The room was brightly lit.
Dawn ignored the man's terrified eyes. He cast the Crushing Spell, slowly severing the chaotic black lines within the man's body, guiding natural magic into him.
Silvery mist gathered in the air.
The special pattern etched on the man's body flickered rapidly under the clash of natural magic and his own magic. But after only a brief resistance, it began sliding uncontrollably toward one side.
The man's body tensed, his face twisted in agony. His mouth opened wide, letting out meaningless screams.
Then his body began to shrink and twist. Flesh collapsed inward. Ash-brown feathers pushed out from his skin. Soon, a chirping sparrow hopped frantically on the bed where he lay.
Dawn watched the now tiny and helpless creature pecking at the bedsheet with its beak. He frowned slightly and touched his chin.
The moment he turned into an animal, it seemed his sanity disappeared along with his human form.
Perhaps it was because this transformation was based on the principles of Blood Magic—cutting off the black lines and channeling natural magic—rather than true Animagus transformation.
So unlike an Animagus, this form was controlled entirely by animal instinct, unable to retain a complete sense of self.
But…
Dawn remembered that many magical creatures possessed intelligence no less than that of humans. If a wizard turned into a magical creature by severing those black lines, would they still remember their original self?
Or would a completely new self take over?
His eyes held a spark of curiosity.
Unfortunately, such transformations attracted the world's correction, and he could not experiment further to confirm his theories.
Dawn sighed and pushed the thoughts aside, calmly observing the man's condition.
He wasn't worried about the matter of sanity. With the method he was developing to resolve magical creature transformation, he could also handle that issue easily.
Then—
The sparrow's body suddenly began to twitch and writhe again.
Feathers scattered. The patterns flared. In the reflection of scarlet pupils, the experiment subject once again transformed into a large human form on the bed.
"When natural magic overwhelms one's own magic, the body begins to transform. But once the instinct to resist grows stronger, it reinforces the wizard's magic, pushing natural magic out."
Dawn narrowed his eyes.
After more than a month of experimentation, he had nearly eighty percent confidence that his theory was correct.
Now he only needed a few successful cases before he could safely attempt magical creature transformation on himself.
Thinking of this, a smile pulled at his lips.
If he could obtain the phoenix's power of rebirth, then aside from natural magic, there might be nothing in this world that could truly kill him.
"Tom Riddle, we will meet again soon…"
Dawn took a deep breath. Under the pale light, he repeated that name over and over, his gaze growing sharper and more ruthless.
Bang!
Bang, bang—!
At that moment, a rhythmic knocking sounded from outside the room.
"Boss, are you there? It's time for dinner!" Amir's voice came through the thick wooden door.
Dawn frowned slightly.
He glanced at the struggling man on the bed, poured a vial of Living Hell Potion into his mouth, covered him with a white cloth, and went to open the door.
Amir peeked inside curiously.
For over a month, Dawn had secluded himself in this room and forbade anyone from entering. Curiosity had been building in Amir's heart.
But through the small gap in the door, he only caught a glimpse of ordinary furniture before the door swung shut completely.
"Let's go."
Dawn sealed the door with magic and waved for Amir to follow.
The sky outside the hallway window was tinged faintly red.
Amir followed behind Dawn. The silence made him uncomfortable, so he cleared his throat and forced a conversation.
"Uh, boss… using so much electricity is expensive! Don't you want to turn off the lights?"
"It has nothing to do with you."
They stepped onto the wooden staircase, which creaked continuously as they descended to the first floor.
In the living room, a huge bell tied with a red ribbon hung from the chandelier above.
Beneath it, a crystal vase sat in the center of the dining table, holding seven or eight fragrant green branches arranged crosswise.
Candle flames danced on pools of red wax, slowly solidifying again on the table.
Dawn paused, momentarily surprised by the transformed room.
"Well… today is Christmas. Since you're British, I thought I'd pick up some decorations while shopping," Amir said.
It's already Christmas?
Dawn was briefly dazed. He turned to look at the calendar and realized today was indeed December 25th.
"Not bad."
He smiled unconsciously. With a flick of his wand, a pile of clutter in the corner transformed into a colorful Christmas tree.
"Hmm—Christmas trees in a desert do look a little strange."
Dawn thought for a moment, recalling a spell from the Book of Spells. He spoke awkwardly:
"Snowflake-creating spell!"
