The distinctive sound of fire engines pierced through the forest, coming from afar.
"It's time to go," Lupin said.
"Wait a moment."
Vid whispered to Mikhail, "I'm counting on you."
Mikhail spread its wings and landed on the ruins, letting golden flames spread across the entire area.
Moments later, the flames withdrew, and the golden bird plucked a blackened ring from the ashes.
On it were some sticky, black substances that Mikhail's flames charred until they turned to ash and fell off.
The gold on the ring was completely melted and had congealed into a strange shape. Mikhail pecked at it twice, removing the gold, and only returned with the black stone to Vid's side.
It gently placed the black stone in Vid's hand.
Lupin watched curiously, seeing it was more like a black stone with a pattern of a triangle and circle, with several cracks in the middle.
The curse or magic attached to it had been cleansed by the fierce flame. Vid picked up the stone with a handkerchief and looked at it under the light.
The light seemed to be swallowed by the stone.
He knew this was one of the Holy Artifacts given by the God of Death to the Peverell brothers, called the Resurrection Stone, with the ability to bring the dead back to life.
One need only to turn the Resurrection Stone in hand three times to bring the deceased back to the human world.
But the dead do not truly resurrect, and only the user of the Resurrection Stone can see them; thus, even though they remain in the human world, they can only feel endless loneliness and pain.
This seemingly divine artifact is actually akin to a curse, far inferior to the Elder Wand and Invisibility Cloak, also known as the Deathly Hallows.
In the plot, Dumbledore, eager to see his deceased parents and sister, carelessly put on the ring and thus was inflicted with Voldemort's curse, even though Snape's magic potion merely prolonged his life by a year.
Of course, Dumbledore was Dumbledore after all.
During his last year, he set up a grand scheme, and even after his death, he helped Harry send Voldemort away according to his arrangement.
But the year without Dumbledore was also the darkest and most dangerous year for the Magic World and Hogwarts.
Harry and the trio had to leave school and go on the run, many Muggles and Wizards were killed, the Ministry of Magic became Voldemort's accomplice, and the students at Hogwarts, except for Slytherin, were tormented.
If not for the powerful protagonist aura of Harry and Neville, finding and destroying all the Soul Artifacts at the last moment, and Harry using the Elder Wand's allegiance to rebound the Killing Curse and eliminate Voldemort, darkness would have continued to shroud the British Isles, and Voldemort's reign of terror would have spread worldwide.
Everything began with Dumbledore obtaining the Resurrection Stone.
If not for the curse on this stone, a Wizard as powerful as Dumbledore should have lived a long life.
Not to mention Nicolas Flamel, who took Elixir of Life, the Witch on the Hogwarts Express had been working since 1830. Some students thought many people held this post, but it had always been the same person.
And there was Armando Dippet, who lived over three hundred years before recently passing away.
Just that Armando Dippet had been in seclusion for years and the Magic World had almost forgotten about him, his death news only occupied a small section in the Prophet Daily.
Except for the original founders, Dumbledore's magic power was the strongest among successive headmasters, so despite being aged and white-haired, he could still live for a long, long time before he met the end of his life.
—If he could pass away naturally.
...
Vid similarly placed the Resurrection Stone into a box with a Masking Spell and then transformed his suitcase to resemble a wardrobe, pulling open the door and asking the Firebird:
"Mikhail, can you stay inside here? Be careful not to burn anything."
Mikhail nodded, flew inside, circled once, and found a dry spot to perch, then chirped twice.
Vid then gathered some stones and dead branches from the mountain to make a nest for it. Mikhail breathed a little fire inside, igniting the branches, and then comfortably nestled within the flames.
Vid packed up his pencil box and quickly left the forest with Lupin. When they returned to Little Hengerton Village, they saw a fire engine passing through the village.
The sharp siren awoke those slumbering, who groggily sat up, staring at the distant smoke in a daze.
"Fire!"
Panic-stricken calls finally arose from all around, but no one thought there was anything wrong with sleeping earlier, nor did they notice the two people hurrying by on the path.
They reached the inn, where several people stood outside, gazing at the distant forest. Lupin and Vid slipped through the crowd and returned to the previously booked room.
The black Disappearing Cabinet stood in the center of the room.
Lupin opened the cabinet door and said to Vid, "You go back to school first, I'll take the Disappearing Cabinet back to Hogsmeade Village."
Vid nodded, said no more, climbed into the Disappearing Cabinet, and in the blink of an eye returned to Hogwarts.
Zoe was standing outside the cabinet, smilingly waiting for him.
...
Lupin closed the cabinet door, tidied up the traces left by a few people, opened his suitcase, fit the Disappearing Cabinet inside, then lifted the suitcase, put on a gray bowler hat, pulled down the brim, and walked out of the room.
The innkeeper was discussing with guests the sudden cause of the forest fire, speculating it was someone camping out who unsafely lit a campfire and didn't extinguish it in time.
"It could also be the wind carrying a cigarette butt," Mike said earnestly, "Most fires start this way."
"Maybe talk about those two guests earlier?" Pete, the bearded drinker, said, "I still can't believe a grown man can suddenly turn into a child?"
"It's true," barkeep Mike said seriously, "How could I mistake it? Black hair, grey eyes, definitely the same person..."
Pete scoffed, "Compared to rejuvenation, isn't it more likely father and son?"
"But I didn't see anyone else walk in..." Mike argued.
"You surely missed something!" Pete said.
Behind them, Lupin silently apologized, then raised his wand—
"Obliviate!"
A flash of light passed, and the two at the door blinked, their expressions somewhat dazed.
After a moment, Mike said, "The wind carrying a cigarette butt is possible; most fires start this way."
"No... I see the fire started deep in the forest, so an unextinguished campfire seems more likely."
"...Anyway, some people have no awareness of forest fire prevention, unfortunate for us living nearby."
Upon finishing, Mike suddenly felt the door behind him move slightly.
He turned and looked, saw nothing, and nonchalantly resumed his focus.