Beneath the azure sky, faint white specks of light swiftly darted through the woods.
"Pant, pant..."
Accompanying the sound of heavy breathing was the rapid heartbeat of a man, almost threatening to burst from his chest.
"Catch him!"
Shouts and the sounds of combat echoed behind the man.
"Whoosh—"
A sharp arrow grazed the man's hood, burying its head into a tree trunk, leaving only rough feathers exposed, emitting a faint hum. Next was the chaotic and tumultuous noise of hooves pounding on the dirt, and with the centaurs behind him closing in, the man fiercely flicked his magic wand—
The pale white light erupted into dazzling sparks, but the Disillusionment that should have worked didn't activate this time.
Was the array in Hogwarts Castle, which prevents Disillusionment, capable of covering such a vast area?
Then, how was he supposed to escape?!
The man's pupils dilated as he looked at the seemingly endless Forbidden Forest ahead, without any visible boundary, and he dared not stop even for a moment. Because even a slight slowdown in his movement would invite a sharp arrow from the centaurs, whose territory he had trespassed—
He could only keep running, and running, even though the soles of his shoes were coming unglued and his lungs felt like they were going to be ripped apart from the inside— he still had to run.
Otherwise, he would surely die!
Amidst the swaying of his vision, the man instinctively glanced down at his magic wand, at the faint luminescence still glowing at the wand's tip— "…Never let this light go out." The last words of his "comrade" seemed to still echo in his ears.
Inexplicably, even though the twilight's glow was enough for him to clearly see the path ahead, he chose not to extinguish the magic that might reveal his position.
Finally, after running for who knows how long, perhaps another day and night had passed, he looked behind him at the nearly vanished Forbidden Forest. The man slowly came to a stop, though the centaurs' pursuit had long since ended, he thought it wise to continue running a bit further—
And so, at the moment the man halted, sweat poured down from his head like a waterfall—
He collapsed to the ground, his legs already numb. Gazing at the sky above, which seemed unchanged, he gasped for the Scottish Highlands' November monsoon, his nostrils sticky together, unable to distinguish the earthy scent mixed with the chilly wind.
Safe, saved... he thought.
His magic wand fell to the ground, its Lumos Charm extinguished as the magic power dissipated.
...
The man soon returned to Cairo, fleeing swiftly with the Portkey capable of crossing the entire Mediterranean. This mission's failure seemed not to surprise "that person" at all, who let him go easily, although such behavior didn't match that person's reputation—
However, his heart was filled with the joy of survival, and those chaotic thoughts now seemed like unnecessary worries.
Time flew by, and half a year passed.
"Lumos (Lumos Charm)——"
The light flared up, and the man shook his wrist uncomfortably.
For the past half-year, he had hardly used any charms.
Walking on the golden sand heated by the sun, the man entered a peculiar building overshadowed by the Pyramid—after the last mission, he had taken nearly six months off, during which no anomalies occurred, but the two companions who perished under Hogwarts Castle never resurfaced.
It wasn't simply death, but as if they had never existed in the world.
The man tried various methods to inquire about their whereabouts, but all felt like futile efforts, with no news, as if everything was just a dream.
But the vivid memories in his mind filled him with dread, leading him recently to refuse social interactions or leaving the house—but today, the remaining money was all spent, and he had to earn some extra cash.
Moreover, half a year later, his initial panic had largely dissipated; now, he even believed that perhaps he had misremembered those events.
"Password."
His steps halted in front of a Sphinx statue, and in the next moment, it, which was supposed to be lifeless, suddenly lifted its body, peering down with deep green eyes and flaring nostrils, awaiting his response.
"Sekhmet—"
"Correct."
The Sphinx nodded and then stepped aside, revealing the entrance behind it.
The man walked in, instantly enveloped by a cacophony of noise. He pulled on his hood, his gaze sweeping over the grand yet dimly lit hall, reminiscent of the underworld task boards seen in films and series—
Bartender, bar counter, bulletin board full of tasks—the three essential elements were all there.
"...What is that?"
The man looked up, staring at the iron box hanging above the bar. He curiously observed the moving images on the box.
"It's a television. Have you not been out for the past six months?"
