"Parseltongue/Dragon tongue"
"Normal talk"
'Thoughts/Soul channel'
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"Can Dumbledore use Phoenix Flash now that you've broken your bond with him?"
'Don't you remember Salazar Slytherin's instructions on your ritual?' Fawkes inquired tiredly, making Harry slow down.
He was running circles in the Hogwarts grounds.
Staying cooped up inside the chamber all day had become both painful, as it constantly reminded him of his time spent with Sal, and lonely…
Apparently, his snake familiar and the phoenix weren't the greatest company.
'So, I'm a bad company huh?' the phoenix asked and dived into Harry's hair.
Harry wasn't impressed as the bird made itself comfortable upon his head.
'You know, your hair could act as a pretty good nest,' the avian snarked.
Mostly unbothered by the ancient creature's antics, Harry picked up his pace and contemplated on his words.
His mind drifted to the letter for the ritual.
.
Having in mind that you wish for 'the most potential and destruction', I've designed this ritual.
My initial idea was to create a ritual similar to the one I underwent, granting you the ability to speak in the dragon tongue. However, I quickly shot the idea down. I concluded that as you are able to speak in parseltongue and the fact that the ritual won't utilize the most of the sacrifices you'll make, it'd be wiser to aim for something else.
And that's how the idea of my magnum opus was born.
Think.
Imagine.
What's the best way to connect all of the sacrifices that you are willing to offer?
The basilisk venom and the phoenix tears are neutral, they could be used with the same effectiveness for most things.
If you are reading this letter then you also have a dragon's body, slain by you and claimed with magic. Need I inform you of all the wonderful abilities that the said dragon had?
You then have an imitation of Ash's magical sense and lastly, a dark lord's horcrux.
I should note that any ability you get from a familiar is permanent, that's why you can use it in the ritual. It's also one of the reasons that familiars don't usually break the bonds with their masters as they suffer heavy backlashes because of that.
Sadly, bonding with Fawkes didn't appear to cause you any physiological changes that we could take advantage of.
Considering all that, I've come up with this.
I'll make you an Abyssal Reaver, and to be precise, the Abyssal Reaver.
Now, hear me out, I've not gone mental just yet.
You've slain the last of the dragon's kind, erasing it from the face of the earth, and magic is probably not happy with that.
You wanted power and potential right?
Why not go all the way then?
The ritual will use an animagus rite variation as a base, followed by my own creation in the end.
You'll start the animagus ritual on the waking of the winter and conclude it on the twenty-first day of December, after three sets of seven days. The magic build-up, bundled with the winter solstice should be just enough for the ritual according to my arithmancy calculations.
You may wonder, will you be able to talk in dragon tongue then?
The answer is yes and no.
As you'll be part dragon, you'll of course be able to speak the tongue. However, unlike parseltongue, you won't have the innate ability to do so fluently.
You'll need practice, decades of practice…
I digress though.
While being able to turn into a fire-breathing monster would no doubt be useful, that won't be enough to slay the likes of the dark lord.
A big and strong target is not what you require, no.
You need finesse, power and skill.
That's why I tweaked the animagus ritual so you can share most of your other side's abilities while in human form, specifically your senses.
And that's where your other sacrifices come into play.
The venom, empowered by the phoenix tears both in your system and whatever Fawkes would manage to shed while you are chanting and declaring your offers, will be used to push your innate ability as a wizard to sense magic as well as the one granted to you by Ash.
The Horcrux, offered to Death, will strengthen your soul, deepening your connection with the world and magic.
The goal of the ritual will be to make you as intimate with magic as possible, granting you an unparalleled control and sense of magic.
Now about the finer details…
.
"So Dumbledore can still flash around, that's not very nice. What about the backlash thing? Did you have one after breaking your bond with Dumbledore?" the young man asked.
'Of course I did, but I'm a phoenix. There's nothing I can't heal from,' Fawkes answered from its comfy bird nest.
'I'm surrounded by narcissists…' Harry thought behind his occlumency shields, lest the two creatures catch him.
'So was that why Your Majesty didn't stay after delivering this poor peasant to the chamber?' Harry asked seriously.
