That evening, Deathstroke first sent Hermione, whose mind was still filled with the faces of the dead after the battle, back to the Ravenclaw Common Room. He let her pet cats or read books by herself and think carefully about where she had fallen short in today's battle.
Hermione had been silent ever since the fight. It seemed she had finally come to her senses and realized that the things—and people—she had killed tonight looked exactly like humans.
That was certainly quite a shock.
Right now, she just wanted some peace and quiet. So she listlessly said goodbye to her professor, clutching her head as she returned to the dormitory, seemingly blaming herself for not having thought of this beforehand.
Watching his apprentice hang her head in dejection after realizing it too late, the professor smiled faintly. The exams were already over. Tomorrow would be the House Cup evaluation and the day the students took the train home. None of that mattered much; Ravenclaw would still be this year's champion anyway.
He did not plan to sleep tonight either. He needed to find an expert to deal with the locket in his possession.
Summer vacation was something every student looked forward to. Of course, they often forgot how desperately they had been looking forward to the start of term by the end of the previous summer holiday.
Harry, who had been imprisoned in his uncle's house from the very start of every holiday, was an exception. He did not want summer vacation at all. If school rules had not required every student to leave Hogwarts during the holidays, he would have wanted to live there forever.
It was only the morning of the third day of vacation, yet he was already leaning against the windowsill in the cramped penthouse, waiting