Leonard had always liked ravens. Compared to most other birds, they were smarter, and they had a strangely distinctive sense of right and wrong.
A lot of people disliked them simply because they thought ravens were unlucky, but birds don't come with meanings attached. Humans are the ones who force that onto them.
And what was so terrible about ravens, anyway? They were just birds who liked collecting shiny little things, held grudges like their lives depended on it, and remembered kindness just as fiercely.
Hurt one, and they'd take revenge as a group, petty and relentless, from morning to night.
Save one, though, and it would repay you. Ravens would bring you what they considered precious, usually something glittering. Sometimes it might even be genuinely valuable.
They were also one of the few birds known to "care for their elders." When other birds' parents were long gone, ravens would still feed and look after their own.
The best part was that ravens didn't care what humans thought of them. Human attention wouldn't change their temperament.
That, too, was why Leonard liked them.
Still, seeing a raven around here was new to him. Ravens were supposed to be social animals. Why was there only one?
It didn't matter. It was perfect for showing off his talent.
"See that raven?" Leonard let go of the giant squid's tentacle and pointed at the bird perched on the treetop, watching them. "If I tell it to come down, it'll come down."
"Really?" The Hufflepuffs crowded in, curious.
"Of course." Leonard waved at the raven. "Come on. Down here."
Unfortunately, the raven just stared at him from a distance and didn't move.
"Huh?" Leonard blinked, then waved again, refusing to give up. "Come here."
This time the raven moved. It flapped down from the branch and flew straight toward Leonard. Everyone thought it was about to land, but at the last second it shot upward, skimming right over Leonard's scalp before soaring away.
Leonard: ???
The raven didn't even leave. It began circling over Leonard's head, occasionally letting out sharp caws.
The Hufflepuffs fell into silence, looking up at the bird, then at Leonard, who was still standing there with his hand half-raised. The atmosphere turned awkward in a hurry.
"Uh… looks like it doesn't really want to come down," Ernie said with an awkward laugh, trying to smooth things over. "That raven's clearly not a good raven. Forget it."
"Yeah, yeah," others chimed in quickly. "Not like the giant squid. The giant squid listens."
No one wanted Leonard to be embarrassed. They were all classmates. If things got uncomfortable, the picnic would be ruined.
Leonard slowly lowered his hand and looked up at the raven circling overhead.
He wasn't actually a little kid. He wasn't going to feel mortified just because a "demonstration" had flopped.
What he was thinking was this: if the System recognized his talent, how could it possibly fail?
So where was the problem?
While Leonard was still turning it over, the Black Lake behind them suddenly erupted with a loud splash.
Everyone spun around in surprise and saw the giant squid launch itself up out of the water, eight tentacles snapping through the air as it struck toward the raven.
The sight stunned every student along the lakeshore. Mouths hanging open, they watched the squid surge upward, its tentacles whipping around to block every escape route.
Then, with a single massive slap, it smacked the raven down into the water.
A few black feathers drifted in the air. Students farther away didn't even know what had happened. Some of them hadn't seen the raven at all; they just saw the giant squid suddenly leap.
But the Hufflepuffs knew exactly what they'd witnessed, and the squid pinning the raven with its tentacles was, admittedly, pretty exhilarating.
They went quiet for a few seconds, then all turned to look at Leonard.
Leonard went quiet too. He hadn't expected that, either. Feeling everyone's eyes on him, he shrugged and spread his hands.
"Hey. You tell me. Did it come down or not?"
Did it come down?
Only then did the Hufflepuffs remember what Leonard had said earlier: If I tell it to come down, it'll come down.
So if it refused to come down… you just beat it down?
That was a bit violent.
But no one seemed bothered. They laughed it off and went right back to their picnic.
Leonard chuckled along, but his gaze drifted to the surface of the lake.
The few black feathers that had been floating there were gone.
He'd been watching the water, and he hadn't seen anything carry them off.
They hadn't sunk, either. They were simply… gone, as if they'd vanished.
Paired with the way that raven had ignored his talent completely, a suspicion formed in Leonard's mind.
What if that raven wasn't a natural creature at all, but some kind of magical creation?
Keeping his expression calm, Leonard glanced at the Hufflepuffs still laughing and chatting, then quietly walked to the edge of the lake. He lightly patted the water. Ripples spread, and the giant squid swam back over.
"What was that raven just now?" Leonard asked in a low voice.
The squid laid a tentacle on Leonard's hand, and a voice sounded in Leonard's ear.
"A nasty one. Didn't like the look of it."
The voice belonged to an old man, but it was full and powerful, the kind that sounded like it came from someone built like a brick wall, the sort of elderly man who could still run a thousand meters without wheezing.
Leonard paused, because that voice really didn't match the giant squid at all.
He didn't dwell on it. "And the raven? Did you eat it?"
"No. It had no physical form. It's already gone," the giant squid replied.
So it really wasn't a normal raven. Otherwise, there was no way any raven could resist the pull of his talent.
Leonard thanked the giant squid, released its tentacle, and stood up, frowning slightly.
So what exactly had that raven been?
...
In the Headmaster's office, a man in black robes and a mask sat across from Dumbledore. On the man's shoulder perched a raven with blood-red eyes, preening its feathers as if it owned the place. Every so often it lifted its head to glance at the Phoenix Gan beside Dumbledore.
The phoenix rested with its eyes closed, not sparing the raven even a look.
The masked man looked toward the Black Lake. There were no windows on that wall, only stone, yet he stared as though he could see straight through it.
When the giant squid swatted the raven out of the air, the man finally drew his gaze back. He smiled faintly.
"Who would've thought the giant squid was still this hot-tempered," he said. "Just like the old days."
His voice was young, sounding no older than his early twenties, like someone who had graduated from Hogwarts only a few years ago.
"In truth, he's only hot-tempered with you," Dumbledore said flatly. "Most of the time, he's quite tolerant."
Notably, Dumbledore referred to the giant squid as "he," not "it."
"Hahaha." The man laughed easily. "I only bothered him a few times. How can he hold a grudge this long?"