"Forget it," Tyler said, shaking his head helplessly. "Call yourself whatever you like."
"No, I should say I'll call myself whatever I like," Jamie said with a laugh. "After all, we're the same person."
"Although we are the same person, we're still independent personalities," Tyler said. He looked at the blond boy in front of him and felt a strange sense of absurdity. "You have your thoughts, and I have mine."
"But our goal is the same," Jamie said, smiling as he walked toward him. "You represent the good side, and I represent the evil side. Only together are we the complete me."
By all logic, the two should have collided when Jamie stepped into Tyler's space. Instead, Jamie's entire body vanished directly into Tyler's chest, merging into him as if he had never been separate at all.
A moment later, Jamie stepped out again.
"How do you feel now?" Jamie asked with a smile. "Much better, isn't it?"
"The pain from the split soul and the exhaustion in my body should have been shared with you," Tyler said, flexing his fingers. The crushing weariness had eased by half, and even the lingering ache in his soul had become more bearable. "When we merge, our thoughts and memories are shared as well."
That was another powerful advantage of Equal-Fate Twin Magic. If Tyler read one book while Jamie read another, once they fused again, both sets of memories would be exchanged. It was equivalent to each of them gaining twice the learning speed.
"Otherwise, how could this magic deserve the name Equal-Fate Twin Magic?" Jamie said. "You spent a mountain of precious materials to cast it, and even the only Philosopher's Stone was used up. If the effect were ordinary, it would be an insult to all that effort."
"That's true." Tyler nodded, then turned toward the basement door. "All right, we should go out. There are a little over twenty days until this year's Hogwarts term begins, so you need to write to Hogwarts and have them send your acceptance letter."
He opened the basement door and started up the stairs. "Without an acceptance letter, you can't attend Hogwarts."
"With our current magic, do we still need to go to Hogwarts?" Jamie asked, following behind him with a lazy tone. He sounded unimpressed, as if school were something meant for ordinary children rather than people like them. "A lot of magic doesn't need a teacher. Know the incantation, have enough magic, practise often, and that's usually enough."
Tyler understood what he meant. Neither of them lacked magical power now, and even many ordinary adult wizards could not compare with them. They also had the Magic Divine Codex, which contained spells far beyond Hogwarts textbooks.
"You can't think like that," Tyler said. "There's still a lot to learn about magic, and Hogwarts is a place we must go. Not only is it the centre of the plot, but it also has the largest library in Britain."
"Our biggest advantage right now is that we know the plot well enough to seize the greatest benefits ahead of time," he continued. "Once that advantage disappears, many things will become harder to arrange."
"The plot?" Jamie tilted his head and smiled. "Have you forgotten the butterfly effect? The existence of you and me may have already changed things. The so-called plot might have shifted long ago."
"The general direction won't change that easily," Tyler said. "Even if certain details change, we can still prepare in advance and arrange things before others realise what's happening."
"Tsk," Jamie said, drawing out the sound with clear amusement. "I was only joking with you. Hogwarts is such an interesting place, so how could I not go?"
Tyler gave him a speechless look. Was this really another version of himself, or was his evil side simply born annoying?
The two of them left the basement and returned to the manor above. Tyler called for the house-elf, and with a sharp crack, Timo appeared in front of them at once.
"Timo, listen carefully," Tyler said. "From now on, Jamie is also your master. You will treat him the same way you treat me. Understand?"
"Timo understands, honoured Master Jamie." Timo bowed deeply at once, his long ears nearly brushing the floor. He glanced at Jamie with wide eyes, clearly curious but too well-trained to ask any questions.
"Go write the letter," Tyler said to Jamie. "Then have Timo take it to the public owl office in Godric's Hollow and send it to Hogwarts from there."
"I know, I know," Jamie said lazily. "How did I never realise I could be this nagging?"
Tyler ignored him. Arguing with Jamie felt too much like arguing with himself, except somehow more irritating.
At Hogwarts, inside the Deputy Headmistress's office, Professor Minerva McGonagall sat at her desk, dealing with a stack of school business with her usual stern efficiency. Her quill moved quickly across the parchment, but the tightness in her expression showed that even she was under strain.
The recent attack on Diagon Alley had caused no small amount of trouble for Hogwarts. Many incoming first-years had not yet been able to purchase their new textbooks, school supplies, robes, or wands. Several families were frightened, shops were damaged, and simple preparations for the new term had become far more complicated than usual.
All of these matters had to be handled by the school. Headmaster Dumbledore had never been particularly fond of administrative work, and with recent events demanding his attention elsewhere, almost everything had fallen onto Professor McGonagall's shoulders. She was so busy that even her patience was beginning to fray.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake," she muttered when another owl flew in through the window. "Please let this not be another troublesome matter."
The owl landed on the edge of her desk and stretched out its leg. Professor McGonagall removed the letter, gave the owl a small dried fish from the tin she kept for school post, and only then opened the envelope.
Her brows drew together as she read.
"Another young wizard left off the list this year?" she said, her voice turning serious.
The letter claimed that a young wizard had not received his Hogwarts acceptance letter. Whether it was a clerical error, a missed address, or something stranger, it was not a small matter. Hogwarts did not simply forget magical children.
Professor McGonagall rose at once and left her office. Her robes swept sharply behind her as she crossed the castle corridors, passed moving staircases, and made her way toward an inconspicuous locked tower where students almost never went.
Inside that tower were two of Hogwarts' most precious magical objects. They had been left behind by the four founders themselves, and together they determined every child who had the right to enter Hogwarts.
The Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Admittance.
Professor McGonagall unlocked the room at the very top of the tower and stepped inside. The chamber was empty except for a single table standing in the centre, plain and undisturbed beneath the dim light.
On that table lay an ancient book bound in black dragon hide, its cover worn and peeling with age. Its pages had not been touched by human fingers since the four founders placed it there after the castle was completed.
Beside it stood a small silver inkpot. A long-faded quill rested inside, quiet and still, yet far more important than its simple appearance suggested.
These two objects were the only true mechanism by which Hogwarts selected its students. Whenever a child showed even the faintest sign of magic, the Quill of Acceptance tried to write the child's name. The Book of Admittance, stricter and more cautious, only allowed a name to remain if the child's magic was real and strong enough.
Professor McGonagall opened the Book of Admittance and began to check the names. Every year before sending out acceptance letters, she came here personally to confirm the list, then arranged for owls to deliver letters to the young witches and wizards recorded within.
Her eyes moved down the page. Then she stopped.
"Jamie Campbell?" Professor McGonagall murmured, staring at the unfamiliar name. "Was this name there before, or did I somehow miss it?"
.....
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