"I remember the Quidditch final is in two days. Oh, right, here's an interesting fact. The craftsman who first made the Golden Snitch to replace the Golden Snidget, Bowman Wright, came from Godric's Hollow. This place really has a fascinating history."
Jim took the initiative to make small talk while walking with the group. Everyone stopped and stared at him.
"What? Nobody's saying anything, so I was just trying to liven up the atmosphere."
Snape wore the same wide-sleeved black robes he had worn for all eternity, like a crow attending a funeral. It seemed no holiday or occasion could make him change his outfit. However, he had washed his hair today and even applied a little hair wax.
The old bat snorted coldly. "No one needs you to liven up the atmosphere."
Sirius spoke up for Jim. He said loudly, "No, that's only what you think, Snape. We very much need to hear your words at this... special moment, Jim. It really helped me catch my breath."
The prisoner of Azkaban had made himself clean and presentable today. Lupin beside him was the same, wearing new clothes bought with his wages in place of his old robes. They had come here to bring back their old friend, who had been dead for thirteen years.
The sun was about to set. The evening in early summer was not hot, and at the end of the valley, several clusters of lifeless clouds piled up in the sky, soaked in the sunset's clear amber syrup.
That moment of the day, both beautiful and sorrowful, appeared before everyone's eyes.
Bathed in the afterglow, the witches and wizards slowly walked into Godric's Hollow.
Everyone arrived at the square in the center of the village, where the memorial stone for the Potter family stood.
In Muggle eyes, it was only an obelisk covered in names, but in the eyes of witches and wizards, the monument, hidden by a Confundus Charm, revealed its true form.
It was a statue of three people, Lily, James, and Harry.
Everyone stood there, and for a while, no one spoke.
Dumbledore took the initiative to break the silence, a silence that said more than a thousand words. He said softly, "No matter what this world becomes in the future, here, we have made every preparation to welcome back the dead...
"James and Lily were both outstanding wizards, but the beast of war took away two souls shining with humanity far too early. The miracle of magic lies in the fact that we never know how many impossibilities once deemed madness may one day become possible.
"Offer them flowers. Treat them as a gift to say farewell to death."
The old wizard took out his wand and gave it a gentle wave. Fresh flowers bloomed from the tip of the Elder Wand, a large bouquet of carnations, which he gently placed before the statue.
Grindelwald offered two bundles of morning glories. He smiled faintly and said nothing.
Sirius had already prepared a bouquet of white roses. He placed them before the statue, then raised his head and looked at James's face. Earnestly, he said, "My dearest friend, be patient a little longer. Don't feel lonely in the land of the dead. Soon, we'll meet again. If the timing works out, we might even be able to watch your son Harry's match together, James... He, I mean Harry, he's a Seeker now too... When he's on a broom, he's almost as quick and clean as you were... Ahem, that's all."
He lowered his head and retreated into a corner, quickly wiping the corners of his eyes with his sleeve. The gray eyes set deep in his sockets were still sharp, like those of a tough man who would not cry even after being cut dozens of times.
Lupin offered strawflowers. After hesitating for a moment, he said with some distress, "Someone has already said everything for me. James, Lily, we'll see you the day after tomorrow." He walked to Sirius's side and simply stood there.
Harker opened the paper box he was carrying and took out a bouquet of daffodils. The petals were full, and dew clung to them as if they had just been picked.
He said nothing.
Ivanna had also prepared flowers long ago. She set down a bouquet of hyacinths and said softly, "To you... brave people."
Skyl quietly laughed to himself off to the side. Offering flowers to one's own statue was not an experience ordinary people could have. And besides, the three people on the statue were actually all alive.
He asked the old bat beside him, "Professor Snape, what did you prepare?"
Snape was also holding a wooden box, which looked like an ordinary box from his office used to store potion ingredients.
He stood frozen in place for a long time before finally opening the box.
Inside was a bundle of asphodel, used to make the Draught of Living Death. It still looked fresh, though slightly withered.
Ivanna let out a small laugh.
"Snape, why did you bring potion ingredients?"
The old bat did not explain. He only placed the flowers down.
Finally, Skyl offered a lucky four-leaf clover.
It was as though a small flower bed had been built before the statue.
Godric's Hollow's graveyard was not far away.
Skyl suggested, "Let's wait until dark before we go dig up the graves. Doing something like that in broad daylight feels a little unlucky."
Although everyone there was a witch or wizard, after thinking about it, they all felt that made sense. So they scattered to wait for nightfall and agreed to gather at the village's only pub at nine in the evening.
At Dumbledore's invitation, Skyl came to the house where the old wizard had once lived. Grindelwald came with them.
"I haven't returned in many years. It really does need cleaning." Dumbledore muttered to himself.
The shabby little villa had two floors. No one had disturbed it, so natural dust and wild grass had moved in. They spent half a minute restoring the house to its original state. The furnishings inside were not very different from when Dumbledore had left all those years ago.
Dumbledore seemed frightened by this home he had not seen in so long. He stood near the front door and pointed to a corner of the sitting room.
"There. That is where Ariana died. Grindelwald and I... neither of us knew whose spell went out of control and struck her..."
Grindelwald said, "Don't blame yourself. That little girl couldn't control her own spell properly. It rebounded off my Shield Charm, so I killed her."
"Partly." Dumbledore was not comforted. "More than that, it was because of my arrogance and coldness. I never truly wanted to take proper care of Ariana, or Aberforth. Now, my sister is coming back. I hope she won't be too surprised when she sees me as an old man. Haha... Perhaps I should tell Aberforth the news..."
Skyl listened quietly.
Dumbledore rambled on. He and Grindelwald spoke of the past, of how they had met, visited each other's homes, eaten together, and discussed changing the world.
A smile appeared on Grindelwald's cold face. The scene of two old men over a hundred years old reminiscing about the past was like playing an old cassette tape in a Walkman.
Sirius, Lupin, Harker, and Ivanna came to the old Potter house. The desolation of the place stirred their memories.
"Let's look around," Sirius said. "Don't break anything. When there's time, we'll have to clean the house up. That way James and Lily will have somewhere to live when they come back."
The furniture in the sitting room was all piled in the corner. Harker picked up the family photo sitting on the cabinet.
Ivanna moved through the house as if she had come home. She knew every corner of it. The ivy-eaten wooden floorboards creaked beneath her steps as she went up the stairs to the room on the top floor. The roof had been blasted open, leaving a large hole. It had been caused by Voldemort's Killing Curse rebounding.
Back then, in this very place, she had begged the Dark Lord not to kill her child.
The crib was still there, but the green-eyed baby was now at Hogwarts, walking the same path as his parents.
Ivanna crouched down, gently rocked the crib, and hummed a lullaby.
Sirius and Lupin were both on the first floor, loudly discussing what things would need to be added in the future.
The witch's eyes shimmered in the last beam of daylight that shone into the room. They were like a white sailboat crossing through years of suffering.
"James, if only you were here. Harry, your son, he's grown up. He's an excellent wizard now. He even knows the Unforgivable Curses... He's a little frightening, isn't he? But I know Harry is kind deep down. He's very sweet. When he fainted, he even called for his mom. My baby, in your mother's heart, you will always be pure..."
Clatter.
Ivanna heard something fall behind her.
She turned her head and saw Jim frozen in the doorway. At his feet lay the shattered family photo.
"You, you're... Lily?!"
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