Chapter 645: Success or failure (2 in 1)
When the new term started, Dean and Seamus returned, Harry was the happiest of all; he finally didn’t have to face the deathly silence of his dormitory alone and was beginning to look forward to the first night.
As it turned out, after dinner that day, Harry was called over to Professor Hap’s office to add emotional nourishment to the Ouroboros serpent in Classroom Seven. After witnessing once again the intimidating and beautiful giant Ouroboros serpent swallowing his stag Patronus, Harry had asked Professor Hap, “Is that … Riddle okay?”
He was wondering if Tom Riddle had learned the Patronus Charm, and the thought that it still concerned him made it difficult for Harry to bear the alienation in his mind.
“That depends on how you define it.” Felix said, “He’s on the right path, but if you ask him personally, he probably won’t like it, and he might even lose his temper.”
“Professor, do you really think he can change for the better?”
At least Harry didn’t believe it, he felt that instead of placing unnecessary expectations on Voldemort, he wanted to say to the Ouroboros Patronus, do a good job, you have a great responsibility.
“Good and bad are a relatively simple thin line, I just hope he’s not too bad.”
“Will it work? I mean … to my um …” Harry stammered, trying not to think about the fact that he is also one of the Horcruxes, it made him feel dirty.
“It’s not easy to say, Harry, it’s really hard to say.” Felix hesitated for a brief moment, “Memories are nothing compared to a real soul, and I’ve been trying to help Riddle grow up, but … you know we still have two intact Horcruxes in our possession, right?” He changed the question.
“The locket, and the golden cup.” Harry said.
“That’s right, there are two pieces of Voldemort’s remnant soul hidden in there, and I want Riddle to draw on a small piece of it, or all of it before he merges with the soul of his body.” Felix said, “Memories need a carrier to work.”
Harry was shocked by the bold idea, but even without knowing much about Horcruxes, he could still tell how difficult it would be to implement this plan.
“What if …”
“Then I would advise Dumbledore to seal the deal once and for all, and by all means turn Voldemort into an idiot.” Felix said coldly, “Unless Dumbledore has other means, or we have to wait a few decades for me to be completely sure of my plan again, …”
He looked over at Harry and Harry instantly understood that if what the Professor said happened he would probably have to live with a piece of Voldemort’s soul forever until the day he dies and things will come to an end.
That much Harry could almost be sure of, because Voldemort had made a living Horcrux – with a big python before, and in the end, that piece of soul had dissipated with the python’s death.
Harry returned to his dormitory with heavy feet.
His own death would destroy Voldemort’s hope of survival, he said to himself. But who would want to die if they could live? He still had so many attachments, he hadn’t seen Sirius and Ms. Bones’ wedding yet, they might have children, and Lupin and Tonks, he might be able to become a godfather to some child, and Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna …
With that in mind, it didn’t seem that unacceptable to have a piece of Voldemort’s soul hiding in his head, Harry returned to his dormitory and was startled to see Ron and Neville staring straight at him, and he subconsciously glanced over to the other two beds, where Dean and Seamus were already asleep.
“Hey.” Ron and Neville looked at Harry curtly and self-consciously wrapped a magic tape over their mouths.
Harry raised his wand woodenly.
The next day, the sixth years received the news that the twelve-week course on Apparition had begun.
In the common room, almost all the students who met the requirements signed up and huddled in front of the notice to sign their names. In one corner of the common room, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat together and saw Neville, Dean, and Seamus returning with a laugh.
“Harry, you have a little piece of transparent tape stuck on the corner of your mouth.” Ginny said cheerfully, helping Harry pull it off as Ron subconsciously touched the corner of his mouth.
“Aren’t you guys going?” Ginny asked again, looking at the people returning from the notice board, “Oh, I forgot, you guys were able to make it last year. I remember that Ministry of Magic Apparition instructor … what’s his name again – Rose, Rocky?”
“Wilkie Twycross.” Hermione said.
