I'm back

Last night, as Goyle tossed and turned in bed, he was actually quite resentful.

Why is it that Gu, after putting people through all that trouble, not only wasn't expelled but was also able to move into that spacious, warm single room at the end of the underground corridor overnight, while the three Pure-blood still have to squeeze into their old dorm room?

Until early this morning, news of the discovery of Bellatrix's charred body by the Black Lake reached the Cellar.

Some even say that Gu used Ancient Magic to summon lightning to do it!

Goyle sat on the edge of the bed in a daze for five minutes, when suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him, and he pieced together everything that had happened last night perfectly.

Gu was transferred away overnight.

The professor's protective spell was added to the door of the single dormitory room.

Dumbledore even gave a special order, strictly forbidding the three of them from approaching within ten paces of Gu.

What preferential treatment? What protection?

They're all excuses!

The principal had clearly discovered that Gu was a ruthless villain who could easily shred even the most notorious wanted criminals into charred remains. He was afraid that his three weak and helpless roommates might have their throats slit by Gu in their sleep, so he locked that demon up in a separate room overnight!

At the age of thirteen, Goyle genuinely felt for the first time that Dumbledore was indeed a compassionate and caring headmaster who cared about the lives of Slytherin students.

"He must have been Slytherin," Goyle remarked.

Just as Gore and Crabbe stepped out of the underground corridor and around the corner of the stone steps, Goyle's steps suddenly froze on the spot.

At the end of the opposite corridor, the wooden door to the newly vacated single room opened.

Gavin, dressed in a Black Robes, slowly walked out from inside.

He barely slept a wink last night.

When he woke up in the morning, he habitually called out "Gai-ge" in his mind, but apart from the crackling of the charcoal in the Fireplace, there was no response from the depths of his mind.

No one pulled back his bed curtains in the middle of the night, nor did anyone pour ice water into his boots.

The two hardened, grayish-black patches on my fingers had stopped where they were last night.

By activating the pure white Magic and casting the Patronus Charm, this remaining trace of rejection can be completely cured.

Gavin stared at his fingers for half the night, but still didn't touch the Wand.

He always felt that if even this tiny mark on his fingertip disappeared, then there would truly be no trace left of Gai-ge's visit.

One night later, he had a peaceful life he never dared to dream of before, but he also completely lost the person who would complain about his stupidity and beat people up for him.

Gavin walked forward step by step, his eyelids drooping, his face pale, his unfocused gaze fixed on the ground in front of him.

But in Goyle's eyes, this zombie-like expression was a million times more terrifying than when Gu Bi made that throat-slitting gesture a few days ago.

In the past, when Gu wanted to kill him, he would at least sneer and say a few harsh words.

But today, Gu walked over without even moving his lips; his eyes were clearly already fixed on the two dead bodies!

Before Gavin get close, Goyle grabbed Crabbe by the back of his collar, slamming his back against the damp, cold stone wall. Like two startled geckos, they frantically backed away against the wall, clearing most of the corridor.

Crabbe nearly twisted his ankle from being pulled so hard, and muttered under his breath against the wall:

"Goyle, the principal said not to get close to Gu Shibu, but we've already retreated almost twenty paces..."

"You know nothing!" Goyle stared intently at Gavin's toes as he took his steps, his Adam's apple bobbing violently as he forced out the words through clenched teeth, "What if the headmaster is counting based on his pace?!"

The two retreated to the bottom of the steps leading to the Entrance Hall, where they bumped into Draco Malfoy, who was walking from the direction of the Hospital Wing.

Draco had clearly not slept well all night; his left arm and shoulder were still wrapped in thick white bandages, and he was only loosely draped in a black Robes.

Last night at the Black Lake, the terrifying gravitational field that forced Bellatrix to her knees at the bottom of the pit, and the black blade that severed her Wand out of thin air, almost shattered Draco's pride in Dark Magic that he had held for over a decade. He struggled all night in his hospital bed at the Hospital Wing, and at daybreak, he slipped away without telling Madam Pomfrey.

Seeing Gavin walking down the steps, Draco paused, his left hand, which wasn't bandaged, instinctively clenching the hem of his robe.

After hesitating for two seconds, the proud Heir of the Malfoy family took a deep breath, stepped forward, and lowered his voice:

Gu.

Gavin didn't stop, not even raising his head.

A stiffness flashed across Draco's pale face. His lips tightened, and he lowered his voice even further, gritting his teeth as he spoke:

"What happened by the lake last night... Thank you. Granger and my life, the Malfoy family will remember."

Gavin's mind was filled with the brief, almost cruel "He's gone" from the Headmaster's Office last night. His ears were ringing, and he was a full two beats slower to react to external sounds.

By the time he vaguely realized that someone had called his name, the person had already walked past Draco down the steps.

He didn't even lift his eyelids.

The stone steps were deathly silent.

Draco stood frozen in place, unable to utter a single word of the polite words he had rehearsed a hundred times in his mind.

That wasn't hatred, it wasn't even mockery; it was utter disregard.

Does Gu really think that Draco Malfoy isn't even worthy of being an opponent, or even worthy of being given a second glance?

Draco's ears turned bright red at a visible speed, and his chest heaved violently.

He whirled around, staring intently at the figure slowly walking into the Entrance Hall, and forced out each word through clenched teeth:

"I'll repay the favor I owe you last night. But you just wait, Gu... It's just Levitation Charm, right? I can learn that too! One day, I'll use Levitation Charm to beat you down fair and square!"

