Hogwarts Study Panel

Chapter 404, Part 402: An Unexpected Encounter with a Cat (25)

It was getting dark when I left the alchemy office.

It was clearly a dark, overcast night, and Peeves was playing tennis against the wall in the foyer, leaving a group of young wizards to wait until it left.

As Helena floated by, Peeves shrieked, turned into a deflated balloon, and frantically flew into the ceiling.

Where her grey eyes were fixed, a wizard dressed in a black robe, holding some small lenses, was slowly approaching.

Sheen plans to give away all seven pages. Considering that all seven pages of the same set can communicate independently, and that one page has already been given to Professor Terra, Sheen intends to give them to the professors.

Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, and Headmaster Dumbledore... plus Professor Terra and himself, that makes seven.

With that thought in mind, he walked briskly toward the Transfiguration office.

Along the way, he heard a voice that surprised and delighted him.

"Green."

Helena called out softly, her voice as gentle as a cloud in the sky.

"People always regard the day of death as an anniversary of death, but in Ifamoni, a headmaster told me that for ghosts, it is the best holiday."

Happy holidays, Helena.

Sheen said slowly.

"Please don't make me cry right now, okay?"

Helena revealed a side of herself that Sheen had never known.

Perhaps this is the meaning of friendship—it allows people to truly live.

"So, are you ready?"

Sheen asked tentatively.

"Should I trust you, Green?"

she says.

She believed in a young wizard, believed that he had seen her mother in a dream, and believed that her mother never cared about her betrayal...

This is a complete fantasy.

but……

They call me 'Ms. Grey'.

Gray, somewhere between black and white, is like all of this—neither the expected brilliant white light nor the pure darkness of self-imposed exile. I am merely... a shadow of regret.

"Green, and you call me Ravenclaw."

Helena seemed somewhat dazed.

Sheen was at a loss; he opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.

They simply prepared for the funeral in silence.

They walked past suits of armor and lanterns.

Time seems to blur within these unchanging scenes.

A hundred years after Helena Ravenclaw became a ghost, she finally dared to float past the gallery in front of her mother's portrait. In the portrait, Rowena's gaze was still as sharp as an eagle's, but it no longer fell on her daughter.

In the 1100th year since Helena Ravenclaw became a ghost, she once again floated past the gallery in front of her mother's portrait. In the portrait, Rowena's gaze seemed to have found focus.

They also arrived at Hope Hut.

Raven, also known as Mr. Owl, did not stop them at all and let them go in.

Sheen instinctively felt that this was the place, just as Lady Aesop should have left from the Origin Stone House.

The interior of the house has changed drastically.

This was no longer the little house decorated by Sheen and his friends, but a place unfamiliar to Sheen.

The owl portrait is sleeping against the wall by the fireplace. Behind it are various photos hanging on the wall, and beside it are all kinds of bottles and jars, as well as a huge wooden table with a crown on it.

Beside the wooden table, a sliver of sky peeked through the thick curtains, illuminating the blue silk ceiling.

The surroundings were quiet, except for the sound of Helena's breathing, which shouldn't have been there.

Sheehan quickly realized that this must have been Ravenclaw's former office, and he also saw many valuable materials and some ancient books.

He paid little attention to these extra gains and instead quickly set up the funeral rites.

Helena brushed over each book, sat down and got up again on her once favorite soft sofa.

Finally, she floated to the very center of the entire ceremony.

"It's getting late."

she said to herself.

“Tomorrow is a brand new day,” Sheen said.

“Things are getting more and more unbelievable, but I believe in you, Green. Let this be my last words.”

Helena said with a smile, but there were blurry pearls in the corners of her eyes.

She never looked back.

……

Another ghost has been sent away.

Sheen remained silent for a while.

He looked at Mr. Owl and realized that the owl who had moved here seemed to be a little reluctant to talk.

Back at the door, Mr. Owl started chirping away:

"Oh, Green, you little wizard, look what you've done! You've sent the ghost away, and you think it's so funny—"

It was singing songs it had learned from who-knows-where.

Sheen guesses it's another song by Pipi Ghost.

"You'll be very happy, Mr. Owl."

Sheen looked into Mr. Owl's eyes.

"Little wizard! I'm telling you! No, I didn't!"

Then it got all pricked up again, flapping its wings to peck at Sheen, but it could only peck the picture frame loudly.

Its gold-rimmed glasses fell off again, but the parchment it held in its paws never fell off.

Goodbye, Mr. Owl.

Sheen said goodbye politely.

Goodbye, clever little wizard.

Mr. Owl snorted.

……

As dusk fell, Hogwarts Castle was bathed in warm light.

The corridors were filled with torches, and candles floated in the classrooms.

Everything looks real and authentic.

But in another place, a place shrouded in fog.

But it was all blurry.

There are not always tranquil lakesides in the forest; most of the time, the streams here are dry.

The riverbed is bare earth, studded with all sorts of bizarre and colorful wisps of mist.

In the distance, amidst a desolate landscape, one can see a weary witch.

She stood quietly, holding a worn-out book in her hands.

This is the loneliness that every wandering soul must endure; every remaining thought of happiness in their hearts must be repaid with the solitude of the soul world.

But this time, Ravenclaw saw something.

She put down the book in her hand and walked towards an unfamiliar place. Just as Sheen could always find the person he was looking for by following the lines, she could always know that more than ten centuries of time seemed to have been for this moment.

On the vast white land stood a witch, equally bewildered. Strangely, ever since she stepped onto this land, it had miraculously blossomed with flowers.

She was careful not to step on the flowers, but she accidentally bumped into something.

Helena fell to the ground, somewhat panicked.

The next moment, she was gently pulled into an embrace.

"It's okay if you fall... I'm here to pick you up, Helena."

A voice said.

Then there was silence.

Sometimes words are inadequate, but that doesn't matter, because tears are the last resort for communication.

After a long while, a voice finally rang out.

"So, dear Helena, do you know what love is?"

It was a cat I encountered unexpectedly.

Rowena Ravenclaw smiled, tears streaming down her face.

(End of this chapter)