The azure sky of Cornwall truly seemed to mock the rigid confines of the academic year Allen had just endured. He was enjoying the sea breeze, the delicious scent of salt and sun-warmed sand, and the gentle, rhythmic wash of the waves. His internal clock, which for months had been ticking to the rigid schedule of Charms and Transfiguration, had finally unwound.
He watched his brother Lenn and Albert enthusiastically sketching battlements into their sandcastle, arguing over the structural integrity of the ramparts, and felt a profound, simple peace.
Then, the peace shattered.
A sudden, sharp wave of dizziness—unlike anything caused by the sun or the gentle rocking of the waves—swept violently over him, so fleeting and intense it felt like a temporal dislocation. Immediately following it, a long-lost, distinct System Notification chimed urgently in his inner ear, a sound he hadn't heard since the early days of Hogwarts, making his nerves instantly tighten:
[URGENT MISSION RECEIVED]
Objective: Exorcise the magical Sea Serpent that has inadvertently breached the International Statute of Secrecy and entered a heavily populated Muggle area (Cornwall Coast).
Condition for Success: Successfully deal with the threat in a manner that earns the explicit gratitude and awe of the Muggles present, thereby preventing mass exposure and panic before official Ministry intervention.
Reward: Activate Server's Parseltongue Ability (Permanent Trait Unlock).
Allen's calm evaporated, replaced by a cold surge of focus. "A Sea Serpent? Nearby?" he muttered under his breath, his eyes darting across the horizon, seeking any anomaly in the perfect blue water.
The reward was utterly phenomenal. He knew that the languages of magical creatures like unicorns and centaurs, though requiring immense dedication, were logically structured and, with enough training, learnable.
But languages like Parseltongue, the tongue of serpents, were innate, genetic skills—almost impossible to acquire without a fundamental, inborn affinity. It was the language of Basilisks, the dialect of ultimate control over creatures many wizards couldn't even look at. This ability was a game-changer.
While at Hogwarts, Allen had devoured every book in the library relevant to magical beasts. He recalled Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them describing the Sea Serpent: despite their absolutely terrifying appearance, wizards knew them to be generally docile and non-aggressive, merely magnificent beasts.
It was only Muggles, with their deep-seated folklore of kraken and leviathans, who fantasized about their ferocity. The book stated they could grow over thirty meters long, possessing horse-like heads and massive necks that often curved beautifully above the water. Their danger rating was a moderate three stars—capable of massive structural damage but low on actual lethality to wizards.
After rapidly reviewing the creature's data, Allen understood the real challenge wasn't the serpent itself, but the mission's Condition for Success: earning the Muggles' gratitude.
If this magnificent creature had appeared before, the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Creatures Control would have erased all evidence and memories, ensuring its absence from Muggle history books and museums.
He had to act now, earning the widespread awe of the Muggles before the Ministry officials, with their memory charms and standardized procedures, could arrive and turn a glorious rescue into a mundane, classified clean-up.
Just as this critical thought crystallized in his mind, a shrill cry of pure, unadulterated panic echoed from the distant sea, quickly swallowed by the churning waves: "Monster! It's a colossal monster!"
If Allen hadn't spent a year developing his physical constitution and sharpening his senses through rigorous, Centaur-led training, he wouldn't have had the slightest chance of hearing the desperate, short cry over the natural noise of the beach.
On the shore watchtower, the lone lifeguard's face was a mask of sheer terror. He was frantically blowing his whistle, the piercing sound carrying a desperate urgency, while waving his flag in a universal signal for immediate return.
Realizing that the bathers far out at sea had either not seen his flag or heard the whistle, the pale-faced man quickly scrambled down the ladder and began sprinting toward the crowded shoreline, screaming warnings as he ran.
Unlike the panicked tourists who immediately scrambled further up the shore or dove behind windbreaks, Allen was already in motion. Agile and focused, he easily bypassed the panicking crowds and vaulted onto the watchtower.
Gazing through the built-in telescope, he didn't even need the magnification to see the disruption. Colossal, unnatural waves were violently rising in the distance, and amidst the surging tide, a giant creature, writhing and powerful like an enormous, primordial eel, was clearly visible.
The Sea Serpent suddenly lifted its enormous, horse-shaped head high above the water's surface, a magnificent, terrifying spectacle that instantly silenced the nearby screams before triggering a fresh, deafening chorus of pure terror from the Muggles.
