In the valley, it suddenly became dark, and the dark gray covered Tia's sight.
This undoubtedly made her very uneasy.
Tia is a very ordinary girl. She has been ordinary from childhood to adulthood, so ordinary that it even makes her want to cry.
Tia is also a girl who is often bullied. She has been bullied since she was a child, and every bit of her memory is full of ambiguity.
Whenever she encounters sudden changes, Tia is always at a loss. Even though she had celebrated her 23rd birthday last month, this was still the case.
Twenty-three years had passed in her life, but she seemed to have not grown up at all, living in a state of confusion and poverty.
yes! She grew up in a Muggle orphanage in Massachusetts, and was admitted to Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the age of 11, graduating with great difficulty.
However, such a tragic life experience without a father or mother has never been a fig leaf for her to cover up her own cowardice. This is just because there are many children who have the same life experience as her, and are even much more miserable than her. Aren't most of the children in the orphanage where she grew up like this
She had neither the ability nor the opportunity to complain—at least she thought so.
Other orphans can rely on their own talent and hard work to gain the motivation to keep climbing, but she, Tia, cannot. She is weak and helpless... but the reason is only because of herself.
"God gave me opportunities, but it was only because of my cowardice that those opportunities were wasted."
Tia often thought this way, even when she was a Muggle, and even after she became an unknown witch.
She didn't understand why, while waiting to be sorted in the hall of Ilvermorny Castle, the cat and leopard statue representing the wisdom of the scholar roared, and the thunderbird statue representing the soul of adventure flapped its wings.
She only knew that she spent her study life in the magic school in a daze, barely crossed the threshold of graduation, and became a poor witch who could not even find a job to make a living.
This time, perhaps for the first time in her life, she mustered up the courage to leave the orphanage where she had lived for 23 years and come to this land that was completely unfamiliar to her.
Recently, the "Gilderoy Lockhart Personal Audio-Visual Session" that caused a lot of commotion in the British wizarding community has become almost universally known. Even Tia, a foreigner from afar, has inevitably heard about it.
But unlike those wizards who just wanted to see the truth of the "Audio-Visual Conference" and join in the fun, Tia came here for the free food.
Tia, who didn't have much money to begin with, had been penniless a week ago. If she didn't find something to eat, she would probably starve to death in this strange country.
She was very lucky that there was so much free food and drink available!
Those wealthy merchants probably wanted to take advantage of this event to publicize it, but how could she understand this? All she knew was that she could finally hold on for a few more days.
In the huge building that was said to be the venue for the audio-visual conference, there seemed to be many interesting activities about to begin, but Tia didn't even take a look.
What she wants to do most now is to stuff as much free food into her empty stomach as possible - because these things are only provided on site and are not allowed to be taken away.
However, just as Tia was sitting in front of a certain staple food stall, stuffing French fries into her mouth as hard as she could, she noticed that the sky was depressed.
She puffed up her cheeks filled with French fries, raised her head with a blank look on her face, and immediately saw the gray-black clouds that were sinking in the sky.
"… What's wrong?"
Only one question flashed through her confused mind, and then she couldn't see anything else.
The crowded crowd around her disappeared, the noisy hawking sounds that kept echoing in her ears disappeared, and even the French fries that filled her mouth disappeared.
It seems... even the whole world has disappeared.
She squatted on the same spot as before, hugging her knees tremblingly, and buried her slightly dirty face deeply into her arms.
"...Don't, don't bully Tia... Tia knows she's wrong, Tia knows she's wrong..."
In Tia's subconscious, when encountering danger, any resistance will lead to more rough treatment. That's why she has never argued or even explained since she was a child.
She only knows how to beg for mercy, only knows how to admit her mistakes, and only knows how to tell others... She is a weak and boring girl. In this case, at least she won't be bullied for too long.
But this time, it was different from what she expected.
There were no bullying Muggles kicking her or pulling her hair; there were no bad wizards using magic to make her develop pustules or anything else that caused her pain.
In her ears, there seemed to be a faint sound of horse hooves...
