When Nagini's fiery apparition appeared in the fireplace at the Hog's Head, Aberforth was utterly dumbfounded.
"You... how did you..."
"It's been a long time." Nagini remained quite calm as she faced Aberforth. Although he was the father of her former lover and they had met before, they really hadn't had much contact.
By comparison, Albus Dumbledore had once tried to help her break her blood curse, so she had spent more time with him.
Granted, Aberforth was also an exceptionally accomplished wizard. Tris had just confirmed that himself. But the gap between him and his older brother Albus was still quite obvious.
At least when it came to breaking the blood curse, even Albus had been helpless. Aberforth hadn't even been able to offer any help.
"It's been a long time..." Aberforth murmured. "So, were you the one who left the flowers I saw at the cemetery?"
"Yes." Nagini's expression remained indifferent.
Although she and Credence had once been deeply in love, decades had passed, and those feelings had long since faded.
Watching the awkward conversation between father-in-law and daughter-in-law, Tris found it funny while silently counting his blessings. Fortunately, Nagini lived on the edge of a rainforest in Papua, nine hours ahead of Britain, and was already awake at this hour.
Otherwise, getting in touch would have been rather difficult.
"All right, that's enough." Seeing that neither of them knew what to say, Tris interrupted. "Since you don't have anything else to talk about, shall we wrap this up? Oh, Miss Nagini, how are the preparations for that favor I asked of you?"
"Everything is ready. You can come whenever you need to. This is the best season for it," Nagini said evenly. "But don't you have classes at this time of year? Still, if you come in