Upon hearing this, Goyle, who was standing not far away against the wall counting his steps, suddenly felt dizzy and his vision went black.

It's over.

Draco must have lost his mind from being in love; he actually wants to use his first-year Levitation Charm to Dueling a monster who just chopped up a Death Eaters.

"Actually, it's fine if nobody likes me," Goyle muttered to himself.

"What?" Crabbe asked, looking puzzled.

"Look at him," Goyle said, pointing at Malfoy. "I'm not very bright to begin with, and if I fall in love again, I probably won't even know how to read anymore."

Crabbe was a little incredulous. "Oh? You can read?"

"..."

Gavin had no idea what was happening behind him.

As he walked through the Entrance Hall into the Great Hall for breakfast, the buzzing chatter in the entire Great Hall seemed to be suddenly choked. With each step he took forward, the students huddled on both sides would immediately step back three feet, making way for him in an excessively wide passage.

Only after he walked past did the hushed whispers behind him suddenly erupt.

"See those two blackened fingers on his hand? The upperclassmen in Ravenclaw just looked it up in the ancient texts; they said it's a murder Contract from an ancient Dark Wizard —for every person killed, one finger turns black!"

"But wasn't only Lestrange's body found by Black Lake last night? How come he has two black penises?!"

"Idiot, this means the second body still hasn't been pulled from the bottom of the lake!"

Another group of Slytherin students, gathered together, confidently exchanged more crucial "insider information":

"You don't understand, he went on a killing spree last night because of heartbreak!"

"I've heard about it! Granger confessed his feelings to him in public just a few days ago, and after that incident at the bookstore, she promised she wouldn't do it again. But last night, she secretly went on a date with Malfoy at the Black Lake behind his back! Gu caught them in the act, couldn't handle the shock, and went berserk, directly using Dark Magic on Malfoy!"

"That's not right," someone nearby said, puzzled. "Then why was it Bellatrix who died?"

"Idiot, Bellatrix is Malfoy's aunt!"

"That's right!" someone nearby nodded repeatedly. "He escaped all the way from Azkaban, intending to visit his nephew at the dinner party. But as soon as he emerged from the bushes, he saw Gu attacking Malfoy with deadly intent. Tearfully, he rushed forward to shield his nephew from a fatal blow and was instantly blasted to pieces!"

"That's utter nonsense! You haven't even figured out the basic relationships between the characters!"

An older girl standing nearby immediately retorted.

"Gu's real boyfriend is clearly Daiya Rowle! Didn't you see it in the Great Hall last night? Rowle came to Granger to check the accounts, Malfoy insisted on stepping forward and saying, 'I'll pay back what she owes you,' but in the end, he got himself involved in paying Granger's debt. Gu immediately fell for Malfoy, which made her boyfriend Rowle so angry that he took the day off and called off the engagement!"

"Oh, no wonder Rowle isn't here today!"

"Yes, yes! I saw it all just now on the steps in the Entrance Hall! Malfoy saw that Rowle had left in a huff, so he kept pestering Gu to get back together, but Gu didn't even glance at him. He even complained that his basic spellcasting was too weak and told him to go back and master the first-year Levitation Charm spell before coming back!"

"... Wait! Something's not right! I didn't see Daiya Rowle today, and according to Ravenclaw, Gu Hei had two fingers blackened, could it be that—"

A moment of deathly silence fell over the surroundings.

"... Merlin's beard! Could it be that Rowle didn't even go home to annul the engagement, and was already sunk to the bottom of Black Lake by Gu last night?!"

A first-year Slytherin student looked at Gavin, shuddered, and muttered to himself:

"That's terrifying."

Outrageous rumors flew wildly along the Long Table.

Gavin walked through the Long Tables with his head down, the cacophony of words passing by his ears, but he didn't even have the strength to raise his head and utter a single word in his defense.

He did act that way because of a man, but that man wasn't Malfoy.

When they reached the other end of the Gryffindor table, Ron quickly moved the toast rack further in, making room for him.

Gavin walked over and sat down, picking up the Oatmeal from the table.

He was so engrossed in his own world that he completely failed to notice that Harley's behavior was also off.

The high ponytail I tied up last night was still half-loose and crooked, and I was enveloped in a visibly oppressive atmosphere.

The girl was holding a silver fork, shoving the fried Sausages on her plate to pieces as if they were her father's killer.

Just then, a few boys next door were still excitedly sharing the latest news from last night's battle:

"What? Only one killed? Your information is outdated! Last night there Bellatrix one Bellatrix in the Entrance Hall, two on the Second Floor stairs, and four or five Bellatrix crouching in the bushes on the hillside! The entire Lestrange family, more than a dozen Bellatrixes, came, and Gu single-handedly slaughtered them all the way from the Entrance Hall to Black Lake, not even a hair was left!"

A crisp "snap" sounded.

Harley nearly pierced the white porcelain plate in front of her with the silver fork in her hand.

She abruptly raised her head, her green eyes filled with immense grievance and resentment, and lowered her voice to accuse Ron:

"A dozen... did you hear that? There were a dozen Bellatrixes outside last night!"

Harley grew angrier and angrier. She slammed her fork onto the plate, crossed her arms, and puffed out her cheeks in a sullen mood.

"I rushed out as soon as I heard the noise last night! I ran three whole laps around the Black Lake and the back hill with my Wand, I almost lost a shoe! And what happened? Professor Lupin and Professor Snape were chasing after me, and out of all those Bellatrixes, I didn't get a single one!"

