Chapter 256: Sleeping with Clothes On?

It took Edward quite a while to fully digest what she had just said. His heart surged like stormy seas—several old mysteries that had long puzzled him unravelled one after another, only for a whole new set of questions to rise in their place.

So this is why Grindelwald was so convinced I carried Dumbledore blood?

Ariana brought me to him personally. And I'm a born Obscurial. When you put those two facts together…it actually starts to make sense.

Then, does that mean I'm the child of Ariana Dumbledore?

A strange unease crept into Edward's heart, making it hard to meet the woman's eyes. He felt guilty—after all, he wasn't the original Edward. He was a transmigrator, an intruder, who had taken over this body, and perhaps even destroyed the original soul in the process.

"You're my…"

It took Edward some effort before he could ask the question aloud.

Ariana paused, then chuckled. "No."

Relief washed over Edward in an instant.

Of course. If I were her biological child, that would mean she gave birth at nearly a hundred years old…How would that make any sense?

Well…if she really does look this young, maybe it's not that outrageous. She could be a long-lived species, after all…But when did Ariana become immortal?

"But in a certain sense," Ariana added with a light smile, "I suppose I still count as your mother."

"..."

Edward's lips twitched. He resisted the urge to do another divination and simply waited for her to explain.

She laughed softly. "Because from the moment you were born until the day I handed you over to Grindelwald, I was the one taking care of you. I fed you, changed your nappies, held you when you cried…If that doesn't make me your mother, I don't know what does."

"Then who are my biological parents?"

"No idea."

"You're joking, right?"

Ariana shook her head. "Unfortunately not. I lost all memory of the time before I found you. At first, I assumed you were mine. It wasn't until fragments of my memories began to return that I realised you weren't."

"Why did you lose your memories?"

"If I knew that," she said dryly, "would it still count as memory loss?"

Edward fell silent.

"I hadn't actually planned to meet with you again so soon," Ariana said with a hint of resignation. "I knew the moment we met you'd start asking questions I couldn't answer. I figured it would be less frustrating for both of us to avoid the reunion entirely…but I didn't expect you'd use divination to find me."

Edward gave it some thought before asking, "If we're not related, then why do you care what happens to me?"

"Because through you, I might find the reason for my memory loss."

"Then why did you give me to Grindelwald? Wouldn't it have been easier to keep me by your side?"

She glanced at her wine glass, seemingly falling into memory. "Because I realised you were a born Obscurial. I was afraid that keeping you with me would lead you down the same path I once took. And Grindelwald—whether out of guilt or because of his research into Obscurials—was someone I trusted to take proper care of you."

"But he turned around and dumped me in an orphanage."

"His people kept an eye on you from a distance."

Their gazes locked in a moment of heavy silence.

Then Edward's brow furrowed, his expression turning odd. "Wait…So Grindelwald knew at least sixteen years ago that you were still alive. But he kept it from Professor Dumbledore all this time?"

"That's right."

Heh. Edward sneered inwardly. And he had the nerve to call me cold-hearted? Look who's talking.

"Did you tell him not to?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Ariana's eyes took on a touch of bitter irony. "Because the spell that triggered the magical outburst and my supposed death came from their wands. In other words, they were the ones who killed me."

"But…you didn't actually die, right?"

She looked down. "I didn't not die…I simply came back to life." She paused. "Don't ask me how. I don't remember."

Right. Always when we get to the important parts—convenient memory loss. Do you take me for an idiot?

Tch. Should I try Legilimency or the Imperius Curse? I'd feel a little guilty doing that to Old Dumble's sister, but…I mean, I am trying to help him here.

The thought flashed through Edward's mind and was gone. Instead, he said, "But you know they didn't mean to hurt you back then."

"Sadly, all I remember from that moment is the overwhelming hatred right before death. Whether it was intentional or not…does it matter to someone who died?"

But…you didn't actually die!

Edward almost blurted that out again, but decided against it—it would only loop the conversation back around.

