Thorondor's appearance had transformed dramatically. His entire body's feathers now shimmered with golden and white luster, cloud patterns adorning each plume.
His massive body had shrunk to several times smaller than before, yet his aura had grown exponentially more powerful.
The great eagle's head now bore two distinctive horns that flickered with contained electrical light, as if harboring terrifying stored power.
He possessed two pairs of wings—one set of primary wings and one set of secondary wings—plus tail feathers that spread like additional wings, making it appear as though he commanded three pairs in total.
The feathers covering these wings shimmered with metallic luster, constantly shifting mesmerizing colors under the sunlight—from brilliant gold to deep blue, steel gray, gleaming silver, pure white, and even midnight blue.
Thorondor released a triumphant eagle cry toward the heavens, his entire body erupting with concentrated magical power as he shot straight into the clouds like a golden arrow.
Within seconds, the previously azure sky rapidly filled with roiling dark clouds as fierce winds arose from nowhere.
Thorondor spread all his wings wide. Under the spreading electrical sparks dancing across his feathers, washing away all impurities like purifying fire, they displayed magnificent rainbow-like prismatic effects, radiating ethereal halos.
He flapped both pairs of wings in powerful coordination, gradually leaving his nest platform behind. Then he shot skyward, trailing two long, elegant tail feathers, carrying a gathering storm into the churning cloud layer.
The next second, dazzling lightning bolts released from within the clouds, illuminating their dark underbellies with brilliant white light.
Instantly torrential rain began falling as Hogwarts Castle welcomed its first Thunderbird-summoned rainfall.
Thorondor's silhouette appeared and disappeared dramatically within the clouds, bathing in crackling electrical light while making joyful, triumphant cries.
Kael, Gandalf, and Arwen gazed up at the spectacular sky. An invisible magical umbrella covered their heads, easily blocking the driving rain.
"We succeeded!" Kael's face broke into a brilliant smile of pure satisfaction.
"Congratulations, Kael. You've successfully created an entirely new species!" Gandalf said cheerfully, clearly proud.
"No," Kael shook his head, correcting him with genuine humility. "This is the result of our joint efforts, Gandalf. I couldn't have done this without you."
"Well then, we created it together," Gandalf agreed without argument. He looked admiringly at the Thunderbird wheeling through the sky. "What a magnificent creature! I think the title of Sky King will be changing hands now!"
"But Thorondor was originally a Great Eagle to begin with. Now that he's become a Thunderbird, it doesn't really count as stealing the Great Eagles' rightful title."
Arwen gazed at Thunderbird Thorondor soaring through the sky, feeling genuinely happy for both Kael and their loyal companion.
When Thorondor had been weak and injured years ago, she had personally cared for him, even specially preparing elven food to feed him, helping him rapidly grow strong and healthy.
Now that Thorondor had successfully transformed into a legendary Thunderbird, Arwen could hear in his skyward cries the pure joy and newfound confidence.
Meanwhile, far below at Hogsmeade village nestled at the mountain's base, residents also noticed the dramatic commotion atop Weathertop. Watching dark storm clouds covering Hogwarts Castle's sky with flashing lightning and witnessing a giant bird shuttling through thunderclouds while trailing electrical light, everyone's eyes widened with shock and wonder.
The torrential rain, centered on Weathertop's peak, rapidly spread outward toward the village below.
Many couldn't spare time to process their shock, hastily rushing to collect hanging clothes before they got thoroughly drenched.
The supernatural storm crossed the Black Lake's breadth, falling on Hogsmeade proper, causing everyone caught on the streets to quickly seek shelter indoors.
People huddled in warm taverns, watching the rain through windows while excitedly discussing Weathertop's dramatic situation and that mysterious giant bird suspected of somehow causing the entire storm.
The storm didn't last long before gradually stopping. The entire city had been washed completely clean, and even the air itself seemed much fresher and purer.
A magnificent rainbow appeared arching over the Black Lake, visually connecting Hogsmeade and distant Weathertop like a bridge.