Ron shrank back and whispered words of comfort:

"The professors all said this morning that, apart from the one by the lake, the rest are imposters who drank the Polyjuice Potion..."

"I didn't even get to hit the fake one!"

Harley felt even more wronged and turned to stare resentfully at Gavin.

"Gavin, how did you manage to run so fast last night? There were so many Bellatrix, you could have at least spared half of them to vent your anger on!"

Several Gryffindor students nearby had just taken their seats and hadn't heard everything, but they saw Harley with a resentful look on her face, questioning Gu, "Why didn't you save half a spot for me?"

They all gasped in unison, exchanging a look of utter horror.

Merlin's beard... it turns out it wasn't a love quadrangle, it was a love pentagon!

The Potter family's little princess didn't even make the cut?!

Immediately, someone looked at Ron with pity, shook their head, and sighed.

She pursued him, he pursued her, and he even entertained her. Weasley was so in love.

Ron was completely oblivious to the strange stares around him. To cheer Harley up, he quickly stuffed a big mouthful of bacon into his mouth and angrily changed the subject, complaining that Fred and George had blocked the portrait hole with their Prefect notebooks again that morning, insisting that he had violated the dress code by stepping out the door with his left foot first, and deducted Gryffindor.

Gavin listened to their banter, and the corners of his mouth, which had been ice-cold all morning, subconsciously curved into a smile. A thought instinctively popped into his mind:

"Gai-ge, look at Harley and Ron-- "

The thought had just arisen when I abruptly stopped.

Gavin's hand, holding the spoon, froze in mid-air, and his eyes slowly dimmed.

Harley, sitting opposite him, noticed his expression keenly, immediately dropped her resentment, and gently kicked Ron under the table.

The two exchanged a glance, Ron quickly shut his loud voice, pushing a pot of warm Pumpkin Juice to Gavin's side. Neither of them forced him to speak, and they quietly ate breakfast with him.

This strange sense of disorientation persisted into the morning and afternoon classes.

During the Charms class, Professor Flitwick stood atop a thick stack of books and specifically asked Gavin to Gavin up to the stage to demonstrate the precise manipulation of the Levitation Charm.

Gavin walked awkwardly to the podium, and as soon as he pulled his Hawthorn Wand out of his pocket, the students at the three desks in the front row, like startled rabbits, all jerked their chairs back half a meter. Two boys had even secretly gripped their Wands under their desks.

Only when Gavin gently waved his Wand, causing three white goose feathers to flutter and intertwine in mid-air in a neat formation, did the students below, who had been on edge, finally breathe a long sigh of relief and whisper among themselves, as if they had escaped death.

"Thank goodness, Professor Flitwick specifically taught him today how to reduce the power of the Levitation Charm..."

"Yeah, last night he used that trick to create such a huge crater on the shore of Black Lake, but today he's finally managed to keep it down to just feathers floating around."

Professor Flitwick thought everyone was amazed by Gavin's distraction control skills and clapped excitedly. After class, he even grabbed Gavin's sleeve and warmly invited him to his office for a chat this week.

In the afternoon Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Professor Lupin again called Gavin over after class, as Gavin was packing up his textbooks.

Lupin first bent down and carefully examined his fingers, making sure the two grayish-black knuckles hadn't worsened, before looking at him gently:

Did you sleep well in the new dorm last night?

"That's fine, Professor," Gavin replied in a low voice.

"That's good. Would you still be willing to be my teaching assistant for the next classroom practice?"

Gavin nodded. "Yes."

Outside the classroom, a few students who hadn't gone far peeked through the crack in the door and saw Lupin scrutinizing Gu's black fingers. Their last shred of hope vanished completely.

"See that? A single dorm room really is a prison cell for hardened criminals!"

"Professor Lupin personally checks the Dark Magic seal on his hands every day after class, afraid that he might have stained his third finger black too!"

As I picked up my backpack and walked out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, the autumn sunlight streamed through the high windows onto the stone floor of the corridor.

Despite receiving praise from professors in two courses simultaneously for the first time, Gavin remained unhappy.

The only sound in the corridor was the hurried footsteps of students in the distance, but my mind remained blank.

He stood by the sun-drenched window.

Now he has everything, but he feels no pride whatsoever. On the contrary, he feels even worse than when he was beaten and humiliated before.

I always feel empty inside.

Gavin took advantage of the free time during the latter half of the afternoon to look for Daiya again near the Slytherin Common Room.

When several students from the same department saw him coming, they were so frightened that they could hardly speak. They could only tell him tremblingly that Rowle had taken leave early this morning and had not shown up at school all day.

Gavin was even more heartbroken, and his steps became much heavier as he left.

Overnight, no one in the school dared to bully him anymore, but the two people closest to him were nowhere to be found.

Gavin walked up the stairs alone, feeling increasingly aggrieved.

Last night in the Headmaster's Office, Gai-ge left so decisively, casually waving his hand on the riverbank, coldly uttering a single sentence, and then completely disappearing.

They didn't even leave him a long goodbye.

Before he knew it, Gavin had reached the opposite side of the Troll Tapestry on the Seventh Floor.

He doesn't have any plans right now; he just wants to find a familiar place to stay for a while.

I walked back and forth in front of the blank stone wall three times, and the familiar Oak door silently appeared on the smooth wall.

Gavin pushed open the door and went inside; it was the same quiet room with Fireplace that they used to frequent.

