Merlin's Solution

Hadrian had arrived home for Christmas Break. He'd be returning to Uagadou once the 3 weeks were over, but he had much to do before he would do so.

The day after his homecoming, Hadrian popped over to Merlin's room to ask him about the problems he'd been facing within his mindscape.

"Good Morrow, young Hadrian!", Merlin shouted as he saw Hadrian draw nearer to his painting.

"Morning.", Hadrian replied as he yawned and stretched his arms above his head.

"Well then, If I'm boring you already, I might as well not tell you about my adventures with the Sea Nymphs from Oceania!".

Hadrian deadpanned, "It's called Australasia now, and I came for another reason - I need your help with-..."

"Oh! So you didn't come here to talk. You just needed my help!", Merlin declared bitterly, "Fine then. Ask your stupid question..."

Hadrian rolled his eyes, "I don't think I want to now. I'll leave you on your own now, bye.", he said as he began to walk away.

"Wait!", Merlin exclaimed, "I don't think your questions are stupid. They are very thought-provoking and interesting and I would much rather listen to it than talk about my adventures with Sea Nymphs.", he hastily apologized, not at all sounding genuinely sorry, but rather choosing to instead of experiencing the pain of having no one to talk to.

Hadrian sighed and smiled knowingly, "That's what I thought."

Merlin scoffed mockingly, before disguising it as a cough, "...Your question then?"

"I need help with my mindscape, I keep encountering a barrier when I attempt to find out my Animagus Form."

Merlin stroked his beard, "That shouldn't be happening."

Hadrian tilted his head in confusion.

"What I mean is, I never experienced the same - and all Dragonlords have the same species as their form."

"Wait you mean - a Dragon is my Animagus form?", Hadrian asked in awe.

Merlin nodded smugly, "Of course! You should have easily been able to encounter the Dragon within you."

Hadrian frowned, "I read a book in the Uagadou library that said that I may be a Metamorphmagus if I was encountering a barrier in my mindscape. Does this mean I won't be able to use my Natural Animagus form?".

"A Metamorphmagus, you say? That shouldn't be too difficult. You'll just have to use the Blood Potential Ritual to awaken your Metamorph abilities. That should dispel the barrier and allow you to freely access the Dragon."

"Does it work on all Metamorphs? I mean, if another Metamorphmagus attempted the ritual and was successful, would they be able to access their Animagus form too?"

Merlin shook his head slowly, "I don't think so. The difference is the strength in magic and the constitution of the Wizard or Witch. A Half-Creature Metamorphmagus would be able to go through it, but a regular Metamorphmagus would not."

"...What about me? I've never shown powerful Metamorphmagus abilities. Maybe small things changing the length of my hair, or my eyes becoming brighter - but nothing to the extent my sister could do."

"Ah yes, your sister. She is a Full-Metamorphmagus, but she doesn't have the other traits that you do. At least, not yet."

"You think she could be a Dragonlord? Like me?...", Hadrian asked expectantly.

"There's a chance she could be.", Merlin nodded, "We won't know until she takes the ritual too, but for now - you and her are two different cases."

Hadrian nodded acceptingly, "You called it the... 'Blood Potential Ritual', so its creation wasn't originally for this purpose, right?"

Merlin grinned at his protege's perceptiveness, "Precisely! The Ritual does more than what I told you. It is used to awaken the talents in one's lineage. I developed this ritual to help awaken one of the hidden abilities from our race - Mage Sight."

"Mage Sight?", Hadrian inquired.

Merlin nodded, his eyes turned silver as he demonstrated his Mage Sight ability.

"Will I get that too?", Hadrian asked, almost pleadingly as he looked at Merlin's eyes with envy.

Merlin shrugged, "You may or may not. However, I guarantee you will either awaken as a Full Metamorphmagus or strengthen your Partial-Metamorphmagus ability. Either way, the barrier should dispel and if you're lucky - or your blood potential is very high, you'll be able to awaken other lost abilities."

Hadrian tightened his fist excitedly, before dropping them and glancing at Merlin trepidatiously.

"There's more..."

Merlin gestured for Hadrian to continue.

"When I was at Uagadou, there was a fortune teller and she...spoke some sort of Prophecy."

Merlin furrowed his eyebrows and frowned, "What exactly did this Prophecy say?"

"It said, 'I have chosen you, My Scion. He knows and will one day return. He will awake; the one he chose - the culprit. He will take back what was his...and so much more.'... And then she just continued chanting the word 'more' again and again."

"I can't help you with that Hadrian. Prophecies are often very vague and this one, in particular, is frustratingly so.", Merlin explained apologetically, noting the disappointment in Hadrian's face as he did so.

