Lawrence woke up, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself lying in a room on the fourth floor of the old house of the Order of the Phoenix, the fire was burning brightly, and the air was filled with the smell of potions, Lawrence struggled to sit up from the bed,

He saw six cauldrons in the room, almost filling all the space, judging by the smoke coming from them, they were six different potions, Snap sensed the movement, he glanced at Lawrence, then turned and walked out of the room, and after a while, Professor McGonagall walked in angrily, and Snape continued to concoct potions with a blank face,

"Twenty-seven lacerations, thirty-one spell penetrations, I thought you were attacked by a whole squad of Aurors, what the hell are you mad about, Mr. Rovande?" Professor McGonagall put her hands on her waist and yelled at Lawrence, "Where's your defensive charm? We had Professor Flitwick examine your wand, but the results were unbelievable even to him."

"How can you be so slow in judging the lethality of spells?" Professor McGonagall asked, "Why did you only have the last spell in the whole duel with a defensive spell?"

"Is Mr. Fosco alright?" Lawrence didn't want to face an angry Professor McGonagall at all, and he cautiously asked another question,

"He's fine, just frightened and a little bruised and frostbitten, and yesterday he was in St. Mungo's Magical Injury Hospital for a check-up, and I think he'll be out tomorrow at the earliest," Professor McGonagall said, "He told us you saved his life, but you duel with the man, and he could only faintly hear you fighting under the snow."

"Professor Dumbledore was going to attend an acquaintance's funeral, but he spent the whole day dealing with it," Professor McGonagall continued, "and I suspect he simply won't be able to get any decent clues from the scene, the Ministry of Magic's incident team cordoned off the entire street after yesterday's incident, and by the time we get back there today, the scene has already been completely destroyed."

"What the hell is going on, Rovander?" Professor McGonagall asked sternly,

"Someone attacked us." Lawrence said,

"Obviously." Professor McGonagall said briefly, and her expression clearly threatened to show that she was not satisfied with the answer,

「…… He's a lot better at casting spells than I do."

"It looks like your brain is still functioning," Professor McGonagall said angrily, "You still have a lot to learn, but that's not a reason for you not to defend, I don't believe you have the ability to attack, but you don't."

"I don't think those spells, uh......," Lawrence said, "they don't hurt me much."

"It's not a big deal to you—Rovande," Professor McGonagall raised her voice, apparently disapproving of Lawrence's statement, and she even called her by her last name this time, apparently angry, "You think you have giant blood or something?"

There was a few taps on the door, and Dumbledore stood in the doorway, his expression tired,

"I've searched every inch of the place, but not a single fingernail has been left on the scene," Dumbledore said to Professor McGonagall and Snape who were staring at him, "I'll be on my way to Aguiros's funeral, but I'll have to wait until I'm done here—"

"Minerva, Severus, would you please go out for a while?" Dumbledore commanded softly,

"Albus, you must—" Professor McGonagall's brow furrowed,

"I know, I'll take care of it, do me a favor, she's in the living room on the second floor, can she come upstairs after she calms down?" Minerva." Professor McGonagall listened to Dumbledore's assurances and left the room angrily,

"This pot of potions is almost ready." Snape pointed to the cauldron that was emitting yellowish smoke, "If I were you, I would stir it clockwise seven times when it turned dark yellow, and then simmer until it was golden brown."

"I see, Severus, bring the door for me when you get out." Dumbledore took the spoon from Snape's hand,

Snape left the room and closed the door, and Dumbledore beckoned and cast a spell to make sure no one eavesdropped,

"Let's open the skylight and speak, Lawrence." Dumbledore said, "Is it dragon's blood? I think that's one of the most powerful magical substances you'll have your hands on, and your wand is the heartstrings of a dragon, so using dragon's blood as your first attempt is a fitting idea."

「……」

"I know you promised Miss Delacour that you wouldn't try the Transfiguration technique in Extreme Transfiguration, right?" Dumbledore said, "But I think you didn't take it too seriously."

"And what happened to Mr. Weasley, making you aware that the mission they are carrying out is life-threatening, and that obviously irritates you," Dumbledore said, "but before the break, you said that you would not have time to teach Harry 'Mind Locking' next semester, which made me think that you would be transfiguring a little later, after all, you need time to test what magical substance your body is best suited for."

"But apparently I was wrong," Dumbledore said, "I didn't expect you to make your first attempt in such a hurry, on the night of Mr. Weasley's attack?"

