39 Awakened

Whether it was due to the pain I felt from the transformation or the shock of the transformation itself, my first flight was short-lived as extreme fatigue overwhelmed me, causing me to crash down soon after spreading my wings above the clouds. Falling back down through the sea of black, I landed in the forest, managing to collapse in the clearing I had initially transformed in. As exhaustion filled my senses, I plucked up my willpower giving my body, my blood, a command. Change back, change back to being human.

As this will filled my mind, my body responded and answered the call. My form shrunk down and I felt the wings in my back retract away alongside all other extra appendages. My arms that were scaly returned to my original skin colour. The process of turning from a dragon to a human was much smoother in comparison to when I turned from a human to a dragon.

Regaining my human form, I struggled to push myself to my feet. Looking down I noticed that my robes had been torn to shreds, I was standing in the middle of the forest naked. Using every ounce of strength I had, I dragged myself up over to the rock I placed the extension pouch within. As I reached in and grabbed the extension pouch, a looming thought arose in my mind.

My wand. What happened to my wand? I was holding it alongside the vial when I started the transformation. Did I drop it somewhere…?

Reaching into the extension pouch I took out some spare clothes I had prepared for a situation like this. Putting on the clothes I felt less vulnerable to the elements and nature. Sauntering over to the middle of the clearing I looked around for my wand I dropped. Surprisingly, I found it pretty quickly as the wand appeared to have a 'glow' to it.

Actually, now I took a deeper look at my surroundings, I could see similar glows surrounding me as if accompanying the winds that blew through the stormy forest. Compared to when I first arrived in this place, it suddenly seemed much 'brighter' due to these strange glows. I was curious about what they could be and I had some ideas surface in my mind. Yet as soon as those ideas appeared, I felt a headache come on as if to tell me I should just let myself rest instead, getting back to Hogwarts as soon as I could instead of spending my time any longer in this stormy forest. Reaching down for my wand, I checked it over for any damage and was relieved that it was okay. The vial that the Animagus potion was in though was shattered, small glass shards scattered across the ground in the centre of the clearing.

Crouching down and picking up one of the larger shards of glass, I noticed in the reflection that my eyes looked… different. Noticing this I grabbed a mirror out of my extension pouch for a better look and rose it to my face. A chilling sensation was sent through my spine as I looked at my visage. I looked the same but my eyes had changed... The colour which was originally a dark brown had turned to a dark purple, an incredibly mystical and even somewhat royal colour. My hair that was black originally, falling onto my shoulder on one side, now had a purple streak piercing through it.

My mind was rolling, trying to piece together what had just happened to me. So many thoughts and emotions clawing at my brain however I had to push them down, it would be better to think on these matters more when I'm back and safe in Hogwarts. Making sure I had everything on me, I went to cast the umbrella charm, to protect me from the still ongoing rain falling from above, just as I was about to do so though, I could hear groups of footsteps heading in my direction.

Considering how stormy and violent the weather still was, I was surprised my ears could even pick up on such sounds. All sorts of strange things were happening tonight… Reflexively I casted 'Furtim' forgoing the umbrella charm I originally planned to cast making myself invisible instead. Staring at the shards of glass on the floor, I noted that they would be a dead giveaway to the oncoming group that something had happened here, so I quickly picked up the shards before dashing off. Looking behind I saw a few people run into the clearing looking around with confused, careful and somewhat scared expressions.

"-You said you saw it fall here. You sure you weren't dreaming?"

"It wasn't just me! Others at Hogsmeade also saw the black silhouette fall from the skies… Not only that, the roars that resounded woke nearly everyone up!"

It was a party from Hogsmeade, I guess all my roaring had attracted some attention. Whilst they were distracted looking around the clearing and casting spells hoping to uncover something, I quickly ran off towards the path I had originally come from, taking a wide berth from the clearing I was originally in. Getting back to the path, I walked down it and back into the Hogwarts grounds which were eerily quiet despite the excitement that had just happened outside, countless Hogsmeade search parties were patrolling just outside of Hogwarts now due to my display, looking for whatever roared and fell from the sky.