At Weathertop itself, the golden Mallorn tree, after the storm's thorough cleansing, shone even brighter than before. Raindrops continuously fell from golden leaves, each droplet sparkling like tiny diamonds catching the emerging sunlight.
After his excitement finally subsided, Thorondor descended gracefully from the sky, flapping both pairs of wings in coordination, slowly landing before the three waiting observers.
He affectionately rubbed his horned head against Kael, making contented cooing sounds of happiness.
Kael reached out, stroking Thorondor's smooth, electricity-charged feathers. A mild electrical current spread pleasantly through his arm and throughout his body, bringing tingling sensations.
"Congratulations, Thorondor. You're no longer just Great Eagle Thorondor, but a brand new, completely unique Thunderbird Thorondor! Are you happy?"
Thorondor made delighted cooing sounds like an excited child receiving praise from proud parents, constantly showing off his new abilities.
Kael, listening to Thorondor's enthusiastic thoughts through their bond, couldn't help smiling with paternal pride.
He patted the Thunderbird's head affectionately. "I know, I know. You've become incredibly powerful now! Excellent work!"
Gandalf and Arwen watched this person and bird communicate without barriers, both wearing warm smiles, not disturbing the special moment between them.
After Thorondor's successful transformation into Thunderbird, his entire body carried constant electrical charges that could accidentally ignite wood, making the original wooden nest completely unsuitable.
So Kael simply retrieved a large pile of raw iron ore, melted it thoroughly in his furnace, drew it into thin, flexible iron wire, then used magic to automatically weave an enormous nest.
He securely fixed it high on the Mallorn tree's strongest branch, then used the Philosopher's Stone to transmute the entire structure into gleaming gold.
Thorondor proved very satisfied with this luxurious new nest, happily moving in immediately.
The electrical currents occasionally leaking from his body would actually make the golden nest increasingly pristine and new over time.
The successful Thunderbird transformation gave Kael tremendous confidence in attempting the far more dangerous phoenix Animagus transformation.
After resting several peaceful days, allowing his spirit and magical reserves to fully recover to absolute peak condition, Kael prepared for the attempt.
Under Gandalf and Arwen's watchful, worried gazes, he carefully laid out the purified Balrog heart and half a bottle of precious Felix Felicis.
Then he first drank all the remaining Felix Felicis in one swallow, ensuring supernatural luck would guide him smoothly through the next critical six hours.
Then, taking a deep breath, he forcefully stabbed the Balrog heart with the spear Aeglos.
The Balrog heart cracked with an audible sound, growing larger and pulsing. Finally, it shattered dramatically into countless glowing pieces.
This exposed the core golden flame burning within.
This was the Balrog's essential life flame. After Lady Galadriel's years of patient purification, it had returned to its source, transforming back into sacred, pure Maia fire.
Kael quickly cast his Animagus spell, becoming his familiar owl form.
Then he swallowed the exposed flame in one desperate gulp.
The instant he swallowed the flame, Kael felt searing pain countless times worse than swallowing red-hot coals. His throat and esophagus felt like they were being burned away entirely.
The flame entering his stomach immediately rioted violently, releasing catastrophic temperatures intent on burning Kael alive from within!
Kael's entire body heated dangerously, and he collapsed, rolling in agony on the ground.
"Kael!" Arwen cried out with obvious worry, instinctively wanting to rush forward and help, but reason firmly kept her rooted in place—touching him now could kill them both.
Gandalf decisively activated Narya's power, injecting vast stabilizing energy directly into Kael while loudly shouting, "Kael, hold on! Quickly begin reshaping your magical circuits!"
Narya's divine power continuously flooded into his body, forcibly suppressing the rampaging Balrog fire's destructive power, allowing Kael to slightly recover his focus.
Hearing Gandalf's urgent words through the haze of pain, he endured the agony, concentrating all his remaining willpower on fully constructing the new magical circuits.
The phoenix's magical circulation system had been meticulously designed by Kael and Gandalf during previous months of research.
