Even as Priggo watched Aaron fling spells at the animals, he knew that he wanted that sort of magic. He was filled with happiness when the next poor cat was burnt alive by the student's magic. He gripped his own wand in his slightly sweaty palms, wishing he could be as carefree.

After the other students had marched away, bored of the spectacle, Priggo quietly climbed the stairs to the library, careful to avoid the librarian's eye as he made his way to the back shelves, scanning the book's titles. Finding a promising tome, he casually slid it into the pile of books he had randomly selected for checkout.

As the librarian checked each of the books he had selected to take back to his room with him, she stopped at THE book. That single book was the only reason he had come up here. She glanced at its title, then to his face, her eyes searching for something. Shrugging, she pushed it aside with the others, and allowed him to continue.

Priggo raced back to his room in the Slytherin Dormitories, eager to research his new spell. Closing the door behind him, he summoned the creature his mother had purchased for his protection: Rose. The panther was willing to submit to his experiments, as he muttered the words to the spell, over and over again, staying awake throughout the night to practice.

He had failed over and over, until the sun slowly made its climb through the sky, outside Priggo's window. Finally something inside of him clicked, as he flicked the wand.

"Jellylegs." And the spell was his, as Rose collapsed in a heap on the floor.

He now had the seven wand spells.

Incendio, the ability to summon fire.
Jellylegs, the ability to bring an opponent to his knees.
Lumos, bringing light to darkness.
Nox, bringing a green glow to the target.
Obturbo, dazing and confusing an enemy.
The Stinging Hex, causing pain.
And Tarantallegra, making a man's legs move on their own.

Each of these he spent several sleepless nights studying. Each of these he would test countless times on Rose, perfecting them, becoming familiar with them, so that he could cast them all from memory. They were each minor abilities, that when combined, made him feel like the strongest first year in Hogwarts.

Twirling his wand between his fingers, he holstered it in his belt, before leaving the dormitory, making his way back to the library, for another day of study.

Smiling, Priggo struck the door's handle with his wand, "Alohomora." The door swung open, as the young student stalked in, ready to explore the school after curfew.

After all of his hard work... after all of his practice, he had finally made it to 3rd year. He knew this year would be tougher than either of the ones he'd already surpassed, but he was up to the challenge. He had only one goal driving him forward, and that was to be the best.

He knew there were others at the school who could easily beat him, easily outduel, outthink, and simply outcast him. But he had only just began his rise to power, he had only just started his serious training.

Working away in his room for hours on end, he honed the spells he knew, until they were second nature. Soon he was able to summon his wand to his hand without even reaching for it, and direct what his summons did without uttering a word.

It wasn't much, but even these small bits of progress were enough to encourage him. Each new spell was an important milestone in his education, each one marking a new phase of his wizard career.

---

Lowering his hand, he smiled as the last bit of electricity sparked in the air above the dead wolf's head. With the snap of his fingers, the body was gone, and Priggo hopped onto his bed, finally ready to sleep. Giving Rose one last pat on the head, he sent her back to the amulet around his neck, and closed his eyes, as the remaining static in the air faded.

The other student just wouldn't stop. "Do... not... cast... against me..." Priggo warned, already bleeding a bit as another icicle slammed into his side. He raised his wand, shouting the incantation to a spell, as the other student prepared to send a magic missle at him.

The attacker was suddenly pushed back as thunder exploded from Priggo's wand, blowing apart the door behind them. There was the usual *ding* as the assailant was teleported to the hospital wing.

Three times this happened, each time Priggo easily defending himself against the first year.

Then SHE walked in. Lasae made her way into the room, immediately accusing Priggo of attacking first, despite the fact that she hadn't been there. Roxy and Hydro were with her. Both of them came to Priggo's aid, as the boy in question returned.

After a bit of this, Lasae rose her hand, to strike.

"You hit me, and I will kill you." Was all he could say, before Ami began shooting missiles into the Slytherin wizard, who was sent sprawling. Even as he was flying back, he pointed his wand at the attacker, who was immediately rebuffed. Moments later, the *zing* of other spells from Priggo's friends could be heard, as all the witnesses gathered to protect Priggo Seville.

This was repeated several times, until Filch arrived. What was the result of Priggo's self defense?? Detention.

He would get his revenge against that stupid girl, and her little boyfriend. Even as he lay in bed, staring at his wand, he could imagine their screams, as he dreamt strange visions of himself, swooping in for the kill.

Priggo leans in over his journal, the room lit by candle, as he scratches away with a pheasant feather quill, writing the words in a mixture of dragon blood and billywig wings, so that the letters glow in the dark.