Entering back into Hogwart's grounds, I felt exhaustion overwhelm my senses yet again as the feeling of being in the clear made me relax and mindful of my bodies state. Taking a moment to rest, I stared up at the dark clouds in the sky that were now parting, shining moonlight through the cracks onto the world below. Staring around the grounds I noticed that those same glimmers I had seen when picking up my wand were present all over. Strange lights flickering, as if part of the wind, carrying with it a strange yet familiar sensation. Hogwarts itself seemed to be a hub for these strange little lights as they gathered mainly around the castle…

What the hell happened to me… This was completely different to the Animagus transformation I had expected. Midway through the ritual I felt that a beast form was about to be obtained however those eyes, whether a spectre or real, forcefully denied that form and destroyed the Animagus ritual. After wrecking a months' worth of work it took over the ritual completely enacting a different kind of ritual. The form I had gotten was nothing like an Animagus form, it was more… real. It was as if this 'dragon' was connected to me not just by soul but by blood. Thinking back, the change started to happen in the ritual when my blood reached that boiling point, as if it was as furious as those purple eyes.

I would need to think about this all later. I was too exhausted to even surmise what had happened in my mind properly. Lingering thoughts and ideas scattering as soon as they surfaced showed that I was in a terrible state mentally after all the pain from the transformation. There was only one name in mind that linked all these weird happenings together. Considering what I found in 'his' vault, he is probably the main culprit of these events.

Merlin Emrys… he definitely wasn't a normal wizard.

.

[Irma POV]

It was unlike the headmaster to call us teachers to his office so early, usually he would leave it for much later in the day if a meeting was to be set. Then again, the roar that resounded throughout the castle grounds was not only noticed by us teachers but the students who were originally sleeping as well. Many were worried that a battle was about to occur, a rogue beast coming towards Hogwarts with malicious intent, but the roar came and went alongside the beast that uttered it.

Walking into the headmaster's office I saw all the other teachers had gathered. All standing around with confused, curious and concerned looks. Albus though kept his usual calm expression as he welcomed me in;

"Irma, thank you for appearing at such an early time. Now that you are here, we can get on with this sudden meeting"

"Did you call a meeting this early because of the roar from last night Albus?"

I looked towards the person who had questioned Albus, it was Septima Vector, teacher of Arithmancy. Albus nodded at Septima as he started to explain;

"As you all know that roar was powerful enough to be heard even within Hogwarts by not just us but the students as well. A search party from Hogsmeade was sent out to find what made the roar. I received a report earlier this morning, at dawn, that nothing was found…"

"Nuthin' found at all? Tha' roar came from a large beast clearly! How did they not find anythin'?"

Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper of Hogwarts added his own two sickles to the situation. He was furrowing his brow trying to piece together what beast it could have been. After all we only heard the roar here and never saw the beast itself. Hagrid was fond of beasts so his own curiosity was set alight, wanting to figure out what sort of beast it could have been.

"Well, Albus, what are we to tell the students today then? The families that this information spreads to as well? A powerful beast that can roar strong enough to be heard throughout the entirety of Hogwarts and its grounds... They are probably already making rumours and worrying about such a beast…"

Minerva, ever the thoughtful one. She acted stern towards the students of Hogwarts however she was probably one who cared about them the most. Her questioning Albus like this was a show of that care, wanting to supply the students with some sort of security, an 'answer', so they weren't worried about this 'beast' that had appeared. Albus stroked his beard, pondering for a moment.

"As I said, the people in Hogsmeade have been searching since last night and nothing has been found. Its safe to assume that whatever beast passed through here has already come and gone. As for what to tell the students Minerva, I shall address them all at breakfast in the great hall. If you could all also inform your classes briefly at the beginning of your lessons today about the matter that would be great as well"

The teachers surrounding Albus, me included, all nodded at his words. If we told the students that a wild beast had appeared so close to the castle walls it would threaten the security of our school. If that information spread to the parents of these students, they may deem Hogwarts unsafe, letting such a beast nearby the castle with no foresight of its appearance.

