In the symphony of howling wind and thunder, everyone in the room watched the sky. A faint glimmer flashed in Will's eyes in the darkened room, reflecting the lightning that streaked across the clouds.
He saw it clearly. When a thick silver serpent tore through the storm clouds, Will glimpsed traces of Magic. They were indistinct, most of them obscured by the lightning's own brilliance, but he caught sight of them all the same.
The base of a rain cloud was generally six hundred to a thousand meters above the ground. Tonight's clouds were clearly higher, and they weren't directly over Hogwarts. The distance could hardly be short.
A flash of silver lit Will's profile. He began counting silently. One, two, three... eight, nine...
Boom! Thunder crashed in his ears.
Three kilometers... Will gazed at the distant lightning, having worked out the approximate distance.
How immense must that Magic be if he could see it from three kilometers away?
If a single bolt of lightning held such terrifying Magic, how much could an entire storm contain?
No wonder an Animagus relied on Natural Magic to make their transformation permanent.
But was Natural Magic fundamentally the same as a Wizard's Magic?
"Professor McGonagall." Will's voice broke the mood on the terrace.
A few students were displeased. They felt as though they had entered some mysterious state and were on the verge of sensing the Magic Professor McGonagall had said was contained within the storm.
Professor McGonagall frowned. It seemed Will was still too young to keep pace with these outstanding students. If necessary, she would have to give him more tutoring.
But he already seemed to have plenty of extra lessons with other professors. Would he have the time?
Professor McGonagall was about to ask Will to be quiet so the