Young Celestial Wizard [Celestial Grimoire, Harry Potter]

Harry Potter Universe, Flamel Cottage

Universal Time: January 9th, 1989

Time until Hun and Po souls are deemed suitable by the laws of the Harry Potter Universe to learn structured HP magic: July 31st, 1991

Harry's Physical/Mental/Emotional Maturity: 13 years old

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Harry followed Nicolas and Perenelle up the staircase to the office where a preservation case rested on a large wooden desk in the center of the room. Nicolas waved his wand to dispel the protective charms, and the case opened with a soft click to reveal its expanded contents.

Harry's breath caught in his throat. The Hungarian Horntail heart was massive… and crystallized dragon blood still covered portions of the heart.

Heat emanated from the heart, making the air twist just the slightest bit around it. Harry reached out to brush his fingers against the rough surface. The moment he touched it, instinct took over and he knew exactly what he needed to do.

"I have to eat it," Harry looked up at Nicolas and Perenelle. "All of it."

Perenelle's eyes widened. "The entire heart? But it's-"

"Bigger than my head, I know." Harry smiled weakly. "But trust me, I can feel it. This is what I'm supposed to do."

Nicolas nodded slowly. "We'll be right here if anything goes wrong."

Harry lifted the heart with both hands. It was surprisingly light for its size. Without letting himself overthink it, he bit down.

The crystallized blood crackled between his teeth like hard candy. Each bite filled his mouth with intense heat that should have burned his tongue, but the moment he swallowed, the heart just… melted like snow in summer and began spreading heat through his entire body. The process felt as if he was participating in an ancient ritual.

Bite. Dissolve. Swallow. Heat.

He continued consuming the massive heart, and time itself seemed to stretch and compress around him. One moment the heart was nearly whole, the next almost gone.

Then the draconic essence hit his system like a bolt of lightning.

His skull began to elongate, trying to reshape itself into something more reptilian. The changes pressed against his very being, attempting to transform him into... something else. Something scaled and ancient and-

NO.

His Po Soul rejected the physical changes instantly. The protective stability built into his very existence refused to allow any unwanted alterations to his body. The draconic essence, denied its attempt to reshape his body, surged upward toward his Hun Soul instead.

And this... this is where something truly extraordinary happened. Harry could feel the essence moving through his system, could track its progress clearly as it moved from physical to spiritual. The transition should have been violent, should have torn through his consciousness like a hurricane. Instead, every part, every spark of magical energy, every fragment of draconic essence aligned perfectly as it transcended the boundary between Po and Hun.

He could tell that the chances of this happening naturally were… astronomical, to say the least. The essence should have scattered, should have fragmented into raw magical power, should have done anything except maintain cohesion during the transition. But somehow, impossibly, magnificently, the essence remained whole. More than whole… it began reorganizing itself into something new.

Something that had maybe never existed before.

Harry's consciousness expanded further and further as he tracked the changes occurring within his Hun Soul. The draconic essence was spiraling inward, condensing and expanding simultaneously in ways that shouldn't have been possible. Each rotation brought new layers of structure, new levels of organization that arose spontaneously from the chaos. It was as if every random movement, every chance alignment, every possible configuration was somehow selecting the absolute perfect path forward.

He could feel it beginning to take shape into a spiritual outline forming within his Hun Soul. But this wasn't just any outline. This was an exact replica of the Hungarian Horntail at full size, every scale and horn and fang. The spectral dragon curled through his consciousness like smoke given form, yet remained solid enough to touch. He could feel its aggressive nature, its pride, its raw strength...

"Harry?" Perenelle's worried voice broke through his trance. "Are you alright? You've been standing there for almost two hours..."

Harry blinked, suddenly aware of his surroundings again. The heart was completely gone, leaving only a slight warmth in his hands. "I... yes. Better than alright actually. Something incredible just happened."

"The draconic essence... it formed something inside my Hun Soul after my Po Soul rejected it," Harry spoke slowly. "A spiritual outline of the entire dragon. Every scale, every horn, even the way it moved... I can feel all of it."

Nicolas frowned at that, lifting his quill to write something down in his parchment. "Can you describe it in more detail?"

"It's like..." Harry closed his eyes, focusing inward. "Imagine having a perfect three-dimensional model in your mind, but one that's alive and moving. I can sense every part of the dragon's body, understand how each piece connects and functions. The way the wings generate lift, how the throat produces flame, the exact pressure needed to bite through prey..."