"It is rather peculiar though… A roar of that magnitude would have come from a large beast like Rubeus said. How was this beast not spotted coming towards our grounds, how did Hogsmeade village only spot it as it rose and fell from the clouds? It's as if this beast came and went with the wind…"

Voicing their thoughts next was Filius Flitwick who made some reasonable points. It truly was strange that such a beast appeared near our grounds and Hogsmeade undetected and disappeared with no sign all the same…

The result of Filius' words was a room filled in silence once again, everyone wondering what could have happened. None of us could come to a solid answer though. Albus raised his hand as to gain all of our attention and started to speak;

"The beast situation is something we will need to shelf for now… Such a phenomenon, its best to just let it rest than think on it too hard. We don't have enough information to make guesses after all. Hogsmeade explained that the beast's black silhouette simply roared into the sky and fell which isn't much to go off of. They were too far away to make heads or tails of what the beast actually looked like. I'd advise you all to just keep an ear out for any further developments around the grounds and not go guessing with what little information we have"

Everyone collectively agreed with Albus' words again. We didn't have enough information to make guesses. It was best to leave it be. The main purpose of this meeting was just to talk about how we should address this event to the students and those outside of Hogwarts if we were asked. I imagine that also included the ministry and reporters from newspapers that wanted to make stories surrounding the events.

"Sorry for waking you all so early, you may head back to your classes now- "

"One second Albus…"

"Hmm? What is it, Irma?"

I usually wouldn't speak in meetings like this but I felt the need to voice my opinions on something that happened recently within the school. A certain student that I had taken a liking to was the subject of bullying and we were told by Albus months back to leave that student alone, that he would look after him and ensure his safety within Hogwarts. Yesterday though, this same student that was supposed to receive protection was surrounded by Slytherins in one of Hogwarts' courtyards. All teachers nearby were informed that the situation was under control via a message from Albus himself, however after doing some digging of my own and overhearing some students gossiping later on yesterday, no teachers actually arrived at the scene apparently, despite his words.

"It's a question in regards to the event that happened yesterday with the student called Oz. I overheard that no teachers arrived at the scene despite your words telling us it was 'under control'…"

Albus furrowed his brow for a moment, looking over I also saw Severus showing a difficult expression. The other teachers in the room looked curiously on at the situation, surprised also by the fact no teachers appeared on scene when we were told that someone had.

"If this is true Albus, then why did you lie about the situation?"

All of our gazes landed onto Albus who stared back with a calm disposition. He stood up from his desk and let out a deep sigh with his arms behind his back.

"Do you all remember a few years back… The Descendant of Merlin was found. Nobody knew the name of this descendant though, the child appeared and disappeared in Diagon Alley as if a phantom…"

"I have reason to believe that Oz is that Descendant"

A few of the teachers started to mumble to each other as Albus spoke these words. Thinking about that boy, Oz, he never showed any extraordinary abilities that made me immediately link him as Merlin's Descendant. Throughout classes he always remained in the upper wrung as far as I was aware, one of the better students but he was never on a genius level, showing up everyone else. Then again, thinking about the times he visits the library and reads countless different books, there was always part of me that thought there was more to him than I initially guessed… was he actually the Descendant?

Just as Albus was about to speak further on the matter, Rubeus cut in with a booming voice;

"Wait a minute, Oz? Thas' the same name as tha' lad I saw in Diagon Alley soon after Merlin's Descendant was discovered!"

Albus eyes shone with a knowing glint, as if all the puzzle pieces were falling into place in his own mind with Hagrid's statement.

