'What's happening?' Harry wondered groggily as consciousness slowly returned to him.
His body ached all over as if every bone in his body had been broken and reassembled.
The pain was intense but somehow all wrong.
His mind felt foggy, struggling to piece together the events that had led him to his current state.
The last thing he remembered was completing the ritual, but now...
"Oh shit," he shouted and opened his eyes.
What came out of his mouth weren't the frenzied words he wanted to speak though…
Instead, a low, guttural growl reverberated through the chamber.
Harry's, now huge eyes widened in shock as he realised where exactly the sound had come from.
He tried sitting up, but his body didn't follow his commands.
'No fucking way,' was all that his mind managed to muster as he looked at himself.
Harry's gaze travelled down where his body should have been, and he was met with a sight that sent a shiver of disbelief through him.
He couldn't believe it…
Instead of soft human skin, he saw scales glinting in the dim light.
Jet-black and gleaming like a starless night, each scale bore a razor-sharp edge capable of slicing through human flesh.
Harry was very familiar with those scales…
After all, he had once ridden atop them and narrowly avoided being impaled by them.
Massive, leathery wings were folded against his sides, powerful limbs stretched out before him, and a long, serpentine tail curled around his massive body.
Harry knew that by doing the ritual he'd get the ability to transform into the most dreadful dragon species, however, he didn't expect to wake up transformed…
And there was a world of difference between knowing something and experiencing it firsthand.
The realisation hit him like a thunderbolt - he had transformed into a dragon, an Abyssal Reaver like Ozeth.
As his panic began to subside, Harry briefly wondered if this transformation was permanent and somehow, something had gone terribly wrong in Sal's calculations.
The panic returned tenfold whilst the young dragon tried to revert back to his human form.
Harry tried concentrating, willing his body to shift back to its human form.
Unsurprisingly enough, nothing happened, and he felt a wave of dread wash over him.
'I've got to talk with Sirius,' he decided, forcing himself to calm down and hoping that the dog animagus would know how to deal with his conundrum.
Harry tried taking deep breaths - or at least, what passed for deep breaths in his current draconic form.
Under other circumstances, he might have appreciated the miniature whirlwinds formed by his breathing.
'How do I contact Sirius though?' he wondered, stumped.
He could communicate with both Ash and Fawkes, but they couldn't talk with anyone else besides himself.
'Is there such thing as phoenix talk?' Harry mused absentmindedly before dismissing contacting his familiars, despite the fact that they were probably waiting on him to call them…
He'd do so later.
A sudden flash of inspiration struck Harry, eliciting a smile.
Thankfully, there wasn't anyone else inside the chamber as they'd have pissed themselves in fear upon seeing Harry's smile…
The innocent action revealed his glistening teeth which were as sharp as medieval blades, capable of effortlessly tearing through any creature unlucky enough to find itself caged between them.
"Kreacher," he growled incoherently, hoping that the house elf could feel his call despite the mangled roar.
Just as he was about to attempt calling the old bugger again, a loud crack echoed through the chamber.
The ancient house elf appeared, his eyes widening in shock as he took in the sight before him.
Gripped by a primal and inherent instinct of survival that most species harboured upon coming face to face with grown dragons — even though Harry was still growing — Kreacher disapparated as instantaneously as he arrived.
'Oh. I didn't take that possibility into consideration,' Harry thought, mentally kicking himself for ignoring his current form; the transformation was, after all, the root of his current predicament.
Harry let out a frustrated growl and tried to think of a way to convey his identity and predicament without scaring the elf away again.
'Curses,' he thought as another house elf came to mind.
He, might be more willing to help.
Taking a deep breath, Harry called him out.
"Dobby!"
His draconic voice rumbled through the chamber as he waited for the inevitable crack.
In the next moment, a crack echoed through the chamber, and Dobby appeared, his large eyes widening in shock at the sight before him.
Thankfully, unlike Kreacher, Dobby didn't immediately disapparate away.
Instead, he tilted his head curiously, as if sensing something familiar about the massive dragon.
"Dragon Harry Potter... sir?" Dobby squeaked tentatively, his voice a mixture of awe and uncertainty.
'Does the little bugger not know about fear?' Harry mused flabbergasted, but felt a wave of relief wash over him as Dobby recognised him, despite his draconic form, and let out a laugh.
The sound that emerged, however, was not the jovial chuckle he had intended, but a deep, rumbling roar that shook the chamber.
The sudden noise startled Harry, causing him to instinctively flap his wings, creating a gust of wind that pushed the little devil in disguise away.
Dobby yelped in surprise and snapped his fingers, reappearing in front of Harry, who forced himself to remain still to avoid any other sudden movements.
"Is Harry Potter sir alright?" Dobby asked concerned, his voice filled with a tone of reverence that wasn't there before.
'Bugger,' Harry thought, resisting the urge to massage his temples to alleviate the forming headache; that wouldn't have gone well.
"Find Kreacher and tell him that the dragon he saw was me. Then do the same for my godfather, Sirius, and bring him here," Harry growled.
Unsurprised but disheartened, Harry noted Dobby's bewildered expression.
'Well, here goes nothing,' Harry thought as he concentrated on his soul sense.
That's when Harry noticed the other changes…
First of all, it was laughingly easy to access his seventh sense.
Then there was the range he could sense.
His soul sense had expanded exponentially, allowing him to perceive the souls of the entire chamber and beyond, reaching the first floor of Hogwarts.
Harry marvelled at the newfound depth and clarity of his perception.
He sensed Dobby's soul, pulsing faintly with its unique magical signature. It reminded Harry of a mischievous yet unwaveringly loyal child.
Effortlessly, Harry extended a portion of his essence towards Dobby, initiating a soul bond.
It wasn't the usual way of forming a bond between a house elf and a master, but Harry couldn't exactly recite the small ritual.
Harry's humongous green eyes bore down on the small creature in front of him and widened slightly as he felt the bond snap into place.
Dobby's own eyes grew impossibly larger as he started to sob.
"H-HARRY POTTER, SIR. THANK YOU FOR MAKING DOBBY YOUR ELF!" the little elf wailed, tears of joy streaming down his face.
Harry couldn't help but feel a tiny bit amused at Dobby's emotional outburst.
'Why didn't you guys react more like Dobby?' he inquired while pushing the scene of the crying elf through his shared soul channel.
'Oh, so you've finally decided to grace us with your attention? It's not as if we've been anxiously waiting to see if you're alright or anything,' Ash's sarcastic remark came.
'And I'm above such undignified displays. I can't speak for the reptile, though,' Fawkes retorted.
'I suppose that's fair,' Harry conceded and noted that Dobby started to calm down.
'Things got a bit... complicated,' Harry told them wryly.
'Yes! Harry Potter, sir, is a big dragon now!' Dobby exclaimed, drawing startled gasps from the other two, 'dignified' creatures…
Upon receiving confirmation, Fawkes materialised within the chamber in a burst of flame, his talons firmly grasping Ash.
Harry's two familiars took in the sight before them, their eyes widening in disbelief.
Feeling mischievous, Harry opened his mouth and let out a deafening roar, causing the chamber to tremble.
Fawkes let out a subdued trill, while Ash hissed softly, his serpentine eyes fixed on Harry's dreadful form.
The chamber fell silent as the four creatures continued speaking through their soul bonds.
.
Don't forget to give me my stones!
[https://www.patreon.com/Mr_0ne] -> "Ch. 49 -Control"
[https://discord.com/invite/NJ3WV9RVgR]