Chapter 37: Chapter 36: Overwhelming
"Amato Animo Animato Animagus"
It had been a few weeks since I had successfully finished the second part of the Animagus ritual. I was currently just waiting for a thunderstorm in order to complete the final step. As the sun rose, I held my wand tip to my heart muttering the chant again. At this point it had become like clockwork to me, chanting the same words at dawn and dusk.
Heading through the school I found myself with some breaktime again midway through my lessons. Taking a seat in a courtyard area on a bench, I grabbed the Daily Prophet I had gotten from the library and started reading it. I was mainly looking at the forecast part of the Daily prophet.
A smile rose onto my face looking down at the newspaper, tonight was forecasted to be a thunderstorm as predicted. Previous Daily Prophets had also forecasted this day being a thunderstorm however it was always subject to change so I wanted to wait until the day to be truly sure. It was June time now and there wasn't long till the end of the year. Usually, a thunderstorm in June was unheard of but we were in the United Kingdom, the land of random weather. Tonight, would hopefully be the night I could finish my final goal. Since I had the free time, I continued to read through the Daily Prophet, skimming through different mundane articles, I absorbed the knowledge from them just as a pass time. Midway through my reading though, I sensed that the courtyard I was in was getting 'fuller'.
Lifting my head, I could see a group of Slytherins approaching me. A lot of them were familiar faces, different idiots who had tried common pranks against me through the year, trying to put me in my so called 'place'. I evaded them all consistently up to this point and now the end of the year was approaching rapidly, they must have believed it time to confront me properly, out in the open.
If it were Gryffindor's in their place who were unhappy with me this sort of event would have occurred at the beginning of the year however Slytherins were inherently sly. They wanted to do everything under a guise so there would be no repercussions. Since I had dodged them at every turn though they were forced to use this 'open' method.
At the forefront of the group was a Slytherin fifth year, I had no clue what his name was however the scorn in his eyes told me he thought highly of his 'name'. The group of Slytherins stopped a few steps before me, snickers being exchange between them and mumblings of beration lacing their lips. Looking around the courtyard I could see more people interested in this event than I thought. Different houses had gathered. If Tonks was aware this was going to happen then it stands to reason that some others had some idea too, probably tailing this group to see the fireworks.
[Canon Shift - Due to the event surrounding (Oz) currently, (Tonks) is currently returned from the Ministry to see the events unfold]
Ah a canon shift, haven't seen that in a while. I wonder if Tonks came back to help me after our interaction at the owlery? Or maybe she just wanted to watch the fireworks as well along with the other students?
Shaking off the notification I stared at the approaching Slytherin with a cold countenance.
"Anything I can help you with senior?"
The fifth year Slytherin seemed to get angered by my nonchalant attitude as he looked at me with a cold disdain.
"You, Oz Osbourne. You have plagued our house all year with your dirty blood. An orphan wizard with no parents entering the great house of Slytherin… repulsive. Did you ask the hat to sort you into our house? To sully us?"
Hearing this kid rattle on was exhausting as hell. Blood this, family that, sullying this, dirty that. As he continued to berate me the surrounding courtyard grew more and more tense and lively. Familiar faces appeared within the crowds surrounding.
"Here's what I think you should do, get lost out of our noble house and go somewhere else. Maybe a house like Hufflepuff would take you in? Actually, better yet how about you just leave Hogwarts! Orphan wizards like you only deserve one place in this world…"
He really was laying it on thick. I just continued to stare at him coldly not really listening to his words, thinking about how to deal with the situation. The group behind him, 10 strong, were all holding their wands ready. Although this looked like a ballsy confrontation, they were wary of me considering how I evaded them all year. The fact 11 of these Slytherins had gathered for this event of various years and ages showcased how much value they placed on my ability.
He was hoping I'd snap, hoping that I would cast the first spell. After all with 11 of them on that side and the surrounding crowd if I was to cast the spell first they could pin it all on me, saying I started this 'fight'.
"Honestly, a pathetic excuse of a wizard put into our house. That damn orphanage that sent you here deserves to be destroyed- "
"Enough"
Standing up I stared the boy who was taller than me in the eyes. If this was any other day, I would refrain from my next actions however considering the forecast tonight, I didn't need to refrain anymore. No, I was tired of holding back against idiots like this.
