novelhk Chapter 123 The Raiders
Chapter 123 The Raiders
January 16, Monday, full moon.
Having successfully acquired all the necessary items, Harry gathered Hermione, Ron, Malfoy, and the others together.
Animagus magic is extremely dangerous and complex. Some people who successfully transform have experienced demonic possession, rendering them unable to revert to human form. Others, even if they follow the correct steps, need several years to be able to transform at will.
Therefore, before officially performing the ceremony with the other three, Harry very seriously explained the process of the magical ritual and the precautions to be taken.
“I will help you prepare all of the things I mentioned earlier, as well as the potion-making work, so you only need to remember where you hide the potions. The most important thing is the next step. While we are waiting for the storm to come, all of us must point the tip of our wands at our hearts and chant a spell at every sunrise and sunset. The spell is—Amato Animo Animato Animagus.”
"Amato Animo Animato Animagus..."
The three of them recited in unison.
"very good."
Harry nodded and said:
"I will make the storm arrive on time the next day, but before that, the sunrise and sunset incantations must be completed at least twice. Remember this, and don't let sleeping in or anything else delay your efforts of more than a month."
Hearing this, Malfoy glanced at Ron with a wicked grin. Ron, known as the "King of Laziness," immediately blushed and muttered a threat to Malfoy under his breath:
"You'd better worry about yourself more, Malfoy! Don't end up as some kind of weak, feeble-minded animal that gets chased and bitten by everyone's pets."
"Ha, provided you don't turn into an old, ugly rat, Weasley!"
Seeing that the atmosphere between Ron and Malfoy was about to become dramatic again, Hermione quickly interrupted them.
"Why are you two arguing at a time like this!"
As she spoke, she glanced at Harry and gave him a helpless look.
"Don't assume Harry can always solve all our problems. Once the first transformation begins, no one can stop. Everyone must complete the transformation on their own before heading to a safe, open area to avoid danger. Do you understand?"
"Ah... I understand."
Ron glared at Malfoy one last time and said:
"What will happen to our clothes and wands then?"
“Good heavens, Ron, are you even listening? Professor McGonagall already explained this in class. Our clothes, glasses, and other accessories blend into the animal's fur, but wands don't. So you have to keep your wand in a safe place, or you'll regret it if you do something stupid after your first time as an animal.”
Hermione's nervous and anxious attitude dampened Ron's initial enthusiasm. However, their coordinated reaction reminded Harry of the days when they first met and got to know each other in their first year.
He stepped forward and patted his friends on the shoulder reassuringly, saying:
"Haha, it would be great if you two could learn from each other. Practicing Animagus is neither advisable if you are too tense nor too relaxed. Otherwise, you might fail at the very first step of holding a mandrake leaf in your mouth."
"Ah... okay, I'll try my best."
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.
Simple persuasion certainly wouldn't change someone's long-established personality, but to reassure Harry, she nodded in agreement. Unexpectedly, Ron, standing opposite her, came up with a bizarre and outrageous idea.
"I'm not worried about that at all. I've already thought it through, buddy!"
He patted his chest and said:
"As soon as the ritual reaches the point where you hold the mandrake in your mouth, just give me a tongue-locking and throat-sealing spell. I'll completely seal the leaf in my mouth, and then use a straw to eat and drink. That way, it'll be absolutely foolproof!"
As expected, Ron successfully made everyone laugh.
Malfoy, who always valued his pride, turned his face away and coughed, his whole body trembling. As for Hermione and Harry, they had been trying very hard to suppress their smiles, but when they saw each other's expressions, which were somewhere between smiling and not smiling, they both broke down.
......
The tranquil Black Lake echoes the deep starry sky, while the solitary moon hanging in the night gently casts its soft light upon the new generation of Hogwarts' "Raiders".
Thanks to the little incident caused by Ron, the four-person team was able to adjust their mindset to the right state before performing the Animagus ritual.
"Bon appétit! Everyone!" (French greeting: Enjoy your meal)
As Harry recited his slightly humorous blessing, Hermione, Ron, and Malfoy all took deep breaths to varying degrees. They took mandrake leaves from the plate Harry had prepared, then carefully added them to their final "tasting."
"It doesn't seem too difficult? Oh my god! I get it!"
Suddenly realizing something, Hermione sighed. Known for her intelligence and quick wit, she was the first to notice Harry's good intentions.
"Harry deliberately chose some large, nearly round leaves so that we wouldn't easily swallow them by mistake, and we could also fit them into the roof of our mouths while eating!"
