It took Maurise about a week to prepare those twelve skeletal dogs. Along the way, he also took the time to convert the unicorn corpse into an undead creature.
The result did not surprise him. The undead unicorn's soul had completely dissipated. Much like a tier one skeletal dog, it was entirely empty headed and only capable of following the most basic of commands.
In addition to expanding his undead pack, Maurise had been preparing for Tin's advancement ritual. Almost every day, he had been drawing a small amount of his own blood, storing it using a specialized preservation method for tonight's use.
It was a quiet night in mid July.
Maurise headed to the back mountain of a nearby, thoroughly ordinary wizarding village to perform the rituals for his pets. This was a secluded clearing completely blanketed in thick green moss, isolated from any human presence.
While he was carefully laying out the magical array, Tin was bouncing off the walls. The undead cat stuck closely to Maurise's ankles, practically doing backflips in sheer excitement.
"Back off, Tin. Stop tugging at my robes. I know you are excited..."
"Meow~"
Meanwhile, Cinder circled high above in the night sky, keeping a vigilant watch for any suspicious rustling in the surrounding forest.
Finally, the magical array was complete.
This particular advancement array was rather unique. It was drawn entirely using the blood Maurise had diligently stored over the past week. The dark red blood rested on the soft moss without coagulating, gleaming with a bizarre, viscous shine under the pale moonlight.
"All right," Maurise said, giving Tin a gentle nudge on the rear with his boot. "Get to the center, you silly cat."
Tin had gone through an advancement ritual once before, so the feline was already perfectly familiar with the drill. Upon receiving the command, it immediately trotted over to the exact center of the blood array with a spring in its step. It laid down obediently, its hollow eyes brimming with pure excitement and anticipation.
Today was the day it finally proved its worth! The ultimate underdog glow up!
As Maurise began his incantation, the magical array flared to life, and the blood began to flow in sluggish, mesmerizing patterns. If any passing Hogwarts student or ordinary wizard caught sight of this scene, they would undoubtedly run screaming, completely convinced they had stumbled upon a Dark Wizard's sinister ritual site.
Maurise retrieved the prepared energy crystal and tossed it into the center.
Instantly, immense magical power flooded the entire array. Maurise noted a distinct difference this time. In the past, the spatial rift energy crystals he used would dissolve into a thick white mist. However, this specific crystal, condensed directly from the magic of the Philosopher's Stone, was entirely different. It dissolved into something formless and colorless, likely the purest form of raw magical energy in existence.
But regardless of its origin, the energy ultimately transformed into a grayish black mist, acting as the vital catalyst required for an undead creature's evolution.
The ritual proceeded flawlessly. Once the array was fully charged, it erupted with a powerful gust of wind. The dark mist swirled and churned, rushing relentlessly into Tin's tiny body.
The absorption process this time was excruciatingly slow. It took nearly a full hour for the swirling gray mist to be completely absorbed by the little undead cat.
"There has to be a change this time," Maurise muttered, nodding to himself.
Although Tin still looked like the exact same scrappy undead cat from the outside, it had absorbed a truly colossal amount of magical energy. If it had not gained a new ability, Maurise would refuse to believe it.
At this moment, Cinder swooped down from the sky, landing gracefully on a nearby rock to closely inspect its colleague.
Tin looked up at Maurise blankly. "Meow?"
"Huh?" Maurise paused, frowning slightly. "What do you mean you do not feel anything special?"
Tin itself seemed utterly baffled. It looked down at its own paws, swished its tail back and forth, and finally let out a depressed, defeated whimper.
Maurise fell silent for a long moment.
Great. He had wasted yet another advancement opportunity. But seriously, where did all that Philosopher's Stone energy go? Did the cat just digest it as a midnight snack?
From the sidelines, Cinder let out a sharp squawk of pure schadenfreude. Clearly, watching this foolish cat, who constantly picked fights with it, fail so miserably brought the owl immense joy.
"Yowl!" Tin whipped its head around, glaring fiercely at the owl.
They were both undead creatures! Why was the stupid bird allowed to effortlessly gain amazing magical abilities while acting so high and mighty all the time? It was completely unfair!
This potent cocktail of frustration, anger, and intense jealousy instantly ignited something deep within Tin.
Maurise suddenly felt a very strange ripple of magical energy emanating from the angry feline.
Then...
Fwoosh!
A bizarre sound echoed abruptly through the clearing. Maurise turned his head just in time to see a cluster of flames burst into existence directly on the left wing of his owl, completely without warning.
Cinder launched itself off the rock in an absolute panic, violently flapping its burning wing and screeching into the night.
Maurise immediately whipped out his wand. "Aguamenti!"
A jet of clear water erupted from the tip of his wand, accurately dousing the flames on Cinder's smoldering feathers.
Maurise stroked his chin thoughtfully, staring down at the cat. Was this Tin's grand new ability? Really? That was it? Aside from the fact that it appeared rather abruptly, it just looked like entirely ordinary, mundane fire.
Yet, at this exact moment, Tin's eyes were shining with absolute delight. Even if the ability was weak, it was no longer just a useless, ordinary cat! It puffed out its chest, looking as proud as if it had just conquered the Ministry of Magic.
Unfortunately for the cat, a certain furious, sopping wet owl immediately manipulated the surrounding shadows, hoisting the triumphant feline high into the air by its tail, violently forcing it to face a harsh reality.
Maurise sighed and put a stop to the brawl. He waved his wand, summoning a dry branch as thick as a man's arm, and placed it right in front of Tin.
"Let us test this. Try to see if you can light this branch on fire."
"Meow!" (Yes, sir!)
Tin immediately perked up, shuffling close to the dry wood and staring at it with intense, cross eyed concentration.
One minute passed. The branch remained completely unchanged.
"Meow!?"
No, no, that could not be right. The technique must be off. Tin circled the branch, trying out different aggressive poses and glaring angles, but the wood showed zero signs of combusting.
Seeing this tragic display, Maurise just shook his head. It seemed that even with such a pathetically weak ability, Tin could not use it reliably on command.
"Alright, alright," Maurise said, patting Tin on its furry little head. "Accept reality and go play somewhere else. It is not like I ever had high hopes for you anyway."
Tin looked absolutely devastated.
Without wasting any more time, Maurise began setting up the advancement array once more. Time was tight, and he had a lot to accomplish. He intended to finish Cinder's advancement ritual tonight as well.
Cinder's advancement went significantly smoother than Tin's chaotic attempt.
Maurise did not use his remaining Philosopher's Stone energy crystal. Instead, he used the spatial rift energy crystals he had diligently hoarded during his time at Hogwarts.
Just as he had hypothesized, Cinder's second advancement required at least three times the amount of energy crystals compared to the first, completely depleting his entire stockpile in one go.
However, Maurise was incredibly satisfied with the results.
Cinder's original shadow manipulation abilities received a massive, tangible boost. Not only did the raw power and speed of the shadows level up, but the owl also unlocked a brand new function.
The owl could now summon multiple clones constructed entirely out of solidified shadows. These clones provided the main body with extra lines of sight, and there were absolutely no distance restrictions. As long as Cinder did not actively dispel them, they could exist indefinitely.
This was a tremendously practical ability. With this power at his disposal, Maurise could have several extra pairs of eyes acting as an impeccable, undetectable early warning system wherever he went.