For the past few days, Jon Hart had been staying at a hotel just one street away from Number 86 Eastley Road.
He spent his time reading while watching his parents through the window, keeping an eye on how they were doing.
Eric and Judi had stayed home for several days, skipping work entirely. Instead, they had been busy packing their belongings. Dumbledore's letter must have been detailed enough to make them fully grasp the danger closing in.
Three days later, the two members of the Order of the Phoenix—Elphias Doge and Hestia Jones—returned once more. They carried with them a Shrinking Box, large enough to hold all of the Harts' possessions.
Then, they left. Eric drove the car, taking his wife and the two wizards away from Eastley Road.
Their plan was to travel to a location far from any Muggle settlements before Apparating to their next destination—France.
Jon exhaled deeply as the yellow car vanished from sight, relief washing over him.
He knew that for at least the next half year or so, his parents' lives would likely remain undisturbed. But once the Azkaban breakout occurred in January, Voldemort would bare his monstrous face to the world.
One muggle massacre after another would follow.
Caught off guard, the Ministry of Magic would be incapable of taking any effective action.
With the destructive power that wizards and magical creatures possessed, once unleashed, it would be all too easy to slaughter defenseless Muggle civilians.
Jon had no desire to see his parents' names appear one day on the Daily Prophet's list of the dead.
And once Voldemort fully seized control of the Ministry—something Jon was certain bureaucrats like Fudge could never prevent—he would gain access to all records of Muggle-born witches and wizards. In that situation, Eric and Judi would be in grave danger.
Their departure, therefore, brought Jon genuine relief, lifting a great weight from his heart.
...
Two days earlier, Dumbledore had sent Jon a letter.
Along with it came his wand, now completely free of the Trace.
Jon examined it carefully. There were no marks of damage—perhaps it had been repaired by Dumbledore using the Elder Wand after being destroyed by the Ministry, or perhaps, thanks to Dumbledore's influence, it had never been damaged at all.
Either way, the Trace was indeed gone.
Jon, ever cautious, tested the wand several times just to be sure. It worked smoothly, with no unexpected effects.
In the same letter, Dumbledore informed him that his parents had been relocated to the town of Calvi, in northwestern Corsica. Rumored to be the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, it was a beautiful Mediterranean town—and, for now, a safe haven.
Even with Voldemort's growing influence, it would be years before his reach extended that far.
Jon resolved to bring his parents back to Southampton only after Voldemort's eventual downfall, so they could return to their peaceful lives.
The letter also included detailed information about Jon's new identity:
Chris Patrick, born November 1980 in Linz, Austria. Both parents were wizards who died in a magical accident in 1983.
Raised in an Austrian orphanage, he was admitted to Durmstrang Institute in 1992. However, after enduring years of bullying, he withdrew from Durmstrang in May 1995. After writing to Madame Maxime, Headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, he was granted permission to transfer there.
Because of an exchange program between Beauxbatons and Hogwarts, Madame Maxime planned to send him, along with two other Beauxbatons students, to Hogwarts for one academic year beginning in September 1995.
Reading the "resume" gave Jon a headache.
What did that make him?
A three-school student? A "wandering scholar"?
All of Europe only had three major wizarding schools—and according to this identity, he had managed to attend all of them!
Still, Jon could understand Dumbledore's reasoning.
He would be a fourth-year student next term, and neither Hogwarts nor Beauxbatons could simply conjure a new student out of nowhere. Durmstrang, on the other hand, was in disarray after its headmaster's flight, making it far easier to forge a student record there.
Besides, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had long shared overlapping enrollment regions, and transfers between the two schools were not uncommon.
Among Europe's three wizarding schools, Hogwarts accepted only students from the British Isles, making it the smallest of the three. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, however, drew students from across the continent.
Durmstrang was notorious for its strict bloodline policies, while Beauxbatons was considerably more inclusive, welcoming purebloods, Muggle-borns, and half-bloods alike. It even accepted students expelled or withdrawn from Durmstrang or Hogwarts.
For Jon, though, this arrangement posed some challenges.
He would first need to visit Durmstrang to retrieve his academic records.
After that, he would need to travel to Beauxbatons to register as a student before deciding whether to return to Hogwarts as an "exchange student."
Given Dumbledore's focus on rebuilding the Order of the Phoenix, Jon knew he couldn't count on him for an escort. And apart from Dumbledore, no one knew his true identity.
Even Madame Maxime believed that "Mr. Patrick" was simply a former Durmstrang student on academic leave.
So, he would have to make the trip alone.
...
Inside the envelope, along with the letter, was a simple iron ring.
Though Dumbledore hadn't explained its purpose, Jon discovered it as soon as he slipped it on.
The moment it touched his skin, his hair, complexion, and facial features began to change gradually—until he had transformed completely into another boy.
This must be what "Chris Patrick" looked like.
He checked his reflection in the mirror: a young man with soft, curly hair, pale skin, and refined, delicate features.
When he removed the ring, his original appearance returned within seconds.
Professor Dumbledore truly was a master of Transfiguration—the magic infused into this ring was formidable.
Jon slipped the iron ring back on, packed his belongings, and prepared to leave for Sweden.
Fortunately, thanks to Grindelwald's memories, he knew precisely where Durmstrang Institute was, so he wouldn't have to search aimlessly once he arrived.