"Huh? Oh! Really! Then I won't have to suffer a tongue-locking stab this time!"
Ron also widened his eyes and said.
Draco Malfoy also wanted to praise Harry, but unfortunately, he couldn't bring himself to express his true feelings honestly because of his pride.
"I only picked a few leaves, why are you all so surprised? Don't talk too much and spray out the mandrake."
"If you're so good, why don't you go train your own Animagus skills? Why are you still with us?"
"I...I wasn't trying to prove anything...Besides, as long as I get the result I want, the process doesn't matter at all...You Gryffindor would never understand..."
"That's ridiculous. Why should I need to know what a Slytherin is thinking?"
......
Amidst Malfoy and Ron's constant bickering, the month-long countdown officially began.
Hogwarts' spring semester begins on the first Monday of January each year. Due to the Triwizard Tournament and the Christmas Ball, the castle, which is usually empty during the winter, remains quite lively.
Harry had initially worried that his friends might quickly reveal their Animagus training secret, but after observing for the past few days, he discovered that most of his peers were still immersed in the intoxicating fantasy of their first "romantic" experience. This gave the "New Raiders" team a chance to focus more intently on the Animagus ritual.
As the saying goes, a new broom sweeps clean, and for the first few days, everyone seemed very composed. However, on Thursday, Ron, Hermione, and Malfoy all experienced negative emotions.
Ron was startled when he almost bit through a mandrake leaf while eating Bubble Gum.
Hermione accidentally chewed her tongue while answering Professor McGonagall's question in class.
Draco Malfoy was the funniest. He loved riding flying broomsticks and, after being instructed by Viktor Krum, enthusiastically practiced the Lonski feint on the Quidditch pitch.
Unexpectedly, the winds in the Scottish Highlands were so biting that after just one attempt, the mandrake was pushed up into his throat by the oncoming airflow. Had he not coughed instinctively, this unlucky fellow would probably have had to wait until next month to start again.
A near-miss can easily make one realize their own problems. And so, like teenagers in the Muggle world who need braces to straighten their teeth, the new Raiders, with a foreign object in their mouths and having to complete tasks such as eating, drinking, chatting, and attending classes in fear every day, entered the next stage of practicing Animagus magic—persuasion and coaxing.
Four days, five days, six days... a week, two weeks...
Gradually, there seemed to be no more conflict between Ron, who had lost a third of his weight, and Malfoy, whose face had become even paler.
They still bicker occasionally, but these days it's more like a way to encourage each other or distract themselves.
Hermione was more taciturn than usual. Fortunately, the House Cup was canceled this year due to the Triwizard Tournament, so she no longer had the important mission of earning Gryffindor points, and she wouldn't be too upset about not being able to answer the professor's questions.
As for Harry, who was the most powerful among them, he seemed quite at ease.
Having witnessed Harry's abilities firsthand, the three attributed this to his inherent strength and his mature composure beyond his years. However, the most crucial factor in Harry's ability to achieve what others couldn't was the help of his close friend, Moran.
With his dual-soul nature and the power of the Obscurus, Harry can send Morse to the Forbidden Forest to devour dark magic creatures when he's hungry, chat with Morse when he's bored, and simply relinquish control of his body when he's annoyed or fed up.
So, in the past two weeks alone, Harry has secretly had several more days of rest than Hermione, Ron, and Malfoy.
Of course, Harry wasn't one to resort to clever tricks. He needed to take turns controlling the body with Moran for two reasons: first, Rita Skeeter needed someone to monitor her, and second, the Animagus transformation ritual was still only theoretical. Therefore, even though the ritual had begun, he still needed to race against time to find ways to increase the chances of success, even if the possibility was only the slightest.
......
Time, the concept that had once tormented Harry and Moran, once again demonstrated its wondrous nature. Even though everyone's perception of it differed, the January chill eventually subsided.
With the coldest month of the year over in Britain, the Black Lake at Hogwarts becomes slightly less daunting in February.
The castle towers were gradually awakened by the warm sunlight in the morning light, and the cold stone walls began to reveal warm hues.
Whether in the hallways or classrooms, students were taking off their scarves and gloves to keep warm. Filled with anticipation for the second event of the upcoming Triwizard Tournament, the young wizards of all grades once again found themselves unable to concentrate on their studies.
After months of getting acquainted, the students of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons no longer needed to walk cautiously between the floors of Hogwarts. Like the hosts of the four houses, they were beginning to appreciate just how many wonders this legendary magic school with its thousand-year history truly had to offer.
Auditorium, classroom, portrait, ghost, armor, sculpture...
