In the Harry Potter Without Harry Potter

Chapter 539: Preparation

As the boat drifted across the ocean, Jon did not return back to Northern Europe after meeting Sir Stoker.

Instead, he came to Britain without the knowledge of almost everyone.

He changed his appearance and travelled quietly to a number of places.

The orphanage where he had crossed over and lived for a year.

Those who had been his age with him had long since departed from that place in previous years, and the orphanage's dean had been replaced by an older man he didn't recognise.

Jon didn't have much attachment to that place, but after all, it was still the place where the original Jon had lived for ten years.

He then made his way to Diagon Alley, which was still the same as when he had been there before, with the purebloods high above the rest, and the muggle-borns only numbly kneeling on the ground as slaves who had no qualifications as human beings.

Soon enough, he left Diagon Alley and came back to the graveyard where an unknown number of wizards who had died defying Voldemort were buried.

He saw the skeleton that had fallen to his knees at Harry and James' graves, as well as the fake tombstones that had once been made to cover Slughorn's infiltration, and the names on those tombstones that were either unfamiliar or familiar.

After that, he went to the field of flowers where the banquet for the freshman orientation ceremony was held on the seashore, where he freed the students from the castle, and where the wagon had stopped that year when he had first entered the Hogwarts wagon.

It was only at the end of the day that Jon made his way back to that area between the mountains, on the shores of the Black Lake.

Hogwarts Castle was of course closely guarded, and although it had long since been emptied of people by now, Voldemort obviously continued to take it very seriously, with a dozen or so Aurors patrolling the area every day.

But for Jon, avoiding these Auror patrols was of course a simple matter.

He arrived inside the castle and first went to the basement where he had once lived for more than half a year, and then wandered around the castle like a ghost.

This was the first time he had been back to Hogwarts Castle since the Triwizard Tournament, and Jon could clearly feel that the castle was giving him a very different response now compared to every time he had been here before.

He could clearly feel that the castle itself has a thinking of its own.

In the headmaster's office, which was already empty, Jon stroked the cold, rough and hard stone walls and said softly.

"You would love to go back to the way things used to be, wouldn't you?"

It was still quiet all around, but Jon could feel the castle giving its answer.

It was complaining, it was grieving, it was saddened by the fact that a place built up for children's happiness had become what it is today.

"Don't worry, it won't be long, soon it will be back to the way it was."

He soothed softly, making a promise that felt less like a promise and more like a statement of fact.

"Can you leave me something? Something with emotionally intense magic."

The castle's consciousness seemed to think for a moment, and soon it was making urges and guidance for Jon to come into the chamber that had originally been the Slytherin's chamber.

Jon remembered this place, Hermione had been there during the Triwizard Tournament and had found the Peeves Ghost who had been sealed off.

But now there was nothing left here, other than a dirty clown hat dropped on the floor.

The texture of the hat seemed to be somewhere between solid and illusory, clearly, Jon could reach out and touch it, but it had a feeling of being extremely unreal.

And after taking the hat in his hands, Jon's eyes filled with certainty.

"Enough, this is what I need most."

The whole castle leapt with joy, and its joy included the satisfaction of being able to help Jon, as well as the anticipation of the not-too-distant future that he had promised.

After a day's stay in Britain, Jon left the British Isles.

He was back in the Northern European Witching Horizon quarters, by now the situation had become even more tense, although Voldemort had not yet made an appearance, the confrontation between the two sides of the ordinary wizards had already entered a feverish stage, and the battle lines in Germany were pushing forward at all times, and no one knew where the flames of the war would spread to the next day.

So by the time Jon returned to Northern Europe, most of the forces in the Witching Horizon had been mobilised to the front, and in the rear, there was barely much left except for a few essential locations.

When he returned and tried to find the professors in the school, only McGonagall was still there waiting for him.

"I heard from Kingsley and the others what you wanted."

Before Jon could explain why he was here, McGonagall had delivered something to him.

"We guessed that you would come to us as well, but Filius and Lily and the others are no longer in a position to wait for you here, and the German side is in dire need of manpower, so I'm going to have to leave right away as well after I give these to you in their place."

Jon took the items from her, which consisted of a silver ring, obviously, the one that Flitwick had been wearing on his hand, an old Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, which was obviously a special item belonging to McGonagall herself, which was also being handed over to Jon at the moment, and that last item was a small magical toy broomstick that belonged to Lily.

This was something that the Harry of this world had left behind when he was a baby, and it had always been her most precious memento.

It was as if McGonagall felt a taste of parting, and as if her heart was aching for Jon for taking on the expectations of so many people at such a young age.

With red eyes, she hugged Jon.

"If it really reaches that point, be sure to protect yourself!"

Jon didn't reply, he just hugged McGonagall as well, while patting her back.

"Be safe on the battlefield, Professor, the future Hogwarts will be counting on you to preside over the Sorting."

McGonagall let go of Jon as she wiped the corners of her eyes and said with a smile.

"That day will come soon enough."

After handing over her things to Jon, McGonagall didn't continue to stay here. There were still a lot of things that she needed to do at the front line, and being able to wait here for Jon to come back was already time that she had managed to squeeze out.

Jon stayed alone in the room, sorting out all the "gifts" he had received in the past two days, and putting them in a safe place.

Then he stayed alone for a while, and after thinking for a while, he pushed open the door.

He asked a lot of people and finally found Hermione in a temporary rescue centre near the front line.

She was here to act as a temporary healer until the battle reached its most critical point, when, she would be travelling to the front line as a combatant.

Hermione had a busy schedule, and Jon didn't bother her, after arriving at the rescue centre, he made himself available as a volunteer to take part in the work there as well.

It wasn't until break time, when Hermione was sitting tiredly in her chair, that she saw Jon who had handed her a glass of water.

"I thought you wouldn't visit me."

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