33 The Divine

Harry left Dumbledore's office and went to have some food in the kitchen.

He then got to his dorm and sat down in meditation. He needed to reflect on his current scenario and then start making plans for the future.

It was a surprise to know that what he had awakened as a Patronus was a divine spirit. Although he shared Dumbledore's enthusiasm over it, he was sure that he wasn't the only one who had awakened a divine spirit in the past thousands of years. He was almost sure that the four founders had done it and so had Merlin. There was no way that only Rowena Ravenclaw obtained a divine spirit among the four as that would put her on a level higher than the other three. But if the history of the magical world has taught us anything then it is that all four were equal in terms of their magical prowess. They might be more specialized in certain aspects which might have been influenced by their Patronus, but eventually, they were all on the same level.

Rowena most definitely awakened Apollo's Raven.

Slytherin might have awakened some form of snake spirit. It could be a basilisk or something similar to Ouroboros from Norse mythology.

He couldn't be sure of the exact divine spirit it originated from but it could be the fabled Ouroboros, child of Loki, the Norse God of mischief and magic.

This was the reason why Slytherin was considered to be the most cunning and accomplished in magic out of the four. The feats he had achieved and his legacies were alive even to this day as compared to the other three founders. Maybe he was somehow influenced by Loki on a certain level.

Then came Helga Hufflepuff. She was the most 'normal' of all founders and her symbol was the badger. He could only assume that it had something to do with the Japanese 'Tanuki' as they resemble very closely. It also has some references in Norse Mythology. Even her name is derived from the old Norse 'Heilagr' meaning 'Holy' or 'Blessed'.

She embodied the spirit of the badger to the letter and Hufflepuff is the only house that doesn't have any strict criteria for student selection.

The last one is obviously Godric Gryffindor. His symbol was the Lion. There are numerous mentions of lions in various mythologies. Especially the eastern countries like India, Japan and China have a lot of mythological significance of a lion. So, it could be derived from one of those.

Godric also showed the characteristics of a true lion and was a brave and courageous knight. His sword is one of the most prestigious artifacts in the magical world and one of the few that have extremely strict qualifications regarding a wizard's character attached to its usage.

Not to mention Merlin who for all intents and purposes, could be considered the strongest wizard to date. His very name is synonymous with magic.

He was an adviser and tutor to the then king of Briton, Arthur Pendragon. According to stories, Merlin was somehow involved with dragons. His magical prowess definitely attributes to the fact. There is no account or recorded history to support this notion but Harry had his suspicions on this matter because of a small story he heard in his previous life about Merlin.

The story states that one night when Merlin was gazing at the night sky with Uther Ambrosius, father of Arthur, they saw a comet in the sky with its tail in the shape of a dragon. After looking at it, Merlin informed Uther of the death of his brother, Aurelius Ambrosius, the then king of Briton due to poison.

This effectively made Uther the new king. Since then the surname of Uther was also changed to Pendragon.

Thus, Harry believes that the dragon-shaped comet was actually Merlin's Patronus that informed him of the news of the king's death.

Even after the four founders, there have been many great wizards who left their mark in history. Even the founding ancestors of the ancient noble families of Black, Malfoy, and the likes could also have awakened divine spirits. Although the chances are extremely slim for it to happen, its still a possibility.

Thus, Harry didn't let the awakening of his divine spirit get to his head and instead started thinking of how to make the best use of this unexpected gift.

The Patronus has its own uses but they are not of much use when it comes to direct combat. So he will have to somehow figure out a way to harness the power of the divine spirit and use it in his magical training.

Since the owl was related to Athena, it was convenient for Harry as Athena was considered the smartest of all the twelve Olympian gods and made all the strategies for Zeus and his pantheon. She was also one of the best combatants, second only to Ares in close combat and trained with the Amazonian warriors. Her personality and intellect made her a force to be reckoned with and was one of the few gods who no one wanted to mess with. Her rage was unparalleled and only an idiot would want to get into the bad books of the goddess of wisdom and strategy.

All these features were very suitable for Harry.

But all these were more of a character trait which would manifest over time. Harry didn't have that much time to slowly embrace Athena's legacy.

He needed to get strong quickly and his Patronus was not going to be of much help.

"Hoot...Hoot..."