Armed with binoculars and camera lenses, the Muggles were getting an uncomfortably close-up view of the legendary beast, the kind of creature that belonged in myths, not a family beach holiday.
But having personally witnessed the sheer, deadly power of a Basilisk and the terrifying grace of a fully grown Plesiosaur, Allen found the Sea Serpent, for all its size, less inherently frightening. Its movements seemed less aggressive and more... disoriented.
Allen's initial assessment held true: the creature was likely lost, far from its usual deep-sea territory, confused by the coastline, and simply unsure how to find its way back home.
Of course, the Sea Serpent's appearance was still genuinely intimidating. Allen estimated it was definitely much larger than the "hundred feet" mentioned in the textbooks, possibly even far exceeding fifty meters.
Furthermore, if Allen had relied solely on his own nascent magical strength, engaging the beast would have been a truly uncertain, even reckless, endeavor. Fortunately, his entire family was conveniently on vacation at this very beach, and they were all, to varying degrees, highly proficient—especially Auror Albert and his experienced father, Owen.
"Allen, this is a Category A breach! We need to notify the Ministry immediately and implement protective enchantments!" Owen Harris exclaimed anxiously, his eyes scanning the scattered, terrified Muggles, his Auror instincts kicking in immediately. He was already reaching for the simple, disguised wand-holder he wore on his belt.
"Father, don't waste time with the official channels! I'll dispatch an emergency message now," Allen called quickly, already formulating a rapid-fire plan designed to buy him crucial time. He whistled sharply, and Benny, his trusty messenger bird who had wisely stayed in the vehicle, instantly shot into the air and landed on Allen's outstretched arm.
Allen then sprinted to a nearby, brightly colored ice cream van—ironically the most eye-catching object on the beach—and tore off a piece of tattered canvas curtain.
Grabbing a can of colored spray paint used by local surfers, he rapidly scrawled an intentionally vague, yet alarming, message: "A massive Sea Serpent has been found on a Cornwall beach in the Muggle world. Please come to my aid immediately. Urgent, Code Azure."
He tied the makeshift banner securely to Benny's leg. Allen had pulled a clever, calculated trick: first, he hadn't specified that this was not an ordinary Sea Serpent—a detail that would have immediately escalated the response level. Second, and more importantly, he hadn't instructed Benny which department or person the letter was to be delivered to.
The highly specific but technically correct instructions would force Benny to waste precious minutes flying around the Ministry Atrium, having to navigate the labyrinthine bureaucracy to find the right recipient, effectively delaying the arrival of the memory-charming crews.
"Go, Benny! Find someone who cares!" Allen commanded, and the bird shot off toward London.
Having bought himself a window of time, Allen looked back to the sea. He realized his father, Owen, hadn't waited. Staff in hand, the former Auror had already charged straight towards the water's edge, intent on engaging the creature immediately and protecting the Muggles.
"No! Don't steal my mission, Father!" Allen shouted, half-joking, half-panicked. Without bothering to retrieve his discarded shirt or mask his frantic urgency, he snatched a bright yellow jet ski—a Muggle artifact of thrilling speed—from a nearby rental rack, powered it up with a subtle, whispered charm, and sped away from the shore.
As he roared past his father, he smoothly steered the jet ski alongside him, slowing just enough for Owen to execute a flawless, acrobatic leap onto the rear seat.
The motorized vehicle sliced aggressively through the rising waves, heading directly for the gigantic Sea Serpent. Allen, Mr. Harris, and the enormous magical beast were on a direct collision course. Immediately, three more motorboats sprang into action from the shore, their engines also roaring to life.
Daisy commandeered one with surprising confidence, while Albert and Lenn quickly shared the other two. They joined the fray without a single word of hesitation or fear, their actions a testament to the family's ingrained magical capability and protective instincts.
Only their mother, Morgan LeFay, remained on the sand, standing guard over little Emily, her wand subtly gripped but ready.
To the Muggles watching from the shore, the scene was utterly terrifying and deeply confusing. A few strange, incredibly reckless people were foolishly steering small, flimsy watercraft directly toward the immense monster.
The waves swelled higher, the creature's ferocious, horse-like head periodically roared, churning the water, as it seemingly attacked the charging humans. Its massive body created genuine mountains of water, threatening to swamp the small boats.
