Chapter 404: Lifelike

The simple dinner quickly came to an end. Osiwia made some arrangements, and soon, the Black Ship adjusted its course underwater, heading in an unknown direction.

After some time, Osiwia brought Hoffa back onto the deck. There, they saw Vladimir leaning against the ship's railing with several Durmstrang wizards, drinking and smoking.

Unhappy, Osiwia walked toward Vladimir. The wizards beside him noticed and quickly nudged him. Vladimir was momentarily stunned. When he saw Osiwia, he immediately extinguished his cigarette and pushed his glass toward his companion.

Standing before Vladimir, Osiwia glanced at the ashtray and said calmly, "One week of ship-wide cleaning for each of you. Understood?"

"Understood!" the wizards answered in unison.

"Go, Vladimir, prepare the small boat for me. I need to check that place."

Vladimir hesitated and asked, "At this hour? Do we really need to check now?"

"Yes," Osiwia replied absentmindedly.

"Can't it wait until tomorrow? You just checked it three days ago."

Vladimir sounded disgruntled.

"I feel uneasy. I have to make sure everything is absolutely secure," Osiwia said.

"Fine."

Still sulking, Vladimir patted the shoulders of the wizards beside him and bid them farewell.

Once the small boat was ready, Osiwia stepped onto it and instructed Vladimir, "Take care of the Black Ship. Don't let any creature get near. Understood?"

Vladimir grumbled, "Have you ever seen me mess up? Just go do your thing."

"Hoffa, get on."

Osiwia called from the boat.

But instead of getting on immediately, Hoffa smiled at Vladimir and said, "Thanks, brother-in-law. Dinner was delicious."

Vladimir stiffened, glancing at Hoffa, then at Osiwia. Unable to resist, he grabbed Hoffa and whispered in his ear, "Be careful, okay?"

"You too."

Hoffa gave the anxious man a brief hug before hopping onto the boat.

The small boat set off from the Black Ship, moving silently through the water under the protection of a magical membrane, heading toward the unknown darkness.

"You're quite gentle, Hoffa," Osiwia remarked as she stood on the boat. "If I recall correctly, you weren't like this in the past."

"And you're still as strict as ever, Senior," Hoffa chuckled from where he sat on the deck.

"Strict? Hmph. Vladimir has always been like this. He was sheltered too much in the past," Osiwia said with dissatisfaction. "He gets upset over trivial things, and I have no idea what he's thinking. Does he not realize how tense the wizarding world is right now? Instead of preparing for the impending war, he spends his time drinking and doing odd little tasks."

Hoffa hesitated before saying, "Actually... I think he's not so bad. While cleaning up earlier, he genuinely seemed happy. And he always speaks up for you. Even when you leave, he worries about you. Maybe that's just how most men express their concerns."

"Most men?"

Osiwia's lips twitched slightly.

Hoffa looked at her seriously and said, "Senior, you're better than them."

"Naturally. I was the fastest wizard to awaken from the Sleeping Plague. If it weren't for me, half the people on this ship would still be unconscious," Osiwia said proudly.

"That's why you have to take care of them," Hoffa said.

Osiwia was momentarily stunned before scoffing, "What do you know, little Hoffa?"

Hoffa didn't argue. He simply gazed at the deep sea before them.

For a while, they traveled in silence. Then, Osiwia sighed. "You might think Vladimir is a decent person. You might think my engagement is a good thing. But unfortunately, my fate has never been in my own hands. As a member of my family, I was given a heavy burden. My marriage to Vladimir is nothing more than politics."

In the past, Hoffa might have voiced his opinions upon hearing something like this. But now, he only looked down, his expression darkening.

"It's not easy for you, Senior," he said.

"It's not that bad. I don't feel particularly miserable. Maybe not everyone gets to experience love. At least for me—and for other Slytherins—it doesn't even count as a luxury. The things other girls find sweet seem almost laughable to me," Osiwia said.

Hoffa had nothing to say. This was Osiwia's choice, and it wasn't his place to comment.

The small boat continued through the dark sea, the faint chime of a bell echoing in the water.

After a moment of silence, Osiwia suddenly said, "Though you might not believe it, I often miss the days when we traveled and attended classes together. They were simple and innocent. Even with that guy Sylby around… at least I didn't have to think too much or bear too many responsibilities."

