Chapter 410: Face-to-Face Communication

Hogwarts had magic that forbade Apparition, so they could not return quickly.

Thus, just as they had at the start, they came to the path leading to Hogsmeade.

All around was silence; the night was deeply black, with only a few streetlamps and a handful of lit windows visible upstairs.

“Did we complete our mission excellently?”

Dumbledore said, tapping his wand against Wizard Sean’s arm, where the wound still oozing blood had already healed considerably.

As they had anticipated, the cave was filled with Voldemort’s magic designed to torment intruders, which was why the wound bled continuously.

“Mm.”

Wizard Sean lifted his head and saw a star’s glow shining brightly—he recognized it as Jupiter.

“Let’s go. I hope Madam Pomfrey is still awake…”

Dumbledore stepped first onto the path blooming with purple flowers.

Following the winding path, the wilderness and fields surrounding Hogsmeade came into view.

There were only a few small wooden cottages here, but their gardens were large.

They headed toward the foot of the mountain, where the path back to Hogwarts lay hidden in its shadow.

“Do you have anything for me?”

Dumbledore took Wizard Sean’s hand and suddenly smiled.

Wizard Sean nodded; his Wizard’s Book instantly unfurled and spat out a peculiar little object.

As Dumbledore held the lens in his hand, his smile slowly froze.

“This is…”

He asked.

“A Magic Hand Mirror. It enables communication regardless of distance—a variant of the Two-Way Mirror, capable of supporting up to seven people simultaneously.

It allows face-to-face conversation or voice-only transmission.”

Wizard Sean explained in detail.

“Oh, excellent. Very excellent.”

Dumbledore took the mirror, and within it soon appeared a miniature Wizard Sean.

He was reading a book in the mirror’s surface until ripples spread like Black Lake water, and the miniature Wizard Sean closed the book.

The real Wizard Sean quickly appeared within the mirror.

“If you wish to say anything now, you may speak directly, Headmaster Dumbledore.”

Wizard Sean “ended” the hand mirror; inside his mirror, the miniature Dumbledore, who had stopped eating lemon drops, resumed eating candy.

This was Wizard Sean’s design to display actions during different call stages, borrowing principles from magical photographs—merely by reconfiguring the internal magical circuitry from auto-trigger to trigger via distinct call phases of the hand mirror.

Meanwhile, the miniature Wizard Sean began reading again.

“Ah—”

This discovery stirred Dumbledore’s keen interest.

He gazed at the figures in the mirror:

Minerva McGonagall had transformed into a tabby cat licking her fur; Severus Snape was brewing a potion; Filius Flitwick was preparing to climb a stack of books as a podium…

“Oh, a fascinating creation.”

The hand mirror rippled—Dumbledore had clearly dialed another connection.

“Is Minerva asleep?”

He spoke as if to himself, yet his gaze rested on Wizard Sean.

“The remaining copies haven’t been delivered yet…”

Wizard Sean explained.

“…This is unusual. I must tell you—perhaps someone awaits it more eagerly than I do.”

Dumbledore was surprised.

“You were pulled straight into my office.”

Wizard Sean finished his earlier statement.

Silence quickly fell; not a word was spoken, yet even the shouts of patrons from the Hog’s Head could be heard from afar.

“Let’s go. We must return to Hogwarts quickly.”

Dumbledore acted as if he had asked nothing, no longer even attempting to inquire about the locket.

They passed through the dark, winding alleys they had traversed earlier; the evening breeze brushed past Wizard Sean’s ears.

At this moment, Puckidge the butler was inside the partially open Wizard’s Book, guiding the animals to their proper places.

“Come on, come on, little heroes—you’ve accomplished a great task!”

Wizard Sean could hear Will muttering enthusiastically to himself.

“Except you, you gluttonous pig!”

Then Wizard Sean heard a loud thud and a plaintive grunt from the warthog.

Voldemort’s potion was meant to inflict great pain upon wizards; the potion Wizard Sean retrieved from the vault, however, induced vigor, joy, and hallucination in those who drank it.

Thus, aside from possible unpleasant taste, the animals suffered no ill effects—this was Wizard Sean’s conclusion after checking.

“Hogwarts has anti-Apparition wards against Puckidge, but the cave did not… I’m glad you noticed that.”

Dumbledore’s voice drifted slowly.

“Of course, Voldemort despised house-elf behavior, as many pure-blood wizards do… They never imagined elves might possess magic he lacked.

He placed corpses at the Black Lake’s bottom, but corpses are nothing to fear, Wizard Sean—just as darkness is nothing to fear.

Yet Voldemort did not think so. He secretly feared both.

He revealed once again his lack of wisdom. When we face death and darkness, what we fear is not the things themselves, but only the unknown.”

As Dumbledore’s voice drifted gently, they finally returned to the familiar Hogwarts Castle.

Madam Pomfrey had not yet rested; Wizard Sean, unusually, lay in the hospital wing.

Voldemort had always advanced further than any other wizard in the branch of curses.

Even Dumbledore could not fully remove the weakness caused by the curse; Madam Pomfrey was astonished and quietly asked Wizard Sean where he had been injured—she had never seen such a vile magic.

Madam Pomfrey forbade Wizard Sean to leave the ward; for a week, he must cooperate with the curse removal.

Headmaster Dumbledore, however, smiled and granted him two weeks’ leave.

The leave did not actually affect Wizard Sean’s studies.

Since the Wizard’s Book had been created, many of Wizard Sean’s study tasks could be completed within the Wizard’s Cottage.

The only unfortunate point was that his Magic Hand Mirror could only be delivered by Bai Yi.

As for the locket…

Wizard Sean took it out and placed it inside a magical box in the Wizard’s Cottage.

His plan was progressing steadily; now that he had the locket, he could use it as leverage to get Kreacher’s help in finding the real one.

As for how to find Kreacher—that would depend on Harry…

The hospital wing had always been silent.

Moonlight seeped through the window, spilling over the locket on the young wizard’s chest and his cheek.

Like a layer of salt.

Occasionally, injured Quidditch players let out low moans, and mechanical devices clicked and clacked as they coupled.

Mist slowly rose, and when the thin veil enveloped each bed…

Wizard Sean opened his bright eyes.

It seemed… the time had come…

Today he had much to do in the Borderlands—

Speak with Headmaster Dumbledore… investigate the influence of the Cat Club’s ball of yarn… and most importantly, Lady Ravenclaw…

To all dear readers:

I caught a cold—taking a day off. Three chapters starting in January.