"First, pay attention to the runes carved in the center of the Magic Array. Although they loosely resemble a watermelon, you absolutely cannot draw them like a watermelon... Then, for the auxiliary support spells, make sure they form a circle... but it's definitely not a perfect circle, it's an oval, the kind that's pinched narrow on the sides... Also, pay attention to the ink used. Veela blood ink works very well, but research suggests it would be even better if dragon's blood were mixed in..." Looking at her notebook filled with notes, Lyla's lips curved slightly.
"Done!"
"Probably..."
After a day of concentrated effort, Lyla had successfully conducted multiple experiments and heavily compiled her notes. Her Magic Array Studies notebook had another significant addition!
Feeling thoroughly satisfied, Lyla leaned back in her chair. Her pointed ears twitched happily, and her blue eyes were bright with delight.
But after the initial wave of delight faded, Lyla suddenly realized something. 'Had I forgotten something?'
"Ah! Right! Mr. Lupin's Wolfsbane Potion..." Lyla slapped her face lightly to clear her head.
"As soon as I came back, I just remembered to research the Magic Arrays, and I accidentally put Mr. Lupin's matter completely out of my mind... Lyla, you rascal."
"Fortunately, Mr. Lupin won't need the Wolfsbane Potion until August... I just need to have it ready before mid-September."
"However, the Wolfsbane Potion itself requires sufficient time; after brewing, it needs to be left alone to steep for a full seven days."
"Also, Professor Snape said there's a shortage of Mandrakes... but how would I know where to buy them? After all, I haven't ever eaten them..."
Lyla tilted her head, momentarily unsure of what to do. Perhaps Diagon Alley was a good choice... but there were simply too many people there during the summer shopping rush.
"If I go early, there shouldn't be any danger, and then I'll write a note in advance telling the shopkeeper what I want to buy... That way, I shouldn't need to communicate out loud."
"You truly are a genius, Lyla Hamilton..." Lyla nodded contentedly to herself, leaning back in her chair and letting it tip slightly.
Then there was nothing else to do for the time being; she just needed to wait for school to start in September...
'Wait, school start?!'
Bang!
Lyla lost her balance and fell heavily to the ground, chair and all.
"Ah..." Groaning, she slowly got up, looking at Nova, the tiny gray postal owl she had just violently disturbed. Lyla quickly whispered a frantic apology.
But after apologizing to the tiny owl, Lyla had to genuinely think about Hogwarts.
Lupin had gently suggested she wear a mask to class. That was indeed a good idea to hide her Half-Veela features, but... it didn't solve the core problem.
'How am I supposed to teach students?'
'I can't just stammer through an entire lecture, can I?'
Lyla pursed her lips, feeling that it would be too embarrassing. Ultimately, speaking out loud in front of so many people was inherently a terrifying thing!
Lyla had just broken her personal record for speaking in front of the most people that morning during her Auror raid at the Rosier estate. Thinking about an entire classroom of even more people now was a bit too far ahead for her fragile heart to handle.
But the days were getting closer. It was now nearing mid-August, and in a few short weeks, she would have to go...
Buzz.
Just as Lyla was deeply distressed, the black cowhide leather wristband she wore on her hand vibrated with a soft sound. Immediately, a line of text slowly appeared across the mirror-like crystal.
"Lyla, good evening, or good morning! Because I don't know if you're in London or Tokyo."
It was Miss Lovegood! Greeting her in her usual, most peculiar way. Seeing Luna's message magically broadcast via the Transmission runes, Lyla felt the heavy panic in her heart lessen considerably.
"Good evening, Miss Lovegood, I am currently in Diagon Alley," Lyla slowly wrote back, tracing the words on her own wristband.
"Oh, then open the window quickly."
'Open the window?'
Lyla paused, then slowly walked to the window and pushed it open.
The night was beautiful. There were no dark clouds, and standing above Diagon Alley, one could clearly see the bright, glittering starry sky and a sharp crescent moon.
"We are looking at a starry sky right now."
Seeing Luna's words appear on her wristband, Lyla smiled softly. Miss Lovegood was always such an interesting person... even though Luna had previously said Lyla was the interesting one.
'That's right, should I tell her about my discoveries today?'
Thinking this, Lyla's ebony wand was already writing on her wristband. "Today I discovered a new ancient rune and learned a new Magic Array."
"What Magic Array? Is it for warding off Wrackspurts?"
"Probably not." Lyla tapped her wand lightly. "It's about memory."
"Memory?" Luna scrawled a little cartoon face with giant, shocked eyes and a gaping mouth onto her wristband.
The dramatic doodle made Lyla chuckle out loud, causing Nova to tilt her tiny gray head and look over with large eyes.
"Sorry... sorry!" Lyla quickly apologized again. "Did I disturb your rest?"
'Wait... owls sleep during the day, right?'
Lyla awkwardly turned her head and continued chatting with Luna.
"That's right, memory. I can use a Magic Array to see my own memories."
"Only your own?" Luna's message came quickly, and after a brief pause, she added, "Can you see others'?"
"If you can see others', can you see my memories?"
"That's still unclear, but seeing other people's memories..." Lyla paused and wrote back, "doesn't seem like a good thing."
'That's right, casually looking at other people's memories is very impolite...' Lyla couldn't help but think of Dumbledore. 'Only someone as impolite as him would offer to do that.'
"Of course, casually looking at other people's memories is impolite, but I want Lyla to see mine."
"After all, Lyla taught me so much about Magic Arrays, and I also want to teach Lyla how to deal with Wrackspurts."
"They're invisible, unseen... If I can let Lyla see my memories, wouldn't it be easier to teach you?"
'If she could see memories...' Lyla suddenly froze when she saw this sentence. Then, her blue eyes widened sharply.
'Miss Lovegood, you truly are a genius!'
Lyla sharply tapped the windowsill, and as a result, she had to clutch her stinging hand while gripping her wand tightly.
'That's right, memories!'
'If I could use the memory Magic Array to transmit my memories to others... wouldn't that solve the teaching problem?'
And such educational memories would be very easy to find! Lyla had very seriously listened to every single Dark Arts class at Durmstrang Institute.
'If I could find a way to extract and store these memories, just like Mr. Riddle, and then use a Magic Array to share them with the students...'
'Then I could teach without saying a single word during class!'
'Miss Lovegood truly is a genius! She should serve Lord Grindelwald just like me!'
"No, no, no, no..." Lyla quickly patted her face to violently calm herself down.
'Miss Lovegood isn't eighteen yet; how could Lord Grindelwald's cause want child labor?'
'Even if I was technically seventeen back then, I was only a few days shy of adulthood!'
'And how could a Half-Veela be held to the same standards as a normal wizard, right?'
Buzz.
Luna seemed to have sent another message since Lyla hadn't replied for a while.
"So, Lyla, do you want to learn?"
"Of course, of course!" Lyla rapidly wrote on her wristband. "Also, thank you, Miss Lovegood, your words have given me great inspiration."
"Is that so? That's wonderful."
"After all, we are friends, aren't we?"
Seeing the word "friends," Lyla's smile slowly faded. She thought of the memory she had seen that afternoon.
'Friends?'
'Will I always be friends with Miss Lovegood?'
She pursed her lips, remaining completely silent for a long moment before slowly writing back. "Thank you, Miss Lovegood."
"Goodnight."