New Student

Note before reading:

- This is basically a friendship-focused work centered on the Female Lead, Dumbledore, and Snape. (Including GGAD; it becomes relatively more prominent in the middle and later parts.) (The Female Lead's pairing is Ominis Gaunt. He exists only in memories; in the early and middle parts, he appears mainly in other characters' remarks, with a brief appearance in the final volume.)

- The plot of Harry Potter and the plot of the Hogwarts Legacy game are entirely my personal interpretations. (They are influenced by the film adaptations and the actors' portrayals.) The plot of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is also included.

- My interpretation of the game plot and its NPCs in particular is highly subjective, with some extensions based on my one-sided understanding. (Let me emphasize this again: after all, decades or even a century have passed since the game's main storyline... everyone has to grow up.)

- Where the connections between the two works are lacking or inconvenient for secondary creation, I will make subjective changes. For example, the relationships among the members of the Gaunt Family and the years of their decline.

- Where I cannot find information, I will make things up.

- Before writing this, I struggled for a long time. After all, I had never written fan fiction before, but once an idea came, there was no stopping it. So I wrote, and I will leave it to my future self to decide how far to take it (?)

- This is a fan work, so it contains a great deal of my subjective thinking and one-sided understanding. OOC is unavoidable.

Thank you, everyone.

If this book can bring you joy, it will be my honor.

------ Main story below ------

As he looked at the little courtyard before him, the crease between Snape's brows deepened.

Yes, Hogwarts had a tradition of professors guiding Muggle students before the start of term, but—what Muggle would plant an entire courtyard full of Man-eating Plants and Chinese Chomping Cabbages???

Besides, it was already August. No matter how one looked at it, it was far too late. Going to receive a new student at this point was simply too late.

And this student was a fifth-year new student at that.

"Fifth year." "New student."

Even Merlin himself would sigh at how absurd those two words were together. Snape genuinely felt that a certain Old Bee had begun trying to eat honey with his brain.

Oh, right. What else had Old Bee said—

[If she asks for me, bring her to my office immediately.]

—Just listen to that. Unless he had remembered incorrectly, he was merely a professor receiving a student, not some owl delivering cargo!

Or perhaps this was yet another ridiculous nuisance the great White Wizard had bestowed upon an untrustworthy former Death Eater.

Thinking this, Snape put on a grim face and pressed the doorbell on the only wooden hut in the courtyard.

The person who opened the door was a girl with long black hair. Her bright, light-brown eyes were filled with amusement and puzzlement.

"Ah, you're a Hogwarts professor!?" Before Snape could say anything, the girl began speaking on her own. "Look at me—I nearly forgot that I still had to go to school—" Apparently noticing Snape's unpleasant expression, the girl looked regretful and apologetic. "I'm sorry, Professor. That was rude of me. Truly, I'm sorry."

"...Miss Sekerei?"

"That would be me, Professor." Cyberlina nodded and straightened, putting away her vivid expression until only a smile remained.

Snape fell silent for several seconds, swallowing the words he had been about to unleash, and took out the acceptance letter.

"Thank you, Professor."

Ignoring her earlier rashness, Cyberlina clearly had excellent manners. With an impeccable smile and bearing, she politely accepted the letter with both hands and opened it with a smile.

"...Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore..."

Cyberlina read the words aloud. She lowered her head and thought for a few seconds before looking up at the professor who had come to collect her. "Dumbledore? The Dumbledore who enrolled in 1892?"

The odd question left Snape stunned for two seconds. He then quickly calculated the matter and gave the strange student a concise answer: "More or less."

"Ah..." Cyberlina let out a sigh of emotion.

Snape knit his brows tightly and conveyed the headmaster's peculiar message to the peculiar student. "Headmaster Dumbledore asked me to take you to his office—for now."

"I guessed as much." Cyberlina raised a brow with a smile and casually placed the acceptance letter on the cabinet behind the door. "I don't have a wand right now, so I would trouble—oh, I don't actually know what to call you."

