— — — — — —
The confusion in Dumbledore's eyes vanished. Clarity settled in.
What was the point of worrying anymore? Even if he worked himself to the bone, could he truly stop Ariana? Could he rein in the current Grindelwald?
Even Tom was beyond his control now.
A new era had arrived.
His mind could no longer remain shackled to the old framework.
"I'm going to find Ariana!"
He stood abruptly. The fatigue and dejection from earlier were gone. His face was flushed with renewed vigor as he strode out of the office.
"See? Dilys, you're the clever one," Phineas muttered in admiration. "He should've done that ages ago. I've never seen such a powerful wizard act so stifled. Gryffindor, my ass. More like a dithering Hufflepuff."
"Huh? What did you say?"
Several former Hufflepuff headmasters exploded in outrage and charged straight into Phineas' portrait with fists flying.
With the familiar free-for-all underway, the portraits quickly forgot their worries about Dumbledore and began loudly cheering for the Hufflepuffs.
...
Meanwhile, Dumbledore soon found Ariana.
His precious sister was surrounded by a few Durmstrang students who had visited Hogwarts before. They were enthusiastically showing her around the castle corridors.
Seeing her finally laughing with peers her own age, her face bright with joy he hadn't seen in years, Dumbledore felt warmth bloom in his chest.
He didn't interrupt.
Instead, he slipped into a quiet corner and tried summoning Fawkes to send a message via phoenix feather and arrange a time to speak.
He called and called.
Nothing.
Dumbledore blinked.
"…Where's my bird?"
---
Night fell quickly, and pale silver moonlight spilled across the grounds.
Astoria had managed to escape her sister Daphne again and skipped her way into the pocket world.
"Tom, what kind of experiment are we doing?"
Her eyes sparkled like starlight, hands clasped behind her back as she rocked lightly on her heels. She looked like a kitten in an exceptionally good mood.
Tom had more free time now than before, but the time he could spare for her was still limited. And most of it was shared with her bothersome sister.
An entire evening alone like this was rare.
"It's about your body," Tom said. He didn't tell her everything, but enough. "The blood curse is suppressed for now, but suppressed isn't the same as gone. It's still there. I've been thinking of a way to remove the hidden danger completely."
Astoria's eyes instantly reddened.
She looked up at him, overwhelmed.
So he really does care about me.
Tom seemed more concerned about her blood curse than she was herself. Once she could live normally again, she had stopped thinking about it too much. She hadn't expected him to keep worrying in the background.
Just imagining him quietly racking his brain for her sake made her nose sting. Before she could stop herself, she stepped forward and threw her arms around him tightly.
"Thank you, Tom."
"That's it?" he teased.
Astoria hesitated, then gathered her courage and rose on her toes.
It was a long while before they finally separated.
"..."
"Astoria, you need to work on your lung capacity," Tom commented, smacking his lips thoughtfully.
The sensation had been soft and cool and altogether pleasant, but she hadn't lasted long. And she still hadn't mastered breathing properly in the middle of it.
He made a mental note to give her more practice.
Flustered by his teasing, Astoria buried her face against his chest and clung to him even tighter.
After lingering a bit longer, Tom led her down into the basement of the small house.
The moment they entered, a biting chill swept over her. Astoria shivered uncontrollably.
"What is this…?"
The basement was spacious and well-lit. A gentle fluorescent charm on the ceiling cast a warm, even glow throughout the room.
What unsettled her were the three ancient-looking magic circles positioned in the corners. Within each one floated a pale, long-haired girl with cascading white hair.
A faint mist swirled around their bodies. Once it rose to a certain height, the magic circle absorbed it. The entire setup looked anything but wholesome.
"They're Yuki-onna. Not real humans," Tom explained softly, rubbing her back in reassurance. "Don't worry. It looks a bit sinister, but they aren't dead. They're in a dormant state, continuously providing energy."
"Yuki-onna have a unique talent. Their bodies naturally remain in a constant optimal state. If something abnormal appears inside them, it gets purified quickly. I call this trait 'Eternal Purity.'"
"My idea is to let you fuse with their bloodline. Use that innate purification ability to gradually cleanse the blood curse. Of course, normal Yuki-onna blood alone won't be enough. The curse has been rooted in the Greengrass bloodline for too long. So I'll need additional preparation."
The "additional preparation" was the divine power contained within the Golden Apple.
His real plan was to use that power to evolve the Yuki-onna bloodline, drastically enhancing the purification strength of Eternal Purity.
But there was a problem. Bloodline fusion was inherently dangerous, and the greater the gap between life forms, the higher the risk.
Under normal circumstances, with potions to assist, fusing with a Yuki-onna bloodline would likely be safe. But merging with an evolved version strengthened by divine power? The risk was unpredictable.
So Tom intended to evolve and fuse it step by step. At the same time, he would gradually strengthen Astoria's body so she could adapt.
After being modified by the magic circles, the Yuki-onna's power had become much gentler, steadily releasing into the room.
He was essentially marinating Astoria in it.
Let her body adapt. Let it build resistance.
With a flick of his hand, a warm potion appeared.
"Drink this first. It'll stop you from feeling cold."
Astoria obediently took it and drained it in one go.
...
The basement was furnished like a normal large bedroom. If not for the three floating figures in the corners, it would have felt completely ordinary.
But after staring at them long enough, even that became strangely easy to ignore.
Tom and Astoria sat together, talking about everything and nothing at all. The little witch was unusually lively that night, far chattier than she normally was.
Eventually the conversation drifted to the first round of the Championship. She tried, in her own subtle way, to fish for information for her sister.
As if that could fool him.
"Trying tricks on me?" Tom laughed and pinched her nose. "I can't tell you about the first round. I designed that one myself. As for the second round, I've already made arrangements for Daphne. She'll pass smoothly. No problems."
Astoria stuck out her tongue playfully, then snuggled closer and soon drifted off to sleep.
Tom, however, had his own work to do.
His consciousness sank inward. In his mind space, the eleventh trial palace shimmered with a hazy glow.
It wasn't fully open yet.
But it was getting close.
.
.
.