The rain grew heavier, and the wind intensified.
Dark clouds pressed down on the horizon, the underground forest swayed precariously, and even the giant redwoods struggled to withstand such wind, shaking continuously.
No one expected the rain to be this heavy.
Even from a short distance, they couldn't clearly see the person standing on the cliff; they could only occasionally glimpse a shadow through breaks in the rain.
Howl stood on the cliff, his hand on his chest, feeling his two heartbeats.
Those who practice Animagus must recite a spell directed at their chest at every sunrise and sunset to induce a second heartbeat.
Now, everything was ready; he just needed to wait.
Wait for a lightning bolt!
As he thought, his gaze fell upon the roots of a giant redwood tree near the Castle; for so many days, he would regularly check the integrity of the formation to ensure the Potion placed within it would not have any issues.
Before the lightning arrived, the Potion could not be seen by anyone.
Just as he was thinking, the sky brightened, and deep within the clouds, lightning flickered.
Howl reacted quickly, immediately beckoning towards the redwood, his fingers forming a bow, his wrist twisting.
From a distance, a hole was forcibly dug out of the redwood.
Howl pulled his hand back, and the large piece of wood that had been dug out, along with the Potion bottle previously stored within it, flew directly through the rain curtain and into his hand.
At this moment, the deafening thunder arrived belatedly.
Rumble—
He took out the Potion bottle from it, his pupils narrowing into a straight line; he could see that the liquid inside had turned a vivid blood red.
Then he raised his wand, pointed it at his chest, and began to chant the spell.
"Amato Animo Animato Animagus!!"
Thump—thump—
The second heart in his chest suddenly beat violently, and at the same time, intense stinging pain appeared throughout his limbs and bones.
It had begun!
Silver-white fur began to grow rapidly on Howl's arms and fingers, his fingers quickly shortened and became thick, and the rings he wore began to be enveloped by the growing flesh, disappearing from view.
Not only the rings, but even the clothes on Howl's body began to gradually merge into his flesh, and the growing fur covered them.
His nails became thick and sharp, embedding into his flesh. His spine began to bend, his entire body enduring immense pain, and his body continuously hunched over.
However, this was not enough!!
Unlike a regular Wizard, his physical body was the supreme creation of his human Alchemy. What he sought was not merely to transform into a so-called small animal.
magic began to flow along the Alchemy formations on his body, and silver light began to emanate from Howl, with violent magic continuously radiating outwards from him as the center.
The Animagus Transfiguration and the human Alchemy body, from an initial conflict, through Howl's subjective guidance, gradually began to transform into a mutual fusion.
Howl's body, in the rain curtain, also gradually became slender and small.
Rumble—
Another lightning bolt streaked across the sky, and the one person, one fire, and one broom standing at the entrance of Moonlight Fortress all saw the figure standing by the cliff.
Even the thick clouds above seemed to condense into Howl's face, vast and majestic.
Harry rubbed his eyes, looking on incredulously.
"Hehehe."
Suddenly, the laughter beside him startled Harry. He turned his head and saw Mr. Lucifer chuckling, his flames flickering up and down, looking extremely happy.
"Mr. Lucifer, what are you laughing at?" Harry asked curiously.
Mr. Lucifer stretched out his small hand and pointed towards the cliff: "Still a cat. I told you Animagus was useless, hehe."
Harry looked towards the cliff, but it was just pitch black; he saw nothing.
Just as he was thinking, a figure suddenly appeared.
A silver-white body, thick mane, and sharply pointed ears standing tall—it was clearly the appearance of a large cat.
"Mr. Lucifer, why are you laughing so happily?" Howl asked, seeing Mr. Lucifer laughing so much, it was inexplicably annoying.
"Not laughing at anything, hehehe." Mr. Lucifer covered his mouth, his eyes narrowed into slits.
Harry quickly stood up: "Uncle Howl, you succeeded?!"
Howl nodded and was the first to jump into the house, then a warm whirlwind enveloped his body, quickly drying his fur.
It even became very fluffy.
"magic?!" Harry was stunned, then quickly recalled his memories: "Uncle Howl, I remember that Animagus cannot cast spells after transforming into an animal! Did I remember wrong?"
Howl landed on the table: "You didn't remember wrong, but clearly, there are many mysteries of magic that are not written in books."
Harry nodded quickly. In the first lesson Uncle Howl gave him, he was told to think dialectically and not just blindly follow books.
However, he could also see how powerful Uncle Howl was; even the drawbacks of powerful magic mentioned in books could be broken at will.
This was somewhat beyond his comprehension.
He could only know… very strong!
Beyond what ordinary people could achieve.
Howl rolled over and jumped a couple of times, initially adapting to his current body, then jumped off the table. The air was quickly stirred, and Howl returned to his human form again.
Only, he still had a cat face on his head.
Even with such a high-level Transfiguration that permeated his entire body, he did not perceive any problems with his head during his transformation.
It was as if he was meant to be this cat-headed human.
"Now it's time to listen to me, right?" Mr. Lucifer said triumphantly from the fireplace.
After the Animagus success, Harry read for a while longer, then, after cleaning up the water stains from when Howl walked in, he bid farewell to Howl and returned to the Dursley Family.
On the sofa, Howl sat slumped, one hand propped on the armrest, supporting his cheek.
He was somewhat puzzled as to why this Curse was so troublesome.
His previous travel world was "Porco Rosso," and after that, he was Cursed and turned into a cat head.
"Of course, in their world, Porco Rosso, that's a source-level Curse," Mr. Lucifer said lazily.
Howl propped himself up and moved closer to the fireplace: "But in Porco Rosso's world, there's no magic at all, no history of Wizards."
"How would I know," Mr. Lucifer took a piece of firewood for himself and placed it under him.
"Whether it's Porco Rosso, or the flying squirrel boss of the aircraft maintenance factory. It is said that in that world, people who go against their true selves will be turned into animals as punishment."
As he spoke, a flash of memory crossed Mr. Lucifer's eyes: "Think about how Poluk turned from a pig back into a human."
Howl also thought back for a moment, then said: "He turned back into a human after Fio kissed him, right?
That guy… it's like a fairy tale, only the story became a young girl in her prime and an old pig."
"No, no, no!" Mr. Lucifer shook a finger: "You didn't notice the key point!"
"What's the key point?"
"The key point is, Miss Gina was right there at the time.
If you ask me, it was because Poluk always avoided his inner love for Miss Gina, which is why he turned into a pig.
So when Fio expressed her love to him, he was truly forced to confront his feelings for Miss Gina.
And then he turned back into a human."
Hearing Mr. Lucifer's words, Howl was silent for a long time, then he spoke faintly: "So you mean… I went against my true self, which is why I was Cursed by that world?"
Mr. Lucifer nodded: "I guess so."
Howl was somewhat unwilling to believe it; it seemed too ridiculous. When he was in the Caribbean Sea, he cut down whoever he wanted and never mistreated himself.
He even said, "There can only be one Jones on this vast sea!" and then went to cut down Davy Jones.
He was very true to himself.
"People in the desert will never realize they are lost," Mr. Lucifer said lazily: "You know, the hardest lie to expose in this world is the lie you tell yourself.
If you ask me, you should slow down now.
Anyway, this Curse won't make your life worse than death; it's just having a cat head. What's the big deal?"
Howl leaned weakly on the sofa, waving his hand: "Alright, I'll listen to you."