Cassandra's Letter

"Cool!" Ron's eyes lit up. "Can I?"

"Why not?" Harry shrugged.

Children at that age were especially prone to being influenced by those around them.

Under Harry and Hermione's subtle influence, Ron had also shed the careless attitude he had had at the School Opening.

Besides, for a young wizard Ron's age, asking him to study Potions or Transfiguration might not interest him much—but if it was learning some Minor Curses, he would be bursting with motivation.

Just imagine it: getting to hurl a few curses at Malfoy's infuriating face. How wonderful would that be?

"Still, we seem to need a suitable place to practice spells," Hermione said with some concern. "Magic isn't allowed in the Gryffindor Common Room..."

"Leave it to me," Harry said.

To avoid drawing attention, Harry decided to investigate the Crypt the following day.

He also had a perfect excuse to fob off Ron and Hermione—looking for a suitable place to practice spells.

While the classmates were all attending the feast in the Great Hall, Harry slipped downstairs from the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with practiced ease and found the entrance to the Crypt.

The Crypt's entrance was something like a cabinet. Its door had four clock-like dials, and only by aligning the hands in their preset directions could one pass through the cabinet and enter the Crypt.

He drew his wand and adjusted the hands according to the method Sebastian had taught him.

Once all four hands pointed in the right directions, the entrance door flew open with a boom.

Harry stepped inside and, accompanied by the familiar sensation of the world spinning around him, was transported into the Crypt.

The Crypt seemed not to have been visited for many years, at least that was what Harry thought. The entire room was covered in a thick layer of dust.

He had to pull his scarf over his nose to keep from choking on the dust stirred up by his footsteps.

He could have used a Scouring Charm, but Harry worried that he might clean away some clue in the process, so he did not use the spell.

The Crypt was called the Crypt because it lay at the very bottom of the Dark Arts Defense Tower. Only a few dim rays of light slipped in through the skylight above.

Harry took out his wand and lit every brazier and torch.

Then he slowly walked over to the desk nearby.

A thick layer of dust covered the desk, and Harry had to use his wand to brush it aside.

To his delight, there was a letter on the desk. Judging by the handwriting, it seemed to be from Cassandra.

He pulled out the letter. Time had long since blurred the words on the paper beyond recognition.

Only after carefully making them out did Harry finally see what was written.

"I think Grindelwald has truly gone mad. Time is forbidden magic, a taboo even Merlin would not touch. When she comes out of that Love Nest with Potter, I hope you can talk some sense into that lovestruck fool and make her understand that Ancient Magic is not omnipotent.

—C.C. Malfoy"

Harry's heart leaped into his throat.

Time Magic?

Could it be... that after he disappeared, Verathea had been experimenting with some kind of Time Magic in an attempt to find him?

He clutched Cassandra's Letter in his hand, his mind clouded and heavy.

If things were truly as Cassandra had said, then Verathea had most likely failed—and failed with serious consequences.

That explained why this century had only ever known of the Dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald, yet there had never been any news of his Sister.

Given her nature, she would never have ignored her family.

Then perhaps... she had already been trapped somewhere.

Could it be the Map Chamber? Harry noticed Cassandra's sarcastic remark. The so-called "Love Nest" was Cassandra's name for the Map Chamber, because only inheritors of Ancient Magic could enter that chamber freely.

Harry tucked the letter into his pocket, and his determination to obtain that thing only grew firmer.

Back in the Vault, his intuition had already told him that with the help of the thing inside that cloth bundle, he could break through the age restriction and awaken Ancient Magic.

Since it belonged to the Headmaster, Harry thought perhaps... he could talk to him?

Now that he had a clear objective and a clue, Harry temporarily set the matter aside.

From the Crypt's collection, he found several thick books on Dueling Techniques and stuffed them into a small pouch enchanted with an Untraceable Extension Charm before quietly leaving the Crypt.

For the time being, he did not intend to return to the Crypt. After all, he was not experimenting with some Dark Arts alongside Sebastian; there was nothing to hide.

So for dueling practice, the Room of Requirement would be better.

After returning from the Crypt, Harry went back to the Gryffindor Common Room and placed the books he had brought back in front of Hermione, who was checking Ron's homework.

"Here, you got this wrong." Like a little teacher, Hermione sternly pointed at an error in his homework and corrected him.

"Oh." Ron obediently gave a quiet response.

Noticing Harry's return, he immediately changed the subject.

"Harry? You're back? Did you find it? Oh, right—Hermione finished checking your homework. She marked all the mistakes. It's right there."

Harry looked in the direction Ron pointed and indeed saw his homework.

It had been his and Ron's request to Hermione, the Academic Bully, that she check their homework in her spare time—but Hermione had flatly refused Ron's request to copy homework. Her reason had been, "Then what would you two learn?" and Ron had abandoned that unrealistic idea.

"Harry only had a few omissions in his History of Magic homework, Ronald!" Hermione glared at Ron like a lioness. "And you, Ronald, look at your mistakes! How many times have I told you? It's Leviosa, not Leviosar!"

"Oh." Ron puffed out his cheeks and lowered his head in aggrieved silence.

"I found it," Harry said, helping Ron change the subject. "We'll go later. These are the books I found there."

"Nineteenth Century Dueling Compendium, Harmless Minor Curses..." Hermione held the books, her eyes sparkling. "Goodness, Harry, I've never even seen these books in the library..."

"How do you know the library doesn't have these books?" Harry asked instinctively.

Hermione gave him a very serious look in response.

Harry understood at once. Don't ask about an Academic Bully's business.

Then Hermione opened Harmless Minor Curses.

She took only one look before snapping the book shut as though she had seen a ghost.

"Goodness, you call these 'Harmless Minor Curses'?" she growled under her breath.