Chapter 178: Hostile Families? Failure or Success?
After pondering Dumbledore's words for a while, Ethan began his second Transfiguration.
The process went very smoothly. After a loud crack, an over eight-meter-long Swedish Short-Snout appeared before the old man's eyes, its long tail almost whipping the bonfire.
Although the two types of dragons differed greatly in appearance, their internal structures did not differ that much.
Moreover, being both dragons, their magical operation was also similar, so Ethan quickly adapted to the form of the Swedish Short-Snout.
From the start of the Transfiguration, in less than a minute, he smoothly reverted to his own form, completing one Transfiguration.
Seeing that both of Ethan's Transfigurations went very smoothly, when he returned to the bonfire, Dumbledore stroked his long beard, stood up and said:
"You have completely mastered Human Transfiguration of magical creatures. Next, just practice slowly. There is no danger anymore, so I will leave first."
Ethan said gratefully: "Thank you, Headmaster."
"Mm." Dumbledore nodded. "Go back to the castle early. Do not stay too late."
After saying that, the old man strode toward the castle.
Watching Dumbledore leave, Ethan began to consider whether he should take advantage of this successful momentum to perform the ultimate Transfiguration.
"Although the Transfiguration of this creature carries a certain risk, it won't be fatal. At most, it's just an injury. Trying it out is fine."
After weighing the pros and cons, he finally decided to put it off for a while: "However, for safety's sake, it's better to go home through the Vanishing Cabinet on the weekend to try. Performing the Transfiguration under Grandpa's supervision will be safer."
That night, Ethan wrote a letter and had Edward send it home overnight, telling Cyril of his decision.
In continuous studying and practicing, the weekend arrived quickly.
On Saturday evening, Ethan came to the corridor on the eighth floor at dinnertime.
The reason for choosing this time was because after entering the Great Hall, Ethan saw the twin brothers dining there.
Therefore, this time was just right, saving the trouble of discussing with them.
However, as soon as he entered the room, Ethan noticed that some items near the entrance had traces of being rummaged through.
"Someone came?"
His heart tightened, and he quickly went to the corner to check his Vanishing Cabinet.
"Fortunately, the Vanishing Cabinet hasn't been touched." The dust on the cabinet was still evenly distributed, with no fingerprints or other marks. The position of the rag covering it hadn't changed either, which relieved Ethan.
"But who came here? Fred and them? But if it were them, it shouldn't be just the items near the entrance being rummaged through."
Ethan glanced around and found that compared to his memory of yesterday, except for some items at the entrance, nothing else had changed.
"Forget it. No time to worry about this right now. Let's go home first." Although the Room of Requirement was considered a secret among the student body, it was known to everyone in the eyes of the school's elves.
Therefore, it wouldn't make much sense for Ethan to continue fretting.
He untied the rope, opened the cabinet door, got into the cabinet, and closed the door from the inside.
After a burst of magical fluctuation, Ethan pushed the cabinet wall behind him and opened the other door.
After lighting his wand, Ethan sorted out his backpack, took out a Communication Card, and wrote on it.
This was specially made for him and Cyril by the twin brothers at his request, just so he could contact Cyril quickly.
Less than five minutes after the message was sent, Ethan heard a flurry of rapid footsteps.
Then, the sound of chanting spells came from the door.
After lifting the defenses, Cyril opened the door and turned on the light.
Only then did Ethan climb out of the cabinet.
Cyril looked at Ethan's backpack and said: "Forgot the Undetectable Extension Bag again? Nicolas replied to me yesterday, saying there's no problem, as long as it's not an unstable expanded item."
Ethan had come back once last night, mainly because Cyril disagreed with him performing the Transfiguration. Ethan couldn't persuade him in the letter, so he had to secretly return home once at night.
"Then I'll bring it next time."
Cyril nodded, turned on the basement's defenses, and directly Apparated with him from the basement door to the entrance of Shafiq Manor.
Knowing Ethan hadn't eaten, Cyril ordered Coco to make some food for Ethan to eat after he finished the Transfiguration.
The two came to the spacious backyard. Cyril hung a magical lamp on every place in the yard that could hold a lighting fixture.
Before performing the Transfiguration, Ethan released his Patronus one last time and observed it all over.
Then, holding his wand, he chanted the spell, while Cyril stood by fully alert, preventing unexpected situations from happening.
"Must succeed!" Cyril grasped his wand tightly, praying in his heart.
