Chapter 99. Ian's Secret
The night sky was clear.
The full moon hung high, its soft light like a thin veil over a young girl's delicate skin.
Lynn had prepared all his belongings and left the castle before curfew began, heading towards the Forbidden Forest.
The requirements for making the Animagus transformation potion were extremely demanding, and no place in Hogwarts, except the Forbidden Forest, could meet his needs.
No, the Room of Requirement would also work; that room could satisfy all of Lynn's needs, including the weather.
But it was, after all, a magical creation, and he feared that the magically simulated natural environment might have some unknown effect on the transformation potion.
If it was bad, that would be a disaster. Countless examples in history of Animagus transformation failures resulting in half-human, half-animal monsters served as a warning: don't try to be clever!
Especially with magic that requires perfect timing, location, and conditions.
He didn't venture deep into the Forbidden Forest but instead walked around it, arriving at a spot on the outskirts he had previously chosen.
The trees here were all very large and dense, and in the summer, their lush foliage completely blocked out the sky, preventing any sunlight from penetrating during the day.
Lynn first used a shovel conjured by Transfiguration to find a conspicuous tree that could serve as a marker, and dug a hole about half a meter deep beneath it.
Then he put down the shovel and, carrying the potion ingredients, went out into the moonlight.
Aiming at the full moon in the sky, he took out a glass bottle, removed a mandela leaf that had been pressed under his tongue for a full month, put it into the bottle, and then began…
"Hetui! Hetui! Hetui!…"
spitting his saliva into the glass bottle repeatedly.
It was a disgusting and troublesome process. He not only had to be careful not to spit his own phlegm into the bottle, but he also had to keep producing saliva until it was enough to fill the glass jar.
Late at night, a boy spitting into a bottle in the dark woods looked extremely eerie.
Once he had enough saliva, he plucked a strand of his own hair and put it into the jar, then scooped a silver teaspoon of dew from another bottle and added it in.
He had just taken this bottle of dew from Snape's office that afternoon, and before taking it, he had double-checked that it was freshly purchased by Snape, collected from a place that hadn't seen sunlight or been touched by humans for seven days.
Snape had been so annoyed by him that he almost gave it to him and told him to get lost.
If it weren't for Lynn's diligent and responsible handling of potion ingredients for him these past few days, Snape really wouldn't have given him the bottle of dew.
After all, it wasn't cheap.
Snape, as if he'd discovered something, had been loitering in the fourth-floor corridor of the castle, a place Dumbledore forbade students to go.
Lynn guessed he'd noticed Professor Quirrell's odd behavior.
Aside from meeting Harry once in Diagon Alley, Lynn hadn't actively sought him out.
This was deliberate; only in this way could he accurately predict whether the first-year storyline would proceed as written, and only then would his waiting opportunity arrive.
After putting the hair and dew into the bottle, the Transfiguration potion was missing one last ingredient.
Lynn took a moth pupa from his pocket—a pupa of the hawk-faced moth, sourced from Snape's office, a more affordable and guaranteed quality.
After inserting the pupa into the bottle, the Transfiguration potion was complete.
He sealed the glass bottle with a cork, placed it in the hole he'd dug, and finally filled the hole with a shovel.
He'd done all he could now; the rest was up to fate.
He could only return here to dig out the potion and complete the final transformation when the next thunderstorm arrived.
By the time Lynn finished packing, it was nearly nine o'clock.
Instead of returning the remaining potion ingredients to his dormitory, he took them directly to the Whomping Willow, where he had arranged to meet Cedric and the others.
He had barely arrived when Ian and Cedric arrived together.
Ever since they discovered Ian's secret as a werewolf, they had come to keep him company every full moon.
It was in the Shrieking Shack, where the last werewolf student had used to transform.
They would chat there all night, about Hogwarts professors, various houses, and interesting stories from the wizarding and Muggle worlds.
However, today Lynn and Cedric could clearly see that Ian seemed to be in a bad mood.
He hadn't uttered a word since they arrived at the Shrieking Shack through the secret passage.
Although he rarely spoke before and his expression remained cold, after spending so much time with him, Lynn and Cedric could sense something was wrong from his emotions.
As usual, Ian sat on the worn wooden floor, leaning against the wooden wall, quietly waiting for his transformation.
Lynn and Cedric exchanged a glance, both signaling the other to speak first and ask what was going on.
They played rock-paper-scissors with their eyes, and Cedric finally gave in. But before he could even ask, Ian spoke first.
"I wasn't supposed to come to Hogwarts this year."
Lynn and Cedric looked at him in astonishment.
"Why?"
"Because my last name is Campbell," he said softly.
Cedric was confused, because there was no such surname among pure-blood wizarding families.
But Lynn frowned, trying to recall something.
He had felt that Ian's last name sounded familiar at first, but hadn't thought much of it. This time, after Ian's specific reminder and considering that his family was not ordinary, Lynn finally remembered the significance of the last name Campbell in England.
"Is it the Campbell of the Duke of Argyll?"
"The current Duke of Argyll is my father, and I am his only heir to the title and the family line."
This was the first time in over a year since they had known each other that Ian had brought up his family matters.
His transformation had begun. Silvery-white fur sprouted from his body, his form and face began to elongate, and he growled in pain, yet still managed to tell Lynn and Cedric his story.
"My father… he never truly wanted to acknowledge me as his son…"
Sweat soaked his fur, and he continued, panting heavily.
"After I was born, he spent all his time partying with other women, trying to have another son and then abandon me…"
Lynn and Cedric remained silent; they knew that tonight, Ian simply needed two listeners.
The werewolf quietly sat back down on the wooden floor, speaking calmly.
"To completely rid myself of this monster who killed my mother at birth."
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(End of Chapter)