See If I Care

~8~

*Gobbledygook*

~Parseltongue~

-January 4th, 994-

Alex stepped into the courtyard that they used for their lessons with Merlin, finding the warlock waiting for them in the centre of the courtyard, sitting cross legged on the ground. They approached him quickly and gracefully sat down opposite, their legs crossed much like his were.

"Good morning young one," Merlin greeted; he had slowly stopped using little one now as they grew older and taller.

"Good morning old one," they replied with a respectful nod towards him.

"Today we are going to be accessing your Animagus form. You have studied the theory behind the transformation and have gone through all the motions needed to access your form and now all you need to do is find your form and then complete the transformation. That is what we are going to be doing today," Merlin said.

"Doesn't the transformation take years to complete?" Alex asked.

"It would for most. However, your mental discipline from all your work with Mind magics, and your connection with your magic, I believe you should be able to complete the transformation before the end of the day."

"Ok. How do I find my form?"

"You have studied the theory. How do you think you go about it?" Merlin replied and Alex fell silent to think back to what they knew about the transformation.

"Meditation? Your inner animal, which is your animagus form, is hidden deep inside you, in both deep parts of your mind, almost your subconscious, and in your magical core," they suggested.

"Correct. You have to mediate like you would to enter your mind and then take it to a deeper level, to find your inner animal." Alex nodded and closed their eyes, their hands resting on their knees, palms up. They slowed their breathing and let a sense of calm envelope them before sinking into their mind. They continued with that sense of calm and, rather than taking form in their mind and moving into their mindscape, they allowed themself to sink even deeper into their mind, to a level even deeper than their surface mind and their mindscape. They felt their magic slowly release from where they kept it tightly restrained around their body, absently noticing it flowing around the room as they let their consciousness search out their core being, where their inner animal resided. A bright light seemed to overtake the darkness that they had found themselves in. When the brightness started to recede, they found multiple animals surrounding them.

The first animal they saw, just right of directly in front of them, was a panther. The panther was large and pitch black, with bright green eyes the same shade as theirs were. They studied the panther even closer, watching as it moved and stretched, the small amount of light surrounding the animal reflecting off the panther's black fur to give it an almost blue sheen. The panther seemed to hold a graceful air around it, and Alex could easily see the strong muscles the panther possessed as it moved and stretched.

Alex turned their attention to the second animal, just left of directly in front of them. It was a phoenix. The phoenix was a brilliant red, the feathers the same shade as their hair, with a few feathers of gold, silver, and the occasional black scattered through the plumage. The beak was a gold that matched the gold feathers, and the feet were a silver that matched the silver feathers. The black eyes seemed to glint with hidden knowledge and power, even as flames flared around it every now and then.

They then turned their attention to the third creature. Curled up in a tight coil directly in front of them but a small distance behind the panther and phoenix was a snake. They watched the snake, the serpent seeming to watch them in turn. The snake was a deep emerald on top, but Alex could see a mix of black, silver, and gold scales covering the snake's belly. The snake seemed to yawn, exposing sharp fangs that Alex was sure could inject venom if the snake so desired.