Awkward Relationship

"Professor."

Hoffa sat up, feeling uneasy.

Did Dumbledore know that his last trip into the Forbidden Forest counted as breaking school rules? If this counted as a violation, then according to the rules set by Armando Dippet, his wand would be snapped and he would be expelled. But Dumbledore could not decide his fate. The one who could decide it was Gorshak.

"Other than Ruterov, I caught the other two Dark wizards."

Dumbledore said blandly, "One of them was seriously injured by Joey, while the other had his vocal cords severed. To this day, neither has said a word."

Hoffa's heart skipped a beat.

He had wounded that Dark wizard with a Transfiguration spell, but judging by Dumbledore's character, he did not think Dumbledore would approve of it.

But Dumbledore did not pursue the matter. "Dark wizards cannot enter the Forbidden Forest. The school is protected by powerful defensive and warding spells. Without help from someone special, they could not get in. I suspect there is an informant for the Dark wizards within the school. What do you think?"

An informant.

Hoffa looked confused. Why was Dumbledore asking him? He was only a first-year student. Did Dumbledore think he knew something?

He did not.

Hoffa shook his head without speaking.

Dumbledore sighed softly, seeming somewhat disappointed.

Then he said, "Headmaster Dippet and Deputy Headmaster Gorshak are in Germany right now. They may be back next week. When they return, I'm afraid Joey will not escape punishment."

"Why!?" Hoffa abruptly sat bolt upright in bed. "He saved us."

"He put two younger students in danger. This has gone beyond the duties of a staff member. He may be dismissed for it," Dumbledore said expressionlessly.

"He didn't know there were Dark wizards in the Forbidden Forest. He only wanted to understand the meaning of the words left by the centaurs. You can't judge whether the cause was right or wrong based on the outcome."

The moment the words left his mouth, Hoffa himself was startled. He had not expected his reaction to be so intense. He had never been like this before.

Dumbledore fell silent. He lowered his head and scrutinized Hoffa.

Then, suddenly, he smiled faintly.

"When I saw you in the Forbidden Forest that night, I wondered why you weren't in Gryffindor. Now it seems Ravenclaw truly suits you better."

Hoffa had no idea what he meant, so he merely pressed his lips together and said nothing.

Dumbledore said, "You needn't worry about the staff's affairs. I came today as an ordinary teacher checking on a student. Hoffa, do you remember what I said in my first class?"

Hoffa remained silent.

Dumbledore said, "Be cautious, Hoffa. Overdrawing your magic is not the behavior of a clever wizard. Forcing yourself to use magic beyond your capabilities is an extremely, extremely dangerous thing."

Hoffa sighed. "I understand. I'll be more careful next time."

"Good." Dumbledore stood, and only then did his expression soften somewhat.

"It's always difficult to be alone in this world. Sometimes, relying on friends a little isn't something to be ashamed of. Don't you think?" He looked at Argeleia as he finished speaking, then pushed open the door and left the hospital ward.

Watching Dumbledore's back vanish through the doorway,

Hoffa did not move for a while.

He was thinking, and he was confused.

The arrow-letter Joey had received could not possibly have been the centaurs' doing.

Who had set a trap for him or Joey?

And who was the informant Dumbledore had spoken of?

After a long while, with no answers at all, Hoffa collapsed weakly onto his pillow, his mind a mess.

He looked at the mountains of Scotland beyond the window.

There was an indescribable feeling in his heart.

No matter who had designed the trap, he had always been too passive—passively adapting to his surroundings, passively accepting fate.

Dumbledore had saved him this time, but what about next time?

The unfathomable future left him lost, while the shadows lurking in the dark filled him with fear.

Hoffa wanted to change something. He desperately wanted to change, to seize greater control of his own fate. He did not want things to continue like this.

He wanted to tear apart the mist before his eyes.

Not long afterward, with the help of meditation, Hoffa's mental injury healed. But Healer Rainer insisted that he could not leave the hospital before completing the full course of treatment.

In that regard, he was no different from Madam Pomfrey of later years.

Argeleia stayed in the hospital for several days. During those days, boys came to visit her in an endless stream. Some even came running back several times.

Flowers, fruit, cards, Chocolate Frogs. The Chocolate Frogs piled up on the table into a small hill, croaking noisily.

Even he, an invisible Ravenclaw, benefited a little. He received a small bag of fruit, only because there was no more room on Argeleia's table.

It truly was a world that judged by looks.

Joey was not so fortunate. Since he lived in isolation, no one even knew he had fallen ill. Hoffa had to take on some of the responsibility for looking after him. While caring for Joey, Hoffa also worried whether the magical creatures he kept would starve to death without anyone to tend them.

On the final day of Healer Rainer's treatment course,

Hoffa woke from his hospital bed at the break of dawn.

He could not have felt better.

Argeleia was doing well too. Her complexion was rosy, and she slept peacefully. Only a bandage still circled her forehead.

But Joey's face remained pale and bluish. The Poison-Pouch Leopard's venomous fumes had made him gravely ill, and lately he occasionally vomited bluish-purple venom.

After waking, Hoffa first poured Joey a cup of water. Without plenty of fluids, the dehydration caused by vomiting could be fatal.

Looking at Joey, Hoffa still felt a lingering fear. Though many days had passed, the shadow of the unknown still hung over him.

At eight in the morning, Argeleia woke up.