"Well, Rose told me that her former master had kept a journal... And apparently he was pretty strong..." He pauses in his writing, looking over to Rose, his panther, who lounged comfortably at the foot of his bed. Smiling, he continued to write. "So maybe keeping a journal will help me, too. Help me focus my thoughts."

There was a noise in the distance, and Priggo instinctively went for his wand. After a moment of silence, he went back to his journal.

"My classes are going well, passing them all flawlessly. If you ask me, this work is too easy. When the others are turning buttons into beetles, I'm turning students into house elves. Snape adores me, of course. Hopefully when I'm of age I'll get his approval and become a prefect."

Priggo stopped for a moment, as Rose moved about in her sleep. "The only class I can't stand is divination... it hardly works. I'd bet anything that the old croon is just making stuff up. But alas, soon I'll be rid of her class... seeing as how I'm almost a fourth year. The others tell me year four is harder than any other, but we shall see."

With that, Priggo closed his journal and set it aside. Tossing his quill onto the laundry pile and tucking his ink into the drawers, he finally climbed under the blanket, and drifted off to sleep.

He thumbed his panther amulet, deep in thought. Looking to Rose with a smile, he tucked the necklace back into his robes, leaning back in his bed. "The Panthers." He mumbled, staring at the ceiling.

"The Panthers..."

_________________

He could feel the unspent magical energy bubbling inside him. Things were different now. When he walked through the woods, the once vicious wild animals would turn from him. Rose seemed on edge around him. His summons were no longer his friends, but instead his tools. Even his friends said that he was getting paler, and everything he touched seemed to have a chill for a few moments afterwards.

Priggo Seville was only 14 years old, and yet he was a powerful wizard in his own right. He still had much to do, much to learn.

------
Crawling into bed, he opened his journal once more, turning the pages until he found the next blank entry. Dabbing his quill in the ink, he began to write.

"Fourth year, at last. That ring Drogo gave me has been extremely helpful, and looking back I don't know how I ever got on without it. My studies are going well. No matter how much my peers loathe me, my teachers all adore me. Its not too hard to manipulate them, and it comes with practice." Priggo yawned sleepily, as he glanced about the room, his eyes passing over the pictures of his family that he had pinned up. The scenes were of his family gathered, laughing and talking. His mother waved in the photo, and his father nodded, stern but proud.

The boy leaned back over his journal. "I think I know what I want to do when I graduate from this school. I'm thinking I will open a shop. I have created so many spells in the past year..." Priggo looked over to the stack of books in the corner. Each was filled with notes he had made on existing spells. He, a 14 year old, had made spells used for hundreds of years more efficient, and more powerful. He had even made a few from scratch. "I will sell curses, hexes, improved versions of existing spellbooks... I think I will be very successful." The boy yawned once more, closing his journal at last. Smiling, he blew out the candle, and went to sleep, Rose faithfully standing watch over him in the night.

_________________

Priggo was enraged, his face red and his hands shaking, as he stalked into the boy's dorms. The other slytherin students backed away, and didn't even say anything. Simply speaking to Priggo at this point would earn any student an hour of blindness.

He threw open the door to his room, followed by Rose, who had given up trying to console him. He opened his journal, and began to write.

"That... filthy first year... she has earned a page, all to herself. I stand aside, avoiding conflict, and what does she do? She attacks me. She punches, she tackles, she seeks my bodily harm. Do I use lethal magic to defend myself? No, I do not seek her blood.

Yet she taunts me, endlessly. I decide to teach her a few things, and she spends a few moments in a daze, nothing big. Still, her insistance on annoying me is absolute.

I wish now she would see the error of her ways, and let that be the end of it, so things to not intensify, but she will only continue to seek my blood. If blood is what she wants, then she will find a willing supplier in me. I care not of her boyfriend, who blindly supports her. I care not of the lies she tells the other students. I care not of my humiliation before Snape.

All I care about, is peace. Peace from her. Surely it was for people like Shillin, that the unforgivable curses were invented."

Priggo slammed his book shut, tossing it across the room, along with his quill. For a moment he considered venting his frustration on Rose, but thought the better of it. Perhaps, he thought as his eyes closed, his dreams would offer solice."

_________________

Priggo was hating Shillin less and less, though a cold, bitter resentment remained. He would always think of her as a fool, but perhaps her entreaty to him had spared her of being the guinea pig for new spells in the future.

But Priggo had bigger, greater things on his mind at this point. Searching through the library with great excitement, he came upon the book describing the affects of the 'Animagus.'

Finding a particularly helpful entry, he brought the candle closer, as he studied into the night.

Apparently, an Animagi form, much like the patronus form, are closely linked to the user's personality. He looked back at the few memories of his patronus; The kitten.