Hoffa's lips parted slightly, and after a few seconds of dazed silence, he said, "Senior, once the Half-Blood King is defeated, everything will return to how it was. I will defeat him."

Osiwia smiled. "So confident, Hoffa? But I believe you. You know, I've wanted to bring you to Durmstrang for a while now. When all this is over, how about becoming a Transfiguration professor here? The pay is better than at Hogwarts."

Her tone was half-joking, half-serious.

Hoffa gazed at her smiling face, his eyes reflecting a complex mix of emotions—reluctance, yet helplessness. No matter the outcome, he had to return to fifty years in the future to see Aglaia. That was the only way to make his awakening worthwhile. And that also meant that, one day, he would have to part with this era forever, including his former Slytherin senior.

This fate made him reluctant to look away from Osiwia, as if trying to etch this moment into his mind forever.

Noticing his expression, Osiwia asked softly, "What's wrong? You didn't even look this sad when we said goodbye at the train station."

"Nothing… Senior, I really want to read the letters you wrote to me," Hoffa said. "I don't want to lose them."

Osiwia pursed her lips and instinctively raised her arms, as if wanting to hug Hoffa. But then she hesitated, lowered them again, and murmured, "If they're lost, they're lost. It's not like I can't write more. As long as we're alive, we can send as many letters as we want."

"Yeah."

Hoffa pulled himself out of his brief lapse in control and turned to the vast sea ahead. "How much longer?"

"We're almost there," Osiwia replied.

The rest of the journey was silent. About ten minutes later, the boat arrived at a sheer cliff deep in the ocean. This seemed to be the edge of the continental shelf, with no visible end to the cliff's depth.

Osiwia did not stop there. She lightly tapped the back of her hand with her wand and pressed it against the cliff. A faint glow of magic appeared, and the small boat passed through the cliff like a ghost. Inside was an underground river, lined with stalactites.

Skillfully, the boat navigated through the underground river, winding through countless twists, turns, and branching paths.

Finally, the small boat came to a stop in a vast underground space.

Ossivia waved her wand, and a cold blue-white light flickered and hovered in the center of the underground chamber.

Staring at the eerie, chilling glow in front of him, Hoffa couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath.

In this underground space, a massive serpentine creature lay dormant. Its body stretched nearly a hundred meters long, hanging upside down from the high dome, with its heads coiled on the ground. But it didn't just have one head—it had three enormous cobra-like heads.

However, that wasn't what terrified Hoffa the most. What truly sent a chill down his spine was that he had seen this three-headed serpent before.

In the illusion of Genoa, his fused self with Miller had once slain a three-headed giant serpent. But that had been within an illusion. He never expected to see the exact same monstrous creature here in reality.

Unlike in the illusion, however, this great serpent lay still in the pit, completely motionless. Its tail hung from the high dome like a colossal stone pillar, and its body shimmered with a stony luster under the eerie flames around it, covered in countless fine cracks.

"This is directly beneath Durmstrang School. Very few people have ever set foot here throughout history," Ossivia said.

"This is...?"

Hoffa pointed at the three-headed serpent in the center of the pit.

"This was once the physical body of the Lich. After its death, people built Durmstrang upon its remains—partly to eternally guard this monster and prevent it from awakening, and partly to harness its lingering magic to protect the school. After all, Durmstrang is located in the far north, constantly threatened by unknown forces," Ossivia explained.

At first, Hoffa wasn't too alarmed, but after seeing this serpent identical to the one in the illusion, his unease grew stronger.

"Are you sure... absolutely sure nothing will happen?"

"Since the beginning, nothing here has ever changed. I inspect this place every week. Trust me, no one in this world takes this matter more seriously than I do," Ossivia said. "If nothing has happened before, there's no reason for anything to happen now."

As she spoke, she even reached out and touched the enormous serpent's head. It remained as still as a statue. Hoffa couldn't resist placing his own hand against it, feeling the cold, lifeless, stone-like texture. Doubt crept into his mind.

Could he really be overthinking this?

"As long as the Lich's trap remains intact—and with you and me here—if Sylvie dares to come, we'll make sure he never leaves," Ossivia declared confidently beside Hoffa.

It all seemed secure, yet the lingering unease refused to fade. What was this ominous feeling? Hoffa couldn't shake it.

"Are you certain no one else has been here?"

