--Extimum's POV--.
When I woke up again, my room was dark; I'd slept from morning until night.
Curiously, I wasn't hungry, though I could guess why. Even if it wasn't much, I'd still consumed more blood than I ever had before.
There's something truly strange about me drinking blood. I mean, I'm not a vampire, so it's not as though I need it to survive. Even from an ordinary perspective, at most a fox eats meat, not blood. Meat naturally contains blood, but that's never the point.
Still, I don't think dwelling on an existential crisis over why I enjoy drinking blood so much is something I should be worrying about right now.
Looking beside my pillow, I found Bloom asleep only a few inches from my face. She would probably be hungry once she woke up, at the very least.
Now that I'd had some proper rest, I could think much more clearly about what had happened. That sensation... it was familiar. I'd dismissed it at the time because I had far more pressing concerns, but the feeling just before my mind became clouded was similar to what I'd experienced that day inside my mindscape.
I still don't know what that thing was.
I'd tried searching for it before, but no matter how many times I entered my mindscape, I never found it again, nor even the slightest trace of its existence. It was as though that encounter had been nothing more than my imagination. Yet even without my memories, my bloodline—which had been far from pleased back then—could still remind me that it had been real.
It's likely that the accidental magic from earlier is connected to that dark figure within my mind. Even so, I still have no clue what it actually is.
At the very least, I know it exists, that it seems to exert considerable influence over me, and that it possesses a distinctly bestial nature.
But the most important question remains:
What is it?
Other than my wand—which I have absolutely no reason to suspect—I don't carry anything that I didn't either acquire myself or personally inspect, which makes it highly unlikely that I'm being affected by a cursed object.
Of course, it's also possible that the curse is so subtle and powerful that I simply failed to detect it. But if that were the case, then I'd have no means of fighting it either, since I'd effectively be facing an invisible enemy while lacking the ability to do anything about it with my current capabilities.
A curse placed on me... isn't impossible. But I've never let my guard down while outside, and I don't believe my family has either. Besides, as far as I know, it would be nearly impossible for someone to curse me without my noticing.
I could also be under the effects of a potion. I'm careful, but it's not impossible that someone managed to get past my guard and slip one into something I consumed. If that were the case, it must have happened sometime between my first day at Hogwarts and before last year's Christmas holidays.
I'll have to ask Madam Pomfrey to check whether there's any foreign substance in my system, but... that would mean taking a blood sample, along with other bodily fluids... or learning how to perform examinations myself to detect potions and elixirs within the body, as well as identify them.
Lastly... it could be me... my soul... or my body... I sincerely hope I wasn't some kind of literal monster in my previous life and that these are merely the aftereffects... though I don't believe that's the case. At least, I hope not.
But setting those pointless speculations aside, if it really is one of those two, then I'll have to consult the grimoire. If the cause truly lies there, then not only do I have no idea what it is, I also don't know how it came to be in the first place.
- Or at least, that was what he wanted to believe. Deep down, he refused to acknowledge the dark thought whispering that he already knew the cause—or rather, those responsible. –
Putting that aside, that only leaves the pendant... an unexpected stroke of luck, but one I certainly appreciated.
Both investigating the pendant and tackling the more complicated questions about myself will require time. Time... and probably a trip home. Perhaps I could ask for hel—No. There wasn't really anyone I could ask.
My train of thought was interrupted when I felt something warm against my face.
Turning my head, I saw Bloom.
She had woken up and was looking at me. One of her hands rested gently against my cheek, her expression making it seem as though she was trying to tell me she was here with me... supporting me.
Bloom: "Are you going to tell me what happened now?"
** sigh **
I let out a quiet sigh. I wasn't embarrassed to tell her, but neither was I particularly proud of it.
"Well, yesterday, when I went..."
I told Bloom everything that had happened in detail.
She listened attentively, occasionally wearing thoughtful or surprised expressions, but never once showed any sign of doubting me, which honestly wouldn't have surprised me if she had.
Bloom: "That's really worrying... but do you have any idea why it happened now?"
That was, in fact, a very good question.
Why now?
Why not before?