Tia quietly opened her tightly closed eyes and raised her head timidly. Suddenly, she was surprised to find that she was on an empty and quiet field.
The green fields are bathed in morning dew and sparkle with crystal brilliance; the fine soil is moist and soft, faintly exuding a fresh smell.
Everything around here seems to be glowing with vitality.
"... tah tah tah tah."
The sound of horse hooves came closer and closer from behind Tia. She quickly turned around and saw a carriage galloping briskly this way.
Not far behind her, by the horse trail, a strange-looking farm was located in the middle of a fruit forest. A flat dirt road snaked down and extended to the horse trail.
"Xilulu—"
The two maroon horses pulling the carriage were pulled aside by the driver, trotted two steps, and stopped at the intersection of the dirt road.
"Master Lockhart, we are home."
"Okay, thank you for your hard work...wait for me on the side of the road. I'll be back soon."
In Tia's confused sight, the curtain of the carriage was opened, and then, a tall and handsome man jumped out of the carriage easily. After saying goodbye to the coachman, he walked towards the farm with steady steps.
The coachman nodded towards his back, then shook the reins and drove the horse to the side of the road.
Tia looked at Lockhart who was walking towards the farm, then at the old coachman sitting on the carriage, and blinked blankly.
"Can't they... see I'm here?"
She was obviously squatting on a field ridge not far from the horse trail, but neither Lockhart nor the old coachman even glanced at her. Even though his eyes passed near her several times, he still turned a blind eye.
Although Tia's academic performance is not very good, she is at least a graduated witch. At this moment, she finally realized slowly that she might have been trapped in some strange and strange magic...
"...Again...Who is teasing Tia?"
She hugged her knees tightly and bit her lower lip, timidly thinking about this question that frightened and disturbed her.
Even though she was often teased and bullied by others, she had never encountered such a situation. Who is bullying her with such a powerful and terrifying magic
Is this... worth it
"...Ti, Tia knows she was wrong... No matter who it is, please, please let Tia go..."
She timidly begged for mercy, but no one paid attention to her. The surroundings are still peaceful, only the wild frogs in the field are chirping softly, which is full of wild interest.
Time passed by little by little. The old coachman on the carriage took a nap, and the two maroon horses were also unusually well-behaved and quiet.
Tia didn't move at all. She didn't dare to move, for fear that if she moved, something terrible would happen.
Until Lockhart came out of the farm with two more suitcases, put his luggage on the carriage, and headed for the road ahead. But after driving for a certain distance, the carriage suddenly rose into the air.
At this moment, the surrounding scene suddenly blurred. When Tia blinked again, she saw that everything in her field of vision had changed.
"...where is this?"
It was a patch of green grass that seemed to be mowed from time to time, making it look perfectly smooth.
A towering fence gate stood not far in front of her. Looking into the gate, at the end of a winding upward slope, there was an amazing quaint castle.
The castle has rough and natural lines, and large gray-black wall bricks are stacked tightly together, making it look heavy and solid, as if it is indestructible.
In Tia's eyes, this is a more magnificent castle than her alma mater, Ilvermorny Castle.
While she was dazed, another series of horse hoofbeats sounded from behind her. When she looked back, the carriage carrying Lockhart dropped from the sky and jogged to a stop at the school gate.
"Squeak-"
Tia was startled and quickly turned around, then she was so frightened that she hid her face in her arms again.
The tall fence door opened, and it was opened by a man with a cold face. There was no one there just now, so where did he come from? Is it Apparating? still…
Tia is scared! Very scared! What she fears most is a man with a cold face and sharp eyes!
"Oh - are you Professor Severus Snape? Hello, nice to meet you! I am Gilderoy Lockhart, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts... From today on, we are colleagues.”
"… Hello."
One is a cheerful and calm voice, but the other is a cold and ruthless voice. If it were in the past, Tia would definitely prefer the former, at least such a sunny man would not bully her easily.
But somehow...
Tia suddenly raised her head and peeked at the gloomy-faced man again...