"Do you want something to eat?"
In the kitchen, Dawn pulled out a loaf of cream bread and waved it in the air.
Before leaving, Harris had made sure to stock the kitchen with plenty of ready-made or instant food, reminding Dawn not to forget to feed his son.
Bread, canned meat, chocolate, biscuits…
All of it was high-calorie food, the kind that easily made people fat. No wonder Harris had raised William into his current shape. But then again, Europeans did seem to love high-calorie foods.
Dawn rummaged through the supplies.
To be honest, after living in Britain for eleven years, the only food he could really accept was steak and milk. Still, this would do.
William's eyes lit up as he watched the cream bread sway in Dawn's hand. He walked over slowly, reaching out for it.
Dawn raised an eyebrow and extended the bread toward him, only to pull it back just as the boy was about to grab it.
William froze, his hand clutching at empty air. He glanced at Dawn, pursed his lips, then slowly lowered his head.
"Really not going to eat?"
Dawn dangled the bread a little lower.
For once, William's plump, blank face showed a hint of hesitation. But as the bread came closer, he couldn't resist reaching out again.
And once again, he caught nothing.
He stared at his belly, motionless, as if retreating into himself.
Dawn let out an involuntary chuckle.
He suddenly realized raising this child might actually be more entertaining than raising a toad.
...
Shaking his head, Dawn decided not to waste too much time on a passing amusement.
He shoved the bread into the boy's arms. Once he saw William nibble through it like a hamster without any adverse reaction, Dawn grabbed another loaf for himself.
After that, he picked William up and placed him on the living room sofa. He sat down on a stool opposite.
This was a rare opportunity. Without Harris hovering around and interfering, he could finally examine the patterns inside William's body properly.
Ever since shortly after entering school and understanding the truth of his abilities, Dawn had entertained a bold idea—
He wanted to manipulate the special patterns within himself to gain a phoenix's ability to be reborn through flames.
The thought was irresistible. But due to the brief duration of Transfiguration, he had never been able to test it.
Fortunately, inspiration had struck during his study of Animagus transformations and a heavy rainstorm. He had noticed the natural magic diffused throughout the world.
That magic was vast and ever-present. When spells interacted with it, their effects could last almost permanently.
Unbreakable Vows and the Fidelius Charm were prime examples.
Originally, Dawn had hoped to analyze the Animagus potion to figure out how to harness natural magic.
Unfortunately, just after burying the potion in the ground, a twist of fate had forced him to leave Hogwarts.
But this situation wasn't bad either.
Looking at William, sitting there motionless like a lifelike doll, Dawn couldn't help but sigh. A well-behaved child really was easy to manage.
The patterns inside William's body were clearly different from those of an ordinary wizard.
If Dawn had to describe them in one word, it would be: chaotic.
Yes.
Even though magical patterns in high concentrations were often complex, they still followed certain rules.
Countless black lines twisted intricately on the surface, with abstract shapes beneath that fit together like puzzle pieces. With effort, Dawn could still separate and categorize them.
But William's patterns were different.
The lines and shapes were all jumbled together, forming a tangled mess, like clusters of unevenly shaded black stains.
Dawn pulled out a piece of parchment to sketch them, but after staring for a while, he had no idea where to start.
Tossing the quill aside, he wondered how he could observe these patterns more effectively.
And then, a spell flashed in his mind.
The Flesh Cloning Curse.
He was increasingly convinced that this spell—created by some witch to expand her magic—was unbelievably useful to him.
From his experiments on the toad, he'd learned that creatures hit with the spell would develop an embryo-like lump on their skin, which would then undergo a second growth process.
In other words, it replayed the entire evolution of the magical patterns inside the creature, from birth to maturity, right before his eyes.
Without hesitation, Dawn drew his wand. He completely forgot the promise he had made to Harris as he cast the spell on William.
"Flesh Cloning."
In the next moment, William's cells began ravenously devouring nutrients and, under the influence of magic, started dividing and transforming.
The boy stiffened, clutching at his chest as his body curled up on the sofa, overwhelmed by discomfort.
"Ugh…"
His once rosy cheeks turned pale in an instant. Normally quiet, he actually let out a few pained whimpers.
"Does it hurt that much?"
Dawn narrowed his eyes. He remembered the toad's violent reaction to the same spell.
But empathy wasn't his strong suit.
Watching William tremble and nearly fall to the floor, he picked him up and carried him to a spare room, laying him on a large bed.
"It hurts…"
"Bear with it. Maybe I can solve your blood curse. You don't want to turn into a beast, do you?"
Expressionless, Dawn spun his promises casually, then returned to the kitchen to bring more food, remembering the intense nutritional demand of the process.
William buried his face in the sheets, clutching the bedding with his pudgy hands as he tried to endure the pain.
Dawn remembered that the toad's embryonic lump had appeared on its back. He pulled off William's upper clothes.
As expected, he found a finger-sized lump of flesh near the boy's neck.
The chaotic patterns inside William began copying themselves, with about a third of the black stains flowing toward the lump under the influence of magic.