“That’s him,” Ginny said nonchalantly, leaning her head on Harry’s shoulder, “Didn’t he promise to help you guys to get your certificates ahead of time?”
“Apparently, someone broke his word.” Ron muttered.
“Oh-” Ginny straightened up and stared at him for a moment, “I seem to remember you mentioning it a few times, but not so much after Easter.”
“That’s a good memory,” Ron looked at her indignantly, “If you have such a good memory, you should know that I don’t want to see my sister sticking close to someone else, even if that person is my best friend- ”
“You can find someone else too.” Ginny retorted.
“Who?” Ron asked snappily.
Ginny tilted her head and Harry and Ron looked in the direction where her chin was pointing at the same time; a girl was looking in their direction. “Lavender?!” Ron exclaimed out of breath, “What does this have to do with her?”
Ginny gave him a sympathetic look, and then she left with a condescending sideways glance, ” Dork.” She said in a clear voice and Ron’s face turned red.
Harry immediately recognized the danger signs – Ron’s ears were red – and he tugged at the figure that passed in front of him, and asked in a rush, “How is it?
Seamus stumbled back on the arm of the couch with a bewildered look on his face and plopped down next to Harry.
“Ouch – what? Hey,” he looked confused and after a few moments, he said seriously, “I think I can do it now as I have become adept at Side-Along Apparition, my mum let my cousin Fergus take me to practice this summer – back when times weren’t exactly stable and people wanted to be prepared with as many hands as possible. ”
“I know,” Harry went along, “just like the illumination magic that was very popular at that time since it could be used to restrain Inferius.”
“That’s true,” Seamus said excitedly, “Mum said she burned out during that time to learn those emergency spells, but she only managed to learn Illumination magic, and she couldn’t be able to learn the Bright Fire Making spell by any means – it was too hard for her. ” He whispered to Harry, “Fergus gave me some extra instruction – I mean the Apparition, and there were several times when I felt light and fluffy as if I had fallen into cotton, which suggests that I was close to success, doesn’t it? ”
“Maybe you will make it in the first session.” Harry said from his own experience.
“Or maybe there will be a Splinch.” Ron said with a grin, and Seamus’ face turned pale when he said it. Ron hastily tried to remedy the situation, “I mean – it’s not really a big deal to get Splinched, there is a professor in the room, so aside from some pain -”
From the look on Seamus’s face, his words didn’t do much to comfort him.
Harry shrugged, looked over at Ron and Hermione, and said, “Come on, we should better go and sign up too, in case they don’t allow us to attend the course …”
In the first floor corridor, Felix arrived at Professor McGonagall’s office, ready to discuss the issue of the weather in the Animagus ritual, and he intended to make a limited confession about the fact that he could summon ‘thunder and lightning storm’.
The door is vaguely obscured and with a slight push it opened, and he heard a voice inside.
“I’m sorry Mr. and Mrs. Noel, Hogwarts does not currently accept senior transfer students … We did have a student exchange program with the Ilvermorny, Uagadou, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang Schools of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but it was put on hold due to the war, and it was a school-to-school partnership and not available for private use … Yes, that’s what Headmaster Dumbledore meant too.”
Felix pushed the door open and Professor McGonagall was facing him, talking to a middle-aged couple. He was a little taken aback when he had just heard the family name ‘Noel’, he had expected a fashionably dressed older woman inside, but it hadn’t turned out to be quite what he had expected.
“I feel sorry to hear that. Will come again.” The man said in a hoarse voice.
They didn’t bother to dwell on it any longer and got up to leave, and as Felix brushed past them, he saw a set of angular faces with impressive blue-green eyes.
“Oh, Felix.” Professor McGonagall said from the back of her desk, looking relieved.
“So what’s up with that family?” Felix asked, seemingly casually, as he sat on the couch.
“They came from the United States and are planning to move to England in order to settle, and they are hoping to enrol their children here for the last six months.” Professor McGonagall said, “They have been bugging me for a long time. This family is quite stubborn.”