'Sigh. That was one of the reasons, yes,' mumbled the fiery avian, getting two laughs in the soul channel.
'Ash, are we good?' Harry asked.
'Yes. Dumbledore is sitting in his office. No, wait… He started walking back and forth,' Ash supplied from inside the chamber.
He was curled in front of the fireplace with the marauders map laying open in front of him.
That's how Harry was able to safely walk around Hogwarts, without the chance of stumbling on any professor, particularly the demented headmaster.
Needless to say, he also had his invisibility cloak within arm's reach.
'Probably trying to come up with another dubious plan for me. I wonder what is it this time?'
None of his companions chose to answer, not feeling as amused as he himself did.
'You are nearing the Veela,' suddenly came Ash's voice in his mind.
That was another surprising bundle of information…
After the task, Harry continuously probed Ash about the weird feeling he was getting from the girl.
Eventually, the snake broke and very reluctantly informed Harry about Fleur's nature.
'The wench used her charm and mesmerised me,' Harry thought, not for the first time, getting low hisses as Ash was trying to compose himself in the chamber, and an amused trill from his head.
Harry couldn't understand what was so funny about the situation.
'Personally, I think it's despicable and kinda scary. I don't get why you guys laugh every time I mention it…' he said, getting even stronger reactions in response.
Annoyed, Harry continued his jog, trying to find the girl.
'Am I getting there?'
'Yeah, she's just ahead of you,' Ash managed to wheeze out amidst his laughter.
Harry vigorously moved past the trees and bushes that were in his way until he spotted the girl.
She was sitting on a big white towel with an open basket on her feet.
She was having a damn picnic!
She was also turning her head towards him…
Deep blue eyes met sparkling green.
Harry's heart may have missed a beat.
"Just the bewitcher I was searching for," Harry half shouted prompting the girl to tilt her head in confusion, dissolving her previously set up bun and making her silver hair sway with the wind.
Despite the unmistakable anger that seeped in his voice, Harry couldn't help but marvel at her serene scene, which only made him more annoyed.
'Are my occlumency shields not existent or what?'
"What do you mean?" came Fleur's singsong voice.
Why was the boy angry at her? Had she unknowingly wronged him or caused a misunderstanding?
'Wait, he said bewitcher, then that means…'
Fleur's soft features became sharper as she realised what she was being accused of.
"So you learn that I'm a Veela and the first zing zat you do is find me and accuse me of seducing you? You are pathetic if your will is so little zat you can't even stay unbozered by the allure I passively exude," she said with a scowl.
It was Harry's turn to feel insulted as the French girl gracefully got up from the ground, standing a tad taller than him.
That was annoying.
"That little will you are talking about, recently went against the Abyssal Reaver's dragon fear and didn't even flinch. There's no way that your passive allure could ever bother this little boy," he said sarcastically and pointed at himself.
"Then why did you come 'ere and start throwing your accusations if you are so mighty? And do you honestly zink I am so vain as to use my heritage to seduce a schoolboy of all zings? I was planning to keep my word and invite you to Pré-au-Lard since, despite your score, you definitely earned the first place in the task. 'owever, I'm so glad zat I didn't."
With that, the French reached for her wand and cast a few wordless spells, tidily packing her belongings on the fine towel she was previously relaxing on.
With one last swish, the towel started folding on itself until it shrank down to a pebble one might find on a road.
Fleur then bent down and picked it up, stashing her belongings inside her jeans' right pocket. Harry's heartbeat slightly sped up as the girl's many assets got accentuated from the action.
"I'm so disappointed in you, 'arry Potter. I thought zat because you didn't droll over me and didn't try your best to impress me like all the other male buffoons in existence, you would be different. I was wrong," she said swiftly, shaking her head.
To say that Harry was surprised by Fleur's words would be an understatement. The conversation wasn't going at all how he imagined it.
"Wait, did you really not use your allure on me?" he asked perplexed.
Why was he feeling the warm and fuzzy feeling when she was around then?
"You still don't get it? Need I spell it out for you? No, I never used my charm on you, nor on anyone else for zat matter!" she shouted angrily and cutely, in Harry's opinion, stomped her foot.