These reckless people, the Muggles firmly believed, were utterly doomed to perish in a violent, magnificent spectacle at sea.
But the fight, to the wizards, was less a desperate brawl and more a coordinated, tactical strike. Allen drove the jet ski with impossible precision, narrowly avoiding the Serpent's thrashing neck while Owen, perched behind him, unleashed a constant barrage of powerful, multicolored magical spells—Stunning Charms, Conjunctivitis Curses, and powerful binding enchantments designed to confuse and immobilize the creature without inflicting permanent harm.
Daisy used her boat to circle wide, casting bright flares to distract the beast's primitive eyes. Albert and Lenn, working as a practiced Auror unit, coordinated complex, layered restraints, their spells wrapping the Serpent's massive torso like glittering, invisible ropes.
The confrontation lasted mere minutes, though to the watching Muggles, it felt like an agonizing eternity. Then, the immense struggle abruptly ceased. The sea calmed as quickly as it had erupted, the waves settling back into their gentle rhythm. The jet skis, now moving at a more sedate pace, turned toward the shore.
To everyone's absolute astonishment, no one on the jet skis was injured. Instead, the small boats were now powerfully hauling the massive, subdued Sea Serpent, which lay motionless in the water, toward the shore. They dragged the colossal creature onto the golden sand at a seemingly impossible angle, the sheer weight of its body displacing tons of sand and water.
The giant Sea Serpent lay quietly on the beach, its chest heaving shallowly. Curious, awestruck people immediately surged forward, replacing their terror with excited curiosity, pointing at it and commenting loudly, utterly captivated.
"This is a truly magnificent, terrifying creature! A genuine sea monster, but it looks… lost, not malicious," a photographer exclaimed, snapping pictures furiously.
"Look at his head, doesn't it look exactly like an enormous horse's head? It's majestic," another marveled.
"Such a small head compared to the sheer size of its body!"
"Look at its mouth! It's huge! It could swallow a car!"
"It has scales, and that skin looks tougher than any leather I've ever seen," commented a fisherman, nudging the Serpent's flank with his boot.
A brave, slightly foolish tourist, eager to appear heroic now that the danger was past, took a long, thin stick and poked the side of the serpent's gigantic body. At that moment, the Sea Serpent's colossal eyes snapped open, blazing with confusion and pain.
The tourist, who had been studying its face closely, was so startled that he yelped, lost his balance, and stumbled backward into the sand, drawing a gasp of fear from the quickly retreating crowd.
The Serpent began to thrash weakly, raising its head a few inches, threatening to undo all their work and unleash the Muggles' renewed panic.
Allen, recognizing the immediate danger to the mission's crucial "gratitude" condition, immediately lunged forward. Without hesitation, he unleashed a devastating, focused, non-lethal Stunning Spell, a burst of violet light that struck the Sea Serpent squarely on its horse-like head.
The giant creature slammed hard back onto the shore with a tremendous, shuddering impact, creating a deep, waterlogged crater in the sand where its skull landed. It was officially, unequivocally, and publicly subdued.
At that exact moment, as the Sea Serpent lay vanquished, the air above the cliffs shimmered and warped with a distinctive pop. A group of wizards, cloaked in the standard black travelling robes of the Ministry of Magic, suddenly appeared on the beach, having finally arrived via Apparition.
They had a clear division of labor: some immediately charged toward the Sea Serpent, while others began drawing wands and unleashing powerful, widespread Obliviate (destruction spells) on the Muggles scattered across the beach, aiming to wipe their memories clean upon arrival.
Owen Harris, his wand already drawn and his blood still pumping from the fight, immediately joined the Ministry group's assault on the creature, ready to reinforce the binding.
"Allen, is that truly you?" A sharp, familiar voice cut through the chaos, and a stern-looking witch in a pristine, embroidered Ministry cloak appeared next to Allen.
On closer inspection, Allen realized it was his brother Lenn's direct superior—and their actual relative—Aunt Josephine, a witch who worked high up in the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Creatures Control.
The full, immediate complexity of the situation—the family connection, the violated Statute, and the imminent memory wipe—slammed into Allen. His well-laid, time-buying plans had just gone sideways, but he had, crucially, already earned the Muggles' gratitude, which was now cemented by their awe at the subdued beast.
His attention instantly focused on his Aunt, the Parseltongue reward ringing triumphantly in the back of his mind.