“Couldn’t even wait half a year?”
“I thought it was strange too, they said it wasn’t too stable over there …” Professor McGonagall said, and they spent the rest of the day discussing the weather issue, and when Felix made his intentions clear, she smiled in surprise.
“I had intended to ask Dumbledore for help with that, no, it wasn’t exactly stormy now … the next full moon is nearing, and the mandrake leaf after sufficiently absorbing and mixing with both salvia and pure moonlight, must need energy from a thunderstorm, but the weather has been a little cloudy lately.” Professor McGonagall said seriously, “If the ritual fails because of the weather, I doubt any of these students will have the patience to do it all over again.”
Despite her grave tone, Felix could sense that she was in high spirits, which might have something to do with the recent succession of articles published by Snape and Professor Burbage; Let’s not mention Burbage, Professor McGonagall, and Snape as the heads of the two rival houses respectively, are usually very competitive.
Now Professor McGonagall is much more active than she was in the beginning.
In the blink of an eye, two weeks had passed and the night of the full moon had once again dawned upon the world. The students of the ‘Animagus’ course were gathered and headed towards the edge of a solitary forbidden forest. Felix brought some candles from the great hall and left them to hover in the air, the faint flames of which kept leaping, just as the students were feeling at the moment as they trudged deeper and deeper into the darkness.
Nearly a month has passed and only 11 of the 23 students are left, which is less than half of the original number, but Professor McGonagall is very satisfied, saying that this kind of scenario is the very first she has seen in her teaching career, and the group finally arrived at their destination.
She turned her back to the forbidden forest and faced the students. Speaking in the ankle-length white cold snow.
“Come forward in order – Weasley, you’re first. Come on, get your hands off the ground.” Professor McGonagall said sternly and Ron did as he was told with a bitter grimace, “You’re missing a corner of your leaf, so you are not qualified.”
“It really won’t work? It’s nearly there.” Ron said desperately.
“No, not unless you’re prepared to have a horn growing out of your chest.” Professor McGonagall said regretfully, “Next! Hannah Abbo-” A rosy-cheeked witch with two large braids stumbled out of the crowd and held her piece of mandrake leaf out for inspection.
“You are qualified.” Professor McGonagall said gently.
Hannah let out a loud whimper, unable to stop the tears, though her hands remained steady. Neville helped her to stand on the side and let the inspection continue.
“Cormac McLaggen, not qualified.”
“Susan Bones, not qualified.”
“Draco Malfoy, qualified.”
“Ernest Macmillan, not qualified.”
…
Soon it was Harry’s turn, he spat the mandrake leaf out of his mouth and carefully wiped the saliva from it with his sleeve, for a moment he unexpectedly felt that something was missing in his mouth, and then he glanced over to see Ron’s face stiffening as he crumpled his mandrake leaf into a ball.
“Those who have failed will have a second chance. But if you give up, there’s nothing to be gained.” Professor McGonagall said as she glared at Ron, “Potter-”
Harry held his breath and stepped forward, his feet didn’t seem to listen to him, Professor McGonagall didn’t say anything, she moved closer and pushed her square glasses, Harry stared at the jumping candlelight reflecting off her lenses and suddenly forgot how to breathe.
After what seemed like a lifetime, Professor McGonagall’s voice came from a distance, “Meets the requirements, qualified!” Harry became dizzy for a moment. Hermione who was behind him in line, now turning pale with tension at the moment, and she constantly squeezed her arm, only when she heard from Professor McGonagall that she had passed did she gasp sharply and step aside with a small sob.
Those students who had failed long ago were sad, and they could empathize with them the most – after all, they had all been through the same thing, but it had to be admitted that those who had not been declared to have failed until now were undoubtedly the worst off. When the inspection was over, only Harry, Hermione, Hannah, Neville, Draco, and the two seventh years met the requirements and were allowed to proceed to the next stage of the course.