Although Ethan said there was basically no danger, and this was also Dumbledore's conclusion, Cyril still worried that Ethan might get hurt, so he actually did not want Ethan to attempt such a risky endeavor.
Therefore, after multiple letter exchanges, they couldn't reach a consensus.
Finally, after meeting last night, the reason Ethan gave convinced him.
"Grandpa, if I don't try this, how will I know if my Animagus will succeed? And whether the Animagus succeeds or not actually concerns the secret of our bloodline.
"If I can really turn into a three-headed dragon through Transfiguration, does that mean—"
Ethan dragged out his words: "Satan really exists, or, at the very least, existed?"
In the past, Cyril certainly would not believe in the existence of Satan. After all, this was just a Muggle myth and legend.
But ever since Ethan displayed more and more characteristics related to Satan not recorded in the family, Cyril also began to suspect whether Satan really existed.
Extending from this, Cyril also considered a related question—if Satan exists, does God also exist?
Is there a family that inherited God's bloodline, developing silently in some place they don't know about, constantly plotting some conspiracy, making the population of the Shafiq family smaller and smaller, and finally ending their bloodline?
After thinking of this point, Cyril even specially investigated whether the murder of Ralph and Jenny, and the deaths of other family ancestors, were plotted by a family he didn't know about.
However, he didn't find anything. There were no anomalies in the deaths of Ethan's grandparents, nor was the shadow of a family found behind the deaths of Ethan's parents.
But, having this suspicion, Cyril still became vigilant and made more and comprehensive preparations for the trip to Egypt during the summer vacation.
As the last sole heir of the family, Cyril hoped Ethan could live peacefully to the end of his lifespan without losing a single life, although the current Ethan already had three lives.
And Ethan at this time was also very nervous. When he performed the three-headed dragon Transfiguration at school, none succeeded.
No matter what size object the Transfiguration was cast on, all ended in failure.
But there are also differences between failures.
His three-headed dragon modification based on real dragons like the Common Welsh Green failed completely, without a trace of magic flowing.
And the three-headed dragon Transfiguration he performed using his Patronus image, although still unsuccessful, had magic changes.
Therefore, he only dared to come home to try this time. Otherwise, if there was no hope of success at all, he wouldn't even want to continue trying.
Crack!
With a loud noise, a cloud of white smoke appeared beside Ethan, blocking Cyril's line of sight, making him unable to see what was happening inside.
But Cyril could conclude that this Transfiguration should have failed. After all, he just saw a massive object flash by.
"Are you okay?" Cyril hurriedly cast a spell to dispel the smoke, shouting anxiously while walking toward Ethan's position.
"I'm fine, cough cough." Ethan's voice was somewhat weak, accompanied by bouts of coughing.
Cyril saw Ethan kneeling on both knees, supporting his body with both hands, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth onto the ground.
The old man hurriedly helped Ethan up, took out prepared potions from his bag, and fed them to him.
"We won't learn this Transfiguration for now." Looking at Ethan's pale face, Cyril felt somewhat distressed.
"No, Grandpa, I just need to rest a bit. There was smoke blocking earlier, you might not have seen. Just now I was very close to success."
Although Ethan's complexion was not good and there were bloodstains at the corner of his mouth, he was very happy, a brilliant smile hanging on his pale face.
Cyril helped Ethan sit on a chair: "I saw it. Just now a red creature flashed by, followed by rising smoke, and I couldn't see anything."
"That was the result of my Transfiguration just now.
"I succeeded, but I didn't expect the magic power of the three-headed red dragon to be so massive and its operation so unique, creating a tremendous conflict with my own magic power.
"Moreover, the internal body structure actually had a huge difference from the one I constructed based on dragons.
"But for some reason, my Transfiguration didn't fail completely. Instead, when I was transfiguring, the world corrected my body structure on its own, producing new pain.
"It was the superposition of these two pains that forced me to interrupt the Transfiguration and suffer some injuries.
"But this doesn't matter. What's important is, I've confirmed that the three-headed red dragon actually existed!
"Although no one has ever seen this creature, the fact that I can transfigure into it proves this point!" Ethan looked at Cyril excitedly.
"Stop talking. Rest for a while first, wait for the potion to take effect. We can talk about this slowly later." Cyril was also happy for Ethan's discovery, but he obviously cared more about Ethan's physical condition.