"The only explanation I can think of is that, whatever it is, it simply couldn't act before. As for why it chose that particular moment... perhaps it was just coincidence, or maybe something triggered it."
Bloom: "Hmm... On the bright side, I think buying this turned out to be a great decision, even if that old woman said it was useless."
She picked up the pendant from the bedside table as she spoke.
"I don't think she was wrong. What happened earlier was probably just the last lingering spark it still possessed, and it happened to activate at that moment. But let's leave that aside. Didn't you sleep well?"
Bloom: "Why do you ask?"
Bloom asked innocently, but the very next moment she blushed slightly and looked away.
** grrroowl **
A soft growl came from Bloom's stomach, loud enough to be clearly heard in the quiet room, as though it were protesting not having been fed all afternoon.
"Well, setting aside the fact that you slept through dinner, you seemed pretty stressed and exhausted this morning."
Bloom: "Well... I couldn't sleep very well last night. I had a strange dream... though it was more like a nightmare. It was about you and me. The place looked like some kind of underground magical world. It was beautiful and wondrous, but unusually dark, even though there were light sources all around us. I don't know why we were there, but we explored the place together.
"We saw all sorts of things. The flora and fauna were incredibly unusual—or rather, peculiar. Most of them seemed adapted to the night; it was like an entire ecosystem where it was always nighttime. While we were exploring, we found an ancient building. I can't remember what it looked like anymore, but we decided to go inside.
"My memories of the interior are blurry too, but after we'd been there for a while, we were suddenly attacked by a huge dark figure that came out of nowhere and tried to eat us. It didn't seem solid—it was almost ghost-like—but it was enormous. So enormous that what looked like its mouth could have swallowed us whole in a single bite.
"For some strange reason, though, we didn't fight it. We just turned around and ran.
"The farther we ran, the more we noticed the place growing darker and colder. But it wasn't ordinary darkness. It was something far more suffocating and oppressive, as though beyond it there was nothing... only emptiness... the void... death.
"We ran all the way toward what we thought was the exit, but then, in the middle of all that darkness, I saw fire. A massive wall of fire came rushing toward us, and we had to split up to avoid it.
"When the flames finally died down, I turned around and saw that the creature had caught you. You were struggling desperately inside its mouth, trying not to be swallowed. I wanted to help, but for some reason I couldn't move. You didn't seem able to resist much longer either, and just as it was about to swallow you..."
"I woke up."
Bloom: "But after hearing what happened to you... I don't think it was just an ordinary dream anymore. Do you think it might mean something? Maybe it was a vision? ...Though I could just be overthinking it. I don't have any talent for Divination, nor do I know any magic related to it."
"Hmm... I think we should try examining that dream. I remember seeing something similar to a Pensieve back at the manor. We could use it to look through your dream in detail. It may have been nothing more than a coincidence... just a dream... but I have a feeling there might be more to it."
"Well, there's still time left. Why don't we head down to the Great Hall and get something to eat?"
Bloom: "Yes, let's go. I haven't eaten anything since breakfast."
I got out of bed, straightened my wrinkled clothes, fastened the pendant to my belt, and left my room with Bloom.
.
We arrived rather late for dinner—late enough that we were lucky there was still food left. Although meal times were more flexible during the holidays, certain regulations had been put in place because of the recent incidents.
The Great Hall was fairly empty, though a handful of students remained, along with most of the professors.
Neither Harry nor Ron was in the Great Hall. There was no sign of Luna either, so I took a seat beside Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle at the Slytherin table. They seemed to have arrived not long before I did and were having dinner as well.
We arrived rather late for dinner—late enough that we were lucky to get anything to eat. Although meal times were more flexible during the holidays, certain regulations were still in place because of the recent incidents.
The Great Hall was fairly empty, though a handful of students remained, along with most of the professors.
Neither Harry nor Ron was in the Great Hall. There was no sign of Luna either, so I took a seat beside Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle at the Slytherin table. They seemed to have arrived not long before I did and were having dinner as well.
We chatted for a while as I enjoyed my meal.
Draco shared several rather entertaining stories about some of his father's exploits.
Setting aside the obvious embellishments, there were a few genuinely interesting details. The ones that caught my attention most involved clashes with wild vampires and encounters with powerful vampire clans.
