The voice was quite far away, and I was in a hurry, so another time.
Almost breaking into a run, I reached the castle exit, walked through the open doors, the courtyard, and left the territory. It was already dark outside; the strip of sunset had almost faded, and the stars were blazing brighter with each passing second, like a full moon a couple of days away. It was in the light of this moon that it was easy for me to move along the night path down to the Black Lake, where my intuition led me.
Only when I almost reached the shore, when I could clearly see the almost flat surface of the lake and the stars and moon reflected in it, I stopped. On the shore stood a completely unknown and huge thing, as if woven from vines. This creature resembled an animal—four powerful paws, a powerful body, a head, a mouth, a tail made of several vines. It seemed that its body was in constant motion; the vines moved, intertwined, and distorted the body, creating a feeling of amorphousness. A familiar creature…
I took a step out of the forest, because I knew that the miracle-yudo would not touch me. This knowledge came from somewhere in the depths of my consciousness, subconscious, and soul, so deep that it is impossible to get there on your own. One more step…
"What are you doing?" They pulled me by the sleeve of my robe, trying to drag me back into the forest. "Are you crazy?"
"What are you doing here?" I answered the out-of-breath Daphne in the same whisper.
"I needed to talk, and I needed to talk now. And no, I won't let you. I didn't spend time preparing my partner for him to die senselessly," she hissed, looking at me angrily with her blue eyes.
"It won't touch me, believe me."
Once again, I took a step towards the creature fidgeting on the shore, but Daphne did not let me go. But her worries were in vain, and I trusted my feelings. Putting my hand on hers, I squeezed it reassuringly.
"You can stay here, but there might be Dementors around. You were unwise."
Looking at me angrily, she exhaled, and without letting go of the sleeve of my robe, she walked with me towards this little animal.
"Group suicide. Wonderful," she muttered. "Know this. If you die, I'll kill you."
When there were about ten meters left to the little animal, it lazily turned its head in my direction, looking with empty sockets with green lights instead of eyes. Having growled sadly, the little animal turned back to the water surface, and I came almost right up to it. This miracle really did consist of vines, which was, frankly speaking, amazing, and the feeling of energy in it was a wonderful miracle. There was life, and neutral energy, and death, and some similarity with Dementors. And it was also very ill. Not with its health, but in general… on a global scale, so to speak.
Stretching my hand almost as high as I could, I was able to reach the animal's lowered head and stroked it. Daphne clung to the robe like a tick, but it seemed she believed my words at least a little.
The feeling of a broken string in space—that's how I interpreted the sudden change of something around. Something unknown and incomprehensible.
"Hector…"
"Yes?"
"Look…"
"Where?"
"There…"
Daphne tugged at my sleeve and pointed toward the lake. There, in the thick fog that had suddenly covered everything, a large white boat, as if made of crystal, was clearly visible. It emitted a pleasant white light, and something seemed vaguely familiar to me about it.
"This…" Daphne looked at the boat in surprise. "This is suspicious."
"Not at all, young sorceress," a soft female voice, sounding like the trills of a harp, came from the side.
The unknown little animal we were standing next to turned its head in the direction of the voice and sadly gurgled something, completely ruining the charm of the moment with this inappropriate sound. We turned around too.
Surprise is a word that would not adequately describe my state. Dressed in white, shining clothes, she was walking around us in an arc to approach the little animal, a real elf. Her steps were smooth, her golden hair flowed in waves down her back; in short… an elf. My gaze immediately found a small tiara, symbolizing her status in the House and her occupation, and the necklace on her neck betrayed her belonging to the House. The combination of so many familiar factors, along with the surprise of their appearance in principle, literally forced me to give a respectful bow that I had repeated hundreds of thousands of times.
"He who has set foot on the path of magic greets the Seer of the House of Thornthorn."
"The past is long forgotten," she replied, nodding graciously. "Can't you see?"
The feeling of life energy changed to death energy, and the elf became ghostly transparent. Ghostly, yes, but she touched the little animal's head, making this creature of vines ghostly as well. At that very moment, a multitude of fireflies separated from the little animal, flying up and disappearing.
"You've worked hard," she smiled weakly at the little animal, and it simply melted away, turning into a white plume of fog heading towards the boat in the lake.