He sat cross-legged on the cushion in front of the Fireplace, closed his eyes, slowly relaxed his breathing, and sank into his Consciousness Space.

Above their heads, the white Whirlpool, the size of a washbasin and with solidified vortex patterns, continued to swirl slowly; on the other side, the newly acquired black Whirlpool remained steadily suspended in its original position, without the slightest movement.

The vast and boundless Alaya Consciousness River flows silently at my feet.

For the past week or so, Gai-ge has been sitting lazily on the near shore, either tinkering with strange magical Magic Runes or picking on Gaige with a look of disdain.

But now it's empty, there's nothing there.

Gavin walked directly beneath the white Whirlpool, slowly sat down, and hugged his knees.

This pose is exactly the same as when they first met here.

"Gai-ge..."

Gavin's eyes welled up slightly, and he was about to bury his head in his knees when he suddenly caught a glimpse of the riverbank not far ahead—

Something seems to have been added--

An absurdly large one, with crooked lines pointing downwards --

Giant arrow?

He paused for a moment, then quickly loosened his knees, got up, and jogged over.

The thick arrowhead pointed directly at a row of characters fixed on the riverbank:

"The password to the Room of Requirement' is... Say it three times:"

"[A study room with a constant natural diffused light intensity of around 500 lux, strictly controlled relative humidity between 45% and 50%, directional weak convection ventilation that absolutely won't blow away paper from the corners of the desk, equipped with at least four seamless, wear-resistant, matte, sound-absorbing blackboards, absolutely no superfluous Baroque-style openwork decorations except for a heavy solid wood Long Table 75 cm high and two hard-backed chairs, and completely shielded from any external sound waves, vibrations, and non-experimental dust interference—a study room that no one can share, like a luxury toilet.]"

Gavin squatted on the riverbank, only blinking belatedly as he read the last few words:

"... A study room that looks like a luxury restroom?"

As this strange idea took shape in his mind, the surrounding stone walls suddenly emitted a low, soft sound.

The warm Fireplace and cushions quickly disappeared, replaced by a matte blackboard with seamless panels on all four sides and a heavy solid wood Long Table rising from the ground; and next to the blackboard wall on the right, a row of gleaming marble sinks and polished brass faucets appeared in stark contrast.

In the very center of the marble sink, a single, crystal-clear glass ball stands out conspicuously.

Gavin stood up blankly, instinctively walked to the sink, and cupped the slightly cool glass ball in his palm.

He recognized it; Neville had one too.

The scene that unfolded in the Seventh Floor corridor last night instantly flashed through my mind.

"This was left behind by Gai-ge-- "

Gavin muttered to himself.

"Remembrall?"

Gavin sat down in the hard-backed chair behind the long solid wood Long Table and carefully infused a trace of Magic into the Remembrall.

A soft glow emanated from inside the glass sphere, casting a clear, three-dimensional light and shadow onto the tabletop.

The scene shows a boy in front of a bronze mirror in the Lavatory.

Although it was wearing Gavin's own face, Gavin recognized it at a glance because of its indifferent appearance and the way it looked at people sideways.

"Gai-ge!"

Gavin, in the interplay of light and shadow, looked at the camera and chuckled.

"Silly boy, you don't really think I'm just going to leave, do you?"

"You're not going to cry, are you?"

Gavin was startled, quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve, and almost reflexively blurted out an explanation:

No, it's just been too dry lately.

But Gavin in the video didn't wait for his explanation at all; he just continued talking on his own, following the rhythm of the recording.

Gavin stared with his mouth agape for two seconds before slowly coming to his senses.

Gai-ge can't hear.

This is just a memory left behind in advance.

Gavin, his smile fading in the play of light and shadow, tapped the Stone Platform with a serious expression.

"What follows must not be seen by anyone else. After you've seen it, Obscurus destroy the Remembrall."

So before you continue reading, learn some Occlumency.

"This is simple for you: keep your mind blank, just like Zhuangzi said, 'The mind of a sage is like a mirror; it neither anticipates nor welcomes, it responds without clinging.'"

Next, Gavin talked about how it felt after he mastered the skill.

"You can replay this part repeatedly. Learn it before continuing; don't try to sneak in."

The video stopped there; clearly, Gavin had done something special to this segment, preventing it from playing by default.

"Gai-ge, this..."

Gavin closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then slowly opened them.

"I got it."

Then he stretched out his finger—

Continue playing.

The light and shadow began to flow again.

"The first thing is about Cordelia."

The Lumos swirled in Gavin's hand, the Lumos lines overlapping and forming a complex pattern.

"The Obscurus within her has been extracted, but the Life Force she lost won't return on its own; you'll have to replenish it."

"This set of Magic Runes is used for Life Drain."

As they were talking, the pattern split in the middle into two.

"I've broken it in two—one half is drawn on you, and the other half on her. It's incomplete when separated; even a wizard with only half a drawing can't reverse it. We usually just call it a couple's Tattoo. Only when you two hold hands, actively offer magic, and use the Spell will the whole circuit be connected."

Gavin nodded quickly, carefully noting down every detail.

"You can use Dragon Blood as a material; remember to knock her unconscious after you're done—"

"Huh? Why?" Gavin, looking puzzled.

Don't ask why.

Gavin clearly anticipated his prediction.

Just follow along.

"Okay."

Gavin nodded blankly.

After saying that, Gavin in the video pointed to the left side of the marble sink beneath him:

Pull open the second drawer from the bottom.

Gavin paused for a moment, then quickly got up, walked to the sink, and pulled open the second drawer.

