Grindelwald's Arrival

Silence fell over the room once more as both of them pondered how to question the other.

"Severus, your hand..."

"What exactly did you discuss with that old bee?"

As the sky grew darker, Anna and Snape knew that if they kept sitting in silence, Madam Pomfrey would eventually throw them out. So they spoke up at the same time.

Hearing each other's questions, they both froze, and a hint of awkwardness hung in the air.

"Just a small cut."

Even as he said it, he showed no intention of pulling his hand out from under his arm.

An injury caused by a magical outburst was certainly no small cut. That chaotic magic would linger on the surface of the wound, leaving a scar that was difficult to erase even after it healed.

Seeing that he was unwilling to say more, Anna asked no further questions.

She remembered the recipe for a potion specifically meant to treat such scars. When the time came, she could have North send over some herbs to brew it.

"Thank you."

"I was only doing what someone asked of me."

After those few words, silence fell between them again.

Anna considered for a moment before finally answering his earlier question.

"Actually, it was nothing much. Dumbledore showed me the Mirror of Erised, and I couldn't find myself in it.

"That frightened me a little, and it caused a magical outburst."

Just as Snape hadn't told the truth, her understated account wasn't entirely accurate either.

More precisely, she felt that she didn't belong in this world to begin with.

Here, she couldn't find a place where her heart could find refuge, so she questioned her own existence.

"Hmph. The Mirror of Erised, his old trick."

Snape remembered that one of the trials Dumbledore had prepared for Harry Potter involved the mirror.

But what did she mean, she hadn't found herself in the mirror?

Snape knew perfectly well what the mirror could do. It faithfully reflected each person's deepest desire.

If she hadn't seen herself in it, that meant her wish had nothing to do with herself.

Her deepest wish had nothing to do with herself? Was she a saint???

"Who did you see in it?"

Snape continued to question her.

"There were lots of people. You, Lily, North, Elisa, my father, and Dumbledore. Some Acolytes I'd met who left a strong impression on me. I also saw Harry and the other two. I think Draco Malfoy was there too, but his face was so blurry I couldn't see it clearly.

"Oh, right, Voldemort was there too. He got beaten up pretty badly in the mirror, haha."

Anna counted them off on her fingers. Beside her, Snape's heart sank little by little as he heard their names.

The fact that she had seen Harry and the others, who had yet to be born, meant that this was the future she desired!

But she wasn't in that future.

What did that mean? Did she subconsciously believe she shouldn't exist in the future? How could she think such a thing?

At the time, Anna had been so focused on telling Dumbledore about her origins that she hadn't immediately realized it.

Now that she had come to her senses, she too noticed something was wrong.

The girl looked at her right palm. The pitch-black pattern of the contract lay quietly etched there, showing no reaction.

Ah...

So that was it.

Besides questioning her own existence, she suddenly realized there was another, terrifying thought buried deep in her heart.

How long could she, who had made a contract with death, stay in this world?

For that reason, she had always excluded herself from those beautiful visions of the future.

"You..."

"It's all right, Severus.

"At least all of you are by my side now."

Suppressing the sorrow in her heart, Anna put her hand back on the blanket and gently interrupted him.

It was as though she were also responding to her own thoughts.

Snape had been about to say something more when a phoenix suddenly gave a soft cry in the Hospital Wing, startling him to his feet.

Two figures appeared in the phoenix's flames. One was Dumbledore, who had been gone all afternoon, and the other was...

"Father, how did you get out?"

Anna cried out in surprise, her eyes shining with irrepressible joy.

...It was Gellert Grindelwald.

Realizing who had arrived, Snape moved aside of his own accord.

Having hurried there, Grindelwald paid no attention to the other person in the room. He strode to the bedside and pressed his broad palm against Anna's forehead.

Familiar magic flowed slowly through her from head to toe, skillfully and carefully smoothing the flow of magic in every part of her body.

Only after making sure his daughter had suffered no lasting effects did he lift his hand and place it on her little head, gently stroking it.

"You are absolutely not some forbidden existence!

"Don't take what Albus said to heart. That wasn't what he meant.

"You will always be my only family. Ever since you were born, I've never treated you as something to fill a void.

"You're so young. Don't go imagining things just because you've learned about what happened in the past.

"You are you, understand?!"

"I-I understand..."

Grindelwald rarely said so much to her from the bottom of his heart, leaving Anna pleasantly overwhelmed.

Was this really her old father, who couldn't even squeeze out a greeting at Christmas?

How had he come to seem like a different person after just a few months apart?

Still, touched by this rare display of thoughtfulness from her old father, she was deeply moved.

Anna nodded obediently, her eyes narrowing slightly as she nuzzled her little head into Grindelwald's palm. More warm, gentle strokes followed.

Snape believed that if she were a kitten, she would surely have been purring by now.

He had seen many unfamiliar sides of her today. He had never imagined that Anna, who usually acted so mature, would be so affectionate with Grindelwald!

Compared with how she usually was, she was rather cu... ahem, ahem, ahem, ahem!

"Mr. Snape, it's very late. You can return to your dormitory and rest.

"Anna needs to recuperate here for another two days. Could you come see her again tomorrow?"

Dumbledore noticed Snape and walked over to speak to him softly.

"All right."

Snape nodded and glanced at the girl waving good night to him from her hospital bed, then strode out of the Hospital Wing.

A forbidden existence—what did that mean?

So this seemed to be the real reason for her magical outburst. Because she was a forbidden existence, she was frightened and believed there was no place for her in the future?

That explanation barely made sense, but Snape still felt she was hiding something.

Tsk, what a nuisance! Why should I worry about this?

He put his guesses aside. Whatever Anna was, it had nothing to do with him.