Snowy Night and Moonlit Night
December 6th, that night.
Snowflakes drifted down from the sky, draping Hogwarts Castle in a white veil. The Great Lake had quietly frozen over, silencing the last ripples on its surface.
Looking at the thick clouds in the night sky, Helena looked at Xiwen with some concern.
"It looks like there won't be a full moon today. What are you going to do?" she asked.
"No problem, we can just find a place with the moon!" Xiwen said, looking up casually as he flipped through his Animagus Notes.
As he spoke, he took out a mirror from his Pocket Watch Space, the edge of which was inlaid with a pale gold Phoenix relief.
"Good evening, Flamel. Still up so late?" Xiwen waved to the old man reflected in the mirror and said cheerfully.
"I was about to go to sleep, but you woke me up," Flamel said expressionlessly, making Xiwen feel awkward.
"Well, the main reason I bothered you this time was to ask about the weather in France," Xiwen said, scratching his Flamel.
Upon hearing Xiwen's question, Flamel's expression became quite strange.
"So, you woke me up in the middle of the night just to ask me what the weather is like here?" Flamel asked, puzzled.
"Although I know that you England have a tradition of greeting each other and discussing the weather, I never imagined that this tradition would evolve to such an extreme..."
"Uh, that's not what I meant. I guess the England aren't so crazy as to use Two-Way Mirror to discuss the weather..." Xiwen interrupted Flamel with a dark expression, explaining to him, "It's just that the first step of the preparations for the Animagus Transformation is supposed to end today, but it's snowing heavily here at Hogwarts."
"I understand now, it's a full moon today," Flamel suddenly realized.
He glanced out the window and said to Xiwen, "The weather in Paris seems pretty good today. Wait for me a moment, I'll go to the rooftop to check on the moon."
Then, Flamel snapped his the Snap, and a Flying Carpet floated up behind him.
Holding the Phoenix Relief Book, he stepped onto the Flying Carpet and flew to the top floor of the safe house. There was a spacious rooftop there, where Flamel usually observed celestial phenomena.
From Xiwen's perspective, he saw Flamel's pale face, and behind him, the wooden staircase, the tall bookshelves, the alchemy workbench, and the ancient railing on the rooftop, behind which were sparse but bright stars.
"The weather is great, you can come and complete your preparations without worry," Flamel said with a smile. "You can directly locate the book and open the portal, right?"
He tilted the Phoenix Relief Book slightly, showing Xiwen the distant night sky—where a full, bright moon hung high in the air, radiating a silvery-white light.
Seeing the clear night sky, Xiwen nodded happily.
Then, he deftly drew a golden halo in front of him with his wand. Behind the halo, Flamel was smiling warmly at him.
"Helena, do you want to come with me?" Xiwen stepped into the circle of light and turned to look at Helena was still floating in place.
"I won't go. Just remember to follow the order in the notes exactly, and don't make any mistakes," Helena said softly, shaking her head.
"Don't forget, I am merely a ghost; I cannot travel to places I did not stay in during my lifetime."
Xiwen suddenly stopped walking and stared at her blankly.
Having spent a year and a half with Helena in his Soul Body, Xiwen gradually forgot about her identity as a ghost and unconsciously treated her as a living being.
Only today, upon hearing Helena's words, did Xiwen suddenly remember something he had almost forgotten...
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go inside!" Helena scolded, looking at the stunned Xiwen. "Don't keep Mr. Flamel waiting."
Flamel showed no displeasure, simply waving his hand casually and smiling at the two, "I'm fine, you two can chat a little longer. Just make sure little Xiwen doesn't miss tonight's full moon."
Xiwen glanced apologetically at Flamel, then returned outside the golden halo and went to Helena's side.
"Helena, your soul will one day be whole again," Xiwen said firmly, looking into Helena's eyes. "At that time, you will no longer be confined to one place, and we can travel the whole world together!"
Besides that, there was another sentence that silently echoed in Xiwen's heart---
'Actually the Grey Lady has already arranged everything. When the time is right, you will be able to possess a complete soul...'
After saying goodbye to Helena, Xiwen went to the rooftop of Flamel's house.
The place was filled with all sorts of Astronomy instruments—various types of bronze telescopes, oddly shaped planetary and stellar instruments, and complex and incomprehensible alchemical observation devices... Xiwen had seen these items more than once, but they were so complex and difficult to understand that he had never memorized their uses or names.
The skies over Paris are exceptionally clear tonight.
With a bright moon and few stars, the perfect weather for completing the preparatory steps for Animagus Transformation!
Before removing the Mandrake Leaf from his mouth, Xiwen first contacted Newt using Flamel's Phoenix Relief Book.
After Xiwen opened the book and fiddled with it for a bit, Newt's photo frame lit up almost immediately, as if it were waiting for Xiwen to contact him.
"So you two had already planned this?" Flamel looked at Newt in the photo frame with surprise. "You know, the chances of finding someone like this, who's always running around everywhere, in a book are quite rare."
"As expected, I couldn't hide it from your eyes." Xiwen chuckled and said, "I needed Newt's help for the second step of my preparations, so I contacted him beforehand."
"So, even if it doesn't snow at Hogwarts, you'll still come to me to borrow books and talk to Newt, right?" Flamel asked with a smile.
"Well, it doesn't have to be that way," Xiwen smiled slightly. "I can use the Two-Way Mirror to locate him and open a portal right next to Newt."
"Never mind, you should hurry up and bring Newt over too. It's been a while since I've seen him," Flamel said with a shake of his head and a light laugh to Xiwen. "I'll go down and call Perenelle up as well, so we can all have some fun together!"
Xiwen was somewhat moved. He knew that Flamel did this so that having another person provide him with an extra layer of protection would increase his chances of success by one percent.
He didn't mince words, simply nodding emphatically and opening a Dimensional Gate leading to Newt's side.
At this moment, Newt was sitting inside a patched-up tent, with several Niffler running around him. When they saw the sudden appearance of the golden halo, the Niffler were completely dumbfounded; while Bowtruckle Pickett, sat on his shoulder, curiously observing Xiwen and Flamel behind the halo.
"Good evening, Flamel and Xiwen." Newt swiftly grabbed a Niffler and tossed it into his suitcase, then smiled at the two. "I've discovered quite a few interesting things in Albania lately. I'll tell you about them once Xiwen has mastered the Animagus."
Flamel smiled and nodded, then looked at Xiwen with some curiosity and asked, "I remember the first step with the Animagus was just a matter of luck in the preparation. What can Newt do to help you?"
"Actually... I wanted to bury the glass bottle in Newt's box, where there's a place where a Thunderbird used to stay," Xiwen said honestly.
"That place is constantly thundering; a simple Weather Charm can easily conjure up a storm, making it incredibly convenient for the second step of Animagus Transformation!"