The subject interested me mainly because I was curious about them. They were not actually that rare. Most belonged to great families worthy of bearing the title of Ancient, or at least to one of their branches. Although they were not necessarily united, they all seemed to abide by certain ancestral customs.
That said, there were also wild vampires—or wanderers—who belonged to no bloodline. They were generally responsible for countless atrocities and were hunted either by the Ministry or by specialists in the field.
Vampire clans did not necessarily require blood ties in the strictest sense. They were more akin to covens, though members were still bound to those families through rituals or vampire magic, at least in the case of ordinary families.
Modern vampires had declined considerably. As a rule, they could no longer wield magic freely and were limited to certain innate magical abilities inherited through their bloodline.
In fact, vampire wizards were held in extraordinarily high regard within those clans. Although they enjoyed a privileged status, they were, in reality, little more than breeding stock.
Because of the deterioration of their bloodlines, with the exception of the noble families that still possessed vampires capable of wielding magic freely, most magic users among them were dhampirs born from the union of a vampire and a wizard. Even then, such a union did not guarantee magical offspring, though it significantly increased the chances.
It was possible to visit some of the settlements where these families lived, and several were even officially recognised as part of the magical community. Although prejudice against them still existed, so long as they were properly fed they were perfectly reasonable people, with a few rather pleasant traits besides.
In general, they had remarkably pale, cold skin and strikingly attractive features. Apart from wild vampires, they neither possessed crimson eyes nor prominent fangs except while feeding.
There were potions that could normalise the pallor and temperature of their skin, so integrating into wizarding society was not truly a problem. The real difficulty lay in producing children capable of using magic, which meant very few witches or wizards were willing to marry a vampire unless they were deeply in love.
Even then, their children would still inherit exceptional physical strength and some of their bloodline's innate abilities, but to most wizards that remained unacceptable. How could they accept having children who might not be able to perform magic?
That was precisely why perfect dhampirs were so highly coveted among vampire families. If they inherited the strengths of both parents, they surpassed both ordinary wizards and ordinary vampires, while also greatly increasing the chances of passing those traits on to their own descendants.
The problem was that almost none of them were willing to accept such a fate.
It was worth remembering that vampires were practically immortal. With populations that large and pregnancies lasting considerably longer than normal, no one wanted to end up as nothing more than breeding stock for hundreds—or even thousands—of vampires.
As a result, most perfect dhampirs ultimately chose to hide, flee, or even take their own lives. Apparently, a vampire's bite produced effects similar to the ones I experienced. However, since their fangs served a different purpose, they often shattered the victim's mind or left them incapacitated for a long time.
Nor were there any real problems with overpopulation.
Sooner or later, vampires seemed to develop a natural tendency towards madness or to dominate others through the use of their abilities. Because of this, together with the current regulations enforced by the various Ministries of Magic, the profession of vampire hunter still officially existed and remained in constant demand.
I could keep musing about them, but discussing an entire race would take far too long.
Thinking of something else, I hadn't seen Luna at all today. It wasn't particularly important, but now that I thought about it, I didn't believe she had many people close to her.
She had probably spent the entire day alone.
.
After dinner, Bloom and I went out for a walk through the night.
I simply couldn't grow tired of the feeling.
With the night sky as my canvas, the cool wind brushing against my face, gliding swiftly through the clouds... the sensation of flying was truly addictive.
Besides, I could always change the way I flew.
I could let the sword pull me along while I held its hilt, surf on the flat of its blade, make a few adjustments and ride it like a broomstick, or simply stand upon it as though it were a floating platform, subtly guiding its course with my mind.
Bloom enjoyed flying as well, especially when she rode the sword with me. Its speed couldn't compare to her own, but she could simply relax and enjoy the ride.
Tonight was a white, snow-covered night.
The sky was partially overcast, though it wasn't snowing. Every so often, the cold wind swept through, stirring up biting flurries.
I wore a coat more for the comfort and the feeling of being wrapped up than because of the cold itself. The same couldn't be said for Bloom.
She was genuinely cold, and her usual clothes were hardly suited for winter weather. Even so, it didn't lessen her enthusiasm for going flying. Besides, fire magic was her specialty, so she could regulate her body temperature well enough.
