Chapter 470: A Letter Across Time

Chapter 470: A Letter Across Time

The room felt unusually cold. Wade slowly exhaled, and a puff of white fog formed in front of his face.

Mabel found this amusing and mimicked him, letting out a long breath and then smiling.

A white eagle perched on Wade's shoulder, emanating a soft, faint white glow that made them feel only a slight chill rather than plunging into despair.

The others in the room weren’t as fortunate. A terrifying, icy presence glided forward, its withered, rotting hand reaching out...

It was now Michael's turn to face the Dementor. He stood in the center of the living room, wand raised, his teeth chattering as he said, "Expecto... Expecto... Expecto Patronus... Expecto Patronus..."

Small puffs of silvery mist intermittently spurted from the tip of his wand, but they never formed a proper shape, let alone fend off the Dementor.

As the Dementor’s hand nearly touched Michael, Theo grabbed his shoulder and pulled him behind the sofa. Ryan jumped in front of Michael and shouted, "Expecto Patronus!"

A hazy, silvery figure shot out from the tip of the wand, barely managing to push the Dementor back a couple of steps.

A few seconds later, the figure disappeared. Theo stepped forward, attempting an incomplete Patronus Charm.

He held on for a while, trembling and almost falling over, before Michael rushed forward again.

Using the Patronus Charm to fend off a Dementor was no easy feat—especially since this Dementor was a Boggart version. The sense of oppression and despair it brought was no less intense.

Moreover, casting such a complex spell was a significant challenge for young wizards whose magical power and understanding of the spell were insufficient. It tested both their magical strength and physical endurance.

Sweat poured down their faces, drenching their clothes, and their limbs trembled. Seeing they were about to give in, Lupin strode over and said, "That's enough, you need a break... Riddikulus!"

A loud crack echoed as the Dementor transformed into a rubber chicken, which Lupin tossed back into the box. The Patronus on Wade's shoulder also dissipated.

Michael collapsed on the spot, gasping for breath, and said dejectedly, "Why is it like this? I can usually summon a Patronus."

"This spell is very advanced, so it's normal to be slow at first", Harry said, pulling him up and reassuring him. "Remember on the train? I couldn't do it either and even fainted."

"But you can handle it now..." Michael said. "So I need to practice more!"

Everyone laughed at this, coming from the laziest person among them.

"Don't rush, you've done well", Lupin said, handing out chocolates. "Focus on happy memories and don't get trapped in terrifying ones."

He gently guided them on how to maintain a more balanced mindset. Harry walked over to Wade and Mabel, just in time to hear Mabel asking, "What were you all laughing about?"

"The laziest one suddenly became diligent", Wade said lazily. "It feels like the sun is rising from the west."

Mabel let out a puzzled "oh", not quite understanding the joke, and then asked, "How are Mr. Cube and the others? I miss them."

"Mr. Cube?" Harry repeated the odd name, looking curiously at the girl who, according to Lupin, was his distant cousin.

Mabel had taken a Polyjuice Potion and, to Harry and the others in Hogsmeade, appeared as a regular American girl with two braids and freckles, who was temporarily on leave from school due to health issues and staying with Lupin.

As for what health issues, Harry and the others tactfully didn't ask, but their expressions suggested they thought Mabel was a werewolf like Lupin.

"Mr. Cube is Wade's familiar", Mabel smiled. "And the others, they are all very interesting."

She didn't elaborate on how the familiars had traveled thousands of miles without being commanded to rescue their master, so Harry's mental image was of various fist-sized familiar pets.

It was normal for Wade to have many familiars, so Harry didn't pay much attention and asked, "What about Carill? Didn't he come with you?"

"No, he had other things to do", Wade said, not wanting to recount the distressing process. "Are you all practicing spells this hard lately?"

"We can't be useless the next time we face an enemy", Harry said solemnly. "I don't want to faint again."

Wade recalled the dangers Harry would face in the coming year, as described in the original story, and nodded. "It's good to practice more. The world is becoming more dangerous."

"Indeed", Harry sighed. "Dementors, Obscurials, the Magi Puritan Party, and Death Eaters like Draco's father who escaped punishment... I heard from Percy that the wizarding world was peaceful a few years ago, with the biggest news being the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor getting into trouble again..."

