"...Severus, this is my last request to you...Give this to Tom, and then give this to Maka...You know what to do...They all have their own paths to take..."
In the basement of the main castle of Hogwarts, in the Potions Professor's office, Snape sat expressionlessly behind his desk, his cold black eyes staring quietly at the table.
In front of him, there was a small glass tube filled with some floc.
Although it seems to be a materialized memory, if it is placed in a pensieve, its contents should be able to be deciphered. But the floc in the glass tube in front of me is not the normal silvery white, but a rather pure bright silver.
Originally there was supposed to be a torn wand on the table, which was what would eventually be handed over to Voldemort. But for now, the wand is still where it belongs.
The remaining small glass tube was left for Maca.
At this moment, the entire Hogwarts was very quiet. It was an inexplicable silence, as if some unspeakable ominousness had enveloped the castle, making people breathless.
Almost all the teachers and students gathered in the front yard, which was a slightly withered lawn.
The weather has obviously been a bit cold recently, but there are too many people gathered here. As the number of people increased, it seemed that even the air was soaked with everyone's body temperature and became slightly warmer.
But even so, everyone's hearts were cold.
These days, it has been cloudy for several nights. Although it will always be sunny during the day, this afternoon, it seems that I can't stand it any longer...
A wave of moisture surged in the soil where the withered grass took root, as if foreshadowing the coming rainy night.
At this time, Snape is probably the only one not here, right
At this moment of silence in Hogwarts, the space suddenly distorted beside the horse road outside the school gate, and a figure quietly appeared.
"...I always feel a strange sense of déjà vu. What is the blood curse of the Blois family?"
What appeared there was Maka, who had just returned from the dark alley next to the Dark Spirit Pavilion. After Mr. Blois revealed himself with his entourage and took Willie directly back to Blois Castle, Maka immediately came to Hogwarts.
According to Mr. Blois, the title page of the ancient genealogy does not indicate whether it can be sealed twice, but in theory it should still be possible.
So he immediately decided to take his daughter home.
As for Maka, although he didn't have time to say anything more to Willy's father, he at least conveyed his research results on bloodline transformation to Mr. Blois.
Regardless of whether the other party believes it or not, since Voldemort has broken his promise, his suggestion should be reconsidered by Mr. Blois.
In fact, if possible, Maka really wanted to go to Blois Castle with Willy.
"...blood curse...sealed magic...mysterious crystal flower...the origin of Veela...the ruined ancient desert country...a huge disaster..."
Maka, who was immersed in her thoughts, had not noticed anything unusual in Hogwarts yet. He just easily unlocked the defensive magic on the main door, then opened the tall fence door and walked in.
Even after entering the campus, he subconsciously added a new defensive magic with his backhand.
The staff, which was nearly the same height as him, tapped on the ground with his footsteps, inadvertently destroying the dead silence in the campus.
"'Disaster'...?"
A series of key words mentioned in the story told by Willy flashed through Maka's mind one by one, and finally stopped at the word "disaster".
"ah!"
When several images suddenly appeared in Maka's mind, he couldn't help but let out a low cry.
"Is it possible that this 'curse' has something to do with the Monument of Bewitchment?"
In the stone chamber at that time, the power of the Bewitching Monument in Voldemort's body obviously counterattacked. What caused this to happen was the power of the curse that was unleashed by Willie when she unlocked the seal.
Looking at what the two have in common, they both cause huge "disasters".
"The Bewitched Monument, the Cursed Bloodline... plus the Sword of Gryffindor and the floor-to-ceiling round mirror described in the mural of the despicable Herbo's tomb... could they be the same thing?"
In confusion, Maka lowered her eyes slightly and kept urging her racing thoughts. But as he got closer and closer to Hogwarts Castle, he finally felt something was wrong.
He suddenly raised his head, trying to find the source of the strange feeling. But he didn't need to look any further. He immediately saw the group of figures standing silently in front of the castle.
"This..." Seeing this scene, Macadang remembered what Voldemort had said, "Don't be kidding... This... is impossible, right?"
In front of him, a large number of young wizards gathered on the lawn in a heap, their heads lowered in silence. And in the innermost part of the crowd, there seemed to be some professors standing.
