“Your mother was found by the Death Eaters after they discovered your family’s address.”
“They murdered your parents and burned your home to the ground with the Fire Making Spell.”
“By the time Dumbledore and I arrived, the tragedy had already happened, although we did kill those Death Eaters.”
Fel’s fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
“What about me? Why didn’t I die?”
Professor McGonagall replied, “You had already lost consciousness. They probably thought the fire alone would be enough to kill you.”
“But they never expected your magic to awaken at that exact moment, triggering an accidental magical outburst.”
“When we finished the battle and rushed into the house, the fire had already gone out.”
Fel finally understood.
He had always believed it had been an accidental house fire, but it had actually been the aftermath of a battle between wizards.
He should have died that day, but fate had shown him a moment of mercy.
His magic awakened just in time and extinguished the flames.
He also had to thank Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore for arriving in time.
Otherwise, once the Death Eaters realized the fire had gone out, they certainly would have finished him off.
A countless series of coincidences had allowed him to survive and emerge from the flames alive.
He had no reason to doubt her.
Neither Professor McGonagall nor Dumbledore had anything to gain by deceiving someone like him, and according to everything he remembered, both of them were genuinely good people.
“Fuck! Fuck!”
Fel shot to his feet and cursed furiously.
Professor McGonagall paid no attention to his foul language.
Anyone in his position would be consumed by anger.
She simply continued comforting him.
After quite some time, Fel finally calmed down, but his determination only became stronger.
The Death Eaters who had directly murdered his parents were already dead, but the true source of everything had not been eliminated.
Voldemort… our blood feud has been sealed!
Fel bowed deeply.
“Professor, thank you and Headmaster Dumbledore for saving my life.”
Professor McGonagall shook her head and sighed.
“Fel, it’s all in the past now. You should live your life well. Only then will your parents’ sacrifice have meaning, wouldn’t you agree?”
Fel nodded.
“I will.”
After Fel left, Dumbledore appeared inside Professor McGonagall’s office.
“Albus, I’ve already told Fel the entire truth.”
Dumbledore nodded.
“Fel deserved to know. The future remains uncertain, and we need fresh strength.”
“Yes. I can still sense that Tom exists somewhere in this world, quietly hiding while waiting for his strength to return. And…”
Dumbledore looked out the window at Fel’s figure as he ran toward the library.
“According to Trelawney’s prophecy, perhaps Fel will also become one of the key forces that defeats Tom and brings about peace.”
“A spirit of vengeance born from the flames, beyond the grasp of fate, will burn away all evil…”
…
It had already been many years since his parents died, so Fel was not so overwhelmed that he lost himself completely.
He would definitely have his revenge, but life still had to go on.
In fact, he needed to live even better and plan even more carefully if he wanted the best chance of succeeding.
His top priority now was increasing his own strength, and Hogwarts Library was the greatest treasure trove available to him.
The librarian was Madam Pince.
She spent almost all of her time inside the library and treasured its books more than life itself.
If she had her way, she would happily throw every student out just to keep them away from her precious books, but unfortunately she could not.
As a result, not only was damaging books absolutely forbidden, but even speaking a little too loudly was unacceptable.
Even then, she watched the students like a hawk.
Even while they searched for books, they remained under her watchful gaze.
Among the students, she was the third most disliked person after Filch and Snape.
She might even have been able to compete for second place, since Slytherin students did not dislike Snape.
Fel simply acted as though she did not exist.
Looking around, he quickly spotted a small figure sitting by a window in the corner and quietly walked over.
Hermione was diligently working on her homework.
Beside her parchment were the Potions textbook and a borrowed book titled Side Effects of Basic Potions.
The moment Fel approached, Hermione seemed to sense his presence and turned around.
After carefully studying his expression and seeing that he did not look particularly upset, she finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Come on. I’m already halfway through my homework.”
Fel sat down, took out his assignment parchment and Potions textbook from his bag, and lowered his head to begin writing as well.
He wrote very seriously, but only using the material taught in class and in the textbook.
Fel did not spend extra time borrowing additional books to expand upon the lesson.
As a result, the two of them finished their homework almost at exactly the same time.
“Fel, what kind of books are you looking for? I memorized roughly where everything is when I came earlier.”
The two of them entered the bookshelves, and after glancing toward Madam Pince in the distance, Hermione quietly whispered to Fel.
“Books on Charms. What about you?”
“Transfiguration and Potions are both really interesting. I’m planning to borrow books on those. The Charms section is over there on the left.”
Hogwarts possessed thousands of towering bookshelves, each packed with countless books resting silently upon them.
Walking through the Charms section, Fel did not even glance at the advanced spell books placed high above.
Before learning how to run, he first needed to learn how to crawl.
In the end, he selected A Brief Introduction to the Nature of Charms and Twenty Practical Beginner Charms.
When he left the bookshelves, he found Hermione already waiting while holding four books, so he quickly walked over.
The two completed the borrowing procedure beneath Madam Pince’s gloomy stare.
“Once you’ve finished reading the Transfiguration books, let me borrow them too. You can also read these two books I picked.”
Transfiguration had tremendous value as support magic in combat.
Every master skilled in battle was also proficient in Transfiguration, Dumbledore and Voldemort being perfect examples.
It was getting late, so the two returned their school bags to the dormitory before heading toward the Great Hall, where many young witches and wizards were already enjoying dinner.
Ron once again transformed into a berserker, wielding a chicken leg in each hand as he devoured them with astonishing speed.
Harry had buried his face in a pumpkin pie, as though trying to vent all the frustration he had built up during Potions class.
The two of them sat beside Harry and Ron, and the previously empty table instantly became covered with a magnificent dinner.
Fel rubbed his full stomach, and the leftovers on the table suddenly disappeared before his eyes.
He took out A Brief Introduction to the Nature of Charms and began reading it attentively.
One after another, the young witches and wizards finished eating.
Some left immediately, while those who remained took out their textbooks and prepared to complete their homework.
Harry and Ron stared miserably at their Potions assignment.
Ron’s face turned bright red from thinking so hard, and after ten whole minutes, he had only managed to write the eight characters that made up the title, Precautions When Brewing the Cure for Boils.
At this point, the Golden Trio had not yet formed.
They were still not close enough to Hermione to ask to copy her homework.
“Fel, we should write a letter home,” Hermione suddenly said.
“Of course. You write first, then I’ll add mine underneath. Use a larger piece of parchment.”
Fel nodded.
“We don’t have any classes tomorrow morning. We can go to the Owlery and find an owl to deliver it.”
Hearing that, Harry looked up.
“Hedwig can help. She’s very smart and flies really fast.”
Fel smiled.
“Thanks, Harry.”
Ron looked rather envious.
“The stupid bird my family owns has crashed into our own windows or dived headfirst into dinner plates more times than I can count.”
Everyone burst into laughter, filling the Great Hall with cheerful voices.
Just as they were writing their letters, the cries of owls grew louder and louder.
Dozens of owls flew in through the windows and doors.
Some carried letters tied to their legs, while others gripped all kinds of packages in their talons.
The owl post had returned from its deliveries.