"That's why I don't want you to tell the Dumbledore brothers anything about me. I'm afraid that if they come looking for me…I won't be able to stop myself from killing them."

There was no emotion on Ariana's face as she said this—she might as well have been stating the weather.

Edward had no doubt about her power. After all, she had managed to get Lucius to betray Voldemort and call her "Mistress" without hesitation. Still, he hadn't forgotten that when he once divined her nature as a witch, the answer had been: no.

If she's not a witch, then how does she have this kind of power? And how does she stay young and immortal?

A Beyonder, maybe?

Just then, Ariana pulled a small golden timer from her pocket and placed it on the table. "This is the Time-Turner you wanted."

Edward immediately looked up, snatched it without ceremony, and tucked it away. "Where'd you get it?"

"I stole it from the Ministry last month."

"???"

His jaw dropped. "You were the one who took the entire batch of Time-Turners the Ministry was relocating?!"

Ariana just smiled.

"Why?"

"I've been trying to recover my lost memories. And what better way is there than to witness the past with your own eyes?"

"You…tried it?"

She nodded. "I did. But I failed. So far, Time-Turners can only take you back a limited distance—at most, a couple of months. That's utterly useless to me."

Useless to you maybe—but incredibly useful to me, thank you very much.

"You want them?"

She seemed to read his mind and said generously, "Once I've finished studying them and confirmed they're no use, you can have all of them."

Edward suddenly found her much more agreeable.

With that, she rose from her seat. "Alright, that's enough for tonight. Go home. And remember—if you want the Dumbledore brothers to stay alive, don't tell them anything about me."

She paused. "Or, if you prefer, you could try fighting me instead?"

Edward spread his hands. "You must be joking. How could I possibly raise a hand against my 'mother'?" Then, after a brief pause, he added, "But I do want to ask you something—you're not a witch, right?"

"Correct."

"Then how did you gain the kind of power that could even kill Professor Dumbledore?"

After a short silence, both she and Edward spoke at the same time:

"I forgot."

"You forgot?"

She stared quietly at Edward, and after more than ten seconds, she took a step back and tore open the air—then vanished.

That…wasn't Apparition!

Was that Spirit World Traversal?!

Edward didn't even need to divine it—he was almost certain now: Ariana was a Beyonder.

There were actually real Mystical beings in the world of Harry Potter?!

This realisation hit Edward like a ton of bricks. He had been working to gradually introduce potions into this world, but always under the premise that everything remained within his control.

Yet now, a potential high-Sequence Beyonder had appeared out of nowhere, instantly throwing all his plans into chaos.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down:

Could it be…

Could it be that he had used a Time-Turner to travel to the past, saved Ariana, and given her a potion?

But she'd just said that, for now, the Time-Turner could only go back at most two months—the gap from over a hundred years ago was far too wide!

Maybe...Ariana herself would eventually figure out a way to travel further back in time?

Just then, Lucius—who had stood silently on the side like an invisible man this entire time—spoke up, "Mr. Edward, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"How long have you known Ariana—your 'Mistress,' I mean?"

"Three years."

"Have you ever seen her make a move?"

"Of course."

Lucius's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Compared to the might of my Mistress, both Voldemort and Dumbledore are nothing more than jokes."

"..."

A true fence-sitter, through and through.

He flattered whoever was stronger with absolute devotion.

Edward snorted, "But her being powerful—what does that have to do with you?"

Lucius's expression froze.

With a crack, Edward Disapparated.

———

By the time he returned to Hogwarts, it was already quite late. Edward didn't go looking for Dumbledore—mainly because he still hadn't figured out how to explain everything that had happened tonight.

In truth, what he needed more right now was someone who could help him think things through, someone to ease the mess in his heart.

But Audrey was probably already asleep.

Lilith…forget it. She'd been bouncing around all evening and probably worn herself out. Better to let her sleep.

Edward sat at his dormitory desk with his chin in hand, the notebook before him scribbled full of chaotic notes about tonight's events and his speculations and theories.

