Ethan came to the gate.
The ancient magical symbol at its center lit up, giving off a soft yet brilliant white glow, and prompted the gate to open automatically to both sides.
“Mm-hmm.
Perfect clear.
Rating: SSS.”
Ethan shrugged and walked straight through the gate into the room beyond.
It was a fairly spacious square metal hall, with four differently styled metal pillars decorating the four corners.
The pillars were carved respectively with the animal motifs of an eagle, a lion, a badger, and a snake.
At the center of the square hall stood a Pensieve.
Above it, an exquisitely decorated book slowly circled and bobbed up and down.
“Another Pensieve?”
Ethan walked up to the Pensieve and reached out to take the book above it.
“And this book is?”
The book floating in midair suddenly opened.
A thread of silver liquid flowed down along the book’s spine and into the Pensieve.
Then it closed again and flew into Ethan’s hand.
Holding the book, Ethan looked at the liquid flowing inside the Pensieve and swallowed.
“Whew.
Then let’s do this.”
Ethan placed his hands on the edge of the Pensieve, took a deep breath, and plunged his head into it.
A familiar sensation of weightlessness came over him.
After a brief fall, Ethan found himself standing in a grassy field.
“Run!
They’re coming!”
A man’s voice came from behind him.
Ethan looked back and saw several people in black coats and black masks sprinting desperately toward him, passing through his body and continuing forward.
Ethan saw that the backs of their coats were all embroidered with a red snake flicking its tongue, and he could not help frowning.
That symbol looked familiar.
He felt as if he had seen it somewhere before.
Hum.
In front of those people, a silver-white screen of light unfolded in the shape of a cross, blocking their escape route.
One foot stepped out from within the screen, and then the person’s whole body emerged from the light.
It was Percival.
“You cannot escape.
Put down your wands and surrender.”
Percival spoke calmly, pointing his wand at the people in black coats.
“Percival, there’s no need to waste words on them.
These Ashwinders Gang members deserve to die.”
Charles stepped out from the light screen and stood to Percival’s left.
Immediately afterward, a man and a woman also stepped out from the light screen and stood to Percival’s right.
“Damn it.
Everyone, attack together!
Fight them!”
The man standing near the front of the Ashwinders, who looked like their leader, gave orders to the others.
He raised his wand and roared.
“Avada Kedavra!”
Deadly green light shot from the tip of his wand and flew straight toward Percival.
Percival lightly flicked his wand upward.
A stone wall rose from the ground, blocking the Killing Curse fired from the other side, then exploded.
“Sigh…”
Percival sighed and gently swept his wand upward from below.
A silver-white arc of energy appeared along the path of his wand and flew toward the leader at incredible speed, knocking him to the ground unconscious.
“Put down your wands and surrender.”
Percival spoke calmly.
“Avada Kedavra!”
Several Killing Curses were his answer.
All of the Killing Curses were blocked by the stone wall Charles raised.
Percival’s gaze sharpened.
He tapped his wand toward one of the Ashwinders members who had cast the Killing Curse.
A silver beam shot from his wand, piercing straight through that Ashwinders member’s chest.
The man collapsed limply to the ground, lifeless.
“Bakar, Niamh!”
Charles shouted while firing Charms.
The remaining man and woman also raised their wands, clearing out the rest of the Ashwinders.
The screams of the Ashwinders gradually faded into the distance, and the surrounding scenery dispersed like smoke.
Ethan felt himself spinning as he fell.
In the blink of an eye, the scenery around him solidified once more.
This time, he was at the edge of a cliff.
Four people walked past Ethan.
It was Percival and the others.
Percival came to the edge of the cliff and looked down at the scene below, his eyes full of sorrow.
“The Ashwinders did all this…”
Ethan also came to the edge of the cliff and looked down with Percival.
Below the cliff was a dilapidated village.
The houses were ruined and more than half had collapsed.
Many had been burned black and were still giving off thick smoke.
