The Silent Witch of Hogwarts

Chapter 26: The Agreement

"Are you about to succeed?" Luna pursed her lips and sat carefully next to Loila, just like she had for the past few days.

"Hmm..." Loila nodded gently and then slowly picked up her wand.

Over the past few days, Loila has finished engraving all the magic circles. The energy storage magic circle allows the book to draw magic power on its own, and multiple spatial magic circles give each page of the book an independent storage space. There is even a page that is the size of an auditorium. Then there is the protective magic circle, which can prevent the book from being disturbed by ordinary fire and water, and even some spells cannot harm it.

In addition, there is a secret magic circle that only Loila herself and those she permits can open this book.

The combination of the four magic circles... is far more complex than any magic circle Royla had tried before, thanks in large part to Newt's briefcase.

Loila subconsciously glanced at the magic circle diagram, which was already wrinkled from being looked at too many times.

Now all that remains is to communicate with the various magic arrays.

In order for the energy storage magic array to provide energy to other magic arrays, they must be connected together, while taking care not to interfere with the magic arrays that have already been engraved.

This is probably the most difficult part of drawing the magic circle.

Fortunately, Loila had gotten used to working with the magic circle. She felt as if she had returned to fifty years ago, even better than when she was in Durmstrang... After all, back then she had to deal with those classmates who caused her trouble every day...

"Phew..." Loila shook her head to calm herself down. She habitually patted her face and then waved her wand.

The metal knife floated up again and, guided by the wand, swung down again and again.

Finally, as Loila's wand stopped at the end of the magic circle, the entire book cover made a soft sound.

"Buzz!"

Then a burst of blue light appeared, first illuminating the central energy storage magic array and then quickly spreading to the entire cover of the book, before slowly fading into silence.

"It worked..." Loila breathed a sigh of relief and then subconsciously smiled.

Although it was somewhat difficult, I managed to do it quite easily... The price was that I hadn't even left the house for the past few days, all thanks to Miss Lovegood.

As Loila thought this, she looked at Luna and found her engrossed in the book, even though the magic circle on it had disappeared and been hidden.

"You...you want to...give it a try?" Loila asked, pursing her lips.

She was happy to have her friend be the first user.

"Of course." Luna nodded immediately, seemingly without any doubt about Loila. She slowly picked up the book and gently turned the page.

Then a faint crack appeared, gradually covering the densely packed words on the page that had been turned.

"..." Loila glanced at Luna with a slightly nervous look. She suddenly felt a pang of regret. What if something unexpected happened... What if Miss Lovegood got trapped inside the book...?

But Luna didn't wait for anything; she reached out directly to the faint crack in the book.

"Whoosh."

Luna vanished in front of Loila in a flash of light, causing Loila to shudder involuntarily.

So... there would be such a big commotion...?

Loila let out a soft sigh and then asked, "Miss Lovegood...?"

"Are you alright...?"

“…………”

Loila was met with a long silence.

Oh no!

Loila instinctively sensed something was wrong. Could she have really trapped her only two friends inside the book?

This is still the best-case scenario!

If it's some kind of endless abyss inside...

Before Loila could think, she reached out her hand into the crack, and immediately felt a suction force coming from it.

"Please make sure you're alright!" Loila prayed to Merlin, Nerida Vokano (the founder of Durmstrang), and Lord Grindelwald while letting the force pull her in.

"Whoosh!"

A flash of silver light, and Loila, whose body suddenly felt lighter, instinctively closed her eyes, but then came the sound of her feet hitting the ground.

"..." She opened her eyes a little scared and looked around at where she was.

Here lies a lush green meadow, and in the distance stretches a range of towering mountains… This is a place Loila knows all too well… Nurmengard.

Or rather, Nurmengard fifty years ago...

After learning of Lord Grindelwald's failure, Loila tried to return, but unfortunately, Apparition failed. Even the most foolish Aurors in the Ministry of Magic would not allow the former Sorcerer "nest" to be freely entered and exited.

Loila, who had never left Nurmengard, also happened to be unaware of its exact location.

And so… based on her past memories, Loila recreated the scene of Nurmengard before that time in this book.

This view is probably from the room on the top floor of that small spire of Neumorgard Castle.

But none of that matters anymore... Where did Miss Lovegood go?

Loila subconsciously looked around and then spotted a splash of gold in the green grass.

That was Miss Lovegood, lying silently in the green grass with her eyes closed.

What...what's wrong?

Loila gripped her wand and flicked it to Apparate to Luna's side, but the next second, a hand grabbed her ankle.

"Loira, you came so fast..." Luna said in a voice that sounded like a song, without opening her eyes.

"I thought... I was afraid... something would happen..." Loila realized that she seemed to have been tricked, or perhaps... Miss Lovegood simply didn't hear her voice.

But whatever the reason, it was enough to make her blush and lower her head.

But as she lowered her head, she met Luna's gaze, who had just opened her eyes.

"Loila's eyes are like the sapphire my mother used to use," Luna said slowly.

"I...no..." Loila instinctively looked up again, but the result was that Luna tickled her ankle.

"Ouch!" Loila, trying to break free, slipped and fell onto the green grass, lying next to Luna.

"I slipped too," Luna said, her eyes closing again. "Then I realized it's very comfortable lying here."

"Where is this?" Luna asked slowly.

"Germany..." Loila whispered, at least it should have been Germany before she lost consciousness.

"I'll come back here to see it after I find the Curved Horned Snoring Beast," Luna said, looking at Loila. As she turned her head, Loila suddenly realized that the two were standing very close together.

Feeling a little embarrassed, she quickly shrank back and created some distance between herself and the crowd.

But Luna didn't seem to care about any of that: "Loila will bring me here to see it later." Her eyes were unusually serious, without the usual absent-mindedness.

"Of...of course..." Loila whispered. She really wanted to tell Luna that this was Nurmengard, Lord Grindelwald's headquarters...and maybe Miss Lovegood could become a member of the Sorcerer Party as well.

"Then it's a date." Luna nodded and looked up at the sky again.

"Are these stars also magic?"

"Mmm." Loila nodded softly, then glanced at the stars.

These stars certainly don't belong to Nurmengard... they belong to another home of Loila.

That home she can no longer return to.

"It's beautiful," Luna laughed, her laughter like a wind chime in the breeze. "Perhaps I should draw it?"

"Now?" Loila asked instinctively.

"Of course not," Luna shook her head. "Right now, we should just appreciate it."

"Do you appreciate it...?" Loila nodded thoughtfully.

The two of them lay on the grass for a long time, until a voice came from outside the book.

"Miss Hamilton, perhaps you should get up."

"Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding broodo?!" Loila suddenly sat up.