Hope's Blessing for a Desperate Soul

All the Inferi in the Great Potion Lake had been freed. With no Inferi left to intimidate, Dumbledore did not raise a ring of fire.

Unlike the gloom they had felt upon first entering the cave, it now resembled a moonless night—dark and tranquil.

The still Great Potion Lake did not ripple in the slightest, like a mirror polished from obsidian;

Reflected in the lake, Wizet seemed to see a river of stars before him. Countless faint lights gathered into starlight, seeming to hover above the Great Potion Lake while also lying hidden deep within it.

As though sensing Wizet's gaze, the gathered starlight began flickering like fireflies and drifted continuously toward him.

Wizet reached out to catch it, but the starlight passed straight through his palm and circled around him, rotating at an exceedingly slow pace. It looked like a magnificent swirling star cluster.

"How wondrous..." Dumbledore also stretched out a hand, half-closing his eyes as though sensing something. "Perhaps this is the victims'... final blessing..."

"The purest kind of blessing, born from the instinct of the soul... I think you may need a vessel, one capable of carrying souls—such as making a 'Spirit-Calling Casket.'"

"A vessel for carrying souls..." The first thing that came to Wizet's mind was Slytherin's Locket.

When they had repaired the locket earlier, Luna had mentioned that she felt a peculiar pull from it;

It was precisely because of Luna's words that Wizet had kept the locket on him, in case it proved useful someday.

He took out the locket from his pocket and made a hissing sound like a snake flicking its tongue. "Open!"

Under the effect of Wizet's Parseltongue, Slytherin's Locket sprang open with a click.

Their guess had been correct. The swirling star cluster sped up, and the flickering starlight poured