"Maybe you're right."
Hermione thought it over, then said happily, "If this spell really is that powerful, then maybe Professor McGonagall will forgive me..."
At the thought of that, Hermione cheerfully ate two whole steaks. Later, when she saw Professor McGonagall finish dinner and head back to her office, she greeted Altair and hurried after her in a rush.
"The value of Hymn of Light is even greater than I imagined. In that case, the authenticity of the parchment is guaranteed. And with the cave troll as supporting evidence..."
"The image of Gandalf is established now. Then Saruman has to follow soon as well... and the Uruk-hai..."
A faint smile curved at Altair's lips.
The next few days passed quite normally. After secretly copying down Hymn of Light, Hermione handed the parchment over to Professor McGonagall.
Although Professor McGonagall did not believe the story recorded on the parchment, she could still sense that Hymn of Light was an extraordinarily powerful spell. To encourage Hermione, she specially awarded her twenty points.
After receiving the parchment, Professor McGonagall went to see Dumbledore.
Dumbledore truly lived up to his title as the greatest wizard in modern times. On his very first attempt, he managed to cast Hymn of Light. What he had clearly not expected, however, was just how much magic the spell consumed. The result was that the old man looked weak and drained for the entire following week.
And the effects of Hymn of Light were astonishingly good. It actually caused Fawkes, who had been on the verge of burning and entering his rebirth, to erupt with extraordinary vitality, restoring him to peak condition without the need for rebirth at all.
According to Dumbledore's estimation, this spell had a very high chance of being able to cure lycanthropy and blood curses as well, though it would still need to be tested first.
Aside from Hymn of Light, Dumbledore also carefully studied the parchment itself and the story written on it.
His conclusion was that the parchment was extremely old, having existed for at least a thousand years. As for the story written on it...
Dumbledore's view was the same as Professor McGonagall's. It was probably just the whimsical sense of humor of the wizard Gandalf who had created Hymn of Light. After all, giving a spell a fantastical story background would make it spread farther and become more famous.
Of course, Dumbledore was not simply guessing. He had specifically gone to visit his former student, Newt Scamander, and learned from him that there did not seem to be any magical creature corresponding to the immortal Balrog.
"And as for the so-called cave troll, it may perhaps be a mutant variety of troll."
That was Newt's conclusion, and Dumbledore believed it completely.
And so, another week passed.
After a week of recovery, Snape's mental state had improved quite a bit and was now more or less the same as before. The Gryffindor students, however, felt that Professor Snape somehow seemed even more devoid of human feeling than ever.
In truth, aside from the first two days when he had struggled to accept everything, Snape had gradually let it go. The reason he had continued acting so unstable was simply because he wanted the person behind it all to lower their guard.
But now a whole week had gone by, and there were still no clues. The mastermind seemed to have vanished completely, and there had been no move made against the Philosopher's Stone either. After discussing it with Dumbledore, Snape finally decided to return to teaching.
After all, it was hardly appropriate to keep staying in the hospital wing forever.
Besides, Snape missed Harry.
"I heard from the third-years that Professor Snape started teaching again yesterday. The Weasley twins got a full twenty points docked in class!"
"Harry heard from Hagrid that something terrible seems to have appeared deep in the Forbidden Forest. Supposedly it's Inferi. Oh, and I think the centaur tribe and the Acromantula colony have started fighting..."
"The Daily Prophet somehow got hold of a rumor saying that the person who broke into Azkaban was taken to the Ministry for questioning. They say he was tortured into madness by the dark wizards there, and he kept raving that they stole his treasure."
At breakfast, Hermione quietly told Altair the bits of news she had heard in Gryffindor.
Altair listened in silence. Only after finishing his meal did he take a delicate little box from his robes.
"This is for you."
"Ah?"
Hermione froze, then immediately blushed.
Altair smiled and reached out to gently pinch her cheek.
"Today is your birthday, isn't it? This is your birthday present."
"Thank you."
Hermione accepted the gift, suddenly at a loss for what to do. Pressing her lips together, she sneaked a glance at Altair.
This was the first time she had ever received a birthday present from a boy.
A strange feeling spread from the bottom of her heart through her whole body. She did not even notice Altair pinching her cheek.
"How did you know today was my birthday?"
"You told me yourself. Last time, you mentioned your birthday is in September, so you couldn't receive your letter the year before and only started Hogwarts at twelve..."
"I remember now!"
Hermione suddenly understood. At the time, she had only mentioned it casually, but she had never expected Altair to remember.
Every year before this, Mr. and Mrs. Granger would prepare a cake and gifts for her birthday. This year, although there was no cake, Hermione still felt very happy because she had Altair's gift.
There was a feeling in her heart that she could not quite describe, sweet and soft, like eating a strawberry cream ice cream.
"Can I open it?"
"If you don't want to attract attention, then wait until you get back to your dormitory."
Altair answered in a low voice. Hermione thought about it, then smiled.
"Then I'll open it back in my dorm!"
She carefully put away the little box, propped up her chin, and looked at Altair, momentarily lost in thought.
Altair noticed something odd in Hermione's gaze. It seemed different from before somehow, so he asked, "What is it?"
"Nothing. Thank you, Altair. I'm very happy."
Hermione spoke softly and turned her head away. In a place where Altair could not see, she murmured under her breath,
"I think the thing I am most fortunate about, since coming to Hogwarts, is meeting you."