The black cat woke up.
When it opened its eyes, the mist in the Borderland was churning violently.
"You're very much like one of my… teachers," Leta said casually.
She conjured up a scene. The black cat recognized it at once: Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
—Seventy-nine years ago, the lesson that day had been on Boggarts.
Dumbledore was guiding a line of teenagers forward, having them try one by one.
"Riddikulus…" "Riddikulus…"
The young wizards' voices rose and fell one after another. The Boggart changed from a shark into a buoy, from a zombie's head into a pumpkin, from a vampire into a rabbit with buck teeth. Laughter broke out again and again.
"All right, Newt. Be brave."
Dumbledore said.
The black cat had never seen the headmaster look this young.
Sixteen-year-old Newt stepped to the front of the line. The Boggart turned into a desk from the Ministry of Magic.
"That's not a common one. So tell me, what is it in this world that Mr. Scamander fears most?"
Dumbledore asked with a smile.
The black cat glanced at him. It seemed the headmaster had always loved watching a good scene, even back when he was only a professor.
"Working at a desk, Professor."
Sixteen-year-old Newt answered with complete honesty.
The whole class burst into laughter.
"Go on, Newt."
Dumbledore laughed too.
"Riddikulus!"
Newt turned the desk into a playful wooden dragon, then stepped aside.
"Well done. Very nicely done."
Dumbledore applauded.
Then it was sixteen-year-old Leta's turn, but she didn't move.
She was afraid.
"Leta, it's only a Boggart. It can't hurt you. Everyone has something they fear."
Dumbledore said kindly.
In front of him, a cluster of girls stood together, clearly enjoying her fear.
"Let's see how badly she embarrasses herself."
they said.
Leta stepped forward. The Boggart started transforming, and at once all the laughter died.
Green light washed over every terrified face. The Boggart became a shadow with one tiny human hand.
Leta let out a sob and ran out of the classroom.
The black cat and the adult Leta followed after her, watching as she hid in another empty classroom.
After some time, young Leta was still sitting at her old desk. Then Dumbledore walked in.
"Well, this is a surprise."
he said.
"Because you found me in a classroom? Am I really that bad a student?"
Leta asked him coldly.
"On the contrary. You're my brightest student."
Dumbledore said.
"I said bad, not stupid. Don't waste time thinking of an answer. You never liked me."
Leta threw the words at him.
"That isn't true. You are not a bad child."
Dumbledore came closer and sat down.
"Then you're wrong."
Leta refused to look at him.
But Dumbledore studied her carefully.
"Leta, I understand that the rumors about your brother Corvus have caused you terrible pain."
Dumbledore said.
"No, you don't. Not unless your brother died too."
Leta snapped.
"It was my sister who died."
Dumbledore replied.
She glared at him. There was hostility in both of them, but curiosity too.
"Did you love her?"
Leta asked.
"My love for her was far from enough."
Dumbledore's eyes were dark.
"It's never too late to forgive yourself. Some say confession is a release. A relief."
Leta kept staring at him.
Wondering what exactly he knew.
"For a very long time, regret has walked beside me. Don't let it become that way for you too."
Then Dumbledore left.
The vision shattered.
"I used to doubt him. Sometimes I wondered if he was a monster too—until I met someone."
Leta said to the black cat.
The black cat's ears twitched. By then, Leta was certain that dear Bastet did not simply walk through Newt's dreams.
"A witch who had forgotten her own name. No—not entirely a witch."
Leta's face turned reflective.
"She only remembered that she had two brothers at Hogwarts, and that she had been waiting for them. There weren't many people in my memory who fit that description…
A few simple deductions, and I knew who she was."
The black cat, naturally, knew too.
"That was when I realized my teacher had not been lying. We were the same kind of people."
Leta said.
"And what about you, dear Bastet? Could a being like you really understand a wizard's heart?"
"I'm a wizard."
the black cat said.
Leta burst out laughing.
"Yes, of course. I understand. You're not a cat—you're a wizard."
she said with a perfectly serious face.
The black cat bobbed its head up and down in agreement, and Leta laughed so hard her whole body shook.
A powerful magical creature, possessing magic beyond anything wizards could imagine.
And yet it was willing to listen to a wizard's wishes, even willing to fulfill them.
How strange.
Leta felt that this day had become far more interesting than she ever could have imagined.
"Miss Lestrange, can you still find her?"
the black cat asked.
"Oh, her? Of course."
Leta's eyes shifted.
