Early the next morning, Jon saw a flood of news about Gilderoy Lockhart in The Daily Prophet.
"Famous wizard Gilderoy Lockhart was exposed as a fraud who abused the Memory Charm!" declared the front-page headline.
"The International Confederation Against Dark Magic has officially revoked Lockhart's honorary membership, and the Order of Merlin Committee has announced the retraction of his Third-Class Medal." That was the lead story on page two.
"Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge stated that law enforcement officers have been dispatched and will apprehend Lockhart as soon as possible." On a small corner of page three, Jon spotted a photo of the Minister.
Just as Lockhart had predicted, news of his downfall had spread across the entire school...
Passing by the Gryffindor table, Jon heard Ron Weasley's loud voice:
"I knew it from the start—Gilderoy Lockhart was a fraud!"
"Exactly. Nothing he ever said was true," Harry Potter agreed with a nod.
"But he got away..." Hermione Granger exclaimed, her voice filled with shock and anger, as if she had been personally betrayed. "The Ministry of Magic didn't even catch him!"
"Hmph, he won't get far!" Ron scoffed. "My dad says the Ministry's law enforcement officers are really top-notch!"
And it wasn't just Gryffindor students—Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and even Slytherin students were all celebrating Lockhart's departure... For the first time in nearly a century, all four houses seemed unusually united in one thing.
Even Professor Snape, who always wore a black robe and never smiled, showed up in a bright red coat today; he looked like a crimson bat.
Jon didn't join in either the celebration or the scorn. After finishing the newspaper and chewing through a few pieces of bread, he quietly left the Great Hall.
...
There were no classes on Thursday morning, and with the Basilisk now dead, Jon no longer needed to act as cautiously as before.
He went to the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor and retrieved the books he had brought there the day before.
Under the Moonlight, which described the habits of werewolves, and Summon the Joy Within You, which covered Dementors and the Patronus Charm—both had been borrowed from the Restricted Section. There was also the small white booklet Professor Lockhart had left him.
Jon skimmed through the white booklet first. The Memory Charm turned out to be far more intricate and complex than he had imagined, especially if one wanted to cast it without leaving traces. Even the slightest mistake could lead to devastating consequences. In fact, the spell was so dangerous that even in the Hogwarts Restricted Section, it was rare to find books that described it in detail.
After just ten minutes, Jon's head was already spinning. He had no choice but to close the booklet.
He then gave the werewolf book a quick flip-through. Having already learned quite a bit about werewolf behavior, Under the Moonlight wasn't particularly difficult for him.
About an hour later, Jon picked up the last book—Summon the Joy Within You.
The topic of this one would prove to be quite a challenge as well...
The Patronus Charm is a highly advanced defensive spell. To cast it, the wizard must focus completely and recall the happiest memory in their heart.
The incantation is Expecto Patronum.
When performed successfully, it summons a Patronus that can shield the caster and retaliate against attacks. Patronuses can drive off—or even destroy—Dementors and Lethifolds, also known as Living Shrouds, and are the only known natural enemies of these dark creatures.
Many spells are emotionally driven, but none depend on emotion as much as the Patronus Charm. It demands a truly joyful memory.
While happy memories aren't hard to find, truly joyous ones—those that resonate deeply in the heart—are far more difficult to pinpoint.
After all, since arriving in this world, Jon's mindset had always been that of an adult. He couldn't experience strong emotional highs and lows like a child. And most of the joyful memories from his past life had long since faded and blurred with time.
Taking a deep breath, Jon decided to give it a try.
He drew his wand, narrowed his eyes, and focused on recalling a "happy" memory while murmuring under his breath:
"Expecto Patronum!"
At that moment, the memory he summoned was the feeling he had when receiving his acceptance letter to Eton College.
But nothing happened at the tip of his wand. He had failed.
Looking back... the emotion he felt upon getting accepted was more relief than true happiness.
"Expecto Patronum!"
He tried again, but still no change at the wand's tip. This time, the memory was from last summer, when he successfully cast the Petrification Charm on a mouse—the first spell he had ever performed correctly.
But thinking back... magic hadn't felt all that mysterious to him at the time, and the Petrification Charm wasn't particularly complex. Rather than joy, the feeling had been one of expected success.
"Expecto Patronum!"
A third attempt. This time, he focused on the moment when he had been chosen by the Green Bamboo Wand in Ollivanders.
Still a failure.
In hindsight, that moment had felt more like relief than genuine happiness.
...
He practiced for nearly the entire morning, yet not a single wisp of silver appeared at the tip of his wand.
Jon hadn't even grasped the basics of the Patronus Charm—it was far harder than he had imagined.
Sitting on the floor of the Room of Requirement, he pressed his lips together, straining to dig up any memory even remotely tied to happiness. He tried nearly all of them, but his Patronus still refused to appear.
It wasn't until the watch on his wrist hit noon that Jon, full of frustration, finally left the room.
Another morning of failure, plain and simple.
Back in the Great Hall, Jon heard Hannah Abbott chatting with Wayne Hopkins:
"That was amazing! It was the coolest Defense Against the Dark Arts class I've ever had!" Hannah shouted. "I never thought..."
But before she could finish, Zacharias Smith cut her off:
"Yeah, Lockhart ran off, so we don't have a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher anymore... Hannah, who is it?" He leaned in eagerly, blurting it out.
Hannah giggled. "Not telling. You'll find out soon enough—it's really, really awesome!"