Maka is back.
When he returned to Hogwarts, the sun was almost setting. The clouds wandered in along with the high-altitude air currents, and then scattered snowflakes downwards.
It can't be said that his trip was fruitless - at least this time, he properly left the location mark at the gate of the magic tower, so that he can pass there again at any time.
It's just that his original goal has not been achieved yet.
However, he was not worried about this at all, because he could vaguely understand that as long as the next step could be completed properly, those elves would definitely move to Hogwarts on their own initiative.
"Hermione? Is Hermione here?"
Maka stood next to the portrait of the fat woman that had just been opened, looking towards the Gryffindor common room. Most of the little lions were laughing and joking, which made him smile knowingly.
No matter what time, these Gryffindor House students will never be too complacent, and they all have a fearless spirit hidden in their hearts.
"Huh? Maca?" Ron, who was working on homework and papers with Harry, raised his head and hurriedly waved over, "Professor McGonagall has called on you twice today! He said he wanted you to go to a Go to the school hospital—the person you sent here is awake and wants to see you!"
"Oh?" Maka nodded and said, "I know, I'll go and check in a moment... Where is Hermione? She's not here?"
"She said she was going to the library to check some information. She should still be there now, right?" Harry on the side also followed, "But it's almost dinner time now, and she might be on her way to the auditorium!"
"Okay!" Maka shrugged, "Then I'll go look for it—"
"How about we go to the auditorium together? Hermione will definitely go there eventually!" Ron quickly stopped Maka who was about to leave, "We are planning to go there too!"
"That's okay," Maka thought for a while and simply walked to the lounge, "Then you guys should clean up quickly!"
He found an empty armchair by the fireplace and sat down spontaneously. Harry and Ron immediately packed up their study supplies, stuffed them haphazardly into their schoolbags, and then hurried towards the door leading to the dormitory.
"Professor M-McLean, can I take a picture of you?"
While Maka was waiting leisurely for Harry and Ron, Colin Creevey, who was one year younger than Harry, immediately came over excitedly. The little boy quickly pointed the camera in his hand at Maka.
But before Maka agreed, he didn't dare to press the shutter immediately.
"Of course it's no problem," Maka said with a smile, "Also, outside of class, you can just call me Maka."
Colin is a very fanatical fan of stars, and in Hogwarts, is there a star that shines brighter than Maka? But Maka is always elusive. For Colin, it is indeed difficult to find more opportunities to get close to him.
Therefore, Colin, who had no choice but to do the next best thing, kept his focus on Harry, the "Boy-Who-Lived".
Now he had an opportunity to get up close and personal with Maka. Colin even felt that his fingers on the shutter button were trembling.
By the way, his younger brother, who just entered school last year, is also excited too.
"Bang—"
As the old-fashioned Muggle camera obtained from somewhere flashed, Harry and Ron also returned from the dormitory.
"Oh, thank God, poor Colin was finally able to take a picture of you!" Ron said with a smile, "Maka, you may not know - he was thinking about looking for you every day last semester! But I missed it every time.”
"...So I became a substitute." Harry said helplessly.
"Okay, let's go!" Maka stood up and greeted, "I've been busy all day today, and I only ate a few pancakes in the afternoon, so I never had time to have a good meal. "
"What are you doing again?" Harry asked curiously, "I always feel that you are busier than before - have you accomplished some earth-shattering event again?"
Maka couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed after hearing this. This time he came back deflated.
"Well..." He spread his hands and said, "Is this a trip?"
"Oh - this is really cool!" Ron immediately became excited when he heard about traveling. "Did you encounter anything interesting? The last time our family traveled was a long time ago - the time we went to Egypt!"
"Is it fun?" Maka shook her head and said, "Almost half of the time I spent flying on the sea, besides water, water... um... and the roaring sea breeze?"
The three of them chatted casually while walking along the stairs and corridors, and soon arrived at the auditorium. As soon as she stepped into the side corridor, Maka saw Hermione sitting on the dining table across the corridor from a distance.
Maka did not sit down at the staff table, but sat directly on the long Gryffindor table, diagonally opposite Hermione.
