Reputation is the chief source of all power. Whether gods, kings, or beauties, without reputation, none of them can amount to anything.
—Gustav Le Bon
Pomona checked her pocket watch. Half the agreed time had already passed, yet she still had not found the exit. Just as she was about to turn back, she heard the sound of running water.
She followed the sound for a while and gradually saw a faint glimmer. A small waterfall formed by a mountain spring flowed through a crack in the rocks into a ditch.
Skeleton Flowers grew beside the ditch. This flower was native to Asia, blooming from late spring to early summer. It preferred shade and had especially high ventilation requirements, making it exceedingly rare. Even in its native Asia, it was said that one needed tremendous luck to see one.
"How did you end up here?" Pomona asked the Skeleton Flower. It trembled in the breeze, as if answering her question.
"Don't waste time. Go up and take a look," Tom Riddle said.
Pomona ignored him. She crouched beside the Skeleton Flower and carefully touched its leaves.
"Do you know why it's called a Skeleton Flower, Tom? Look at its leaves. Don't they resemble lotus leaves?"
Tom ignored her, apparently uninterested in the origins of this weed.
"I'll show you something magical."
Pomona took out her wand and used a Growth Charm on it. The rare plant, which should have needed another month or two before blooming, quickly formed buds and then blossomed with small white flowers.
"How magical," Tom said sarcastically.
"Just wait." Pointing her wand, she made a stream of spring water float up. Droplets slowly fell onto the white petals, and before long, the petals turned transparent, as though carved from ice and snow. Even their veins were