Chapter 43
Looking at the glowing points of light in front of her, Hermione's face flushed slightly. She wasn't entirely sure why.
Still, she nodded and raised her wand.
"Incendio."
The bright blue flames appeared once more at the tip of her wand—and right in front of Gray.
Gray kept his magical sight open. In his eyes, the magical pathways within the flames were constantly shifting and flowing.
This was exactly what had puzzled him before: the pathways of Incendio seemed to change without any discernible pattern, making them impossible to learn in his usual way.
But today, watching Hermione cast the spell, he noticed that amid the constant flux, three fixed patterns kept reappearing.
At the beginning, there was a single fixed point. Then it grew outward, forming a structure like a crown.
Next, the crown began to melt. The three rigid lines that had once stood apart softened and flowed like water weeds. Countless feather-like pathways emerged, drifting outward with the burning flame like a light, flowing river.
Finally, the water weeds rose upward and transformed into clouds; the feathers scattered and became transparent; the light river evaporated into rising steam. Everything seemed to break down into the most basic particles, bursting apart like fireworks.
Yet almost immediately, it all drew back together, reconverging into that original crown pattern.
Gray's eyes widened. He understood it now—he had finally grasped the full secret of Incendio, the complete magical pathway of the fire-making charm.
In simple terms, fire behaved like water, passing through three states of being: first solid, in the form of the crown; then liquid, flowing outward like a river of water weeds; and finally gaseous, dispersing as clouds and steam.
But the pathway formed its own perfect cycle, so everything condensed once more into the initial crown.
It was a constantly transforming magical pathway, yet it rested on three fundamental patterns—the very three Gray had recorded.
The shifting shapes he hadn't understood before were merely transitional states in the process. They didn't need to be memorized in detail.
Gray took a deep breath and drew his wand.
He moved it with a light, graceful flick while silently shouting the incantation in his mind.
"Incendio."
Under his control, his magic shaped itself into the first pathway—the solid crown. Then he guided it further, letting it melt and flow outward like molten gold spreading in every direction, until finally it rose and evaporated into steam.
When he willed the rising particles to gather once again into the solid crown, tiny star-like red sparks burst from the tip of his wand.
Then came a brilliant burst of red flame, dancing like summer fireworks just beyond his wand.
Success!
A wide smile spread across Gray's face as he looked happily at Hermione.
"Did it work? I knew it!" Hermione lifted her chin with a touch of smug satisfaction. "I told you, Gray—you must have just missed something. Nonverbal casting is tricky, but for you it's not really that difficult. You just have to keep the spell clearly in your mind and focus all your attention on it. That's all it takes."
Her wand was still emitting steady blue flames, and together with Gray's red ones they split the little hut into two pools of color.
"Woo! Rawr!" Norbert bounced with delight, eyes wide and shining as she stared at the flames from both wands.
A rumbling purr started deep in her throat, and then she exhaled a jet of greenish fire.
The green flames collided with the blue and red, twisting and tangling together until the three colors merged into one vibrant, multicolored candle flame.
Norbert's tail whipped back and forth wildly. This game was the best thing ever—she wanted to play it every single day.
But Hermione was only a young witch, and she didn't have Gray's deep reserves of magical stamina. Her flame wavered, flickered, and finally went out.
Gray extinguished his own spell as well, which earned him an indignant gurgle from Norbert.
He reached out to scratch under her chin, soothing her displeasure.
Then he closed his notebook with a long, relieved sigh. The tension drained from his shoulders; he felt lighter than he had in days.
"Gray," Hermione said suddenly, "have you told Norbert that she's going to be sent away?"
If Norbert resisted, the whole plan to smuggle her out would become incredibly difficult. One wrong move and Filch could catch them.
Besides, the others were coming on broomsticks. If Norbert didn't cooperate and fell off midway…
She still couldn't fly. They'd never had the chance to let her practice.
Gray looked at Norbert and nodded.
Yes, she deserved to know. After a moment's thought, he held out his right hand in front of her.
Norbert nudged his palm with her snout, her warm breath tickling his skin.
Gray gently patted her head. Then points of light rose from his hand.
Norbert's pupils instantly changed from slits to perfect squares. Her tail began to wag involuntarily as she stared in fascination at the dancing lights.
But Gray gently pressed down on her head to keep her still.
Under his control, the lights gradually gathered together. Some formed a long shape—head and tail—while others clustered into thin, delicate wings attached to the body.
It was unmistakably a miniature version of Norbert herself.
Norbert's eyes went wide, completely mesmerized.
But it wasn't over. More lights appeared. They came together to form figures of Gray and Harry. The two figures moved to stand beside the tiny light-Norbert. Then another cluster of lights formed a box.
Light-Norbert went inside the box. Harry and Gray picked it up and carried it to another place.
From the distance came more figures riding broomsticks. Harry and Gray handed the box to them.
The broomstick riders took the box—with Norbert inside—and flew away into the distance.
At this point Norbert couldn't stay calm. She grew agitated, eyes huge, throat making low, growling "hrr-hrr" sounds like a tiger preparing to pounce.
Gray's other hand pressed firmly on her head, keeping her in place.
Then the scene continued: the light figures flew to a new place and opened the box, releasing Norbert.
From every direction, countless dragons appeared—dragons that looked exactly like Norbert, only much larger. They gathered around her, wings beating, mouths open in silent roars to the sky.
Finally, they all took flight together, soaring away into the distance.
Then every light faded and vanished.
Gray took Norbert's head gently in both hands, making sure her amber eyes met his.
Though Gray couldn't speak and Norbert couldn't read, through the little animation and the look in his eyes right now, she understood.
Dragons were intelligent creatures, after all.
You have to leave this place. You're going to find others like you—your own kind. Only there will you never be alone again, and only there can you fly free.
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Tl/N : Want to read more of this [+20 Chapter ] and support me, join me on patreon.com/WeirdSensei