18: Chapter 17: Symptoms?
The Night Before the Feast 18: Chapter 17: Symptoms?
The Night Before the Feast “Uh… how about this?” Thorne held out a small, slightly irregular sphere and handed it to Dumbledore.
The old bee took it and paused, his expression shifting.
The thing… looked oddly like a tiny mask.
It was round overall, but two small holes sat on the front in the exact positions where eyes would be.
The surface had uneven ridges that vaguely suggested facial features.
It also gave off a strange aura—very close to liquid soul, carrying a faint trace of life force, but far more restrained and stable.
Thorne explained uncertainly, “This is… what forms naturally when soul condenses inside my body without an open wound.” Dumbledore looked quite pleased.
He simply flicked a finger across the sphere.
The irregular ridges and holes smoothed out instantly, the surface becoming perfectly round and polished.
In the blink of an eye, it had become a white pill that was almost indistinguishable from the Elixir of Life.
Thorne nodded, genuinely impressed.
“Very advanced Transfiguration.” “Thank you.” Dumbledore smiled like he was about to enjoy an ordinary piece of candy.
“Then I’ll go ahead and test it.” The next second, under Thorne’s widening eyes, Dumbledore popped the “pill” straight into his mouth and swallowed.
The sight was… Like someone casually eating your gallstone.
No—more accurately, like someone swallowing your golden core.
The corner of Thorne’s mouth twitched hard.
A moment later, Dumbledore’s eyes flew open.
Clear surprise crossed his face.
“This… is strange.” Thorne tensed immediately.
“What’s wrong?
Side effects?” Dumbledore looked at him, his expression turning serious.
After a long pause, he said slowly, “…No effect at all.” Thorne: “…” This old bee had zero sense of propriety.
Dumbledore chuckled, tone light.
“It’s fine.
No effect is exactly what I wanted.
If it actually did what you described—’condensing’ and restoring something—I would have had to think very carefully before using it.” Thorne nodded and was about to reply when something clicked.
He looked up.
“Wait… how do you know the term ‘condensation’?” “This?” Dumbledore said with a cheerful smile.
“Professor Snape taught it to me.
Haha.
I definitely wasn’t spying on you two.” Thorne narrowed his eyes.
“…Definitely not?” Dumbledore sensed danger and immediately changed the subject with a laugh, waving his hands.
“Alright, alright.
Everything that needed doing is done.
Eric, get some rest.
I’ll be going now.” Before Thorne could respond, the old bee had already turned and left, moving far too quickly for someone his age.
Thorne watched the retreating figure disappear and snorted.
“…Am I actually being watched this whole time?” He didn’t get the chance to think about it further.
A figure suddenly appeared in the room.
Thorne nearly jumped out of his chair.
It was a small creature with large bat-like ears and huge, protruding green eyes that looked like tennis balls in the dim light.
Thorne quickly calmed down.
A house-elf.
One of Hogwarts’.
He’d run into one before while cleaning Professor McGonagall’s office.
Apparently the school had an entire kitchen wing just for them.
Thorne had actually been curious about it for a while.
At least these guys were humanoid.
Compared to his insect colleagues, Thorne found he felt more at ease around house-elves.
“Professor Thorne.” The house-elf bowed deeply, nose almost touching the floor.
“Headmaster Dumbledore has arranged a hot bath for you.
Please come with me.” “A hot bath—” Thorne’s eyes lit up.
He was about to agree when he suddenly stopped.
He narrowed his eyes and glanced around the room like he was checking for something, then firmly shook his head.
“Never mind.
I’m not cold.” He made a quick internal decision.
From now on, at Hogwarts, he was never bathing again.
Who knew when that old bee might decide to “take a look”?
The house-elf looked confused but still bowed respectfully and silently withdrew.
The room fell quiet again.
Thorne pulled the blanket tighter around himself, took out the half-finished map, and went back to sketching.
His mind was already racing ahead.
He needed to finish exploring Hogwarts Castle as soon as possible.
Diagon Alley too—he couldn’t leave it half-done.
After a while, he glanced over at the dragon fang lying quietly on the bed.
“Hm…” “I wonder what Transfiguration would do if I used it to forge something.” His thoughts shifted and he sighed.
Oh, right.
He still needed to make money.
The new clothes he was wearing—he’d borrowed the money from Harry to buy them.
He had to pay him back.
Damn it… Why had he been so generous and dumped all his money into that dragon fang deposit?
And that Dumbledore—making him sign a seven-year slave contract and costing him a high-paying job.
Capitalist bastard!
— For the next stretch of time, Thorne’s days fell into a simple cycle.
Exploring Hogwarts Castle, learning and refining the Transfiguration techniques for shaping bone nails, and helping Professor McGonagall test materials for soul totems.
Busy but steady.
Time slipped by unnoticed.
Before he knew it, the first of September had arrived.
Thorne stood in front of the mirror in his brand-new robes, looking at the reflection of a proper, respectable young man.
…No.
A handsome, dashing young wizard.
He gave a small cough and nodded with satisfaction.
Compared to the half-dead vagrant he’d been when he first arrived—kept alive only by potions and one bad decision away from accidental overdose—he looked like a completely different person.
“Welcome Feast, huh…” Thorne muttered to himself.
This time, nobody was going to mistake him for a robber or a beggar, right?
He turned, reached for the new bone nail leaning against the wall, and picked it up.
There was no question—this one had been forged from the dragon fang.
It was long and straight, roughly forty inches, with a warm bone-white sheen.
The tip was sharp, the lines clean.
But the moment he gripped it, Thorne could feel the imbalance.
It felt heavy when swung, the center of gravity was off, and the edge didn’t look nearly as lethal as it should.
“Tch.” Thorne knew exactly why.
If he wanted a truly balanced and dangerous bone nail, Transfiguration alone wasn’t enough.
He needed the right materials to go with it.
And those materials were currently out of his reach.
“Whatever.” He shook his head and slung the bone nail over his shoulder.
This would have to do for now.
As for the castle’s exploration progress… Thorne was honestly speechless.
The place was just too damn big.
He’d spent an entire month walking around and had only pushed it to 58%.
He had no idea when he’d finally get that Warrior’s Dream.
Forget it.
No point thinking about it now.
Thorne hummed a tuneless little song and left his quarters, heading down the familiar path toward the Great Hall.
Along the way, the portraits on either side had gotten used to him.
Some bugs waved.
Some nodded and smiled.
Some called out lazy greetings.
Thorne answered each one.
But at some point, the greetings started to sound… off.
The voices grew thinner.
More numerous.
Like insect chirping.
Chittering.
Buzzing.
Getting louder and louder.
Loud enough to drown out everything else until only that meaningless, overlapping noise remained.
Thorne’s steps quickened without him realizing it.
A dull ache started building behind his eyes.
He stopped responding to the portraits and walked faster, almost fleeing down the corridor until he burst out of the castle and into the open grounds.
Cold night air hit his face.
Thorne bent over, breathing in deep gulps of fresh air.
It took a while before the annoying “insect noise” finally faded and disappeared completely.
“Damn it…” Thorne muttered.
That familiar yet alien feeling rose up again.
A vague, hard-to-name sense of isolation.
Like there was still an invisible barrier between him and this world.
Like he didn’t quite belong.
He rested his hands on his knees and stared down at the grass.
His previously decent mood had soured without him noticing.
Just then, the scent of damp earth drifted over.
“Professor Thorne, are you alright?” Thorne startled and turned around.
For a split second, he thought he saw a plump witch wearing a slightly soiled apron standing in front of him.
Beside her was a serious-looking witch in dark green robes.
Human?
He could see actual humans?!