Mourning spread through Hogwarts.
The joy of surviving the calamity was replaced by the imminent passing of an old man.
Grief—this was the last thing they could offer him.
Dumbledore might be considered fortunate, for he died for his ideals, guarding Hogwarts and witnessing it endure through the war.
Members of the Order of the Phoenix gathered around Dumbledore.
Mrs. Weasley moved closer to Mr. Weasley.
Mr. Weasley wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders.
Tonks's hand brushed against Lupin's, and the two clasped tightly together.
"How are you, Albus?" Slughorn asked.
As a master of Potions, he could clearly see Dumbledore's condition.
Dumbledore's right hand had completely blackened. Dawn had not brought rebirth from the flames.
The curse from Voldemort was eating away at the old man.
He had fought to the very end to protect Hogwarts, yet he had not been spared.
Hearing the question, the old man smiled kindly. "Very well, Horace."
Nothing could be better than seeing that the students of Hogwarts were safe.
Sirius lowered his head. He could not bear to watch the old man fade toward death.
Kingsley said, "The Ministry has captured all the wizards who invaded Hogwarts. We've won, Dumbledore."
"Yes, we've won," Dumbledore replied weakly. "Voldemort is dead."
"Oh, Merlin…" Mrs. Weasley buried her face against her husband's arm.
This old man had already been Headmaster when they were students. One could say that Dumbledore had witnessed everyone's years at the school.
Moody, who had arrived as well, wore a look of grief.
Snape and Slughorn had examined him together, and the conclusion they reached was the same.
Dumbledore would die.
The birth of one life must be accompanied by the passing of another.
"Dumbledore!"
Harry stumbled in, seeing Dumbledore's frail state.
The old man had never been like this before.
It was the aura of death. The old phoenix was finally walking the path of no return.
Harry couldn't accept it. He broke down in tears.
Hermione and Ron came in as well, gathering around Dumbledore.
"Albus, I've realized I'm really not suited to being a headmaster," Slughorn said sadly.
"But you did very well, didn't you?" Dumbledore comforted his old friend. "You stayed with the school until the very last moment."
"Being able to witness children growing up is quite interesting, isn't it?"
Dumbledore was as kind and wise as ever.
Even on the brink of death, the old man could still speak with calm humor.
That was the difference between Dumbledore and Voldemort.
Voldemort would cling to life at any cost, while Dumbledore could let go.
Professor McGonagall hurried in. When she saw the scene, she covered her mouth, sorrow written across her face.
Gradually, more and more people arrived.
The Weasley family—Bill, Charlie, Fred and George, Ginny.
Snape, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout…
Hagrid entered the hall, having taken off his armor, wiping his nose sadly with a spotted handkerchief.
Harry stood numbly, holding Hufflepuff's golden cup.
"Harry?"
Hermione looked at him with concern. Harry forced a smile. "I'm fine."
He still found it hard to accept what was happening.
Dumbledore slowly closed his eyes, and the sobbing in the room grew louder.
His life reached its end.
Harry lifted his head, doing his best to keep the tears from falling.
Suddenly—Buzz—sunlight streamed into the hall from outside.
The light swept across Hufflepuff's golden cup, and something inside began to glow with a golden radiance.
Hermione, who had been watching Harry with concern, noticed it.
"Harry, the cup!" Hermione cried out.
Harry looked down. At the bottom of Hufflepuff's cup, a trace of golden liquid clung to the base.
The very last remnant of the Grail's potion.
Golden—like the color of hope.
…
[Ding. Achievement unlocked: One Who Trades with a God]
[One Who Trades with a God: A wanderer between life and death, a negotiator of taboos, a hidden presence beyond the boundary]
Gaining an achievement bonus as well took John by surprise.
"It looks a bit like Soul Walker," he muttered, rubbing his chin.
A sharp pain suddenly tugged at his ear.
He turned his head—his mother had a firm grip on his right ear, and with her left hand, she was pulling Watson's ear as well.
Clearly, Mrs. Wick wanted an explanation from John.
"Why didn't you tell me you caused something this big at school?"
Anger burned in Mrs. Wick's eyes.
Watson tried to speak from the side, but with a slight increase of pressure from Mrs. Wick's fingers, he yelped in pain.
John turned his gaze toward his uncle.
Sheriozha received his nephew's silent plea and coughed twice.
"Uh, let me say a few words—"
"Get out!"
"…"
John watched his eldest uncle slink away in disgrace.
Aren't you the big brother? Can't you rein your sister in at least a little?
Sheriozha turned his head away.
