Chapter 131, Chapter 129. A Sudden Rainy Night.
Lynn was on his way back to the Slytherin common room.
Hogwarts Castle was eerily quiet, but Lynn knew this was just a facade.
Hidden within this peaceful darkness were countless night owls.
Of course, these were mostly Gryffindors.
Hmm… and maybe even a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
Lynn had no intention of joining them; he considered himself one of the most law-abiding students at Hogwarts, having never wandered the castle at night in his two years there.
Having just happily infiltrated another house as an invisible man, Lynn was completely unaware of his actions.
Suddenly, a flash of white light appeared outside the castle window, illuminating the dark corridor.
"Boom!"
Thunder followed closely, its deafening sound likely to wake many sleeping young wizards.
Rain then pattered against the castle walls, its "drip-drip" sound quite pleasant.
Lynn's first thought was that it was raining, and he should bring in the laundry.
Although British weather was unpredictable—often sunny in the morning and raining less than ten minutes later—thunderstorms were rare.
This was the first thunderstorm of the year.
Suddenly, he froze.
The first thunderstorm of the year… wasn't this the one he'd been waiting for?!
Lynn instantly became excited, clenching his fist, itching to punch the wall beside him.
But considering the consequences of breaking through the walls of Hogwarts, he didn't turn his idea into action.
Lynn didn't hesitate; he immediately turned around and changed direction, heading out of the castle.
A thunderstorm was the perfect time for the Animagus transformation potion to be completed, ready to be dug up for the next step—a day Lynn had been waiting for for over half a year.
Curfew had begun in the castle, and Lynn going out now would definitely be breaking school rules, but...
so what if he broke school rules?
Look at Harry Potter and the others, they break school rules almost every other day, so what's wrong with Lynn breaking them once in a while?
What?
You're saying he just claimed to be a law-abiding student?
Sorry, not anymore.
He's definitely breaking the rules today!
Even Merlin can't stop him!
Lynn hurried down the stairs. The Disillusionment Charm's effect had worn off, and he was now in his visible state, but at this time, being visible didn't matter.
He went all the way down to the first floor of the castle and gently pushed open the first-floor door.
The raindrops outside weren't large, but they looked quite dense; it didn't seem like the rain would stop anytime soon.
"Waterproof and moisture-proof (no amplification),"
Lynn cast a waterproof spell on his school robe, then pulled up his hood and jogged into the rain.
Following his memory, Lynn quickly arrived at the large tree on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest.
He picked up a branch from the ground, transformed it into a shovel using Transformation, and carefully began digging.
Actually, digging with a shovel would be faster, but that would easily cause him to accidentally knock over the glass bottle containing the potion. If he accidentally broke the bottle, Lynn suspected he might even chop off his own hand in frustration.
He hadn't buried the potion too deep, and Lynn quickly and easily dug it out of the soil.
Just like the steps Kira had written for him, the Transformation Potion was now blood red, making it impossible to tell that its main ingredient was actually his own saliva.
Lynn held the Transformation Potion in his hand, without changing the location; the spot he chose to bury the potion was a decision made after careful consideration from the beginning.
Even during the day, no one would come here, let alone on a stormy night like this.
He took a deep breath, composed himself, then uncorked the potion bottle. Holding his wand, he pointed the tip at his heart and recited the incantation he had chanted every sunrise and sunset for the past six months:
"Amato Animo Animato Animagus."
Without hesitation, he picked up the bottle and drank the blood-red potion in one gulp.
After drinking the potion, nothing seemed to happen.
But Lynn wasn't in a hurry; he stood quietly, waiting for it to take effect within him.
Quickly, as if only seconds had passed, a sharp pain surged from the depths of his soul.
The excruciating agony caused Lynn to involuntarily kneel on the muddy ground.
He braced himself with his hands, gasping for breath. This pain reminded him of the feeling of drowning in his past life—the same helplessness, the same agony of dying and coming back to life.
Suddenly, another heartbeat, different from his own, resounded within Lynn's body.
His original heartbeat and this newly appeared heartbeat beat rhythmically together.
At the same time, a pair of scarlet eyes opened in the depths of his mind.
Lynn met those eyes, and in the reflection of those blood-red pupils, he seemed to see himself.
A different version of himself.
Then, magic began to spread within his body, flowing like water, coursing through his veins until it completely occupied his entire being
, from bone marrow to the skin.
The magic seemed to control every single cell, and Lynn's senses, following his own magic, examined every part of his body.
This was a process of memorization; the spread of magic was to remember his current physical structure so that he could revert back to his animal form afterward.
Lynn didn't need to memorize it himself; the magic had already completed the process.
Only after the magic had permeated every cell of his body did the transformation officially begin.
This process didn't bring Lynn as much pain as it had at the beginning; now, he felt more apprehensive about the sudden change in his body, which he had used for over a decade.
His bones were being kneaded and reshaped like clay, his muscles and skin changing along with them.
Even his school robes were undergoing transformation, merging into his skin and turning into jet-black feathers, as dark as the night.
His wand had been dropped to the ground; Lynn no longer had hands, so he couldn't hold it.
The transformed Lynn carefully hopped a few times in the muddy ground with his tiny claws.
He shook off the rain, tentatively spreading his wings; flight was as ingrained in his very being as he remembered walking as a human.
He carefully flew through the rain to a window in Hogwarts Castle.
Just then, a bolt of lightning ripped through the clouds, illuminating half the sky. Lynn saw his reflection in the windowpane.
Looking at that familiar figure he'd only seen recently, he subconsciously tilted his head.
So, Foggin's brother, Mulney, was him?
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(End of Chapter)