Right Before Christmas
It was a weekend, and it also happened to be Rissy's birthday. Soft, white snowflakes fell drifting past the dormitory windows, draping the scenery in a silvery shroud. The windowpanes were blurred with a layer of frost, reflecting the flickering candlelight inside the Phoenixes' common room, casting glowing beams across the ceiling like tiny stars.
Juston carefully carried a birthday cake—elegantly colored in shades of blue and as perfectly round and smooth as a snowball—from the food preparation hall back to his dormitory. The cake was a product of love, meticulously handcrafted by Lena, Neval, and Juston especially for Rissy. Upon entering the room, he gently placed the cake on the table and proceeded to light the candles one by one.
Right at that moment, Rissy, who had just woken up, stepped out of her room. Her face still bore a touch of sleepiness, but her hair was neatly brushed.
"Happy birthday, Rissy!" – The entire dormitory suddenly erupted into cheers.
Rissy froze at the threshold. She looked back and forth from her friends to the birthday cake glowing with candlelight. Before she could process what was happening, her friend Lena quickly pulled her down into a chair:
"Make a wish." – Juston said as he set the cake down on the table directly in front of Rissy.
Clenching her hands into two small fists, Rissy held them up level with her mouth. She tightly closed her eyes and made a heartfelt wish. The room fell into absolute silence; not a soul uttered a single word, ensuring her thoughts remained uninterrupted. When she finally opened her eyes and lowered her hands, everyone clapped uproariously, and one by one, they eagerly stepped forward to present her with their gifts.
Rissy scratched her head, her face still wearing a look of sheer bewilderment amidst the sudden shower of affection: "What on earth are you guys doing?"
It seemed that she herself hadn't even realized today was her birthday.
Lena let out a soft smile. She gently placed a freshly cut slice of cake on the table in front of her friend, teasingly adding: "You'll regret forgetting it later."
Neval carefully arranged the gift boxes next to Rissy. Then, unable to contain his excitement, he pulled out the largest box of all. The gift was wrapped in an eye-catching shade of blue, bound meticulously with a vibrant red ribbon. Tucked neatly under the ribbon was a letter.
Curious, Rissy pulled the letter out, opened it, and began to read it aloud:
"Hello to our little princess. You must be quite surprised by this letter, aren't you? A girl like you probably wouldn't even remember her own birthday, would she? Your birthday is on December 23rd, right? We still remember it very clearly. How unfortunate that Arlist and I couldn't celebrate your birthday with you this year. Studying at a new school and having new friends must be very fun, right? I hope you won't have to be lonely like you were at your old school. Wishing Rissy a very happy birthday. Laster-Arlist"
Rissy clamped her hand over her mouth in astonishment. She couldn't believe that she had completely forgotten her own birthday, yet her older brother and sister from so far away had remembered and sent a letter to celebrate with her.
"W... what? Today... is my birthday?"
"Of course it is. How could you forget your own birthday?" – Juston chuckled at his friend's forgetfulness.
Rissy remained dazed. Her eyes shifted nervously from her friends to the letter in her hands. "How did everyone know? And how... did they manage to send a letter to me?" - Rissy's innocent questions made it clear that she had been entirely oblivious to all of this.
"Your student ID card says it all. It includes your date of birth, name, and even your home address." - Juston smiled, placing Rissy's student ID card on the table.
"But how did you get it?" – It seemed the young girl was still a bit skeptical.
"You dropped your student ID card in the main hall last night." – Neval chimed in to explain.
As it turned out, Neval had accidentally found Rissy's student ID card just as he was heading back to the dormitory. He had intended to run after her to return it, but by the time he reached the dorm, Rissy had already gone to bed.
"Then what about this letter?" - The question echoed once more from Rissy's bewildered face.
"It's the academy's phoenix—the Phoenixes' house mascot. The Headmaster gave it the task of sending and delivering mail for our house." – Lena explained while meticulously slicing the cake.
Suddenly, an inquisitive voice from among the Phoenixes students piped up: "Will you write back to them?"
"Of course I will. They are my family." - Rissy replied without a second thought.
"What about these gift boxes? Do you plan on opening them right now?" – Neval asked eagerly, clearly dying to see what Rissy had received.
But before Rissy could reply, Lena lightly nudged Neval's shoulder to reprimand him: "Why are you asking someone else about that?! Whether to open them or not is their choice!"
"I was just asking." - Neval muttered under his breath with a completely innocent tone.
Rissy let out a hearty laugh at Neval's awkward display. Her voice carried a comforting warmth: "Haha, it's fine. Maybe I'll just open them now."
"Really?" – Neval's tone instantly shifted, his eyes lighting up.
"If you guys want to see."
In truth, at that moment, everyone in the room was dying to watch Rissy unwrap each of her presents.
"Of course we do!" – The crowd chimed in unison.