Well, that, and the fact that she was currently tucked inside my coat with only her head poking out. I think she enjoys these night flights even more than I do.
We flew for about half an hour before Bloom asked me to stop.
At the moment, we were flying over the area near Hagrid's hut.
Bloom: "Why don't we explore the Forbidden Forest? You told me about it before, but we've never actually gone."
"That's a good idea. I haven't been in there for quite some time, and with all this snow, it should be a rather different experience."
With that decided, I slowly descended until I landed some distance away from Hagrid's hut. I didn't want to alert any of his pets.
Once on the ground, I put my sword away and headed into the forest.
The place looked just as I remembered it, if one ignored the thick blanket of snow now covering everything. The Forbidden Forest had always been a dark place for the most part, thanks to the dense canopy overhead.
Every time I stepped inside, it gave me a contradictory feeling. One part of me urged caution—or even told me to leave altogether—drawing attention to the forest's unmistakably gloomy and dangerous nature. The other, however, saw it as little more than a somewhat dark yet pleasant woodland, brimming with life and magic.
If there was one thing worth mentioning, it was that the scenery had become far more enchanting beneath the snow.
Both perceptions suited me well—one belonged to the wizard in me, the other to the celestial fox. To one, it was a dangerous place; to the other, it felt perfectly natural... even comforting.
As Bloom and I ventured deeper into the forest, I took the pouch at my waist and held it with one of my tails. Then, without breaking stride, my body began to shrink and change shape.
- A white fox now stood where Extimum had been. Standing roughly fifty centimetres tall, he was about the size of an ordinary mundane fox, though still small by the standards of his true species.
At first glance, he resembled an arctic fox, his coat a flawless white. A closer look, however, revealed the nine tails fanning out behind him, along with the distinctive markings woven through his fur.
Intricate purple markings adorned parts of his body in hypnotic patterns. The colour was especially vivid at the tips of his tails and ears, but the most striking feature of all in the darkness of the night was his eyes.
Large, violet eyes that seemed to shine with an unnatural light amidst the darkness of the forest. -
The transformation took no more than a second.
I have to admit that, although I hadn't practised my Metamorphmagus abilities very much lately, my steady improvement in magic, together with my habit of keeping my ears and tails manifested, had greatly improved my ability to assume my fox form.
After studying it more closely, I discovered that this ability couldn't truly be considered an Animagus transformation. While similar, it appeared to be an innate trait of my bloodline instead.
Animagus transformation, on the other hand, is a discipline unique to wizards. Magical creatures cannot become Animagi, though that doesn't prevent them from finding other methods—or relying on physical Transfiguration—to achieve similar results.
My perspective had once again shifted closer to the ground, though I noticed it was no longer as low as before. I was much larger now. Where I had once been roughly the size of a rabbit or a small dog—around forty centimetres tall—I now stood at least fifty centimetres high. It was still a rather pitiful size, but I believed it would grow exponentially over the coming years.
Through constant practice, I had learned to transform my clothes along with my body whenever I assumed this form. That spared me from having to take them off beforehand and put them back on afterwards.
Even so, traces of my clothing or accessories would occasionally remain. One such trace now caught my attention on one of my legs.
It was the very same symbol engraved on my pendant.
From previous observations, I had concluded that my clothes essentially merged with my fur—or disappeared temporarily altogether. Accessories, however, seemed to follow a different approach, manifesting as tattoos or other distinctive markings depending on the animal I transformed into.
Bloom: "Wow, so this is what you look like."
Bloom said excitedly as she circled around me, inspecting every part of my new form. She had never seen me fully transform into a fox before.
Brimming with excitement, she moved to lie down on my back. Instinctively, however, I leapt aside the moment I sensed her approaching.
She managed to stop herself before tumbling face-first into the snow, then looked at me with a hurt expression.
Bloom: "Why did you dodge?"
She had wanted to bury herself in the soft fur now covering Extimum's body, never expecting him to reject her after happily letting her sit on his shoulder—or even on his head—so many times before.
I blinked in surprise at Bloom's question.
For that matter... why had I dodged?
