D-D-Dumbledore?!
Lyla instantly felt dizzy. The room spun, and she almost collapsed back onto the bed.
Dumbledore came here?! Why?! She stared at Remus, her face draining of color, her blue eyes wide with absolute horror.
Did you already know?! she wanted to scream.
And if Dumbledore was still alive and walking around, didn't that mean Lord Grindelwald...
She trembled violently, desperate to ask a thousand questions, but her throat clamped shut. She couldn't speak.
She didn't even have a wand right now, and she had to face Albus Dumbledore. Wasn't this a bit too unfair?
Never mind a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to strike his weakness—couldn't she at least get a chance for a fair fight?!
Instead, she was trapped in a pub parlor like a tethered goat, just waiting for Dumbledore to arrive and execute her!
"Don't be afraid," Remus said gently, noticing that Lyla had suddenly turned deathly pale. "Headmaster Dumbledore is a very kind man."
He paused, offering a reassuring smile. "He won't be too angry. After all, no one wants something like this to happen."
Something... like this... Lyla took a ragged breath.
Who betrayed Lord Grindelwald? she panicked. Who told them I was waiting for an opportunity to assassinate him?! Her mind was a chaotic mess of paranoia. She had no idea that she and Remus were talking about two completely different things.
Remus merely thought the terrified student in front of him was worried about being expelled by Dumbledore for a severe spell mishap.
Looking at Lyla, who was now sweating profusely, Remus subconsciously began to wonder if Hogwarts' school rules had become overly draconian.
Even a girl who looked to be only in her second or third year was trembling like a leaf. After a moment of thought, he decided to comfort the frightened Hufflepuff.
"Don't worry. I'll put in a good word for you."
"Headmaster Dumbledore and I have known each other for a very long time," he added softly.
His words only made Lyla tremble harder.
So, they've already decided my fate? Am I going to face a trial before the Wizengamot?
"C-Can I... not go to Azkaban?" Lyla finally squeaked out, her voice barely a whisper.
"Azkaban?" Remus was stunned for a moment, and then he burst out laughing. "Hahahahaha... You're not a Dark Wizard. Why would you be sent to Azkaban?"
"According to Hogwarts' school rules, it should only be a deduction of a few House points," he chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "I used to lose points for Gryffindor quite often."
"While losing points isn't glorious... it certainly won't lead to a cell in Azkaban."
"After all, it was just a spell mishap."
A spell mishap?
Lyla suddenly breathed a massive sigh of relief, as if she had just grasped a lifeline in turbulent waters. That's right, that's right!
They don't know Lord Grindelwald's plan, and they don't recognize me! After all, ever since she joined Grindelwald's ranks, she had been sequestered away in Nurmengard.
While not glorious, her obscurity was proving to be incredibly useful now!
That's right... that's right... I just had a spell mishap... just a spell mishap... Wait, I'm not a Hogwarts student! What happens when he asks for my name?!
Just as Lyla was descending into panic once more, a polite rap sounded at the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Remus?" a voice called from the hall. It sounded old but surprisingly vibrant.
"Headmaster Dumbledore is here," Remus smiled softly, rising to his feet. "Please, come in, Headmaster."
As the words left his mouth, the parlor door slowly creaked open.
What met Lyla's eyes was a tall, elderly man with sweeping white hair and a silver beard that reached past his waist. He wore half-moon spectacles and deep blue robes, looking simultaneously energetic and profoundly wise.
But... Lyla remembered Dumbledore as a relatively young man in his prime!
Who was this ancient wizard standing before her?! Dumbledore's father?
She pursed her lips in hesitation, her blue eyes darting up to meet Dumbledore's for a fraction of a second. Immediately, she felt the subtle brush of a mental intrusion.
Legilimency. Dumbledore was quietly trying to peer into Lyla's mind.
Fortunately, as a top-tier Durmstrang student, she had long mastered the defensive art of Occlumency. The mental probe slid off her fortified mind.