——And Voldemort, who was preparing to return.

The thought flashed through Wade's mind, and after hearing Harry's words, he said helplessly, "Ever since we started school, trouble has been non-stop. In a novel, this would be called the protagonist's hapless fate."

Harry laughed out loud.

Mabel looked at the two of them and asked Harry, "Did the Dementor cause you any trouble? Why did you include it?"

"Hmm?" Harry hadn't really thought about it, but now, being asked, he scratched his head and said, "Maybe because I often see that name in the newspapers? I subconsciously grouped it together..."

Mabel looked deeply at Harry, but seeing that he didn't seem to have discovered anything, she turned her gaze away.

Wade was just about to say something when he caught a glimpse of a silver shadow out of the corner of his eye.

A Phoenix Patronus flew through the window and landed beside Wade, speaking in Dumbledore's voice, "Please come to the Shrieking Shack immediately, Wade."

...

The Shrieking Shack wasn't far from Lupin's house. When Wade arrived, he saw Dumbledore, dressed in a purple robe adorned with golden stars, standing next to the dilapidated shack.

"Professor Dumbledore", Wade approached and asked, "What's happened?"

"Carill has escaped from Hogwarts", Dumbledore extended his arm, gesturing for Wade to hold it, and said, "Come with me. I might know where he's hiding."

With a "pop", the two vanished from the spot and reappeared in an unfamiliar city. Wade saw a yard surrounded by an iron fence ahead, with shrubs planted around it and a six-story white building inside.

A sign by the gate indicated it was a sanatorium.

Dumbledore led Wade to the sanatorium and said, "Not long ago, Professor Mcgonagall told me that Carill attacked Hermione in the Gryffindor common room, stole her Time-Turner, and escaped."

Wade frowned, "He must have traveled back to an earlier time and left Hogwarts through a secret passage... A few hours would be enough for him to escape to anywhere in Britain."

"Originally, that would be correct, but I fear Carill has traveled back far beyond the allowed limit."

Dumbledore said solemnly, "Just an hour ago, after my meeting with Madame Maxime, I received a letter... a letter written over a year ago, with a specified delivery time."

Wade's eyebrows shot up, "From Carill?"

"Yes."

As they spoke, Dumbledore led Wade into the sanatorium. A female doctor in her forties, who had been leaning over a patient in a wheelchair, immediately walked over upon seeing them.

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Dumbledore. You returned quickly."

The doctor, unfazed by their "odd attire", looked at Wade with surprise, "Oh, you must be Wade Gray! You look exactly like your photo!"

Wade was taken aback, "Photo?"

"Yes", the doctor glanced around, then led them into her office. She pulled out a photo from a drawer. In the center of the photo was Harry, with Wade, Hermione, and others beside him.

Wade recognized it immediately. It was probably a photo taken by Colin Creevey, a superfan of Harry Potter who was enthusiastic about taking pictures of Harry and occasionally included Wade and others in them.

Wade took back the photo and asked, "What's this about?"

The doctor sighed, her expression a mix of fear, disbelief, and relief, and said mysteriously,

"Actually, it was last year... no, the Christmas before last, when I encountered a ghost."

Wade: "...A ghost?"

He glanced at Dumbledore, who nodded for him to continue listening.

"Yes", the doctor shivered, "One night, when I was alone in my office, it suddenly appeared... no, not appeared, but suddenly spoke..."

"What did it say?" Wade asked.

"It told me to take a patient home, hide them, and take good care of them. On January 30, 1994, a boy named Wade Gray would come, and only then could he take the person away."

The doctor's eyes showed fear, "It also said it had cursed me, and if I didn't comply, my family and I would die a terrible death. When Wade Gray arrives, he can lift the curse."

"I thought it was a prank from a patient and told it I would call the police if it continued. But... but everything in the room suddenly started shaking, the light bulbs flickered and shattered, and I even floated off the ground! I could feel hands around my neck!"

The doctor touched her neck, still shaken by the memory, as if reliving that terrifying night.

"I... I had no choice, so I took the person home... But the next morning... the next morning, an identical corpse appeared on the bed... and the cause of death was very strange. She was..."