Now he smirked as he saw the connection between the kitten, and the form he found himself able to become, with the merest thought. As the sound of Filch's footsteps drew nearer, he blew out the candle, tucking the book into his bag. He gave one last glance over his shoulder, before jumping to his hands and knees.

As Filch rounded the corner, all he saw was the flicker of a panther's tail in the darkness.

_________________

Priggo laughed as he closed the book. That familiar glow entered his eyes as he turned on Rose, who loyally bowed down to recieve the punishment.

He was thin, and pale. His teachers had commented on his appearance, and suggested he see the nurse. But with a slight smile he always shook his head, and refused the help. Little did they know the truth about one of their favorite students.

He had been training himself raw in his dorm at night, as he pushed his body (and indeed magic itself) to the limit. He would, with a practiced hand, take the energy to its highest stage, and with a careful movement, pull the magic back down. He had already worked his way through the library. The advanced books no longer held useful information for him.

No more did he have deluded fantasies about sharing his gains with the world, no longer did he want to sell his knowledge in books. No, he would show them what he had done, firsthand. With each new discovery, he was driven ever forward, as he slowly became addicted to his training.

The power he sought was worth working himself raw for... it was worth fighting for... And indeed he knew, even as he finally released his magic grip on Rose, allowing her to collapse on the floor; That this power was worth killing for.

_________________

Priggo was now going through his fifth year at Hogwarts, and he was loving every bit of it. Not only was he stronger than ever, but he was also getting ready to start his "study group," The Panthers.

Yes, life was good for the slytherin... Only one thing seemed to be annoying him. And that was Delilah. He had no idea what year she was, and he didn't care. But she was an annoyance none the less, and he looked forward to practicing new spells on her.

_________________

Priggo scribbled at a furious pace in his journal, his hands shaking. "The Inferi, animated corpses, summoned to serve a powerful wizard. I had heard of them before, but I had never had the immense pleasure of actually seeing one, until now!

I was at Durmstrang, making my way through the snow, in search of a Kelpie, when I was attacked by a banshee. I had faced them before, and wasn't alarmed. It wasn't until sometime later that I noticed something was wrong... In the distance, the corpse of the banshee had been following me! While my first instinct was to destroy the abomination, I thought the better of it.

I have since confided this dark secret with Dante, who seems to be my closest friend in Hogwarts. Though he expressed concern over the issue, he promised not to tell anyone of my newfound power. And so I will return to Durmstrang tomorrow, and continue with my experimentation.

Its truly amazing, never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined something like this... I, Priggo Seville, can create, and control, the Inferi."

_________________

Priggo, now 16 years old, was growing stronger all the time. Things just seemed to be fitting into place. Spells came to him quickly, and he was well on his way to Prefect. Finally Borgin of 'Borgin and Burkes' had finished the special order of Panther Amulets that he had ordered, paid for in full by his father.

Priggo was awed by the magic they held within. With a bit of concentration, the wearer of the amulet was teleported to a world where the dead don't stay that way, and dueling practice could be held without end. He had no idea where this place was. It might be somewhere in the castle, or even in the amulets themselves.

_________________

Priggo waved his wand over his journal. He no longer used a quill for any of his work, he simply used magic to etch onto the page what he wanted to say. This page would be dedicated to the blooming group of (for now) slytherin wizards and witches, The Panthers.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Existing Members:

Priggo - Group Founder
Trin
Nethro
Elvalith
Gabrella

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The group is doing well. Already fourh others have decided to join, plus Professor Snape has promised to observe the proceedings and offer assistance where needed. I am sure his experience will provide valuable insights to us, especially in the area of Artifacts and Dueling. Despite Snape's suggestion that I keep the group private, I went and spoke with Dumbledore personally. I for one do not enjoy sneaking around school with a large group of duelists, threatened at every turn with exposure.

Instead, I'd rather just let the Headmaster know what we're up to. After doing so, I was relieved to know that he would be very accepting of the idea of a study group that doubled as a dueling club. With both Snape and Dumbledore's approval, the group is now both official and legitimate."

Priggo smiled as he continued, fingering the amulet which swung around his neck.

"Borgin finally got the order right, and I now have a small set of Panther Amulets. Each has within a small amount of magical power. This both strengthens the wearer, and allows for teleportation to The Panther Enclave. This is an entire city within the amulet, where we can duel without end, without fear of actual injury. Surely I have achieved great things at this school. All that is left is to accept the position of Prefect, and then work my way to Head Boy. I doubt I will face much competition, as Nethro, my junior by a few years, will likely take up my place as Prefect when I ascend to Head Boy. We are no longer the bitter enemies we once were, and this is for the better. All thats left is to wait, and hope everything slips into place."

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