The four of us who had been in the Headmaster's office followed Professor McGonagall to the scene of the incident.
Professor McGonagall seemed a little confused as to why I, a mere student, was tagging along, but since neither Headmaster Albus nor Professor Snape objected, she said nothing, though she did keep shooting glances my way.
"Professor McGonagall. So, where was Lestrange discovered?"
"Traces of magic lead from the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom."
"…The Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom?" I muttered quietly.
As far as I knew, there was a secret passage near there that led outside of Hogwarts.
The only problem was that, in this era, I was the only one who knew of its existence.
So, by process of elimination, she couldn't have used that passage.
Still, I couldn't shake the strange sense of unease that was building in a corner of my mind.
Perhaps it was because Professor Trelawney's seemingly nonsensical prophecy—the warning to be wary of past connections—came to mind.
Regardless of my inner turmoil, the professors waved their wands with serious expressions.
"Homenum Revelio."
As Albus flicked his wand, a faint, silvery thread of light appeared on the floor, revealing one footprint after another.
The footprints were a tangled mess, making it impossible to find their starting point, but their direction was clear.
"…It leads this way."
We couldn't help but harden our faces as we saw where the footprints were headed. It was a place all too familiar.
Past the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, on the path leading to the Astronomy Tower.
It was a path very familiar to three of the four of us.
Snape also realized it quickly and muttered with a groan, "It seems Lestrange has quite a few unpleasant memories associated with Gryffindor."
Though we all knew the destination, we followed the footprints in silence.
And, as if to dash any hope of a twist, the tracks vanished without a trace right in front of the Gryffindor dormitory.
"Good heavens…"
Standing before the dormitory entrance, all of us sucked in a breath.
The Fat Lady, who had always guarded the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, was slumped over inside her frame as if dead, despite being a portrait.
Professor McGonagall spoke in a trembling voice.
"P-Professor. Is it even possible to magically interfere with a person inside a portrait?"
Albus, his voice stiff, answered, "Ah, yes, it is. If one uses exceptionally wicked and very secret Dark Magic."
I scowled at the sight.
Burning the portrait itself would be simple, but harming only the figure within it was an extremely advanced form of magic.
Even for me, while not impossible, it would not have been an easy task.
But to be able to defeat the Fat Lady in such a short time and then escape Hogwarts without a trace…
It was possible, but no matter how I thought about it, it was definitely not something a wizard of Bellatrix Lestrange's caliber could accomplish.
Albus seemed to have noticed this as well. He let out a low groan and spoke.
"It seems… this was not Lestrange's crime alone."
"Not alone…?"
"It means she had an accomplice."
An accomplice. At the weight of that word, McGonagall's voice trembled as she asked, "D-does that mean someone from inside Hogwarts…?"
"No, no. We cannot conclude that the accomplice is from within Hogwarts. However… what is certain is that this is absolutely not something Lestrange could have done alone."
Albus spun around, his face uncharacteristically resolute.
"If this is the case, we can no longer consider even the dormitories to be safe. Regrettably… all students will sleep in the Great Hall tonight."
Was sleeping in the Great Hall truly the right solution?
If Bellatrix was the kind of crazed Dark wizard I imagined her to be, she might see this as an opportunity to rack up a body count for glory and recklessly charge into Hogwarts.
If that happened… it was a certainty that the professors would capture Bellatrix, but there would undoubtedly be student casualties.
Humans are exceptionally fragile; a single bolt of Avada Kedavra is enough to sever the connection between body and soul.
For the first time in a long while, I felt a sense of powerlessness.
If my body were in its prime, I would have used a detection spell covering the entirety of Hogwarts to find Bellatrix in an instant.
But if I were to cast such a large-scale spell in my current state, I might not detect her so much as destroy Hogwarts entirely.
I was scared of what I might do, in more ways than one.
It was precisely this feeling of helplessness that had driven me to accumulate power, so the situation felt bitterly ironic.
I spoke to Albus. Since Professor McGonagall was present, I used formal speech.
"What will you do if Bellatrix comes to kill the students, regardless of whether she is caught or killed?"
Albus looked at me for a moment with his profound eyes, then closed them and nodded as if making a vow.
"It is my job to prevent such a situation."
So, in the end, it all came down to relying on this one clumsy junior of mine. I let out a wry chuckle.
***
Bellatrix Lestrange had broken into the dormitory.
While all the students at Hogwarts were abuzz with the topic, Harry felt utterly alone.
"Harry, did you hear? Lestrange…"
"An intruder in the common room…"
"Hogwarts isn't safe anymore…"
Whenever two or more people gathered, they were busy chattering about the incident.
But Harry couldn't join their conversations at all.
It wasn't that the other students were excluding him.
Harry was a hero of the wizarding world, a central figure in Gryffindor.
The problem wasn't with the other students; it was with Harry.
To be honest, Harry couldn't understand why they were all talking about Bellatrix.