Suddenly Harry snapped out of his thoughts by the hooting of the owl.

He realized it was Hedwig that was calling him and it looked a little-pissed off. In all his musings, he had forgotten to feed it so Hedwig seemed a little angry at Harry.

Harry laughed at Hedwig's antics and fed it quickly.

"Sorry, my friend. I didn't mean to forget you or anything but it was really crazy today and I completely forgot about you. Please forgive me."

"Hooooot...Hoooot" hooted Hedwig and nodded at Harry while rubbing its face slightly at Harry's palm.

"Haha, thanks, buddy. Here, let me show you something interesting."

Harry raised his palm and a bluish light started coming out of it. It slowly took the form of his Patronus owl.

The moment his Patronus was formed, Hedwig started fidgeting badly and started trying to escape its cage towards the illusionary owl. It was like something had possessed it and it could no longer control itself. The Patronus also looked towards the agitated owl in the cage and its eyes gleamed with intelligence.

Harry had no idea what was happening but he didn't plan on intervening for now. His instincts were telling him to let it happen.

He still put up a few wards to stop any prying eyes from looking at the scene.

At this time, the Patronus shot towards Hedwig at a speed which even startled Harry. He didn't think a simple Patronus could attain such speeds.

But he put it out of his mind since what he saw next blew his mind.

The Patronus little owl directly slammed into Hedwig and disappeared. Harry thought there would be some kind of a fight or struggle but there was nothing. As both the owls collided, there was a slight flash of light and then Hedwig froze on its spot.

There was no sign of his Patronus anywhere and if he didn't have a link to it, Harry would have thought that the Patronus was unsummoned.

But he could feel that the little owl was still there and it was in fact 'inside' Hedwig.

Harry didn't know what to do or what exactly was happening at the moment.

After a few seconds, Hedwig started moving again.

Harry watched the bird intensely and discovered a slight difference. Even though the bird still looked like Hedwig, it was not his original Hedwig.

There was a slight gleam in its eyes now and a trace of intelligence that was absent before.

Those eyes now looked more like his Patronus rather than Hedwig's.

As this thought crossed his head, he felt as if a lightning bolt had gone off in his head.

"No way, it's not possible. There is no freaking way something like this could ever happen" mumbled Harry as he tried his best to understand the situation.

He had an idea about what exactly happened here but the idea was so absurd that he could not accept it.

But then he remembered about his own story and calmed down. His situation was also somewhat similar to Hedwig and the little owl. So, if it was possible for a soul to cross over to a fictional magical world and occupy a body then why can't the same happen to an owl divine spirit to descend from some kind of divine realm and possess Hedwig.

At this point, Hedwig looked at him and hooted with joy. Harry approached the cage and opened it. Hedwig flew out and settled on Harry's outstretched arm.

Harry patted its head and just as his palm touched Hedwig's head, a light flashed as Harry felt his mana circuits start on its own. His mana was sucked out at a staggering pace and Harry felt dizzy in his head due to losing a lot of his mana so quickly.

After a few seconds, the phenomenon stopped and Harry took a few deep breaths while activating his mana veins to absorb mana from his surroundings. Ten minutes later he felt he could stand properly without falling down face first.

So, he opened his eyes and looked around curiously to find out what exactly happened to Hedwig. Harry knew the amount of mana that was absorbed from his body wasn't something to scoff at. So, he was really curious regarding the outcome resulting from so much mana.

He turned his head and saw Hedwig or someone he could only assume was Hedwig.

The owl was completely snow white from top to bottom without a single blemish. The size was still similar to Hedwig but it somehow seemed a bit younger.

The eyes were now completely golden and on top of its forehead was a golden patch which Harry assumed was something like a 'crown' appearing in some mythological birds. This patch would eventually get bigger as the golden feathers would grow as Hedwig gets older and in the future look like a golden crown on top of its head.

Also, there was a slight shine on its white feathers that made it look more ethereal than material.

Harry could sense a slight illusionary aspect to the bird, almost as if it could disappear anytime.

He was truly stunned at the new Hedwig and reached out to touch it.

Hedwig also looked happy seeing Harry treated it the same way as before so it flew elegantly to Harry and rubbed its head on his arm affectionately. As Harry touched Hedwig, he could feel a tremendous amount of mana flowing inside its body.

