They made the entire way back to Hogwarts in a heavy, dreadful silence. Other students had joined them along the way, giving them no chance to talk to each other.
Rosata Smith rushed faster than anyone to reach Arya so she could ramble on about her talking toads, but Arya's attention was entirely on Albus, whose face was frozen in shock and disbelief—as if he still couldn't accept what had just happened.
When they reached the dungeon, Arya hurried to the fireplace to warm her frozen hands.
Scorpius and Albus sat down on the couch across from the flames. Albus still wasn't speaking; the only movement in his eyes was the flickering reflection of firelight in their green depths.
Trying to break the suffocating silence, Scorpius asked:
"What do you think he was doing there?"
Arya answered quietly,
"He must've been taking care of that creature. Maybe he—"
But she stopped mid-sentence when she caught the look in Albus's eyes.
Albus stared into the fire a bit longer, then finally spoke:
"There's no way he was behind it, Arya... how could he be? He's my uncle. I know him better than you do."
Scorpius nodded and said:
"You're right, Albus. But still, something like that... it could tempt anyone."
Then in a somber tone, he added,
"Maybe if it were me, I'd want to bring my mum back too..."
Arya looked at the two of them.
"You seriously have no idea why he might've wanted it?"
This time, Albus spoke with complete certainty:
"No. Because I know it wasn't him."
And with that, he headed toward the boys' dormitory.
Arya watched him go, then turned to Scorpius and asked:
"What do you think we should do?"
Scorpius thought for a moment and said:
"I think we should tell McGonagall."
Arya nodded in agreement, then added:
"I checked the map—she's not at the school right now."
She pulled a piece of parchment from her pocket and handed it to Scorpius.
"Let me know if anything happens."
Then, without another word, she disappeared up the staircase to the girls' dormitory.
***
The Great Hall was slowly filling with students, and most of the teachers were already present.
The Slytherin kids were sitting at their table, waiting for dinner. Albus seemed better—calmer, more composed, and ready to discuss things logically.
"That chest we saw," he said, "we didn't actually see the creature. The chest was wide open, but it wasn't inside."
Arya thought for a moment.
"It wasn't completely open," she replied. "And honestly... I didn't really look inside. I'm sure neither of you did either—you were both frozen in shock."
Scorpius nodded. "Yeah, I don't remember what was inside either."
Albus huffed. "So now you want to go tell McGonagall?"
Arya glanced over at the staff table—every seat was filled except Bill Weasley's.
Scorpius gave a small smile and said, "We don't need to say anything. They've probably already noticed his absence."
Just then, Professor McGonagall stood up.
She glanced over the hall filled with students and said clearly, "I have an important announcement. Unfortunately, Professor Weasley has encountered an issue and won't be able to teach for the foreseeable future."
A wave of murmurs swept through the hall.
"With that in mind," McGonagall continued firmly, "his classes will be divided between Professor Spencer and Professor Flitwick. We hope Professor Weasley will be able to return to his post soon."
Once again, the hall fell into shocked silence.
McGonagall snapped her fingers, and the tables were instantly covered in colorful, delicious food.
The buzz of whispers continued for a few more minutes before the students slowly returned to their meals.
As Arya placed a chicken leg on her plate, she asked, "What do you think happened? Did they catch him?"
"But why would they?" Albus replied. "Don't you remember? He came out of the Forbidden Forest with McGonagall. He was probably on some mission."
Arya smirked. "Sure, that's possible. But there's also a chance he betrayed them."
Albus shot her a sharp look and went back to eating.
***
The next morning, when they walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Spencer was already sitting at the teacher's desk.
She looked tired, with bags under her eyes, like the chaos in the school was taking a toll on her too.
Rumors about what happened to Professor Weasley were flying around the school, fueled by curious younger students.
The latest one claimed he'd been kissed by a Dementor in Hogsmeade—never mind that Dementors didn't just wander the village.
As Arya explained Spencer's teaching style to the boys, she suddenly remembered her magical invention.
She'd completely forgotten about it when she borrowed the tracking spell from Spencer.
She pulled the plan out of her bag and got to work refining it.
By the end of class, most of the students seemed to like Spencer's style—except Rose Weasley, who kept muttering and asking about her uncle.
Arya sat on a pillar in the courtyard, going over her design. It looked complete now.
She hoped this time it would actually work—unlike some of her earlier inventions. Maybe this would be the one to finally make her a magical inventor.
Albus and Scorpius joined her.
Scorpius said, "That teacher was interesting. Kinda wish I'd picked the Ancient Spellwork too."
Albus leaned over her design. "So, how's it going?"
Arya traced her finger along the drawn lines. "It's almost done. Professor Weasley was supposed to help me build it, but now... I don't have the tools. I'll probably have to wait till summer."
A lightbulb went off in Albus's head. "You need tools for your invention?"
Arya nodded. "Yeah."
Albus grinned. "Well, we could use the Room of Requirement."
Arya blinked. "What?"
"Come on, I'll show you."
The two of them left Scorpius and headed for the seventh floor.
Once there, Albus guided her to one of the walls.
"Walk past this wall three times and think about what you need."
Arya gave him a skeptical look but then turned toward the wall and whispered in her mind, I need magical tools for my invention. She repeated it three times.
At first, nothing happened. Just as Arya started to give up, the wall shuddered—and slowly slid open. She stepped in and froze in awe.
The room was filled with everything an inventor could dream of—rare tools, spell detectors, guidebooks, blueprints for magical objects. Arya turned to Albus with wide eyes.
"Oh my God... I could live here forever!"
Then she rushed to the equipment and began working.
Albus joined her, and together they unrolled the completed blueprint on the floor and started gathering the tools they'd need.
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