On the velvet cushion in the drawer, lay the octagonal silver Locket.

"The remnant soul of that madwoman from last night is sealed inside. I've already wiped away the harmful markings on it. Normally, she would slowly die without replenishment."

Gavin's calm voice came from the Remembrall:

"Give it to Professor Lupin, and have him pass it on to Black and Harley. Let them decide what to do; you don't need to interfere."

Gavin stared blankly at the silver box on the velvet mat, a sudden flashback in his mind to Harley's face at breakfast that morning, poking at the Sausage with her fork and complaining with a wronged expression, "So Bellatrixes, and not a single one for me!"

So, when Gai-ge was making his move by Black Lake last night, he had already prepared a portion for Harley?

If Gavin knew what Gavin was thinking, he would only say it calmly.

It's simply making use of waste.

Gavin picked up the slightly cool silver box with both hands, took out a clean handkerchief, wrapped it tightly in layers, and carefully placed it in the innermost pocket of his Robes.

Then, Gavin in the video continued, revealing his understanding of spells up to this point, telling Gavin that he didn't need to understand them now, and that he could watch them repeatedly after learning the Memory Charm or the Pensieve.

There won't be any problems as long as you master the Occlumency.

With all the important matters settled, Gavin paused for a moment in the play of light and shadow on the table, seemingly wondering if he had forgotten anything.

A moment later, he looked up at the camera again, his voice a little softer than before:

"Once I've resolved my own problems and figured out how to travel through time, I'll come back to see you."

Gavin stood by the table, his hands tightly gripping the Remembrall.

"If someone bullies you and you can't fight back, just hide."

Gavin, in the play of light and shadow, looked at him and said, word by word:

"When I get back, I'll kill them all."

Large tears splattered onto the back of his hand. Gavin gave a brief laugh through the tears, but the tears flowed even more fiercely. He cried out in a choked voice:

"Gai-ge..."

In his memory, Gavin waved to him and uttered his last two sentences:

"Take care of yourself."

"Meditate properly."

A faint light flashed, and the scene ended there.

The phrase "Don't forget to meditate" was because Gai-ge knew he would definitely return here and find these things left for him.

Gavin sat in the chair for a long time, holding the now-darkened glass ball tightly in his hands, reluctant to let go.

Although Gavin instructed him to read it and then destroy it, he couldn't do it.

If it's destroyed, the last thing in this world that Gai-ge truly be gone forever.

Gavin lowered his head, raised his sleeve and forcefully wiped away his tears, his fingertips tracing the cool surface of the glass sphere one last time.

A moment later, he gritted his teeth, and a wisp of deep, dark black mist Obscurus emanated from his palm, completely enveloping the glass sphere in its center.

Clench your five fingers tightly.

The glass sphere instantly disintegrated under the engulfment of the black mist, leaving not a single fragment behind, and vanished completely into nothingness.

The black mist quietly receded into his body. Gavin looked at his empty palm and murmured:

"Gai-ge, I'll definitely wait for you to come back."

After saying that, he stood up from his chair, pushed open the door, and walked out.

The setting sun outside cast a long shadow of the boy.

As I descended the stairs and stepped into the Great Hall, the candles for the banquet had just been lit.

Gavin's mood had calmed down considerably, but as he sat down at the end of the Slytherin table, he still subconsciously glanced towards the middle of the Long Table.

The seat where "Daiya Rowle" usually sat alone remained empty.

Before dinner could be served on the four Long Tables, Dumbledore, sitting in the center of the faculty seating area, suddenly stood up, walked to the Owl lectern, and gently gestured for silence:

"Before dinner begins, one student would like to clarify something with everyone."

As soon as the words were spoken, the two heavy Oak Doors at the end of the Great Hall were slowly pushed open from the outside.

Hundreds of eyes in the room turned to the entrance.

A tall, slender figure walked in against the light of the Entrance Hall lamps.

The girl wore a well-fitting Slytherin black Robes, and her long, flowing silver-gold hair cascaded smoothly over her shoulders, the edges of which were gilded almost transparently by the flickering candlelight.

She had a delicate face with fair and translucent skin and a clean, sharp jawline; her pale silver-gray eyes gazed calmly ahead, devoid of any superfluous emotion, exuding an aloofness and nobility that kept strangers at bay.

Cordelia.

Freed from the torment of Obscurus and the Gender-Change Potions, her face was still somewhat pale from recovering from a serious illness, but her steps were steady and firm.

The entire Great Hall seemed stunned by the sudden intrusion of the silver moonlight; even the sound of breathing seemed to falter.

Gavin had seen her revert to her girl identity on the Seventh Floor.

Gavin was stunned as he watched her walk into the brightly lit Great Hall with such undisguised and domineering presence.

At the Slytherin table, an older boy stared in disbelief for a long time before finally whispering to his companion:

"So beautiful... who is she?"

The Pure-blood student next to him glanced at him and lowered his voice:

"You didn't know? Something big happened at the Rowle family. I heard there was a huge uproar this afternoon, and all the collateral branches that were eyeing the family fortune were purged..."

A few people huddled together whispering, their conversation flowing freely, when suddenly someone in the front row, staring at the girl's familiar features, hesitated and called out:

"Daiya?"

However, the girl ignored her and stopped in front of the four Long Tables, turning around to face the entire Great Hall.

Only when all eyes were on her did her clear, cold voice rang out:

"There was never Daiya Rowle."

