Chapter 472: News
The black cat awoke. When it opened its eyes, the mist of the Lands Between was
churning violently.
"You remind me of a... teacher of mine," Leta said, as if making idle
conversation. She conjured an image, and the black cat recognized it as a
Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom at Hogwarts.
Seventy-nine years ago, the lesson had been on Boggarts. Dumbledore was guiding
a line of teenagers, encouraging them to try.
"Riddikulus!" ... "Riddikulus!" ...
The students' voices overlapped; the Boggart shifted from a shark to a buoy,
from a zombie's head to a pumpkin, and finally into a vampire that transformed
into a rabbit with little buckteeth. Peals of laughter echoed through the room.
"Very good, Newt. Be brave." Dumbledore said. The black cat had never seen the
Headmaster look so young.
Sixteen-year-old Newt stepped to the front. The Boggart morphed into a desk at
the Ministry of Magic.
"That is an uncommon fear. So, in this entire world, what does Mr. Scamander
fear most?" Dumbledore asked with a twinkle in his eye. The black cat watched
Dumbledore; it seemed the Headmaster had enjoyed the spectacle even back when he
was merely a professor.
"Working in an office, Professor," sixteen-year-old Newt replied earnestly. The
entire class erupted in laughter.
"Proceed, Newt." Dumbledore smiled, too.
"Riddikulus!" Newt transformed the desk into a playful wooden dragon and stepped
aside.
"Well done. Very well done." Dumbledore applauded.
Then it was sixteen-year-old Leta's turn, but she did not move. She was
terrified.
"Leta, it is only a Boggart; it cannot hurt you. Everyone has something they
fear," Dumbledore said kindly. Behind him, a group of girls huddled together,
gloating over her fear. "Watch her make a fool of herself," they whispered.
Leta stepped forward. The Boggart began to transform, and the laughter vanished
instantly. A green light reflected on every horrified face. The Boggart had
turned into a shadow, bearing a tiny, human-like hand. Leta let out a sob and
ran from the classroom.
The black cat and the adult Leta followed her, watching as she hid in an empty
classroom. I don't know how much time passed, but the young Leta remained seated
at her old desk when Dumbledore entered.
"What a surprise," Dumbledore said.
"Because you saw me in the classroom? Am I that bad of a student?" Leta asked
coldly.
"On the contrary, you are my brightest student," Dumbledore replied.
"I said 'bad,' not 'stupid.' Don't bother searching for an answer. You never
liked me." Leta cast the words down icily.
"That is incorrect. You are not a bad child." Dumbledore leaned in and sat down.
"Then you are mistaken." Leta refused to look at him. Dumbledore, however,
studied her closely.
"Leta, I understand that the rumors regarding your brother Corvus cause you
great pain," Dumbledore said.
"No, you don't understand. Unless your brother has died, too," Leta snapped.
"I lost my sister," Dumbledore said. She glared at him, both filled with
hostility, yet curiously intrigued by one another.
"Did you love her?" Leta asked.
"My love for her was simply not enough." Dumbledore's eyes were grey and dim.
"It is never too late to let go. They say that confession is a form of release.
A weight lifted." Leta continued to glare at him, wondering how much he knew.
"Remorse has accompanied me for a long time. Do not let yourself become the
same." Dumbledore left.
The illusion shattered.
"I doubted him. At times, I wondered if he was a monster, too... until I met
someone." Leta said to the black cat.
The black cat's ears twitched. Leta was certain now that dear Bastet did more
than just traverse Newt's dreams.
"A witch who had forgotten her own name—no, she wasn't quite a 'thorough'
witch," Leta mused, her expression nostalgic. "She only remembered that she had
two brothers at Hogwarts and that she was waiting. In my memory, there weren't
many people who fit that description... Through some simple deduction, I
realized who she was."
The black cat naturally knew who she was, too.
"That was when I realized the Professor's words were true; we are all the same
kind of people," Leta said. "But what about you? Dear Bastet, an entity such as
yourself... can you truly fathom a wizard's heart?"
"I am a wizard," the black cat said.
Leta burst into laughter. "Mm, I understand. You are not a cat; you are a
wizard." She said it with a perfectly straight face.
The black cat nodded, agreeing. Leta shook with laughter. A powerful magical
creature, possessing magic beyond a wizard's wildest imagination, yet willing to
listen to a wizard's wish and even fulfill it. It was truly miraculous. Leta
felt that the day's events had surpassed anything she could have imagined.
"Lady Lestrange, can you still find her?" the black cat asked.
"Oh, her? Of course." Leta's eyes darted about. "You rushed through the Lands
Between just to bring wizards good luck? Whose wish are you going to fulfill
this time?"
