Chapter 31
This really piqued his interest as he then turned to the new location, of which he had no idea about, before taking on his Animagus form, which was a large white lion. After transforming, Gray's items and his suitcase automatically transformed with him. The reason why he could take on his Animagus form thoughtlessly was because Animagus wasn't a spell-casting ability and thus wouldn't be detected by the Trace.
Although while in his Animagus form, he couldn't speak. "Alright, let's see what this side of the world has to offer," he thought to himself as he started to walk. Although he was not in his original shape, Gray felt no discomfort whatsoever. Such were the perks of being an Animagus. It nearly made him forget the pain he had to go through to get this ability, which he had to obtain sneakily, as it was a ritual heavily monitored by the Ministry of Magic, though not tightly enough.
However, just as his large form had taken several steps into the woods, he came upon a path where bells jingled, and not a second later, from the thick white fog, out came a beautiful white carriage being driven by two white stags, who immediately came to a halt. A woman's voice sounded, "Why are we stopping, Ginnarrbrik?" The woman asked as a dwarf, wearing a red cap, who peeked over the stags, only to be shocked at the sheer size of Gray. "I… it seems to be a lion, Your Highness," the dwarf sighed as the woman then got off the carriage.
The first thing that Gray noticed about the woman was the fact that her skin was pale, almost frosted, enhancing her cold presence. Her face was sharp and regal, with high cheekbones and a cruel, confident smile that seldom wavered. Her eyes, cold and piercing, gleamed with a deep, unsettling blue. She wore a flowing, glittering white gown that billowed like snow in the wind, adorned with intricate silver designs, and a majestic, jeweled crown. "She is a witch," Gray thought as the woman frowned deeply. The word "lion" made her angry, but upon taking a closer look, the woman smiled as she noticed his bright white color. "But unlike that fool, your fur is white. I adore the color white," she said as she waved her hand.
"Come, you would make a nice pet," she said as she tried to cast a sleeping spell on him. "Yep, definitely a witch," he thought as he felt slight grogginess, but the spell didn't work. This was due to the fact that while he was researching bewitchment, Gray wasn't lagging behind in his potion creation, allowing him to create some permanent potions. Now, Gray had a total of 600% or six times the permanent increase from the Wiggenweld potions. The last Wiggenweld potion he created was a high-grade potion with a 400% effect. The Troll's Might potion now gave him a total of 800% increase in strength, or eight times. His magical potency was now permanently increased eight times as well; although nowadays, unless he was in Diagon Alley or Hogwarts, he wasn't casting spells.
He had a total of 700% increase in agility, a 660% permanent increase against sleep deprivation symptoms, and a 500% increase in cellular regeneration provided by the Eternal Serpent Slaught. Most importantly, he had an 800% resistance to curses and hexes, and sleep inducement spells definitely fell under that category, which is why he was able to resist the spell. This, of course, took the queen aback as Gray crouched a little before pouncing forward. It's worth noting that the enhancements his human body received were also transferred to his Animagus form, but the witch was no slouch as she conjured up a wall of ice.
The moment Gray's paw landed against the wall, it shattered, and Gray took several steps back, while the queen looked at the destroyed chunks of ice before looking at Gray as she said, "Hmm, powerful. This reminds me of some unpleasant memories." She then tried to look into his mind, control him. but Gray's mind was blank, and even if it weren't, someone as lowly as Jadis would not be able to overcome the system's protections. She frowned even harder.
"Now I truly want you gone," she said as she released a large, cold ice wind at Gray, which shook the trees and caused the snow to kick up everywhere. Most importantly, it was meant to slice Gray into pieces, which only managed to create several deep gashes on him, which were already healing. He decided not only to dodge but also to return to his form once he was out of the cold wind's range.
He then put on his mask, which was strapped to his waist, as he blended into the surroundings while approaching the queen. But she quickly snapped her head toward his direction and conjured a large transparent ice block, which parried Gray's sword. As she saw Gray in his lion armor, and since he wore a mask, she couldn't see his face. The fact that he was now human took her aback as she said, "What manner of creature are you?" Gray then swung heavily at the block of ice. This time, the block of ice exploded as the Fiendfyre spell on the sword activated, shattering the block of ice.
However, much to Gray's surprise, the woman, whom he honestly didn't expect to be physically strong, actually caught the sword with her hand. She then said, "If you were obedient, you would have made a nice addition to my army" before sending him flying with a hard punch to his chest.
Gray, of course, stabilized himself, but his magic sense picked up a dangerous spell as he looked at the woman, who was chanting. His instincts immediately warned him, and he quickly pulled out four test tubes—two strength potions and two speed potions. He drank the strength potions first, feeling the effect of the first potion, which he pushed through, before quickly drinking the second strength potion. That's when he sensed something was wrong.
"What?" The moment he drank the potions, he didn't get potion sickness, which he was afraid of. Instead, he felt nothing at all. He looked down, just to make sure he didn't spill the potions, but he hadn't. "What?" Confused, Gray then drank the speed potions. He felt the first one, but when he drank the second, it was as if the potion vanished the moment it went down his throat. "What is happening?" However, he didn't have time to ponder, as he looked toward where his suitcase was. He then jumped toward it with all his might, and just as he reached the suitcase, Gray transformed into his Animagus form, transforming along with the suitcase.
It was then that the spell the woman was casting hit. Immediately, Gray, who was in his Animagus form, felt cold—colder than he had ever felt in his lifetime—as strong gusts of wind carrying heavy white snow suddenly descended. "You shall bear witness to the might of the White Queen of Narnia," the woman said as she stood in the middle of the storm. Before Gray knew it, he was flung so hard and so far that once he finally flew into something large and hard, which was a literal mountain, Gray lost consciousness.
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A/N Before you rush to comment, trust me—I know what you're about to say, but believe me, there's a good reason for everything that's happening. As I promised in the synopsis, each world will have something unique to offer him and aid him on his journey to godhood, especially this one. Just wait until this Narnia arc is finished; I promise you'll be satisfied.
P.S. Also, I have no idea how you guessed Narnia from the hint I dropped yesterday. All I said was that it involved a lion... okay, I get it.
Ps: I was listening to purejuice while I was writing this fight scene