Chapter 664: Chapter 664 Gifts and wands? (2 in 1)
On the first day of school after the holiday, the sixth graders sat in their charms' classroom, the voice of Professor Flitwick, who has goblin blood, was drowned out by the howling wind and rain outside, he waved his wand and the violently rattling windows were sealed, and the classroom fell silent once again.
"All right, class, concentrate, there are less than two months left until the final exams." Professor Flitwick held up his wand and said in a high-pitched voice, "Open your textbook and turn over and read the second to last chapter."
The students silently took out their textbooks and read the contents of the lesson, the tightly closed windows shutting out the heavy pea-sized rain and the black sky from their eyes, but every now and then the rumble of thunder still burrowed into their ears.
Ron and Hermione took the time to exchange a worried look as they flipped through their textbook.
"Harry will be fine." Ron whispered with a bit of unease, and Hermione nodded slowly. There was an empty seat next to them that is reserved for Harry, but almost two hours had passed since they parted, and not even his shadow had arrived.
The Hagrid hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
The thick rain splintered and splatted against the roof. In the hut, Hagrid stood restlessly by the fire, not even noticing that the milk kettle placed on the stovetop had started to boil. The dog Fang whimpered and barked.
"You're such a coward, don't you recognize Harry anymore?" Hagrid growled at the terrified hound that was hiding behind him.
In front of them, Felix, Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall were circling a tall stag, checking its condition.
"Are you all right, Harry?"
The stag gave a couple of "Yo Yo" sounds, then it seemed to realize that it couldn't speak the human language and shook its head which had antlers. But Felix and Dumbledore didn't let their guard down, Felix's eyes turning grey and white as he walked slowly around the stag.
Dumbledore also looked at it intently, his sharp gaze seeming to penetrate the brown-grey skin of the stag.
It took a good ten minutes before the two men stopped moving.
Felix and Dumbledore exchanged a look. "I didn't spot any issues." Felix said, and Dumbledore blinked, "Neither do I. But it needs to be observed again to make sure."
"I'll stay, I don't have any classes in the morning." Felix said with understanding.
Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall left in a pair and as they pushed open the door, a bolt of lightning cut through the open space in front of the hut, illuminating Professor McGonagall's somewhat confused expression, "Dumbledore, I don't understand why we have to do all this ..."
The door slammed shut behind them.
"It's been raining really hard." Hagrid said in a muffled voice, then looked on in amazement as the stag's massive antlers slowly shrank, and its body stood upright, transforming into a shape of a human. Hagrid walked over and wrapped his thick arm, which rivalled the size of a thigh, around Harry, then shoved the piping hot mug of milk into Harry's hand.
"Have some warm milk, you are probably exhausted ..."
"Thank you, Hagrid. If you were asking me, I do know how this storm came about."
Harry muttered, at which point Felix stuck his head out the window.Then they heard a high-pitched chirp ring out from overhead.
The rain gradually dwindled.
Harry took a small sip of the boiling milk, and his mood started to calm down after having just experienced his first Animagus transformation in his life, and some new thoughts came to him.
It had been two weeks since the last full moon, and he had once again felt the throbbing of the Animagus and everything seemed to fall into place. He had learnt his lesson from the last time and the first thing he did after that was to find Professor McGonagall and report it, fearing that a Stunning Spell might pop up on the way and he would repeat the same experience again.
It was evident that Professor McGonagall seemed to have the same idea, and she quickly informed Professor Hap.
What happened next was beyond Harry's expectations - along with Professor Hap, Headmaster Dumbledore, who had been missing for the entire Easter break, appeared with a pleasant twinkle in his eye, though the smile on his face narrowed slightly when he saw Harry.
"I happened to run into Hap," Dumbledore explained briefly, "and I offered to help gather some clouds."
The reason sounded reasonable, as there were only two or three thin puffy clouds hovered in the sky. If there had been no unforeseen events, it would have been a sunny day, but after twenty minutes the sky clouded with dark clouds, and a huge shadow separated from Professor Hap, which Harry recognized as a thunderbird.
In just a few moments, lightning and thunder flashed above, and a torrential downpour poured down outside.
After retrieving the potion that had been hidden, Dumbledore did not let Harry attempt his transformation immediately, and brought him to the area near Hagrid's hut, where Harry had taken the red potion in the vegetable plot. Hagrid looked confused at the unexpected arrival of the group, his place was in a state of disarray, and he was surprised when he saw Harry transform into a big stag.
He didn't know if it was an illusion brought on by the Animagus transformation, but Harry actually felt a little nervous from the intense stare of a few of the professors, it wasn't something that hard to understand when it came to Professor McGonagall's gaze, as a caring heart for her students was hidden under her serious face, but it was very strange when it came to Professor Hap and Dumbledore.
Especially when he had compared it to the experience of Hermione's transformation, the way Professor Hap had looked at that time was as if he was out for a walk, and the way he pulled out various snacks from his pockets made a deep impression on Harry.
He was afraid that the professor would follow suit this time and pull a handful of wild grass out of his pocket and stuff it into his mouth as well.