"And your Po Soul?" Perenelle asked. "You mentioned it rejected something?"

"My skull wanted to elongate..." Harry rubbed his jaw. "The essence tried forcing changes, but the stability built into my soul wouldn't allow it and neither did I want that. That's when everything got... strange."

"Strange how?" Nicolas scribbled faster.

"The essence should have scattered when my Po Soul rejected it. Should have dispersed into raw power or torn through my system. Instead..." Harry shook his head in amazement. "Everything aligned perfectly. Like rolling a thousand dice and having them all land exactly right. The essence maintained perfect cohesion as it moved into my Hun Soul and began forming an outline of the dragon. I can only assume that my fortune must've been involved here, because the offer did mention 'anything that relies on chance, such as the Flatbread of Primeval Chaos, will be far more beneficial. For example, you would be far more likely to receive permanent abilities and gain stronger abilities from consuming it'."

"We should test this outside," Perenelle stood up. "The garden should be-"

"Yes!" Nicolas jumped up. "I'll grab my observation equipment!"

They headed downstairs and out the back door. The garden looked... different. Harry knew that the roses were white this morning, but now they were clearly red. What could have caused that?

A high-pitched giggling drew their attention to a figure crouched behind the fountain. It looked almost human, except for its too-wide smile and eyes that sparkled with wild mirth.

The figure walked out from behind the fountain, bare feet skipping across the grass. Uncontrollable laughter bubbled from the being's mouth, spreading through the air like a contagion. Harry felt his lips twitch upward against his will.

"A Bakemono-no-Warai," Nicolas took a step back, fighting against a growing smile. "The reports from the ICW last week described these new joy non-beings..."

Perenelle pressed both hands against her mouth, shoulders shaking with suppressed giggles. "No... progress yet on... repelling them..."

His unique soul structure thankfully made it so he could think calmly even as the spirit's influence grew stronger. The laughter was becoming painful now, his ribs aching as his body tried to force out more and more mirth. He needed something to counter pure joy...

His Soul Resonance Mist poured out, carrying the heaviest sorrow he could muster. The dark grey fog rolled across the garden, surrounding the spirit. The being's smile faltered, then cracked, then shattered completely as it fled from the cottage.

"Well..." Nicolas lowered his wand that he'd pulled out at some point. "That was certainly effective."

"The new non-beings are getting bolder every day," Perenelle rubbed her sides, still sore from the forced laughter. "Coming right into private gardens now..."

Harry barely heard them. He was too focused on the spiritual dragon outline within his Hun Soul. The massive spectral body filled his consciousness. Every scale burned with potential, every movement promised devastation, but...

He couldn't access most of it.

The knowledge was there, he understood exactly how the dragon's wings generated lift, how the muscles coiled to provide explosive forward momentum, how the specialized organs produced flame hot enough to melt stone. But trying to do anything with most of those features felt like trying to grab smoke. It slipped through his fingers, refusing to take solid form.

Except for one part.

The dragon's head responded to his attempts to reach it. The connection felt... ready. Available. As if that single aspect had been unlocked while the rest remained sealed behind invisible barriers.

"I need to try something," Harry stepped away from the cottage. "The spiritual outline... I think I can manifest part of it."

He closed his eyes, focusing on that responsive connection. The dragon's head in his Hun Soul surged forward, pressing against the boundary between spirit and reality. His Po Soul provided the magical energy needed to bridge that gap, and...

A massive spectral dragon head burst into existence above him.

The transparent head matched the Hungarian Horntail's size exactly… larger than a horse, with razor-sharp horns and teeth like swords. When Harry opened his mouth, the spectral head opened too. When he moved his neck, the head followed. The connection felt natural, as if he'd gained an extension of his own body.

"Well done..." Nicolas whispered, furiously taking notes.

The head moved exactly as he wanted, maintaining perfect synchronization with his own movements. He could feel the raw strength in those spectral jaws, knew they could bite through steel as easily as paper. And the flame-producing organs...

He took a deep breath, and the spectral head mimicked him. Then he PUSHED.

A torrent of orange flame blasted from the dragon head's maw, and the grass fifty feet away burst into ash instantly. A boulder at the edge of the garden began glowing red-hot after just a few seconds of exposure.

