Hogwarts: I Am an Exemplary Wizard-Chapter 561 - 559: The Manor’s Only Idle Man
It was clear that Helena found it even more incredible than Kael that she could wear the Diadem.
"What on earth is going on..."
Helena looked at Kael, just about to say something when her pearl-white body suddenly trembled, and her face was filled with shock, fear, and disbelief.
Then, she panicked and tried to remove the Diadem from her head, but her hands just passed right through it.
"Don’t be nervous, Helena."
Kael said with a smile, "Didn’t you want me to help pass a message to your mother? Coincidentally, Lady Ravenclaw has something she wants to say to you too."
"And I’m not very familiar with the process of using an owl, delivering messages is really not my forte. If I forget any word, that would be bad.
"So, I took the liberty of bringing you here, hoping you could understand."
Helena didn’t speak, but pearl-white tears flowed from her eyes.
The tears fell to the ground and then turned into a cloud of mist before drifting back to Helena’s body.
"After not seeing each other for over a thousand years, I bet you have a lot to talk about... I won’t disturb you then."
Kael walked to the door, pushed it open, and walked out.
"Oh, by the way," he suddenly remembered something, turned his head, and said, "If you need anything, just call Tata... He’s the House-elf here, and as long as you call his name in this manor, he’ll hear you."
With that, Kael gently closed the door.
Once the oak door was closed, all sound from inside vanished completely.
Even though Kael was curious about the gossip in the Ravenclaw family, now was clearly not the time to eat popcorn, and they probably wouldn’t appreciate having an outsider standing by while they talked.
Kael followed the corridor and soon returned to the manor’s hall.
Tata was polishing a crystal ornament with a piece of velvet cloth. Seeing Kael, he quickly stopped his work and bowed to greet him.
"Don’t mind me, Tata," Kael said, looking around, discovering there was only Tata and himself.
"Is Madam Perenelle also helping Nicolas with the creation of the Philosopher’s Stone?"
"Yes, the mistress is also helping," Tata replied.
"Alright then."
Kael casually found a chair to sit down, and Tata continued polishing those crystal ornaments.
After several hours, there was still no movement in the room. It seemed that both Nicolas and Ravenclaw had forgotten he was even there.
Lunch, prepared by Tata, was sumptuous, yet it felt lonely.
Because, at the long dining table, he was the only one eating; Nicolas and Perenelle did not emerge, according to Tata, they had been dining in the Alchemy Room lately.
As for those two in the room, a ghost and a memory, they obviously didn’t need to eat.
The only one left was Tata, who disappeared after serving the final dessert.
Only after Kael was full did Tata suddenly reappear in a corner of the room.
A few more hours passed. Kael grew a bit bored from waiting, so he got up and asked, "Tata, can I go to the Opera Room upstairs?"
After not seeing each other for over a thousand years, Helena and Ravenclaw’s conversation probably didn’t seem like it would end any time soon, so he had to find some activity.
Listening to opera is a nice way to pass the time, even if Kael couldn’t understand it, but there seemed to be no better place to go.
However, upon hearing this, the Little Elf immediately became cautious, clearly remembering how Kael and Dumbledore once discussed dismantling and taking away that room.
"Master said that you could go into any room you want."
Tata said, and then added, "But sir must not damage the house; there are charms from the master here. If you try to damage the walls, sir will get hurt."
"I’m just going to listen to an opera. Why would I break down walls?" Kael asked in confusion, not understanding what Tata meant.
"Nothing, nothing, Tata was just saying... I’ll take you over right now." The Little Elf quickly put down the velvet cloth and led Kael to a room upstairs.
It looked just as before, empty. Kael nimbly walked to the wall opposite the door and pressed a symbol on it.
In almost the blink of an eye, a large orchestra appeared in the otherwise sparse room.
Listening to the soothing orchestral music, Kael turned to Tata and said, "If any ghost comes looking for you, please let me know immediately."
"A ghost?"
With visible trepidation, Tata’s body shook.
"Sir must be joking with Tata. There are no ghosts here, Tata knows..." He shivered while speaking, and Kael could clearly hear the chattering sound of his teeth clicking together.
"Are you... afraid of ghosts?" Kael couldn’t help but ask.
"Tata isn’t scared!" The Little Elf squeaked: "Tata just... just doesn’t like them."
"Alright then." Kael said, not exposing the Little Elf’s self-deception.
Being afraid of ghosts was nothing to be ashamed of; most first-year students at Hogwarts didn’t behave much braver when they first saw ghosts.
"Let’s do it this way," Kael continued: "If you hear someone calling you, just come find me. Don’t be scared, that ghost is also a guest of Nicolas, it won’t frighten you."
Upon hearing the word "guest", Tata became somewhat less afraid. Although Tata still looked tense, at least his teeth no longer chattered.
"When... will that ghost, guest, come looking for Tata..."
"I’m not sure about that." Kael thought for a moment and said: "It might be today, maybe tomorrow, I’m not sure, but it shouldn’t be too long.
"If you’re scared, you can stay beside me these two days, and if anything unusual happens you can tell me immediately."
"Tata isn’t scared," said the Little Elf, stiffening his neck, but he still refused to take a step out of the room.
Kael shook his head with amusement, not saying anything further. He drew out his wand, conjuring chairs for both himself and Tata, and then settled down to enjoy the opera performance in the room.
...
Yet Kael listened like this for an entire day.
Another day passed, yet there was no sign of the oak door opening.
Every meal time, there was always just Kael sitting alone by the table.
"Wait a minute, they couldn’t really have forgotten about me," Kael thought to himself in exasperation.
Looking at the empty dining table and hall, he suddenly got the illusion that he was the actual master of this manor.
Finally, after breakfast on the third day, Kael stopped Tata as he was preparing to leave.
"Could you help me find a mirror?"
"Of course, no problem." Tata nodded, "What kind of mirror does sir need?"
"Just an ordinary mirror would do, but a larger one with a wooden frame would be best," Kael said.
Soon, Tata found the mirror he wanted, similar in size to The Mirror of Erised in the Headmaster’s Office, with a rowan frame around the outside.
Kael asked Tata to place the mirror in an empty room, and then followed him inside.
He had thought Helena and Ravenclaw would only talk for a day or two at most, but now it seemed like even one or two weeks might not suffice.
As for Nicolas and Perenelle, they clearly had no intention of leaving the Alchemy Room.
Though the opera was indeed lovely, listening to it for a couple of weeks just wouldn’t do.
More importantly, everyone else was busy; if he didn’t find something proper to do, others might think he was just idling about...
So Kael decided to find something for himself to do, like attempting to create a piece of Magic Item... namely, the mirror he had seen in the room that could store Nicolas’s memory.
Because of the Diadem, the Magic Text Formula and talismans engraved on the mirror were no longer as incomprehensible as before. Besides, Kael clearly remembered the function and position of each Magic Text.
Although without the Diadem’s enhancement, replicating these Magic Texts completely would be quite challenging for Kael, he still wanted to give it a try; after all, there was nothing else to do, and he just might succeed.
Oh, and there was also the "Periculum" charm; after discovering the issues with it, he intended to practice it again to see if there were any differences from before.
Later on, perhaps he could ask Tata if there was a spacious and sturdy spot here where he could safely use the charm.
...
