Actions

Work Header

Harry Potter and the Artificer Legacy

Chapter 32: Animagus and Artifact

Chapter Text

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Harry Potter and the Artificer Legacy! Harry meets Professor Mukisa from Uagadou and starts learning the Animagus Transformation! What kind of Artifact does the Professor want in return?

So without further delay, please enjoy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 32 – Animagus and Artifact

Harry grinned, sitting in the living room, as he waited for Sirius to return from the Leaky Cauldron with Professor Mukisa. The man had sent an owl when he’d arrived and just needed Sirius to come and bring him to Wood End Cottage. The teen Artificer was looking forward to learning a much better and faster version of the Animagus Transformation. Not to mention he was eager to see what material the Professor was bringing him to make into an Artifact. All he’d mentioned in the letter was that it was from a certain Magical Creature.

At the moment Harry was simply going over some of his notes and working out more of his first original spell. Adding effects to a spell, or blending effects together, was tricky business in Spellcraft. Harry was still working out how to integrate the different spells that would make up the base of his own spell. So far he was making slow progress, but while Magic was varied and versatile, a balance did have to be maintained or any spell would fall apart. Thinking about it in those terms, it wasn’t all that different from Enchanting and Artifice. Unfortunately, Harry didn’t possess his own unique method for Spellcraft like he did for Artificing.

The flames in the fireplace flared green and Sirius emerged from the Floo. He moved aside while smiling at Harry and another man came through. The green flames died down and Harry stood up to meet the man. He was tall, probably around one-hundred-eighty-three centimeters. The man had short black hair, dark skin, and looked rather broad. As their guest waved his hand, the soot from the Floo vanished from his clothes. The top of the outfit appeared to be a cross between a robe and tunic, with multi-colored designs on them that Harry couldn’t even begin to guess the meanings of. The man wore regular pants in a dark-brown color as well. His feet were adorned in leather shoes and he had sharp brown eyes.

“Greetings, Artificer Potter, I am Professor Mukisa from Uagadou.” Mukisa introduced himself with a slight bow.

“It’s good to meet you, Professor Mukisa, I’m Harry Potter.” Harry introduced himself with his own slight bow.

“Let’s get you settled, Professor, then you and Harry can work out your agreement.” Sirius offered and Mukisa agreed. The two men left the living room towards the guest room. Harry had a good feeling about these lessons. He’d be sure to share them with Tonks, Penny, and Fleur. But that did bring up the question of if Veela could become Animagi. That was something else to look into during this busy summer.

Less than an hour later found Harry and Mukisa speaking in the living room. It was time to finalize their agreement and start their respective work. The two had some tea from Tayla to drink as they chatted and Sirius was sitting in a chair to watch over the deal.

“You’ll need to brew the required potion yourself, Mr. Potter.” Mukisa explained the first portion of the Uagadou way of learning the Animagus Transformation. “I’ll instruct you in the process, of course, and once it has been correctly brewed we’ll move on to the next step.”

“Is it a difficult potion to brew, Professor?” Harry questioned the man curiously. He didn’t much care for Potions after all. That was exacerbated further by Snape being the Potions Professor at Hogwarts.

“The potion is not especially difficult; it merely requires ingredients that are harder to come by in Europe as opposed to Africa. You’ll brew two doses and take one in the morning and one after nightfall. After that, it is merely a matter of letting your animal-self appear to you in your dreams. From there comes the longest part of the process; taking control of the beast and thereby taking on its form at will. Some beasts are more docile, which take the student less time to bring to heel and control. Other beasts will fight you every step of the way and will take much longer to subdue.” Mukisa explained the general process of the Uagadou Animagus Method.

“That’s still much better, and far simpler, than the European version.” Harry chuckled as he briefly went over all the ridiculous steps and requirements of the European version in his head. “I guess I should see the materials you’ve brought for me to use and explain the process of Artifice a bit. It is the payment you’ve asked for from me.”

