Good news wasn't the only thing that showed up—bad news came right behind it.
The black cat could clearly feel the fog getting thicker, which meant its time was running out, minute by minute.
At the speed it was moving, there was a good chance it would leave the in-between place without ever seeing Ms. Isobel Thayer.
And according to Dream Stories—a wandering soul could forget what it was clinging to at any moment and drift off into some new adventure. And since these souls were always roaming, it also meant the cat wouldn't be lucky enough to find them nearby every time.
It was harder than the cat had imagined, but it didn't slow its frantic pace for even a second.
Stopping just wasn't its style.
As the fog grew thicker and thicker—when the in-between place started giving off that soft "time to go" signal—its steps got quicker… and quicker… and quicker.
In the end, all it could hear was the wind roaring past its ears.
The fog-balls, moving at high speed, turned into a blur of flowing color.
When it was close to Ms. Thayer, it suddenly looked back at itself.
Its paws were bigger. Its whiskers were longer. Its body—more than ten times larger than before.
The black cat had turned into something shaped like a cougar.
Its eyes were a gem-bright green, its body sleek and powerful, and with just a few leaps it could cover an enormous distance.
The panther form was back! That was probably because Soul Transfiguration had reached the "skilled" tier…
[You have mastered a special Soul Transfiguration. Master-level proficiency +100.]
[A special form has been unlocked. Please check.]
Sean was genuinely surprised—one hundred points. That was a big jump in proficiency. He couldn't wait and immediately opened the panel.
[Name: Sean Green]
[Special forms unlocked: Cat Sprite, Panther.
(Animagus form slots have increased accordingly.)
Not unlocked: Unknown]
A new Animagus form?
Sean was thrilled. Other than Merlin, he'd never heard of a wizard having multiple Animagus forms.
And he'd definitely never heard of an Animagus with a magical-creature-style form.
While thinking about how he'd explain it to the professors—and how he'd use ritual magic to properly unlock the panther Animagus form later—he kept reading:
[Transfiguration categories:
Magical Transfiguration: Novice (60/900)]
[Material Transfiguration: Skilled (10/3000)]
[Soul Transfiguration: Skilled (150/3000)]
[Evaluation: A wizard who reaches Master tier in Transfiguration begins to show real combat strength among masters, with a depth of Transfiguration magic that lower-tier wizards can barely imagine.]
"Combat strength finally showing"… "a depth of Transfiguration magic lower-tier wizards can't imagine"…
Sean quietly rolled those words around in his head, feeling a little lost. After beating the basilisk, his sense of his own power had slipped back into that vague, hard-to-measure zone again.
He was sure he could trade blows with an Auror and get away safely no matter how it ended.
But could he beat an Auror easily?
If there were more Aurors, could he still walk away?
If he fought the professors, how far could he really go?
The fog thickened again, and Sean slowly set those questions aside.
He looked forward. A familiar-but-strange figure was staring at him in surprise.
"Hello, Ms. Isobel Thayer," the cougar-like creature said.
"Hello, my dear panther—" Ms. Thayer hurried over in long strides.
She'd never seen a panther like this: flowing black fur, silver patterns like embroidered clouds, and—most striking of all—those green eyes, bright enough to steal your attention.
When she got closer, she suddenly blurted out, "Mr. Green?"
The panther nodded.
"You died?!" Ms. Thayer gasped.
"…No, Ms. Thayer," the panther said flatly.
"Just kidding, dear—hard to imagine the current owner of the 'Empty Rune' can do this," Ms. Thayer said, smiling brightly. "Anyway, talk to me. Finding me wasn't easy—what do you want to know?"
"Have you found Mr. James Stewart, and Chadwick Boot, and Mr. Weber Boot?" the panther asked.
"No," Ms. Thayer said. "But if meeting is inevitable, then waiting turns into a holiday.
Mr. Green, let me tell you an old human joke: people feel the happiest right when they're closest to happiness."
A few seconds passed before the panther spoke again. "Then have you met anyone?"
"Of course. I've been here a while," Ms. Thayer said. "While James, Chadwick, and Weber follow that bridge of love to catch up with me, I've been exploring this place out of pure curiosity.
Naturally, I've run into a few wandering souls… but, dear, who are you looking for?"
"Ariana Dumbledore, Leta Lestrange, and Lily Potter…" the panther listed.
Ms. Thayer looked amused. "Wow. So you don't miss any Greens or anything?"
"Greens?" the panther asked, genuinely confused.
"Like Grandpa Green, Grandma Green… oh, sorry—are they still alive?" Ms. Thayer said, stepping around a drifting fog bank. "Forgive me. I've been without a real sense of death for a long time."
"I don't know," the panther said.
"And then Mrs. Green and…" Ms. Thayer fell silent for a long time before asking softly.
"I don't know," the panther repeated, sitting in the blank white expanse, expression unreadable.
"I'm sorry," Ms. Thayer said, her voice quieter now.
"It's okay," the panther said, ears twitching naturally. "Have you seen the people I mentioned? If you do, please tell me."
"Of course," Ms. Thayer said, and the droop at the corner of her mouth slowly turned back into a smile.
"You mean—?" the panther asked, startled.
"No," Ms. Thayer said, smiling even wider. "You think it's easy to run into the one exact wandering soul you need?
Do you think the things wizards couldn't do in life—the words they couldn't say—become easier after death?
This in-between place is bigger than you think, and more dangerous than you think.
Next time, you might not even find me. Just remember: two souls don't cross paths easily, even if you've got a soul relic."
Her words pulled Sean into thought.
It sounded like Dumbledore's idea had only been a guess after all, and it made Sean understand even more clearly that shortcuts usually don't work.
If he could stay here long enough—long enough to reach the edge of dawn—then the chances of success would probably be much higher.
"Thank you for telling me," the panther said, watching the fog slowly rise.
"But I did meet another witch—someone I wanted to meet most of all—" Ms. Thayer suddenly pivoted.
"Who?" the panther asked, catching the final second before he was forced out.
"The honorable Rowena Ravenclaw," Ms. Thayer said, her voice drifting out like a dream.