“Everyone, line up!
Stand according to your houses!” Felix Rosier had started putting on his Student Council president act again, trying to direct everyone.
“Slytherin in the front!
We are—”
“Shut up.”
Snape’s cold voice rang out.
Felix’s words instantly stuck in his throat.
His face shifted between pale and flushed, and he closed his mouth awkwardly before obediently moving to the back of the line.
Nora found it hilarious.
She turned her head and looked toward Filch, who was standing off to the side.
The caretaker was holding his cat, Mrs.
Norris, and watching them with a hint of envy in his eyes, mixed with a little unease.
The old, worn coat he wore looked somewhat out of place in the magnificent Great Hall.
“Mr.
Filch,” Nora called, waving at him.
“Come join us too!”
Filch froze for a moment, as if he could not believe what he had just heard.
“Me?
I can join as well?”
“Of course!” Nora said with a smile.
“You’ve helped us a lot over these seven years.
How could we leave you out?”
She was telling the truth.
Although Filch was especially strict with mischievous students, he had always been quite friendly toward Nora, who followed the rules.
Not only had Nora never caused trouble in front of him, she had often helped him “catch” those Gryffindor students who secretly used magic in the corridors.
More importantly, they were both fellow cat lovers.
Mrs.
Norris liked Nora very much.
Whenever she saw her, she would affectionately rub against her trouser legs.
Because of that, Filch’s fondness for her had grown even more.
He had even secretly taught her how to brush a cat’s fur and how to read a cat’s mood.
“Then… then I won’t stand on ceremony.” Flattered, Filch set Mrs.
Norris down, straightened his coat, and carefully took his place at the edge of the group.
Mrs.
Norris, meanwhile, walked gracefully to Nora’s feet and rubbed against her shoes.
Almost everyone had gathered.
Dumbledore stood in the very center, with Professor McGonagall on his left and Snape on his right.
The other professors stood on both sides, while the graduates lined up by house, packed closely together.
“Evelyn, give me the camera!” Nora called to her friend.
“Wait!” Evelyn raised the camera, looking a little troubled.
“Who’s going to take the picture?
I want to be in it too!”
Nora looked around, and her gaze landed on two red-haired boys nearby who were making faces at each other.
“George!
Fred!”
The twins immediately stopped fooling around and walked over with cheeky grins.
“Senior Nora, what’s up?
Are you going to give us a ‘graduation bonus’?”
“No bonus,” Nora said, shoving the camera into George’s hands.
“Just do me a favor and take a picture for us.
Do you know how to use it?”
George weighed the camera in his hand, his eyes lighting up.
“Isn’t this a Muggle camera?
Easy!
Dad’s studied this thing before!”
He pulled Fred to the front, and the two of them spent a while gesturing at the crowd.
“Everyone, smile!” Fred shouted.
“Anyone who doesn’t smile, we’ll tell Professor McGonagall about the time they secretly used magic to change their homework!”
A burst of laughter broke out from the crowd.
Even the tense corners of Snape’s mouth seemed to loosen ever so slightly.
“All right, all right, don’t move!” George raised the camera and aimed it at the crowd.
“One, two, three—”
Click!
The crisp sound of the shutter rang through the Great Hall, like a soft sigh.
Time seemed to freeze at that very moment.
Tradução para o inglês com gramática corrigida, mantendo a essência:
Dumbledore’s kindly smile, the stern yet gentle look in Professor McGonagall’s eyes, the awkward way Snape pressed his lips together, Filch’s tense yet excited profile, and the faces of the students—some thrilled, some reluctant to part, some making silly expressions…
All of it was captured on that tiny strip of black-and-white film.
Nora stood among the crowd, watching as George and Fred lowered the camera.
For some reason, a strange sense of calm suddenly settled in her heart.
Seven years.
Countless days and nights.
The focus she had shown in class, the tension she had felt in the exam hall, the busyness of her part-time work, and all those occasional arguments, laughter, and moments of emotion… In the end, they had all been condensed into this single instant.
“It’s done!” George said, lifting the camera.
“I guarantee everyone looks handsome!”
The crowd gradually dispersed, and everyone returned to their own conversations, as if the group photo had only been a small interlude.
But Nora knew that this photograph would become one of the most precious parts of many people’s memories.
She walked over to Filch and watched as he carefully picked up Mrs.
Norris, his eyes reddened.
“Mr.
Filch, thank you for looking after me these past seven years.”
Filch sniffed, his voice a little choked.
“You… you must come back and visit often.
Mrs.
Norris will miss you.”
“I will.” Nora nodded.
Then she walked up to Snape.
After a moment of hesitation, she still said, “Professor Snape, thank you for your teaching.
I learned a great deal in your Potions classes.”
Snape glanced at her without saying a word.
He merely took a small glass vial from his pocket and shoved it into her hand.
The vial was filled with a transparent liquid.
On its label were the words: “Vigor Potion.”
“…Use it sparingly.”
After leaving those words behind, he turned and walked away, his black robes sweeping out a sharp, clean arc behind him.
Nora held the vial in her hand and watched his figure disappear at the end of the corridor.
The corners of her lips could not help but lift slightly.
What an awkward, prideful tsundere.
“Nora!” Evelyn ran over excitedly.
“Let’s go back to the dormitory and pack!
We have to leave early tomorrow morning!”
“All right.” Nora nodded and followed her toward the entrance.
As she passed by the Ravenclaw table, many of her classmates stood up to say goodbye.
She responded to each of them, warmth spreading through her heart.
When she reached the doorway, she turned back and looked at the Great Hall one last time.
The candlelight still flickered.
The food was still abundant.
The noise and laughter were still lively.
But she knew that from tomorrow onward, none of this would belong to her anymore.
She took a deep breath, turned around, and walked out of the great doors side by side with Evelyn.
The suits of armor in the corridor gleamed coldly beneath the moonlight.
The figures in the portraits yawned, and the ghosts drifted slowly through the air.
“Do you think we’ll still see each other in the future?” Evelyn suddenly asked, her voice a little downcast.
“Of course we will.” Nora patted her on the shoulder.
“The wizarding world is only so big.
How hard could it be to meet again?
Besides, didn’t you invite me to visit Australia?”
“Oh, right!” Evelyn immediately perked up.
“When the time comes, I’ll take you kangaroo riding!”
Nora smiled and shook her head, but deep down, she understood that once some people and some things were said goodbye to, it would be difficult to ever return to the way things had been before.
But that was all right.
Farewells existed for the sake of better beginnings.
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