The black cat remained silent.
"I am willing to help, for my teacher's sake, and for yours," Leta sighed.
The mist surged more violently. Both the cat and Leta knew the time to part had
come.
"When will you return?" Leta asked, placing a pruned Gabriel flower into a vase,
speaking to the cat as if she were addressing a dear, long-time friend.
"I don't know." The black cat shook its head.
Leta understood. Good luck might never come again, or it might return tomorrow.
After a moment, the black cat looked back at her once, turned, and sank into the
deep, swirling mist, leaving no trace behind.
The Lands Between was left with only one witch who enjoyed pruning flowers;
occasionally, she would tell those who came to cause trouble—the ones she had
tied up—the story of a black cat.
Hogwarts.
The clock chimed three times.
For the first time in ages, Sean did not wake at his usual hour. This latest
trip to the Lands Between hadn't gone entirely smoothly; he had used the power
of the Void Rune a bit too thoroughly. It led to a disappointing result: he
wouldn't be able to enter the Lands Between for some time. But the delay
wouldn't be too long—Sean estimated about a full month.
He recalled Leta's words, and inexplicably, his thoughts drifted to the
Headmaster's office, filled with silver instruments. The old wizard guarded this
castle as if it were a prison he had built with his own hands.
As he passed the office, the bell was still chiming. Sean could already smell
the sweet scent of pumpkin wafting from the Great Hall. He reminisced about the
pumpkin pie Leta had made, concluding that Leta's cooking was even better than
his Ravenclaw teacher's.
Still, he quickened his pace. Exam week was approaching, and he had a Potions
exam in the afternoon. For the students, Potions class was no longer a total
disaster. Thanks to certain exceptionally useful notes, they at least managed to
avoid turning Professor Snape's face into the color of coal.
Harry still remembered his most embarrassing moment during a pop quiz, when he
couldn't get his Forgetfulness Potion to thicken no matter what he did. Snape
had stood by, watching with grim satisfaction, scribbling something in his
notebook—it looked suspiciously like a zero. Now, that was a thing of the past;
he could even get through his Potions exam with relative ease.
As they emerged from the dungeons, everyone was still discussing the narrow
escape. In the middle of the night, the students took their Astronomy exam, high
atop the tallest tower. Staring into the star-studded sky, Sean always found
himself thinking about his Divination magic. After studying with the centaurs
for so long, he still hadn't managed to unlock the ability to prophesy. The
centaur teachers had inevitably frowned, and they had been searching through the
tribe's ancient knowledge for answers.
Beyond that, the time Sean had spent in the Lands Between had already exceeded
three hours. Dreams and Gods mentioned that after seven hours, the sky of the
Lands Between would darken, the stars would blaze, and one would see a clear,
pristine night sky—the best time for divination.
This unexpected progress made Sean think of the legends of the Lands Between,
the legends of the Lucky Black Cat. At the same time, viewing Dreams and Gods as
the Tales of Merlin made Sean realize that before long, he might witness a
different Lands Between—a Lands Between brilliant with stars, a realm capable of
allowing a wizard to catch a glimpse of that hazy thing called "the future."
What changes would occur in the Lands Between then? Perhaps only Merlin knew.
That night, the weather was clear. After the Astronomy exam ended, Sean went to
study Divination with the centaurs. Though his progress in prophetic magic
remained stuck at the final gate, it didn't stop him from learning the centaurs'
knowledge of divination.
And the exams continued, at a steady, unhurried pace.
History of Magic was on Wednesday morning. When the ghost of Professor Binns
told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchments, the students
couldn't help but let out a collective cheer. As long as you had read Green's
Notes, full marks in History of Magic were beckoning; the History of Magic
section of Green's Notes happened to be one of the students' favorite
extracurricular reads. Its popularity was rivaling Fantastic Beasts and Where to
Find Them and The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
Rumor had it that a new section of Green's Notes was coming, titled A History of
Magical Careers; for the past few days, the pre-order letters had nearly filled
every corner of Green's Bookstore.
Wednesday afternoon was Herbology. After being baked under the sun in the
greenhouses, everyone's necks were sunburned by the time they returned to the
common room. Everyone was looking forward to this time tomorrow, when everything
would be over.
Thursday morning was the final exam: Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Professor Snape gleefully took on the role of examiner; the wizards had to duel
their companions right in front of him. In his words: "Weak-willed idiots should
have been receiving this training long ago."
Though magic flew in every direction during the exam, surprisingly, no one was
injured. When the exam concluded, everyone hurried out of the duel arena,
buzzing with excitement.
Only Sean was held back by Professor Snape.
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