Was the boy thick in the head?
'She's serious,' he belatedly realised, 'then what's the feeling?' he questioned baffled.
Thankfully, for both of the parties, Fawkes chose that moment to announce his presence and join the fun.
Trill, trill.
Harry felt the tension on his shoulders burn away and Fleur calmed down considerably.
'Merde. How did I not notice the phoenix sitting on his head?' she wondered incredulously, eyeing the magnificent avian.
The song was imbued with a radiant warmth that stirred Fleur's heart and soul.
Fawkes was trilling a song of hope, of endless possibility, trying to lift both of the teen's spirits.
'I must have been more angry that I realised…' she mused as she visibly relaxed.
'Though to be fair, it's not every day that I find someone who can see me for who I am and has the potential to be friends with me. Come to think of it, the last time someone met both of those criteria was when little Gabby was born…'
Both boy and girl stood unmoving in the clearing as the phoenix kept trilling to its heart's content.
After some time, Fawkes had reluctantly taken off from his comfortable nest and flew around in circles, allowing the champions to continue their talk.
He was still letting out some musical cries here and there.
"Sigh. I'm sorry for my outburst Fleur… It's just, as soon as I learned that you are a Veela, I immediately assumed the worst of you, which is pretty ironic as I hate when people act in the exact same way towards me," he said in a low tone.
Thinking back on both his actions and thoughts, Harry couldn't understand why he acted the way he did.
'No tact or research. I simply got something in my head and I acted without thinking… Salazar just left for fuck's sake and my Gryffindor brashness wants to come out and play?' he mused disappointedly.
Fleur, who was now sporting a smile and was considerably calmed down due to the still-going phoenix, narrowed her eyes at him.
"Sigh. One last chance. Next weekend, we'll go to 'ogsmead and see 'ow it goes. I'll wait for you by the castle's entrance," she replied, her voice taking back in its angelic tone.
"Thank your majestic phoenix," she added when she noticed Harry's pleased expression.
With that said, the Veela turned around and left, though not before throwing a mildly flirtatious wink at Harry.
"Woah," he gasped when she walked far away to not hear him, his eyes were still on her leaving form.
'Your ability to constantly pull miracles off your arse never ceases to amaze,' Ash barbed through their bond; Fawkes was keeping the snake updated.
'I don't remember you ever mentioning a snake lass. Are you just jealous? I suppose your charms that you keep babbling about are all talk,' Harry mocked the snake
Did snakes even flirt?
'You'll find that my charming skills are second to none. If you need proof, simply ask this master for guidance and you shall know the correct way of flirting,' he said, prompting both Harry and Fawkes to do the mind equivalent of a palm.
'Oh, and speaking of jealous people, your pal Malfoy is heading towards your direction. You may want to know that he was close enough to have seen your encounter with the human girl you are so fond of,' Ash supplied.
Harry wistfully ignored the snake's remarks and briefly considered pulling out his cloak and disappearing as he felt a weak magical signature grow closer to him.
"Hey, Scarhead! I just saw you begging the French champion about something, though I didn't quite catch it. Were you trying your luck for the yule ball?" Malfoy inquired with his ever-present scowl marring his features.
'It's been a while since I had some fun with Draco,' he mused.
As expected, Harry soon felt two more magical signatures, that were even weaker than the previous one, coming in his magic sense range.
Crabbe and Goyle, the ferret's two bodyguards.
"Why, do you perhaps want to try your own luck instead?" Harry asked calmly, making Draco let out a mirthless laugh.
"What, with that half-human? No, I'll leave her to your filthy half-blood hands. Although I doubt you can achieve anything, she's way out of your league," he sneered.
"Whatever you say, though you wouldn't stand a chance either. She did call you a buffoon after all," Harry said unbothered and mixing the truth.
Sadly, Malfoy didn't seem to share his control of emotions and became beet red.
"You dare?" he threatened.
"Dare what? Call you a buffoon, you overgrown ferret?" Harry mocked, enjoying himself.
"I'll tell my father about this, you monster-loving fool," Malfoy announced with a smug look on his face.