"HARRY!" Perenelle shouted. "Our apple tree!"

He cut off the flame immediately, but the damage was done. The apple tree now sported a… very crispy side.

"Sorry!" Harry called out. "I'll fix it!"

He sent a wave of Life Flames toward the tree, carefully encouraging new growth to replace the burned sections. Five seconds later, fresh leaves sprouted from the damaged branches.

The heat output from the dragon was impressive, but nowhere near what his azure flames could achieve. Still, being able to make such a large spectral dragon head pop up out of thin air and breathe fire through it... that was so cool!

Harry suddenly felt a strange disconnect, like déjà vu but backwards. For a brief moment, he could have sworn he heard the sound of metal being cut before seeing the beam appear. But that didn't make sense...

"About three inches thick should be enough," Harry nodded thoughtfully, though he wasn't quite sure why he'd said that.

CRUNCH.

The spectral jaws closed around... nothing? Harry blinked in confusion. Something instinctually felt off about the sequence of events, but his perfect memory showed everything happening normally.

"Could you conjure something for me to test the bite force?" Harry turned to Nicolas, trying to shake it off. "Something sturdy?"

Nicolas waved his wand, and a thick steel beam appeared floating in the air. "This should do nicely. Hardened steel, about three inches thick."

The two halves of the beam clattered to the ground, the cut edges perfectly clean.

"Oh my..." Nicolas rushed forward to examine the metal. "The bite force matches a real Hungarian Horntail exactly! The spiritual manifestation maintains the same physical capabilities as the original dragon!"

Harry let the spectral head fade away, tracking how much magical energy the manifestation had consumed. The drain was significant, maintaining the construct pulled heavily from his internal pool. If he relied solely on his own reserves, he could probably keep it up for about a minute before running dry.

Fortunately, his body constantly absorbed magic from the environment. As long as he stayed in an universe with magic energy in the air, he could maintain the spectral head almost indefinitely by cycling external energy through his Po Soul.

But that wasn't even the strangest part. The way his Po Soul handled the energy flow felt... unusual. Like trying to pour water through a pipe that kept changing size. One moment the energy would flow smoothly, the next it would surge forward or slow to a trickle. He'd need to experiment more to understand what was causing these fluctuations.

"The magical cost is pretty high," Harry explained to Nicolas, who was still looking at the cleanly cut steel beam. "But manageable as long as I can pull energy from around me. My internal reserves alone would only last about a minute at full power."

"We'll need to document the exact energy requirements," Nicolas summoned a chair and sat down, already scribbling in his notebook. "And test if different manifestations consume different amounts..."

"Different manifestations?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Well yes! The spiritual outline contains the entire dragon, correct? So theoretically you should be able to manifest other parts like the wings, claws, tail..."

Harry shook his head. "I can feel those parts in the outline, but they're... locked somehow? The head is the only section that responds when I try to bring it out. Maybe I need more dragon hearts to unlock the rest?"

"Speaking of which," Perenelle spoke up from where she'd been tending to the apple tree. "The Ukrainian Ironbelly heart should arrive next week. And Nicolas made progress with the Romanian reserve about acquiring more..."

"Yes!" Nicolas brightened. "They agreed to sell us hearts from their Romanian Longhorns! Just need to arrange shipping details... oh, and before I forget, we're visiting Arcturus Black tomorrow."

Harry blinked. "Tomorrow? But I thought Grandpa Dumbledore was supposed to come with me in two weeks..."

"He sent a message while you were consuming the heart," Perenelle explained. "The ICW still needs him to help coordinate responses to the new non-beings. Nicolas will accompany you instead."

"Arcturus wants to show you some important historical records to help you on your path," Nicolas added. "They include extensive documentation about experimental magic and its... consequences. This is especially important in light of what is happening all over the world due to yesterday's events in the Animus Realm. Not that he knows the cause..."

Harry nodded slowly, watching the emotional aurora flow in rivers across the sky. The colors seemed more vibrant than this morning, or maybe that was just his imagination.

"We should head inside," Perenelle placed a hand on his shoulder. "You need rest after consuming that heart, and we have an early start tomorrow."

Harry took one last look at the cleanly cut steel beam lying in the grass. For now, he had a dragon head that could bite through steel and breathe fire hot enough to melt stone. That wasn't bad for a first step, right?