"Of course. Why would I lie to you? Only the headmasters of Durmstrang have ever had access to this place. Of course, you're an exception, Hoffa. If it's you, as long as I'm here, Durmstrang will always welcome you."

A warmth flickered in Hoffa's heart, but the weight of unease still pressed down on him.

He pondered—had he overlooked something?

"Now that you mention it..."

Ossivia suddenly said, "A Hogwarts student once came looking for me. He was in the same house as me, actually. He asked if Durmstrang had any ancient hidden realms. But, how should I put it? Even though I graduated from Slytherin, I'm not particularly fond of overly ambitious people."

"Hmm?"

"From him, all I sensed was cold calculation and burning greed. So, unfortunately, he left empty-handed."

The sudden appearance of such crucial information caught Hoffa completely off guard.

A simple sentence shattered the sense of normalcy, wiping away any warmth and exposing the hidden fangs lurking beneath. Hoffa turned his head mechanically.

"Tom Riddle... came to Durmstrang?"

"Oh? You know him? Ah, I forgot—you were in the same year," Ossivia said casually. "Yes, he came."

"When?"

"Around the summer of your fifth year—oh, wait, I forgot you left Hogwarts halfway through. Well, if you had stayed, it would have been the summer of your fifth year."

"Why did he come?"

"Slytherin House and Durmstrang often have exchange programs, just like when I was sent to Hogwarts. He came with a group of exchange students to visit. But I didn't like him very much. While Slytherins are known for being calculating, he was... different.

"One day, he saw the scepter in Headmaster Ulygin's hand and suddenly asked if he could examine it. He even inquired whether Durmstrang had any ancient secret realms.

"It made me very uncomfortable, Hoffa—extremely uncomfortable. Though I was only a guest lecturer at Durmstrang at the time, I still reprimanded him and removed him from the exchange program, sending him back to Hogwarts."

Ossivia spoke naturally, as if sharing casual gossip, lightly complaining about Riddle's character.

But Hoffa couldn't stop trembling. Ossivia didn't understand this Slytherin student, nor did she realize what Tom Riddle had been searching for.

If Riddle had seen that scepter and desired it, there was only one possible outcome.

"He didn't... touch the scepter, did he?"

"Of course not. I wouldn't let him. That scepter—"

"Never mind," Ossivia shook her head. "Actually, I can understand his interest. After all, that scepter once belonged to—"

"Salazar Slytherin."

Hoffa muttered, his heart plummeting.

Right now, he would rather Tom Riddle had touched that scepter.

"Huh? How do you know that?"

Ossivia looked at Hoffa in surprise. "You're quite knowledgeable."

She meant it as a compliment, but Hoffa's body shivered uncontrollably.

A terrible dread enveloped him completely.

In that moment, he seemed to see Fatir silently kneeling before him once again. He saw Hogwarts consumed by flames.

The Lich. Dark magic. Salazar Slytherin's scepter. The three-headed serpent.

Oh, and of course—the Curse of Slytherin.

"Senior... to control the Lich... does one have to use that scepter?"

Ossivia turned her head, looking slightly troubled. "Well... I hate to admit it, but yes."

"T-then, where is that scepter now?"

Hoffa asked, his voice shaking.

"What's wrong, Hoffa? Don't put me in a difficult position!"

Ossivia stomped her foot.

"It's not... in the hands of your fragile fiancé, is it?"

Hoffa asked in horror.

Ossivia let out a long sigh, waving her hand impatiently. "I know Vladimir isn't exactly capable, but we're not married yet, alright? He's not my husband, and I'm not the official headmistress. So naturally, I can't hold onto his father's scepter forever."

Hoffa stared at Ossivia, his face as pale as a sheet.

"What's wrong with you? Just say it! Why do you look so terrified?"

"Senior... have you ever thought about what the Lich really is?"

"What is it? It's always been here at Durmstrang. Maybe it's some ancient guardian spirit?"

"A guardian spirit... that knows dark magic?"

"Magic is just magic. It depends on who uses it. Even your Transfiguration could be used to kill," Ossivia said. "Hoffa, what's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Hoffa forced out a grim expression—one that looked worse than crying.

"Senior... we need to go back. Take me back immediately."

"Huh?"

"If I'm not mistaken... that scepter... might be a Horcrux."

(End of chapter)

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