Curiously, once copied, the chaotic patterns reorganized into something structured—like those of other wizards.
Dawn stroked his chin thoughtfully.
So William's patterns hadn't always been chaotic. They must have changed as he grew.
Was it because of the blood curse?
He watched the subtle transformations within the lump, fascinated.
He had once thought that if he could cast the Flesh Cloning Curse on a wizard, he could easily decipher the meanings behind most patterns.
And now, the chance had come.
He grabbed the quill he had discarded earlier and quickly began taking notes.
This was his first time systematically studying a wizard's magical patterns. He knew exactly how valuable this was for his own ambitions.
He had once wanted to give himself the phoenix's traits. He had once tried to graft poisonous traits onto the toad.
Understanding the meaning of these patterns was his first solid step toward what he sought.
Creation.
In Muggle myths and science fiction, this word had always been associated with power and divine authority.
But in reality, wizards forced into the shadows by the Statute of Secrecy had long been exploring this realm.
The basilisk hidden beneath Hogwarts, for example, was originally created by Herpo the Foul, an ancient Greek dark wizard.
And the infamous Dementors of Azkaban—though never proven—were widely believed to have been created by a fifteenth-century dark wizard named Ekrizdis.
Dawn believed he could do more.
Those creatures had come about through chance or methods impossible to replicate.
Herpo had created only a single basilisk. Ekrizdis, only the Dementors.
But with a deep understanding of magical patterns, combined with Transfiguration and natural magic, Dawn believed he could truly master this field.
He could create species at will by combining patterns.
.....
Despite his grand ambitions, most of his focus remained on William's evolving patterns.
The embryonic lump grew quickly.
Perhaps because a child's cells were more active than the adult witch Herpo's spell was originally designed for.
As the patterns evolved, Dawn witnessed bones forming, organs taking shape, nerves spreading.
Gradually, when the lump resembled a five- or six-year-old child, subtle changes began appearing in William's body.
Dawn noticed it immediately.
Some of the black surface lines in the boy's patterns were beginning to fracture.
And as the embryo developed, more and more lines broke. The newly copied lines tangled with abstract patterns, turning back into black stains.
Then, at a critical moment…
A stream of silvery-white natural magic condensed out of the void and pierced into William's body like a tendril.
The white bedsheets were soaked through with sweat.
William finally couldn't endure it any longer and let out a cry, almost like a sob.
Dawn ignored him. All he saw were the patterns inside the boy flashing again, as if on the verge of transforming him into a donkey.
But unexpectedly, the blood curse didn't activate.
After flickering for a while, the patterns stabilized, and William remained human.
Dawn let out a soft sound of surprise, staring intently.
He was beginning to understand.
When the outermost black lines fractured, natural magic flowed into the body.
As more lines broke over time, the natural magic overwhelmed the person's own, and the blood-cursed individual would completely lose themselves, transforming into a mindless beast.
In short, the Flesh Cloning Curse wasn't as effective at suppressing the blood curse as Dawn had hoped.
While it increased magical power, it also created more lines that could potentially break.
This time, the blood curse hadn't been triggered because only the newly formed lines in the embryo had broken, not the original ones.
The influx of natural magic was too small to overpower William's own.
But why had those black lines fractured in the first place?
Dawn thought for a moment. The most likely reason was that descendants of blood-cursed individuals were born with patterns that differed slightly from those of ordinary wizards.
But if that were true, how did the ancestors of uncursed wizards sever those black lines in the first place?
He narrowed his eyes. The first thing that came to mind was the Shattering Curse.
If magic could shape these invisible patterns, perhaps a spell could also destroy them.
He smiled wryly at himself. What a stupid question.
As long as he believed it could be done, his magic would respond.
But there was another issue.
Once natural magic was drawn in, could it be guided to maintain the shape he wanted, rather than acting on its own?
He would need more experiments to find out.
Dawn decided to head toward the Valley of the Kings later that night to look for a wizard willing to become a test subject.
...
"I don't want to become a monster!"
The voice came suddenly, soft, hoarse, and childish.
Dawn froze, staring at William, who had unexpectedly raised his head. He thought he was hearing things. "What did you say?"
Though he'd heard William say single words before, hearing a full sentence out of nowhere left him momentarily stunned.
"I don't want to become a monster!"
William's tear-streaked face repeated the words louder this time.
He had endured the pain of the Flesh Cloning Curse without complaint, but the mere hint of the blood curse's activation had startled him into speaking at length.
Dawn was absorbed in his own thoughts, ready to offer some casual reassurance—
But before he could say a word, agony exploded from his chest and spread to his limbs. He coughed up a mouthful of blood.
In an instant, crimson drops splattered across the pristine floor like plum blossoms in the snow—red and startling.
Staggering in disbelief, Dawn grabbed the wall for support as the strength drained rapidly from his body.
Thick, metallic-tasting blood filled his mouth.
William stared blankly at the blood splattered before him, a rare look of panic flickering across his usually expressionless face.
And in the reflection of the boy's eyes, Dawn saw it—
A phantom spear…
Had pierced straight through his heart from behind.
________________
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