The doctor lowered his voice, trembling as he said, "She was strangled by her own necklace!"

"I saw the body and immediately ran home to check, but the person I brought back was still there... yet there was her body in the ward... I don't understand what's happening. I don't even know which one is the ghost..."

The doctor looked at Wade with a pleading gaze, then at Dumbledore, and asked, "Will you take that thing... I mean, that person away, right? My task is complete, so the curse can be lifted, can't it?"

Wade had already figured it out. He remained silent for a moment before asking, "Where is the extra body?"

"Oh, because no one claimed it, and the situation was so... unusual, it's still in the morgue."

The doctor led the two men to the morgue. Dumbledore signed a few documents, and then the doctor opened the drawer that had been sealed for over a year.

Dumbledore didn't uncover the cloth. Polyjuice Potion or a Transfiguration spell would completely change all physical features, but there was one thing that couldn't be altered.

The old man extended his long fingers and pulled up the hospital gown a bit.

On the emaciated ankle of the body, a pair of iron rings as thick as fingers were still in place. These were the restraints placed by Aurors to prevent the prisoner from escaping.

The old man remained silent for a long time before covering the body again. He asked, "Where is the person he entrusted to your care?"

"He?" The doctor paused at the word, then continued, "The lady is recovering well. Although she hasn't regained her memory, she has regained the ability to take care of herself. It's not good for her to stay cooped up in the house, so I arranged for her to stay at my father's farm."

The doctor took a leave of absence from the sanatorium, then drove Wade and Dumbledore to the farm.

Soon, Wade saw Carill's real mother, Mrs. Anne Johnson.

She was wearing a loose, simple blue dress and was sitting on a hay bale, grooming a fat cat.

Unlike her usual tense and somewhat unapproachable demeanor, Mrs. Johnson now looked relaxed and peaceful, her eyes gentle, and a faint smile on her face.

Thinking of the body in the morgue, Wade felt a pang in his heart. He tightly pressed his lips and turned his gaze away.

The doctor didn't dare to approach Mrs. Johnson, stopping far away and looking at the two men. "I've taken good care of her, right? Can this be over now?"

"Of course."

Dumbledore sighed and placed his hand on her forehead. The doctor immediately felt a warm sensation, and she looked at Dumbledore with surprise.

The headmaster nodded. "The curse is lifted. We will take both the person and the body. Thank you for your efforts during this time."

There was no real curse, but the headmaster knew that saying so would provide more reassurance.

"I will send you a sum of money as compensation for your care during this time", Wade added, recalling the standard rates for most sanatoriums and then increasing it by fifty percent. "Thirty thousand pounds, is that acceptable?"

The doctor, who had initially been reluctant to accept any money related to a "ghost", couldn't resist the offer when she heard the amount.

She was just a resident physician, earning about two to three thousand pounds a year.

After a moment's hesitation, the doctor nodded. "Of course, that's... more than enough... By the way, it left you a box... I'm not trying to hide anything, I just haven't had the chance to mention it."

A few minutes later, the doctor found a long, rectangular box in the farm's storage shed, labeled "For Wade."

The box was secured with a complex lock, but that was no challenge for two wizards. The doctor watched in awe and curiosity as the sturdy lock clicked open with minimal effort.

She realized she had caught a glimpse of a world beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Wade opened the box and found Harry's Firebolt and Invisibility Cloak, Hermione's Time-Turner, and a letter.

He unfolded the letter and saw Carill's somewhat messy handwriting:

"Wade, by the time you read this, I've probably been dead for a long time. I hope you don't feel too sad, because this is what I deserved."

"I am very sorry, but I do not regret it. My mother did nothing wrong, and everything she endured was because of me, her son. So if someone had to die, it should be me... After all, with such a long time travel, I was bound to die anyway. I would rather trade my life for hers."

"I know the consequences are severe, but I tried not to alter any known history. If there are any time anomalies... there's nothing I can do, I can only wish you good luck."

"You might hate me now, but please help her for the sake of the cookies she baked for you. Help her live a peaceful life away from the magical world... she doesn't need to remember these bad memories."

"If you ever meet my father, please tell him: I am very sorry, and I love him.

—C.J."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end