Just then, Audrey's voice came from his pouch: "Edward~"

Lilith immediately perked up. "I heard Audrey's voice!"

Edward picked her up. "You went out earlier to find Audrey, didn't you?"

"Yep~ Edward has something on his mind. If he won't tell Miss Lilith, then of course he'd go tell Audrey~"

She wrinkled her little nose. "Hmph! And I knew Edward first!"

"Then from now on, I'll always come to you first when something's wrong, okay?"

"Okay~ You better mean it! If you lie, your nose will grow longer~"

Edward rubbed her head affectionately, then opened the pouch and placed it on the floor. A moment later, Audrey crawled out from inside.

"It's so late. Why aren't you asleep? Did you need something?"

Audrey walked over and sat on the bed. "I've been waiting for you. Where were you tonight?"

"I went to the Malfoy estate."

She didn't ask why he hadn't brought her. Instead, she got straight to the point, "What happened? Your emotional state seems…unsettled."

As she spoke, she gave Edward two calming placates.

The turmoil in his heart immediately began to settle.

"I met with Ariana...the woman we encountered in Godric's Hollow last time—Cecilia."

Audrey was surprised. "You're calling her Ariana, so...she really is that Ariana? The sister of the Dumbledore brothers?"

"That's what divination tells me."

"But that's not what's really throwing you off, is it?"

Edward nodded. "She's Lucius Malfoy's new backer—or rather, his new 'Mistress.' And...she's very likely a high-Sequence Beyonder."

Audrey's eyes widened. "That's impossible!"

"Now you understand how I feel, right?"

She bit her lip and thought for a moment. "Did you ask her how she gained her Extraordinary powers?"

"Yeah. She said she forgot."

Then Edward suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right—Ariana told me that it was she who brought me to Mr. Grindelwald sixteen years ago. That's why he believed I had Dumbledore blood."

"No way!"

Audrey's mind was reeling—Edward's revelations just kept coming, each more shocking than the last.

"So she's your—"

"She said she wasn't. But she also doesn't know who my real parents are, because she…forgot."

She reached out and held Edward's hand, clearly worried he might be upset over his unknown origins—but Edward honestly just felt mild curiosity at best.

"You think she's deliberately using that excuse to brush you off?"

Edward nodded, then shook his head. "But my later divinations told me she wasn't lying. She really has lost her memories—forgotten a great deal."

The two sat in silence for a moment, then Audrey suddenly tugged him toward the bed.

"Alright now, moping over this won't get you anywhere. You need to get a good night's sleep. Who knows—maybe the answer will pop up on its own tomorrow."

Half-reluctantly, Edward let her push him onto the bed. Audrey ruffled his hair.

"I'll stay with you for a bit. Now close your eyes. Be a good boy~"

"Mm."

The moment he shut his eyes, a wave of exhaustion surged through him. His consciousness quickly blurred, and he began to drift into dreamless sleep.

Suddenly—

Audrey's musing voice reached his ears, "Hm? If Ariana met with Mr. Grindelwald sixteen years ago...then maybe he knows something too?"

Edward instantly jolted awake.

"Ah!"

Audrey quickly covered her mouth. "Sorry!"

Edward pursed his lips, just about to speak—when Audrey leaned down and gently hugged him, whispering softly, "Go to sleep."

In that instant, they both clearly heard the sound of the other's heartbeat.

Neither said a word. Both closed their eyes.

Lilith sat crouched on the desk, head tilted as she watched the two of them. Her fluffy tail swayed up and down, and she muttered, "Going to bed...without even undressing?"

———

[Note]: Enjoy the Extra Chapter~ 566 Powerstones for another one tomorrow! Go VOTE~

And if you are like me and want to read 40 Chapters in advance of the current story right now, you can support me on my Patreon. Thank me later~

Link - (P)atre(o)n.c(o)m/ Iseeblack [Remove the brackets]