Rissy decided to open the gift from Laster and Arlist first. It was a massive, incredibly adorable plush teddy bear cloaked in pure white fur. Next was Lena's gift—an exquisite snow globe. Artificial snowflakes fell in slow motion inside the glass orb, creating a romantic scene; Rissy seemed to thoroughly enjoy this gift, as her eyes remained glued to it.
[…]
When it came down to the final gift, there was no sender's name written on the box, and no one in the room spoke up to claim it. It was the smallest gift of all. Filled with curiosity, Rissy was about to open it.
But then, thinking better of it, she decided to keep it to herself and open it later: "Or maybe not. I'll open this gift in private. Shall we go out to the courtyard to play now?"
Hearing this, the entire dormitory enthusiastically filed out into the snow. On a weekend blanketed in pure white like this, there was nothing better than playing in the snow. They built whimsical snowmen together in the courtyard, shouted excitedly during snowball fights... Everything felt so magical and blissful, just like a dream. Since enrolling, they had never felt this happy.
Amidst the lively atmosphere, Lena lightly drew her wand and used magic to sketch the vivid image of a blazing phoenix right in the air. Captivated by the sight, Neval clumsily dropped his wand into the snow, prompting Juston to let out a dry laugh: "Careful, lest your phoenix actually catches fire."
"Even if it catches fire, it'll still look better than you." – Lena replied, her tone completely nonchalant.
After a spirited romp in the snow, Rissy returned to sit alone in the dormitory. Plagued by curiosity, she opened the small, anonymous gift from earlier. Strangely enough, inside it was neither a warm scarf nor a note, but rather a pile of grayish ashes.
Rissy felt a bit startled and let down by this. She whispered to herself: "A piece of paper? Who would do such a thing?"
She puzzled over it for a moment but decided to keep it hidden and not mention it to anyone, treating it as her own little secret.
Feeling restless, Rissy took a solitary stroll through the corridors, partly to clear her mind and partly to familiarize herself with the school's layout. Because it was the Christmas break, many students had packed their bags and gone home, leaving the school grounds sparse and quiet. In truth, Rissy had also wanted to go home, but during this holiday, her brother and sister were still busy working. Looking back, if she went home, there wouldn't be any friends around anyway, so she figured she might as well stay at school.
Suddenly, driven by some invisible breeze, Rissy found her steps drawn towards the corridor leading to the Headmaster's office. Hearing the faint murmur of voices echoing from inside the room, she instinctively stood frozen to eavesdrop.
Night Falls
That night, when everyone in the dormitory had drifted into a deep sleep, Rissy remained awake, sitting alone by the windowsill to reflect on everything.
Outside, the distant black lake rippled gently under the cold moonlight. She opened her small notebook, intending to write down a few thoughts, when suddenly, she heard a faint whispering sound coming directly from the small gift box from that morning. Shivering, Rissy opened it up, and to her horror, she discovered that the birthday paper from earlier had been scorched on one corner—as if an invisible hand had just brushed against it.
The handwriting on the paper abruptly flared to life before fading away, leaving behind nothing but a few faint lines of ash: "Ash sleeps peacefully in the hands of light. But light never sleeps peacefully."
At that exact moment, Lena's handwriting in her notebook, which lay open on the desk, also began to fade, changing in the exact same manner as the words on Rissy's paper. A sudden gust of cold wind rushed through the window cracks, causing the candle flame to flicker wildly. Rissy placed her hand over her heart, feeling a sensation that was simultaneously freezing cold and burning hot spreading across her chest.
She was completely unaware that—at that very same moment—the mysterious ash mark on Lena's hand also flared with light amidst her restless slumber.
The Next Morning
The following morning, just as Neval had finished getting ready and was about to leave the dormitory for his next class, a hand suddenly shot out from a dark corner of the dormitory and yanked him back. Neval was startled; it took him a moment to steady his racing heart before realizing it was just his close friends.
"What are you guys pulling me for? Isn't it almost time for our next class?" – Neval asked breathlessly.
Hearing this, Rissy let out a soft laugh, while Lena calmly explained: "The professor is busy right now. A moment ago, I heard someone say there was a loud noise down in the courtyard. When the professors went down to check, they only found a small hole there."
"And all the professors are currently checking to see what kind of force caused our school courtyard to be punctured like that. We can head out a bit later, it won't be too late. Isn't staying here a bit longer much better?" – Rissy chimed in after Lena, looking quite thrilled.
Neval stared blankly at the news. He found it rather strange that all the powerful professors in the school would gather just to inspect a tiny hole. He questioned: "It's just an anthole, why do so many professors have to go down and look at it?"
Juston lightly flicked his foolish friend's head. Only then did he speak up: "You have to remember this is a magical world. Do you really think it's normal for a hole to just appear in a school that's secured twenty-four-seven?"
Accepting the logical explanation, Neval could only nod along. Juston quietly pulled out the ancient book from the other day, placing it in the center of the table for the group to see. His voice dropped to a low, mysterious whisper: "I've read through it. One of the most important pieces of information is that the Founder of House Serpentis built a secret vault near the Serpentis dormitory in the seventh year after he established this house to keep... inside it, which no one has ever been able to discover. This part here has been torn out. What do you guys think he was keeping?"
