"Come with me. Bring Iris."
"Professor Leslie, please seal this place off."
"Luna, prepare some potions to sustain life. This will be a long battle."
Cassandra began assigning everyone tasks with remarkable composure.
No one objected. They all nodded to show they understood.
However, Cypher was the only one who did not truly come back to his senses until Cassandra had assigned everyone present a task.
Before that, he had merely nodded along instinctively.
"Cassandra, you..."
Having never seen her act so forcefully, Cypher could not help wondering whether something was wrong with his understanding of her.
Yet that faint suspicion vanished the moment Cassandra secretly stuck out her tongue at him and made a face.
She was still the same familiar, sweet, airheaded girl.
Their temporary base turned out to be a familiar old place—the Transfiguration Class office.
Cypher used Mage Hand to carry Iris all the way there.
Along the way, through the conversation between Professor Leslie and Cassandra, Cypher finally understood why the professor had taken so long to appear.
It turned out Cassandra had not returned to her dormitory to rest that night at all. Instead, she had gone straight to Professor Leslie.
After his Patronus notified the professor, Cassandra had followed her and watched the battle from the sidelines.
Until... the shadow revealed an opening.
"All right, Cypher. Ask whatever you want. So long as I can tell you, I'll tell you everything without holding back."
Under everyone's watchful eyes.
Cypher choked on his thoughts for quite a while before finally asking his first question.
"When did you realize something was wrong with Iris?"
"I don't know..." Cassandra shook her head in distress. Halfway through her answer, the ring on her hand lit up.
"It was during the summer break, not long after Iris