Two years from now would be the story of the Goblet of Fire. If the plot didn't change course, then Voldemort would be resurrected in that very year.
Kate probed cautiously, "Back then—was I doing all right?"
She wouldn't ask about future events, but surely there was no harm in asking how she'd be faring two years down the line.
Merry blinked, mulled it over for a moment, then said, "You were in a relationship."
"Pfft!"
The answer came so out of nowhere that she sprayed it right out.
Luckily she wasn't drinking anything just then, or she'd have sprayed it straight onto Merry's head.
Kate shot to her feet, her face one big question mark. "In a relationship? How could I possibly be dating at a time like that?"
Weren't they agreed that with the Dark Arts not yet vanquished, there could be no talk of romance?
Two years from now, she'd betrayed the revolution!
Ahem!
Pulling her thoughts back together, she crouched down again. "So... who was I dating?"
For the life of her, she couldn't imagine her future self two years out suddenly losing her head and tumbling into love with some girl.
Love was precious, true—but life was worth even more!
The crisis of Voldemort hadn't even been dealt with. Where would her future self find the nerve to date, and lead some poor girl on?
"You're trying to worm it out of me again." Merry leaned back tactically. "Hmph, I'm not telling you!"
Kate stared at her for a good while, and once she confirmed that Merry's resolve was firmer than her own, she weakly clutched her head.
Two years from now—who would she fall for?
First off, she could definitely rule out the girls around her: the likes of Hermione, Cho Chang, Luna, and so on.
If she were going to like any of them, she'd have done so long ago—why wait two whole years?
Besides, none of those girls seemed the type to like her back.
So...
A certain female figure surfaced in her mind, and Kate's face twitched as she instantly flung the image out of her head.
No way, no way—she had to keep her distance from straight girls; she mustn't fall for a straight girl's trap!
Merry watched her go quietly mad all on her own, then cautiously poked her. "Hey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" Kate lifted her head, her hair thrown into disarray, and that streak of fiery red among the strands slipped inadvertently into view.
She frowned, and just as she meant to loosen her hair and comb it out again, she saw the once dopey, adorable look in Merry's eyes begin to shift.
"Your hair..." Merry stood up, her gaze fixed straight on it. "Are you a descendant of the Fire God?"
Huh?
Kate froze for a moment, then reflexively touched that streak of red. "No, my hair is... no wait—anyway, I'm not a descendant of that Fire God!"
She had no idea how Merry had figured it out, but from the look in her eyes she could tell—her situation seemed to have made Merry wary.
"You've met me before, haven't you?" She licked her lips, carefully arranging her words. "So you should know I'm not that kind of dangerous person."
After all, Merry was the very first humanoid being she'd ever summoned—in fact, both of her only two successful summonings had been her.
Kate really didn't want such a special bond severed just like that.
"No, I know you're not dangerous..." Merry knit her brows and faced her, wearing the look of someone with something to say but holding it back.
"All right," Kate said, understanding her meaning, and dutifully picked up her wand. "Then—until fate brings us together again."
With that, she waved her wand and closed the summoning circle.
As Merry's figure vanished, the hollowness of the Mana within her body gradually began to make itself felt.
This time, though, it wasn't so bad—probably because her Mana had increased again, she only felt she'd burned through less than half of it.
In other words, from now on she could add a few more to the number of times she practiced the Grand Summoning Spell.
This was undoubtedly a happy thing, yet Kate simply couldn't cheer up.
She really couldn't work out what Merry's earlier words had actually meant.
A descendant of the Fire God?
How could Merry know Zhurong, of all people?
The two of them weren't even from the same era—weren't they not even from the same part of the world?
Or could it be that the Fire God Merry spoke of wasn't the Fire God Zhurong she had in mind, but some other person who possessed a fire god's power?
But if Merry was a genderswapped Merlin, then she shouldn't have run into anyone wielding a fire god's power, right?
According to legend, Merlin was King Arthur's dearest friend, and guided King Arthur to obtain Excalibur and rule over England.
And just as in the framework of most novels, the protagonist always runs into some big BOSS—and Amerlin's enemy was King Arthur's sister, Morgan le Fay.
Later he was even trapped inside an oak tree by the Lady of the Lake, Viviane, and thereafter vanished from the world.
In that entire story, there wasn't a single trace of any fire god's existence.
The more Kate thought about it, the stranger it seemed, but Merry had already gone, and it wouldn't do to press her further, so she had to let it drop.
The question that now nagged at her was this: who exactly would her romantic partner be two years from now?
Merry hadn't even said the person's gender, let alone dropped a hint about a surname.
And now, wonderful—Merry had let slip just a tiny bit, gotten her all worked up and clawing at her own heart, and then simply left like that.
She was so very grateful.
She had no idea whether the future could be changed, but if it could, she really didn't want to fall for some girl while her own prospects were still utterly bleak.
If she confessed, got together with someone, and then still ended up in Voldemort's sights, unable to escape disaster, then she'd be doing that girl a grave injustice.
Someone you fell for in your youth—if they died in the very prime of their life, it would only leave the survivor grieving for the rest of their days.
She didn't want the day to come when the person she loved would be reduced to such a fate.
"So—I've got to work twice as hard!" She sprang up all at once, her previously low spirits reignited in an instant.
If the future couldn't be changed, then for the sake of her future lover she ought to work hard to boost her chances of surviving!
Maybe by two years from now she'd have enough of a foundation to guarantee her own survival, and could then enjoy a romance in peace.
"System, extend today's workout by half an hour!"
[Ding! Movement allocation has been re-planned.]
[Host, please note: current exercise expenditure is excessive. Please prepare a measured dose of energy supplement.]
Kate fell silent for a moment; she really hadn't eaten much tonight to keep herself going.
But the little snacks she'd stockpiled in the dormitory had already been wiped out, and for the moment she couldn't find anything else to eat.
"It's fine, I'll go borrow some from Pansy in a bit." She waved a hand carelessly and launched into a fresh round of training.
An hour and a half later, someone knocked on the door of the dormitory where Pansy stayed.
As a neighbor living not far off, Kate had naturally figured out their daily rhythms.
It was Friday, and Pansy's entire dormitory definitely wouldn't turn in before two or three in the morning.
After successfully borrowing a big box of snacks from Pansy, Kate noticed that her expression looked a little odd.
"What's wrong?" She glanced curiously inside—only to catch a somewhat unfamiliar blond figure flit past the bedside from behind.
"Nothing!" Pansy hurriedly blocked her line of sight and politely shut the door.
Holding the snacks, Kate stood silent at the door for a moment.
So Malfoy had just sneaked into the girls' dormitory to sleep over—what was there to hide about that?
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