"You've been hurrying all across the Borderland just to bring good luck to wizards? So this time—whose wish are you going to grant?"
The black cat said nothing.
"I'm willing to help. For my teacher's sake—and because of you."
Leta sighed.
The mist was churning more violently now. Both she and the black cat knew it was time to part.
"When will you come again?"
Leta asked, placing a freshly trimmed Gabriel flower into a vase, as if speaking to an old friend she had known for years.
"I don't know."
The black cat shook its head.
And Leta understood: good luck might never come again, or it might return tomorrow.
A moment later, the black cat looked back at her once, then turned and sank into the deep mist, vanishing without a trace.
Only a witch remained in the Borderland, one who liked trimming flowers. And every now and then, she would tell the troublemakers she'd tied up a story about a black cat.
…
Hogwarts.
The bells rang three times.
It was rare for Sean not to wake at his usual hour. This journey into the Borderland had not gone very smoothly. He had used the power of the Empty Sigil too thoroughly.
That had led to a disappointing result: for the time being, he wouldn't be able to enter the Borderland again.
But it wouldn't last too long. Sean estimated about a month.
He thought back to Leta's words, and for some reason his mind went to the Headmaster's office, filled with silver instruments.
The old wizard guarded that castle as though it were a prison he had built with his own hands.
When Sean passed the Headmaster's office, the bells were still ringing, and he could already smell the sweet pumpkin scent coming from the Great Hall.
He remembered the pumpkin pie Leta had made, and ended up deciding that Leta cooked better than his Professor Ravenclaw.
Still, he quickened his pace. Exam week was coming, and he still had his Potions exam that afternoon.
Potions, at least, was no longer a total disaster for the students.
Thanks to certain extremely useful notes, they no longer had to make Snape's face turn completely black with fury.
Harry still remembered the last time he had felt that kind of panic during Potions—during an in-class quiz, when he had somehow failed, no matter what he did, to thicken his Forgetfulness Potion.
Snape had stood there with open satisfaction on his face, and before leaving had jotted something down in his gradebook that looked very much like a zero.
Now that sort of thing was firmly in the past. Harry could get through Potions exams fairly easily.
When everyone came out of the dungeons, they were still discussing how surprisingly manageable the test had been.
That night, the students took Astronomy on top of the tallest tower.
Every time Sean looked up at the star-filled sky, he thought of his Prophecy Magic.
Even after studying with the centaur teacher for so long, he still hadn't unlocked it.
The centaur teacher had started frowning more and more often, searching through centaur knowledge for answers.
Beyond that, the time Sean could remain in the Borderland had already passed three hours.
In Dream Stories, it said that after seven hours, the sky in the Borderland would finally turn dark, the stars would blaze brightly, and the clear, pure night sky would become the perfect place for divination.
That extraordinary progress reminded Sean of the legend in the Borderland—the legend of the lucky black cat.
At the same time, reading Dream Stories as Merlin's Tales made him realize that before long, he might finally see a different Borderland: one blazing with stars, one that would let wizards steal a glimpse at something as vague as "the future."
What changes the Borderland would undergo then—perhaps only Merlin knew.
The night was clear. After the Astronomy exam, Sean went straight off to continue studying divination with the centaur teacher.
Even though his Prophecy Magic progress was still stuck at the last step, that didn't stop him from learning the centaurs' knowledge of prophecy.
And the exams went on, slow and steady.
History of Magic was Wednesday morning. When Professor Binns's ghost told them to put down their quills and roll up their answer scrolls, the young wizards all cheered without being able to help themselves.
As long as they had read Green Notes, full marks in History of Magic seemed to be reaching out to them—and the History of Magic section of Green Notes had become one of the students' favorite pieces of extracurricular reading.
It was almost as popular as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
And there were already rumors that Green Notes was about to release a new section called The History of Magical Careers. These past few days, pre-orders had nearly filled Green Bookshop from front to back.
Wednesday afternoon was Herbology in the greenhouse. By the time they returned to the common rooms, the backs of their necks were sunburned from the strong light through the glass.
Everyone kept dreaming about tomorrow at this exact hour—when it would all finally be over.
Thursday morning brought the last exam: Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Snape had taken to his role as examiner with visible delight. The students had to duel a partner under his direct supervision.
In his words:
"Weak, useless idiots should have been getting this kind of training long ago."
Despite spells flying everywhere, miraculously, no one got hurt.
When the exam ended, everyone rushed out of the dueling chamber, flushed with relief.
Only Sean was kept behind by Professor Snape.
~~~
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