Hogwarts bounced back from the brief commotion in no time.
To help the students decompress after the scare, classes were canceled for the day, turning it into a full-blown holiday to welcome Easter.
For any student—whether a young wizard learning magic or a regular kid learning math—a day off is always something to celebrate.
Easter eggs are, of course, an absolute must.
By the next morning, they were everywhere. They weren't just tucked into the corners of the castle walls; they were hanging from the trees on the Hogwarts grounds like magical fruit. Magic really is something else.
The eggs ranged in size—some were as massive as dragon eggs, while others were the size of standard chicken eggs. They were brilliantly colored, each one unique, some so beautiful you couldn't take your eyes off them.
Most of the real eggs were filled with candies and snacks, though some contained various small gifts.
From the crack of dawn, owls were constantly swooping in and out of Hogwarts, delivering Easter eggs sent from the students' homes.
Egg rolling is also a major event in the wizarding world. Young wizards engaged in brutal competitions on the grass.
Why brutal? Because the rules often dictated that the winner got to keep the loser's egg. Since these eggs were usually filled with delicious, hard-to-get treats, losing them to an opponent added a sting of tragedy to the loss.
Consequently, the winners of the egg rolling competition usually ended up with cavities after the holiday from eating way too much candy.
---
A festive atmosphere permeated the entire castle. But the holiday spirit really belongs to the children.
When you're an adult and you've seen enough of the world, a "holiday" just becomes a slightly noisier day off. It doesn't feel much different from a regular weekend.
While the young wizards were immersed in the festivities, Rey went alone to the top of Ravenclaw Tower.
Happy holidays are meant to be spent with family.
Rey didn't have any family in this world, though perhaps Helena could count as one.
When he reached the top of the tower, sure enough, Helena was there. She stood by the stone railing, looking down at the bustling activity of Hogwarts below.
"Hi."
"Hi!"
Helena had been lost in thought and hadn't noticed Rey's arrival. When he called out, she spun around in surprise to respond.
Her turn was filled with joy, but that expression was quickly replaced by a forced smile and a deep sense of loss.
After responding, she turned back around, seemingly afraid to face Rey for some reason.
Rey wasn't stupid; he saw the shift in her expression clearly. He didn't know why Helena, whom he hadn't seen for just over a day, suddenly seemed so weighed down.
Walking up to the railing, Rey placed his hands on the stone and stood next to her. It was just like a thousand years ago, standing in the same spot, overlooking Hogwarts.
---
The atmosphere became a bit strange. They stood side by side, looking out, neither speaking.
Rey glanced at her several times. although she was looking at Hogwarts, her mind was clearly somewhere else.
"What's wrong? Something on your mind?"
After observing her for a while, Rey asked softly, sensing her melancholy.
They were standing very close. Rey could feel the faint chill radiating from her soul.
"Mm... no, it's nothing."
Hearing Rey's question, Helena snapped out of her daze, shook her head, and forced a happy expression.
This made Rey frown. His heart gave a sudden, unexplained ache.
"Remember back then? Easter wasn't this lively..."
"And at the end of the year, you always made those delicious treats, talking about the 'Spring Festival'..."
"What kind of holiday is the Spring Festival? In all these thousand years, I've never seen it..."
Perhaps sensing Rey's frown and realizing she wasn't hiding her mood well enough, Helena immediately changed the subject. She put on a sweet smile and started rambling about this and that.
"The Spring Festival is at the end of the year. It's a time to be with family. We also called it the Lunar New Year..."
Since Helena was trying to mask her feelings, Rey decided not to call her out on it. Instead, he played along with the conversation.
It was a baffling chat—started out of nowhere, and now impossible to end.
Once someone is desperate to hide something, they become unnatural. They talk about one thing while their mind is screaming about another.
"Oh, right. You told me once..."
Seeing one topic die after a few sentences, Helena quickly prepped another.
This kind of conversation was pointless. For Helena, who was trying to hide her sadness, and for Rey, who was just playing along, it wasn't just boring—it was torture.
The more they talked, the tighter Rey's chest felt. He could clearly sense her state: a foolish woman forcing herself to be happy.
Rey raised his right hand. He wanted to hold Helena's hand, to give this foolish woman some comfort, to tell her she didn't need to pretend.
However, his hand didn't grasp hers. It overlapped with it.
A chill radiated from where their hands occupied the same space. Rey instinctively tried to grip it, then froze. He had forgotten that Helena was currently a transparent ghost.
Helena felt it too. In that moment, their eyes met.
A tremor of loss filled her eyes. In that split second of eye contact, Rey suddenly understood the source of her sadness.
Helena reacted like a frightened rabbit. She immediately pulled her hand back and looked away, afraid to meet Rey's gaze.
Sometimes, understanding a woman is the hardest thing in the world for a man. But sometimes, understanding the woman he loves takes only a split second.
In that moment, Rey knew exactly why Helena hadn't appeared before him since yesterday.
---
Helena was a ghost, a soul. Her transparent form meant she couldn't intervene much in the world of the living.
When Cabor Doric came to the classroom, she must have tried to stop him.
Helplessness was all she felt then. She must have been burning with anxiety but unable to do a thing, likely watching from outside the classroom window.
Rey remembered catching a glimpse of something then, though he hadn't been sure. Now he knew that fleeting transparent figure must have been her. If Dumbledore hadn't shown up, Helena would have charged into that classroom to protect him, even without any way to actually fight.
Right now, Helena was self-conscious.
She hated that she was a transparent ghost. She hated her powerlessness. She hated that she could never physically touch him.
She hated that she and the person she loved were separated by the boundary of two different worlds.
"I..."
Understanding the sadness she was trying so hard to hide, Rey opened his mouth to comfort her.
"Don't say it. I know... I know everything..."
Helena became agitated. She moved sideways repeatedly, putting distance between herself and Rey.
Comforting words usually follow a pattern. Helena wasn't a little girl anymore. After a thousand years, she could probably guess exactly what Rey was going to say.
Helena knew. Rey knew.
The facts were right in front of them. No matter how he tried to comfort her, they would just be pretty words. In the face of unchangeable reality, comfort always feels pale and powerless.
Rey closed his eyes. His hands gripped the stone railing so hard his knuckles turned white, the stone giving a faint creak under the pressure.