After successfully transforming into his new form, Harry was led to the hut - he left the pumpkin patch rather reluctantly, the green pumpkin seedlings held a different attraction for him, and he realized that he hadn't eaten breakfast today - where several professors took turns checking him out. It seemed that his Animagus form was not a stag, but a delicate and fragile piece of porcelain.
There must be something in between that he had not considered yet, Harry thought indignantly.
Before he knew it, the glass of milk had reached the bottom.
"It's more or less enough rest, Harry, let's try again." Felix said as the rain had completely stopped and a beam of sunlight was cast down into the hut. Harry listened and put the empty glass down, standing up silently.
"Why don't you rest a bit longer and have a sausage or something." Hagrid said from the sidelines.
"Hagrid, we have limited time, let's get our business done first." Felix said, "When the training is over, I think Harry would prefer a vegetable-based meal."
After saying that he gestured for Harry to begin, Harry took a deep breath and pointed his wand at himself, his heart throbbed powerfully as the image of a tall animal appeared in his mind and Harry embraced the sensation with all his might.
His body began to morph, his clothes and glasses melting into his body like liquid, he felt a bout of discomfort, but it was so much better than the excruciating pain he had felt the first time, he even managed to control the sudden urge to break the window and escape as quickly as he could.
In his stag form, some of his human features had been preserved; a patch of fur around his eyes had a dark-coloured circle and on closer inspection, it could be associated with the glasses Harry usually wore. His wand was dropped on the floor.
Felix examined Harry carefully.
There is a pale ring of bright light around the outside of the stag's body, which is flawlessly white, but beneath it lies a dark aura that seems to blend in with the fur on its body, making it difficult to be detected.
It took a full ten minutes before Harry was allowed to change back. He was panting, and as the relief of his second transformation took hold of him he felt the pressure from the Professor's eyes.
"Professor, is there something wrong?" Harry asked.
"Well, I haven't noticed anything so far." Felix said.
A long time before Harry had practiced the Animagus, he and Dumbledore had considered the risks involved and had come to the conclusion that there would not be much of a problem. Voldemort's soul fragment is actually attached to Harry's soul, not a part of his body, so in theory, Animagus Transfiguration would not affect Harry that much.
But there are many strange unexpected things happening in the world, so it is always a good thing to be careful.
After all, there is magic in the soul fragments, and no one can say for sure that this magic will not be mixed up in the transformation. But judging by the fact that the soul fragment had been in a state of slumber, the chances of this possibly happening would be very slim.
The next step is to test whether repeated transformations will activate the dormant soul fragment.
...
It was well past noon when Felix left the Hagrid hut and Harry after checking the time, decided to stay and enjoy lunch with Hagrid, and in no time the iron pot was overflowing with the smell of mushrooms and wild vegetables.
"Knock, knock!"
There was a knock at the door, Harry and Hagrid looked at each other, Harry walked over and opened the door, there was Ron and Hermione standing outside, just as he was about to speak, Hermione impatiently made a quick comment, "I ran into Professor Hap on the way."
"What a coincidence." Harry said with a smile.
So the four of them stared blankly at the mushroom gumbo, "Not enough portions," Hagrid muttered, "I remember there was a bit of biscuit ..." Hermione hurriedly took out a bunch of snacks from the little beaded bag, and Harry and Ron urged Hagrid to stop being so busy and relax a bit.
"You are pretty well-prepared." Hagrid said in a low grunt, as he stirred the food in the pan with a spoon, "I'll roast some more sausages then, moist and oily, your favourites."
Harry felt a sudden pang of nausea. Professor Hap's words have unfortunately come true.
Well, when he goes back he is going to find out what the stag usually likes to eat, but maybe he won't need to, he will just have to follow his senses, he can't stop thinking about the pumpkin patch at the back of the hut at the moment ...
"So, everything went well with your transformation? And Dumbledore also showed up?" Ron asked purposefully, Hagrid's attention was drawn away and Harry mentioned that the reason Dumbledore had shown up was to 'make some clouds', which Ron and Hermione felt slightly dubious about.
"But since the professors all said it is fine, that means you can practice Animagus from now on, right?" Ron whispered, "That's nice, I don't know when I'll ever get to experience that feeling." He couldn't help but feel sorry for himself.
"Well, this is my second try, so it is natural to be a little faster." Harry said.
Hermione, on the other hand, suggested for Ron to practise the Patronus Charm more often when he had nothing else to do.
"There's never enough time," Ron said bitterly, "Professor Flitwick only told us this morning that we only have six weeks left before the exams, and then he assigned a two-foot assignment."
They quickly skipped over this topic as the pot on the stovetop boiled and the four of them happily enjoyed a feast of mushroom and vegetable gumbo and grilled sausages, which Hagrid alone had eaten three-quarters of it by himself.
After they had eaten and drunk, the topic of their conversation became more and more divergent.
"Professor Bagshot is also very knowledgeable about Patronus charm, and he has claimed that the higher level Patronus can have extra magic attached to it." Harry said after swallowing a mouthful of chocolate Cauldron Cake and patting his bulging stomach, which was propped up quite considerably.