“That would be much appreciated, Artificer Potter.” Mukisa smiled as he pulled a Mokeskin pouch out of the inner pocket of his tunic-like robe. Reaching inside the Professor pulled out a long, straight wooden branch. It was rather thick as well, being so large that the Professor could barely get his hand around it. Harry blinked at the large piece of wood. To his eyes the branch had Magic covering it like smoke or mist. Mukisa wasn’t done however; the man then pulled out two crooked horns and placed them on the coffee table next to the branch. To Harry’s surprise Mukisa reached into the Mokeskin pouch again and brought out a bag. When he opened the bag it was revealed to be full of black and white feathers. Both of the crooked horns, as well as the feathers in the bag, all gave off a Magic haze. Harry could easily see that the haze from the items all flowed towards Mukisa, a sure sign that he was the master of all three materials.

“What have you brought me?” Harry asked as he looked more closely at the three items.

“The branch of an Ancient Baobab Tree that was planted by my ancestors on the land that would become our family’s to this day. The horns of an Abada, sometimes associated with the Unicorn since their horns act as antidote to most poisons and can also cure most diseases, both Magical and not. Finally, these are the feathers of an Impundulu that attacked the village my family lives in last year.” Mukisa pointed to each material as he identified them for Harry.

“Hmm, yes, I can create an Artifact with these materials.” Harry nodded while examining one of the crooked horns. “So curing of poisons and disease, a magical branch, and feathers that seem to have an affinity towards electricity, or perhaps lightning?”

“Yes, an Impundulu is also known as a Lightning Bird. They are vampiric in their feeding and can be controlled through certain Rituals by the traditional witchcraft of South African Tribes like the Pondo, Xhosa, and Zulu. Why one came to attack our village is still unknown. As far as we’re aware we’ve done nothing to warrant such an attack.” Mukisa told the story of the material and how he’d come to acquire it. “I slayed the Impundulu with a whip of fire, the bird’s only known weakness.”

“It’s a good thing you did,” Harry looked at his soon-to-be Animagus Teacher. “Whether you knew it or not, you entered into a Rite of Conquest with the Impundulu and the Abada, so when you slayed them their bodies were ‘conquered’ by you. All of their Magic remained within them and now it can be crafted into an Artifact. If you had just brought me the horns and feathers after collecting them or buying them, then I wouldn’t have been able to do much more than perhaps make an Enchanted Item for you.”

“About how long will it take to craft the Artifact?” Mukisa inquired of his newest student.

“A bit over a week, maybe two?” Harry replied as he took one of the feathers in hand and looked at it more closely.

“Excellent,” Mukisa chuckled at the timeline. “Then we should have no troubles getting you well on your way to being an Animagi in that time.”

“Really?” Harry blinked in surprise at the speed that Mukisa was suggesting he could learn the Animagus Transformation.

“Of course, you didn’t think you’d learn the whole process in a day or something; did you?” Mukisa grinned, a small chortle escaping the tall man.

“I was expecting it to take longer, honestly.” Harry shook his head. He was pleased that it wouldn’t take up the whole summer at the very least.

“Not to worry, I’ve brought all the ingredients we need for you to brew the potion for yourself. I’ll be instructing you on its creation and then helping you as much as possible with getting your animal-self under control.” Mukisa informed the teen.

“Can’t wait.” Harry chuckled and Mukisa joined him along with Sirius.

So it went that the very next morning Harry was in the kitchen learning to brew the Uagadou Animagus Potion. He made sure to listen closely while also writing down every ingredient, the amounts used, when to add them, the heat required, when to stir the potion, including the number of times and in which direction. Every step was meticulously transcribed so that Harry could share his new knowledge with his girlfriends later.

“Now, take note of the time, Harry.” Mukisa motioned to the clock in the kitchen. “The last step is to let the potion simmer for twenty four hours. If you take it off the heat before the twenty four hours are up, then the potion will be ruined and you’ll have to start again.” Harry looked at the time, twenty six minutes after eleven in the morning, and noted it down. “Most brewers will leave the potion on the heat for an extra minute or two, just to be on the safe side. This is recommended as the extra minutes will not negatively affect the potion.”

