In an instant, the whole world fell silent.
The howling wind and snow that had filled the sky moments before, the wolves venting their bloodlust and savagery without restraint, the whimpering, dying sled dogs—
Every single sound in the world vanished the moment that particular figure stepped fully out of the storm.
An invisible force swept outward in all directions at once, with him standing still at its centre.
Wherever the wave passed, all living things—the snowflakes drifting suspended in the air, the snow wolves caught mid-lunge at their prey seemed to sink like insects trapped in a lake about to freeze entirely over.
They could still, technically, move. But their motions had slowed to something approaching a thousandth of their speed, everything was reduced to a strange, syrupy crawl.
The world had gone silent with a despairing finality, as though the storm itself had simply been switched off at its source.
As the figure's face slowly came into full focus, Jasnah began to tremble uncontrollably.
She knew with unshakeable certainty that there was no possibility of escape in this man's presence. And yet the raw instinct to survive drove her, regardless, to slowly raise her own arm, casting toward him the only spell with any offensive power she had left in her.
What a strange manifestation of magic it proved to be.
The Severing Charm was, under ordinary circumstances, completely invisible but under the magical field radiating steadily from Bryan Watson, the invisible curse took visible shape in the air, forming a crescent moon, half-transparent, hanging suspended for a moment before it moved.
The crescent blade drifted slowl toward Bryan Watson's chest.
'Could it possibly work?'
The instant this absurd, desperate hope surfaced in Jasnah's mind, the crescent blade of the Severing Charm, having drawn near Bryan Watson's still body, scattered apart like a sandcastle struck by a single wave without resistance.
"Heh, heh—"
Jasnah looked into those deep purple eyes, distant as some far-off starry sky she'd never reach, and smiled, her expression settled into bleakness.
Silent until now, Enno stirred beside her.
He seemed entirely unaffected by the overwhelming magic radiating from Bryan Watson's body, untouched by whatever field had slowed everything else to a crawl. Slowly, he rose to his feet and stood before Jasnah, placing himself between her and the approaching figure.
"Enno—"
Jasnah's heart lurched painfully at the gesture. She scrambled up and seized his arm and only after she'd done it did she realise, with a jolt, that Bryan Watson had never been restraining either of them with magic at all.
"He's come to arrest me. I have no power to stand against him, Enno—"
Meeting Enno's gaze, Jasnah pressed her lips together hard.
"I'm sorry, Enno. The truth is, I'm a wanted criminal—a witch. I lied to you, from the very first night."
Enno remained as silent as ever throughout this confession. But he patted, gently, the hand she had wrapped tightly around his own arm in a small gesture of reassurance.
"You don't blame me for it?"
Jasnah looked up at him, genuinely startled, staring directly into his eyes and under that steady gaze, her whole body began to tremble again, though not from cold this time.
The dullness that had clouded Enno's own weary eyes for as long as she'd known him had vanished, she couldn't say when it had happened. He looked at her now with unmistakable tenderness, without a single trace of reproach anywhere in his expression.
"Thank you—"
Jasnah had to summon everything she had left in her to hold back the sudden, overwhelming urge to cry.
"Enno is nothing but an innocent Muggle, Mr. Watson. He genuinely knew nothing of my past—that's the only reason he saved me in the first place. You mustn't hurt him for it."
She spoke with both her tone and her own eyes turned pleading.
Bryan's calm gaze settled over Enno and Jasnah together.
"I'm glad you would make such a request of me, Ms. Rosier. It tells me, at the very least, that you've come to understand a Muggle's life holds just as much worth as anyone else's—"
Jasnah fell silent at that.
'Yes,' she thought. 'How many foolish, terrible things had she done, believing otherwise.'
"Is my father still alive?"
For one moment, Jasnah felt something close to relief that it was Bryan Watson who had found her here, and not—her own father.
If her father had found her here first, Enno would likely have had no chance of surviving at all.
"At the very least, I haven't received any word of his death—"
Bryan's voice remained flat throughout, as if chatting with a friend over some ordinary matter.
'Alive, then.'
Jasnah let out a long breath at that. Whatever else was true about her circumstances, she did not want her father dead.
"I'd like to know—how will I be dealt with, Mr. Watson?"
She was quiet for a considering moment, then asked, "Is it to be the death penalty?"
Even Enno, who had been watching her closely throughout, turned his own gaze away at the question, looking instead, calmly, toward Bryan for the answer.
"Oh, I don't think it should come to that—"
The corner of Bryan's mouth moved slightly. He drew his hand from his pocket and brushed away the few snowflakes that had caught, frozen mid-fall, on his eyelashes.
