Perhaps only a few miles away, or perhaps hundreds, stood Hogwarts Castle.
Everyone was out on the pitch, making a racket, some worrying, others discussing where the champion had gone when he should have emerged holding the cup to receive their cheers.
No one noticed an orange-red light flash and vanish at the window of the Headmaster's Office on the Castle's Seventh Floor.
A faint, almost imperceptible cry passed through the glass and faded into the air.
No, someone had noticed.
Dumbledore glanced unobtrusively toward his office and sighed softly, his gaze turning with some concern toward the deep darkness in the distance.
The green light faded, leaving only a faint green glow clinging to the weeds, its ominous air heightened by the night.
No one could escape unscathed from Avada Kedavras pouring in from every direction.
Even Merlin would have been no exception.
Let alone Su Er.
But...
"I'm still alive?" The green light had lasted only an instant. Su Er opened his eyes in puzzlement, then immediately realized something was wrong with him.
If he was still alive, then what was that version of himself lying below, not far from the gleaming Triwizard Cup, limbs splayed, mouth half-open, eyes devoid of their luster?
Oh... Su Er could not help raising a hand to pinch his chin, only to discover that he could see the green-stained weeds below through his hand.
I see. So I've become a soul?
Then am I alive or dead? Su Er sank into thought.
The young man in black robes had already set down His Highness Braised Egg, whom he had been holding, and lit his wand as he approached Su Er. Even without Pettigrew, there were still people willing to follow one after another as Voldemort's lackeys.
This young man was none other