In the Harry Potter Without Harry Potter

Chapter 402: Spring Rain & Thunder

Unsurprisingly, Baron followed Jon back to Lyons with all the ghosts in the entire castle.

Their loyal allegiance had always been to the Hogwarts castle, and now that Dumbledore's situation seemed to be improving, it was only natural that they would not want to continue to roam around the streets.

It wasn't as if the ghosts had come back to share the wealth but ran in misery; they hadn't been able to do much in response to Voldemort's manhunt, and they hadn't left the castle with Dumbledore in the first place; they had left only after Voldemort had gradually changed the atmosphere of the castle.

Baron had always talked about wanting to rely on himself to take the castle back from Voldemort, and Jon had realised after finding him that he wasn't just talking nonsense or just shouting a loud slogan, he was really working towards that goal, using what Slytherin had once told him to keep.

Now Baron had not only brought back all the ghosts from the castle but also the item that Slytherin himself had needed, which was now in Dumbledore's hands.

And once this was done, and he returned to Lyons, it had nothing to do with Jon for the time being, until the third task began, when Slytherin would give him some part of that item.

In the time that followed, Jon had not left Lyons.

Apart from following along with his fourth-year classes and spending his free time in the library every day, he just stared at the weather conditions in Lyon and studied them.

Finally, in late March, a spring rain fell.

The temperature had risen considerably compared to the winter and the young wizards had changed out of their heavy robes and jumpers, and it had been rumoured that Professor McGonagall was planning to organise an outing during the recent period, which of course would take place in France.

When it rained, Jon leaned by the window and eyed the cloudy sky, chatting in passing with Neville and Ron, who were playing wizard's chess beside him.

"Why do people get in a different mood when it rains?"

"If we go by scientific explanations, the lack of sunlight on rainy days leads to a lack of production of some hormones in the body, especially a decrease in the production of dopamine hormone, resulting in a lower level of stimulation in the brain, which then manifests as a moody state."

"What kind of stimulation and what is less? It's a mess, so what if we go by the magic explanation?" Ron asked scratching his head as he focused on the chess game.

Jon would love for a thunderbolt to strike down from the dark clouds at this time.

"The magic explanation would be that rainy days are good for dark wizards to use dark magic, perhaps such weather would affect their mood and make their spell casting stronger."

Neville was thinking hard about Jon's nonsense.

"No wonder then that when we were in Britain, every time we were hunted it was on a rainy day."

"Er, that could just be a coincidence." Jon changed his tune to prevent Neville from going astray then refocused his gaze on the sky, "Do you guys think it would be a problem if I learned the weather spell and created an artificial thunderstorm to come?"

His preparation to learn Animagus had obviously not been hidden from Neville and Ron, and he was not even intended to hide it from them who are staying in Lyons to keep an eye on the weather for him.

"A big problem." Neville said with a straight face, "Ancient wizards weren't stupid, and they were certainly much more skilled at using the weather spell than we are, but the conditions for learning Animagus have remained just that harsh since the ancient times, meaning that trying to cheat with magic and take shortcuts won't work."

Jon was just saying that, and he hadn't meant to take shortcuts.

When it came to extremely complex spells like this that affected him, he had always maintained the view that he should be as cautious as he could be, preferring not to learn them and not to take the risk.

Just like when he was lurking in Hogwarts castle preparing to go against the basilisk, Jon actually had many ways to get Aberforth to use a spell to help preserve the sound of a rooster to face the basilisk, but to be on the safe side, he chose the most troublesome option of just bringing a live rooster with him.

When faced with a situation like this, it is best not to gamble with your own safety.

If it worked out then naturally it would be good if it didn't, it would be a complete disaster.

"I heard your date at the Ball was Hermione?" As though the game of chess had settled into his rhythm, Ron's mood relaxed suddenly and he asked teasingly.

Jon waved his hand.

"It was Hermione in name only, but actually the person I stayed with the longest that night was Lee."

Neville and Ron looked at each other, both of them obviously still unaware of all that had happened that night at the Ball.

And just as Jon was about to give them a concise explanation, a blue-purple bolt of lightning suddenly reflected in his face!

Jon froze for less than two seconds and the next thing he knew he was jumping out of the window without a word, not even leaving through the door, and just flying into the rain that was falling harder and harder!

"Rumble!"

Thunder followed, leaving Neville and Ron to only vaguely watch as Jon's back was gradually covered by the downpour.

What with all the talk about people being in a poor mood on rainy days, at this moment Jon found himself in a completely childish state of mind!

Even though he had been hinting throughout the tournament that he wouldn't try to be pushy about Animagus, he had been waiting for so long that it would be a lie to say that he didn't have expectations in his heart.

And now such a long wait was finally coming to an end.

Jon didn't take the risk of letting himself get wet on this day, as he would have caught a cold afterwards, he turned the robe he was wearing into a raincoat as he flew out, and put on a large hood.

He soon arrived at the place where the potion had been buried, and after the first clap of thunder was over, the next bolt of lightning followed.

The sky was half illuminated by the lightning, and the next moment it was dark again.

He didn't dare to use magic to prevent the potion vial from shattering by accident. The more he got to the last minute, the more he couldn't rush, after all, he had waited for more than half a year, and he didn't want to waste this wait.

Within a few minutes, he had dug out the vial of potion.

In that small crystal vial, a mouthful of blood-red liquid lay silently, exactly as it had been described in the book and Professor McGonagall's explanation to Jon.

This meant that on the potion part, he had succeeded!

After getting the potion, Jon didn't linger, the process of drinking the potion didn't have to be forced to necessarily stay in the middle of a thunderstorm, he then moved to a large meeting room in the school.

This place was not normally used and would not be disturbed, and the place was empty enough, a place Jon had chosen early on to use to complete his Animagus transformation.

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