Chapter 180: Lupin: Obliviate

The distinctive sound of fire truck sirens cut through the forest, approaching from a distance.

"It's time to go," Lupin said.

"Just a moment."

Wade whispered to Mikael, "Please, if you would."

With a flap of its wings, Mikael glided down to the ruins and spread golden flames across the entire area.

After a brief moment, the flames receded, and the small golden bird emerged from the ashes, carrying a charred ring in its beak.

The ring was covered in a sticky, dark residue that Mikael's flames burned away, turning it to ash. Even the gold on the ring had melted, and hardened into an unusual lump. 

Mikael pecked at it, removing the excess metal until it held only the black gemstone, which it brought back to Wade.

The bird gently placed the black gemstone in Wade's hand.

Lupin watched curiously. The object looked more like a piece of black stone, etched with a symbol of a triangle enclosing a circle, marred by cracks across its surface.

Any curses or spells attached to it had been burned away by Mikael's Fiendfyre flames. Wade lifted the gemstone with a handkerchief, and examined it in the light.

The light itself seemed to be swallowed by the stone.

He knew that this was one of the legendary Deathly Hallows, given to the three Peverell brothers by Death himself: the Resurrection Stone, said to have the power to bring the dead back to life.

By holding the Resurrection Stone and turning it three times, one could bring a deceased person back to the world of the living.

However, the dead did not truly revive and could only be seen by the one using the stone. Their existence in the living world brought them only endless loneliness and sorrow.

Despite its reputation as a powerful artifact, the Resurrection Stone was more like a curse than a blessing, far less useful than the other Deathly Hallows: the Elder Wand and the Invisibility Cloak.

In the story, Dumbledore, desperate to see his deceased parents and sister, had put on this ring without caution, thus falling victim to Voldemort's curse. Even with Snape's potions, he could only extend his life by one year.

But, after all, Dumbledore is Dumbledore.

In his final year, he set up an intricate plan so that, even in death, he guided Harry in defeating Voldemort.

Yet the year after Dumbledore's death was also the darkest and most dangerous year for both the wizarding world and Hogwarts.

The Golden trio, Harry, Hermione, and Ron, had no choice but to leave school and go on the run. 

Many Muggles and wizards were killed, the Ministry of Magic became Voldemort's accomplice, and all Hogwarts students, except those in Slytherin, were subjected to severe suffering.

If it hadn't been for Harry, Neville, and others rising to the occasion, finding and destroying all the Horcruxes at the last moment, and Harry using the Elder Wand's true allegiance to rebound the Killing Curse and vanquish Voldemort, darkness would have continued to envelop the British Isles, and Voldemort's reign of terror would have spread worldwide.

And all of this began when Dumbledore obtained the Resurrection Stone.

Had it not been for the curse on that stone, a wizard as powerful as Dumbledore should have lived much longer.

Even disregarding Nicolas Flamel, who took the Elixir of Life, there's the witch on the Hogwarts Express who's been doing that job since 1830. Some students think there have been many people in that role, but it's actually always been the same person.

Then there was Armando Dippet, a former headmaster of Hogwarts, who lived for more than 300 years before passing away recently.

But Armando Dippet had been in seclusion for years, and the magical world had almost forgotten him. News of his passing only took up a small section in The Daily Prophet.

Leaving out the original founders, Dumbledore possessed the greatest magical power of any headmaster in history, so despite his old age and gray hair, he could have lived on for a very long time, eventually meeting death naturally.

—That is, if he could have died of old age.

…

Wade carefully placed the Resurrection Stone in a magic-shielding box, then transformed his suitcase into the wardrobe, he opened the door, and asked the fiery bird:

"Mikael, can you stay in here? Be careful not to burn anything."

Mikael nodded, flew inside, circled around, found a dry spot, and let out two chirps.

Wade then gathered some rocks and dry branches from the mountain to build a little nest for it. Mikael breathed a bit of fire onto the branches, setting them alight, and nestled comfortably into the flames.

After storing his pencil case, Wade quickly left the forest with Lupin. When they returned to Little Hangleton, they saw a fire truck passing through the village.

The sharp sirens had woken the villagers. They sat up in a daze and stared blankly at the smoke in the distance.

"Fire!" 

Panicked voices finally rose from all around, but no one seemed to question having slept through it or noticed the two people hurrying down the path.

When they arrived at the inn, a few people were already outside, gazing toward the distant forest. Lupin and Wade slipped past the crowd and returned to their reserved room.

In the middle of the room stood a black Vanishing Cabinet.

Lupin opened the cabinet door and said to Wade, "You go back to school first. I'll take the Vanishing Cabinet back to Hogsmeade."

Wade nodded, said nothing, and stepped into the cabinet. In the blink of an eye, he was back at Hogwarts.

Zoe was waiting for him outside the cabinet with a smile.

…

Lupin closed the cabinet door, tidied up any traces of their stay, opened his suitcase, and carefully moved the Vanishing Cabinet inside. He then picked up the suitcase, donned a gray bowler hat, pulled the brim low, and left the room.

Downstairs, the innkeeper was discussing with a patron about the sudden forest fire, speculating that someone might have started a campfire without extinguishing it properly.

"Or maybe the wind carried a cigarette butt in," Mike said confidently. "Most fires start that way."

"Why don't you talk about those two guests from earlier?" Pete, a bearded patron, said skeptically. "I still don't believe a grown man could suddenly turn into a child."

"It's true," the innkeeper, Mike, replied earnestly. "How could I be mistaken? Black hair, gray eyes—it was definitely the same person..."

Pete scoffed. "Isn't it more likely they were father and son than some reverse aging?"

"But I didn't see anyone else go in..." Mike protested.

"You must've missed it," Pete insisted.

Behind them, Lupin silently mouthed an apology and then raised his wand.

"Obliviate!" (Memory Charm)

A flash of light crossed the two men's faces, and they blinked, looking slightly dazed.

After a moment, Mike repeated, "Or maybe the wind carried a cigarette butt in; that's how most fires start."

"No... the fire was deep in the woods, so an untended campfire seems more likely."

"...Either way, some people just don't have any awareness about forest fire safety. It's us locals who suffer."

As Mike finished, he thought he saw something move behind him. He glanced back, saw nothing, and shrugged, returning his attention to the conversation.

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