Harry looked up at the full moon; every student who had succeeded here had paid a huge price, especially in terms of mental strain; towards the end of the last few days, Neville had stopped sleeping, his eyes had become scarlet, and Hermione had been sickly all day, no longer answering any questions or wanting to talk.
Hannah Abbott was on the verge of a breakdown several times and was the most diligent of all in seeking out Neville to experience the daydreaming spell.
As for himself – Gryffindor’s ‘Captain Ghost’ has been making a name for himself lately, and his whispering with the amplification charm has been giving goosebumps to not only the players but also the audience in the bleachers.
Professor McGonagall started to distribute the little crystal vials and told them to fill them with saliva and put the mandrake leaf in it – Hannah’s hands were shaking so much that she nearly dropped the vial over a few times, and Professor Hap turned a few small square tables out of rocks and twigs on the ground.
“The rest of you don’t just stand around, all gather here, if you still want to continue learning Animagus Transfiguration, you will use it one day.” Professor McGonagall shouted.
The students came together to observe, those who had been judged disqualified on the spot were too devastated and Harry had no time to comfort a distraught Ron. He followed Professor McGonagall’s instructions as he added a strand of his own hair in turn, together with a teaspoon of dew (provided by Professor Hap) taken from a place where there had been no sunlight or human contact for seven whole days.
When the seven students had completed the final step – adding the chrysalis of a Death’s-head Hawk Moth into the crystal vial – Professor McGonagall instructed them to screw in the stopper and find a quiet, dark place to hide the vial.
“That’s the edge of the Forbidden Forest.” Felix explained, “Find a place you can remember and bury the vial, I suggest you dig deeper, so the wild creatures don’t turn it up.”
The seven students went further into the forbidden forest, step by step, and Professor McGonagall waited until their backs disappeared from sight before turning to the remaining students and announcing, “Those who still want to try, come forward and collect their new mandrake leaf, the school will supply the leaf twice for free.”
Half an hour later, those who had gone before returned.
Professor McGonagall breathed a deep sigh of relief, her clenched fist quietly released.
“As of today, no one is allowed to come here to check it out-”
“Also, even though you already know this, I’ll repeat it once again: for the next period of time, the few of you should perform the following action every time the sun rises and sets, you must point the tip of your wand towards your heart and speak the following incantation: ‘Amato Animo Animato Animagus’. ”
“If all goes well, at some point you will feel a second heartbeat after reciting the incantation, sometimes stronger than the original heartbeat and accompanied by panic, palpitations; sometimes very faint. This is normal, and you must insist on reciting the incantation, without skipping it once, but after that, you must report it to one of us immediately.”
“Did you hear me clearly?”
Professor McGonagall looked authoritatively at the crowd, “I am not joking.” The group of seven in the centre of the sight nodded their heads in quick succession. “Very well,” she said, revealing a small smile, “you are very close to success and I don’t want any of you to fail. You may all go back first, I already talked to Filch and told him to leave the door open for you …”
“Professor? What about you guys?”
“Felix and I will set up alarm magic around the perimeter.”
With that done, the two professors returned to the castle, and instead of returning to his office, Felix knocked on the door of the headmaster’s office.
“Felix?” Dumbledore, in his pyjamas and glasses, asked, as he looked up.
“Riddle has some suspicions, he is starting to actively contact with the higher level of dark magic.” Felix said briefly, “I can’t change his mind – either the plan moves forward, or I need to destroy this personality and start all over again. But that will take more time.”
“I see.”
Dumbledore said slowly, and brought out two Horcrux from the drawer and handed them to Felix. When Dumbledore was alone in his office, he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes wearily.
The portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black hanging on the wall said in a greasy voice, “I don’t know what the rush is, Dumbledore, that brat’s suggestion is actually quite good.”
“I didn’t exactly expect you to notice it, Phineas.” Dumbledore replied, and after a moment of hesitation, he said, “But it has to be soon, Harry doesn’t have much time left.”
Standing on his perch Fawkes buried his head in his wings and snored softly.
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