All the trees in the village had been snapped.
In the farmland nearby, the soil was so dry it had cracked, and the few scattered crops planted there had all been trampled into the ground.
At the center of the village was a well.
Beside it stood two children, a boy and a girl.
The boy leaned on a crutch, coughing constantly, while the girl lay beside the well, staring into the empty shaft as she threw the bucket tied to a rope down into it.
A man walked out of a ruined house nearby and came to the girl’s side.
He bent down, patted the girl’s shoulder, and said something to her.
The girl let go of the rope and threw herself into the man’s arms, sobbing without pause.
Even knowing that this was only a memory, Ethan felt his heart clench tightly.
Percival exchanged a look with the three people behind him, then drew his wand and pointed it at the sky.
A surge of silver-white magical energy shot from his wand like a rocket into the clouds above.
In an instant, the sky was covered in dark clouds, and torrential rain poured down, extinguishing the houses where embers still burned and soaking every inch of the village’s land.
The man and woman beside Percival waved their wands.
Dazzling silver light shone from the tips, and as their wands moved, the collapsed houses were restored to their original state, new buds sprouted from the broken trees, and the crops in the fields stood upright once more.
Another stream of magical energy shot from Charles’s wand into the earth.
Pale blue ripples spread from the point of impact across the entire village.
Wherever the ripples passed, grass spread, flowers bloomed, and the barren land gradually filled with life.
Beside the well, the little girl supported the little boy on his crutch and looked up at this miraculous scene, a strange light shining in her eyes.
Percival’s tightly furrowed brow gradually relaxed.
He exchanged smiles with his companions, then drew a silver-white screen of light with his wand.
The scenery before Ethan once again dispersed like smoke.
After a brief darkness, Ethan arrived in an old-fashioned room.
Percival and the other three were standing or sitting beside the chairs in the room, discussing something.
Suddenly, there came a knock at the door, and all four turned their heads toward Ethan’s direction.
Ethan stepped aside and looked behind him.
A girl of about fourteen or fifteen walked in from outside the room and asked the four people inside with some restraint.
“Did you wish to see me, Headmaster Fitzgerald?
And Professor Rackham?”
Percival nodded to the girl.
“That’s right, Miss Isidora Morganach.
Please come in.”
As the girl walked into the room, she greeted the others.
“Professor Rookwood, Professor Bakar, hello.”
The woman among the four asked, “Are you settling into life at Hogwarts, Miss Morganach?”
“I’m settling in very well, Headmaster Fitzgerald,” the girl said with a smile.
“Then I’m relieved.
You should know that ever since the unusual circumstances that appeared when you began in fourth year, we have all been quite concerned about you.” Headmaster Fitzgerald returned Isidora’s smile.
“Coincidentally, I was the same as you back then.
I only joined Hogwarts in my fourth year.
Aside from you and me, I have never heard of another exception like this.” Percival clasped his hands behind his back and walked up to Isidora, smiling warmly.
Charles, who was sitting in a chair to one side, turned to look at Isidora, his face serious.
“Back to the matter at hand, Miss Morganach.
During our conversation after class yesterday, you mentioned the beautiful vortexes that appeared in the sky when we visited your village several years ago.”
“Yes.
I recognized you very quickly.
I’m deeply grateful for everything you did.” Isidora lowered her head and fiddled with her fingers, looking somewhat uneasy.
“We were glad to help,” Headmaster Fitzgerald said, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes, I did see the magical vortexes that day.
They were everywhere.
My father insisted that my imagination was simply too active, but I have always believed they truly existed.” Isidora lifted her head, recalling the scene from that day.
“That’s right, Miss Morganach.
Those were not scenes you imagined,” Headmaster Fitzgerald said.
“Percival, that is, Professor Rackham, can see them as well.
But we never knew anyone else who could do the same.”
“I… don’t understand.
What exactly are those vortexes?”
“They are ancient magic,” Professor Percival Rackham replied.