Life at Hogwarts continued as usual, filled with the echoing clamour of students and the hum of magic within its gloomy stone walls.
Sagres diligently fulfilled his duties as a professor, but in his spare time, he spent more and more of it immersed in his office.
Today, after finishing his final Apparition lesson of the day, he had just returned to his office when he noticed Noctis perched somewhat listlessly on his stand.
The intelligent bird, usually meticulous about grooming his feathers, looked rather dishevelled. His normally glossy black plumage was in complete disarray, and several of his tail feathers were bent at awkward angles.
Sagres's grey eyes narrowed slightly. He approached the perch, but instead of offering comfort immediately, he calmly asked:
"What happened?"
He began with a broad question.
Noctis looked somewhat guilty. He shrank his neck, let out a series of short, muffled caws, and then pointed his beak vaguely towards the ceiling, in the direction of the Headmaster's office.
Sagres immediately understood.
"Fawkes? You two had a fight?"
He quietly observed the raven before adding flatly, "I assume you were the one who initiated this 'exchange'?"
Noctis tilted his head and attempted to rub against his master's hand, but Sagres withdrew it in time.
After his attempt failed, the raven let out a dissatisfied caw and lowered his head to straighten the ruffled feathers on his chest.
"And how did it go?"
Sagres continued with interest. "Did you use that ability? Did you change your size?"
Noctis possessed the magical ability to alter his size within a certain range, which should have given him an advantage in combat.
Unexpectedly, Noctis shook his head.
Although his feathers remained somewhat ruffled, he puffed out his chest proudly, gestured at his current size with his wings, and mimed a frontal charge, seemingly emphasizing that he had challenged Fawkes fairly and openly in his normal form.
Sagres let out a soft hum, the meaning of which was impossible to discern.
At that moment, a polite and rhythmic knock sounded from outside the office door.
Sagres's eyebrow twitched slightly, as though he had expected this.
He waved a hand, and the door opened.
Standing outside was none other than Albus Dumbledore. Behind his half-moon spectacles, his blue eyes twinkled gently, and a faint, helpless smile played across his face.
"Good afternoon, Sagres. I hope I'm not disturbing you," Dumbledore said in his usual soothing voice.
"Good ..evening, Headmaster Dumbledore. Please, come in."
Sagres stepped aside.
Dumbledore entered, his gaze falling upon the dishevelled Noctis perched nearby. His smile deepened slightly.
"It seems the little misunderstanding between our two feathered friends has already reached your ears. Fawkes appeared somewhat... agitated when he returned."
His meaning was obvious: your raven started a fight with my phoenix.
Sagres's expression remained unchanged.
"Noctis has been somewhat irritable lately. However, please rest assured that I will do my best to restrain him and minimise his... disturbances to Fawkes."
He had cleverly transformed "provocation" into "disturbance," accepting a measure of responsibility without fully admitting fault.
Dumbledore looked at him for a moment but did not press the issue. He merely smiled.
"Ah, I understand. Magical creatures often have rather unique personalities. As long as they don't turn the castle towers into a duelling arena, a few minor scuffles are harmless. Well then, I won't disturb you any longer."
After seeing Dumbledore out and closing the door, Sagres turned his attention back to Noctis.
This time, a trace of something unreadable appeared in his eyes.
He approached the raven, reached out, and gently pinched the bent flight feather. With a subtle application of magic, he restored it to its original shape.
Then, in the tone of a teacher instructing a student, he said quietly:
"Listen carefully. Next time you go to 'communicate' with Fawkes..."
He paused for emphasis.
"...winning or losing isn't what matters. The important thing is finding a way to pluck a few of his feathers while you have the chance."
Noctis's dark eyes rotated as if committing his master's instructions to memory. Then he gently pecked Sagres's finger, indicating that he understood.
Sagres turned and walked towards the experimental table, his gaze falling upon the specially designed container holding the Diricawl feathers.
"Come here," Sagres said calmly.
The raven obediently flew down onto the special experimental platform. His dark eyes remained fixed on Sagres's movements, as though he understood that he was about to undergo another transformation.
The experimental process was just as precise and complex as before.
...
Several hours later, the light of the magic circle gradually faded.
Noctis looked somewhat exhausted, but a mercury-like sheen subtly flowed across some of the feathers on his wings.
"How do you feel?"
Sagres asked as he carefully examined Noctis's magical fluctuations with detection spells.
Noctis flapped his wings and let out a confused caw.
Sagres raised an eyebrow.
"It seems we'll need to conduct some ability tests..."
As he spoke, he waved his wand, clearing the centre of the office.
"First, try the most basic spatial traversal ability. Your target will be... from the perch to my desk, approximately three metres away."
Noctis focused, and the feathers on his wings emitted a faint glow.
The next moment, accompanied by a soft pop, his figure suddenly blurred, and he appeared standing steadily on the desk three metres away.
Although the distance travelled was very short, it was genuine instantaneous teleportation.
Sagres made a note on a piece of parchment:
"Brief concentration phase before activation; minor spatial fluctuations observed."
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly in satisfaction.
"Very good. Now shrink your size and try moving to the top shelf of the bookcase."
Noctis obeyed. His body rapidly shrank to the size of a hornet before he attempted to teleport again.
A faint silver flash appeared, and he successfully reappeared atop the tall bookcase. The process seemed even smoother and required less magical energy than it had at his normal size.
"Interesting," Sagres remarked. "Reducing body size appears to decrease both resistance and magical expenditure during spatial traversal."
As he spoke, he brought Noctis to the top of the Astronomy Tower.
"Finally, let's test instantaneous teleportation at maximum size."
At his command, Noctis leapt from his arm, beating his wings powerfully as he soared into the night sky. His body rapidly expanded into a gigantic form, sweeping out of the Astronomy Tower in a powerful gust of wind.
The silver glow on his wings intensified violently. His figure vanished abruptly, then reappeared several dozen metres away, staggering slightly and nearly losing his balance.
Clearly, his enormous size placed a considerable burden on instantaneous teleportation, significantly reducing its stability.
Sagres transformed into a shadow and glided swiftly towards Noctis's enormous form. Amid the raven's excited cries, he landed steadily on his broad back.
"Try again," he instructed. "This time, take me with you."
He wanted to determine whether carrying a passenger would place additional strain on Noctis's ability.
Upon hearing the command, Noctis immediately activated his teleportation ability once more, and the feathers on his wings shone with dazzling silver light.
Whoosh!
Sagres suddenly felt the ground disappear beneath his feet as a violent sensation of weightlessness overtook him.
He looked down and realised that Noctis had successfully vanished.
Unfortunately, he himself had been left suspended in mid-air.
Sagres reacted instantly and cast Apparition.
Crack!
With a sharp explosive sound, his falling figure vanished.
However, because he had been forced to act so hastily, he could only set his destination as the edge of the Forbidden Forest nearby.
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