Dust Settled

After the false Baker's body had been completely covered in a layer of deep-blue frost, Flitwick, who had long since moved aside, finally let out a sigh of relief. Then his whole body slowly melted like a wax figure, growing taller until, a few seconds later, he had transformed into someone else—Avada Kedavra.

[Mr. K, what did you want to say?]

[Professor, according to what you said, at this point "you" should be doing everything you can to break through the Spatial Magic and escape the Room of Requirement. And the spell you set up would have a hard time stopping you, right?]

[What I mean is, since we can't stop him, then let's not try. Or rather, we don't need to stop him—we can let him run into a dead end on his own.]

[The Room of Requirement has another feature besides opening different rooms according to the user's needs: even after entering a room, its contents can change to suit the user's further needs. For instance, it can grow larger or change its decor...]

[So why don't we build a fake "Seventh Floor corridor" inside the Room of Requirement?]

[After all, neither you nor your fragments of consciousness will be recognized by the Room of Requirement. Only Baron and I can alter it. That means we can build a fake Seventh Floor corridor inside the Room of Requirement ahead of time and hide it. During the fight, you'll use Spatial Magic to conceal the door, right? Then Baron can stay invisible and take the opportunity to change the Room of Requirement with his thoughts, using the fake corridor to block the real door.]

[That way, even if the false Baker breaks through the Spatial Magic and finds the door, he'll only open a fake door and enter a fake corridor. In reality, he'll still be inside the Room of Requirement...]

[And the moment he enters the corridor, he'll let his guard down, leaving himself full of openings. If I drink Polyjuice Potion to become Professor Flitwick or another professor and pretend to come help, that should dispel the last of his suspicions. The only problems are that I don't know how to brew Polyjuice Potion and when I should drink it...]

It turned out that Professor Baker's explanation made Avada realize he had overestimated Polyjuice Potion. Brewing it required no additional magic or advanced skill. You only had to put the right ingredients into a cauldron at the right time and in the right way, then let them simmer for ten days or half a month.

In other words, anyone could make it, as long as they had the recipe and ingredients, and enough care and patience. It had been banned because its unusual effects meant it was subject to regulation.

As for the ingredients that were difficult to obtain, some were gathered in the Forbidden Forest, while the rest Avada had paid for himself, writing to an apothecary in Diagon Alley to buy them directly. He had money; there was no need to steal from Snape's office.

And Professor Flitwick's hair was even easier to get. As an elderly British man, he was bound to lose his hair eventually, even with his Goblin heritage.

In the end, following Professor Baker's advice, Avada and Baron had chosen to cast Flash Smoke to block the false Baker's vision. They used that opportunity for Avada to drink the Polyjuice Potion and change his clothes, while Baron began preparing the Dark Magic.

Judging by the results, it had worked remarkably well.

From beginning to end, the three of them had accounted for everything the false Baker did. Every move had been carefully trapped, and he'd never stood a chance of turning things around. The fierce battle had seemed perilous, and Avada and Baron had indeed been exhausted by it, but in truth, their victory had been assured.

"Whew, it's finally over..."

Back in his usual form, Avada casually threw on a robe and flopped onto the floor, utterly lacking in dignity. Between the battle and all the tricks he'd had to pull, he was completely drained. All he wanted now was to lie down and sleep.

Baron looked a little pale, too. The Dark Magic he'd cast just now had damaged his mental strength, though not severely. It would heal on its own in a few hours.

"Yeah, it's over..."

Leaning against the wall, Baron managed a small smile.

For the past few months, the two of them had sacrificed almost all their free time to Professor Baker's lessons and training, working to reach the level of ability required for the plan as quickly as possible. Even though Professor Baker had carefully arranged their studies so that none of the material was above fourth-year level, the training had still worn them out.

But it also meant their abilities had improved at an astonishing rate. At this point, Baron wasn't even sure what level he was at anymore.

"Hey, hey, you still have one last step!"

A bitter laugh suddenly interrupted their attempts to relax. It was Professor Baker.

"Ahem, sorry. I almost forgot."

Baron coughed awkwardly, and Avada struggled to his feet. Together, they used the Levitation Charm to lift Professor Baker's body and carry him over to the Black Crystal Ball. Baron then waved his wand, first removing the frost that was still causing him harm, then activating the Repentance spell.

As the strange magical structure turned under Avada's Magic Sense, a golden light emerged from the Black Crystal Ball and shot into Professor Baker's forehead. His body immediately began to tremble violently. The veins on the backs of his hands and across his forehead stood out, as if he were enduring terrible pain.

Forcing himself to stay alert, Avada focused on watching the changes in Professor Baker's mind. Under Repentance's guidance, Professor Baker's original mental strength and magical void had returned to his body and were gradually merging with the mental strength left behind in his original body. The larger and smaller magical voids slowly drew together, until at last they merged into one, becoming indistinguishable from each other.

"Ugh!"

Suddenly, Professor Baker sat up with a jolt, like a fish flopping out of water, startling Avada and Baron.

"Merlin, I'm finally back..."

He took a few deep breaths and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. Then he turned to Avada and Baron, who had retreated several steps and were watching him warily, and smiled. "Now we can say we've truly succeeded."

"Judging by those expressions, fine, I'll leave my wand with you for now. Just give it back before my next class..."

Professor Baker gave a wry laugh. After moving his limbs a few times, he slowly got to his feet. He held the Crystal Ball in one hand and turned the hanging straps back into sleeves with the other, making himself look a little less disheveled. Then he opened the real door first.

"Don't worry. You saved my life. Even without a contract, I'd never hurt you."

"Let's head back first. I'll need a little time to prepare your rewards—probably until tomorrow. Come by my office tomorrow night. Besides the promised Galleons and knowledge, I'm planning to prepare a few other things, too. I guarantee you'll feel these past few months were worth the effort."

"All right, let's go back. Take a bath, change your clothes, and tell your friends you can study and play with them again. Ha ha..."

In the end, they returned the two wands to Professor Baker and left the Room of Requirement with him.

Watching Professor Baker's retreating figure, Avada furrowed his brows, looking somewhat puzzled.

From what he could sense, the incongruity he'd felt in Professor Baker's mental strength was still there. That meant he had only brought his main soul back to his body; he hadn't gone on to reunite it with the fragment and restore his soul to its whole state.

But that also meant the spell called Repentance couldn't repair the soul directly, as Avada had assumed. If so, why had Professor Baker named it "Repentance"?