I remained confused for the first couple of seconds before allowing myself to examine how I actually felt.
There was an unmistakable reluctance to let anyone climb onto my back. Yet almost as soon as I thought of Bloom, that resistance faded.
Perhaps it was simply a natural reaction. This was the first time anyone had tried, after all, and I'd only assumed this form a handful of times.
"It's nothing. Come on, try again so we can keep going."
Bloom regarded me much more cautiously this time as she slowly approached. When she realised I wasn't going to dodge again, she gently lay across my back, hugging my new form while running her hands through my fur.
After that, I dashed into the depths of the forest with Bloom riding on my back.
Tonight, there were quite a few spiders about, but I had no interest in following them—let alone paying a visit to a giant spider. It wasn't that I feared them, but tonight was meant to be relaxing, and going out in search of a fight wasn't exactly my idea of rest.
The forest hadn't changed very much. The only real difference was that the unpleasant presence I'd sensed before was gone, leaving the forest feeling far calmer and more peaceful.
Of course, that was only by the standards of a magical forest.
It wasn't unusual to see an apparently ordinary plant suddenly open a huge mouth and swallow an unsuspecting toad that wandered too close.
Thanks to the forest's apparent tranquillity, I was finally able to explore the entire Forbidden Forest without much difficulty.
The Forbidden Forest stretched across an enormous area, most of which I managed to cover.
Besides its ordinary flora and fauna, it was home to countless species of magical plants and creatures. Both coexisted in remarkable balance, with neither side ever completely displacing or driving the other to extinction.
Some creatures claimed territories within the forest. The more intelligent ones left clearly visible markers imbued with traces of their essence—a warning meant to keep away those capable of sensing them. Others, less gifted intellectually, resorted to far cruder methods: secretions.
The centaurs' territory was quite extensive. They marked their domain with signs carved into trees, arrows, or various kinds of crude totems.
I explored only a small portion of it under illusion magic and with the utmost caution. Given their temperament, I was certain they would have started a fight had they caught me trespassing without permission.
They lived in rather primitive wooden houses or tents made from animal hides. Even so, the settlement was well organised and appeared to have communal facilities, such as schools or gathering places.
Their security was also quite good. Small patrols of two or three centaurs armed with bows or melee weapons guarded the borders of their territory and the surrounding area.
After leaving the centaurs' territory behind, I came across the trolls' domain.
I could recognise it from a considerable distance thanks to the revolting stench their bodies gave off.
Curiously enough, despite that, they were remarkably good at blending into their surroundings. I didn't linger there for long.
They lived in caves, inside massive hollow trees, or simply out in the open. They also seemed to have communal eating areas, easily recognised by the enormous piles of bones from every kind of creature scattered around them.
Among other things, I also came across a herd of Thestrals and another of unicorns. Naturally, they weren't together, but neither did they appear to be particularly hostile towards one another.
I didn't come across any werewolves or a settlement belonging to them. Then again, this was a forest. Other creatures could easily have found caves to hide in or established shelters within magically concealed locations that weren't easily accessible.
Among the most interesting things Bloom and I discovered during our excursion were Fluffy, sleeping soundly inside a large cave, and a particularly fascinating specimen—a wild Ford Anglia.
You didn't see a car with apparent self-awareness behaving like a living creature every day. I was quite certain of that.
It was unusual even by the standards of the magical world.
...
At that moment, Bloom and I were leaving the forest.
Bloom: "That was so exciting! We should've come here sooner—especially when that centaur seemed to notice us and stood there staring at us with his bow pointed our way."
"That was because you were being far too noisy. If you hadn't been so excited while looking around, the centaur wouldn't have heard you. That could've been dangerous, you know."
Bloom: "What danger could there have been? I had you with me, didn't I? Besides, I'm pretty strong myself. We'd just have had to run before they surrounded us. It was interesting seeing centaurs again, too. I remembered them being much fiercer and prouder, but now they seem a little calmer. I suppose some beings really can change."
As I walked towards the edge of the forest, I suddenly heard a nearby voice that nearly made me jump in surprise.
I wasn't sure whether I'd simply let my guard down too much, but I hadn't sensed anyone approaching.
