Slowly, time passed at Hogwarts. Magnus became more efficient in magic the more he performed. He had already memorised the theoretical knowledge till 7th year. All he needed to do was practice it.

But he still ignored the divination. Because it was never direct and always vague, it provided more confusion and anxiety than security about the future. It might say you will die, but not tell how, so you will live in fear and soon die due to a heart attack caused by the same fear.

With the help of Merlin, he was learning martial magic and how to cast or counter the magic effectively in a fight. Then there was wandless magic which was very hard for him.

The only wandless magic he could do was make fire. Now, he had gotten very good at it, he could create fire from his hands, feet and mouth. It was no longer just a small fire but instead a good arm's length fire stream.

He couldn't make the fireballs though and still had to continuously create fire. Merlin though had said that he did not have such powers and neither did Arthur. So, this was an ability that he needed to explore on his own.

It had been two months since the term had started and finally, Halloween had arrived. Before Halloween, Hogsmeade weekend had come. Just as he had planned, he went to Dumbledore to ask for permission to go out.

"NO! you are a 1st-year student, only third-year students and above are allowed to go." Dumbledore simply denied him.

"Come on, I've got some business to do there. I will be meeting Ted Tonks." Magnus argued.

"But it will set a bad example. I can't give you preferential treatment." Dumbledore did not budge.

"Umm... then send someone to keep me safe. Umm, maybe Fawkes will like to go with me." Magnus suggested.

Hearing his name, Fawkes disappeared from his place in a flash of light and reappeared on Magnus' shoulder. Magnus gawked seeing this, "That was so cool, Fawkes. Here, eat this."

Because of Summer, Magnus now keeps some bird food with him all the time. But, he actually had another thought, ~Can I also teleport with fire like Fawks?~

Dumbledore felt betrayed by Fawkes acting like this. He had never seen his Phoenix do this before. Fawkes rarely trusted people and was a very judgemental phoenix.

"He's a bird. At most, he can carry you or heal you, but he can't fight enemies. You know what happened the last time you went to Diagon Alley." Dumbledore was adamant about denying him.

"Okay, if that is what you think, then from now on, I want a special office prepared for me in Hogwarts where I can meet my Lawyer and discuss business. I am a descendant of Merlin, I can't let all the wealth just sit. I must make a change in the world." Magnus said, with a glimmer of confidence in his eyes.

Dumbledore stroked his beard. Thinking about the prospects. But, he liked this option, because if he agreed to let Magnus go today, then he would ask every single time. It was better if he had an office in the school.

"Okay, I will grant this wish. But, you must keep your office a secret. It will be situated in the basement of the teacher's quarters building. Your lawyer will have to go through official channels all the time and also get checked by the inspecting matrix at the main door. I have a responsibility for the safety of students here and I need to keep that in mind." Dumbledore said.

Magnus smiled, "That's nice. I can agree with this term. My lawyer is also a muggle-born so he won't have any problem as he knows the state of the magical world. By the way, I will take Fawkes later. I need his help with some magic. Will you help me, Fawkes?"

*Phoenix Noises*

Fawkes affirmed and Magnus was happy, "Well, he has agreed so you can't say no now. See you later, professor. Oh... wait... I forgot, can you check up on my family? I heard my mummy didn't look very well."

Dumbledore nodded, "I will,"

In reality, he had already told someone to investigate what was happening. After knowing the sudden changes happening in the lives of Magnus' parents, he felt some irregularities. He already had some idea, but he wanted it to not be true, that was why he had put an ex-Auror on the case.

After this, Magnus left the office and headed to where his new office was going to be. He entered the room, it was fairly large, but there was just junk furniture stored at the moment. So, he started using his magic to make new furniture.

The magic used was simple, some levitation charms, some knocking charms and then some cutting charms. All these were enough to make tables, chairs and cabinets.

Then, he needed to polish it, for that he just used a cleaning charm multiple times. After spending an hour, it was finally ready. His own office to work in. He felt like a big boy by doing this.

~Ah, I should write a letter to Ted.~ He remembered and wrote about the change of location of the meeting. He would later send it via Summer. It was turning late and bedtime was near, so he closed his office and headed towards his dorms.

But, when he was going there, he saw Madam Pomfrey along with Remus sneakily walking for some reason. They seemed very alert to their surroundings while heading out of the school building.

It was already near bedtime so them being out was out of the ordinary. He felt suspicious for the school nurse and a student to be there at this time of the hour.

Slowly, Magnus found out where they were headed. It was the Whomping Willow tree. From a distance, he saw Madam Pomfrey doing something. She threw some kind of powder around herself and then went to the violent tree's trunk and pulled a small knot.

Surprisingly, the tree stopped moving, as if it had an off switch. He then saw the two getting into a small tunnel under the tree. He waited for them to return but when a movement happened, it was just Madam Pomfrey.

~Where is Remus? WAIT! Did she... kill him?~ Magnus imagined the worst. After all, he had no idea why she would hang around with a kid so late.

~I must save him.~ Magnus decided.

So, he let Madam Pomfrey leave and then went closer to the tree. It was back to its wild state and seemed sentient. Just as he came close to it, the tree started acting up, as if it was looking at Magnus with concentration.

"Hey there, I am Magnus. Let me pass through." Magnus said kindly.

He was waiting for a fight, but, surprisingly, the tree just straightened itself, as if it did not see him or cared about him. So, Magnus went forward. He was fully attentive to make sure the tree didn't surprise him.

~Hmm, even trees? Why do animals and trees act so friendly with me?~ he wondered.

But, he forgot about all that and immediately went inside the small tunnel opening. However, it was much bigger from the inside.

He travelled through it and he had to say, it was a very long tunnel. He used a Lumos charm to light up his wand. The tunnel was very dark but well made.

After walking for a few minutes, he came to a dead end. He was confused about where to go next. But next, his eyes fell on a hatch on the roof of the tunnel. It was made of wood and looked out of place.

He opened it slowly, to make sure not to alert if any enemy was there. He crouched as soon as he came out of the small hatch. There was no one. To his shock, there was no window either.

*SCRATCH*

*SCRATCH*

All of a sudden, he heard the noise of someone scratching the wood from another room. The house was pitch black and he had stopped his Lumos spell so as to not alert the enemy. But, small bits of moonlight was coming from the small gaps on the roof.

~Where is this place?~ He wondered.

"Remus..." He whispered the name.

But, as soon as he said that, the scratching noise stopped coming. And soon, footsteps started coming towards him. Magnus felt goosebumps.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRR..."

Magnus skipped a heartbeat when he heard the growling of what could be described as a beast.

It soon became so loud that he could feel it was very close. He could even hear the breathing.

So, he lifted his wand towards the direction the noise was coming and cast a strong Lumos.

"GRRRRRRRR... "

Instantly, light expanded in a direction, Magnus tried to see what it was, but when he saw it, all the hair on his body stood up. His senses became alert and his eyes turned red.

He chuckled nervously, "Heh... I'm in danger..."

[You can see Fawkes and Whomping Willow on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]

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Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely* *Franklin Walley*

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