The Silent Witch of Hogwarts

Chapter 2: The First Day of 1992

It's cold...so cold...

This was Loila's first impression... The moment she stepped out of Nurmengard's castle, she felt a bone-chilling cold, followed by boundless darkness.

She felt as if she were trapped in the mud of the deep sea, or as if she were exploring a forest full of weeds. The feeling of being bound continued to surround her until finally, she felt a heart-stopping sense of falling.

This is something I never felt when falling from Durmstrang's tallest tower.

But in the end... she opened her eyes.

"Where am I...?" She looked around at everything and felt completely unfamiliar. She remembered that she had just stepped out of the hall of Nurmengard.

But at this point, her surroundings had nothing to do with Nurmengard anymore.

This is a cave by the sea, where waves occasionally crash and gently wash over her somewhat worn, wet leather boots.

She seemed to have fainted, but she had no recollection of why. She shook her head and took a deep breath to pull herself out of the suffocating dizziness.

Then I started thinking about what I should do... Lord Grindelwald's mission...

Wait... Lord Grindelwald!

This was the first thing Loila thought of: Did Lord Grindelwald win?

She clearly remembered that before she left, Lord Grindelwald was going to face an opponent he had no chance of defeating.

She pursed her lips and raised her wand.

Apparition.

She silently murmured to herself, desperately wanting to return to Nurmengard and find out the outcome of that duel.

But... the wand only swayed slightly and nothing happened.

It looks like... the wand with the holly wood shaft and the Veela hair core is broken.

Whether it's because of the water damage or some other reason, Loila can't return to Nurmengard immediately.

So now she's in a rather awkward situation... alone in an unfamiliar place and having lost her wand.

She realized she couldn't live up to Lord Grindelwald's trust... That was her first thought, but she quickly rallied.

No...no...Loila, oh Loila, you absolutely cannot fall into such depravity. You are carrying out Lord Grindelwald's mission and entrustment.

She patted her face to encourage herself, then slowly stood up while holding onto the wall.

Perhaps it was because she hadn't exercised in a long time, but her legs felt as stiff as two pieces of wood... Indeed, she had been too... too lazy during her time in Nurmengard.

Thinking this, she stepped out of the seaside cave and wandered aimlessly along the beach, where an endless expanse of sand stretched out before her.

But she figured there would be a village by the sea no matter what... even if it was a Muggle village, it didn't matter.

………………

"Is this... England?"

Loila was lucky; after walking for two hours, she came across a small town.

But as she approached and saw the shop signs hanging in the town, her eyes widened.

Those were undoubtedly English characters, a reminder that she had traveled from Austria on the Mediterranean coast to England on the Atlantic side.

Why is this happening?!

As she was thinking this, several people hurried past her, startling her so much that she quickly shrank back and hid herself in the shadows of her robe and the wall.

Loila was afraid of the surging humans. She was afraid of communicating and interacting with outsiders. Just making eye contact with these people terrified her.

Besides the fact that she is socially anxious, it's also because of the identities of these people.

They are Muggles.

She was somewhat afraid of Muggles... After all... after all, her mother had said before that Muggles were terrible monsters who ate Veela and wizards... and even Lord Grindelwald didn't have a good impression of them.

She carefully avoided the crowds, moving like a mouse through the alleyways.

Occasionally, when she encounters Muggle children, she nervously lowers her head and keeps her distance from them.

This is...this is terrifying...there are so many Muggles here...more than wizards at Durmstrang. If Durmstrang had this many people, Royla probably would have graduated much earlier...

Whether it was because he finished his studies ahead of schedule or because he was afraid and dropped out, remains unknown.

Fortunately, the Muggles all seemed busy, and no one seemed inclined to talk to Loila. Otherwise, if she were to engage in any more conversations with the Muggles... Loila felt she would faint.

Soon, she arrived at a place that seemed a bit remote. It was somewhat gloomy and cramped, but it made Loila feel much more at ease.

At least here you don't have to worry about running into Muggles...

This also allows her to have the energy to think about what she should do next.

Based on the road signs and shops she had just seen, she roughly knew that she should be in Devon, England...

This place seemed to be some distance from Diagon Alley, the wizarding center of England as she knew it.

Unfortunately, she didn't have a wand... She subconsciously took out her wand and examined it.

The wand that had accompanied her throughout her student life and her time in the scholastic party was now completely destroyed, which saddened her.

I've heard that many people bury their damaged wands under the tree corresponding to the wand's trunk, letting them return to nature... I wonder where holly trees are planted in England...

Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly heard footsteps.

"Pat-pat...pat-pat." The person walking seemed to be dragging their feet, looking quite tired.

"Hmm!" Loila subconsciously looked around. She couldn't find a place to hide, so she had no choice but to clench her wand and curl up to make herself less conspicuous in the alley.

The footsteps grew closer, and Loila lowered her head and closed her eyes tightly, praying that she wouldn't be discovered.

Unfortunately, the figure who had been dragging his feet stopped and stood in front of Loila.

"You..." the voice began, a weak and feeble one, like the last note played on an old saxophone.

"Ugh!" Loila exclaimed, "I...I don't know you!" She instinctively pulled her hood tighter to hide her pointed ears.

"I don't know you either, miss." The person who responded paused slightly, as if he was breathing heavily, which made Loila glance at him.

He was a rather thin, somewhat refined middle-aged man, perhaps a little younger than Lord Grindelwald, but definitely much older. His face was pale, as if he had just experienced something terrifying.

But this very person was scrutinizing Loila with piercing eyes.

"But even so... I know... you shouldn't be here." He lowered his voice, "This isn't a place for you."

"Huh?!" Loila bit her lip in surprise. She hadn't expected to be discovered like this!

He... he's a wizard? And someone from the Ministry of Magic?!

He must be here to arrest me?

I didn't do anything wrong! Wait a minute! They still arrested me last time even though I didn't do anything wrong!

"I...I won't go with you!" Loila said, mustering her courage, and then raised the wand that was no longer usable.

"Then you'll have to tell the Ministry of Magic." The weak man gave a sheepish laugh. "Besides... didn't the Hogwarts professors say not to point your wand at people without permission?"

"A professor at Hogwarts?" Loila paused, unsure of what the man in front of her was talking about.

Of course she knew where Hogwarts was... but she didn't understand what that had to do with her.

"Which house at Hogwarts are you from?" the man asked again. "It shouldn't be Gryffindor or Slytherin, right...?"

"Ah... I see." He bent down gently and said, "You must be from Hufflepuff, right?"

Hufflepuff?

Loila pursed her lips, seemingly understanding something... Did the person in front of her mistake her for a Hogwarts student?

No... do I look that small?

She really wanted to tell the person in front of her that she wasn't a Hogwarts student at all... but upon closer inspection, if she refuted him, wouldn't she have to talk to him a lot more... and there was also the possibility of her being exposed.

So, Loila pursed her lips and nodded slightly.