"Obliviate!"
A flash of white light struck Peter Pettigrew directly. He suddenly awoke and looked around at where he was, immediately recalling that he had been fleeing desperately from Sirius Black. He had fled all the way to the Forbidden Forest and had accidentally fallen into this pit, losing consciousness for a brief moment. Fortunately, Sirius Black had not caught up to him yet, or he would have been in truly serious trouble.
Thinking of this dire situation, Pettigrew scrambled to continue his escape. Suddenly, he saw Remus Lupin standing directly in front of him. He immediately thought that he could use Lupin as a shield to block Sirius, and he rushed forward eagerly.
But at that precise moment, Lupin suddenly turned and looked directly at him with eyes full of hatred...
"Obliviate!"
Another flash of white light struck, and Peter Pettigrew awoke once more. He looked around at where he was—it was a pit, and it felt vaguely familiar to him somehow, but he did not care about such details. Sirius was about to catch up at any moment, and he had to escape quickly before it was too late.
Leaving the pit behind, Peter Pettigrew had not run very far when he suddenly saw Lupin standing before him once again...
"Obliviate!"
A flash of white light emanated from Sean's wand, and Pettigrew awoke yet again...
Time and again, Pettigrew awoke from unconsciousness, experiencing the deepest fears lurking within his troubled mind, only to be ultimately overcome by Sean. Each time, Sean drained away more of his joy and happiness using Pain Extraction, drowning Pettigrew deeper in his own painful memories.
Pettigrew did not know how many times he had experienced this nightmarish cycle. Each time felt exactly like the first time to his confused mind. Although many parts of the experience felt strangely familiar, the relentless stream of terrifying visions and Sean's magical attacks left him absolutely no time to reflect or understand what was happening. He could only relive it all repeatedly, sinking deeper into despair with each repetition. Each time, Sean erased his memories completely and began the torture anew.
It was like an eternal cycle of endless suffering, a personalized hell of torment from which there was no escape, never to awaken, forever sinking into darkness.
Once again, Pettigrew collapsed before Sean, his eyes completely blank and lifeless. He felt the rapidly dwindling joy and happiness being forcibly ripped away by Sean's magic, yet inexplicably, he could not muster even the slightest strength to resist anymore.
Sean watched carefully as the ethereal thread connecting him to Pettigrew began to falter, threatening to break apart at any moment. He knew instinctively that his constant repeated use of Pain Extraction had completely drained Pettigrew dry of positive emotions. If he continued this process any further, he would only be able to begin absorbing Pettigrew's very soul itself. Sean felt this was not a wise course of action. He needed to understand the principle of sustainable development and resource management. It was time to release Pettigrew temporarily, allow him to recover somewhat, and then continue the process again later.
If he continued draining him now, Sean felt certain that Pettigrew—whose joy and happy memories had been completely absorbed and consumed—would probably choose to die peacefully rather than continue existing in this state.
He gently raised his wand and deactivated the Pain Extraction ability.
Sean habitually checked his system panel, and when he saw the new information displayed upon it, a genuine smile finally broke across his previously expressionless face.
[Duel Victory! Randomly extract two abilities from your duel opponent.]
[Extracting in progress...]
[Extraction completed. Obtained: Aqua Eructo Level 3, Animagus Level 3.]
Finally, it was successfully extracted! Animagus!
Animagus transformation, in terms of magical difficulty and technical complexity, is generally considered to represent the fourth stage of Transfiguration mastery. However, this classification does not necessarily mean that anyone who has successfully mastered Animagus transformation will automatically achieve the fourth stage of general Transfiguration ability.
In actual fact, when Peter Pettigrew and his three companions—James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin—were first learning the Animagus transformation, they had used dangerous magical rituals to coordinate their combined efforts. They did possess a certain respectable level of Transfiguration proficiency to eventually achieve their respective Animagus forms successfully.