"...It, it's fine. What's another Prophecy when your already involved in one, ey?", Hadrian dryly remarked.

"You mean the one with that Moldywarts fellow?", Merlin replied.

Hadrian snorted with laughter, "Moldywarts!... That's a good one!"

Merlin looked at Hadrian, perplexed, "That's his name isn't it?"

"No!", Hadrian replied as he broke his laughter to reply, "His name...is Voldemort!", he finally said as his laughter subsided into small momentary chuckles.

"Same thing.", Merlin replied with a nonchalant wave.

Once Hadrian had stopped chuckling, he looked back at Merlin and asked, "...About my Animagus form..."

"Yes?"

"Well, can I see yours - just as a preview to what mine could be like?"

Merlin sighed, before nodding and shifting into his Animagus form.

Merlin's dragon form filled the frame of the painting, so he dutifully twirled around, showcasing his appearance to Hadrian.

His hide was a scarlet red color, with golden spikes and ridges around his back. His tail was long, also adorned with spikey ridges, and hooked at the end.

Merlin shifted back to his human form.

He glanced at Hadrian smugly, "Pretty handsome, aren't I?".

"That was amazing!", Hadrian declared in admiration, "What about just your wings this time?".

Merlin rolled his shoulders, before sprouting large, scarlet wings from back.

"The same as your Animagus form?", Hadrian noted.

Merlin nodded in confirmation, "As will yours be."

"I can't wait to do the ritual, when should I do it - and what do I need?", Hadrian asked, eager to make progress on his Animagus form.

"The ritual can take place any time you're ready, but you'll have to gather the things for the ritual - and trust me when I say, they're not very easy to find.".

Hadrian's head dropped sullenly until he heard Merlin continue speaking, "Nothing the Potter-Black fortune won't be able to counteract. I suppose you'll buy everything and find it within a week or two...Just send Charlus here and I'll give him a list."

Hadrian's mood was instantly uplifted, as he nodded and left the room.

He made his way down the steps, and to the kitchen. There he found Charlus - who was lounging on the dining chair, reading some documents.

Charlus dropped the glasses he was wearing from around his head and lowered them onto the table.

"Good morning, Hadrian.", he smiled at Hadrian warmly, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

Hadrian shook his head.

Charlus sighed, "Come on, let's get some food in you."

Hadrian shrugged and said, "Alright."

"Korby!", Charlus shouted.

pop.

Korby appeared in front of Charlus and Hadrian, dressed in his butler suit.

"Korby, sort Hadrian out with some breakfast, will you."

Korby bowed before turning to Hadrian.

"Young Master Black, anything in particular?"

Hadrian thought for a few seconds before his eyes brightened and his mouth began salivating, "Cinnamon roll pancakes, please."

Korby smiled, "As you wish."

Korby began to work around the kitchen, using his house-elf magic to lift plates and move utensils around.

Hadrian took a seat right beside Charlus, who smiled at him, before returning to his documents.

Korby levitated a glass of chocolate milk over to Hadrian, who drank half of it. Hadrian then tapped Charlus on the shoulder.

Charlus dropped his glasses onto the table once more, "What is it, Hadrian?"

"Well. In school, we're learning how to focus on our Animagus forms - and I was having difficulties. Merlin said that I need to do a ritual and that he wants you to come up later for the list of items I need for it.", Hadrian explained.

Charlus smiled, "I'll get you whatever you need, as fast as I can.", he said as he ruffled Hadrian's hair whilst drinking the remainder of his chocolate milk.

"Hey!", Hadrian exclaimed.

Charlus laughed as wiped his lip that was stained to give him a chocolatey milk mustache.

Korby looked at his masters fondly, before clicking his fingers - causing another glass of milk to appear before Hadrian.

Hadrian brought his arm in front of the drink protectively, shielding it from his grandfather's evil, thieving hands.

Charlus chuckled when he saw this but decided that he had to finish reading his documents quickly. That way he'd be able to get the list off of Merlin and sort Hadrian out.

Charlus and Dorea were extremely proud of Hadrian. They took pride in his achievements, and would hate for him to be hindered in any way - that is why Charlus desperately wanted to get the Items Hadrian needed for the ritual. He couldn't have Hadrian being at a disadvantage at Uagadou!

"Oh, yes. Hadrian?"

Hadrian faced Charlus, sporting his own chocolate-milk mustache, "Hmm?"

"We'll be attending the Ministry Ball sometime next week, Daphne and Theo will be there too."

Hadrian smiled, "That's fine by me."