"It's always been me--"

Cordelia Rowle.

After a brief silence, an uncontrollable buzz of discussion erupted between the Long Tables.

"Rowle is actually a girl?!"

No wonder she's always had a room to herself...

"I knew it! She never lets anyone touch her, and she even speaks from a distance!"

Cordelia offered no further explanation, turned, and walked down the steps.

At the front of the Slytherin table, two older boys immediately straightened their collars and stood up, attempting to approach and speak with the true Heir of the Rowle family.

However, Cordelia didn't even stop. She walked right past them and went straight to Gavin along the aisle outside the Long Table.

Gavin sat motionless, staring blankly at the girl in front of him. His lips moved, but he couldn't utter a sound.

The surrounding chatter gradually subsided, and everyone's attention fell on the two of them.

Cordelia looked at his dazed expression, a faint smile appearing in her eyes, and extended her right hand to him:

Let's get to know each other again, my boyfriend.

My name is Cordelia Rowle.

Gavin forgot to breathe and couldn't speak for a moment.

She used to always keep her voice down by the Fireplace on the Seventh Floor, and would immediately pull her hand back if she heard footsteps outside; but today, she actually extended her hand to him openly and boldly in front of the entire school.

She kept looking at him, her hand still extended.

Gavin finally snapped out of his daze, his ears burning red, and reached out to grasp her fingertips:

Gavin.

He paused for a moment, then completed his name:

Gavin Gu.

The sound in the entire Great Hall suddenly exploded at this moment.

The grating sound of the benches being moved created a continuous cacophony.

At the Gryffindor table, Ron was drinking Pumpkin Juice when he choked and coughed violently. Harley, who was next to him, saw their hands clasped together and immediately clapped her hands with a big smile.

Ignoring the surrounding noise, Cordelia pulled Gavin to sit on the bench, turned her head to look at him and gave him a slight smile.

Gavin turned to look at the girl so close to him, and suddenly remembered something:

"Oh, right, Gai-ge left me something."

As the banquet ended, students emerged from the Great Hall in twos and threes.

Harley walked at the back of the crowd. After the excitement of clapping loudly at the Long Table had faded, a strange sense of loss welled up in her heart.

The events at Black Lake last night happened too fast. Her mortal enemy, who had kept her parents hospitalized for over ten years, was right in front of her, yet she didn't even have the chance to personally deliver a curse.

And whether it was just her imagination or not, Gavin Goe, who was sitting at the Slytherin table today, seemed to be missing something.

"Harley, wait a minute."

As soon as she stepped out of the Great Hall, Professor Lupin called her from beside a pillar in the Entrance Hall, gesturing towards the stairs, "Come with me to my office."

Harley paused for a moment, then quickly followed.

When she pushed open the wooden door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts Office on the Third Floor, she was surprised to find Sirius standing by the Fireplace.

"Godfather?"

Sirius nodded solemnly without saying a word.

The office door closed gently behind me.

Lupin walked back behind his desk and exchanged a glance with Sirius, both of them looking quite strange.

After Harley stood still at the table, Lupin paused for a moment, then spoke with a complex expression:

"Harley, before the dinner, Mr. Gu asked me to pass on something. There's something... Sirius and I think it's up to you to decide."

As he spoke, Lupin reached under the desk and opened a drawer.

An octagonal silver Locket lay quietly on a dark red velvet cushion.

The pale, boundless river flowed silently in all directions.

The moment Gavin left Gavin's body, Gavin did not immediately wake up in the main world, but instead fell directly into the River of Alaya Consciousness.

Unlike when he was blown up by the Time-Turner and lost consciousness on the spot, this time he retained full consciousness.

He could clearly discern the direction left by the Anchoring Artifact, and he could also sense that on the other side of the distant waters ahead, his connection with his original physical body still existed.

Gavin's Consciousness Space, with its black and white vortexes, was rapidly receding behind him, while the path beneath his feet, traversing the Timeline Branch, was directly connected to the Alaya Consciousness River.

It turns out that these two Consciousness Space are indeed connected at the underlying level.

It even connects different worlds and times.

"We share a common cultural heritage."

Before Gavin could delve deeper into this discovery, the initial pull that enveloped the soul suddenly weakened visibly.

His backward movement slowed down, and after only a few breaths, he came to a complete stop in the middle of the river.

"... So gentle."

Gavin looked at the silver light outside the soul's body and made a judgment instantly.

Elizabeth's attack was too gentle for safety reasons, and it couldn't compare to the violent explosion of the Time-Turner. Even with Dumbledore's help, the force was still too weak.

It's like buying an international plane ticket, only to be kicked out of the cabin in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and told that you'll have to swim back on your own for the rest of the journey.

"Reproducing experiments really does require controlling variables," Gavin sighed. "We should have asked Hermione for the Time-Turner and just destroyed it."

Now that he has separated from Gavin's physical body, and his original body is still on the other side, he can no longer rely on the Magic he usually uses.

"But thankfully I have a plan B."

Gavin raised his hand and began to unleash magic, using his soul itself to cast Reverse-Time Charm on himself.

"Thank you, Little Tang, otherwise I might really be dead today."

Without the slightest hesitation, Gavin directly consumed a portion of his soul essence and cast the first Reverse-Time Charm along the existing anchor direction.

The principle of the Reverse-Time Charm is also mentioned in "The Calamity of Quicksand," and through his personal experience, he already knows how to use it.

Buzz!

The silver light, which had slowed down, suddenly intensified, propelling his soul forward a considerable distance, proving that this path of self-salvation was indeed feasible.