At the mention of magic, Hermione instantly became quite eloquent.
"It's just a possibility," she said as she slowly analysed the matter, "Remember? Professor Hap could fuse ancient runes into his Patronus, but he had used memory nodes to nearly reconstruct this magic to do that ..."
"Speaking of Professor Bagshot," Hagrid seemed to think of something, "I forgot to give him his Easter eggs, poor man ... I remember him saying he was from abroad, so maybe no one gave him a present. "
"Dumbledore had sent him some," Harry promptly said, "I saw the wrapped box and the card in his office. Well - me and Neville sent some as well."
"Ugh, that's good." Hagrid said in what seemed like a relieved tone, "Dumbledore was indeed thoughtful enough in that regard, and he also sent Snape a present, it was the morning after Easter, I guess ..."
"Wait!" Harry interrupted hastily, "You said the morning after Easter?"
"Yeah." Hagrid looked at him in confusion.
"But Dumbledore isn't-" Harry was a little confused, all Dumbledore had told him was that he would be staying at his brother's place for the entire holiday and that he had some important business to take care of.
"Maybe he came back in the middle." Hermione guessed in a small voice.
"Yeah, Hogsmeade is so close to the school that he would be back in the middle of a morning walk." Ron said.
Harry was almost convinced, although there was still a twinge of doubt in his mind, so he asked Hagrid.
"Did you see them? In school? What did they talk about then?"
"I don't know, I was just coming back from the depths of the Forbidden Forest and little Grawp will be building his own house now, ahem - I walked away when I saw them talking." Hagrid said gruffly, "Do I look like someone who would eavesdrop on people? And my size doesn't allow it ..."
Ron let out a "pfft" of laughter, and he hastily covered his mouth, "I am sorry Hagrid - it was unintentional."
"And what about their actions then? I thought you said Snape received a present?" Harry continued to press on.
"You are quite curious," Hagrid shot him a look, but he still had a look of reminiscence, "Well, I just caught a quick glimpse - Snape was not looking very well at the time... ...Dumbledore, on the other hand, was talking in a lighter tone, and he was trying to persuade him to take something. I suppose it couldn't have been anything other than a present, could it?"
Harry looked down and pondered.
"So, you didn't see Snape holding a round Easter egg at the time, you just heard a word or two ... Could it have been Dumbledore trying to get Snape to accept something else?"
"What could it be?" Hagrid asked rhetorically, tugging at his beard.
"I don't know, maybe a Christmas hat?" Harry guessed wildly. He suddenly became acutely aware that his memory of Snape had faded quite a bit; he hadn't seen him more than a few times in the last six months or so, and his most vivid memory was still stuck at Christmas.
They discussed it for a while longer, but they failed to come up with any useful thoughts, so they said goodbye to Hagrid and headed back toward the castle.
"Maybe it's just a normal present," Ron said to Harry, seeing that he was still distracted, "Come to think of it, there aren't many people I can think of that would send Snape a present, I think apart from Dumbledore, it's probably just Professor Hap, and maybe Malfoy too. " He said thoughtfully.
"Or maybe - it's Voldemort's wand!" Harry abruptly said as a jolt of electricity seemed to rush through his body.
He had just been thinking about what Dumbledore had that would be important enough to be given away, and he thought of Pensieve, Horcrux carriers, resurrection stone, silverware on the table that made funny noises, maybe even a book, but they were either ruled out or didn't make much sense to him.
But then he suddenly remembered the wand he had seen being placed on the table and examined by Dumbledore during the first lesson.
Ron and Hermione looked at each other in disbelief. Harry, however, spoke away with gusto.
"Headmaster Dumbledore got his hands on that wand a long time ago, before Voldemort even brought back to life! At the time, Barty Crouch Sr. was under the influence of Imperius Curse and Confundus Charm and was controlled by the spell to serve the frail Voldemort, while his son, Barty Crouch Jr. was undercover at the school in place of the Mad-Eyed Moody. In the end, on Christmas Eve, the headmaster and Professor Hap teamed up to raid the Crouch mansion, and the wand was one of the spoils of war."
He went on excitedly.
"And the wand itself is of great significance, it was Voldemort's first wand, the phoenix feather in the wand's core came from Fawkes, and he probably wouldn't have even wanted to replace it if it hadn't been lost in that accident ..."
"But why? Why would Dumbledore give Voldemort's wand to Snape? It's not like Snape can use it." Ron asked.
"Yeah, why?" Harry muttered.
"Harry, you could actually ask Headmaster Dumbledore personally, you have plenty of opportunities." Hermione advised, referring to the time when the two of them would be alone in the Headmaster's office.
"I-" Harry hesitated, his mind wavering, unsure of what to do.
"I'm not sure if Headmaster Dumbledore had sneaked back in, but he obviously didn't want a third person to know about his conversation with Snape, didn't he? I might not be able to get any answers even if I ask-"
He stopped talking abruptly, and his eyes widened as a large silvery creature with long horns flashed past them and rushed straight towards the castle.
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