“Alright,” Harry nodded as he stepped back from the small cauldron and left it to simmer. “I suppose it’s time for me to start holding up my end of our deal.” He motioned for Mukisa to follow him out to the smithy. Once the two were sat inside the workspace, Harry had Mukisa place the three materials down on the worktable. “Now, since the Artifact’s Form isn’t up to me, tell me what you want it to be.”

“Ideally I’d like a staff, one that can be used as an amplifying focus if possible.” Mukisa laid out his desire for the Artifact.

“I see, that’s not impossible, though with these materials it would only really amplify Healing Magics and Lightning-based spells. I might be able to work in a tertiary ability based on the materials too, but I’m not one hundred percent sure on that, so I won’t make any promises.” Harry informed his Animagus Teacher.

“How much amplification are you expecting?” Mukisa questioned, curious as to how strong the Artifact would make said spells.

“Hmm, based on the materials, I’d expect you to be able to heal most any sickness or poisoning, also injuries shouldn’t be much of a problem as long as they’re not mortal wounds. You might even be able to use a single spell on multiple people with this Artifact as your focus. As for the amplification to Lightning-based spells, those would be more directly proportional to how much innate mana the Artifact holds. Since these materials were all conquered by you, I may be a bit limited as to how much of my Magic I can impart to strengthen the Artifact as I craft it.” Harry informed the man honestly. Artificing for others would always hold a limit in Creature Craft; simply because the materials’ master wasn’t the Artificer.

“That’s acceptable.” Mukisa agreed and the man’s eyes had a bit of a far off look. It seemed to Harry that he was already planning uses for the Artifact once he had it.

“Do you want it bound to your Bloodline?” Harry asked the man pointedly. That was another layer of complexity, but one that Harry had experience with.

“You can do that?” Mukisa looked surprised and Harry simply nodded in response. “Then yes, I’d like to keep this Artifact within my family.”

“Then at some point during the creation process I’ll need your freely-given blood.” Harry saw Mukisa’s shoulders stiffen at his words and knew it was a hardwired response for most Magicals. Freely-given blood was one of the most powerful mediums to use for all sorts of spells and rituals. It wasn’t something you just handed to anyone, not even people you knew. “It is the only way for me to bind the Artifact to your Bloodline, you are more than welcome to be there when I do so and ensure all of the blood is used or destroyed to your own satisfaction.” He tried to placate the tense Wizard.

“Very well…” Mukisa exhaled heavily. “I will do so.”

“Thank you for your trust, Professor.” Harry gave a small bow to the man. “I’ll begin drawing up the plans now if you’d like to relax inside.” Mukisa gave a nod to his student and stood up from his seat. In just a few moments he left the smithy so that Harry could work in peace.

The next morning, at eleven forty five, Harry portioned out two vials of the Animagus Potion and stoppered one of them. The other he looked at warily. It was thick, had a dark-green color, and didn’t smell good. Mukisa motioned for him to drink it and Harry heard Sirius snicker in the background. With a grimace, Harry upended the vial and drank down the contents. It was bitter, tasted horrible, and Harry forced himself not to wretch. With a deep exhale he set the empty vial aside.

“Now we wait until nightfall before you drink the second one, Harry.” Mukisa reminded the teen with a smile. Harry gave a half-smile at best in return, prompting both Mukisa and Sirius to laugh.

Harry returned to his work for the rest of the day while Mukisa and Sirius went out together to ‘see the sights’ for the African Wizard. Harry had the plans for the staff drawn up and was ready to begin the creation process. The first thing he was going to do was make a solid bar of Sylvuan. This would be the core for the staff and what he’d transcribe the majority of the Runes on to enable the staff to function as a focus. Once he formed the bar, then he’d proceed to shape it into a pole. From there the actual transcribing could begin. With his plan set, Harry fired up his forge and gathered some of the ingots of Sylvuan he’d made. Honestly, he was starting to run out of space to store the amount of various ingots he’d already made. He stashed them away, saving them for future projects, shortly after transmuting them. But it was better to have the materials than not, at least in Harry’s opinion anyway.

That night Harry drank the second round of the Animagus Potion. He, once again, forced himself not to wretch and breathed heavily after drinking it. Mukisa told him that he would probably have a vivid dream about his animal-self tonight and to make sure he remembered as many details as possible. It would all help him on his path to becoming an Animagi. Harry wondered how vivid the dream would be and if he’d be able to remember it. He was usually fifty-fifty on remembering anything about his dreams.