Without needing to spend any time thinking, Rissy answered instantly: "It's the vault from the other day, right?"
"Exactly. But surely he wouldn't just keep that tiny puddle of water, would he?" – Neval interjected into the debate with a skeptical look.
Lena now looked visibly suspicious and anxious, because she still vividly remembered how that puddle of water had etched her exact name onto its surface. She pondered: "But it's not normal either. It didn't just carve my name, it also created that dragon egg near the Care of Magical Creatures classroom out of water vapor. Isn't that incredibly bizarre?"
Juston nodded in agreement, but then he frowned and countered with his own question: "Then why did he make it? How did he know your name?"
The group fell into an abrupt silence; not a single person could provide an answer. In reality, they knew nothing about those ancient secrets. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Unable to think of anything else, they decided to head to class together. However, the moment their feet crossed the classroom threshold, a resounding clap of thunder from somewhere out in the courtyard struck their ears, echoing all the way into the classroom.
Seeing the frantic state of the group of friends, a few surrounding students began to laugh and mock them loudly: "Look at them. They must have committed some grand crime again."
Neval was furious, his eyes glaring dizzily at the crowd. Rissy quickly pulled his arm back, shaking her head slightly: "Ignore them, Neval."
Neval nodded begrudgingly. After all, he didn't want to waste time arguing with people like that. In the corner of the room, Regurn sat up completely, intending to join in on the mocking, but Detus reached out in time and pulled him back down, saying in a low voice: "None of our business."
Once the class ended, Rissy pulled Lena to a corner, fully intending to recount the bizarre encounter she had experienced the previous night. However, just as she opened her mouth, a sharp, piercing schwiit! echoed from the opposite corridor, causing Rissy's words to catch in her throat. Without a word, the two immediately bolted, running as fast as they could toward the sound.
What met their eyes left them horrified and paralyzed: a bat lay motionless in a massive pool of blood. Furthermore, this bat was one of the school's own creatures—sacred and rare beings that academy rules strictly forbade anyone from harming.
They panicked, looking around for help, but the corridor was completely deserted. Just then, a crowd of students, having heard the noise, came rushing to the scene. Seeing Rissy and Lena standing stunned right next to the crime scene, everyone immediately grew suspicious, casting accusing glares at the two girls.
Detus's group was also among the crowd. Sensing that something was amiss and contradictory, Detus stepped forward on his own initiative and calmly knelt down beside the poor bat's corpse. He intently scrutinized the wound on its body, then cast his eyes over the stone floor.
After a moment of deliberation, he stood up decisively: "It wasn't those two."
Someone immediately countered loudly: "Based on what?"
Detus calmly pointed to the sharp, clean cut on the bat's wing: "The wound is too clean."
With that, his finger shifted toward the ground: "The blood hasn't even clotted yet."
Then, he cast a brief glance over at Lena and Rissy: "Their hands are quite clean."
Finally, he pointed toward a trail of mud stretching down the corridor: "Furthermore... these footprints are heading out."
"While the footprints of those two..." – He looked down at the two sets of still-damp footprints newly pressed into the tiled floor by the two girls. "... are heading in."
The entire corridor instantly fell into absolute silence before his sharp, undeniable logic.
Detus nonchalantly brushed the dust off his hands, stood up straight, and delivered a cold parting remark: "If you want to frame someone, at least find someone capable."
The other students, seeing this, dispersed in embarrassment and left. Only then could Rissy and Lena let out a sigh of relief. Rissy looked toward Detus gratefully: "Thank you."
Detus said nothing; he merely gave a polite, subtle nod and turned to walk away.
That night, Lena tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. When she finally drifted into a hazy slumber, she dreamt that she was deep inside the dense forest—the very place rumored to be plagued by an irreversible, deadly curse. Lena was entirely alone in her surroundings; there wasn't a soul in sight, not even her closest friends. Suddenly, strange rustling noises echoed from a bush quite a distance away, terrifying her and forcing her to run at breakneck speed toward it.
When Lena tremblingly parted the thick brush with her hands, a swarm of pitch-black bats abruptly swarmed her, causing her to fall backward onto the ground. Just as Lena managed to push herself up, the haunting whisper of a woman echoed right behind her back: "Lena…"
Lena jolted awake in her dream, spinning around in sheer terror. Before her eyes now stood the familiar dragon egg from behind the Care of Magical Creatures classroom. As Lena slowly drew closer, just as she reached out her hand intending to touch the surface of the egg, a bloodcurdling, agonizing shriek echoed across the entire forest. Lena startled awake, drenched in sweat, realizing it was still the dead of night.
The horrific nightmare left Lena awake for the rest of the night, lost in thought. Why did her name appear beneath the water in the whispering chamber? Why did simply coming into close contact with the egg cause her to bear that strange ash mark?
And once again, in the darkness of the room, the ash mark on Lena's hand began to pulse with a faint, ghostly light that she herself was entirely unaware of...