"Professor... Professor Dumbledore..." Jon ran out of the house. He had just put on an extra robe and picked up his wand: "I'm ready!"
Albus Dumbledore was waiting for him at the door.
"Very efficient, Jon." Dumbledore pulled something that looked like a silver lighter from his pocket and flicked it open.
With a click, the nearest street lamp was lit up with a puff.
"That will give us a lot more light!" Dumbledore asked. "How are you doing in your flying lessons?"
Jon thought Dumbledore might have done it on purpose, but he could only answer honestly: "That's terrible, Professor..."
"Oh, really..." Dumbledore suddenly realized: "I remember that Rolanda told me about this two weeks ago. It is indeed a bit bad... But in this case..."
He rummaged in his cloak pocket and pulled out a nasty looking wand.
Dumbledore didn't recite any spells, he just waved his wand, and a silver smoke floated out from the tip of the wand... After a few seconds, it solidified into a silver-white translucent animal, like a ghost!
...
...
To be more precise, it is a phoenix.
"Hold on to its feet, Jon!" Dumbledore's Phoenix Patronus flew in front of Jon.
Jon was stunned for a moment, hesitated for a moment, then held out his hand.
It did not pass through the body of the guardian angel as imagined, but seemed to grab a slippery and cold leg.
This isn't magic... Why does the Patronus have a physical body?
"What kind of magic is this, Professor?" Jon pretended to be confused.
"A patronus!" Dumbledore explained calmly, "A symbol that reflects one's inner heart, a guardian summoned by positive forces, a kind of magic that can be considered advanced!"
"Guardians... they actually have physical bodies?" Jon couldn't help but ask, "Can they fight alongside us?"
As soon as he opened his mouth, Jon realized that he had spoken out of turn... As a first-year student, he shouldn't know anything about Patronus; and he shouldn't ask whether they had any substance while grabbing a Patronus's leg.
Fortunately, Dumbledore didn't seem to notice.
"Of course..." The headmaster nodded, "But it is quite difficult to summon a physical Patronus. I am not bragging, but there are only a few wizards in the world who can do this."
As soon as he finished speaking, Jon suddenly felt his feet leave the ground and fly into the air.
Dumbledore followed closely behind, also flying in the sky... without a broom, without a Thestral, and without even taking out a wand, but he soared into the sky as if riding the breeze.
"Where are we going, Professor?" Jon asked loudly, switching hands.
"Don't worry, the agreed time is half past nine, and we still have plenty of time to go shopping around here together."
…
The cool breeze blew across Jon's cheeks, but fortunately he had put on a coat so he didn't feel cold.
Dumbledore had already flown ahead, and his speed was so fast that the Phoenix Patronus carrying Jon had to fly at full speed to catch up with it.
Chasing the wind like this makes it completely impossible to talk.
But Jon had been observing the landmarks under his feet, and he was quite familiar with the geography of Southampton. He observed that Dumbledore was taking him northeast.
After about ten minutes, they finally landed slowly.
Jon's face turned slightly pale.
"You don't seem to like this way of travelling?" Dumbledore quipped.
"Yes, Professor... I hate flying!" Jon said honestly, "Except when I'm on an airplane."
When the word "plane" was mentioned, Jon suddenly noticed a hint of sadness in Dumbledore's eyes.
"Okay, let's try another way of traveling later..." But it was fleeting: "I think you should be familiar with the city in front of you, Jon."
"Yes, this is Winchester!" Jon said quickly, "It was once the ancient capital of England!"
"Yes, the greatest wizard in the history of England and Wales, Merlin Ambrosius...it was here that he helped King Arthur unify Britain and build a new country from the Romans and Germans!" Dumbledore said seriously.
Jon also tried his best to make his expression serious.
But he didn't quite understand the meaning of what Dumbledore said. Was it just a visit to ancient monuments? Or was it to educate himself on patriotism?
This is a bit too funny.
"British wizards and Muggles once lived in harmony for a long time. Until the spread of Catholicism throughout England, conflicts between the two sides began to emerge..." Dumbledore continued: "The war between wizards and the church began, a war that lasted for nearly a thousand years."
"Hogwarts was founded and became the heart of the wizarding world... Many witches and wizards were imprisoned and sentenced to death for practicing witchcraft. Although some, such as Lisette de Lapin in 1422, used magic to escape, others, such as Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington in 1492, were not so lucky and had their wands taken away and were imprisoned in the dungeons, so they could not use magic to escape their fate of being executed."
"By the 17th century, the conflict reached its peak... As wizard hunting became increasingly brutal, wizarding families began to lead double lives, using concealment spells to protect themselves and their families. By the 17th century, any wizard who chose to be friendly with Muggles would be viewed with suspicion or even abandoned by other wizards."
"The wizards murdered a Muggle king (Charles I, 1649) and installed Oliver Cromwell, then headmaster of Hogwarts, as Lord Protector, but Cromwell was soon assassinated; the wizards had to dethrone a Muggle king once more (Charles II, 1688)..."
"Finally, in 1689, the Muggles signed the Bill of Rights, which completely expelled the Catholic forces from Britain and welcomed the moderate Protestant Muggle monarchs William III and Mary II. At the same time, the wizards also signed the Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. The wizards hid themselves from the sight of the Muggles and turned the stories of wizards into legends in the Muggle world..."
"From then on, there was few hundred years of peace between the wizarding world and the Muggle world!"
Dumbledore's introduction was over.
"Professor, you have a very deep understanding!" Jon complimented hurriedly.
"No!" Dumbledore shook his head seriously. "In fact, my grades in History of Magic were very poor..."
"Those words I just said were all told to me by a friend!"