"I knew I'd seen something."
Luna stepped out from behind a tree not far from where I was standing.
Bloom also startled at Luna's sudden appearance and instinctively shrank back, effectively disappearing from sight unless someone were specifically looking for her.
Luna: "Oh, so it was a fox... no, not a fox. A kitsune? Then you're a little fox."
Luna said as she slowly walked towards me. She was currently wearing her full-body animal pyjamas.
Little fox...
How dare she?
The very thought of being addressed that way made me frown slightly, giving my fox face a rather menacing look.
Bloom: 'Hehe... she called you a litt—'
'You'd better not finish that sentence.'
I replied irritably after hearing Bloom, never taking my eyes off Luna as she continued approaching.
- Luna stopped when she noticed the fox's expression seemed to twist into a scowl. –
Luna: "You don't want me to come any closer? All right, I suppose I'll stay here. It's a lovely night, don't you think?"
She stopped about three or four metres away.
Luna: "Although I do wonder how I ended up here. All I know is that I was asleep, and then I woke up somewhere near here."
As she spoke, she sat down on a nearby rock, completely unconcerned about finding herself face-to-face with an unfamiliar magical creature on a lonely winter night.
Then again, we weren't that far from the edge of the forest. Hagrid's hut was clearly visible in the distance.
Luna: "After I woke up, I wandered around in the snow for a while. At first I thought I might still be dreaming, but it's far too cold for that, so I don't think so anymore. Then I saw something darting between the trees. I wanted to see what it was, so I followed it... and then I found you."
She spoke as though she genuinely believed the fox could understand her, and she didn't seem the least bit concerned about keeping her guard up.
Seeing her like that made me relax a little, so I sat down where I was and listened.
To be honest, I could simply have disappeared the moment she spotted me. It wasn't particularly troubling for someone to see me—especially this close to the Forbidden Forest. The only real problem would be if someone had ulterior motives or happened to witness me transforming.
Luna: "Maybe it's because I dreamed about animals. Since I usually come near Hagrid's hut to see them, perhaps I wandered here in my sleep without realising it. But I don't know how I got out of the castle... Do you think I can Apparate while I'm asleep? Or maybe someone brought me here?"
Luna said thoughtfully as she gazed up at the night sky, partially veiled by clouds.
Luna: "Ah... ah... It really is cold. I've never seen you around here before. Is this your first time?"
Luna exhaled a puff of warm breath as she rubbed her hands together. Although her pyjamas covered her quite well, they were still only pyjamas, and with the winter cold combined with the night air, it was inevitable that she would begin to feel the chill.
I wondered what would happen if I actually answered her.
Hmm... knowing Luna, she probably wouldn't be all that surprised.
Watching her shiver slightly from the cold as she rubbed her hands together made me wonder why she was still sitting there. Since she didn't seem to have any intention of moving anytime soon, I decided to approach her.
She didn't appear to be on guard in the slightest, even after I stopped directly in front of her.
She reached out, intending to stroke my head, but I immediately stepped back, causing her hand to stop mid-motion.
Instead, I extended one of my tails and gently touched her hand.
Her body was freezing.
Strangely enough, I could feel the cold through the simple contact between my tail and her skin. She had probably been wandering through the snow in her sleep far longer than she realised.
Luna: "So soft... and warm..."
she murmured as my tail curled around her hands, wrapping them in a pleasant warmth.
Luna: "It feels familiar... like the dream I always have before I wake up... I didn't see Extimum at all today... I wonder where he was... It was rather lonely..."
Luna spoke as though she were simply voicing scattered fragments of her thoughts rather than complete ideas. She blinked several times before finally closing her eyes...
and falling asleep.
Bloom: 'Did she just fall asleep?'
Bloom had remained hidden beneath an illusion, quietly observing the whole exchange, but even she was surprised that Luna could fall asleep so suddenly.
'It would seem so...'
How could she be this careless?
Falling asleep in front of an unfamiliar magical creature, right beside the Forbidden Forest?
** sigh **
With a thought, my body expanded, and in an instant I had returned to my human form.