No matter how dangerous Bellatrix Lestrange was, the fact that Harry himself had already defeated her once before only accelerated this line of thought.
To put it bluntly, to Harry, Bellatrix's intrusion was 'not that big of a deal.'
He had fought Voldemort in his first year, and a Basilisk and Tom Riddle in his second.
Compared to that, Bellatrix just didn't seem that frightening anymore.
Harry tapped his neck and asked.
"Right, Silly?"
*~Sssisss. [That is correct, master.]~*
Invisible to others, Silly was coiled around Harry's neck like a necklace, transformed into the shape of a thin thread snake.
A witch who could be subdued with a mere glance from Silly. That was the extent of how Harry saw Bellatrix Lestrange.
And even if others were afraid of Bellatrix, he couldn't understand how they could turn it into mere conversational fodder.
If they were so scared of Bellatrix breaking into Hogwarts, shouldn't the proper response be to aim to gain the strength to protect themselves through training?
At least, from what Harry had learned so far, he couldn't comprehend treating such a thing as mere gossip to chatter about.
Was he the strange one? Or was everyone else strange?
For the first time in a while, Harry felt a gloomy sense of being stranded on a deserted island.
Even Ron and Hermione, whom he considered his best friends, would not be able to understand this loneliness.
Perhaps within all of Hogwarts, there was only one person who could truly understand how he felt.
A father, or a brother. The only master who truly understood him.
It was because of Aisen that Harry could keep from drowning in his loneliness.
A question suddenly popped into Harry's head.
Did he, then, truly understand his master?
Of course not.
Then… where was the person who could truly understand his master?
When his thoughts reached that point, Harry felt a sudden wave of fear and shook his head, scattering the thought.
…No. Perhaps his master didn't need anyone to understand him. He was a strong person, after all.
Finishing his train of thought, Harry went looking for his sole confidant, wandering through Hogwarts.
There weren't many places Aisen was likely to be.
The Gryffindor common room, the Headmaster's office, the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. Or in a lesson with Professor McGonagall or Snape.
A few moments later, just as he expected, Harry found Aisen in front of the entrance to the Gryffindor dormitory.
"Master—huh?"
Harry, who had been about to run over and greet him happily, stopped in his tracks.
Aisen was talking to someone.
***
Neville knelt before me and said, "Aisen, I'm begging you. Teach me magic!"
I blinked at the sudden request, then tried to pull Neville to his feet.
The main reason was that we were at the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.
As much as I didn't care what others thought, I wasn't bold enough to let this happen in a hallway where everyone was passing by.
But no matter how I tried to lift him, Neville remained stubbornly motionless.
"I'm not moving until you hear me out!"
"Hey, hey, just get up first. What's going on all of a sudden?"
Normally, I would have let such a request go in one ear and out the other, but seeing Neville's actions—whether they were cunning or foolish, I couldn't tell—I decided to at least hear him out.
At my question, Neville hesitantly began to explain his situation.
"The thing is…"
He told me his family history. How his parents had lost their minds due to Bellatrix's torture curse and were still hospitalized at St. Mungo's.
The overwhelming thirst for revenge he felt whenever he thought of Bellatrix.
And the sense of powerlessness he felt at being unable to do anything.
After laying out his entire story, Neville bowed his head to me once more.
"Please, Aisen. Please, just tell me how I can become stronger."
"Uh, hmm, alright. I understand your situation. But why are you asking me, of all people? There are plenty of other excellent professors, you know?"
At my words, Neville's face darkened.
"I already asked. Professor Lupin just kept telling me to be patient. The other professors said I'm not ready yet. But Bellatrix has invaded Hogwarts! How can I possibly be patient! Please, Aisen. I know your magic is anything but ordinary. Please, teach me."
I crossed my arms and thought for a moment.
It seemed that seeing my magic on the train had left a deep impression on him.
But was there anything I could realistically teach Neville within the 'bounds of common sense'?
There was, of course, but it wasn't something that necessarily had to be taught by me. In that respect, the other professors might even be better.
As I was pondering this, I caught sight of Harry approaching.
Ah. Right.
In that moment, a way to solve this situation instantly popped into my head.
"Harry! Come over here."
I beckoned Harry over.
He trotted over and asked, "What is it, Aisen?"
Coincidentally, I had noticed that Harry had been wrestling with some worries lately.
It was probably a problem that arose from comparing himself, someone special, to the other students. And I could see he was having trouble understanding the mindset of a typical student. That was my fault for raising him too well.
Anyway. He probably thought he was hiding it from me well, but I could see him struggling with his thoughts.
For Harry, spending time with a normal student would probably be a good opportunity.
I nodded and said to Neville, "Alright, Neville. I'll teach you how to get stronger."
"R-really?"
"However."
I grinned and pointed at Harry.
"The one doing the teaching won't be me. It'll be Harry."
Simultaneously, question marks popped up over the heads of the two boys staring at me.
***