Chapter 23

Albus was very quiet. He would sit on the windowsill and watch her do her homework most of the time. Sometimes, he might not say a word for the whole day.

Ayala kept looking in books for a way to get him back, but unfortunately he didn't find anything useful.

Albus didn't care about it. He didn't want to go back. It was an endless nightmare for him. The only advantage of having him there was that Ayala could help him with his homework.

Although the person in front of him did not have the knowledge reserves of Dumbledore now, he was several grades older than Ayala, and these assignments were child's play for him.

Isabella did not stay in France for long. After about twenty days, she was taken back to England. She always felt that her aunt had noticed something, but she just didn't say it.

Albus was a very good friend. To her, the two of them could go a whole day without talking and not feel awkward or bored. She had originally wanted to ask Dumbledore for help, but now she didn't really want to do that anymore. She didn't want to lose Albus.

Ever since Albus came out, she often suffered from insomnia. For example, tonight, as soon as she closed her eyes, her mind was filled with the scene of her waking up from Gringotts, as well as some memories that she didn't know whether they belonged to her or not.

"You remembered it again?"

Albus's hand touched her forehead and Ayala nodded.

"This time there was one more person. I saw a woman holding me and dying in front of me."

Albus didn't answer and recited a spell that she didn't hear clearly. In an instant, she felt a lot more relaxed and less tense. She heard Albus humming a song she had never heard before, and her eyelids slowly drooped.

"Albus, what was that spell you chanted last night? It was magical. I felt much more relaxed after chanting it."

"It's a spell my mother invented. She used to use it on me when I couldn't sleep."

She followed Albus to learn for a while, but still couldn't learn it. The pronunciation was a bit difficult.

"It's okay, there's no need to rush to learn. There's still plenty of time."

After that, every time she couldn't sleep, Albus would use that spell to coax her.

School started and the holiday passed quickly. Ayala was very distressed. She was afraid that she could not take Albus with her, after all, it was Hogwarts. Albus told her not to worry.

"In this world, no one can see me except you."

Albus followed her onto the train to Hogwarts.

"It's still the same here. Nothing has changed."

"Did you also use Yeqi to pull the carriage back then?"

"Yes, but in the eyes of many students, it was the carriage that could fly."

Albus kept looking at everything around him, and it was obvious that he was missing it.

"The time I was there was when the cycle started and ended when I left Hogwarts for the holidays. I haven't been to Hogwarts in ages."

Ayala was still a little scared, after all, Dumbledore himself was in the hall. She took Albus back to the dormitory first and let him stay there. The dormitory made Albus even more curious.

"This is the first time I've seen the Slytherin common room. We used to be in the dorms wondering what Slytherin was like."

"What do you think it is like?"

"We thought there would be real snakes in the Slytherin common room, but instead, there were giant squids."

After settling Albus down, Ayala returned to the Great Hall to prepare for the dinner. Dumbledore was still sitting in his old seat, and several Slytherin friends sat with her. They were discussing what they had experienced during the holidays, and soon the dinner began.

Just like before, the number of students sorted into Slytherin was still the least, with Hufflepuff first, Gryffindor second, and Ravenclaw third. Of course, no one would announce the ranking, but she was too bored and could only count them one by one.

She didn't dare let Albus go to class with her. After all, the professors at Hogwarts were no fools. If they really found out, it would be terrible.

Albus could touch things related to her. Sometimes when she returned to the dormitory after dinner, she would find that Albus had already finished her homework. There was a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. The professor's teaching was very interesting. This class talked about Dementors.

"Azkaban hadn't been built when the Dementors were discovered. When they passed by, you felt like you would never be happy again. Later, the Ministry of Magic used them to manage the prisoners of Azkaban. The most severe punishment was a kiss from a Dementor, which would suck away your soul, and from then on, you would become a walking corpse."

Albus asked as he looked at what she had written.

"There's a spell that protects against Dementors. Would you like to learn it?"

"What spell?"

"The Patronus Charm will be different for every wizard. She will transform into an animal similar to the wizard. The Patronus may change."

"Can you teach me?"

"Of course, first you have to find a memory that makes you feel the happiest, and then recite the spell while thinking of it."

Happy things… Ayala thought about it for a long time and tried several times but there was no response. Albus said it was because the memory was not happy enough.

After trying for several days, Ayala finally succeeded. This time, he thought of the moment when Albus came to reality from the dream. A butterfly flew out from the tip of the wand, and Albus smiled, congratulated, and applauded.

"Albus why is this a butterfly."

"After the Patronus Charm is successful, an animal will appear. This animal is the one that most resembles the wizard. Just like the Animagus, it is an animal that matches the wizard's personality."

"So what's yours?"

Albus thought in silence for a moment, then shook his head.

"I don't remember."

The next time the professor continued his discussion of Dementors and mentioned the Patronus Charm, he jokingly said:

"There's no class reunion spell either?"

Ayala raised her hand. The professor looked surprised, but still let her come up to demonstrate. Ayala recited the spell skillfully. As soon as she finished speaking, a butterfly flew out from the tip of the wand and circled around the room. Everyone in the room was surprised, including the professor.

"Miss Turner, it's a perfect spell. Honestly, even adult wizards might not be able to cast the Patronus Charm. This deserves twenty extra points from me for Slytherin."

At night, Albus would sit on a chair or lean against the wall and watch her fall asleep. Ayala began to get used to and rely on his presence. Fortunately, there was no one in her dormitory, otherwise it would seem weird to everyone if she talked to the air.

Because of this, Ayala began to fear that Albus would disappear, and she would not let him leave the dormitory, for fear that Dumbledore would see him.

It was very late that day when Ayala returned to the dormitory. It was almost curfew time. Albus looked at her who had just come in and asked a question.

"Want to see the moon?"

This nonsensical question confused Ayala, and she nodded subconsciously. Albus recited a spell, and Ayala was stunned when she looked back at the mirror. There was nothing in the mirror. Albus took her hand and walked out of the dormitory, and he pulled her all the way to the astronomy tower.

Following Albus's lead, Ayala also sat down.

"When I was at Hogwarts, whenever I felt unhappy, I would come to the Astronomy Tower and sit, looking down at the sky and the stars. It seemed that I would relax a lot when I came here."

"Now that you mention it, it's indeed very comfortable to feel the breeze."

Ayala had never paid attention to these things in her astronomy classes before. This was the first time she sat there and took in the scenery.

Albus pointed to the places below and introduced them one by one, saying a lot of things she didn't know. After a while, he stood up again and pulled her up.

"You have Potions class tomorrow, go back to bed early."

Since then, Ayala often went out for night outings with Albus after curfew. Since there was no one else she could play with particularly well in school, she stayed in the dormitory except for classes and meals.