On a deathly silent Island, sheer cliffs rose on every side. Ink-black seawater surrounded it like an abyss that swallowed everything, leaving it isolated from the world.
A sudden rush of air broke the silence. Two figures appeared on the Island.
"Your Eminence, where are we?" Catherine asked in astonishment. One moment, she had been in a storm-lashed night; the next, she was on this sunlit Island. Despite crossing such a vast distance, she had felt not the slightest ripple of magic.
"So you still don't know." Jerry watched Catherine look around. "You were the ones who sent me here in the first place."
"We were?" Confusion filled Catherine's face.
"This is how I got here." Jerry held out his left hand, showing Catherine the golden magic ring on his finger. "For years, this ring was hidden beneath the skin of my finger. Whenever I needed it, it could bring me back to this Island. Last year, I discovered that even the magic of Hogwarts Castle couldn't stop me from traveling with it."
"That magic ring belongs to you alone, Your Eminence. How could we possibly understand its secrets?" Catherine shook her head lightly and began wandering across the Island.
"Don't waste your time. There's nothing here. Come with me." Jerry cut her exploration short and took her hand. The scenery spun and blurred. When it came back into focus, Catherine found herself on the Island's summit.
The summit looked just as it had when Jerry first arrived. Broken walls and fallen stone pillars still bore the marks of history. But now, furniture stood on a patch of level ground nearby. The sofa and table looked familiar to Catherine—weren't they from the Slytherin Common Room? Snape had once flown into a rage at the students because things kept disappearing from