The instant the Spell took effect, Gavin clearly felt a thinning of the edge of his soul body, and a sharp, needle-like pain pierced directly into the depths of his consciousness.

Using the very essence of the soul as fuel for the return journey—the price for this supplementary ticket is ridiculously high.

Therefore, Gavin dared not let the speed drop completely.

In this stagnant, mercury-like undercurrent, once it completely stops, restarting it would require burning twice the amount of its original source.

Whenever the outer silver light showed signs of weakening or its momentum slowed slightly, he would immediately grit his teeth and cut off a wisp of his soul power to seamlessly follow up with the next Reverse Reverse-Time Charm.

One after another, streaks of silver light shone from the dark riverbed, propelling him through the River.

After several consecutive burnings, the originally solid soul body became so thin that it was almost transparent.

Just as the force of the previous Reverse-Time Charm slowed down again, and Gavin subconsciously raised his hand to add one last spark, his movements suddenly stopped.

Through the churning pale water above, he could already vaguely see the faintly glowing surface of the river above him.

Gavin glanced down at his almost transparent palm and quickly did some mental calculations.

At this distance, another Reverse-Time Charm would indeed send him crashing out of the water; however, given the current thickness of his soul, that single spell would likely destroy his core self-awareness as well.

Even if they return to their bodies, they'll most likely wake up as a vegetable who can't even calculate one plus one.

"... Save as much as you can, swim the rest yourself."

After estimating the distance and considering the intensity of his usual watering, he felt there shouldn't be any problem.

Gavin decisively dispersed the incantation that had just condensed at his fingertips, allowing the last bit of silver light from the Reverse-Time Charm on his body to completely dissipate.

Without the protection of the Time Spell, the icy waters of the Alaya Consciousness River surged up from all directions, directly washing over his vulnerable and unprotected soul.

Gavin gritted his teeth, followed the connection to his original body, raised his arms, and slowly swam upwards in the viscous, heavy river water.

This was undoubtedly an extremely long and arduous period.

The icy river water washed over his consciousness again and again, gradually eroding his remaining obsession.

When he was only a few feet from the surface of the river, his movements became slower and slower until he almost stopped underwater, barely having the strength to lift a finger.

He realized he had misjudged something—

In his normal, intact state, he could easily swim across this river using only his soul, but now he has consumed most of his soul.

His soul strength was far inferior to his usual self.

The most dangerous place at this time is --

After being soaked in the river for a long time, even his fear faded.

The piercing pain in my soul no longer matters, nor does it matter whether I'll stay here forever. The faint light so close overhead seems not worth the slightest effort anymore.

Why go back?

Staying here doesn't seem so bad.

Let's become one.

Just as his consciousness was about to completely fade away...

A faint yet persistent warmth suddenly emanated from the connection directly in front of him to his original body.

Immediately following was a series of intermittent voices carried across the water.

Who is speaking?

The warm current seemed to sense him, slowly flowing into his soul, gradually restoring the lost pulse of life and the boundaries of his self.

Gavin became whole again.

In the river, he listened intently, and finally remembered whose voice it was.

"Cordelia?"

At that moment, he inevitably thought of that rainy night when he transformed into Seagull—

Despite the torrential rain, a person stubbornly kept that lamp lit in the endless darkness, illuminating his way home.

That time and that moment, just like this moment.

The idea of "going back" has become important again.

Only one thought remained in his mind:

We have to go back.

Gavin mustered his last bit of strength and, with a final, desperate stroke, reached upwards towards the direction from which the sound came, stretching his hand toward the faint light above the river's surface.

The Hogwarts Hospital Wing was very quiet, with each patient in a private room.

Ever since the Time-Turner accident at the Astronomy Tower, Gavin was transferred here and has been lying here for more than three weeks.

In the first few days, Cordelia didn't actually say much each time she came over.

She was frighteningly calm in front of everyone.

Each time he came, he would sit down by the bedside, gather the wide Slytherin sleeves around his wrist, hold his wrist, and connect the two of them to the same Life Circuit, passing through a period of Life Force within the visiting time allowed by Madam Pomfrey.

At first, she simply told him, in her usual calm tone, what had happened each day:

Professor Flitwick visited you.

"He put the thing on the bedside table, the one on the left."

Later, the ward became so quiet that she began to tell him about the little things that had happened that day:

It's raining today.

"Rolf also went to the lake. He said you can catch fish even in the rain, and he'll bring them to show you."

"Also, Professor McGonagall has brought your homework as well."

Professor Sprout brought over a lot of cookies; she said this was your favorite flavor.

After she finished speaking, she would pause and wait quietly for a while, as if waiting for him to suddenly say something next.

But there was no movement from the hospital bed.

She could only move on to the next thing.

As the days went by, she rarely left the ward except when attending classes.

At first, Madam Pomfrey would try to get rid of her, but lately she's stopped caring about her at all, it's like—

We gave her time to say her final goodbye.

Some things, once told, she herself gradually couldn't remember. She suddenly stopped halfway through her story, looking at the quiet boy on the bed with his eyes closed:

Didn't I tell you about this yesterday?

No one answered in the ward.

She lowered her eyelashes and said softly:

"... Fine, listening to it again won't change anything, since you didn't refuse, right?"

As evening approached, the light outside the window gradually dimmed.

As her Life Force gradually faded, Cordelia's face became even paler than when she first arrived.