I took off my coat and wrapped it around her. Then I retracted the tail that had been holding my pouch, fastened it back onto my belt, and finally wrapped two of my tails around Luna and carried her back to the castle.
"She really is unbelievably careless."
Even as I said that, I couldn't help thinking about what she'd told me.
Setting her last comments aside, her appearance here was genuinely strange.
"Unless she really does have some unconscious ability to Apparate, I find it far too odd that she ended up outside the castle in the middle of the night. Even if we ignore the question of how she managed to get down to the ground floor, it's far too much of a coincidence that she avoided every professor and every student on patrol before making it all the way out here."
I couldn't help frowning at the thought.
Something was clearly wrong... or Luna hadn't been entirely truthful.
But...
I didn't feel as though she had been lying.
Bloom: "Maybe someone guided her here while she was asleep? Though there aren't many students around at the moment... and besides, why would anyone want to bring her all the way out here?"
Those were deeply unsettling possibilities if they proved true.
Still, there was always the chance that we were simply overthinking things.
...
We didn't take long to return to the castle and make our way into Ravenclaw Tower. I accompanied Luna to her dormitory.
Come to think of it, visiting her room was becoming quite a frequent occurrence.
I'd done some research and, rather surprisingly, hadn't found any record of a cure for sleepwalking. There was only a counter-curse, but Luna's condition wasn't caused by a curse. Unless I investigated a solution myself, her nightly wanderings weren't likely to end anytime soon.
That said, it wasn't a particularly serious condition, and at the moment, I had far more pressing matters to deal with.
After laying Luna down on her bed, I realised she didn't seem willing to let go of my coat.
With a sigh, I decided to leave it with her. I simply tucked her beneath the blankets before quietly leaving the room.
I think I'm turning into something of a babysitter.
I need to stop focusing so much on other people.
I'll make an exception for Hermione and Luna. Right now, I have far more pressing matters on my hands.
.
- Several weeks passed. -
- Christmas came and went, followed by the New Year. On the thirty-first of December, Extimum met up with the others to celebrate and spend some time together.
Since Hermione was still in the Hospital Wing, they spent most of the time there.
Extimum had also invited Luna and made sure not to neglect her again, spending time with her at meals or inviting her to keep him company while he went about his own activities. -
Luna was a little confused about what had happened that night, but she only asked a few superficial questions about it. When I told her that Bloom and I had been flying and that I'd found her asleep in the snow, she didn't ask anything else apart from returning my coat.
I asked Madam Pomfrey to teach me how to perform blood analyses and examine other bodily fluids to detect potions or elixirs within the body.
Although she gave me a few curious looks at my request, she didn't ask any questions and was willing to teach me. Even so, I still had a long way to go before I could perform the examinations on my own; the process was rather complex.
In the meantime, I resorted to research and repeatedly cast every detection spell I could think of in an attempt to uncover any abnormalities.
I even thoroughly searched my own mind once again in case I found even the slightest clue, but came up empty-handed.
As a precaution, I also re-examined every object in my possession.
I found nothing.
Since obtaining any results didn't seem feasible for the time being, I devoted myself to studying the pendant.
At the very least, it was one of the few things I could actually do at the moment.
My progress wasn't bad.
Many of the ancient runes described in the family grimoire had been used in the pendant's construction. Even so, its design was extraordinarily intricate, and parts of it remained completely beyond my understanding.
Fortunately, I was at least able to begin reconstructing a blueprint of the runic system that powered it.
As long as I could repair it, then even if uncovering the source of my problem took longer, I would at least have some measure of protection.
Because of that, I spent the remainder of the holidays, as well as the first few days afterwards, completely focused on studying it.
I also visited Hermione from time to time, which eventually led me to discover why she was still confined to the Hospital Wing, aside from hiding her current appearance and continuing her treatment.
Her behaviour had become rather peculiar.
Setting aside the fact that she occasionally coughed up hairballs and still had a cat's tail and ears, the changes weren't merely physical.
Hermione seemed to be suffering from a sort of bipolarity brought on by the hormonal imbalance caused by her current condition.
At times she became affectionate and exceptionally clingy; at others, she was irritable. Sometimes she seemed bored, other times slightly absent-minded, and on occasion she would even burst into tears for no apparent reason.
