3 December 1992, Hogwarts
It has been a few days since he went on that trip to the forbidden forest with Luna, and well, it started becoming a regular thing. Harry didn't know how to explain it, but there was just this connection between him and Fluffy, and it was oddly relaxing just laying around with the beast's presence. His unusual nature was already an interesting thing, but Luna was surprisingly very knowledgeable about the subject. Of course, it took a little while for her to freak out before she actually started explaining it. Apparently, the existence of Phantasmal Beasts was a thing of legend. According to her, it was on par with the Crumpled Horned Snorkack, in terms of discoveries.
Since proper research on magical beasts is something of a recent thing, numerous rare and elusive creatures were not really properly researched. Apparently, according to a few ancient texts, a few magical creatures just are fundamentally different. They are more than beings of flesh and blood and are creatures of magic and energy.
Legends say that before Atlantis was sunk, in the age before man, the rumoured age of Gods, magical creatures as large as cities roamed the world. They were unbeatable beings of pure energy and magic. And sometimes they were even worshipped as gods. In many ways, that was precisely what they were. They were beings of incredible power and lifespans that could get up to thousands of years.
When they mysteriously disappeared, wizards and witches started to emulate these creatures and experimented by using Alchemy to create beasts to serve them. They were not nearly as intelligent or as powerful as the divine beasts, and they were creatures of flesh and blood and thus could be easily harmed or killed. Modern Dragons couldn't compare to Luna's tales of elder dragons, who were symbols of power personified more than anything.
However, these magical creatures could sometimes ascend when they become beings of legends. They are then called Phantasmal creatures. It could happen to a particular creature or an entire species, or maybe even a part of a species. According to the young Ravenclaw, things like Pegasi, Nemean Lions, or Hydras were rumoured to be Phantasmal creatures. However, as none of these creatures allowed wizards and witches to run experiments on them, and they are powerful enough to go through entire teams of war mages, it's hard to confirm such theories.
Funnily enough, the entire thing started interesting Magizoologist when they started to study unicorns and found that they were fundamentally different from any other magical creatures. They couldn't do much without risking getting cursed, and a unicorn never dies of natural causes, at least as far as they could tell. It was theorized that they were beings of partial energy, however, all the researchers could do was study their behaviour and make theories since for some reason the creatures were simply immune to magic.
Research on Cerberus was never properly conducted as well. They were too rare for large scale studies and their magical negation properties were far more powerful than unicorns. Luna, probably using her clairvoyance, was able to divine the true nature of Fluffy and was stupefied by it. When Harry suggested that unicorns could also be Phantasmal creatures, the young Ravenclaw started organizing a search for them, but they couldn't find any for her to observe anymore. It was slightly unnerving to be completely honest.
Still, every couple of days, he and Luna would go to their clearing, pet the Thestrals, and play with Fluffy slightly. The three-headed dog was very obedient to Harry for some reason, and he couldn't deny that his crest thrummed slightly at the beast's presence. Although, when they took Hedwig with them, the snowy owl kept glaring at the overly friendly hound. She was probably jealous, so Harry made sure to give her extra bacon and spend more time. It seemed to work since she was a lot calmer later.
Anyway, other than accidentally confirming one of the most researched topics in Magizoology, Harry spent his time just hanging out with his friends, although, it was mostly with Daphne, who had asked him to teach her how to duel out of nowhere. They spent hours every day together, just the two of them, duelling slightly. And Harry had to admit that the blonde was very talented in the field and had a vicious side to her that he didn't see often.
Which brings him to their current situation. They were in an empty large classroom, sparring. Harry ducked to dodge a cutting hex and shielded against the punching hex that followed. He smiled slightly as the girl huffed in exasperation as her tutor easily countered her spell chain.
She then sent a new spell, her hand glowing slightly where her family crest resided, "Ligamen Plantae!"
Giant roots appeared from the ground and tried to bind Harry. However, the Potter scion simply waved his wand and yelled back, "Impedimenta! Radix Evanescet!"
The first spell simply slowed down the roots massively, and the second one vanished them into ash. It was a modified vanishing charm that Harry made on the spot that only vanished plants in a wide area. It was faster than doing it individually but far more energy consuming. Honestly, it wasn't exactly fair, since Harry was, for lack of a better term, a savant when it came to magic. He could easily modify spells on the fly and technically this wouldn't be authorized. Well, it would be if it was done silently as official duels normally are since it was technically a vanishing charm and not an entirely new spell altogether. Alas, the Greengrass scion had used one of her family spells, which was definitely illegal.
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