Dark, the smell of a forest, moving along, quick and sure, he was fleet of foot and following the trail his senses had picked up. Without warning he was in the middle of the dark forest. In front of him, hidden by the gloom, was a pair of bright eyes that seemed to glow. He couldn’t make out much more though, the darkness too heavy and obscuring the rest of the creature’s form. There was a strange noise and then a falling sensation.

“Huh?!” Harry startled awake and blinked at seeing the sun coming through the windows of his bedroom. “Okay, so when Mukisa said vivid dream he meant vivid! “What was that though? A forest, dark as if it was night, but I could navigate easily, what kind of animal was it though?” Unable to piece together exactly what his form could be, Harry got out of bed and headed for breakfast.

After breakfast Mukisa asked Harry about any dreams he may have had. After relaying what he remembered to his teacher, Harry waited for the man to think. Mukisa looked thoughtful, mulling over Harry’s words and the description of his dream. He had experience with dozens and dozens of students becoming Animagi and was pulling from that experience to try and help Harry figure out his animal form.

“I’d say it is obvious that your form is a nocturnal, forest-dwelling species.” Mukisa spoke after a few minutes. “I can’t rule out your hypothesis of an Eastern Dragon of some kind, since I’m not entirely familiar with all of the species in that area of the world. I wouldn’t get your hopes up though. There have been no documented cases of a Magical Creature Animagus ever recorded.”

“I know, but it would be cool to be the first.” Harry grinned and both Sirius and Mukisa laughed at the teen. “What? It would be!” Harry declared, but that just made both men laugh harder. He rolled his eyes as he left to his smithy. He still had work to do for the Artifact. Today was the day he etched the Sylvuan pole with the Runic Array he’d come up with for it.

The next day, after another night of vivid dreams involving forests and the dark of night, Harry met Weldon for another swordsmanship lesson. Both Mukisa and Sirius watched on as Harry was directed through the motions and instructed on his footwork. The spar, if you could call it that, at the end of practice was a quick showing of how much further Harry had to go. In three strikes the teen had been disarmed and Weldon was telling him what he’d done wrong. Then Harry had to pick up his wooden sword again and start over. The afternoon was spent grinding down the Abada horns to make use of them in the next part of the staff’s creation.

“Well, I think I can safely say my form isn’t a dragon.” Harry mentioned at breakfast with a small sigh. It would have been cool to be a dragon!

“Did you have a breakthrough with you dreams?” Mukisa asked his student with a smile.

“I did,” Harry nodded to his teacher. “I was able to make out a set of pointed ears and what I think is a rather fluffy tail.”

“Hmm, perhaps a fox, or maybe a wolf?” Mukisa pondered on the pointed ears and fluffy tail that Harry had described.

The majority of the day was split between Harry’s projects and further processing the powdered Abada horns. Harry was going to mix them into molten Oulm and then use the resulting metal to strengthen and make permanent the Runes he was etching into both the Sylvuan pole and the, currently untouched, Baobab branch. He just had to split the large branch down the middle and then carve the wood to hold the Sylvuan pole. Carving the Runic Array inside and then filling all of the Runes with the Oulm and powdered Abada horn mixture would facilitate the connection and addition of the desired properties from the materials. Once that was done he’d shave down the outside of the branch to a more manageable thickness and then work in the Impundulu feathers for the finishing touches.

The next morning, Harry received a surprise visit from all three of his girlfriends. They got to meet Mukisa and hear about Harry’s latest dream. It was Tonks’ snickering that drew everyone’s eyes to the Metamorph. When she noticed that everyone was looking at her, Tonks brought her chuckles under control.

“Something you want to share, Nym?” Harry asked his eldest girlfriend with a raised eyebrow.

“Maybe~” Tonks teased with a grin. Seeing the looks she was getting, the Metamorph spoke her thoughts. “You’re a raccoon, Harry.”

“What?” Harry blinked at the sudden blunt statement.

“How do you figure?” Penny questioned her friend.