Kael only needed to carefully follow the designed magical circuits, adjusting magical pathways bit by excruciating bit.
But this process proved far from easy—like martial arts characters in novels with completely disordered meridians attempting to reshape them from nothing. One mistake could permanently cripple someone.
Reshaping magical circuits was exponentially more dangerous. The slightest carelessness could cause all internal magic to lose control catastrophically—minor cases resulting in becoming a squib, severe cases having bodies literally torn apart by rioting magic, leaving no remains!
Fortunately, Kael had consumed Felix Felicis beforehand. When reshaping the delicate magical circuits, he could always smoothly avoid lethal danger without causing magic to spiral out of control.
Like carefully dismantling interlocking building blocks, he replaced one crucial node while simultaneously preventing overall structural collapse.
As precious time gradually passed in a blur of pain, Kael finally constructed a complete phoenix magical circulation system throughout his transformed body.
His original owl form rapidly transformed further, growing brilliant golden-red feathers that radiated scorching temperatures.
But now Kael, examining the originally designed magical circuits with his enhanced perception, felt instinctively they weren't quite perfect—there were inefficiencies.
But his time had mostly passed already, the Felix Felicis effects nearly ending. If he attempted to perfect the system now, time might prove insufficient, let alone considering whether he could safely revert to human form afterward.
Just as Kael hesitated about this critical decision, Arwen, seemingly reading his conflicted thoughts, quickly retrieved the Felix Felicis vial Kael had given her. She opened it and held it to his beak.
Seeing his obvious hesitation, her eyes filled with gentle understanding. "Drink it quickly. Your safety is most important right now. You can give me another vial when you make Felix Felicis next time."
Kael's heart warmed deeply at her sacrifice. He looked at her intensely once with his avian eyes, then tilted his head to gratefully drink the Felix Felicis she offered.
This generous gift added six more precious hours of luck—completely sufficient time.
He focused all his spirit with renewed determination. Under Felix Felicis enhancement, feeling divinely inspired, he constantly adjusted and modified those awkward-looking magical pathways.
Even during one particularly delicate magical circuit adjustment, he accidentally triggered local magical loss of control that threatened everything.
But ultimately it proved a false alarm. He unexpectedly discovered how to reconstruct even more perfect magical circuits through the near-disaster.
Simultaneously, Kael absorbed the Balrog fire's tremendous power bit by bit, continuously merging it into his own magic, making the ancient flame part of himself.
Though the Balrog fire had been purified by Galadriel, no longer violent and chaotic but restored to purity, it essentially remained an extraordinarily powerful immortal fire with inherently scorching attributes.
Without Gandalf's Narya power providing constant protection, forget absorption—Kael would have been directly burned to ash instantly.
Kael continuously absorbed the Balrog fire's power carefully. These energies merged seamlessly with Narya's stabilizing power, recongealing into a single wisp of concentrated flame at Kael's magical core.
This flame was the phoenix's legendary rebirth fire—the source guaranteeing Kael's eventual immortality.
After Kael completely absorbed the Balrog fire without any remaining, his magical circuits had been fully perfected beyond the original design.
The new magical circulation system proved even more perfect and flawless than their originally designed theoretical version, flowing as naturally as if formed by nature itself.
Under the new magical circuit's function, Kael's Animagus form completely transformed into a magnificent golden-red phoenix.
The phoenix body resembled swan size—impressively large. Feathers displayed brilliant gold and crimson red in perfect harmony.
The beak and talons were metallic golden, and the eyes were deep black. The tail resembled a peacock's fan, long and elegant, with flowing golden-shining tail plumes.
Red feathers emitted soft red light even in darkness. The golden portions radiated heat like living flames. When excited, the feathers would spontaneously burn with golden clustered flames, radiating sacred, noble temperament.
Kael, examining his new Animagus phoenix form, felt immensely satisfied.
This closely resembled the phoenixes from his memories of the magical world, perhaps even more perfect than Fawkes himself.