6 Headmaster Bumblebee and Professor The Brave

Dan sat at the table in Hagrid's hut, looking apprehensively at the tea the giant had placed in front of him. He didn't know if only water was hurtful to him, or if tea would burn his throat too, but he wasn't about to check.

Remus, along with Hagrid, told him about the wizarding world and Hogwarts, the school where he was supposed to study from the age of eleven. Wizards here hid from ordinary people, hiding their existence for the sake of safety. Dan felt that this was an extremely stripped-down history of this world, but he hoped he could learn more in the future.

"Right, headmaster Dumbledore and professor McGonagall will be here any minute, but in the meantime, I have a couple more questions." Remus said as he sat across from Dan. Hagrid chose to take his chair on the left side of the boy in the monster's body, while Snape chose to stand back from their conversation.

Dan waved his hand, giving his silent consent to further interrogation.

"Great," the werewolf smiled. "Your apparition ability, could you do it before you transformed into this form?" Seeing how Dan tilted his head in confusion, he clarified. "Teleportation would be the Muggle term."

"{No.}" If Dan had the ability to teleport, God only knows how he would use it. Most likely, he would have stolen enough money to be enough for the next thirty generations of Khromovs.

"Strange…" Remus muttered, "Did something unusual happened before your transformation?" He tried hard not to say anything about mortal danger, but he hoped Dan could read between the lines.

"{Yes.}" The werewolf sighed heavily, heard his answer, and a potential picture of events was already beginning to emerge in his head.

Danil, a young boy, lived his whole life without having the slightest idea about the gift inside him, without knowing about magic. Instead of receiving a legitimate magical education, he continued his life with no interest in the oddities going on around him. Having no control, one day when Danil was in danger, his magic broke out of his body, looking for ways to save the boy and turned him into this.

How long did he spend in the forest? How long has he been traveling alone…?

How long has he felt like a monster?

Dan, not knowing what Remus was thinking, was poking his finger into a large mug of tea with interest. He didn't feel like a human, right, but he didn't feel like a monster either. A bastard who wanted to kill a man just for looking him in the eye? Yes. A terrible monster that scares naughty children? Not at all.

Poking a mug full of tea was a dangerous game. At any moment, it could fall on his feet and cause incredible pain, but Dan didn't stop. He was bored.

"What about family?" Remus continued. "Parents, siblings, grandparents?"

Now Dan stopped. He tried not to think about his family, comforting himself with the fact that he didn't die in the previous world. Yes, another soul had taken his place, but it was still him. It was fine, other him couldn't mess up things too much.

Right?

So, he replied, "{No. They're gone and the path back is closed.}"

Remus nodded in understanding, as if sensing his loss. He decided not to ask about family ties anymore. Luckily, he didn't have to.

There was a knock on the door of the hut and two new faces entered. The first man in the most disgusting robes the world has ever seen. Dan already adored them. He was a tall, thin, very old man with silver hair and a beard - both so long that he could well have plugged them in his belt - on his wrinkled face were half-moon glasses, behind which sparkled bright blue eyes. But even despite his ridiculous appearance, which was more suitable for someone from a lunatic asylum, the old man felt dangerous.

Dan immediately guessed it was Dumbledore. A man with more titles than he needed.

Behind him came a tall, rather stern-looking woman with black hair gathered in a strict bun and wearing square, thin-rimmed glasses. There were a few wrinkles on her face, but Dan couldn't imagine that these wrinkles appeared from bright smiles, more from the stern and frown faces that she made when she reprimanded the students for yet another prank.

Minerva McGonagall was her name. A woman who is ready to rip and tear for her students, if not for the rules of the school and the laws of the Ministry.

"Gentlemen, I take it that young Khromov's return from the forest was successful?" Dumbledore asked with a smile, but froze when he saw Dan sitting at the table. "A-Arwen?" He asked and stepped back; his smile replaced by an expression of pure shock.

Minerva picked up the old man so that he wouldn't fall and also looked in Dan's direction. She quickly turned white, but did not take out the wand, seeing that all her colleagues were unharmed.

"{Who the fuck is Arwen?}" Dan asked in confusion, looking at the old man on the verge of a heart attack.

Dumbledore pulled himself together and shook his head. "I'm sorry about that, I confused you with someone else." Deciding that his strange reaction should be quickly forgotten, Dumbledore turned the conversation in another direction. "Danil Khromov, I presume?"

Dan tilted his head. "{You know the language I speak when I don't even know its name.}" He remarked. "{But yes, it is my name.}"

The headmaster looked at Dan sadly, apparently not even noticing that Minerva was trying to burn a hole in the back of his head. "Albus, what are you talking about?" She hissed.

"Well, this is our potential student." Dumbledore replied, pointing at Dan with his hand. Minerva just stared at him, silently telling to elaborate. "I think it will be helpful to hear what our professors have to say. After all, answering the same questions can be quite tiring, I know that very well."

The teachers spent the next half hour in quiet conversations – so quiet that Dan couldn't hear them – and the very subject of their conversation silently watched Mantis walk around the wooden table and look at the scenery of the house.