Even with all of that magical assistance, Pettigrew—who lacked both natural talent and luck—had nearly failed completely, even with the ritual's coordination helping him. The untransformed parts of his human body had nearly shattered his rat form entirely during the transformation. He had survived only thanks to the desperate intervention and help of the other three Marauders, and this is precisely why Pettigrew's eventual betrayal is considered so utterly despicable and unforgivable.
If Professor McGonagall's learning of Animagus transformation had come naturally through pure skill and dedication, then Pettigrew and his companions had taken a dangerously risky shortcut approach—but they had been truly blessed with extraordinarily good luck in their success.
Originally, Peter Pettigrew had not been particularly skilled at Animagus transformation at all. But after twelve continuous years of repeatedly transforming and maintaining his Animagus rat form for that entire duration, Peter Pettigrew's initially shallow Animagus attainments had been gradually raised through constant practice to the third level of mastery.
Sean felt the new Animagus transformation knowledge flowing into his consciousness, but he did not rush to attempt the transformation immediately. Instead, he waved his wand carefully and erased all of Pettigrew's recent memories completely. He certainly could have killed Pettigrew outright at this moment, but as Harry's friend, Sean felt that Harry was clearly far more qualified and deserving to deliver that final justice himself.
With a precise flick of his wand, Sean carefully levitated Pettigrew's unconscious form and placed him into an ordinary bag he carried with him. Then, casting the Disillusionment Charm upon himself once more, he returned quietly to Hogwarts Castle from the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest.
Near Gryffindor Tower, Sean found a secluded corner and unceremoniously threw Pettigrew—his memory thoroughly erased—into the corridor. After confirming that Pettigrew was still breathing and alive, he turned and left without hesitation. Having just received his Animagus transformation ability, Sean was already growing impatient to test it properly.
He hurried back to the Slytherin common room as quickly as possible, politely declining Blaise's enthusiastic invitation to play Wizard's Chess, Andy's friendly offer to chat about business, and Jason's suggestion to open Christmas presents together. He returned directly to his private room instead.
At this moment, Kulkan emerged from Sean's left sleeve, looked at Sean with a distinctly weird expression on her serpentine face, and asked pointedly, "Sean, you repeatedly tortured that mouse over and over again—it is not simply because you are some kind of sadistic pervert, is it?"
"Of course I am not a pervert," Sean replied defensively.
"Do not deliberately miss the point of my question—I am asking why you repeatedly tortured that pathetic mouse in such a manner!"
"Well, thank you very much for your help today, Kulkan."
"Sean!!!" Kulkan hissed in frustration.
"Alright, alright, I will tell you the truth."
Turning to look directly at Kulkan, Sean considered their relationship carefully. In fact, the bond between Sean and her was no different from close companions who trusted each other implicitly. Regarding his system panel abilities, Sean realized he could explain it using a modified explanation that would be far easier for Kulkan to accept and understand.
After a moment's careful deliberation, Sean said to Kulkan seriously, "Actually, I have always possessed a unique magical ability that allows me to extract specific abilities from another person after defeating them in combat. This ability can manifest as magic spells or natural talents, and then my power transforms it into a state suitable for my own use, granting me corresponding abilities. Do you understand what I am saying?"
"What?" Kulkan looked at Sean with a genuinely confused expression on her face. She hesitated for a long moment and said skeptically, "You are not lying to me, are you?"
"Of course I am not lying to you."
"Then, what exactly did you manage to obtain from that pathetic rat this time?"
"Animagus transformation."
"That actually works?" Kulkan sounded genuinely surprised.
"Do you want to see the result?"
"What kind of animal form is your Animagus?" Kulkan asked with growing curiosity.
"Will you not know if you simply look and see for yourself?"
As soon as he finished speaking those words, Sean's human body suddenly began to swell and expand dramatically. Along with his clothes, his constantly expanding body quickly twisted and stretched in impossible ways. Under Kulkan's increasingly surprised and then helpless gaze, Sean's massively expanded body suddenly slammed directly onto Kulkan with considerable force, pressing her firmly against the wall.
"Fuck it!" Kulkan, who was now pressed uncomfortably against the wall, hissed in annoyance at the situation.
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