"Please do, and you know, it's funny how you mentioned love. After all, your parents wouldn't know anything about it. See, I learned that Auntie Narcissa had a prearranged marriage to dear old Lucius and that she also wasn't the biggest fan of the idea at the time. I also doubt that her thoughts changed over the years. Luckily for her though, my godfather, Sirius Black as you no doubt know, is the current Lord Black, meaning he can annul and update all contracts with his family. It also doesn't surprise me that you don't actually know anything about Veelas," Harry informed his cousin benevolently.
"Shut up!" cried the blond, glaring daggers at him.
"Oh? You want me to shut up, you inbred piece of shit? With a single letter, I can make it so that Narcissa Malfoy is no more. I can make you motherless," he threatened the boy, making him pale.
"You wouldn't dare," he eventually whispered.
"Try me, cousin. You may just end up like the dragon," Harry challenged, ready to take out his wand at a moment's notice.
'Aww, unlucky,' Harry thought as Malfoy threw him an angry glare before turning around and leaving.
'Wasn't expecting that,' he said amusedly to his two familiars.
[Break]
'There's another one coming your way,' Ash said through their bond.
'Bloody hell. They keep on coming, huh? Should I just come back to the chamber then? I think I had enough socialising for the day.'
'Oh, but you are going to love this one,' the snake said excitedly.
'Well, don't keep me in suspense,' Harry said with mock thrilledness, having sensed Ash's sarcasm.
'Why, it's your best friend, Ron — the traitor — Weasley,' he exclaimed, making Harry groan.
He knew what 'his friend' would do upon seeing him…
'I might as well get this over with,' he decided.
'Where is he right now?' Harry asked the snake.
If he were to start mingling with the Hogwarts populace again, he'd have to deal with certain people in person sooner or later...
'He just stopped walking on the great lake's perimeter. If you go straight there, you should see him. He's also not alone,' Ash helpfully supplied.
'Seamus and Dean,' Harry deduced, getting a mental nod from his navigator.
With a plan forming in his mind, Harry made his way to the lake.
Fawkes faithfully followed him from the skies, ready to intervene if needed.
Harry walked slowly as he wasn't in a hurry and let himself get immersed in the sights in front of him.
He hadn't noticed it before the task but the constant training and stress had taken a big toll on him.
'Now that living through these tasks isn't a fool's errand anymore, simply surviving doesn't feel enough,' he mused, taking a great deal of enjoyment from the breeze that caressed his face.
He let out a content sight and let his thoughts shift to his friends.
'I need to catch up with Hermione now that I can. God knows how much I must have worried her. I'll see if I can catch her outside the castle, preferably somewhere secluded. I could send Hedwig, though people would no doubt notice her presence and associate her with me.'
Despite not roaming around much, Harry had regularly made time to visit his snowy owl.
Needless to say, she wasn't too pleased when she learned that he moved to a place inaccessible to her and had made quite a fuss.
Thankfully, the recent letters he exchanged with his dogfather seemed to appease her ire.
'Speaking of Sirius, the man seems surprisingly dependable. I would have thought that Azkaban with all its dementors would have knocked a few of his screws loose in all those years, but apparently, his occlumency and his animagus form somehow managed to stave off the prison's worse effects,' Harry mused.
The man had informed him that he took residence in one of the Blacks' houses in London, specifically, the Twelve Grimmauld Place. He had also invited Harry to visit him whenever he wanted, though he emphasized that the boy should do so alone as the property's wards wouldn't allow anyone else in and would also be most unwelcome towards them.
'I wonder how is his rehabilitation going. I could go and check on him, it's not like there's anything stopping me,' he contemplated.
While his godfather may have escaped Azkaban with his mind intact, staying cooped inside a forsaken and gloomy house, as he called it, all without anyone to talk to didn't sound very healthy. Harry would know…
'We also have to deal with Dumbledore and his innocence,' he mused, stomping down the expected anger that rose within him from thinking about his esteemed headmaster.
'That can wait though,' he thought as he noticed the silhouette of a red-haired boy in his peripheral vision.