"...Severus Snape." Snape pursed his lips. "If Miss Sekerei successfully enrolls, then, barring accidents, I will be your Potions professor."

"All right, Professor Snape." Cyberlina gave him a radiant yet elegant smile. "Sorry for the trouble of taking me to Hogwarts."

-

After several Apparitions, the two arrived in Hogsmeade.

Cyberlina showed no sign of discomfort. She calmly withdrew the hand resting on Snape's arm with a smile, then inclined her body slightly and offered a perfectly courteous thanks.

Although he had already determined that she was not a purely Muggle student, this behavior still made Snape confirm it once more in his mind, adding one further observation—old-fashioned.

Perhaps noticing that Snape was not fond of talking, Cyberlina remained quiet all the way to Hogwarts. It was only when Snape spoke the password, "Lemon Sherbet," outside the headmaster's office that she let out a surprised little laugh.

After the door opened, the first thing they saw was the back of a white-haired figure in a pointed hat. Once the two entered the office, the old man with white hair and beard turned around, but he was not the first to speak.

"Sekerei!?"

The surprised voice came from a former headmaster's portrait on the wall.

Cyberlina took a close look and smiled. "We meet again, Headmaster Black."

Headmaster Black, who had held the post a century earlier, did not reply. With his lips pursed and his expression extremely unpleasant, he glared at Cyberlina before leaving his frame.

"Oh, how heartbreaking. I thought we could reminisce." Cyberlina looked disappointed, then raised her eyes to the kindly old man with white hair and beard and asked, "Albus?"

Dumbledore chuckled and blinked, replying cheerfully, "It is I, Professor Sekerei."

Seeing those blue eyes, slightly mischievous yet filled with the marks of time, Cyberlina matched them in her mind to the red-haired, blue-eyed little boy. She then returned Dumbledore's smile.

Meanwhile, Snape, who had entered the office with her, felt his desire to leave rise to its absolute peak. He had no interest in investigating the identity of the girl he had brought here. He only wanted to leave this room full of sickening sweetness as quickly as possible and get away from the trouble Dumbledore was trying to hand him.

—But clearly, once Dumbledore's trouble had found Snape, it was not easy to escape.

Just as Snape was about to turn around and leave, Dumbledore spoke. "Severus..."

"I assume you have not forgotten that I am a professor with numerous duties to attend to before the start of term." Snape cut him off.

"But I believe your only task today is receiving Sekerei—"

"Call me Cyberlina, Albus. Why are you being so formal?" Cyberlina said with a beaming smile. "Cyber works too."

She then calmly, elegantly, and without the slightest trace of reserve sat down on the nearest sofa.

Snape and Dumbledore exchanged a glance after being interrupted.

Then, under Dumbledore's smiling gaze, the black-faced Snape sat down on another sofa.

Only after sitting did Snape notice that, although the portraits were not all present, only two or three of the ones that often eavesdropped and watched the show remained. The rest had vanished. He instinctively turned his gaze toward Cyberlina—there was no need to think about it. It was certainly because of this mysterious person.

After sitting down, Dumbledore floated several sweets and a cup of exceedingly sweet tea over to Cyberlina, then asked gently, "Cyberlina... Cyber, would you be willing to answer a few questions for me?"

"To be honest, Albus..." Cyberlina picked up the teacup with a bitter smile. "I don't think I can. I have plenty of questions myself. I have no idea why I became fifteen again after a century, nor why I received a fifth-year Hogwarts acceptance letter once more when I still had no idea what was going on."

"Once more?" Dumbledore picked out the key phrase.

"Yes, once more." Cyberlina repeated herself.

"So that's how it is..." Dumbledore paused. "Cyber, after you went into seclusion—or rather, after you lost contact with us for several years—the professors investigated your origins and past."

"Did they find anything?" Cyberlina leaned forward slightly, anticipation shining in her light golden-brown eyes.

Clearly, she wanted to know where she came from as well.

