— Today was a hard day. — Ben muttered, sitting down on a chair near the coffee table.
— Yeah... — Louise nodded curtly, then fell onto the bed as if all the strength had left her body.
— Well, I think it's worth going to bed early today. Ben concluded, seeing Louise's condition. However, without giving the girl time to answer, he continued:
— But first we need to decide something...
— Mmm... what? — Louise lifted her sleepy face, which she had already buried in the pillow, and looked questioningly at Ben.
Ben crossed his arms and looked at Louise seriously: — Where will I sleep?
— How is it, where? Over there. — Louise pointed to the pile of straw where Ben had spent the previous night. The girl did not understand at all why Ben suddenly asked such a question.
Ben had expected such an answer, so he decided to act more effectively: — Don't you feel sorry for me? I was near death not so long ago, besides, this morning I was fighting with that saturated turkey. I'm incredibly weak right now, and sleeping on straw will only worsen my condition.
During his tirade, Ben tried to appear as painful and pathetic as possible, trying to play on Louise's feeling of pity, however, she seemed indifferent to the man's words. How energetic Ben was during the duel with Guiche made Louise doubt her familiar's words.
— And what do you suggest? — She asked dryly.
— Will you let me on the bed? — Ben asked bluntly, which angered Louise.
— Are you suggesting that we sleep in the same bed? No! Absolutely impossible! Don't even think about it! — The girl exclaimed and immediately blushed, expressing her displeasure. Ben's words sounded like nonsense to her.
But even seeing Louise's reaction, Ben wasn't going to stop. He was prepared for Louise to object: — It's just a dream. Think logically, sleeping on straw is terribly uncomfortable, and I ended up here because of you. Shouldn't you provide me with a comfortable environment?
Ben's words sounded pretty convincing, and Louise thought, "Hmm... He's really here because of me... But sleeping together in the same bed... Unacceptable!" — A dilemma arose in the girl's head, she did not know what to do.
After a moment of silence, Louise hesitated a little and made a decision: — O-okay, you can lie down on the bed... But if you do something indecent, I will immediately throw you out of bed and punish you!
— Okay... — Ben spread his hands. He wasn't going to do anything obscene towards Louise, so he didn't pay much attention to her threat. However, he found the girl's menacing appearance endearing, and Ben couldn't help but smile.
***
After a while, the man and the girl finally got ready for bed and went to bed. Since Louise was still afraid that Ben might do something, she put a pillow between them, which reduced the space on the cramped bed.
— You're not allowed in my half! — Louise said, then turned her back on Ben.
The girl felt uncomfortable, so she tossed and turned for a long time before finally being able to fall asleep. Ben lay quietly on his side of the bed, analyzing the day. He was waiting for Louise to fall asleep so he could get out to the library. Ben could have done it in the daytime, but then Louise would have followed him, which Ben didn't want. He didn't like it when someone distracted him, so it was decided to go at night.
About half an hour later, Ben heard Louise's breathing become even and she began to snore. He slowly and carefully got out of bed, trying not to wake the girl, and then went to the window.
"I think I've recovered enough for this..." — Ben muttered to himself and opened the window.
The man closed his eyes, focusing on his magic core. He began to circulate magical energy through his entire body, filling every cell of his body with it.
Ben's body gradually began to change, shrinking and taking on a completely different shape. The hair stretched and thickened, gradually turning into thin black feathers. The bones became much lighter and changed their structure. The arms turned into a pair of beautiful wings, and the legs transformed into clawed paws, sharp and tenacious. The skin became dense and smooth, covered with shiny dark plumage, tinged with shades of blue and black. The face changed, the jaws clenched and lengthened, turning into a beak, from which now only a hoarse cry, similar to a croak, could escape. Now, instead of a handsome man, there was a black raven standing by the window.
— It feels great... — Ben said in his mind. He became an animagus when he was in his fourth year, but rarely used his animagus form, as he was an unregistered animagus. Ben always liked the feeling of flying, so he wasn't surprised that his animagic form was a bird, on the contrary, he even hoped for it.
By becoming an animagus, a wizard also acquires the abilities of the animal he transforms into. Ben was no exception either. His gaze became as sharp as a predator's, seeing every detail around him. Now he was looking at the world through the eyes of a raven, each object seemed much larger and clearer, and the smells and sounds were sharpened to the limit.
After taking a couple of awkward bird steps, Ben spread his wings and soared into the air. The reasons why he chose this path to the library were simple. First, he wanted to explore the academy grounds from the outside. In addition, during the day, he discreetly left the window in the library ajar in order to get there at night, since he was not sure that he would be able to get to the library in the usual way.
When Ben was outside, the first thing that attracted his attention was a rather unusual phenomenon for him: two moons were visible in the sky. There seemed to be harmony between them. One moon was much larger and shone with a delicate blue color, while the other, glowing with pink light, was smaller and seemed to be under the protection of the first.
"Incredible beauty." — After admiring the beauty of the sky for a while, Ben flew around the academy several times, carefully memorizing every corner. After that, he finally flew up to the library's previously opened window and entered. Once inside, Ben regained his human form.
— It's been a long time since I've been a bird... — Ben muttered softly, flexing his body after turning into a raven.
— Lumos. — Said the man and the tip of his finger began to glow, illuminating the darkness around. Unfortunately, without a wand, Ben was only capable of such tricks. However, he didn't have time to complain.
Passing by the numerous bookshelves, Ben carefully studied the books on them. He was looking for something that could help him in the near future. Fortunately, the writing of this world was almost identical to English. Therefore, it was not difficult for him to understand the meaning of what was written.
Ben realized that he would not be able to read everything here, for this reason he chose some of the most useful books and put them in a bag that hung on his belt. So Ben's collection of books expanded by about twenty books, among which were books on potions, alchemy, history and some other topics. If anyone in this world saw something like this, they would be surprised how so many books fit in such a small purse. However, the inhabitants of Ben's past world would immediately realize that the bag has a charm «Capacious extremis» that increases its volume from the inside.
After spending about three hours in the library, Ben decided it was time to leave, and he went to the window to return to the room.
— Come... to... me... — However, before Ben could get there, he heard a strange voice in his head, similar to the one he had heard in his dream.
— What is it? — Ben asked himself, turning his head in the direction from which the voice was coming. He didn't know if it was safe to respond to the call, but interest was stronger than common sense. So Ben decided to check the place where the voice came from.
After passing through several bookshelves, the man found himself in one of the most unremarkable places in the library. From the thick layer of dust, one could tell that rarely anyone came here. But Ben was sure he had heard a voice here. Looking at the shelves with books, he did not find anything special and thought that he just imagined it.
But suddenly Ben's attention was drawn to a rather old and battered book. Ben guessed that it had been stored here for several centuries. Cautiously reaching out, the man touched the book and, without observing any reaction, he finally decided to open it.
— What... — Ben was amazed when he saw the contents of the first page.
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Hi! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I wanted to publish it yesterday, but after work I only had enough strength to sleep.