"Some of you Slytherins can be so damn stupid sometimes you know that? Let me level with you, bloodlines whilst important don't mean a damn if you personally don't put in the effort. Look at me after all, I have in your eyes 'dirty blood' yet I've evaded and thwarted all your terrible attempts at putting me in my place this year. Frustrated all you idiots to no end to the point where you try this dumbass attempt instead"
"If my bloodline is so 'dirty' then how did I end up evading you all this while? Doesn't that make your regal little bloodlines even worse than my 'dirty' one?"
The surrounding crowd seemed to hold their breaths as the coarse chilling words came out of my mouth. The Slytherin group in front of me all started to point their wands at me in anger, alongside the Slytherin fifth year leading them. My words seemed to have cut deep. As I saw this, I brought my own wand out, pointing it down and out of sight for now. Looking around, no teachers had appeared still which was strange considering the commotion…
"You fucking mud blood orphan…"
"What, too ashamed to admit my words actually have reason to them?"
"Zach let's just fucking take him in down now whilst no teachers are here!"
One of the other Slytherins in the group called out to the frontrunner fifth year who was confronting me. Hearing the words of his comrade, Zach initially hesitated wanting me to be the one to cast the first spell however looking at my gaze he understood deep down that wasn't going to happen. Gritting his teeth with anger his rage overtook his reason as he decided to be the first to attack, sending a spell my way. I smirked as I casted a spell at the same time under my breath, the target of my spell was me;
"Augmentum"
As Augmentum was cast I focused on my legs and nerves. I couldn't sustain this state long as I would damage my legs with too much exertion but it was enough to dodge this spell. I sidestepped the spell, moving at a quick speed and casted;
"Expelliarmus"
Casting 'Expelliarmus', the wand that Zach had in his hand shot from his hand and hit one of his comrades in the head. Combat spells I had practiced exclusively in the combat zone of the RoR as they were important for times like these. Even though they were higher year spells, they were important to learn sooner rather than later. My movements could be seen barely by the surrounding people as I sidestepped Zach's spell the speed at which I sidestepped though left them all in awe and shock. Zach who was embarrassed he was thwarted knitted his brow in anger yelling out;
"Get him!"
Tons of different spells started to be sent towards me with no delay. The group being led by Zach probably planned to just shift the blame onto him if all went wrong at this point as Zach was the first to attack. Looking at the sight it reminded me of the training I had been doing all year in the RoR with the combat dummies. Still in an 'Augmented' state I spun around the spells and the odd couple that came my way I deflected with;
"Protego"
The shock started to grow in the courtyard as I was fending off the group of 11 Slytherins. A couple of the deflected spells found themselves hitting the Slytherins that had casted them, one being tied up with a jinx and another now throwing up slugs.
Leaving no room for another attack I rapidly casted a few 'Flipendo's knocking several and the Slytherins onto their backs. As the Slytherins still standing saw their friends be knocked back, the look in their eyes started changing from pride to fear. I was dismantling their group with ease after all.
Zach who had quickly grabbed his wand from the floor was now standing ready to cast a spell again, seeing this I darted over and grasped his wrist firmly, causing him to lose grip on the wand he had just retrieved.
The fear in his eyes was palpable as he looked down at me.
"M-Monster"
"Monster hmm? Well, you were the one who provoked this 'monster'. After all, what's that saying Hogwarts has? That's right… Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus"
"It's really a shame 'Zach'"
Releasing 'Augmentum' I re-casted immediately after, now augmenting my right arm that had Zach's wrist gripped within. The grip I had on Zach's wrist currently turned into a vice-grip threatening to never let him go. The fifth years eyes were starting to tear up due to the pain of me grasping his wrist. It was near being crushed.
"It's unfortunate you decided to try this on today of all days…"
Letting go of Zach's wrist that was now red I pointed my wand at his chest and casted;
"Flipendo"
As the spell collided with Zach, he was sent flying back hitting the wall behind him. Due to the impact, he slumped onto the ground not able to get up.
