"Professor... Professor Dumbledore..." Jon ran out of the house. He had thrown on an extra robe and brought his Wand with him. "I'm ready!"
Albus Dumbledore was waiting for him at the door.
"Very efficient, Jon." Dumbledore took a small silver object resembling a lighter from his pocket and flicked it open.
With a click, the nearest streetlamp lit up with a pop.
"The lighting is much better this way!" Dumbledore asked, "How are your grades in Flying class?"
Jon suspected Dumbledore was doing it on purpose, but he could only answer honestly, "Terrible, Professor..."
"Oh, is that so..." Dumbledore suddenly recalled. "I remember now. Rolanda mentioned it to me two weeks ago. It really was rather bad... In that case..."
He rummaged through his cloak pocket and pulled out a rather ugly-looking Wand.
Without chanting any spell, Dumbledore merely waved his Wand. A stream of silvery mist drifted from its tip... Seconds later, it solidified into a translucent silver-white animal, ghostlike in appearance!
More precisely, it was a phoenix.
"Hold onto its leg, Jon!" Dumbledore's phoenix Patronus flew before Jon.
Jon froze for a moment. After hesitating briefly, he reached out.
Instead of passing through the Patronus's body as he had expected, his hand seemed to grasp a slick, icy-cold leg.
Wasn't this magic... Why did a Patronus have a physical form?
"What kind of magic is this, Professor?" Jon put on a confused expression.
"A Patronus!" Dumbledore explained calmly. "It is a manifestation of one's inner self, a guardian summoned by positive force. It is a rather advanced form of magic!"
"Patronuses... They actually have physical forms?" Jon could not help asking. "Can they fight alongside us?"
The moment the words left his mouth, Jon realized he had misspoken... As a first-year student, he should not have known