Exam week. Monday. The Headmaster's office.
Dumbledore stared at a letter in his hands, his expression complicated.
He had originally thought today would be nothing more than another ordinary day. But after reading this letter, his entire state of mind shifted.
[Dear Albus,
I have truly enjoyed my time teaching at Hogwarts. The students here are bright, my colleagues are friendly, and you have given me tremendous support.
But happy times are always short-lived. No one knows whether tomorrow or an accident will arrive first, just like what's happening to me now.
Although I would very much like to continue serving you, staying at the school and growing alongside the students, love is like a tornado. It strips me bare and leaves me powerless to resist. Now is the best time to say goodbye. If I don't leave now… I might not be able to run away at all.
I hope you find an even better Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. I also hope you can help me deal with that annoying Frank Graves. I will take good care of Solenne for him.
Your loyal,
Rouse Wilkinson
P.S. Albus, please be careful of Ilvermorny. The infectious vampire is called "Lester". It's trouble Frank brought over from North America.
P.P.S. Don't forget to settle this month's salary. Just deposit it directly into Gringotts.]
Damn it.
Dumbledore took a deep breath.
Was Voldemort's curse really this vicious?
Right at the end of the school year, it still managed to take out his Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. That alone was not the most troublesome part. After all, this had happened year after year, and he was already used to it.
The real problem was the sheer amount of information packed into that letter.
From between the lines, Dumbledore understood one thing very clearly.
Rouse had run off with Ilvermorny's Professor Solenne.
And that final warning… the vampire, Lester, was actually trouble Ilvermorny had secretly brought into Britain?
A terrifying aura flickered for an instant. The old man's eyes narrowed as rare anger surfaced.
But even so, he had no solid grounds to arrest Frank. A few lines in a letter were not enough to serve as evidence.
The Great Hall.
The atmosphere before exams was tense. Many students ate while desperately cramming, praying to Merlin at the last minute.
Tom, on the other hand, was spacing out.
Rouse running away was no small matter, and he had naturally reported it to Tom. Even so, Tom had not expected him to leave while also taking Solenne with him.
As for the information about the vampire Lester, Rouse had only revealed it to Dumbledore with Tom's approval.
What Tom knew went far deeper.
That vampire had not been brought over by Frank. Solenne was fully aware of the situation.
Lester Howell.
A typical German-descended surname.
He was the offspring of a vampire and a human.
Vampires in this world were nothing like those depicted in movies or novels, handsome men and beautiful women. Their appearances could only be described as grotesque. Cross-species unions like this were rare, and in a sense similar to Hagrid's birth. They required a certain… bravery.
There had been previous cases of vampires and humans having children, but Lester was special.
He possessed both a wizard's spellcasting talent and a vampire's agility and affinity for dark energy.
Most critically, he only fed on wizard blood.
He could easily distinguish wizards from Muggles in a crowd and had the ability to "convert". Anyone injured by him would develop the same bloodthirsty impulses.
This was all the intelligence Solenne had. The order had come from Ilvermorny's headmistress, Eglantine Fontana, to dump Lester in Britain. As for why, even Solenne did not know.
Tom was unsure whether Rouse had successfully stolen someone away, or whether he himself had been counter-played.
He only reminded Rouse to be careful and did not interfere further with his choice.
The intelligence seemed reliable, but what exactly was Fontana planning? Was this entire affair her personal scheme?
Or… were there more people standing behind her in the American wizarding world, all of them unwilling to see Britain prosper?
The truth lay buried under layers of fog.
Tom did not bother thinking about it.
Instead, he tossed the problem straight to Dumbledore and let the old man deal with it.
He glanced toward the High Table. Many seats were empty. Frank, completely unaware that his fiancée had already run off, was still leisurely enjoying his breakfast.
It was only after the students headed to their exam halls, and Frank still had not seen Solenne all morning, that he sensed something was wrong.
The Ilvermorny and Castelobruxo professors were not required to invigilate exams, but disappearing the entire morning was still unusual.
Frank went to Solenne's quarters and knocked.
No response.
Growing anxious, he drew his wand.
"Alohomora!"
The door flew open. Frank rushed inside and froze.
The room was completely empty. Aside from the original furniture, nothing remained.
On the desk lay two letters.
Frank grabbed one and began reading. His body started to tremble.
It was written by Solenne. The gist was simple. Their relationship had only ever been a family arrangement. There had never been love. Rouse was her true love.
When he opened the second letter, Frank's eyes turned red.
Calling it a letter was generous. Rouse had left only a single sentence.
[Yes. We have a child.]
"Wilkinson!"
Frank lost his mind.
He stormed toward the Headmaster's office, the commotion loud enough that even students in the exam halls could hear it.
By evening, though the finer details were still unclear, everyone knew what had driven the professor mad.
His fiancée had run off with someone else.
And he had been carried out of the Headmaster's office horizontally after shouting at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore's official explanation was that Professor Graves had become overly emotional and fainted. After two days of rest, he would be fine.
The students of all three schools exploded with gossip.
Ilvermorny's students were hit the hardest.
They had come for a two-month exchange, and their professor had been stolen?
Roger Davies of Ravenclaw looked at Rouse with pure admiration.
"Professor Wilkinson is seriously legendary."
"What, you want to steal someone else's fiancée too?" another boy joked.
"Of course not."
Roger shook his head like a rattle-drum.
"I just admire his courage to pursue love and freedom."
"I think this is the curse at work."
Marietta joined the conversation, lowering her voice mysteriously.
"No one has ever lasted a full year in that position. I thought Professor Wilkinson would be the exception, but…"
"But he didn't even make it a whole year. Didn't Lockhart block the curse for a while before?"
"Either way, I've never seen a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor last across school years. Have you?" Marietta countered.
"Forget us. Even my parents have never seen one. Honestly, it's impressive Dumbledore manages to find someone new to take the fall every year."
The chatter among the students grew louder and louder. Even though Frank was no longer present, Professor McGonagall had clearly had enough. She raised her wand to her throat and coughed heavily twice. Only then did the hall quiet down.
"Focus," she said sternly. "You still have exams ahead of you."