33. HP Chapter 4.5

"Master."

Dice came fluttering towards me in his little owl form as I entered my room. It was closer to midnight when he came in via the window.

"A letter."

He dropped it on my bed before resting on the back of my chair. The handwriting on the cover was different from that of the teachers' so the sender was not someone from Hogwarts. There was no seal on it so I simply flipped it open and read the contents.

I sucked in a breath.

I crumbled the parchment in my hand before tossing it in the air to burn it with fire magic.

"Dice, disguise yourself. We have somewhere to go."

From the letter, it seemed like today's events were not over.

~~~~~

I approached the Room of Requirements. Or at least the place where it was presumably located. Closing my eyes, I walked past it three times while thinking about who I was expecting to meet.

Opening my eyes, a door appeared in front of me. Without thinking, I grasped and turned the doorknob, opening the door.

The room that the door opened to was very simple. It had a square table with two chairs facing each other. One of the chairs was occupied by an elderly woman with greying hair who was casually sipping tea. She was wearing a pointed lilac hat with matching lilac robes.

Narrowing my eyes at her carefree behaviour, I grabbed the unoccupied chair and sat down.

"Elder Lowell." I greeted with much distaste.

Back in the Library, she was an unpleasant old woman who was particularly strict about the rules and authority. She was also one of the higher ranking Guardian Elders so she had a lot of power and authority within the Library. Even though she was not the type to abuse her power, the way she abide by the rules and acted with the lower level Guardians often skirted close to arrogance.

She… was also one of the Elders that sent Kagura and I on that suicidal mission.

"I cannot fathom how you can sneak into this castle to try and meet me. Neither can I fathom your disappearance along with some of the Elders during the attack at the Library. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't count that as treason against the Library."

"I'm not the only one who went missing." She curtly replied, no hint of grief or even remorse on her withered face. "On that day, some of us were called elsewhere for reasons that you are not cleared to know."

I slapped Ravenna's pocket watch on the table, raising my right brow at her. I briefly saw the pupils of her eyes contracted a little at the sight of the watch before she placed her teacup down.

"I see."

Her hands clasped together and she looked at me square in the eyes.

Now, she was treating me seriously.

"We were called by the higher beings for a meeting. It seemed that they wanted to know why a being like Dark Shadow appeared. However, when we got there, we realised it was a ruse. The meeting location was filled with Laughing Clowns and Shadows led by one of Dark Shadow's retainers. That was when we knew the Library was in danger."

I leaned forward with a serious expression.

"What happened after?"

There was a flicker of emotion before her passive expression returned. Elder Lowell raised her right palm to shift her collar to show a mark on her neck. It was a drawing of violet eye with a cross on it.

"Apparently that retainer of Dark Shadow is a female vampire by the name "Countess". Just like what the limited records have detailed…"

"That was provided by me." I interrupted her as my right brow twitched.

"… She is fast and experienced." She continued without a change of expression. "All of us were bitten and this curse mark appear in the place of her bite. After that, we were thrown into different Worlds."

That was new.

I didn't know that the Countess's bites could leave a curse mark.

"She left all of you alive?" I asked, incredulous.

Secretly, I was hoping that Countess would have killed them all in cold blood for what they had done to the Library and the Guardians. However, this was unlike the methods of Dark Shadow and his followers. They were not known to leave anyone they caught alive.

The memories of how the previous scouts came back with petrified smiles before their bodies disintegrated to nothingness surfaced. No, this treatment of the Elders was unlike how they have treated the Guardians in the past.

Elder Lowell shook her head.

"I don't know the full effects of this curse nor the reason why they cursed us. But this sucks away our strength, mana and life away. It has taken away the lives of the other Elders…"

She looked down at her hands and sighed deeply. With one sigh, the stern woman suddenly looked like someone who was more of her age.

"… I'm the only one left."

Then, Elder Lowell reached into her handbag and pulled out a medallion. She then placed it on the table. The face of the medallion has the signature leaf symbol of the Library that was enchanted to look alive to the naked eye. It was something like an identification card for Elders.

"Since you have inherited the role, then I would like you to take care of this. Don't worry. The medallions belonging to the deceased Elders have merged with the one belonging to a surviving Elder who is me."

I folded my arms and sat back. My eyes narrowed at her. She was never pleasant from the start, so why am I going to easily do as she said?

"Why should I do that?"

"It's a key of sorts."

She explained vaguely. Then her cold exterior start to crack when her eyes shifted down. Despite the stern expression she had previously adopted, I could see the weight of the consequences of her past actions.

"I... I apologise for my behaviour back in the Library. And as a representative of the Elders and the last Elder, I formally apologise to the Guardians for the mess we have caused."

"Death seems to have done a number on you."

There was an indescribable feeling that I was getting from her as she gazed at me, eye to eye. It almost seemed that she was giving me a mysterious smile despite the apparent poker face she was giving. Even when she was so close to death now, she refused to shed her tough exterior, maintaining the stubborn pride she always has.

"Indeed."

Then, she stood up. I stood up too. Elder Lowell stuck out her hand to me. After hesitating for a while, I reluctantly accepted it.

This would be the last time I would meet her.

"Farewell. Maybe we, as Elders, have been here for too long."

"... That is true."

I know I was being blunt to her. Yet, I could never muster any bit of politeness within me to talk to her. Despite her short apology, I felt that forgiving her now was an act of injustice to the fallen Guardians.

Yet, as I observed her state, I felt like what she had suffered from the curse was enough to offset the anger from us. Necrosis was already starting from her fingers, making her hand as cold as ice and as stiff as a board.

Elder Lowell ignored my bluntness but instead, shooting me with the sharpest gaze that I had ever seen. It nearly took me aback since it was neither stern nor hostile.

"Since Ravenna has somehow passed her title to you at this point in time, then she would have foreseen something. Besides… Dark Shadow was one of us a long time ago."

It was like getting struck by my strongest lightning magic. That last sentence...

Once I came to my bearings, Elder Lowell had already left.

What was left was the lone medallion on the table.