The cheers at Hogwarts lasted for three full days and nights.
The war was over.
The nightmare that had shrouded the wizarding world for decades, the man whose name could not be mentioned, along with his crazed followers, were all completely ended at that dawn.
People embraced, kissed, and wept, celebrating this hard-won victory with the grandest revelry.
The Weasley Twins even worked without rest to produce a batch of brand-new fireworks, which exploded over Hogwarts, transforming into various lifelike animal shapes.
One variety named "Cat's Praise" was the most popular; every explosion sounded exactly like the purring of a satisfied kitten, drawing cheers from countless people.
However, all this noise and glory had nothing to do with the girls' dormitory on the top floor of Gryffindor Tower.
The noise of victory was like drumbeats through a thick curtain of water, dull and distant, yet ubiquitously penetrating this realm of dead silence.
Every time the "cat's" purring sounded in the night sky, it was like an invisible, red-hot needle piercing into Hermione Granger's desolate soul, stirring her long-congealed blood.
She had locked herself inside, using silent spells to turn the entire room into an airtight living tomb.
Harry had come.
Ron had come too.
They knocked anxiously on the door, using every Alohomora spell they knew, and even Sirius and Lupin had rushed over.
They tried using more powerful unlocking charms, only to find that all spells vanished silently the moment they touched the door panel.
Inside the door was a suffocating silence that could swallow all light and sound.
It was as if the former Gryffindor Know-it-all had been buried in that holy white light along with Lia's disappearance.
Three days.
Hermione did not eat or drink, nor did she sleep or rest.
She just curled up on the rug by the bed, clutching the glass jar filled with Dried Fish.
Her brown eyes, which once sparkled with the light of wisdom, were now as hollow as burnt firewood, staring blankly at the nightstand without focus.
There, a small, charred silver bell lay quietly.
The section of gold-Red ribbon tied to it had carbonized and snapped, losing all luster, as fragile as ash that would crumble at a touch.
She was pathologically terrified, fearing that the trace of warmth and the faint heartbeat she had felt that night were truly just pathetic hallucinations born of her soul being torn apart.
She didn't dare touch it, fearing that the coldness would completely shatter the last shred of sanity hanging over the abyss.
Until the morning of the fourth day, when her body's instincts finally crushed her will and her physical strength was exhausted to the limit, she moved stiffly toward the bedside like a marionette controlled by invisible strings, finally reaching out her trembling, spasming fingertips toward that bell.
Time seemed to stretch at this moment.
The moment her fingertips touched the charred metal—
Cold.
Dead.
A bone-penetrating cold with no sign of life instantly spread through her body from her fingertips, freezing the last bit of her flowing blood.
The faint glimmer that had just ignited in Hermione's eyes went out completely with a "poof."
"As expected... it was a hallucination..." She pulled a twisted smile that looked worse than crying, collapsing by the bed as if her spine had been removed, yet she still tightly gripped the cold bell in her palm, pressing it desperately against her hollow chest.
Suppressed, broken sobs finally escaped her throat, and scalding tears burst forth, crashing down drop by drop onto the back of her hand, soaking the pillowcase and the cold bell in her palm.
As her emotions completely collapsed, the magic that had long since gone out of control due to heartbreak could no longer find "Lia" as its only anchor; like an unbridled beast, it rampaged wildly within her body!
Books in the room were tossed by invisible forces, trembling violently in the air; water glasses silently shattered into powder, and beautiful frost patterns instantly condensed on the windows, while the air was filled with a tooth-aching scent of ionization!
This majestic, terrifying magic that almost tore her apart rampaged inside her with no outlet, and finally, as if drawn by a summons, it surged like a flash flood down her arm and into her palm where she clutched the bell!
"Hmm?!"
A scalding, searing suction came from her palm, causing Hermione's crying to stop abruptly.
To her astonishment, she found that her magic was being frantically swallowed by the bell in her palm at an unheard-of speed!
She raised her head stiffly and slowly opened her palm, which was so hot it felt like it was about to burn.
A miracle unfolded before her eyes in a bold and magnificent manner.
The moment the cold bell was soaked by her scalding tears and washed by the torrent of her majestic magic, it was as if a riverbed dried for ten thousand years had welcomed its first rain!
The charred Phoenix tail feather ribbon tied to it, which was on the verge of breaking, suddenly lit up with a faint gold-red glow!
The light grew brighter, and the charred ribbon shed its dead black color at a speed visible to the naked eye, then ignited into a warm golden flame under Hermione's gaze!