"Miss Hamilton, I apologize," Dumbledore said gently, seamlessly stepping back from her mind. He offered a soft, apologetic smile.
"Headmaster Dumbledore?" Remus looked at the scene with utter confusion. He didn't seem to understand what had just occurred.
"Remus... could I trouble you to wait outside?" Dumbledore asked kindly as he stepped fully into the room. "I have some things I would like to discuss with Miss Hamilton in private."
"I understand..." Remus nodded gently. But before stepping into the hall, he leaned in and whispered, "No matter what happened, she is still just a student."
"Please don't be too harsh on her, Headmaster."
"Of course. I know, Remus," Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. But Remus didn't seem to grasp the true meaning behind that smile.
Click.
As the door closed, leaving them alone, the grandfatherly smile on Dumbledore's face slowly faded. He stepped closer to Lyla, examining her with sharp, calculating eyes.
"Indeed," he murmured, noting Lyla's drooping pointed ears.
"Miss Lyla Hamilton," he spoke softly. "That is your name, is it not?"
"Mmm..." Lyla pursed her lips and shrank back against the wall.
She swore that if Dumbledore tried to expose her identity, she would lunge forward and bite his ear off.
That is, assuming this was actually the Dumbledore Lyla knew. What if it was just a coincidence? Perhaps this was his father or a relative?
Lyla couldn't believe that Lord Grindelwald's ultimate enemy was this frail-looking old man... although the facial features were undeniably similar.
"Fascinating," Dumbledore finally murmured, breaking the silence. "Fifty years have passed... and you have not aged a single day."
"Fifty... years?" Lyla froze, her eyes widening to the size of Galleons.
"It is late June, 1992," Dumbledore explained calmly. "It has been exactly fifty years since your disappearance."
Exactly fifty years?
Didn't that mean she had disappeared in 1942? But she clearly remembered leaving Nurmengard in 1945!
Wait... the exact math wasn't the issue right now!
Had she somehow fallen unconscious and slept through half a century? That meant fifty years had passed since her final conversation with Lord Grindelwald!
Lord Grindelwald's grand mission... his final stand... After fifty years, was Lord Grindelwald even still alive?
"Then Grindelwald..." Lyla subconsciously started to ask, desperately needing to know her master's fate. But she abruptly swallowed the question, realizing exactly who she was talking to.
"Grindelwald has been defeated and imprisoned," Dumbledore said softly, his voice devoid of triumph. "And the dark empire he established across Europe is no more."
He looked at Lyla with a trace of pity. To him, she seemed to be nothing more than a ghost, a lost soul living in the shadows of a forgotten past.
So Lord Grindelwald... really lost?
Lyla bit her lip hard, forcing herself not to cry out. But despite her efforts, hot tears slowly streamed from the corners of her eyes.
She had betrayed Lord Grindelwald's trust for fifty years.
He had believed in her so deeply. He had staked his final hope on her... waiting in a cell for fifty years for her to complete the mission...
Dumbledore seemed to say something else, but Lyla couldn't hear him anymore. The roaring in her ears drowned out the world.
She was completely drowning in the weight of those fifty lost years. For her, it wasn't just the shock of time travel.
For her, it meant she had abandoned the only person who had ever believed in her for half a century. It was a crushing, agonizing guilt—too heavy a burden for a girl who had spent her life feeling utterly useless.
Eventually, Dumbledore must have left. Remus seemed to come back in and say something to her, but Lyla didn't hear a word of it. She sat frozen on the bed, staring blankly at the wall.
It wasn't until the first ray of morning sunlight pierced the parlor window that she finally drew a breath.
Her blue eyes hardened.
No... I must not give up.
[75 STONES] - Unlock1 Bonus Chapter
[150 STONES] - Unlock 2 Bonus Chapters
[300 STONES] - Unlock 3 Bonus Chapters