The ghostly elf turned her gaze to me, and a bitter cold blew around me—just a feeling of her energy, but it took on a material form.
"Death erases boundaries, as does the evening of this day, blurring reality. One must be more careful, young wizard, when walking in such places on this day."
The image of the elf turned into a trail of white smoke and rushed towards the boat, and a moment later, the crystal ship sailed away into the fog.
"What just happened?"
"It looks like we've been visited from beyond the edge."
The fog slowly disappeared, returning visibility around. But it didn't make it any easier—the cold of the Dementors could be felt somewhere nearby.
"We need to leave," I pulled Daphne by the hand away from here, into the castle.
"Samhain is a relic of the past, a relic of the past," Daphne was clearly mimicking someone as we practically ran along the path illuminated by the soon-to-be-full moon. "Dead traditions must be discarded… You'll discard them here, of course!"
I was a little confused by the fact that the starry sky had changed too much in the past half hour. As if much more time had passed.
When I got to the castle, I was stunned—the main gates were closed. Securely closed.
"They never close…"
It seemed that I wasn't the only one in a stupor. There, in the distance, if you look closely, you can see Dementors hovering around the castle at different heights and a respectable distance. There were at least forty of them here, and this picture… was impressive.
"Do you know the secret passages from and to the castle?" I glanced at the girl, who was cautiously peering at the figures of the Dementors in the sky above Hogwarts. Fortunately, they froze, waiting for something.
"I spent these years studying, not looking for adventure," she said dryly.
"It seems like I'm a bad influence on you."
"Incredible insight," Snape's voice rang out from behind us. "After all, blood is thicker than water, Mr. Granger. Even though you and your sister are in different faculties, and you have successfully fought the urge to seek adventure for two months. Successfully, but not successfully."
"Professor," we both turned towards the voice to meet Snape's displeased gaze.
"What were you thinking when you set out on your reckless adventure when a dangerous criminal broke into the castle?"
I can't help but be amazed at the professor's talent for speaking quietly and calmly, but with such notes that it would be better if he shouted.
"Miss Greengrass…"
"It's entirely my fault, Professor," I interrupted him.
"Very noble of you, Mr. Granger, but I know my students inside and out. Miss Greengrass's tenacity is only matched by your sister's inability to restrain herself, Mr. Granger. I am more than sure that no one invited the young miss anywhere, and she did not even ask. Minus ten points for both of you and two detentions for me. Instead of brewing potions in cauldrons, you will learn the other side of the coin of the potioneers' life, cleaning these cauldrons. Follow me."
Snape turned sharply to the gate, touched it, took out his wand, and cast a series of spells, directing it to strictly defined places. The result of his actions was the appearance of a small door, which immediately opened. We followed Snape, who walked like a black shadow, fluttering the hems of his robe. The door slammed behind us with a crash, and the rustle of moving mechanisms reached sensitive ears.
We had almost reached the Great Hall through the dark corridors of Hogwarts at night when we met an excited Headmaster Dumbledore.
"Severus, did you find them?"
"Yes, Headmaster. We were standing in front of the closed doors, enjoying the night landscape in the form of Dementors flying in the sky. Even a hundred Dementors are not able to stop this flock of sheep, who by some misunderstanding are considered students, from rash and stupid actions."
"Now, now, no need to be so categorical," the headmaster turned his gaze to us. "Is everything all right with you, young people?"
"Absolutely," I nodded.
"Likewise," Daphne nodded.
"A remarkable unanimity," Snape chuckled. "I hope you'll greet the non-magical cauldron cleaning with the same enthusiasm."
"What about the search for Black?" the headmaster turned to Snape again.
"I examined the dungeons and lower levels. He is not there, nor are there any traces of his presence."
"Well… I didn't think he'd decide to linger in the castle. If you'd be so kind as to escort the children to their common rooms, I'll have the rest of the children escorted out of the Great Hall and back to their beds. I'll expect you and the other professors back in my room as soon as you've finished tidying up."
Snape nodded and silently walked towards the main tower, not even turning around to make sure we were following him. Well, we were already walking. Strange day. Strange ghosts. And it's a pity about the bush.