Sorry. I may be the big brother, but your mother is the alpha wolf.
Seeing that none of the useless adults could be relied on, John decided to fend for himself.
"Mom, listen to my sophistry—no, listen to my explanation," John said as cold sweat trickled down, his tongue slipping.
"I actually didn't know it would turn into something this big. The only thing I didn't tell you was that I took a leave of absence for a while."
"You took a leave of absence. Why?"
Mrs. Wick stared at John with clear displeasure, making his scalp prickle.
Earlier, he had personally seen his mother snap a banshee's neck.
"It was all someone else framing me," John explained. "I had no choice but to leave school first."
"Don't listen to his nonsense," Watson said angrily. "John, you still haven't explained why an owl turned into a fire dragon."
"Shut up!" Watson had his ear grabbed by Mrs. Wick.
Mrs. Wick's eyes glistened with tears as she said angrily, "John finally comes home, and you're yelling at him?"
"Huh?"
Watson was dumbfounded. I was just asking, I wasn't yelling.
But Mrs. Wick didn't care. She let go of her precious son's ear and rubbed it gently, full of concern.
Then she turned around and became completely unreasonable toward Watson.
What else could Watson do?
He had long known his wife would never truly be harsh with their child. In the end, he was the one who bore everything.
John finally escaped from the clutches of doom and turned to see the members of the Constellation Society struggling to hold back their laughter.
He said irritably, "Stop laughing."
Malfoy burst out laughing. "You're actually scared of your mom."
Three seconds later, Malfoy was hanging from a tree.
John did it.
No one in the Constellation Society laughed anymore. Heh~ John snorted softly, handed the wand back to Daphne, and praised her, "Your wand is particularly smooth with the Levicorpus charm."
Daphne smiled sweetly. "I think so too."
Only Malfoy was hurt in this world.
"Heinrich, how do you feel?" John asked with a grin. "You slept for two years."
"Very well," Heinrich said, glancing at Kim, who was now taller than him. After a moment of silence, he added, "Why is he so much taller than me?"
"That's what growing up is like," John spread his hands helplessly. "After all, two years have passed."
Kim reverted to that sunny, cheerful big boy. His golden hair gleamed like real gold under the sunlight, his smile bright.
"You should get some proper rest. We agreed to go traveling together," Kim said, even reaching out to ruffle his hair.
Just like treating a younger brother.
Heinrich dodged with a look of disgust and said coldly, "I don't remember saying that."
"What? You're turning your back on me already?" Kim said, wounded. "I even dropped out of school for you, and this is how you treat me?"
"Hmph!" Heinrich's brows knitted tightly.
Cedric poked Percy and whispered, "I just saw your brother go talk to Fleur, and she gave him the cold shoulder."
Percy rubbed his temples. "My mum had some issues with Fleur before. Bill's stuck in the middle. It's not easy for him."
Bill was now experiencing what felt like a full-on belated romance disaster.
Fleur hadn't spoken to him for several days, which left Bill deeply hurt.
As Percy was speaking, he turned and saw Cedric lifting Cho Chang into his arms, the two of them spinning in circles.
Within the Constellation Society, that kid was the most successful of them all.
Malfoy climbed down from the tree and immediately chose violence with his words.
"Haha, you're dead last now," Malfoy said to Heinrich with undisguised glee. "The weakest one."
The former bottom-ranker had pulled off a reversal.
Malfoy was feeling smug.
Heinrich cast him a glance. A moment later, Malfoy's legs started jerking uncontrollably.
Everyone silently watched Malfoy's clumsy, unstoppable dance.
What was this guy even thinking?
Two years ago, Heinrich had already been able to trade blows one-on-one at the limit against Voldemort and his uncle. Two years later, you think you can beat Bellatrix?
Malfoy was on the verge of tears. In the end, was he still the weakest one?
There was Astoria, at least…
How could that be!
My Astoria is the best in the world, alright?!
With tears in his eyes, Malfoy continued to hold down the last place in the Constellation Society.
In the end, Malfoy's curse was lifted—by Lucius himself.
After spending the entire year on edge, Lucius was the happiest of all when he heard the news of Voldemort's death.
The only bad news was that Narcissa had been hospitalized at St. Mungo's.
She had been subjected to the Memory Charm too many times, though thankfully it wasn't severe.
This was probably the last trace of tenderness in Bellatrix's twisted mind. Toward her sister, she had never used any truly irreversible curses.
And so, Narcissa became the only member of the Malfoy family with medical insurance in the Silvercross Hospital.
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