“Do share, Nym.” Fleur tilted her head, a habit she had when she was curious about something.

“I’ve seen a raccoon before.” Tonks replied with a small smile. “They have them at the zoo my dad took me to as a kid. He was adamant that I know a bit about the Muggle World so that I could blend in better than the majority of Witches and Wizards. What Harry described from his dream is practically identical. Not to mention it fits his personality pretty well.”

“How is my personality anything like a raccoon’s?” Harry grumbled, but that only made Tonks snicker at him again.

“Tell me Harry, how many shiny metal things do you have hoarded away in your smithy?” Tonks asked in a faux innocent tone.

“A good amount, but I need them for future projects.” Harry admitted, suddenly not liking where this conversation was headed.

“Raccoons are fairly intelligent, like our Harry. They like shiny objects and hoard them, like our Harry. They’re inquisitive and curious, just like Harry. It seems like a perfect fit to me…” Tonks giggled as Harry hung his head in defeat. “Therefore, Harry’s a Trash Panda.”

“Trash Panda?” Sirius blinked at the unfamiliar term.

“I heard it from a Yank that came to the Ministry a few weeks back for a talk with old Barty Crouch, the Head of International Cooperation.” Tonks shrugged even as Harry practically pouted next to her. “Apparently it’s a slang term for raccoons over in the States.” She chuckled while wrapping her arm around Harry’s shoulders and pulling him into a hug.

“So Harry thought he might be a dragon, but he was really a raccoon?” Sirius snorted while Harry was smothered by Tonks and Penny. Fleur held her hand over her mouth to stifle her own giggles.

“It’s not funny.” Harry mumbled out from where he was trapped between Penny and Tonks.

“It really is, Harry.” Penny kissed his cheek with a smile. “You can’t get much different than a small mammal and a dragon.”

“Don’t worry, Harry~” Tonks cooed to her boyfriend. “When you master your Animagus Transformation we’ll all be happy to pet you as a raccoon. You’ll be soft and fluffy then.”

“Oui, you’ll be very cute, Harry.” Fleur smiled warmly at him.

‘Okay, maybe a small, fluffy animal isn’t the worst form to have.’ Harry mused internally as he settled into Tonks and Penny’s embrace.

“Well, if this realization has come to you now, the dream tonight will most likely reveal the true form if you’ve actually figured it out.” Mukisa chuckled lightly. “I’m not familiar with raccoons myself, but I doubt it’ll put up as much fight as a dragon would have. You might very well master your form within the next week or so.”

“Silver linings and all that.” Harry shrugged, wrapping his arms around Penny and Tonks’ waists and holding them close. Fleur gave a pleasant smile as she plopped herself in Harry’s lap and leaned back into her boyfriend.

“Hey now, get a room you brats!” Sirius laughed at the foursome. “We have a guest you know.”

“Maybe we will!” Tonks, maturely, blew a raspberry at Sirius. In short order the four of them had left the room and headed upstairs. It was an afternoon well spent, in Harry’s opinion!

The dream that night did indeed confirm that Harry’s form was a raccoon. The masked face, the small snout, the ringed-tail, and the grey fur were all easily recognizable after Harry had seen a picture of the animal. It wasn’t overly helpful, or powerful, but Harry didn’t mind. He wanted to experiment and see if he could still use Magic while transformed. He didn’t need a wand after all, so what would be stopping him? With his form discovered, Mukisa moved on to helping Harry feel his animal form within. To start drawing on the animal and taking on its form. The raccoon was not exactly helpful with this. The animal’s skittish and suspicious nature showing through in the Magic that Harry was trying to perform. The progress would be slow and steady by Mukisa’s judgement. But it would still be faster than most that had larger, predatory animals as their form.

A few days later and Harry had Mukisa standing off to the side as he prepared to finish the man’s staff in one long stretch of work. He had all of the materials prepared; now he just needed Mukisa to add his freely-given blood to the Oulm and Abada horn mixture. The tall man nodded to his student and proceeded to slice his palm over the vessel holding the mixture. Harry motioned for him to stop after a few moments and Mukisa healed his palm with several waves of his opposite hand. Only a red line remained after the Professor was done healing himself.