But when she saw Hoffa sitting by Joey's bed, she immediately turned over and pretended to be asleep again.

She had not pretended for long before the school healer, Rainer, came wandering in with his hands tucked into his white coat. He performed his routine examination and changed their dressings.

At that point, Argeleia could not keep pretending. She could only sit up obediently and cooperate with Healer Rainer's examination.

After finishing, the taciturn healer gave the nurse a few instructions, then left again with his hands in his pockets.

Soon, only Hoffa and Argeleia remained awake in the room.

The air sank into an awkward silence, the kind awkward enough to make Freud frown.

Hoffa pretended to examine Joey, but he had already checked him several times. He could not keep checking forever.

Argeleia stared motionlessly out the window, looking like a marble statue.

Never mind Argeleia—heaven help him, even Hoffa himself did not know how to handle their relationship.

Friends? Rivals?

Neither seemed quite right.

Calling them friends was difficult. He still found it hard to accept someone so self-centered as a friend. Her personality was too forceful; she always wanted to be the leader and always wanted to be better than everyone else.

Calling them rivals seemed pointless too. If they truly were mortal enemies, he would not have been so furious when she had "died." Having faced life and death together, it was time to put an end to their farce.

This bizarre state between them lasted for nearly ten minutes.

The only sound in the room was the tireless ticking of the clock. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

Until Joey in the next bed let out a gurgling cough. Hoffa and Argeleia both turned to look at him. After looking, they turned back and glared at each other.

"So—"

"I—"

They spoke at the same time and fell silent at the same time. Hoffa scratched his head, thinking, For fuck's sake, she's like a female version of a mirror standing right in front of me.

He did not want to face her, yet he had no choice but to.

Finally, unable to bear the awkward atmosphere any longer, Hoffa decided it would be better to leave.

But just as he sat up,

the door slammed open with a bang, making them both sit straight at once.

An old man in teal-blue robes strode in. His hands were clasped behind his back, and his gray eyes burned with anger.

It was the head of Ravenclaw House.

And the man who could truly decide Hoffa and Argeleia's fate.

Adbe Gorshak was clearly suppressing his fury. His brows were tightly furrowed as he fixed his gaze on the two by the hospital beds.

Hoffa felt that anger, but strangely, it was not directed at him.

Even the defiant Argeleia lowered her head obediently and said nothing before the head of House.

"I was only away on a business trip, and something like this happened." Gorshak narrowed his eyes and spoke slowly. "As for why two younger students appeared in the Forbidden Forest, I hope the two of you can give me a reasonable explanation."

Hoffa glanced at Argeleia.

Though they had experienced so much in the Forbidden Forest, the cause had been simple.

He had wanted to brew a potion to restore magic.

"We..." Hoffa began.

But Gorshak gave him a cold glance. "Wait, Bach. I want to hear her first."

Hoffa shut his mouth. His head of House had never played by the rules.

Argeleia looked at Hoffa and coughed.

"Uh, it was the caretaker who came to find me. He said he needed someone who understood the writing of magical creatures to help him with something. That was why he took me to the Forbidden Forest."

"And him? Why was he there?" Gorshak asked again.

"He... uh, he. He was taking care of the horses at the gamekeeper's place at the time, and I can't ride, so..."

She did not seem good at lying. She stammered and could not keep making it up.

An oppressive silence followed.

"Is that all?" Gorshak's gaze turned to Hoffa.

Hoffa relaxed slightly and nodded.

"Yes."

Gorshak merely cast a cold glance at Joey, who was still unconscious in bed, then strode out without another word.

Bang!

He shut the door.

Hoffa and Argeleia both let out a breath at the same time. They looked at each other and saw a trace more tolerance in the other's eyes.

"The real culprit..."

Argeleia puffed out her cheeks, her gaze flickering back and forth between Hoffa and her own fingers.

A hint of worry rose in Hoffa's heart.

It was worry for Joey.

Though they were both staff members, Gorshak's position was clearly much higher than Joey's. Hoffa did not know how Gorshak would treat Joey. Judging by his expression, Gorshak was deeply dissatisfied with the matter.

After sitting for a while, Hoffa swung himself out of bed and nodded politely to Argeleia. "Then get some good rest. I'll come see you when I have time."

To be honest, he no longer found her unpleasant to look at. But becoming close friends with Argeleia, like Harry and Hermione... Hoffa found that far too difficult to accept for the time being.

After waiting so long only to hear that response, Argeleia looked a little disappointed. Seeing Hoffa get up to leave, her eyes shifted.

"W-wait."

Hoffa turned around. "What is it?"

"Uh..." Argeleia seemed to suddenly forget what she wanted to ask. After thinking for a long time, she finally said,

"How did you learn all those spells? That spell that hangs people upside down aside, there was also that advanced invisibility spell...?"

"The Half-Blood Prince."

Hoffa answered without hesitation. "I learned from a man called the Half-Blood Prince."

He pushed all the responsibility onto the future Snape.

That was not entirely wrong. Aside from Ghostwalk, Levicorpus truly had been Severus Snape's creation.

"Oh."

Argeleia answered distractedly.

Hoffa pushed open the door and walked out.

Only after quite a while did Argeleia react. She turned to look at the empty doorway, then flopped spread-eagled onto the hospital bed. Staring at the ceiling, she muttered,

"There aren't any princes among wizards."