Dissent immediately started up amongst the seated members.

"Silence." Carleton shot to his feet. "We have not come this far to be daunted by a mere inconvenience." He slashed his hand to the side to show his disappointment.

Silence returned to the misty hall, they had impressive respect for their leader.

Carleton sat down again before he continued to speak, Maguire remained standing.

"In a few moments, we will be finding out if Albeline possesses this Bloodline Ability." He announced.

I swallowed, how did they plan to check?

"And if he doesn't?" The Witch from earlier asked.

Carleton shot her a glare. "Powerful Majes from all over the world are seated at this table, we will figure something out." His tone was cutting.

The Witch finally backed down, looking away.

Maguire cleared his throat to bring the attention of the tense hall back to him. "We will be moving to the courtyard for this exercise." He explained formally. "Said exercise will involve a controlled Hebridean Black. Its flames are nowhere near the scale of The Abyss but it is a decent start."

My eyes widened, they planned to make a Dragon breathe fire on me to check if I possessed my family's Bloodline Ability.

They were all sadists!

I had it, no doubt as a result of the System but what if I didn't??

I looked at the masked faces seated around the long table, all whispering to each other.

None of them cared that a teenager was about to die, if anything, it was a nuisance to them.

The low rumbling started up again, the walls parting open.

"The Dragon is ready for the exercise, sir." A newcomer said, he wasn't dressed in uniformed robes but I doubted it would be easy to deal with a Dragon when you were dressed in very flammable clothing.

The way they kept referring to it as an exercise infuriated me. I was being made to willingly enter a life-or-death situation.

"Very well, we will leave now." Carleton permitted the rest of the members who shot to their feet spritely, particularly excited for the 'exercise'.

I followed Carleton as per his wishes, we were the first to leave the hall, the rest of the members of The Cabal following behind us.

The antechamber was still as empty as when we first passed through it, although now it was filled with robed Witches and Wizards walking through to get to the courtyard.

Right at the center of the previously courtyard was a huffing dragon, it was almost twice as large as the Common Welsh Greens that I had battled back in Hogwarts.

It had dark rough scales, ridges along its back, and a tail tipped with an arrow-shaped spike. Its sinister eyes were a brilliant purple, its magnificent large wings reminded me of a bat.

It was terror rolled into one large, scaly creature and Maguire had said that it was nowhere near 'The Abyss'.

Wouldn't it be better for me to escape while I still had the chance to?

Carleton stopped a safe distance from the slowly blinking Dragon, the rest of The Cabal stopping as well.

"Step before the Dragon." Carleton directed me in a dismissive tone.

I forced myself to show no hesitation even though adrenaline mixed with terror was rushing through my veins.

I hadn't yet unlocked the Bloodline Magic skill!

I had gotten singed during the Common Welsh Green attack so I knew I wasn't resistant to Dragon flames or fire of any kind.

There was also the chance that the Bloodline Magic skill I would get would be far different from the one that would save my life.

I currently had 1850 SP. There was no way of gaining more SP by buying or exchanging, it had to be earned.

I never imagined that I would be thrust into this kind of situation and so I was dangerously underprepared.

I couldn't slow down or refuse though, because I was supposedly still under Carleton's Imperius charm. If I tried to disobey or protect myself, I would be found out.

I wanted Carleton's head, it was why I stuck around this long.

Knowing the rest of the people behind my downfall was also a bonus, I planned to get my revenge on the entire organization.

I couldn't do that if I got fried by a Dragon though.

I took one steady step after another, walking across the expanse of the courtyard to where the Dragon stood with its wing curled around it, eyeing me warily.

I could change into my Animagus and kill the Dragon with a single gaze, then I could take out the rest of The Cabal. They were all lined up behind me after all.

But I was also curious about the Gem of the Abyss. Power was everything in the world of Harry Potter.

If my family had been more powerful, they wouldn't have lost the Albeline secret and their lives to The Cabal.

I got within attacking distance of the Dragon and kept moving, granted the fact that I could change into my Animagus and protect myself gave me some measure of bravery.

But still, it was scary walking up to a Dragon with no way to defend myself as Carleton planned.

The Dragon reared backward at some sort of command from a masked member, spreading its wings, its mouth opening wide.

Its bat-like wings were so wide they almost touched the pillars on both sides of the building.

An ear-shattering roar was expelled from its open mouth and I could tell that I was about to get a mouthful of fire right to the face.

It took a lot to stand right there and face off a Dragon even in the face of imminent death.

Just as I was about to give in and change to my Animagus, the sound of a notification went off in my head.

=========

<ATTENTION!!!> : 'Moxie' Lv3 acquired

<REWARD!!!> : 150 SP Points Awarded

=========

Without even sparing a glance at what had given me enough SP, I unlocked the Bloodline Magic skill.

=========

<CONGRATULATIONS!!!> : 'Bloodline Magic' unlocked

<NOTICE!!!> : 2000 SP Deducted

=========

I miscalculated how much time I had left before the Dragon's flames would get to me, I hoped that I had enough time to quickly check what Bloodline skill I had been given.

Then I could decide on my next step, if I would go through with pretending to be Imperiused so that I could steal the gem that Carleton was willing to do so much over and then wipe out The Cabal.

Or if I would use my Animagus to end things here and now.

The Hebridean Black decided for me though, waves of fire rushing right at me before I could react.

Gusts of what I assumed to be heated air preceded the fire and I was good enough with my Animagus that even that split second was enough to turn but something stopped me.

The gust of air that was supposed to burn my skin even before the fire got to it didn't feel hot.

I decided to give it a chance.

If everything went as planned, the only thing suffering the brunt of the Dragon's flames would be my clothes.

Fire was like colored air if you took away the heat, it blew over me like a gust of wind, not so much as warming up my skin.

Sounds of amazement came from the people a distance behind me.

"Restrain the Dragon! Get the boy some robes!" Carleton threw orders around, walking closer to me.

I remained in place, watching blankly as people scurried around.

My shirt had been scorched clean off, the same with most of my pants. Heavy robes were draped over my shoulders as the members gathered closer.

"This meeting of 'The Cabal' is adjourned." Carleton announced to the people gathered and gestured for me to leave with him.

We made it back to Carleton's mansion by means of another Portkey.

This time, my landing was more steady, I didn't stumble.

Our return location was Carleton's study and he immediately went to sit behind his desk, leaving me standing in place with a crimson-red robe over my shoulders.

It covered my entire body, trailing on the ground so much that it made me wonder how my landing had been so steady.

"From now on, you will work hard to become strong enough to defeat The Abyss and get me that gem." Carleton directed me in an authoritative voice.

"Everything you need will be provided and you will be made to face off and kill off Dragons and other XXXXX-rated creatures to train." He pronounced. "Books on the Arcane and Dark magic will also be provided. You might be impervious to flames but that alone is not enough to kill a powerful Dragon like The Abyss, you have much to learn."

I listened intently, this was a bonus. Free training? Plus course materials? I had really lucked out.

"You will train for however long it takes to become strong enough to defeat the Abyss, during this time, the seal blocking the entrance to the 'Mouth of Hell' will be broken." Carleton straightened up, smiling for the first time since I was introduced to him.

His smile was chill-inducing, it was the crazed smile of someone drunk on power and would go to any lengths to get it.

"Then the gem will be mine! All mine!"

I knew that Carleton had no plans of sharing the power of the gem with the rest of The Cabal but I never expected him to say it outright.