The flight back to the Hogwarts grounds was a cold, silent transit through the churning clouds. Echo sat astride Wick, his fingers numbly gripping the ridges of her scales, while the Thestral glided like a dark, skeletal shadow just behind them. As the familiar, jagged silhouette of the Forbidden Forest rose to meet them, Wick banked sharply, descending into the lightless heart of the woods. They landed in a small, moss-choked clearing with a heavy, muffled thud that sent a murder of crows scattering into the night air.
Echo slid off the dragon's back, his legs nearly buckling from the residual adrenaline and the bone-deep cold of the high-altitude flight. He leaned his forehead against Wick's snout, the heat radiating from her black scales a final, grounding comfort. "Thank you, girl," Echo whispered, his voice a low, gravelly rasp. "You did perfectly. Go on now, get some rest." Wick let out a low, vibrating rumble of affection, her amber eyes blinking once before she turned and disappeared into the dense undergrowth, heading back to the sanctuary of her cave.
He then turned to the Thestral, which stood patiently at the edge of the clearing, its white, pupilless eyes glowing faintly in the gloom. He reached out and gently stroked its leathery muzzle one last time. "Thank you for the lift, friend. I couldn't have done it without your speed." The creature let out a soft huff of air, turned with a delicate, skeletal grace, and vanished into the trees to rejoin its herd. The bronze-plumed Diricawl, having fulfilled its purpose as a tactical beacon, had already vanished with a silent pop the moment they crossed the forest perimeter.
Echo stood alone in the silence, the weight of his actions settling over him like a heavy shroud. Shimmer materialized on his shoulder, his silver fur matted with soot, and his large, dark eyes wide with an empathetic exhaustion. Echo raised a hand, gently stroking the Demiguise's head, feeling the soft rhythm of the creature's breathing. "Thanks for having my back, buddy," Echo murmured, a cold, thin smile playing on his lips. "I know I didn't get to finish what I started today. I didn't get to erase them from the world like I wanted." He looked down at his hands, which were still stained with the ash of his vengeance. "But we made a mark on Lucius and Narcissa today. A mark in their blood and their minds that won't ever be forgotten. They'll know I'm coming for them. Always."
With a final, deep exhale, Echo adjusted the shimmering green dragon-scale robes and pulled the hood low over his face. He turned away from the clearing and began the long, solitary walk back toward the distant, glowing windows of the castle, his footsteps a quiet, rhythmic cadence in the dark.
Echo crossed the threshold of the massive oak doors, their footsteps echoing against the flagstone floor of the entrance hall. There he was immediately intercepted by Lily, Severus, and Pandora, who had been pacing near the marble staircase. Lily looked half scared to death, Severus looked ready to deliver a lecture, while Pandora merely blinked in her usual dreamy fashion.
"Echo! Where have you been all day?" Lily asked, her voice high with a mixture of relief and irritation. "It's nearly supper, and you haven't been seen at all. We've been looking everywhere!"
Echo raised his hands in a placating gesture, his movements steady. "Lily, calm down. I wasn't trying to hurt myself, I promise. I was just out."
Severus interjected, his obsidian eyes scanning Echo's unfamiliar silhouette. "And what exactly were you doing? For that matter, what is that you're wearing?"
Echo offered a sharp, theatrical grin. He executed a slow, fluid twirl, the dark green dragon-scale fabric shimmering like oil on water under the torchlight. He reached up and pulled the deep hood down, revealing his face and his hair, which had settled into a defiant, focused black. "Do you like it?" he asked, preening slightly. "I picked it up and made some personal modifications. It's custom."
Pandora tilted her head, a genuine smile drifting across her face. "I think you look very nice, Echo. Green is definitely your color."
Echo's grin softened into a genuine smile. "Thanks, Pandora. I thought so too."
"Enough about the fashion," Sev demanded, his voice dropping to a low, impatient rumble. "Where were you?"
Echo sighed, leaning back against a stone pillar. "I found the outfit, spent some time modifying the enchantments and the fit, and then I went out on the town. If I want to go out for now on, I'm gonna have to use a 'new face' to do it, obviously. Pretty much everyone in the UK knows my face by now, and not for any good reasons."
Lily frowned, crossing her arms. "Oh, Echo, stop being dramatic. An entire country can't possibly hate you."
Echo let out a dry, barking laugh. "Can't they? Lily, I'm the kid from the Triwizard Tournament. The unintended and unwanted fourth player, the rules had to be changed for me several times. I didn't just participate; I caused mass panic and international hysteria. I effectively ruined the tournament for three prestigious schools, summoned a dragon onto school grounds, and tried to kill a fellow student in front of literally everyone. I'm pretty sure I'm Europe's most hated kid right now." He ran a hand through his hair, his expression turning wistful and tired. "Honestly, I'm just wishing puberty would hit me soon. Maybe if I grow a few inches and my features sharpen, I can finally change how I look and get some peace, or I'll invest in a mask."
"Is that it?" Sev asked, his eyes still narrowed and suspicious. "You were just out."
Echo shrugged, adjusting the lie of his dragon-scale attire. "Yep, just out and about in my new outfit, doing everything and nothing at the same time."
Sev raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Sure. Then why do you look so... rough?"
Echo coolly ran a hand through his hair, which was currently a peaceful gray. "Of course, I look rough and dirty; that happens sometimes, and I was in the forest, so that shouldn't be surprising. I look rough just having breakfast, and you know that too."
Sev didn't look like he believed him, but dropped the subject, a low, frustrated growl rumbling in his chest.
"Now is the interrogation over?" Echo asked, flashing a smile at Lily. "Because Shimmer and I are starving after being out all day, and I need to change."
He turned and walked past the group, Shimmer—the Demiguise—still clinging to his shoulder.
Once Echo was out of earshot, Lily turned to Sev, her emerald eyes questioning. "Why are you so suspicious of what Echo was doing? You're usually never this nosy."
Sev folded his arms, his gaze fixed on the empty corridor where Echo had vanished. "I have no proof of it, but I know Echo isn't telling the whole truth."
Lily sighed, shaking her head. "Sev, even if that were true, whenever he's out, he comes back safe, alive, and not being hounded for any trouble, so we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth."
Sev only grunted in response as they all went off to supper.