'There's Ron…'
Harry walked with a steady rhythm towards his old friend, his movements holding an unfamiliar grace that could rival the likes of Malfoys and the late Blacks.
It was one of the many things Salazar had taught him and he felt it'd be appropriate to utilise it for the occasion.
He didn't bother raising his occlumency shields as constantly depending on the mind arts wasn't the smartest thing to do.
'And I paid dearly for it with Fleur by acting like a fool,' he thought unhappily.
Sigh.
'A big fool,' Ash corrected helpfully.
Slightly shaking his head and muttering about not having any privacy, Harry focused his attention on the three boys who were sitting on the ground in front of him.
"Hello, lads. How do you do?" he asked, getting three exclamations of surprise when the boys saw who addressed them.
"Harry!" Ron shouted excitedly and got up, marching towards Harry.
"I was looking everywhere for you! Where did you disappear to? I wanted to tell you that I believe you now. I know that you didn't put your name in the goblet and I'm sorry for accusing you of such before," he revealed with a magnanimous smile, clearly expecting that Harry would accept his apology and everything would shift back to as it was before.
Alas, he was bound to be disappointed.
"Sigh. I'm sorry Ron but after the shit you pulled, I don't think we can be friends anymore. You broke my trust mate, and I doubt you can ever get it back," Harry actually answered.
He knew that he was being nice to Ron, extremely nice, by answering as he did, but he had enough of blowing up for the day.
Ron didn't share his worries…
"Huh? What are talking about mate? I said I was sorry, now hurry up and accept my apology so we can be best mates again," the redhead demanded with a confused look on his face.
Harry was about to throw him some rather unkind words, self-control be damned, but Ron wasn't finished yet.
"Enough about that though. Have you seen the French champion? You probably didn't see her in the task but she transformed into a bird! It's such a shame that she isn't human, you know? Otherwise, I'd have happily invited her to the ball with me," he said, sporting a perverted expression.
'What the fuck is wrong with him and why do these bastards keep calling Fleur a creature?' he wondered perplexed.
They had gone over Veelas with Hagrid in their last year and the man told them that despite common belief, Veelas were as much human as the rest of them.
Being a Veela wasn't a physiological trait, but a magical one.
'Just like parseltongue.'
Harry became lost in his thoughts, wondering if by that same logic, he could be considered a snake of some sort…
"What, don't you agree?" the confirmed imbecile asked him.
'Should I curse him?' he briefly contemplated, but ultimately decided against it.
Brushing his occlumency shields and taking a deep breath, Harry forcefully calmed himself down.
"Sorry, but I just remembered that I have somewhere to be… Lads," he nodded and turned to leave.
"Bloody hell. Harry!" Ron shouted at his back, not getting a reaction.
'I suppose I won't be talking to him again,' he concluded, widening the distance between himself and his old friend.
"Incanecrous!" the angry boy eventually cried, sick of Harry ignoring his pleas to stay.
Harry, thanks to his magical sense, felt the magic swirling and concentrating behind him before he heard the incantation.
By the time the spell had reached him, he easily stepped away from it.
"Are you serious, Ronald fucking Weasley?" he asked as he let his anger flow freely and eyed his aggressor.
"Even Malfoy realised that raising his wand on me after I slayed a bloody dragon, wouldn't be the smartest thing," he mentioned with a cold voice that was unfamiliar to Ron.
'I… How could I forget about that?' the redhead wondered, suddenly filled with an inexplicable fear.
A cold feeling of dread crept from somewhere and gripped him with its icy claws.
"Monster, you are a monster. You are turning dark," he muttered weakly, not meeting his friend's gaze.
His gut was telling him that were he to look at those green eyes, some terrible fate would befall him.
Thankfully, for all of the parties concerned, Harry reined his anger back in and took his leave, uncaring about the grim expressions the Gryffindors were now sporting.
'So it's either this, being accused of becoming a monster and a dark wizard, or the feeling of utter loneliness… Doesn't fate have something better in store for me?' he wondered sadly.
Achoo.
'I wonder who's thinking about me…?'
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Thank you Nuro for the sub :]
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