"Mm." Ethan stopped talking. He closed his eyes, recalling the fleeting sensation of the Transfiguration just now.
After a while, the potion took effect, and he felt his internal organs didn't hurt as much.
Ethan stood up, moved his limbs slightly, but still felt some discomfort in his internal organs.
So he turned to Cyril and said: "Grandpa, since I've got the answer, let's call it a day for today's Transfiguration.
"I'll have something to eat later and then go back to school, finding Madam Pomfrey for a detailed examination and treatment."
"Should I take you to St. Mungo's Hospital? The treatments there might be more advanced."
"No need. I feel I'm almost completely healed now. Going to the school hospital is just to be safe.
"Besides, Madam Pomfrey's level is highly advanced. She can even treat missing bones. This minor injury, she will cure it quickly." Ethan smiled and declined.
Having a light taste of the food carefully prepared by Coco, Ethan was brought back to the villa by Cyril via Apparition.
Originally he also planned to go next door to see his parents, but with this pale complexion now, it was obviously unsuitable. So after resting for a while, Ethan returned straight to school through the Vanishing Cabinet.
The Room of Requirement was still empty. Ethan simply disguised the Vanishing Cabinet and went to the school hospital wing.
After Ethan briefly described his situation, Madam Pomfrey cast several diagnostic spells and quickly determined his injuries.
"What did you do? All your internal organs are damaged. You've drunk therapeutic potions? Lie down and rest for a while. I'll get other potions for you. You should fully recover two hours after drinking."
After drinking a cup of potion that looked like it was boiling, Ethan lay on the hospital bed, his heart still burning with passion.
This not entirely successful Transfiguration let him know where the problem with the Transfiguration lay, so he had to solve these problems before the final Animagus transformation.
"The three-headed red dragon is over twenty meters in size and has incredibly massive magic power. If I don't practice a few more times and get used to this pain, when performing the Animagus transformation, I will probably fail quickly due to the pain.
"However, for the next period, I will probably become a regular visitor to the school hospital."
Lying on the hospital bed for two hours, after Madam Pomfrey's examination confirming no problems, Ethan left the school hospital and walked toward the dungeons.
He planned to readjust the internal structure of the three-headed red dragon according to his memory, to reduce the pain brought during the correction.
As soon as he entered the common room, he was startled by the atmosphere inside.
A large number of boys and a small number of girls were all gathered around a table, craning their necks to look inside.
And those on the periphery who weren't tall enough even brought stools to stand on.
These people weren't talking loudly, just watching quietly, occasionally whispering to companions beside them.
Ethan, not knowing what happened, looked around and found Nancy standing at the edge of the crowd: "What's going on? Why is the common room so lively today?"
Nancy smiled: "Wizarding Cards battle event, right? Didn't you guys organize it? The final duel is going on right now. As the host, I've even been squeezed out."
Compared to before, the girl's changes over the past year were quite obvious.
"Oh, I forgot." Ethan, who had been busy with his own things, had indeed forgotten about this.
Mainly because he was only responsible for providing some Galleons as rewards, and didn't intervene in anything else.
Thinking of how he rushed home while Fred and the others were eating just now, Ethan smiled bitterly and shook his head secretly: "Guess they didn't have time to go to the Room of Requirement tonight. And here I thought I saved myself some trouble."
"I see, thank you." After thanking Nancy, Ethan bypassed the gathered crowd and entered the door of the boys' dormitory.
Nancy watched his retreating back, thinking about some things someone told her, and couldn't help but space out a bit.
Accompanied by a burst of cheering laughter and disappointed sighs, the quiet crowd just now boiled over.
Obviously, the victor and loser of the duel had been decided.
"Where's the host! Come announce the results quickly!"
"Coming, coming!"
Nancy squeezed into the crowd, looked at the smug Draco, confirmed he was the winner, and announced this result to the crowd.
"This is the champion's reward." Nancy handed the generous Galleons and prizes to Draco.
Then gave the reward to the runner-up who narrowly lost.
"Tomorrow afternoon in a classroom on the fourth floor of the castle, the champion duel of the four houses will take place. Hope everyone can go watch."
After saying the final closing remarks, Nancy ignored the little wizards still analyzing the match, continued sitting in the corner, staring at the Black Lake's water scenery in a daze.
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1. Harry Potter: Satan? Nah, Just My Family Crest = CHAPTER 389
2.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 404
3.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 205
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