She didn't get up, remaining seated on the dimly lit edge of the bed, and as usual, quietly reported the day's events:

"Professor Flitwick came again this afternoon."

At this point, her previously steady tone suddenly paused.

The ward was so quiet that even her own suppressed breathing could be heard clearly. After several seconds, she lowered her head, looked at the lifeless face on the hospital bed, and her voice gradually became hoarse, revealing a trace of grievance that could no longer be hidden.

"... But he stood by the bed for a long time today, and didn't even dare to ask me when you would wake up."

"It wasn't just him. Professor McGonagall didn't dare ask, Madam Pomfrey always sighed beside her... Even after Professor Dumbledore came to see you, the way he looked at me became exactly the same as the way those Healer at St. Mungo's's used to look at me."

"Yesterday, when Madam Pomfrey was tidying the bedside table, she accidentally knocked your Wand over... Her hands were shaking when she picked it up, and the way she looked at me was like she was advising me to put all your things away..."

The girl's back, which had always been ramrod straight, gradually bent under the twilight.

"I don't allow them to touch your things. I wipe your Wand clean every day and place it by your pillow; I fold your homework neatly by date; even the cookies Professor Sprout gave you, I replace with new ones every day if they get soggy..."

Her nose gradually turned red, and her eyes quickly filled with tears, but she bit her lower lip hard, not daring to let out a single sob.

Madam Pomfrey was just outside the door.

For more than twenty days, she gritted her teeth and endured it in front of everyone, afraid that if she cried out, they would say that she couldn't hold on and would immediately kick her out of the ward.

That way, she really wouldn't be able to see Gavin again.

But now she was all alone in the dimly lit hospital room. The pent-up resentment that had been building up for more than three weeks was stuck in her throat, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.

"Weren't you always so good at talking back? If I said one wrong thing, you could come up with ten twisted arguments to shut me up..."

Large tears finally spilled silently from her eyes, landing on their clasped wrists. Her voice trembled so badly that she could only manage a few breaths:

"You were the one who loudly proclaimed you had a girlfriend in front of the whole school... and then you turned around and got yourself into this state, leaving me alone in the hospital room, endlessly spouting this nonsense, and you won't even open your eyes..."

She leaned down, her forehead pressed against the back of his cool hand, her thin shoulders trembling violently, yet she still bit her lip tightly, swallowing all her sobs.

Even though she was almost completely crushed by the deathly silence of the past twenty-odd days, her hands, tucked into her wide sleeves, still gripped Gavin's wrist tightly, without letting go even an inch.

"They all say your soul is lost in time, and may never return..."

She pressed her face against the back of his cold hand, her scalding tears silently soaking the cuffs of his Hospital Gown. Her voice trembled softly, yet carried a desperate, resolute stubbornness:

But I don't believe it.

Even if everyone thinks you won't come back, as long as your heart is still beating, as long as your body can still hold onto my Life Force, even if there's only a sliver of hope left, I will never give up.

"I just told Professor Sprout that you don't like soggy cookies... You promised you wouldn't abandon me, you'll definitely come back..."

The only sound in the ward was the girl's barely suppressed gasps.

Just as she pressed her hand against the back of his, almost shattering into the twilight—

A faint voice seemed to rise from the horizon:

"Cookies don't taste good when they've gotten soggy."

Cordelia froze, her breath catching in her throat.

But she kept her head down, not daring to move an inch.

I was afraid it was just my imagination.

I was afraid that I had finally given up and imagined that voice out of thin air. Whenever I looked up, I would still see his tightly closed eyes and lifeless face.

Until that hand, which had been silent for more than twenty days—

His fingers suddenly twitched very slightly, and he gently hooked his hand around hers.

Cordelia slowly raised her head in disbelief, her red eyes still brimming with tears, staring blankly at the head of the bed.

Gavin had opened his eyes at some point while lying in the hospital bed.

In the dim light, he looked at the girl who was on the verge of collapse before him, a smile appearing on his face. His hoarse voice, which hadn't been uttered in a long time, gently rose from beside the pillow:

"And you're right, I will definitely come back."

Cordelia stared blankly at that smile, not daring to even blink.

She subconsciously glanced down at the hand that was gently hooking hers—

The faint warmth emanating from her fingertips told her that this was neither a dream nor an illusion.

After biting her lip for more than twenty days, she finally let go at this moment.

"Waaah--"

First came a short, sharp gasp, like that of a lost little animal, and the next second, the string that had been taut for countless days and nights snapped completely.

She no longer cared whether Madam Pomfrey outside the door could hear her, nor did she care about propriety. In a panic, she pulled her hands into her wide sleeves, threw herself against the bedside, grabbed his Hospital Gown collar tightly through her sleeves, buried her face in his shoulder, and burst into tears.

"Waaaaah, do you know how scared I am...?"

The fear and grievances that had been suppressed for more than three weeks suddenly erupted like a flood breaking through a dam.

She cried so hard her whole body trembled violently, she couldn't even breathe properly, and her scalding tears instantly soaked half of Gavin's Hospital Gown.

"Every day I watch your hands grow colder and colder... I don't even dare to cry out loud, I'm afraid I'll never see you again..."

"I thought... I thought you were really going to leave me all alone..."

The girl's heart-wrenching cries echoed in the quiet hospital room.

Gavin's eyes welled up with tears. With the last bit of strength he had regained in his body, he struggled to raise his arm and tightly embrace the person in his arms who was crying so hard she felt like she was about to break.

"Don't be afraid, I'm really back."