"You know, current British wizarding law has no provision for the death penalty at all. The only one whose orders I'd disregard the law to strike down outright is your most recent master—"
He tucked his hand back into his pocket.
"Even setting aside your prior crimes, given that you escaped from Azkaban, and after that escape joined the Death Eaters and took part in a series of terrorist activities, I expect the Wizengamot will sentence you to life imprisonment."
'Life imprisonment, then.'
It wasn't, in truth, an unexpected outcome. Jasnah slowly let out a breath—she had long since prepared herself for this.
It was the price she was bound to pay.
She did not feel especially angry at the verdict, nor especially afraid of it. But there was, unmistakably, a thread of regret running through her—
Not regret over being unable to help her father continue chasing his own "wonderful," hollow dream, but—
Jasnah looked at the gaunt old man standing beside her and smiled with something soft and aching in the expression.
If only—if only—
As if sensing what was sitting in her heart in that moment, Enno's wrinkled hand, still resting gently over hers, tightened slightly in response.
"Let her go."
His clouded eyes reflected Bryan's face. After a long silence, he suddenly spoke, his hoarse voice and level tone carrying something hard to properly put into words. In any case—whatever it carried, it was not a request.
'Heh.'
Bryan smiled faintly at that.
"I can't do that."
Jasnah suddenly felt the surrounding air grow colder despite the storm itself having gone silent around them. She shivered, then tugged gently at Enno's sleeve, alarmed on his behalf.
"You don't know who he is, Enno. You know of wizards but you don't understand this whole magical world. He's not wrong, in what he says. I really do deserve to be locked away for what I've done. You told me yourself—we all have to atone for the crimes we've committed. There's no escaping that."
Slowly, Jasnah raised her hand and touched the old man's cheek gently. In a daze, she thought she could almost see, hidden in every line and wrinkle etched into his face, a past and a lifetime of regret.
"I have one further request, Mr. Watson—"
Jasnah said suddenly, turning back to face him.
If it had been some Auror from the German Ministry of Magic who'd come for her today, she would never have said another word. But since it was Bryan Watson—
He was a singular kind of wizard, not one who could be summed up simply as either good or evil in any straightforward sense.
People called him the heir to the greatest wizard of the age which was to say, people also acknowledged Bryan Watson's greatness.
"Speak freely, Ms. Rosier—"
"Would you be willing not to erase Enno's memories of me, Mr. Watson?"
Jasnah looked at Bryan imploringly now, her emotions were rising as she spoke the request aloud.
"I don't want—I don't want Enno to forget me. If you're willing to show me this mercy, I'll be endlessly grateful for it."
Just as she'd expected, Bryan did not mock the humble request of a prisoner facing life imprisonment. He didn't even pause to consider it before agreeing.
"No problem. I can grant you that."
"Thank you—"
Jasnah nodded to Bryan, her own gratitude was entirely sincere and complete.
"Might I trouble you for a little more of your time, Mr. Watson?"
Jasnah asked again and this second request, too, was granted without any hesitation.
Turning away from Bryan, Jasnah took Enno's hand in her own. The corners of her mouth lifted into a smile touched with something shy affection, like a little girl asking her grandfather for a small amount of pocket money.
"Would you make me one more bowl of potato fish stew, Enno?"
Something subtle shifted in the old man's usually stiff expression at the request.
"It tastes terrible."
"No—"
Jasnah smiled.
"I'm quite certain it's the most delicious thing I've ever eaten in my life."
Scattered across the ice nearby were a few potatoes Enno had brought along as rations, now frozen hard as solid stone from the exposure. Under his faintly wavering gaze, she limped carefully about, picking them up one by one with attention.
The Severing Charm sliced open the frozen surface of the lake with a single clean stroke, and before long, several fish leapt desperately up through the gap, only to freeze stiff almost at once in the bitter air.
"Might I borrow your wand for a moment, Mr. Watson?"
Jasnah seemed to have made her peace with everything now. Utterly unafraid of Bryan's fearsome reputation, she asked the question with perfect courtesy.
"Here—"
Bryan smiled calmly and gave a small wave of his hand. The wand slid smoothly out from his own sleeve and flew directly into Jasnah's waiting palm.
'Bryan Watson's wand.'
She examined the elegant ebony wand with something close to awe, and her own respect for Bryan Watson deepened further at the casual gesture.
She gave the wand a small, testing wave, and a stove appeared obediently on the ice before her. Another wave, and the stove, now packed neatly with gathered firewood, burst into warm flame.
"I can hardly wait any longer, Enno—"
Jasnah said, smiling warmly at the old man whose eyes were, by this point, plainly touched throughout with sorrow.
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