Volume 4: The Sea and the Ship Heading North Chapter 179 Before Going to the Island
Nick's estimate of time was very accurate.
One morning in early November, after getting up early, some students who came to the deck to relax found that the entire Hogwarts was shrouded in a gray mist.
No one could see the scenery ahead clearly, but fortunately the Hogwarts was unmanned and did not require anyone to specifically control its direction.
After seeing the gray fog, Nick concluded that they were not far from Azkaban Island. It would take at most another morning for them to reach the coast of the prison island.
So, the classes that morning were temporarily cancelled, and John gathered everyone together to start making plans for what to do after arriving at Azkaban.
The vast majority of students will definitely stay on board.
This ship, transformed from a carriage, is still protected by extremely strong protective magic.
Dumbledore had told him before setting off that the age restriction spell was already in effect on the ship, and any wizard who did not meet the requirements had no chance of boarding the ship, unless an extremely powerful wizard who could rival Dumbledore used the Confounding Charm.
As to whether the Dementors can break into the Hogwarts, no one knows for sure, but what is certain is that staying on the ship is definitely safer than going to the island.
After all, if any accident happened, the Hogwarts could start early, move away from Azkaban, and continue sailing to the next destination.
So John originally planned to get off the boat and go to the island alone with Nick. He was the only one among all people who could cast the Patronus Charm. Although he could not summon a real Patronus, he could already have an influence on the Dementors.
As long as he is not surrounded by a large number of Dementors, he will not .
However, his idea was strongly opposed by most other people.
"We know that none of us have learned the Patronus Charm, so we can't help you in fighting those Dementors, but Nick also said that no one can guarantee how many wizards are left on this island."
Neville said seriously.
"The prison break by the Order of the Phoenix members did not involve all the prisoners held here. There must be other prisoners in Azkaban. This means that the Ministry of Magic is very likely to have arranged for some Aurors to be stationed here. If you encounter these people, we will be able to help you."
Many people agreed with what Neville said.
Hermione pursed her lips.
"We believe in your ability, but having one more person is always a good precaution. We will not hold you back, nor will we be a burden to you."
Jon touched his forehead with a headache.
"Well, what you said does make sense. I believe in your abilities, but I can only take one more person with me when I get off the ship. If there are more, there will be no way to guarantee the range of the Patronus Charm. We always have to consider that the most common creatures on this island are Dementors, aren't they?"
The students, especially Neville, Ron and Hermione who were in the same grade as Jon, all had unwilling expressions on their faces.
They are obviously dissatisfied, but this dissatisfaction is not directed at anyone else, but at themselves.
They entered the school in the same year as Jon, but now they obviously cannot catch up with his progress.
More importantly, they never relaxed at all, especially Hermione. Even though she had missed a whole academic year and a half, she managed to catch up with her classmates through hard work. Her spell-casting level was almost the same as that of Neville Ron and other students who had learned to cast spells with wands from the very beginning.
But there is still an insurmountable gap between me and Jon.
The students who finally got off the ship with Jon could naturally only be selected from the fifth-year students. They had basically learned all the basic spells and had been exposed to more advanced spells. Some outstanding students were even not much different from adult wizards who had left school.
A lottery was held among the best students in the fifth grade, and Fred, one of the Weasley twins, was qualified.
Compared to the original book where Mrs. Weasley had to worry about whether they could pass the wizarding level examination, their current grades in school are always among the best in their grade.
There are no stupid people in the Weasley family. George and Fred just didn't focus on their studies most of the time. But during this period of exile, they knew very well that with so many people sacrificing their lives to protect them, they not qualified to study other things that interested them. Instead, they forced themselves to focus most of their energy on studying.
After confirming the people who would disembark, Jon handed over the command of staying on the ship to take care of the students to Neville and George.
Especially after all the other students had left, he left them alone and gave them instructions with great seriousness.
"After we land on the island, you must arrange for people to keep an eye on the movements on the island at all times. If you find any signs of Dementors attacking Hogwarts on a large scale, do not hesitate and immediately leave the island."
Neville frowned.
"What will you do after leaving the island?"
"The course of the Hogwarts is not completely beyond our control. At worst, you can just wander around the nearby waters for a while and then find a chance to return," said Jon.
Neville and George nodded in response, but Nick on the side looked as if he wanted to say something but hesitated. After seeing John secretly winking at him, he had no intention of saying what he wanted to say.
"Azkaban is not a big island, but it is always covered with gray fog. However, as long as the distance between us is not so far that we are at two extremes, the sparks can still be seen."
Jon continued.
"When the time comes, you will control the Hogwarts based on the sparks I release to determine the next course of action. Green sparks mean we need to evacuate, and you can then drive the ship to the coast near the sparks. Red sparks mean the situation has deteriorated to a certain extent, and you must immediately sail away from the coast of Azkaban Island and leave the range of this gray fog. We can then discuss what to do next."
He explained . Even though Azkaban lacked guards now, this most terrifying prison in the wizarding world was still a dangerous place for them, so they had to prepare for the worst.
Soon, Jon and Fred had completed all the preparations and were ready to go.
The Hogwarts suddenly shook, and then the entire ship apparently stopped.
They reached the shore.