"Yes." Lawrence finally answered Dumbledore's question, and his answer made Dumbledore sigh,

"I think you don't use defensive spells in duels because you've already mixed dragon blood into your body, so you don't have to cast defensive spells, and you can have quite a lot of magical defense." Dumbledore said, "I guessed right, right?"

「……」

"But looking at the wounds and spells on your body, I guess it's not very good." Dumbledore said that he was clockwise stirring the pot of potions that had turned dark yellow, causing a faint bitter taste, and that Dumbledore was following Snape's instructions for the potion.

"It's only the first time, and I think, for the first time, it's going to work pretty well," Lawrence replied nonchalantly, "I only have less than a quarter of a vial of dragon's blood, and it's not very good."

"yes, 'It's just the first time,'" Dumbledore nodded in understanding, "Looks like you're not going to do it just once, are you?"

"Since seven is the strongest magic number," Lawrence replied, "why not?"

"You're following Voldemort's old ways," Dumbledore sighed, "the difference is that after pursuing great power, he is seeking eternal life, and what are you pursuing?" You want to defeat him and end the war, so you're on the quest...... Are you invulnerable?"

"If I can defeat him and end the war, then the members of the Order of the Phoenix don't have to continue to take risks." Lawrence asked rhetorically, "Isn't that right?"

"If you're trying to defeat him, you're on the wrong track," Dumbledore said unceremoniously, "you're just ruining yourself, and that's what Voldemort would be happy to see."

"The transformation of the human body that changes the essence of oneself is an extremely dangerous thing, and no one has been able to determine whether the ferocious and powerful five-legged monsters on Delia Island are really descendants of the McBride family, are you really willing to bear such dangerous consequences? (Note 1)," Dumbledore advised, "to play with the deepest mysteries, the source of life, the essence of the self, will suffer the most extreme and dangerous consequences."

"I'm willing to take that risk." Lawrence said forcefully,

"I hope so." Dumbledore looked a little sad, and after opening the door, he said, "Lawrence, if you still stand your mind after talking to her, then I won't stop you anymore."

Fleur walked into the room through the door, passed Dumbledore, the door was closed again, Fleur walked to the chair next to the bed and sat down, they looked at each other,

"Professor Dumbledore told me you used the spell from that book," Fleur said, "right?"

Lawrence found himself afraid to look at those beautiful blue eyes any longer,

"Look at me." Fleur said that Lawrence forced himself to look up and meet her eyes,

"You promised me that you just wanted to know the secret of the Mystery Man," Fleur asked again, "Really?"

"Yes." Lawrence replied stiffly,

"Smack."

"Look at me." Fleur withdrew her hand and asked, "You know exactly what you're doing when you're casting the spell, right?"

"Yes."

"Smack."

"And you're going to perform six more Transfigurations that change your nature?"

"Yes."

"Smack."

"Why are you doing this?" Fleur asked softly,

「…… So that you don't have to take any risks."

"And then you give up your human nature for it?" Fleur asked, and Lawrence was silent, "In order not to let me take the risk, so you plan to take the risk yourself?"

"Do you see me as a companion who can share ups and downs?" Fleur asked, "Or is it just a flower planted in a greenhouse?"

"I ......"

"I'm disappointed in you," Fleur said, "I don't think we're going to meet again."

Lawrence's mind went blank, and he saw that Fleur had gotten up and was ready to leave, and a wave of resentment welled up in his chest, why couldn't she understand what she was doing? The palm marks on his cheeks seemed to burn hot again, and he felt that he should do something, so

"Out of body—"

Lawrence came back to his senses suddenly, he broke out in a cold sweat, although the last spell was not cast, he knew that he almost lost control just now, he didn't even know how he raised his wand,

And Fleur didn't really leave, but looked at Lawrence sadly,

"Professor Dumbledore guessed right," Fleur said, "and he said that if I did, you would probably lose control."

"So...... These words ......," Lawrence paused, "was it all arranged by Dumbledore?"

"No, Lawrence," Fleur smiled, the first time Fleur had smiled since they met, albeit a bitter one, "If you really, only when I was a flower in a greenhouse, then I think we really ...... Let's really not see each other again."

───────

Note 1: Five-legged monsters, from "Monsters and Their Origins", it is worth mentioning that in Harry Potter, the five-legged monster represents the number "five" in ancient magic texts.