Slowly—
Snowflakes formed in the air and drifted gently down.
"Wow!"
Amir gasped in delight. He reached out, catching the flakes in his palm and watched them melt into water, excitement lighting up his face.
In Egypt's desert, such a sight was rare indeed.
But in the next moment, his joy dimmed. The more miraculous Dawn's magic seemed, the more it pained him that he could not use magic himself.
Dawn walked to the dining table.
Tonight's meal was grand—roast pigeon stuffed with rice, shawarma like Turkish kebab, mallow soup made with lamb and mallow leaves, and coconut yogurt cake.
He wasn't sure what Hogwarts served on Christmas, but this feast looked far better than the traditional British dishes he had grown up with.
Beside the table—
William sat on his chair, unmoved by the food, staring only at his own fingers.
As Dawn passed, he flicked William's forehead.
The chubby boy's head swayed slightly, like a doll without a soul, offering no resistance.
"Strange, you came pretty early today. I thought I'd have to force-feed you again."
Dawn pulled out a chair and sat down. He flipped a knife and fork between his fingers as he spoke.
Amir, having finally calmed himself, walked over.
"Don't say that, boss! It took me forever to bring him here. Please don't scare him away again."
"Took you forever?" Dawn tilted his head. "Didn't I break all the locks on the second floor? Where else could he hide?"
Amir's face twisted with helplessness and pain.
"He hid inside the broken wardrobe at the very back of the storage room—an entire afternoon! I searched the whole house before finding him."
"Well, that is impressive."
Dawn chuckled and shook his head.
Ever since William learned Harris wasn't coming back, the boy seemed to have lost the will to live, refusing to eat anything on his own.
But it didn't matter. Dawn would show him exactly what it meant to have no control over one's fate.
He stabbed a piece of roasted meat and put it in his mouth.
Then, picking up the stack of newspapers Amir brought from various countries, he began to eat while reading.
[The Weird Sisters release a new song—wild rhythms to celebrate Christmas!]
The Prophet's headline was unsurprisingly related to Christmas, reporting on a famous British band's new festive song.
The following articles continued the theme, covering holiday events across regions, and a Christmas card from Cornelius Fudge to all witches and wizards.
Dawn flipped past the useless content, searching for something worth reading.
[Dumbledore: A wizard who tramples on the law and hides behind a saintly mask!]
His eyebrows lifted slightly as he slowed his reading.
[Seeing this title, you might think I exaggerate. After all, we always hear stories of Dumbledore's greatness and praises of his character.]
[But according to my investigation—]
[This so-called respected wizard has, over the past month, visited multiple Wizengamot members, attempting illegal deals to overturn the Ministry's judgment and clear the name of Dawn Richter—the vicious criminal!]
[Why Dumbledore would do such a thing, I cannot comprehend.]
[This is an abuse of power! A mockery of order! And a betrayal of every young wizard at Hogwarts!]
[I hereby declare that I will continue investigating this matter thoroughly and oppose such disgraceful transactions to the end!]
Dawn's fingers paused slightly on the paper.
He glanced at the author's name. As expected—it was Rita Skeeter.
"Dumbledore…"
His voice was flat, emotionless.
"Huh? What did you say?" Amir thought Dawn was talking to him, swallowed his food, and asked.
Dawn didn't answer. He folded The Prophet, thought for a moment, then pulled out the newspaper from New Zealand.
[At 3 p.m. local time, the managers of the Icelandic Pirates and the Montora Macau team met in New Zealand.]
[In an interview, they confirmed that both teams would begin transfer negotiations for the Macaw team's Seeker, Emo Ken, during the winter break.]
[Emo Ken, who debuted with the Macaws and helped them win seven championships in ten years, is finally leaving New Zealand to begin a new journey in Iceland.]
[To this day, we still don't know the reason behind his decision.]
[But I believe leaving New Zealand must be as painful for Ken as it is for all Macaw supporters.]
True to its reputation as a Quidditch-focused newspaper, three-fourths of the content revolved around the transfer, listing every honor and major match in Ken's career.
Dawn skimmed through the boring articles, flipping to the last page—the first section unrelated to Quidditch.
Then—
A large headline instantly caught his eye, making them narrow slightly.
[Magic Leakage Crisis Emerges in New Zealand!]
___________
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