Chapter 120: Animagus
Since Miss Ilsa joined the family, Christmas has held a unique meaning for everyone in the household.
No matter how busy they were, everyone rushed back on the afternoon of Christmas Eve.
Anton, Lupin, Ilsa, Anna, Rosier, Nagini, Pedro, a group of them gathered around the long table in the downstairs dining room for dinner.
The old wizard, calling on his friends, brought a large group of ghost friends to party upstairs.
The faint sound of noisy music drifted down from upstairs, accompanied by fireworks outside the window, and a year quietly passed.
Everyone was recounting their own experiences.
Rosier mocked Pedro's foolishness in business, while Pedro complained that Rosier knew nothing but dark magic and was of no help at all.
Nagini gently served food to Anna and Anton, smiling as she watched the two old men bicker.
Lupin and Ilsa were in a heated debate, one saying that the male second lead in the TV series was definitely the mastermind villain, the other saying that someone so handsome couldn't possibly be a bad guy.
Amidst all the lively chatter, it came to the part that the children disliked the most.
"Anna, what did you learn at school?" The adults began to inquire about the children's studies.
"I learned the Patronus Charm, it's a little rabbit," Anna grinned. "And Incendio, Protego, and Expulso."
Anton gasped, looking at Anna in astonishment, "Those are not simple at all!"
Anna just smiled sweetly.
"At Hogwarts, first-years don't learn that," Lupin was stunned.
"Same at Beauxbatons," Ilsa looked incredulous.
"Oh, sweetie, you're amazing, Durmstrang first-years wouldn't have such courses either," Rosier looked extremely proud.
Then, everyone turned to look at Anton.
"..."
Anton was silent for a long time, "Levitation Charm, Shield Charm, and Patronus Charm."
Rosier was drinking, and upon hearing this, he spat it out, fortunately turning in time, otherwise the dishes on the table would have been ruined.
"If I remember correctly..." Ilsa looked at Anton in confusion, "You already knew the Levitation Charm and Shield Charm."
Anton shrugged helplessly.
"I did learn a lot of powerful dark magic, but Dumbledore cursed me to forbid me from using it."
Pedro laughed gleefully, "So what exactly did you learn at magic school?"
Oh right.
What exactly did I learn at Hogwarts?
Professor Voldemort's ancient magic theory and soul courses.
Professor Snape's potion theory.
Dumbledore's theory of wizards and nature.
Then he himself pondered the improvement of biomimetic spells and the improvement of the Levitation Charm.
And the culmination of his work, a major breakthrough combining Transfiguration, biomimetic spells, potions, and charms: snake-transforming candies and werewolf experience candies.
But none of these seem to have a spell name to explain them.
Everyone looked at each other.
Anton looked innocent, what could I do, I was desperate too, I tried so hard, okay?
"Hey, don't say that, the Patronus Charm is also a very powerful spell, right?" Lupin comforted him, "This is clearly not a first-year spell, who taught you?"
Anton grinned, raising an eyebrow at Lupin.
"!!!" Lupin looked displeased, "I can teach the Patronus Charm too, Anton, you should have asked me!"
"..."
What's the point of saying that now?
There was a reason Anton didn't learn magic from Lupin and Rosier, and that reason was lack of time.
Usually, when he was at home, Pedro would also be there, and in comparison, the memories in Pedro's mind were the most valuable treasure, which Anton might not be able to fully grasp in his short hundred years of life.
Anyway, the lively Christmas passed just like that.
...
...
A few days later, it was time to return to school.
The train whistled~~~
After returning to the dormitory and tidying up his things, Anton went back to the Weasley's Burrow. The twins had been called for practice by Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, so he walked alone to his workbench.
In just a few days of vacation, many experiments suddenly didn't need to be done.
The old wizard's unified theory of Fiennes' potion and spell had such a magical effect; whether it was progress in spells or potions, there was a mutually beneficial effect of understanding everything through one.
Awesome.
Finding a Mandrake leaf and putting it in his mouth, Anton began to prepare to learn Animagus.
Even though his biomimetic spells could simulate more things, he still wanted to learn this trick.
According to the process, he needed to hold this leaf in his mouth from one full moon to the next, for a whole month.
Under no circumstances could he spit it out or swallow it, it could not leave his mouth, otherwise he would have to start over.
This was not difficult for Anton.
The key point was not holding it for a month, but the medicinal properties of the Mandrake.
The toxic leaves of this plant had hallucinogenic effects. Early wizards liked to brew tea with these leaves; at first it was exhilarating, but eventually it would make the whole person sluggish.
The most difficult part was that it would affect the wizard's entire month of life.
Dumbledore had explained this step, saying it was a branch of ancient magic called 'ritual magic'. After the Mandrake leaf was nurtured by the human body, it would possess magical properties unique to that wizard.
Everyone had a way of observing the world.
Anton keenly noticed that the Mandrake was slowly replicating the ego!
This thing was collecting all the information of the ego through his mouth, through his way of speaking, eating habits, breath, and other personal factors, little by little, with changes that normal wizards could not perceive.
"It actually has something in common with Horcruxes!"
A way to replicate a part of the ego without death, without a soul scalpel!
Anton vaguely touched upon the rules of those seemingly absurd and baseless spells in this wizarding world.
It could also be systematic and traceable.
During the process of practicing Animagus, he felt like he was doing research, which was a very peculiar feeling.
Awesome.
Horcruxes definitely had too many uses.
This method of separating the ego and soul, without considering the body, perfectly overcame any physical problems.
Such as Maledictus, such as werewolves.
Another new idea.
Strolling leisurely to the first-floor dining hall of the castle, Anton was surprised to find that Draco was not there, nor were his cronies, nor was the Harry Potter trio.
Without these people, it always felt a little less noisy.
Countless candles floated in mid-air, and as the candlelight lit up, the dim and mysterious castle became bright.
Countless foods appeared on the long table.
Feast time!
Rosier had suggested adding a house-elf to the family, and everyone was hesitant.
Lupin was not used to being taken care of and was most flustered.
However, if that house-elf could go to the Hogwarts kitchens for further training, everyone would probably welcome it.
While they were eating, suddenly there was a commotion from the professors' table on the high platform, and the professors filed out.
"What happened?"
"Old Voldemort exploded on the spot?"