A month had passed since classes had begun, and although Hogwarts always seemed to move in eternal cycles of routine, Aurelian noticed the subtle changes taking place within the castle.
The corridors already smelled of damp parchment and worn ink. On the walls, the portraits argued about how the students were getting weirder every year. The first exams were looming, and with them, collective tension filled the common rooms with murmurs.
In the dungeon where Potions classes were held, nothing seemed to have changed.
There, time stood still.
"Three turns counterclockwise," Aurelian murmured without looking up. "Then add the mandrake essence, drop by drop."
Flora nodded and began to pour carefully, while Hestia stirred the cauldron, following exactly the speed of the hourglass that Aurelian had slightly modified for better synchronization.
The potion bubbled gently in the black iron cauldron. Most groups struggled to prevent their mixture from becoming thick or exploding, but the trio from Slytherin worked silently, seemingly isolated from the others.
From the desk at the front, Severus Snape watched them closely. His dark eyes did not miss a single detail. He walked slowly between the cauldrons, his robe fluttering like a bat's wing. His expression was the same as always: stern, inscrutable, as if the whole world were a poorly prepared potion that he was obliged to correct.
When he reached Aurelian's group, he looked at the contents of the cauldron, then at the three young people.
Aurelian, calm as always. Flora, perfectly focused on her task, but slightly leaning forward, and Hestia, with her gaze more on Aurelian than on the potion.
Snape narrowed his eyes for a moment. Internally, a question crossed his mind.
"What the hell do those girls see in him? I don't know if I should be worried," he thought.
In a low voice, as if he didn't want to upset the balance of the ingredients, Snape spoke:
"Gaunt."
Aurelian looked up slowly. His expression didn't change.
"The headmaster wishes to see you in his office. Now."
The words fell like a stone into a cauldron. Some students looked up. Others pretended not to hear.
Aurelian simply nodded.
"Shall I leave the mixture in their care?" he asked in a neutral tone.
Snape looked at him for a moment longer, then turned his head slightly toward the twins.
"Of course... Gaunt," he said with barely concealed disdain.
Flora smiled with satisfaction and Hestia looked up proudly.
Aurelian removed his gloves and wiped his hands with a clean cloth to absorb any residue. Before leaving, he gave the twins a brief smile.
"Don't let it boil above forty-seven degrees."
"Of course, Aurelian," they replied in unison, with a synchrony that bordered on the uncanny.
Snape watched him walk away, Aurelian's robe fluttering as he strode purposefully, but the mystery still lingered in his mind:
"The Carrows. What kind of invisible bond connects them to Gaunt?"
He didn't let the thought linger. He turned around and walked toward another group whose cauldron had begun to emit purple smoke, conjuring a barrier before the explosion ruined the classroom.
"Five points deducted from Gryffindor," he snapped, leaving behind questions that would never be answered.
The hallway leading to the headmaster's office was long. When he stood in front of a gargoyle, Aurelian didn't have to say the password. The stone creature stepped aside before he opened his mouth.
Aurelian entered without hesitation.
The office was a mixture of wisdom and power. Magical relics vibrated on shelves, portraits of former headmasters pretended to sleep or watched him surreptitiously, and Fawkes observed him from his perch.
Dumbledore was waiting for him, standing next to the desk. The soft midday light streamed in through the window, bathing the stacked books and magical instruments slowly spinning in the air in golden tones.
"Aurelian," he said with a calm smile, "Thank you for coming."
"Professor," he greeted him with a slight nod.
Dumbledore motioned for him to sit in one of the chairs in front of the desk.
"Don't worry, you haven't done anything wrong," he added, easily guessing his thoughts. "This isn't a conversation about school rules... or forbidden spells."
Aurelian sat down, relaxing his shoulders slightly.
"I figured as much," he said calmly. "But I still don't understand why you called me here."
Dumbledore sat down, pouring tea into two blue porcelain cups. His expression was warm.
"I just want to talk to you," he said. "To listen to you. To know how you feel at Hogwarts. Not as headmaster... but as someone who cares about you."
Aurelian looked at him, pondering his response for a few seconds.
"I feel fine," he said. "This year has been more... comfortable. Less unfamiliar."
Dumbledore nodded, pleased.
"That really makes me happy. You don't know how much."
He took a sip of tea, then gently set the cup down.
"You see, many years ago, I had a student who also stood out from a young age. Brilliant, reserved, with an air of maturity out of place for someone his age. He strove to control everything and everyone around him... and deep down, I think he just wanted to feel safe. Understood."
He didn't mention names. There was no need.
"I... didn't know how to guide him as I should have," he added with a hint of sadness in his voice. "I waited too long to reach out to him. It's one of my biggest regrets."
Aurelian listened in silence.
"And now you want to try again?" he asked curiously, thinking about how different this Dumbledore was from the one in the books.
Dumbledore smiled wistfully.
"Let's say I'd like you to do better, not because I fear what you might become, but because I see something different in you. Something... well, even if it doesn't always look like what others call goodness."
A comfortable silence settled between them.
Then Dumbledore continued:
"But I didn't call you here just for that. I've also noticed that you're not as lonely as you used to be. In fact, you're in very good company... two students who never seem to leave your side."