Looking around I saw the Slytherins that I had knocked over now getting up however their fighting spirit had left their eyes. There was still the one tied up with his own jinx as well, alongside the other one throwing up slugs in the corner. Taking a look at how scared they were due to this simple display I let out a slight laugh. I expected more honestly but the combat dummies were more of a challenge than these dolts. Those dummies did use formations to attack though and had teamwork whereas this prideful bunch would never have that same teamwork in a million years.
The courtyard around had filled with a crowd at this point. All gaping at the situation at hand. A first year had taken down a group of students by himself which included a fifth-year student. I felt a slight pang of pain within my legs and my hand that I had augmented, a recoil effect due to the partial 'augmentation'. Noting the gazes of the surrounding students and the gossip I could already hear; news of this event would spread fast.
I wasn't bothered by that though; I was tired of hiding myself away after this year. Tonight, was the night I could finish the Animagus ritual and after that I didn't need to hide myself away. It was the do or die night tonight whether it failed or succeeded.
At this point the Animagus ritual was more supplemental than anything truth be told... Just the fact I had trained all year and created 'Augmentum' and 'Furtim' was enough to solidify my views on retaliating against these Slytherins finally out in the open like this. I was ready to have eyes on me and ready soon to take my title in stride.
Looking throughout the crowd gathered around I saw canon characters all wearing shocked expressions. Within the crowd was Tonks who seemed to have stuck around for this moment as she caught wind of this situation going down. Locking eyes with her I gave her a warm grin before heading off into the castle…
.
[Tonks POV]
I warned him, told him that there was a group of Slytherins out for him. As a first year I expected him to be scared, worried at what could befall him. Even though he had dodged their pranks and bullying all year this time it was different, a direct confrontation in the open and he would be outnumbered greatly.
Yet as I told the boy, told Oz what was currently happening behind the scenes his expression showed no signs of changing. He simply kept the same cold and calm countenance thanking me for the information, as if he knew this was going to come. Due to the lingering threat, I kept an ear out throughout the time I last interacted with Oz wanting to know when the event would unfold.
I had even prepared myself to step in, if need be, if he was truly backed into a corner. However today in front of me right now the situation unfolded completely differently than I ever could have expected.
Oz was a master combatant, scarily so, he moved as if he had been in duelling for years. He easily evaded that fifth year Slytherins spell, dismantled the group he led and left them all writhing in pain or in fear. This sort of feat was even more so impressive considering he was only a first year. Some of the movements he did, especially dancing around some of the spells sent towards him, I couldn't even imagine doing and I was in my last year at Hogwarts. The sheer speed he moved at was incredible...
A Slytherin Orphan with immense talent, capable enough to take out an entire group of wizards attacking him with ease. The confidence that stayed in his gaze never wilting as the fight went on. Could it be that he is the Descendant-?
As this thought popped into my head I felt eyes on me, looking over to the devastated group of Slytherins I saw Oz giving me a meaningful look. Staring into my eyes its as if he knew what I was guessing at, simply smiling in response. He then quickly headed off back into the castle as the surrounding groups gossiped over what had happened.
"Tonks you're here! Did you see that first-year move!? He was insane!"
One of my friends within Hufflepuff tapped me on the shoulder asking about the fight that had just occurred. I turned around and gave him a smile;
"Yeah, it was incredible. He was overwhelming"
"Right!? How is that kid only a first year! He moved like a ninja!"
The theories were already spreading amongst the students surrounding. Oz's origin, Oz's talents all were being discussed. Maybe it was due to me being tutored under Mad-Eye at the ministry but I took a different gaze to the matter. Oz had withstood bullying all year, evading it and ignoring it only today retaliating.
That sort of willpower and drive was not common in a wizard, that's what shocked me the most about him. He acted as if he was in control every step of the way all the way up to this event. He probably could have dispatched of this group earlier on but he waited instead for this exact moment to do it.
"Insane…"
Those words escaped my lips as I departed from the courtyard. I had to get back to Mad-Eye soon to start finishing the programme and arranging being moved to the ministry fully. I imagined even after I left this school Oz's display today would still linger in my mind.
I wonder if I'll see him again after leaving school? I'm curious where he will end up...
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