As for the hairballs, they were genuinely bizarre.
Logic dictated that cats coughed them up because they groomed themselves with their tongues, swallowing fur that eventually accumulated in their stomachs. That explanation clearly made no sense given Hermione's current situation and physical characteristics.
But getting back to the point, Harry and Ron had made a habit of fleeing whenever her mood shifted without warning, leaving me alone to calm her down.
Hermione herself was far from pleased with either her emotional outbursts or the abrupt swings brought on by her hormones.
She even managed to catch me off guard on at least two occasions with her behaviour, only to hide behind the curtains and refuse to look me in the face for several hours once she came back to her senses.
Perhaps the one who had it worst was Madam Pomfrey, who had to deal with a different Hermione every single time.
Meanwhile, Hermione's relationship with Luna improved considerably, as Luna had been a great source of support during her emotional episodes.
Luna never seemed bothered by Hermione's constant mood swings or by whatever the Hermione of the moment happened to do. Instead, she appeared fascinated by them and patiently kept her company whenever I wasn't around.
Personally, I'd say it was an interesting experience, provided you didn't take it too seriously.
Perhaps not the best experience for Hermione herself, but during that time I had the chance to get to know many different sides of her, even gaining a better emotional understanding of certain things.
A few days later, the students returned from their holidays, and the castle was once again filled with its usual bustle and life.
It wasn't as though I hadn't enjoyed the peace and quiet. The castle's immense size and the small number of people during the holidays never made me feel crowded. In that respect, it was rather similar to being at home.
Still, I had to admit that it felt far more natural when those long corridors and vast halls were once again filled with students.
I had to slow my own pace a little during those first few days so I could spend time with all my friends after they returned.
I didn't consider them a burden. It's just that, even though there hadn't been any further incidents since what happened to Hermione, my mind still wasn't at ease.
The whole affair had left me deeply unsettled, something my friends seemed to notice whenever they caught me distracted during our time together.
Because of that, I simply told them that something rather unusual had changed within me and that I needed time to think it through carefully.
I didn't explain anything further, but that was enough for them to understand.
Hermione still had at least a few more days left before she could leave the Hospital Wing.
Her cat ears had finally disappeared, leaving only her tail, which meant she wasn't able to attend the first few days of classes.
Among other things, Ron seemed particularly pleased to make sure everyone knew he'd finally managed to repair his wand.
My Christmas present had been a voucher—or rather, a paid invoice—that allowed him to send his wand to Ollivanders to be repaired or, if necessary, replaced.
He'd taken advantage of the Christmas holidays to send it by owl and received it back on the first day of this month.
I hadn't simply given him money because I was certain he would've refused it. But since everything had already been paid for and he genuinely needed it, he accepted my gift without objection.
--End POV--.
.-.
Izorim Manor, Master Bedroom.
The room was spacious and lavishly furnished. It was now dimly lit, though the lingering warmth in the air had already begun to fade.
Callum and Ava lay upon the bed.
Callum sat on the edge, straightening his clothes, while Ava remained naked atop the sheets. They covered only the lower half of her body, leaving her two ample breasts proudly exposed.
Ava: "Mm~... What's got you in such a good mood?"
Ava asked as she writhed slightly on the bed, revealing even more of her bare skin.
Callum: "News has arrived. It's very likely that he has undergone his awakening."
Ava stopped moving and fixed her gaze on Callum, who appeared unusually pleased. The faint smile adorning his normally cold, impassive face gave him a rather strange appearance.
Ava: "Mm~... That's wonderful. Don't you think... that deserves a bit more celebrating?"
At her words, Callum's expression immediately returned to its usual indifferent mask before he replied.
Callum: "It certainly would be something worth celebrating, but there are still matters that require our attention. The family gathering will take place in a few years, and if he has truly undergone his awakening, then it means everything is progressing as it should. We cannot afford to become complacent."
Ava: "But..."
Callum said nothing further. He rose from the bed, picked up his coat, and left the room, leaving Ava alone.
Ava: "His awakening, huh... Once it's complete, Callum will finally turn all of his attention back to me. ** sigh **... For now, I'll just have to endure."
.-.
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