Aurelian smiled, almost without meaning to.
"Hestia and Flora," he replied.
"Ah, yes, the Carrow sisters," nodded the headmaster. "I know there are those who don't understand that relationship. Some teachers have made comments, others try to look the other way. But I've observed something deeper."
He rested his elbows on the table and interlaced his fingers.
"I ask you without judgment: do you love them?"
Aurelian didn't hesitate to answer.
"Yes, I love them. Truly."
Dumbledore looked at him with a mixture of surprise and tenderness.
"It's not a trivial answer, especially coming from you."
"It's not a common feeling either," said Aurelian. "But when I'm with them, I don't have to pretend. I don't have to explain who I am. They know me. They accept me. They protect me, and I would undoubtedly do the same for them."
The wizard nodded, satisfied.
"I'm even happier to hear that. Not because love solves everything," he added with a twinkle in his eyes, remembering times gone by, "but because those bonds are what anchor us. They remind us who we are when power threatens to turn us into something else."
Aurelian looked down for a moment.
"I won't lose myself in power."
"I hope so, Aurelian," replied Dumbledore, "but don't lose yourself in them either. Love them, yes. Take care of them, always. But remember, they must also follow their own path, just as you walk yours."
"They already do... I think," said Aurelian with a half-smile.
The headmaster let out a small, genuine laugh.
"Then perhaps you are their path and they are yours."
He stood up, ending the conversation.
"Thank you for trusting me, Aurelian. This will always be a school, but it can also be a home. If you let it be."
Aurelian stood up and nodded respectfully.
"Thank you, Professor."
"You can call me Albus, if you ever wish to," said Dumbledore, accompanying him to the door.
Aurelian turned before leaving, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Maybe someday."
With that, he left the office, still thinking about the conversation he had just had with the Archmage.
The path to the lake was carpeted with muted-colored leaves that crunched under Aurelian's footsteps. The sky, covered with clouds, couldn't decide between rain or silence. The wind blew gently in a constant murmur, as if the forest were trying to say something.
Aurelian walked with the memory of Dumbledore still beating in his mind.
"do you love them? Yes, I love them. Truly"
He hadn't been surprised when he said it, but now, as the reflection of the lake opened up before him like an unstable mirror, he felt that there was something else he needed to understand. Something he hadn't even asked yet, like how the twins felt or what their dreams were.
Hestia and Flora. They were sitting under a crooked tree, knees tucked up and hands clasped together. They weren't talking. They were just staring at the water. As if they were waiting for something to emerge from it, or trying to sink something they didn't want to remember.
When they saw him approaching, they stood up.
"Aurelian," they said in unison.
Flora was the first to reach him, without thinking, she threw herself at him. Hestia settled on the other side, wrapping her arms around him.
He said nothing. He returned the embrace gently and led them to the edge of the lake, where the three of them sat on the damp grass.
There was a long silence.
Then Aurelian, staring at the horizon of the water, asked:
"Girls, what do you want to achieve? What are your dreams?"
The words floated in the air, and for the first time, there was no immediate response.
Hestia was the first to speak. But not with the sweet voice she used with him.
It was a broken, somewhat trembling voice.
"When we were little, everyone looked at us as if we were mistakes. As if we had been born wrong."
Flora clenched her teeth, her eyes moistening with emotion.
"We weren't what you would normally call sweet. We weren't 'cute' either. We didn't want to play like normal girls or laugh at stupid things. We were too different, and that... scared them."
"They told us we were 'wrong.' That we were 'weird... too weird.'" They separated us in classes, at meals, they wanted to tear us apart as if we were a mistake in their perfect world," Hestia continued.
"They despised us, from adults and other children to even our own family," Flora added. "The more they tried to push us away, the more we clung to each other, because we only had each other."
Aurelian listened without interrupting.
"Then you came along," they said together, turning to him with a mixture of love and despair.
Flora placed her hand on her chest, as if trying to hold something that hurt her.
"You didn't look at us with fear," she said.
"Nor with contempt or disgust," Hestia continued. "You saw us as we truly were."
"For the first time," Flora whispered. "For the first time... we felt that someone understood and appreciated us... that they didn't ignore us."
Aurelian swallowed hard. He placed his hands over hers, intertwining them.
"You're not wrong," he said quietly. "You're just... different. You shine brighter than others, and that's why they're afraid of you."
Hestia moved even closer.
"We love you, Aurelian. Not like others normally love. Not like the books teach us. We love you with all our being."
"You are our only home," said Flora, resting her forehead against his.
Then the two spoke, recalling an oath.
"You promised you wouldn't abandon us."
Aurelian nodded.
"I promise. Again, if necessary."
"Then keep your promise," they said through tears, which could be seen in their eyes. "Because if you leave... we have nothing left."
Aurelian hugged them tightly.
The lake remained still. The wind didn't dare to interrupt. In that moment, madness, love, loyalty, and pain didn't matter; there were only three people who had finally found solace from the loneliness they carried. Merging into one love... an oath impossible to break.
Because sometimes, the soul finds its complement in the most unexpected places.