"How are you doing today?" Maka greeted her.
"It's not bad!" Hermione poked the food on the plate with her fork and replied a little absently, "I just can't find some information..."
"What information?"
While continuing to ask, Maka caught a glimpse of Professor McGonagall in the middle of the staff table looking at him from the corner of her eye. He pointed in the direction of the school hospital and nodded to indicate that he already knew.
Professor McGonagall also nodded slightly, and then returned his attention to the topic beside him and Professor Sprout again.
"It's the Patronus Charm you taught us before," Hermione said with some reluctance. "I have been able to summon the Patronus successfully, but the time I can maintain it has always been very short, and it is far away from me within a certain range. It will dissipate immediately.”
She paused and said with some annoyance: "...I can't find the reason! No book has been written!"
Ron, who was engrossed in eating, raised his head and looked at Harry. Obviously, they were all thinking-Hermione was starting to get to the bottom of it again.
"Oh?" Maka looked at her and thought for a moment, "Why did you suddenly think of studying this? The Patronus Charm is not difficult, but if you want to improve your strength, wouldn't it be better to start with other spells? ?"
"No, I-" Hermione hesitated and subconsciously glanced at the ceiling.
Maka followed her and looked above her head. The ceiling of the auditorium, which was equipped with framing magic, was simultaneously showing the sky that had just darkened outside. The snowflakes are flying, like a dream.
But other than that, it seems to be no different than usual.
"Ah!" Maka suddenly realized something, and a hint of surprise appeared on her face, "Is it because you saw the patron saint I released yesterday?"
"...Yeah." Hermione nodded slightly.
"That's what Dumbledore taught me, a more advanced way to use the Patronus Charm." Maka explained to her while cutting fresh lamb chops with a table knife, "About maintaining the existence time of the Patronus, You can’t just rely on happy memories.”
"Remember what I said? The will to protect others can also be used to cast the Patronus Spell. And this kind of will can even make the power of the Patronus more powerful!"
He put a piece of freshly cut mutton into his mouth, and while the delicious meat juice filled his mouth, he continued to speak vaguely.
"... In other words, as long as you try to add the 'will to protect' when casting the spell, and make it stronger... then the duration of your patron saint's existence, as well as the flexibility, stability of control, etc., will all increase accordingly. Increase."
Hermione listened carefully, nodding her head every time Maka said a key point, trying to remember them word for word. Harry and Ron, who hadn't paid much attention to it at first, were also fascinated by it.
They have also mastered the Patronus Charm. Harry is about the same level as Hermione, but Ron is relatively behind.
But no matter which one of them it is, they are now eager to be one step closer to being useful.
"But-" Maka suddenly raised her fork and tapped it in the air, signaling them to pay attention to what was coming next, "What I just said still belongs to the basic usage of the Patronus Charm. Dumbledore researched it Advanced usage requires reaching a certain level on this basis before you can try to learn it."
Having said this, he emphasized: "To allow the Patronus Charm to move away from you, you need to borrow part of the knowledge of Apparition. Let's wait until you take the Apparition class!"
"Oh, no—" Ron groaned immediately, "Apparition class? You have to be 17 years old!"
To be honest, on this point, Maka herself really doesn't dare to teach casually. His own disembodiment spell was never used well. Although he could appear smoothly every time, his position was always wrong.
Moreover, this kind of error in coordinates is usually irregular.
If the Apparition of other wizards is compared to point-to-point movement, then his Apparition is a fan shape. The farther the distance, the greater the error range.
If he sets the coordinates of his Apparition on the other side of the earth, maybe he can send himself directly into outer space! If that were the case, it would be really terrible...
So so far, even if he is doing research, he has only dared to try it on a very small scale. But even after repeated research countless times, he could not find the culprit that caused his coordinate errors.
"Okay, stop complaining!" Maka shook her head and said, "The Apparition Curse really shouldn't be underestimated. You'd better not underestimate it... Well, that's right! Hermione, about your SEES (House Elf) Spiritual Liberation Society)', I have a good idea here! Do you want to know more about it? "