Chapter 538: The Ghost in the Storm
Early the next morning Jon left the North European continent without informing anyone.
He arrived at the Norwegian seashore, used Transfiguration to create a sailboat, and then used magic power to drive the sailboat, sailing towards the endless ocean.
He seemed incredibly familiar with the destination he was heading to and didn't have to worry about ocean currents or wind direction at all, so he headed southwest, gradually arriving at a piece of uninhabited sea.
The sky gradually darkened, as if a storm was coming soon.
After Jon found the spot in his memory, he took a deep breath and then leapt down to the sea that started to ripple.
Compared to the turbulence on the surface of the sea, it was much calmer under the sea.
After Jon entered the sea, the Bubble-Head Charm naturally wrapped around his head, while at the same time, he could clearly feel quite a number of hidden gazes around him looking at him.
He didn't go to greet the owners of those gazes at the first opportunity, but instead, he vertically faced downwards and kept diving towards the depths of the seabed.
Soon, he saw many large and small pieces of rubble and metal.
These had once belonged to a tall tower and the rocket hidden beneath it.
Jon looked at these things and rummaged through the debris, and soon came to a telescope that shimmered with a pale reddish shimmer.
He recognised at once that this telescope had once been one of the ones that the old Sir had placed at the very top of the tower, on the observatory.
By now the telescope had long been in pieces like everything else, but Jon was still careful enough to pick up one of the lenses at the very core, which still had some of the most basic magical power left in it.
Right after Jon had just put that piece of lens into his storage, he saw a silhouette that was originally hidden in the shadows, and at some point, it had cautiously arrived in front of him.
It was a female mermaid, and Jon had seen her before.
Justin had tuned her up once at the fishing tournament held when the Hogwarts had sailed to this part of the ocean.
It was just that Jon didn't seem to think this as a reunion of old friends, and he glanced around to see if any other merpeople were surrounding him.
Because, although the root cause of Sir Stoker's death was actually his own suicide, in the eyes of these merpeople, it was bound to have something to do with those of them who went up to the tower, and they should have had hostile emotions when they saw Jon.
However, after the mermaid who came in front of Jon opened her mouth, there was not much resentment perceived from her.
"You are. The captain of that ship back then?"
The mermaid spoke in not-so-fluent English and circled around Jon in surprise as if surprised by the fact that after two years, not only did he show no signs of growing up, but he had instead become even smaller.
Jon, for his part, looked at her without moving and nodded.
Before he could open his mouth to test the waters, however, the mermaid added a tone of unbridled joy after seeing his acknowledgement.
"Well that's great, Sir has been sitting there alone and none of us can persuade him, do you want to go and see him?"
Jon's eyes widened.
"Sir? Sir Stoker?"
"What other Sir could there be?"
"He's alive!"
The mermaid shook her head with a dark expression.
"He's dead."
Despite the contradiction in her words, Jon grasped what this state of being both alive and dead represented.
Even so, it still thrilled and lifted his mood.
"Can you take me to him?"
The mermaid nodded, and after signalling for Jon to follow her, she swam off in one direction with him.
It was only after returning to the surface that he realised that under a cloudy sky, amidst the raging sea, there was a raised reef hidden in the waves.
And sitting on that reef was a figure that was illusory and transparent, yet very familiar to Jon.
"Sir Stoker!"
There was excitement in Jon's voice as he overpowered the waves and the wind and shouted.
The ghost that had been looking distantly at the sky heard his voice and turned his head, gazing up into Jon's eyes.
The emotions in Sir Stoker's eyes shifted as he looked at Jon, from confusion to puzzlement, like he didn't recognise who this was at first glance, and only after Jon had come to him and spoke again did he show a dazed expression.
" I am…! Jon Green! The one who was a guest in the tower back then under the identity of Durmstrang's Transfiguration Professor!"
"Jon. Jon Green!"
A gentle smile appeared on his face, one that was the polar opposite to the raging waves and roaring sea winds that surrounded them, as if the environment they were situated in was far less hostile, and rather as if they were in a quiet, cosy parlour with black tea and small refreshments around them, taking the opportunity to spend an idle afternoon chatting away.
"I really didn't expect to see you again, and, in this form."
He said softly, obviously not very loud, but clearly audible in the midst of all the noise.
"Are you still wandering? Or maybe."
Jon didn't lie.
"We're still in a wandering situation, having been forced into Northern Europe by Voldemort, but before that we had counter-attacked back to Britain and killed him many times, only to realise that he wasn't that easy to kill once we learned more secrets about him. My trip out here was to prepare the means to kill him."
With that said Jon looked at Sir seriously.
"Is it because of your obsession with this starry sky, that you turned into a ghost and still stayed in the world?"
Sir Stoker tilted his head and looked towards the sky that had been completely shrouded in dark clouds, with countless electric rays travelling through it as if they were silver snakes.
He gently opened his arms, and gusty winds wrapped the rain and poured it down!
The dense rain passed through his illusory body and could only slap on top of the dark reef.
"I am not satisfied."
"But becoming a ghost gives you a better chance of realising your vision, Sir!"
Hearing Jon's words, Sir Stoker turned his gaze back to him, Jon seemed unaffected by the water and storm, even his hair and robes were not half-damp.
"How can this help me? There is no way for a ghost to have any contact with the physical objects of this world anymore."
"If you believe me, wait here for me for a few more days, Sir." Jon said as he pulled the piece of the astronomical telescope lens out of his robes, "And this piece, can I have it?"
Sir Stoker nodded hesitantly.
"It is only a fragment now; why do you possibly need it for?"
"Use it to defeat Voldemort."
Jon didn't look like he was making a promise, more like he was stating a fact.
He had re-boarded the small sailboat that was drifting in the storm only a few moments ago, and before he left, he made one last request to Sir Stoker.
"If you could, could you ask the merpeople in these waters for help in scouting the coastline of the Norwegian North Sea on my behalf?"
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