
It took him some time to really get it, and Morrigan was extremely patient with him, but once he did finally grasp the technique, it became easier as the minutes ticked by. Soon, he had a steady stream of mana flowing into his core, which he could feel was already slowly swelling from the influx of mana.
He dove into his inner space—he wasn't sure what to call the space that housed his core—and was satisfied at the sight of streams of energy flowing like whirling threads from the far reaches of space and towards the transparent sphere that represented his core.
Harry wasn't sure for how long he cultivated for that first time around, but when he finally opened his eyes, Morrigan was nowhere to be found. Surprisingly, despite having been in a seated position for a while, his body didn't feel sore or ache at all. In fact, he felt revitalized, as if he could jump up and run a marathon right then and there without much trouble at all. Maybe even two marathons.
With a shake of his head and a toothy grin of excitement, he quickly stood and stepped out of the shelter.
He was greeted by an ocean of stars overhead, with the faint brush strokes of space clouds—he still didn't know what the proper term was for it, but it seemed appropriate—running across the night sky. The only sign of the moon was the barest sliver of silver, as the previous night had been a new moon.
A cool, gentle breeze washed over him, and he breathed in the fresh air happily. He wasn't sure if he was simply imagining it, but the act of cultivating had somehow made him feel slightly more… connected to the world. It was hard to properly describe, but that description seemed appropriate enough.
"Morrigan?" he called out, glancing left and right but finding no sign of the incarnation of Death. His incarnation of Death.
The thought of her existence and the fact that she was pledged to him was still somewhat unbelievable. A small part of him still thought this might be some fever-dream induced in the last seconds of his life, and that he would finally wake up in the afterlife, or perhaps simply fade away into nothingness.
He shivered at that thought. Ceasing to exist… he decided he didn't want to think about that at all right now. Or ever, really.
"Morrigan?" he called again, louder this time. "Where has she gone off to?" he wondered aloud as he walked around the shelter and still found no trace of her.
She could have at least left a note or something, he thought.
When he stood once more in front of the entrance to the shelter, for it was not a door but merely a cloth draped over the door frame, he turned around once more to look out across the vast forest below. He noticed movement and a flash of white. It was coming from above the treeline.
Harry squinted. Something was skimming across the tops of the trees and heading straight for him. He tensed, his body automatically lowering itself slightly to prepare for any sudden movement he might want to execute. The Elder Wand appeared in his right hand.
As the approaching figure drew close enough for him to make out their features, he relaxed as he recognized it was Morrigan. With impressive speed and dexterity, she was hopping along the tops of the trees as she made her way back to him.
Eventually, she jumped high into the air at the edge of the forest right beneath where their makeshift shelter was. She jumped so high that Harry knew she had to have used some special skill to accomplish it, or more likely it was magic of some sort.
Morrigan spun in the air and landed as gracefully as an acrobat on her feet in front of him. She looked to be none the worse for wear despite having run along the top of the forest for what seemed like a mile or more in a matter of seconds.
She smiled at him, and he once again found himself drawn to her. That smile really made her even more attractive.
"Greetings, master. You came out at the perfect time," she said.
"Hello, Morrigan. I just finished cultivating, and let me tell you, I feel amazing right now! I didn't—" he paused, her words finally registering. "Wait. Perfect time for what?"
"I brought you a gift, master," she told him with a bow.
"A gift? What gift?" he asked eagerly. Perhaps she was going to give him a powerful tome full of ancient spells of terrible power? Or maybe a magical weapon that could even put Godric's Gryffindor's Sword to shame?
"I brought you your first training aid, master," she said, sounding pleased with herself.
Harry blinked several times. "A… training aid? What kind of training aid?"
At that moment, a mighty roar sounded as the trees shook in the direction that Morrigan had come from. Something was out there, and it was headed straight for them.
-====H====-