Maka quickly took out a magic book, swung it forward and stepped on it, quickly passing over the horse path, across the lawn, and over the heads of the little wizards, blowing into the circle like a gust of wind.
Many people noticed his arrival, and their eyes followed his movement subconsciously until he landed at the very end.
"Macca." "McLean."
Many people called him out of habit, but he didn't pay attention. He just stared at the lawn surrounded by everyone in astonishment.
There, there was an old wizard with white beard and hair, lying on the ground calmly.
A pair of half-moon-shaped glasses had been broken and hung crookedly on his left ear; there was also a broken wand, which fell to the grass not far away.
And the pale blue eyes on the old wizard's face have lost the look that should have been full of wisdom.
"… baffling."
Maka stared for a long time, but only managed to say this.
But before the words were settled, he suddenly waved his staff, and a wave of magic power immediately spread towards the old wizard. But soon, Maka frowned again after receiving the feedback.
It was obvious that there was no breath of life in that body. Not only that, even the magic power in his body did not independently block Maka's exploration, but instead continued to escape outside the body.
"Everyone, please step back, I need to do a deeper inspection."
Under Maka's unquestionable words, both students and professors all stepped back with complicated expressions on their faces. In the crowd, Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked at him with worried faces.
Especially Hermione, her eyes were bloodshot and red, as if she had shed a lot of tears.
On the other side, Luna just looked at Maka silently, not knowing what she was thinking.
After everyone cleared a clearing, Maka slammed the staff in her hand. A skull of black mist passed through the old wizard's body silently, then rose into the air very smoothly and rushed towards the sky.
Magic like this, which is full of dark magic, makes everyone feel uneasy. But under the current situation, Maka's carefree appearance as a spell caster actually made people feel more secure.
"How's it going?" Professor McGonagall, who was standing at the front of the crowd, held her handkerchief tightly and asked with negligible expectations.
Maka turned around slowly and shook her head gloomily.
"There is no soul in the body anymore." He took a deep breath, exhaled it slowly, and then said heavily, "Dumbledore... is gone..."
Maka's words seemed to turn on a stuck switch, and a series of commotions and cries suddenly sounded in the crowd. Fear and sadness were mixed, causing the already extremely depressing atmosphere to suddenly explode.
"… Albus."
Professor McGonagall wiped her eye sockets with a handkerchief, her voice trembling.
"Professor McGonagall," Maca walked up to her, patted her shoulder first, and then said seriously, "It's not the time to cry yet, and I believe Professor Dumbledore doesn't want to see this scene either... "
After saying that, he turned to look at the little wizards behind Mag and looked around for a while.
"Classmates, please be quiet and listen to me!"
His voice was clear and loud, and under the influence of magic, it spread to everyone's ears.
"No matter what happened, Hogwarts is still here. We have nothing to be afraid of! Although Dumbledore is gone, he must have left to protect Hogwarts and us—"
"He was born in Hogwarts just like us. This is his home, my home, and our common home!"
"He was fearless for Hogwarts, and of course we can be fearless. No matter what we are facing, we should be brave, because-"
Having said this, Maka waved her staff forcefully, and a dazzling blue-white light pillar suddenly shot up, straight through the thick clouds above her head, and straight into the sky.
In an instant, the beam of light dissipated silently, and a golden ray of sunlight fell through the hole in the clouds.
"Because we are Hogwarts!"
When everyone collectively raised their necks and looked above their heads, Maka patted Professor McGonagall's arm again.
"The next step is up to you to get everyone back to the castle as soon as possible - and also, patrols need to be arranged immediately within the school area to prepare for any eventuality."
At this time, at the gate of Hogwarts Castle, Snape also came out. He was standing by the steps in front of the door, looking up at the sky like everyone else, with a trace of yearning and nostalgia in his eyes.
Perhaps most wizards have dreamed of powerful magic, and some who have talents have worked tirelessly. Apparently, Snape was one of them.
He had always wanted to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and it was obvious why.
"Professor Snape?" Maka walked to the bottom of the steps and called.
"Um."
Snape lowered his head and glanced at him, then turned and walked inside.
"… follow me."