To be honest, Dan didn't expect to find civilization so quickly, or even be a guest in some sort of house. He was already mentally prepared to survive in the forest for as long as it took, but in the end, civilization found him first.

The knowledge that he was no longer just an Enderman, but also a wizard, hung heavily on his mind. Why did The Wanderer send him to the Magic World? What was wrong with other worlds full of magic? There must be a reason, something Dan couldn't see yet, something that slipped through his fingers like sand, leaving only specks of information on his skin.

Maybe The Wanderer just wanted to make his life harder? It was one of many worlds that Dan knew only minimal information about. Moreover, with such an appearance as he has now, it will be impossible to live in peace here. Someone will always see him as a threat to those around him.

'Dumbledore knows something,' thought Dan. 'Who could he confuse me with? The name Arwen is rare enough that I can probably find information about them. Or I wouldn't be able to find anything. Ask Dumbledore directly?' He looked towards the assembly of professors and frowned. 'I doubt it will work, but it's an option. I'll start with the old man, and then I'll find out where the library is.'

"I see." Finally, Dumbledore said and turned back to Dan. "What exactly happened to young Khromov remains to be seen, but first I want to test one theory. May I try an Animagus reversal spell on you?"

Minerva, seeing Dan's uncertainty, began to explain. "In order to understand what the headmaster is talking about; you need to know who the Animagi are. They are wizards who have excelled in the art of transfiguration and were able to achieve transformation into their inner animal. We suspect that this may be the case with you, and that you are currently in unfinished transformation. The spell Albus wants to cast, should return you to human form, if successful." Nodding his thanks to Minerva, Dan decided it was worth a try.

Dan got up from the table, almost hitting the ceiling with his head, and readied himself. He didn't want to instinctively teleport out of the spell's path like he had during the short fight before. "{Come on old man, but if I die, I'll haunt your wrinkled ass until the end of time.}"

"Ah, what I wouldn't give to be so young and brave again." Dumbledore chuckled back and a blue flare of light left his wand, hitting Dan the next moment.

Everyone looked at his condition with strained interest, but seeing that there was no change, the professors sighed heavily. How much easier it would be if Dan was an Animagus.

"Well, that was unpleasant- oh." Dan spoke and English came out of his mouth. His voice still sounded wrong, like he was trying to whisper loudly into a microphone with a strange filter. He grabbed his throat and continued to speak. "Testing? English works. {Testing?} Russian works. {Testing?} That too." He muttered.

Dumbledore and Hagrid beamed with interest. "How peculiar, my spell has technically returned you to your base form, but nothing has changed other than your vocal cords. Mr. Khromov, you are a very intriguing person."

Dan put his hands on the table, "Well, thanks. But what does that even mean? Am I an Animagus or not?"

Dumbledore glanced at Minerva as he weighed his answer. "From the results of the spell, yes, but something is preventing the spell from working successfully." Dan looked down at his claws, unsure what to make of it. "Don't worry, we'll try to find a solution to your problem. But now we need to discuss what you will do next."

Dan tilted his head in confusion, but quickly understood the problem. With his appearance, it will be very, very difficult to learn along with the rest of the students. "What are my options?" He asked.

Dumbledore thought about it, but while he was thinking, Minerva beat him to it. "I would suggest self-study with occasional advice from professors," she said. "Of course, we can offer you first or third year course, but in both cases, you'll have to hide behind either an invisibility spell or a heavy veil of charms that will make you look even remotely… human."

Again, the woman didn't want to hurt Dan with her words, but the additional reminder of his situation was unpleasant.

"We can always send Mr. Khromov back to Russia." Snape added. "If he wants it, of course."

"Fuck no!" Dan responded quickly, causing the professors to look at him strangely. "Do you even know what's going on in Russia right now? After the fall of the USSR, every politician with half a brain wants to tear off his part of the country. Hell, even right now there is a wave of shit going on in Moscow! I- what date is today?" Dan asked sharply.

Hagrid blinked a couple of times. "Err, the second of September."

"Yeah, no, I don't want to fall into the path of another revolution. Yeltsin and his team of idiots will storm the White House any day now." He muttered, turning over historical dates in his head. "I still don't count the magical part of things, which I don't know anything about at all. I'm sure there were magicians in the KGB and that the remnants of those fucking beasts will prey on spies. I'm not going to go to my death." He said firmly, glaring in Snape's direction.

"Language, Mr. Khromov." Minerva spoke automatically, but understood his point. "So, you will stay in this country, but this does not solve the issue of your education." She spoke.

Dan was silent. Before him was a very important decision that would form his future.

He can choose to stay in England and study at Hogwarts. But war was already visible on the horizon, which would begin next year.

Dan remembered something about other schools in France and Bulgaria- no, not Bulgaria, somewhere else. It was a good choice, but it contained a lot of uncertainty.

'What about other schools?' Dan thought, 'There's also the issue of money. I can always make investments based on my knowledge of the future, but this is a different world, things can go differently. I still have my knowledge of drawing and programming, but these hands will be difficult to work with.'

Dan took a deep breath. 'What should I do?'