Harry mixed the blood into the Oulm and Abada horn compound and when it was settled he began. The Runic Arrays on the Sylvuan pole and the inside of the carved out Baobab branch were filled with the new compound. Once the rune work was done, Harry brought the two halves of the branch together again and sealed them with Magic. Next came the most time-consuming part. The teen Artificer began to shave down the thick branch into a proper staff. Mukisa watched on as the teen worked. It was an amazing sight to witness as Harry devoted all of himself and his focus to the act of creation. More and more of the wood was removed, the former branch now shaping into a smooth and refined form. Hours later and Harry looked over his work. The staff was formed and straight, the body smooth and comfortable in hand. One end of the staff was larger and rounded and Mukisa correctly assumed that it would be the head of the staff.

“Woo~” Harry exhaled as he walked over to the worktable that had the bag of Impundulu feathers on it.

Harry set the staff down and then proceeded to add small holes all over the rounded head of the staff with a tool that looked like a small icepick and a tiny hammer. When Harry seemed satisfied with the number he took one of the black and white feathers and stuck the calamus of the feather into one of the many tiny holes. A whisper from the Artificer and the feather became a part of the staff forevermore. Mukisa lost track of time as he watched Harry work. Feather after feather added to the head of the staff. It almost looked like a broom when Harry was halfway through the bag. When Harry ran out of the holes he’d made but still had some feathers left, he picked up the two small tools and made more holes. When the last feather was added and Harry whispered again, the teen tapped the head of the staff with his right index finger. Then he tapped the staff along the length, when he got to the base of the staff and tapped it Mukisa gasped. A force was in the air. It was familiar, he knew this feeling, and it was welcoming.

Harry smiled at his work proudly and turned to the Artifact’s master. He chuckled lightly as he saw the entranced look on his Animagus teacher’s face. No doubt the man felt the exact moment his staff had been finished and solidified as a single object. Waving his hand to get Mukisa’s attention, Harry held out the finished Artifact to him. Mukisa walked forward and took the staff into his hands. A connection immediately formed and a smile made its way onto his face reflexively.

“What will you call it?” Harry questioned softly as Mukisa ran his hands along the Artifact gently.

“Umvikeli Wempilo, the Life Protector.” Mukisa smiled at the staff, the head covered in the black and white feathers made a sharp contrast to the brown of the wood.

“A fine name.” Harry agreed with a smile. “I was also able to add the tertiary ability I mentioned. You like flying?”

“It can fly?” Mukisa blinked at Harry, the man seemed dumbfounded.

“Yep,” Harry chuckled as he stood up and stretched, small pops were heard as he moved compleltely for the first time in hours. “As its’ master, it’ll respond to you better than any broom could ever hope to. It’s speed is only limited by how much mana you give it. Let me go get Sirius’ broom and I’ll join you for a flight.”

In short order Mukisa, a grown man of fifty-four years of age, was whooping like a child as he flew through the air above Wood End Cottage. Even sitting sideways on the staff he had no fear of falling as he zipped around and made sharp turns. The staff would not let its’ master fall from it. Harry followed along as best as Sirius’ older broom could. There was a bright smile on his face at seeing Mukisa’s joy. It was always nice to have your work so well-recieved. Not to mention he now had two Artifacts to have inspected by a panel of his peers! Wouldn’t that be fun! He should get that scheduled with Sirius soon. But for now, he’d enjoy the freedom of flight.

-End Chapter-

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry’s a Trash Panda!!! *Cackles*

Animagus is well on its way! Not to mention Harry has completed Mukisa’s Artifact! Now he has two for a panel to judge! He’s going to blow the minds of the entire Enchanter and Artificer community!

How strong is Mukisa’s Staff? Harry couldn’t put all of his power into materials that he wasn’t the master of.

His other projects are still coming along as well! What’s the semi-final project he’s been working on in secret?

What is Voldemort up to?

What will happen next?

Keep reading to find out!

Current Mana Levels

Harry – 6,938

Tonks – 8,694

Penelope – 7,412

Fleur – 7,756

Until I get your reviews, later!