Chapter 39: The Communication Wristbands
Success...
Lyra wiped the sweat from her forehead and let out a soft breath. She pressed her lips together as she examined the blue magic formations, densely covering the wristbands like a spiderweb.
"It worked, right?" Luna said, looking at the wristbands. "They look just like the stars in the sky."
"Shall we try them?"
"Mm... mm." Lyra nodded and put one of the wristbands on her wrist.
The black wristband had a small, mirror-like crystal on it. Lyra lightly tapped it with her wand and casually sketched a few words.
Then, characters slowly appeared on the wristband Luna was wearing.
"Hello."
These were the words Lyra had just written.
"It... it worked!" Lyra said happily.
Luna nodded and also picked up her wand, slowly drawing a few strokes on her wristband.
"Huh?" Lyra watched as her own wristband glowed faintly, and then a simple stick-figure drawing appeared.
"This is Lyra," Luna explained. "See... here is your pretty silver hair... and here are your pointed ears..."
Miss Lovegood draws really well... Lyra instinctively reached out and touched the image. Although it was just a few strokes, she could clearly recognize herself.
Then Luna drew herself. Two little figures, holding hands, sitting under a starry sky.
"This is what happened inside the book. Do you remember?" Luna blinked. "I've missed that day ever since."
"Lying on the grass, watching the stars."
Her words reminded Lyra of that day as well... Ah... she missed it too, but mostly she missed the place... the meadow outside Nurmengard.
With the completion of the communication wristbands, Lyra had resolved one of the major tasks of the past few days.
As she recorded the formations and some issues encountered during the crafting process in her notebook, the day slipped away.
As night fell, an owl flew in through the window, released its claws, and dropped a letter.
Startled, Lyra waited for the owl to leave before carefully picking up the envelope.
It was a letter from Mr. Lupin... Lyra knew he had gone to see Dumbledore this morning, though she didn't know why.
This was the first letter Mr. Lupin had ever sent her!
Lyra rubbed the parchment excitedly. She would keep it in a box, just like Miss Lovegood's letter...
Although Miss Lovegood probably won't be writing me any letters in the future.
Lyra subconsciously glanced at the wristband on the table, which still displayed the record of her chat with Luna.
Miss Lovegood seems busy dealing with Nargles and investigating Minister Fudge's army of fire spirits right now...
Shaking her head, Lyra carefully opened the letter. As she did, a dozen Gold Galleons tumbled out.
What does this mean?
Lyra froze. Did Mr. Lupin accidentally put these in?
After reading Mr. Lupin's letter carefully, Lyra finally understood...
Mr. Lupin was going away to handle some business... It seemed he wouldn't be back for a while, so he had sent this month's Galleons to prevent her from starving to death.
Mr. Lupin, you truly are noble... But the thought that this was definitely another advance on her salary filled Lyra with trepidation.
Just how much of my salary have I already spent? Especially since I'm planning to find Dumbledore again... After all, the ingredients for the Wolfsbane Potion cost quite a bit...
Lyra sighed softly, returning her thoughts to the letter... She had just gotten closer to Mr. Lupin, and now he was leaving.
Lyra felt a pang of reluctance. She could also tell from the letter that the mission Lupin was undertaking might be dangerous... She hoped Merlin would protect him.
Pressing her lips together, Lyra patted her face and put the letter away. Then she picked up her quill to write a reply to Mr. Lupin.
Maybe I should make another communication device for Mr. Lupin?
But writing letters seems nice too... It's something only friends do!
Thinking this, Lyra smiled, her lips pressed together, and her quill moved faster across the parchment.
Oh, right. I also need to write a letter to Dumbledore... asking about advancing my salary...
Ah... this doesn't mean Dumbledore and I are friends. I'm going to defeat that old man sooner or later...
Lyra instinctively frowned and looked at the door... Good, no sudden knocking or terrifying voice.
.....
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Hearing the knock, Dumbledore looked up slightly towards the door of the Headmaster's office.
Then he smiled. "Come in."
Click.
The door opened. Leading the way was a house-elf, followed by a trembling, timid Lyra, wrapped tightly in her hood.
So this is... the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts... Lyra carefully surveyed her surroundings. But when she looked up and saw the portraits covering almost the entire ceiling, she shuddered.
Why are there so many people?!
"Good morning, Miss Hamilton." Dumbledore smiled gently and nodded to the house-elf. "Bibi, could you give Miss Hamilton and me some time alone?"
"As you wish, Headmaster." The house-elf named Bibi snapped his fingers and slowly vanished from the office.
"Ah..." Lyra instinctively stepped back as she watched the elf disappear.
"That was Bibi, a Hogwarts house-elf," Dumbledore introduced.
I know that... otherwise why would I have followed him here... But... Lyra pressed her lips together, looking at Dumbledore. She really wanted to ask him not to let Bibi enter her room unannounced... She had woken up this morning to find a house-elf standing right there.
It was like something out of a horror movie!
Seeing Lyra standing silently with her head down, Dumbledore asked slowly, "Miss Hamilton, are there many differences between Hogwarts and Durmstrang?"
"Yes..." Lyra fiddled with her fingers. "It's... warmer than Durmstrang..."
"And... Durmstrang didn't have... house-elves..." Durmstrang didn't rely on house-elves for cleaning; cleaning was a job for ostracized wizards like Lyra.
But compared to being startled out of her wits by these elves, Lyra preferred doing the cleaning herself.
"I see," Dumbledore mused for a few seconds before changing the subject. "Please sit, Miss Hamilton."
"We have quite a few things to discuss today."
"Enough, Albus! Can't you see she doesn't want to chat with you?" Suddenly, a portrait on the ceiling spoke up, making Lyra jump.
"That is Phineas Nigellus Black," Dumbledore shrugged. "The most unpopular Headmaster Hogwarts has ever had."
"What? Albus, those are all Mud—" Before he could finish, the detestable Headmaster Black was drowned out by boos from the other portraits.
Watching this scene, which resembled a wizarding vegetable market, Lyra bit her lip and slowly sat down.
"The Headmaster's office at Hogwarts is always this lively," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Would you like a Fizzing Whizbee?"
"N... No, thank you." Lyra quickly shook her head. She wished she could finish her conversation with Dumbledore and leave immediately.
Hogwarts was simply too terrifying... Ghosts passing through walls, people chattering incessantly in portraits... and house-elves who could teleport.
There wasn't a single thing Lyra found acceptable, or rather... not scary.
If only they couldn't speak...
That was probably Lyra's biggest wish right now.