Serving as a Guide

Ever since he bombed the old Experimental Base in Romania, Luo Bin had been working out the trick to becoming an Animagus: he had to draw the fire-aspected magic from his entire body and gather it into the Red Sphere in his lower abdomen.

After circulating it a dozen or so times, he shaped the magic with his mind until it took the form of a firebird, then sent it back along its original path.

That alone was not enough, of course. He also needed absolute conviction that he was a Phoenix. Luo Bin led Fang deep into the Forbidden Forest and tried more than thirty times before he finally managed a partial transformation... fiery wings!

The firelight reddened Fang's face. He tilted his head, his eyes darting between the fiery wings and the red eyes. How had his black-haired, dark-eyed friend suddenly changed like this?

Luo Bin flapped his wings and rose ten feet into the air!

Splat!

He landed face-first. Undeterred, he flapped his wings and tried again!

The second attempt went better: he made it fifteen feet before falling. On the third, fourth, fifth... By the twenty-sixth try, he could skim the treetops for more than thirty feet.

Any farther, though, and he would probably crash with a broken wing.

Woof! Awoo! Woof! Awoo!

Fang barked wildly, drool streaming from his mouth. Luo Bin flew over to him, shifted his shoulder blades, and drew his fiery wings back in. His eyes returned to their usual black.

"Huh, it's noon already? I've got a tough fight this afternoon. Better hurry back!"

Luo Bin patted Fang's head, then led him out of the Forbidden Forest.

"Luo Bin, do you think the Forbidden Forest is your home?"

Hagrid spoke with an axe in his hand. Logs of various sizes lay