Even the most devoted students cannot deny the allure of this top-tier magic academy that has nurtured countless legendary wizards.
In fact, Hogwarts holds far too many secrets. Take the Room of Requirement, for example. From the time Moran found the Horcrux to the present, only the three leaders and Draco Malfoy truly know and understand how to utilize it. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to so easily imprison Rita Skeeter to work for them.
Rita Skeeter finished the first draft of the press release at 8 p.m. on January 30, exactly two hours before Harry figured out the role of the Grimace Moth in the Animagus ritual potion.
The key to breaking the deadlock came from the least popular course among students at Hogwarts—History of Magic.
A passage from the book *A History of Medieval Magic: A Chaotic Era Filled with Rumors* reads as follows:
In medieval Europe, Muggles generally believed that the hawk moth was a messenger of death. Besides representing death and evil, some people in remote areas only associated it with the spread of plague.
There are many reasons why Muggles have such misunderstandings. For example, the hawk moth has a grayish-white skull-like pattern on its back, and it makes a "crying" sound like a child squeezing air with its mouthparts. These have seriously affected the judgment of Muggle scholars.
In reality, most of what Muggles call "ghost face hawk moths" are just ordinary moths that like to steal honey from bees.
The true magical hawk moth is a magical creature that is completely non-phototactic and lives only in darkness, making it difficult to spot with the naked eye.
The phosphorus powder on the wings of the Magical Faced Hawkmoth has strong hallucinogenic properties. Some unlucky Muggles have inhaled the powder and subsequently experienced bizarre and insane hallucinations. This may explain the origin of the title "Messenger of Death," as the feeling of being trapped in hallucinations is similar to an out-of-body experience, a cycle between the mortal world and the underworld.
Unfortunately, while the phosphorus powder of the hawkmoth doesn't cause hallucinations for wizards, its effects vary almost entirely from person to person. This makes it impossible for most apothecaries and potion masters to pinpoint its exact effects.
This is why, since 1453, European magical potion recipes have rarely included the hawkmoth as an ingredient. Aside from very few exceptional cases, only African wizards still frequently use the hawkmoth. (African wizards are skilled in wandless spellcasting, and their magic is considered crude and unrefined by the European magical community.)
Extremely unstable, varies from person to person, involves astral projection, and can travel between the mortal world and the underworld, finding the feeling of reincarnation?
Harry suddenly realized!
No wonder the Animagus transformation requires the Spectral Moth. If it weren't for its unique magical properties, how could it help wizards interpret their different souls in animal form?
Furthermore, a large part of the medicinal properties of the hawk moth come from the phosphorus powder on its wings.
Following this line of thought, if saliva, dew, and rootless water are mixed together, and then some ghost-faced hawk moth pupa is added at the end, along with some ghost-faced hawk moth phosphorus powder, the possibility of transforming into a magical creature would be increased.
Thinking of this, Harry felt a surge of joy at having completed the last piece of the puzzle. Without thinking too much, he Apparated to Knockturn Alley with Moran's help.
With a "snap," the huge Room of Requirement was once again empty. Coincidentally, this scene was witnessed by Rita Skeeter, who was being put back into the glass jar.
Watching the silent black mist rise and dissipate before her eyes, her heart was filled with both panic and unexpected joy. She couldn't help but spread her wings and fly and crash around wildly in the glass jar, which had very limited space.
......
At 10 p.m., it was still early for Flip-Down Lane. Many people who were not comfortable with daytime activities due to their long-term involvement in the gray area put on hoods and came out onto the street.
Harry and Moran had gotten to know the owner of Coffin Goods through Thunderbird and DB Cooper. With this connection, it was much easier for them to procure controlled materials and illegal goods.
But it's a bit strange.
Unlike the usual atmosphere of mutual distrust and dissent, Mo Ran clearly sensed a dangerous undercurrent after arriving at Flip-Over Alley this time.
"Any new information from the Ministry of Magic? Have they sent anyone to investigate?"
A dark figure whispered a question to another person whose face was obscured.
"You mean Little Hangerton? That was more than half a year ago, why are you asking again?"
"I suspect that the Muggle who died did not die of a heart attack."
"So what? He's just an old Muggle; even a common cold could take him down. Besides, you still haven't told me why you keep bringing this up."
The first figure hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice and whispered:
"That Muggle died somewhere wrong, that room, that room is wrong."
"What's wrong with it? It's just an empty house."
"Ha, an uninhabited house..."
The dark figure sneered.
"More than fifty years ago, that place was called Riddle House."