A week later, Neville returned home. He had already received his Hogwarts letter at the hospital. Algie literally danced with joy.
Seeing a bearded old man with his hands on his hips and swaying his hips made him want to vomit.
Augusta was also overjoyed, but she still glared at Algie, she still hadn't forgiven him, leaving the old man speechless.
But the first thing Neville said upon receiving the letter was: "I don't like frogs!"
He looked directly at Algie when he said it. If you want a runaway frog, you can have it. He'd probably throw the frog in a pond if he got it, so it served as a warning.
Anyway, back home, Neville was still thinking about how to get a useful Patronus.
Patronuses don't necessarily have to be magical, in fact, the overall strength of the Patronus doesn't change much because it's strengthened by soul rings.
But Patronus abilities are based on the animals used, so whether he uses a rat or a dragon will make a big difference.
Magic resistance, scales, flight, fire breathing...
They're all racial abilities, so even though he has nine totenic positions, he was thinking about which abilities he wanted.
But as soon as he got home, Neville felt something, a pull, coming straight from his soul.
Before his grandmother's surprised eyes, he ran into the old mansion.
On the second floor, in a room Neville knew held family heirlooms, Neville found what he was looking for.
Among hundreds of strange objects, on a small cushion lay a gray egg that looked petrified and slightly cracked.
Neville approached carefully, his eyes turning slightly blue as he studied the egg.
He could feel the faint connection, letting him know this was a perfect medium for a Patron!
There are many ways to acquire an animal Patronus, it can be from a recently killed animal, a living animal, or even an egg.
In the first case, extracting the soul is easy, but the animal may not be very obedient. If there was a connection in life, it could be much easier. This is also the most common method, allowing young shamans to form bonds early on.
The second method is more difficult: extracting the soul from a living being or even using a living being based on the soul. This is the strongest type, but the essence of life is life. This type of patron often resents its master, causing problems.
The last is the easiest. The soul connection between the shaman and the egg, coupled with a lack of wisdom, creates a very loyal patron. However, this is the weakest option and the most difficult to improve. Of course, with sufficient resources, the patron will still reach its peak.
So the last model is the means of the wealthy.
Patrons cannot simply devour all souls. If they devour pure souls, they generate negative miasma, which in turn not only pollutes the shaman's energy, causing a series of negative effects, but also damages the shaman's body and soul.
Thus, shamans who use pure souls are called Black Shamans. They resemble walking bones because they are so fragile, needing to consume pure souls frequently to maintain their power.
Black souls, on the other hand, when consumed, take a long time to be purified, which is why the growth of a white shaman is much slower. Besides, black souls are harder to find than pure souls.
Sensing the petrified egg's weak but persistent spiritual connection, Neville became very curious about the creature that could maintain a soul remnant for so long.
It probably wasn't a weak creature, he was wondering if it was worth hiring.
-Ah, you found this. It's a phoenix egg. It was poisoned with basilisk venom, but it's still rare enough to make it a valuable collectible. It belonged to your great-great-grandmother Lucia, she received it as a wedding gift from her husband.- Augusta arrived at some point, curious as to why Neville was in that room.
Since there were so many strange and frightening things there, Neville never entered.
Neville's eyes widened. A phoenix?!
He held the egg tighter, afraid of losing it.
He gave his grandmother his best puppy-dog look. He didn't even need to say anything.
Augusta rolled her eyes and said, - You can stay with the egg, anyway, it's just gathering dust here.
Neville smiled the biggest smile he'd ever seen in this world. He jumped up, hugged his grandmother, and ran to his own room, holding the egg with excited eyes.
He looked around, a rustic oak room looked old and elegant, nothing like an eleven-year-old boy's bedroom.
But he didn't look much longer. He went to the center of the room and bit his thumb, his face contorted in pain, but he endured, letting the blood flow and stain the egg as his mouth opened and a strange language began to sing.
Neville felt the magic leave his body as the blood began to seep into the egg. The egg began to heat up, causing Neville to place it on the floor, never stopping his chant.
In the end, the egg turned black as coal, with red lines running through it, like lava on black earth.
The ground began to emit a faint burning smell, but he didn't care.
Finally, the egg cracked and quickly turned to ash, but from within, a small flame floated upward, heading toward Neville.
Neville looked excited as the flame entered his forehead.
A grunt escaped as he felt the area burn for a moment.
But soon, his entire body seemed to heat up several degrees before returning to normal temperature.
Neville didn't care, deep inside, he opened his "eyes" and saw what he had been waiting for.
On the black stone altar, in one of the nine circular areas surrounding it, the fire began to grow.
Finally, a statue of a flaming bird settled in that spot.
A soft eagle cry rang out in his mind. Neville was sweating profusely, exhausted, and he collapsed to the ground.
-Fuck, I almost didn't make it. - Neville sighed.
But after breathing heavily for a while, he stood up, shaky and excited.
Focusing on the altar, specifically the phoenix totem, Neville poured his magic into the totem.
The next moment, a faint scream rang out as an illusory figure escaped from the totem.
In the real world, a flaming figure emerged from Neville's forehead.
But when Neville looked at it, his lips trembled.
A small bird the size of a hummingbird was flying in front of him.
It had reddish-gold feathers, a long tail, and seemed to warm the room with its mere presence.
It was also illusory, as if it were just a figure in the mist.
The bird flew around Neville, emitting joyful cries, allowing the disappointed Neville to regain his smile.
He couldn't wait much longer, it was a stunted phoenix spirit.
But it was a phoenix after all, it would grow in the future.
Sensing that the magical drain was too heavy, Neville quickly retracted the small phoenix back into the Totem.
Animal patrons are semi-sentient, like the altar, they possess remnants of their original personalities, but their consciousness is truly limited.
Complex tasks can hardly be completed, in return, they can be more easily controlled by the shaman's mind.
It's a trade-off between wisdom and control.
Of course, if the Patronus's resentment and personality are very strong, controlling it becomes much more difficult, even impossible.
Due to their low wisdom, Patronuses tend to be stubborn, meaning they rarely change their minds.
So if you ask a peaceful animal to kill, it might refuse, even if you try to control it, it will resist.
Since Patronuses grow alongside shamans, they have the same number of rings as the shaman, making it difficult to truly control them.
That's why eggs are the most desired, with a weak personality, it's very easy to mold the offspring into one's image.
The problem of resources is the real key, unfortunately.
Neville didn't know what this world would be like with dark souls—perhaps ghosts they killed in life? Perhaps Dementors? Perhaps the souls of Dark wizards and Muggle prisoners? perhaps even Voldy's Horcruxes?
There were many options to try, but with the strength of his phoenix currently, he still had to be careful.
Patronuses aren't immortals, attempting to devour a soul is a spiritual war, if the patronus fails, they themselves are devoured.
Because it's connected to the shaman, even if the shaman doesn't die, their soul will be severely damaged, and their altar could even be destroyed, leaving them crippled.
So, with the strength of his phoenix currently, he needs to be very careful about what he feeds it.