"Yes, Oz Osbourne… no, I guess his real name would be Oz Emrys. Me and Severus have been surveying him throughout the year wondering If he is actually the descendant… You can blame me for my wizened curiosity but a Slytherin Orphan truly is a rare sight, one that does not often appear due to the nature of that house. I wanted to understand who he was however he would always act evasive towards both myself and Severus, this led us to believe as the year progressed that the boy wasn't so simple…"

"He kept lowkey all year, he would divert conversations with Severus whenever Merlin was brought up and as Severus will put it, 'showed an annoyingly calm and dull face' whenever spoken to, 'As if he was either truly dumb to the matter or had everything playing in the palm of his hand'"

Severus over to the side of Albus' office let out a 'tsk' as he acknowledged that Albus was indeed not lying at all with his words.

"That sort of luring around in its own right was suggestive of Oz being smarter than his peers... at least in Severus' eyes he believed that Oz was purposely leading him in circles avoiding any talk on Merlin or his bloodline and family. Yesterday though, when Oz finally revealed that his talents are more so than he led us all to believe, he dismantled the Slytherin group of 11 easily in combat despite only being in his first year. This group was led by a fifth year as well, Zach Doreen, who despite his age and experience was suppressed by Oz easily. These two points linking, A Slytherin orphan with immense talent, added on top with Hagrid's words about Oz being present at the time of the descendant being found, literally the day after mind you, it solidified that he must be the descendant in my mind..."

Filius' jaw dropped for a moment as he started to speak;

"You're telling me he took on that many opponents? That's no easy feat even if they are just students. I'm a duellist and even I'd have some trouble with that amount of people attacking at once, even if their teamwork is shoddy. Also, if Oz was truly hiding his capabilities all year, does that mean he was purposely manipulating his results to be… wrong…?"

Everyone shuddered at the thought. If Oz had truly manipulated his own results as Filius suggested, that showed that this boy didn't just have immense talent but the foresight and intelligence to understand his position. He withstood a year of bullying to build himself up, getting used to magic before being ready to show his talents and in turn allowing himself to be exposed as Merlin's Descendant. It was a chilling thought, considering that he was only an 11-year-old boy. That foresight was unheard of even in some geniuses this school had created.

"I believe you are correct Filius. This boy can't be judged by normal means…"

Minerva to the side seemed to be furrowing her brow tightly and I found myself doing the same. All of this was well and good, finding out Oz is the descendant, but that doesn't just make the way they found out about this okay. Minerva finally reached a boiling point as she spoke in a cold tone;

"Albus, are you telling me you allowed this boy to be bullied just so you could discover if he was more than he seemed? You were that dead-set on discovering if he was the descendant or not that you allowed him to be ostracized? You told us months ago that the ongoing bullying of Oz was being sorted by Severus and yourself and that his protection was ensured!"

I felt myself get dragged into Minerva's flow as she said every word I was thinking. I started to speak after Minerva with a surprisingly chilling tone flowing from my mouth;

"Minerva's right Albus. Oz may be a genius, may even have a mindset way above his years, however you let this boy purposely get cornered in a courtyard just so you and Severus could satiate your curiosity on whether he's Merlin's descendant or not. If Oz wasn't proficient as you predicted, he could have been heavily injured by that group. What would you have to say then?"

Albus showed us both a guilty face as if he acknowledged that his actions were brusque. Severus also hid his face away for a moment, avoiding mine and Minerva's gazes.

"Irma, Minerva, you are not wrong with your words. I did plan to step in if Oz was truly going to be beaten up by those students and was on standby within range but I needed to know if he was Merlin's descendant or not. In the… future he will be a great asset to the school and an important one to boot considering his bloodline…"

Albus was silver-tongued as usual as he tried to worm his way out of any sort of guilt despite it being plastered on his face. Usually, he would be a lot smarter about these sorts of things, however there must have been some urgency to finding out Oz's true identity considering the crass actions he ended up taking here.

"I will give my own apologies to Oz in person… Now, if you could all disperse"

Albus seemed to want to push the situation along as he ushered us all out. Me and Minerva exchanged glances for a moment still angered by his actions, yet biting our tongues knowing that we had a whole school to address about last nights beast situation. Heading out of the office I heard Albus call out to Severus asking him to stay behind a moment. I couldn't catch their words as the door closed but I was sure it included the boy we were just talking about…