"Were they friends before?" Michael asked.
"Best friends." Theo paused, adding, "...allegedly."
"Where is that person now?" Leian asked.
"In Azkaban, of course."
Vid looked up at the place where a piece of the photo was missing, not saying a word.
After lunch, everyone went to explore Hogsmeade.
Theo had been there a few times with his parents before, but for Michael and Leian, it was their first time visiting this famous village. They eagerly dashed into the shops, excited and wanting to buy everything.
Vid and Lupin lagged behind, the middle-aged wizard looking at the children's joyful expressions, feeling gratified yet slightly melancholic.
"I'll bring Harry next time on a day off," Vid said understandingly.
"That would be great if possible."
Lupin gave a bit of a goofy smile, "When I was alone, I didn't mind much, but now... without someone at home, the whole house feels empty."
"Please keep today's affair a secret from Harry," Vid said, "He's living carefree now, and there's no need to involve him with Tom's matters."
Lupin naturally agreed.
He remembered a question that had been on his mind earlier and said, "Vid, do you remember that shadow in the cave?"
"Of course," Vid said.
"Just injecting thoughts wouldn't form such a tangible figure, as if it had an independent soul."
Lupin said worriedly, "With Voldemort's... I mean Tom's level of magic, he surely mastered many dark magics beyond our understanding, and the danger of that diadem exceeded my expectations."
"Fortunately, you were cautious and never made direct contact with it."
"Of course, it's been destroyed now... But if you encounter similar things in the future, you must be careful."
He didn't suspect Vid was hiding anything, just thought Vid misjudged the terror level of Voldemort's weapon given his current knowledge.
Vid said earnestly, "Of course, I will."
"For safety, I just want to confirm," Lupin asked, "You haven't encountered any other 'Tom's weapons', right? Have you?"
Vid diverted his gaze, saying, "Even for Tom, there can't be many of those things, right?"
Lupin looked at him, sighed, "I'll teach you the Fiendfyre Curse, then."
"Sure!" Vid smiled, saying frankly, "I've been waiting for this."
"Promise me you won't use it until you can fully control it!"
"Of course, I promise."
"Discuss any matter with me beforehand, don't act on your own."
"I know."
Vid agreed to everything, but Lupin still looked a bit worried.
When everyone returned to school through the Disappearing Cabinet, Vid was still the last to enter.
"Thank you, Remus."
Before closing the cabinet door, Vid said with a smile, "But don't regard me as a reckless lion; I'm a self-preserving eagle."
Lupin was taken aback.
The black cabinet door was already closed, and the person inside had arrived at Hogwarts.
Lupin chuckled to himself, muttering, "Not all lions are reckless."
He picked up the overturned photograph, gently brushing his fingers over it, causing the pasted slip to flutter down.
The black-haired boy in the photo showed a happy and carefree smile, looking spirited and full of life.
Yet Lupin felt a pang in his heart.
"...Doesn't this still hide... a snake that no one noticed?"
...
Back at school, the group shared a common secret, making them feel closer to each other. They headed to the Umbrella House, finding only Padma there, and then learning that Harry was in the hospital wing.
"What happened?" Leian asked.
"Did they get into another brawl with Malfoy?" Theo guessed reasonably.
"No. During Quidditch practice, Harry fell off his broom," Padma said.
Vid frowned slightly, "Could it be that his broom was out of control? Or did a Bludger hit him?"
— Dobby causing havoc at the school already?
"No," Padma said, "He wasn't injured from the fall, but just fainted."
...
In the hospital wing, Harry lay on the bed, having just woken up, surrounded by a few Gryffindor students and team members.
Beside him, a small boy (Colin Creevey) was capturing the moment of Harry awakening with a camera.
"I'm fine." Harry pushed the lens away from his face, saying helplessly, "Thank you, Colin. But I don't want to be photographed right now."
"Wasn't it scary when you fell?" Colin asked loudly, somehow looking quite excited.
"Falling all of a sudden is terrifying." Team captain Wood patted Harry's shoulder and said, "Rest well today, we'll resume practice tomorrow morning."
"Are you a devil?" Ron gasped in shock, blurting out.
Fred patted his shoulder, saying heavily, "What do you think, Ronnie... The team can be pretty harsh."
George sternly said, "Wood isn't a devil... he's scarier than a devil."
Wood knocked each on the twins' heads and began explaining how important their new tactic was, criticizing the team's poor cooperation, even though the match was still two months away.
The Weasley Twins wore looks of agony.
Angelina, another team member, watchfully enjoyed their misery, silently mocking them.
Seizing the moment Wood wasn't paying attention, Fred made a face at her.
Harry tried to explain, "I wasn't scared unconscious by falling, but suddenly had a headache then..."
Wood's voice echoed across the whole ward, drowning out what he was saying.
Yet Leian, who had just walked in, caught it.
"Headache?" He approached, asking curiously, "At about what time?"
Finally, having someone listen to his explanation, Harry exhaled in relief, quickly saying, "Around half-past ten... or close to eleven."
"Ten forty-five," Wood, who somehow turned his focus to this side, stated regretfully, "We'd only been practicing for an hour and twenty-five minutes."
Leian exchanged a glance with Theo.
Ten forty-five...
If memory serves, that was when the shadow in the diadem was being destroyed.
Could Harry Potter still sense something from such a distance?
Michael felt something amiss. He looked at the person beside him, only to find Vid wasn't paying attention to the subtle timing but was watching Ron Weasley instead.
"That's because you spent an hour talking about tactics..." Fred told Wood.
Wood's eyebrows furrowed as if he was about to speak.
George suddenly covered Fred's mouth, chortling, "I just remembered, we have detention lined up today. If we don't go, Hagrid's bound to get furious..."
"You got detention again?" Wood asked.
"Yeah, we merely toured the Forbidden Forest, and our gamekeeper caught us..."
Fred pulled George's hand away, shrugging.
"He believes we deserve a flavorful lesson..."
"Cleaning pigsties without magic..."
"Now that Harry's awake, consider us out..."
The twins backed away while speaking, disappearing from Wood's sight in the blink of an eye.
Clearly, they thought Wood's nagging was scarier than cleaning pigsties.
Angelina "pffted" with laughter.