Early the next morning.
The sky seemed covered by a giant grey curtain, with heavy clouds hanging low. Not a single ray of sunlight broke through, and the air was filled with a damp, cold, earthy smell.
The Shafik Family's private mausoleum was located in a fir forest on the mountain behind the manor. The surroundings were silent, save for the rustling of the wind through the treetops.
Two figures dressed in black robes stood before a large white marble tombstone. A bouquet of dew-kissed white lilies had already been placed on the base; Willy had just set them down.
At this moment, he had already turned to stand aside, silently watching Richard bend down. Those hands, which usually held a wand or a newspaper, were now trembling slightly as he gently placed the flowers he held before the tombstone.
A simple and solemn inscription was engraved on the tombstone in golden letters:
[Diana Shafik, Born December 20, 1935, Died June 28, 1976]
Willy stood quietly behind his father, allowing the cold morning wind to blow through the tips of his hair.
Richard muttered to the tombstone for a while in a low voice, as if recounting the family's trivial affairs and his son's situation over the past year, or perhaps complaining about some troubles he had encountered.
After a long time, Richard finally straightened his back and quickly resumed his appearance as the serious Head of the Family.
"Let's go," Richard said in a deep voice.
Willy took one last deep look at the name and said softly, "Goodbye, Mother."
The moment he turned to leave, Willy's eyes became somewhat dazed.
In fact, strictly speaking, he was not a native of this world.
Thirty years ago, when he was born into this ancient pure-blood family with memories of his past life, he quickly realized he had come to the world of the novel titled "Harry Potter" from his previous life.
However, because he was quite young when he read the book in his past life, and so many years had passed since his reincarnation, many specific details had long since blurred. He only remembered the general main plot and some key time nodes.
But this did not prevent him from using these vague "prophecies" to accomplish great things.
For instance, during the darkest period of the First Wizarding War, as one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, the Shafik Family faced immense pressure to take a side.
At that time, the vast majority of pure-blood families fanatically supported Lord Voldemort's "Wizard Supremacy" theory, and many family members even scrambled to join the ranks of the Death Eaters.
Richard had also wavered for a time. After all, he also believed in the theory of "Wizard Supremacy," but he also understood that this war was destined to be brutal, and picking the wrong side would not lead to a good end.
Moreover, he was the Head of the Shafik Family; he represented not just himself, but the attitude of the entire family.
It was Willy, who had just graduated from Hogwarts at the time, who had a long overnight talk with his father in the study and strongly opposed this choice.
"Lord Voldemort has never wanted friends, only servants."
Willy's gritted words from back then were still fresh in Richard's memory. "Even if you go to him with the same ideals, that madman won't treat you as an equal. The Shafik Family does not need to be anyone's servant, let alone be cannon fodder for so-called glory."
Under Willy's firm stance, Richard finally decided to wait and see. He chose to only express his attitude verbally and, at most, donated some money to the Dark Lord's cause to show support, without personally participating in Death Eater operations.
As it turned out, Willy was right.
Not long after, news that the Dark Lord had been defeated by an infant in a cradle spread throughout Britain. Those once-arrogant Death Eaters were liquidated one after another and sent to Azkaban. Only a very few escaped trial in Azkaban by frantically backstabbing their teammates or having someone guarantee for them.
The Shafik Family, having taken no actual action during the war, remained unscathed and even quickly recovered their strength after the war.
This was the benefit of Willy being a transmigrator.
But similarly, there were things that made him feel deeply powerless.
Such as his mother's death.
Diana Shafik died from a rare hereditary family curse—the Blood Curse. Before her marriage, she came from the Greengrass Family, where the females have a probability of manifesting symptoms in their bodies.
Unfortunately, Diana was one of them. Despite Richard's wholehearted care for his wife after their marriage, Diana's body grew increasingly weak.
Although Willy knew the plot and knew that things like Blood Curses existed in this world, he was helpless in the face of an absolute magical terminal illness back then.
He could only watch helplessly as his mother withered away day by day, finally passing away on what should have been a sunny summer day.
Walking out of the iron gates of the mausoleum, the air outside seemed a bit fresher.
"You go back first, Father." Willy stopped and straightened his collar, which had been ruffled by the wind. "I need to go to Diagon Alley."
Richard looked at him in confusion. "We have everything at home. Why go to such a messy place?"
"To buy some teaching materials. I must make some preparations for my work as a Professor after the term starts."
Although Willy's grades in Alchemy were excellent—having achieved an 'O' in what is recognized as the most difficult course during his N.E.W.T. exams—and he had spent so many years doing related work in the Experimental Charms Committee, "knowing it yourself" and "teaching students" were two completely different things.
Considering the comprehension levels of most Young Witches and Wizards, as well as the discouraging difficulty of the course itself, Willy still needed to make some preparations in advance.
And, more importantly, it was for the system that had just awakened.
Willy calculated in his mind.
The core of the system was earning points, and the rewards in the [Student Level] column were the most tempting. However, Alchemy at Hogwarts was a sophisticated elective course only offered starting in the sixth year; the audience was too small.
If he only taught this course, he could at most squeeze some points out of those few pitiful students in a year.
To improve the grades of all students in the school as a whole, the title of "Professor of Alchemy" alone was far from enough.
He needed more power and a wider scope of teaching.
"It seems I'll have to negotiate terms with Dumbledore when the time comes..." Willy murmured thoughtfully to himself. "I hope the Old Bee still likes sweets as much as the rumors say."
He already had a rough plan for his upcoming trip to Hogwarts.
"Fine, as you wish." Richard waved his hand and didn't ask further. "Remember to come back early."
"I know."
Father and son looked at each other, and then turned away simultaneously in a silent understanding.
"Pop! Pop!"
Accompanicied by two crisp cracks, their figures instantly twisted and vanished from the spot, leaving only a few fallen leaves stirred up by magic to slowly drift down in the air.