The bartender, familiar with the man, stood by the bar. He glanced down at the man's magic wand. "So, why are you lighting it up?"
"...Don't mind the details."
The man relaxed a bit, waved his magic wand, and the glow of the Lumos Charm dimmed. Suddenly, everything seemed to be paused, coming to an abrupt halt—the man's expression slowly stiffened at the unexpected passageway appearing in front of him—
"Ah, you're back? Didn't I tell you not to extinguish that light?"
He heard the voice of his "companion" behind him.
...
"...Scared to death?"
William picked up the man in black robes lying on the ground, opened his eyelids and checked... Hmm, really dead.
Pupils dilated, muscles spasming... literally scared to death.
Was the script really that terrifying?
William thought for a moment and added this horror story-like script into his "Hogwarts: Top Ten Tortures of the Dreamscape."
Since these three intruders triggered the restrictions he had left while capturing Sirius Black and interrupted his leisure time, William decided to impose a small punishment on them, along with using Dream Magic to uncover their reasons for infiltrating the castle.
Originally, he just intended to frighten them before torturing for information, but unexpectedly, he went too far and scared the person to death.
Guilt, guilt.
He dug a pit with magic on the spot, buried the man in it, and planted cotton seeds. William then turned his attention to the second man.
"Is this a Nigerian? Is this the aftereffect after raiding twenty-five poacher camps in Egypt?"
William muttered a couple of sentences to himself without any racial undertone. He shook his head to clear the stray thoughts—this one couldn't be played recklessly. If he died like the previous one, there would be no samples left—what, you're asking where the third person went?
William turned his head and looked at the mummy he'd restrained with a special cage—capturing it again didn't require much trouble.
This was the third person following behind the two Black Ghosts, a mummy.
Just like the time he was attacked at Malfoy Manor, this time the mummy had also hidden among people, disguising as an ordinary person. As for why the first man in the dream thought the former was a white person, it was probably due to a Confundus Charm—William speculated, finding a reasonable explanation.
Shifting his gaze from the mummy scratching at the bars, William refocused on the man lying on the ground.
Having an extra mummy was just perfect, providing a backup and control group, so he wouldn't need to hold back during "research."
This way, he could try out the new inventions created by the old man...
Of course, he had to be careful not to blow up Hogwarts Castle.
While thinking this, he used magic to haul the second person inside, and moments later—or maybe "another six months" later—William slowly opened his eyes. Looking at another man suffocated to death due to rapid breathing, he couldn't help but rub his forehead.
Alright, he had to admit, this script was really terrifying—
But this time, he at least found a lot of useful information. For example, there was indeed a mastermind behind them, or their purpose was to take the Ravenclaw Diadem. Moreover, they clearly knew this diadem was located in the Room of Requirement and was rusty...
To know, the last time there was accurate information about the Ravenclaw Diadem was hundreds of years ago, long before Voldemort was born and thus couldn't have turned it into a Soul Artifact.
Mysteries abound. William suddenly remembered something he had overlooked during the last strange encounter at Malfoy Manor when Voldemort fled—
He recalled Harry mentioning that when Voldemort escaped from Malfoy Manor, someone had grabbed him, muttering "Nether River Baptism." Then, Voldemort and Harry were directly thrown into the Illusory Realm... This matter was suspicious because, as the owner of the Soul Artifacts, Voldemort should not have entered the soul's illusory land.
Before all Soul Artifacts were destroyed, his end should and could only be wandering as a ghost, until he seizes another chance to return.
Voldemort was like a cockroach in the kitchen, never completely eradicated.
Now, someone actually captured the cockroach and sent all the world's cockroaches into hell—that would be an immense merit... ahem, off-topic, anyway. The timing of the person's appearance matched the African poachers, and what he uttered related to Egyptian mythology—
William recalled seeing a mural of Anubis while 'cosplaying' as a "Tomb Raider," where everything collapsed where he stepped in the pyramid.
The jackal-headed figure, in Egyptian mythology, was the god who held the balance of the netherworld...
The clues are all tangled, seemingly interconnected. William couldn't help but scratch his slightly itchy head—time to think again.