An Unforeseen Patronus

Chapter 36: An Incredible Patronus

Charles flew into the night sky, thrown by the Centaurs.

The Great Elder looked at the large pile of supplies Charles had delivered overnight, a brilliant smile spreading across his face.

Although they still had to wait a while for the arrows, this was enough for the tribe to get through a relatively comfortable winter.

It was only after Charles had flown for five minutes that everyone let him down. He handed the list of needed materials to the Great Elder, who said there was no problem. They would first check the warehouse tomorrow morning and prioritize gathering anything they didn't have.

The Great Elder directed the other Centaurs to move the supplies into the warehouse for distribution the next day. Then, everyone went back to their homes to sleep.

Charles was still staying at Twilight's home. The Centaur girl was arranging some beautiful feathers by a pot of glowing plants.

The Centaurs would collect brightly colored feathers and arrange them into patterns of leaves or flowers, sticking them to the walls with tree sap as decorations.

The feather decorations on Twilight's wall were quite old. She had just cleaned them off a few days ago and was preparing to put up new ones.

Charles squatted beside her and watched for a while. Calculating the days, he turned to Twilight and asked, "Can I trade some candy for some pretty feathers?"

"Sure!" Twilight smiled. "Take whichever ones you like."

Charles found two feathers of different colors. One was blue, likely a Dementor feather. Twilight had quite a few of them. He exchanged one gummy candy for one feather.

The next morning, he wandered around the tribe, going from place to place until he had collected seven-colored feathers.

He had nothing else to do that day, so he followed Twilight and the other girls out to the wilderness to pick fruit.

These dark red fruits had a slightly hard shell. They could only be eaten after the flesh inside began to rot.

The girls had clear divisions of labor. The older ones used poles to knock down the ripe fruits, while the younger ones collected them in their baskets.

Charles used the Accio Charm to help them, and they finished a day's work in less than half a day.

In the afternoon, Charles went to the small lake where he had first met Twilight. He began practicing the second spell rewarded by the old man.

This spell, from the East, was called "Phoenix of the Rising Sun." When cast, a fire phoenix, like the rising sun, would fly from the tip of the wand, burning everything in its path. It would then explode upon impact with the target and emit a pleasant sound while flying.

Although the effect of this spell was similar to "Incendio," its appearance was exceptionally cool, and that was enough.

The magic Jack learned during his travels had two characteristics: either it didn't exist in Britain, or it looked incredibly cool. This was clearly the latter.

Charles remembered that "Phoenix of the Rising Sun" and several other spells were part of the same series. There was also "Ice Phoenix of a Thousand Miles," which conjured an ice phoenix; "Phoenix Departs the Terrace," used to blow away targets or oneself to escape with a wind phoenix; "Phoenix in the Cage," used to restrain opponents; and the ultimate move, "A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix," and so on. All of them were spells with extremely cool visual effects.

He wondered if the old man would issue tasks in other forms next, and these spells were the task rewards.

That afternoon, palm-sized flaming fat chickens kept wailing as they flew across the lake. Charles practiced until his forehead was covered in black lines.

However, Twilight, who was beside him, didn't know what the special effects of this spell were supposed to be. Every time she saw a flaming fat chicken blast high columns of water from the lake, she would cheer with delight.

In her eyes, a powerful spell was a good spell, and the fact that it could explode meant the spell was successful.

After practicing for a while, Charles felt like he had made a mistake somewhere.

He quickly realized that he had been thinking in English all these years, and this spell wasn't English. It was probably the influence of the temporary bilingual switch.

So, Charles closed his eyes and, starting with reciting the multiplication tables, spent more than ten minutes switching his brain.

"Phoenix of the Rising Sun!"

This time, the casting was more successful. It wasn't a fat chicken anymore, but a phoenix. However, the phoenix's tail was a bit short.

Twilight patted his shoulder and comforted him, "It's okay. Even though it's a bit skinny, it's still quite good-looking."

Charles smiled and practiced for a while longer until it looked somewhat decent.

Next, he decided to try the Patronus Charm.

Yesterday, he had quietly asked the old man about the Patronus Charm. The old man had simply told him to practice according to the book.

Charles stood by the lake, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and relaxed himself and his mind.

He tried to recall the happiest moments of his life: witnessing the "Hand of God" live at the Aztec Stadium in Mexico City on June 22, 1986, and seeing several zeros in his bank account after returning to Britain in July...

His wand kept drawing circles, and a faint silver-white mist appeared within the circles.

As the light grew stronger, Charles felt as if he were in the happiest moment of his life. More and more joyful memories appeared in his mind, both from this life and his past life.

Just as he felt he had reached his peak, he opened his mouth and uttered the incantation: "Expecto Patronum!"

A silver-white light shot out from the tip of his wand and landed on the grass in front of him.

Twilight cheered from the side. Although she didn't know what was happening, she knew that conjuring something must be a very powerful spell.

Charles looked at his Patronus and fell silent.

He had once imagined his Patronus would be incredibly cool, and he had also told himself that an ordinary one would be fine too.

He had thought of things that flew in the sky, swam in the water, ran on the ground, or burrowed in the mud, but he had never imagined his Patronus would actually be like this.

He quickly recalled every detail about the Patronus Charm and soon realized that a person's Patronus could change. For example, Lupin's wife's Patronus changed into the shape of a wolf after she started dating Lupin.

But that was still a wolf, not like himself, directly a person!

Twilight's confused voice interrupted Charles's thoughts, "Why are you crying?"

Charles was startled. He wiped away his tears and gave a perfunctory answer, "Some sand blew into my eyes just now."

"Oh, I see," Twilight believed him. "Then let me blow it out for you."

She reached out, cupped Charles's face, and leaned in to blow on his eyes.

Charles immediately shook his head, wiped his eyes with his sleeve, and then his face. He forced a smile and said, "It's okay, a wipe is enough."

Then he dispelled the spell and said to Twilight, "I'm heading back to the castle. See you next week, you should head back quickly too."

Twilight softly agreed and watched Charles's retreating back with some worry.

Charles walked for a while, feeling a bit agitated. Soon, he had a slight idea, perhaps it was related to the missing memories from his past life.

This made Charles a little annoyed. He finally understood how Neville felt when he saw the memory orb reminding him he'd forgotten something but couldn't recall what. In the end, he decided to fly his broomstick to vent his gloomy mood. He took out his broomstick, mounted it, and shot towards the sunset clouds at top speed.