Dumbledore shook his head at Cyberlina apologetically. "I'm sorry, Cyber. Your past is a complete blank."

The light in Cyberlina's eyes dimmed, but she was not particularly disappointed. She had clearly been mentally prepared for that answer.

"But taking your... special abilities into account, along with the things you recorded with Professor Fig at the time, some of the professors investigating you arrived at a theory." Perhaps the answer was too absurd, for Dumbledore chuckled. "They said that you were sent down by Merlin when the wizarding world was about to face a major crisis, a witch sent to resolve it."

Cyberlina's face filled with shock. She let out a brief, disbelieving laugh, then composed herself and shook her head with a smile. "I suspect they may have overinterpreted what I wrote about the 'Merlin Trials.'"

Dumbledore laughed softly at that. "I didn't believe it at first, either."

Cyberlina stared blankly for a moment, then looked at Dumbledore helplessly. "So you mean... you believe it now?"

"I choose to believe it." A sudden seriousness filled Dumbledore's blue eyes. "Professor Sekerei."

Hearing this, Snape finally understood why Dumbledore had wanted him to stay and listen. He pressed his lips together and gave Dumbledore an unreadable look.

Cyberlina smiled, but after realizing what Dumbledore's words implied, the smile gradually faded.

"What major crisis?" she asked.

"A Dark Lord who should have died more than a decade ago has shown signs of revival." Dumbledore paused. "A powerful Dark Wizard with ambition."

Cyberlina opened her mouth, but no words came out. In the end, she lowered her head and looked at the fingers rubbing the teacup before her. Only after a moment did she raise her head again and give Dumbledore a bitter smile. "But what I knew how to do would, at most, count as a few advanced spells now. My impressive performance back then was purely a matter of being professionally suited to the task."

"I believe in your abilities, Cyber." Dumbledore voiced his trust once more, but he also seemed hesitant to say something.

Cyberlina saw it and prompted him. "This... Dark Lord? Is there anything else I need to know about him?"

Dumbledore looked as though he were struggling with something. After hesitating for several seconds beneath Cyberlina's gaze, he sighed and finally said the words he had been holding back.

"He is the only surviving bloodline of the Gaunt Family."

In an instant, icy dread climbed up Snape's spine. He clenched his wand beneath his black robes without revealing it. When he looked up, he saw Cyberlina and Dumbledore motionless as statues, staring at each other.

As if communicating, yet also locked in a standoff.

After a long while, Cyberlina withdrew her gaze and lowered her head, once again rubbing the teacup in her hands. The aura that had made Snape's flesh crawl vanished completely.

"Albus..." Cyberlina let out a long sigh. "Whatever your plans are, I still have to go to school, don't I?"

"Yes, Cyber." Dumbledore's smile returned. "But there is still some time before the start of term. You have plenty of time to make preparations."

"Yes, plenty." Cyberlina set down the teacup in her hands. "It's much better than rushing over on the day term began and nearly missing the Sorting."

The elegant and courteous girl suddenly made that pointed remark, leaving it unclear whom she was mocking or what she was hinting at. But Snape was certain he heard a cold snort come from one of the frames.

Cyberlina rose and looked down at the student she had once taught, who had now grown old. With a polite smile, she asked, "But first, I need to retrieve my wand... Albus, could I trouble this silent professor to take me to my former home and help me look for it?"

"Of course." Dumbledore agreed without hesitation before turning cheerfully to the silent professor. "You agree, don't you, Severus?"

"...Of course." Snape practically forced the two words through clenched teeth.

-

The visitors left one after the other, and the office door closed. Dumbledore took a sweet from the jar and put it into his mouth.

Fawkes gave a cry and appeared in the office. After circling once, he landed in his usual place. The ancient Sorting Hat opened its mouth. "She is still herself."

"Yes, she is still herself." Dumbledore chuckled, his eyes turning toward the untouched tea beside the sofa. "That's a good thing, isn't it?"