It had a similar mana signature as his own but it also contained something 'more'. Harry couldn't put his finger on what it was but he sensed a kind of presence from it that made him want to prostrate himself before it. He snapped out of it and controlled his mind before that feeling overtook his conscious. He realized that it must be the 'divine' element from the Patronus owl.

Harry had never felt anything like it before and could only yearn to one day be able to reach that level.

At this moment he realized a problem. He had no way to hide the 'divine' bird from others. It was definitely going to cause a lot of so-called 'traffic jams' if he were to go out with the current Hedwig.

"What should we do now buddy? We can't let others see you like this. Even Dumbledore might be tempted to somehow keep you for himself not to mention other dark wizards. Hell, I would not be surprised if Lucius Malfoy would find a way to involve the ministry to commandeer you from me on the grounds of 'safety of fellow students' and me being an underage and all. Pretentious jerk!"

Hedwig hooted lightly as if he understood Harry's predicament. Suddenly there was a bright flash and Hedwig flew towards Harry's chest and disappeared. Harry was struck with a sudden jolt and immediately sat down in meditation.

He opened his magic eye and looked inside himself. This time he saw a different picture as compared to earlier regarding his aura.

It was still colorless but there was a slight golden tint to it on its edges. Harry assumed it was the 'divine' element he might have received from Hedwig. He had no idea what element it truly was or how it was useful as compared to other normal elements but it must something extraordinary if it is related to a divine spirit. That's why he decided to call it the divine element for now and when he figures out more about it then maybe he will rename it.

He then concentrated on his mana veins and found a golden mass on what could only be called as his mana core.

'Guess I broke through some kind of a realm if this mana core is any kind of an indication. Didn't expect the divine spirit to have so many advantages. Makes me really curious as to what else is it capable of' thought Harry as he kept checking the golden mass covering his mana core.

It was slowly assimilating with his mana core tinting his mana with a golden sheen.

Moreover, inside the core, he saw a figure similar to an owl. It was trying to suck in the golden mass inside his core with every breath. Although there was not much change right now, Harry felt a little different every time that gold tinted mana flew through his veins. It was like there was a warm liquid flowing inside his body and a feeling of pure ecstasy emerged from his heart.

He could see the golden mana 'fixing' the insides of his mana veins. He didn't realize that there was so much damage from his training. If he hadn't fixed it now then in the future it would have become a huge problem for him. This realization scared him and he knew that he would have to rethink his training methods if he wanted to reach the so-called 'divine' stage.

As he kept rotating mana inside his body, he finally figured out one of the effects of the divine element.

It was something related to healing and enhancement. Although light and wood element also had similar effects regarding healing, the divine element had a more enhancing effect on the injured areas. This was a godsend to him as he would no longer have to tone down his training and he could even increase the intensity. As long as he could get through the pain, his divine element would heal him and help him remain in his best form all the time.

Although he would have to figure out to what extent he could push his body before he attempted anything crazy, it still made him excited over the prospect of being able to train endlessly and get stronger much faster than he had planned.

At this point, he shifted his focus on the owl lying inside his mana core. He understood that as the Patronus merged with Hedwig, it gained a new type of life and after merging with his mana, it was now in a kind of symbiotic relationship with him. The owl could use his mana core to get stronger and in turn, make him stronger by giving him the divine element.

Also, Harry could see his mana core turning golden as more and more of that golden mass covering was inhaled by Hedwig inside the core.

So, Harry hypothesized that the moment all the golden mass was inhaled inside his core, he would truly gain the divine element and would no longer be dependent on Hedwig for it.

It was an amazing feeling to be able to see your body getting stronger by the second using a method that no one had used before.

Or maybe someone had thought about it but couldn't find any way to actually do it. He even thought of a few possible explanations for that but for now, he needs to go eat something.

He didn't think it was already time for dinner. He had been training for hours now without even realizing it. But the feeling of pure joy from his recent cultivation really made him feel amazing.

No wonder in those xianxia novels people could cultivate for years at a time without getting bored.

This feeling of improvement really is addictive.

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Note:

The updates are still going to be a bit erratic. I was able to finish this chapter so thought of publishing it but can't say about the time for the next one.

But, again, I am NOT dropping the novel so please don't give up on me.