In the flames, the ribbon first turned into a pile of brilliant ash, and then, from the center of the ash, a brand-new, more magnificent and radiant Phoenix tail feather was reborn from the fire!
It seemed to possess life, actively unfolding like a living fire snake, rapidly circling and weaving around the silver bell at the center!
Then, more and even more brilliant Phoenix tail feathers appeared out of thin air, born from the void and attracted by the core ribbon, merging with each other like a group of the most skillful weavers using light and flame to weave a miracle.
In Hermione's tearful eyes, mixed with wild joy and disbelief, they finally formed a perfect, seamless, softly glowing oval shell.
An egg about the size of a goose egg, entirely warm gold-red, its surface covered with delicate and magnificent patterns like Phoenix feathers.
It lay quietly in Hermione's palm, warm and holy, and a strange warm fragrance, a mixture of ash and rebirth, instantly filled the entire room.
Through the semi-transparent gold-red shell, Hermione could clearly see that at the center of the egg, a small silver bell was floating quietly.
It was no longer charred but had returned to its original silvery brightness.
"This... this is..."
Hermione's voice was trembling violently; she reached out her other hand, her fingertips stopping an inch away from the egg, not daring to advance another fraction.
She was afraid this was a dream, a hallucination more cruel and realistic than before.
But when her fingertips, after endless struggling, finally cautiously touched the warm and smooth eggshell—
Thump.
A clear heartbeat, full of vibrant life, passed through the eggshell and her fingertips, turning into a golden bolt of lightning that instantly pierced through all the ruins and rubble of her soul, powerfully striking her deepest core!
It wasn't a hallucination!
This warm current, this breath, this unique soul pulse... it was real! It was responding to her! It was alive!
Hermione's pupils suddenly contracted to a point; she lunged to pull the egg into her embrace, holding it with all her strength.
"Lia..."
She called the name over and over with broken, out-of-tune syllables, pressing her cheek tightly against the warm eggshell, feeling the faint but incredibly real life pulse vibrating in sync with her own heart.
Tears gushed out again, but this time, they were no longer the bitterness of despair, but a scalding mixture of wild joy and bewilderment.
But what then?
It was an egg.
An egg composed of a Phoenix tail feather and Lia's bell.
This was completely beyond any magical category Hermione knew.
What should she do?
Hatch it with a spell?
Or maintain its temperature like taking care of a real egg?
Did she have to hatch the egg herself?
This thought was like a bucket of ice-cold water, instantly extinguishing the flames of her wild joy and making her brain work at an unprecedented speed.
Her reason and calmness, belonging to the "Gryffindor Know-it-all," forcibly suppressed all emotions at this moment.
She couldn't gamble.
She needed help.
Just then, the dormitory door was knocked on again.
"Hermione? Are you in there? It's me, Harry."
Harry's voice was full of hesitation and worry.
"You've been locked away for three days; we're all very worried about you... Professor McGonagall says if you don't open the door soon, she's coming over herself."
Hermione's body stiffened, but her embrace became even firmer.
Professor McGonagall... Dumbledore... yes, they were the only people she could turn to for help now.
Hermione took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her face as quickly as possible.
She didn't hide the egg; instead, she took off her softest Cashmere scarf, carefully wrapping it layer by layer, holding it tightly to her chest as if it were her own restarted heart.
She walked to the door, waved her wand, and lifted all the magic she had cast.
"Creak—"
The door opened.
Harry and Ron were waiting anxiously outside; when they saw Hermione inside, they were both stunned.
Her face was as pale as parchment, her eyes were red and swollen, and she had lost a lot of weight, looking so fragile that a gust of wind could blow her over.
Seeing her friends' faces filled with concern and pain, Hermione's eyes were momentarily dazed and weak, but the steady heartbeat from her arms made her immediately straighten her back again.
In those hollow eyes, a tiny, incredibly firm and bright black flame was reignited.
"Hermione, you..."
Harry stepped forward worriedly, only to find her holding something he couldn't even understand.
"What is this?"
"I'm fine." Hermione's voice was terribly raspy. "Harry, Ron, I'm fine now. I'm going to find Professor McGonagall."
Cradling the small bulge wrapped in the scarf, she took her first step in three days, walking out of the room that had imprisoned her and out of the tomb called despair.
She was holding the only seed she needed to pour everything into to nourish and protect.
She couldn't spend every day crying over an egg.
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Greyhounds
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"