The Eagle Who Cherishes Life

"They used to be friends?" Michael asked.

"Best friends," Theo paused, then added, "… or so they say."

"Where is that person now?" Ryan asked.

"Azkaban, of course."

Wade looked up at the empty spot where a photo used to be, remaining silent.

After lunch, everyone went to explore Hogsmeade.

Theo had been a few times with his parents, but it was Michael and Ryan's first visit to the famous village. They eagerly rushed into the shops, excited to buy everything they saw.

Wade and Lupin lagged behind. The middle-aged wizard looked at the children's happy faces, a mix of contentment and subtle melancholy in his expression.

"Next holiday, I'll bring Harry too," Wade said thoughtfully.

"That would be wonderful, if you could."

Lupin showed a bit of a doting father's smile. "I never really thought much about it when I was alone, but now… with someone missing from the house, the whole place feels empty."

"Please keep today's events a secret from Harry," Wade said. "He's living a carefree life now; there's no need to involve him with Tom's affairs again."

Lupin naturally agreed.

Recalling a question he had earlier, he said, "Wade, do you remember that shadow in the cave?"

"Of course," Wade replied.

"Simply imbuing it with thoughts wouldn't create such a tangible form, as if it had an independent soul."

Lupin said worriedly, "Given Voldem—given Tom's magical prowess, he must have mastered a lot of Dark Magic that we can't comprehend. The Diadem's danger also exceeded my expectations."

"It's a good thing you were very cautious and never directly touched it."

"Of course, it's been destroyed now… but if you encounter similar things in the future, you must be extremely careful."

He didn't suspect Wade of hiding anything from him, only assuming that Wade, with his current knowledge, had misjudged the terrifying extent of Voldemort's weapon.

Wade said seriously, "Of course, I will."

"Just to be safe, let me double-check," Lupin asked. "You haven't come across any other 'Tom's weapons,' have you? You haven't, right?"

Wade looked away and said, "Even Tom wouldn't have many of those things, would he?"

Lupin looked at him and sighed. "I'll teach you the Fiendfyre spell."

"Great!" Wade smiled, saying directly, "I've been waiting for that."

"Promise me you won't use it until you can fully control it!"

"Of course, I promise."

"Discuss everything with me first; don't go off on your own."

"I know."

Wade agreed to everything, but Lupin still looked somewhat worried.

When everyone returned to school via the Vanishing Cabinet, Wade was still the last one to enter.

"Thank you, Remus."

Before closing the cabinet door, Wade smiled and said, "But don't mistake me for a reckless lion. I'm an eagle who values his life very much."

Lupin was momentarily stunned.

The black cabinet door had already closed, and those inside had already arrived at Hogwarts.

Lupin gave a wry smile and muttered to himself, "Not all lions are reckless."

He picked up the overturned photo, and with a swipe of his finger, the piece of paper stuck to it floated down.

The black-haired boy in the photo had a joyful and uninhibited smile, looking very spirited and full of life.

Lupin, however, felt a sharp pain in his heart.

"…Isn't there still… a venomous snake hidden that no one saw?"

…

Back at school, the group shared a common secret, making them feel even closer. They went to the Umbrella Room and found only Padma there, then learned that Harry was in the Hospital Wing.

"What happened?" Ryan asked.

"Did they get into another fight with Malfoy?" Theo made a reasonable guess.

"No, he fell off his broom during Quidditch practice," Padma said.

Wade frowned slightly. "Did his broom go out of control? Or was he hit by a Bludger?"

—Dobby's causing trouble at school this early?

"No," Padma said. "He wasn't injured from the fall, he just fainted."

In the Hospital Wing, Harry lay in bed, having just regained consciousness. Around him were several Gryffindor students and team members.

Next to him, a small boy (Colin Creevey) held a camera, capturing the moment Harry woke up.

"I'm fine," Harry said helplessly, pushing away the camera lens that was practically in his face. "Thanks, Colin, but I don't want to take pictures right now."

"Was it really scary when you fell?" Colin asked loudly, seemingly quite excited for some reason.

"It was pretty terrifying, suddenly dropping like that," Wood, the team captain, said, patting Harry's shoulder. "Get some good rest today, and we'll resume training tomorrow morning."

"Are you a devil?" Ron asked, utterly shocked, the words slipping out unconsciously.

Fred pressed on his shoulder and said grimly, "What did you expect, Ronnie? The team is brutal."

George said seriously, "Wood isn't a devil, of course... he's much scarier than a devil."

Wood rapped each of the twins on the head, then began to elaborate on how important their new tactics were and how terrible the team's coordination was, despite the upcoming match being imminent (though it was actually still two months away).

The Weasley Twins both put on looks of misery.

Angelina (another team member) watched them with glee, silently mocking them.

Fred made a face at her when Wood wasn't looking.

Harry tried to explain, "I wasn't knocked out by the fall; my head just suddenly started hurting then..."

Wood's voice echoed throughout the ward, and no one paid attention to what Harry said.

However, Ryan, who had just entered, heard him.

"Headache?" he walked over, asking curiously, "Roughly when was that?"

Finally, someone was listening to his explanation, and Harry breathed a sigh of relief, quickly saying, "Around 10:30... or closer to 11."

"10:45," Wood, for some reason, shifted his attention back to them. He said regretfully, "We had only been practicing for an hour and twenty-five minutes."

Ryan and Theo exchanged a glance.

10:45...

If they remembered correctly, that was when the shadow in the Diadem was being burned away.

Could Harry Potter really have sensed something from such a distance?

Michael vaguely felt something was off. He looked at the person beside him, but Wade seemed not to notice the subtle timing, instead looking at Ron Weasley next to him.

"That's because you spent an hour explaining tactics..." Fred said to Wood.

Wood frowned, about to speak.

George suddenly clapped a hand over Fred's mouth and said with a chuckle, "I just remembered, we have detention today. If we don't go now, Hagrid will definitely be furious..."

"You two got detention again?" Wood asked.

"Yeah, we just took a stroll in the Forbidden Forest, and our gamekeeper caught us..."

Fred pulled George's hand away, shrugging.

"He thinks he should give us a memorable lesson..."

"Cleaning out the pigsties, no magic allowed..."

"Since Harry's awake, we'll be heading off..."

The twins retreated as they spoke, disappearing from Wood's sight in a blink.

Clearly, in their opinion, Wood's nagging was scarier than cleaning pigsties.

Angelina let out a giggle.

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