Hogwarts Raven

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Perhaps it wasn't just Ian's imagination. After all, while the witch looked furious, she never actually chose to take action. Instead, she glared at Pandero and Ariana with eyes that seemed ready to spit fire.

"Ian! We're here to save you!" Pandero declared while brandishing a long sword with a fierce demeanor. Only the more perceptive Ariana noticed that Ian and Professor Mara in the hall didn't look like a prisoner and captor. Ian wore an expression of "we've messed up" and looked genuinely ashamed.

"Pandero... Ian doesn't seem like he was captured..." She whispered a reminder to Pandero.

"Huh?" Pandero looked confused.

"No way! I heard she loves eating children!" The overbearing swordsman was determined to stick to his judgment.

"Crunch, Crunch~"

This was the sound of the witch, Mara, grinding her teeth.

"Sorry, Professor, I forgot to go find them and tell them about my situation here." Ian quickly stepped in to mediate after snapping out of his daze.

"Get your friends out of my territory!" The witch redirected some of her anger toward Ian. However, her reaction suggested she was indeed wary of Pandero, who had barged into her domain.

"Huh?"

Even if Pandero was slow to react, he heard Ian's address to the witch, Mara. His eyes widened, and his face flushed with embarrassment.

"I actually guessed wrong..."

This "old ghost" with the appearance of a boy was momentarily at a loss. Drawing his sword and looking around in confusion, the earlier aura of wanting to cut down everything had completely vanished.

"Ms. Mara, I'm sorry. We'll help you repair this place." Ariana began bowing apologetically to the witch, Mara, with immense shame.

"With his empty brain and your naive little self? You should be thankful if you can even create a chair that someone can sit on!" Mara's face darkened as she turned to look at Ian again.

"Make them leave! They're not welcome here!"

After saying this, the witch turned and walked deeper into the castle, her expression grim. Although her gown wasn't dragging on the floor like a rag, the missing corner was still very noticeable.

"I don't want to stay here! The monster is back!"

"So terrifying! So terrifying!"

"He must be trying to harm us again!"

The tables and chairs all followed behind the witch on their long legs.

"That woman has such a temper!" Pandero immediately started complaining after the witch left.

"Pandero, don't speak so much. After all, it's our fault. We damaged a lot of her property." Ariana weakly reminded him.

"Hmph, she tried to capture me before. This just evens the score."

Pandero, however, was somewhat unconvinced. Clearly, he had dealt with the witch before.

"I don't think Professor Mara is that bad. She taught me quite a bit." Ian curiously walked to the entrance, where he finally got a clear view of the scene outside.

Broken pieces of armor were scattered everywhere, and some half-bodied armors were crawling pitifully on the ground, desperately trying to get as far away from Pandero as possible.

"Maybe I had some grudge with her when I was alive?" Pandero spoke somewhat uncertainly.

Like Ariana, he only remembered waiting for someone here when he was alive. But that person never came.

The longer souls stay in this mysterious place, the more their memories of the mortal world fade until they completely forget. Then, the souls are forced to embark on the next part of their journey.

"Regardless, we've definitely caused a huge mess this time." Ariana sighed anxiously.

"At most, we'll compensate her with a western dragon. The one we encountered up north looked really fierce. It only died a few years ago, so it's definitely more impressive than her scrap metal."

Although Pandero was still talking tough, he wasn't unaware that he had made a mistake.

"I'll find a way to make it up to Professor Mara."

Ian patted Pandero's shoulder. He was genuinely moved by the two's "rescue" attempt. No matter what, their concern for his safety showed they were true friends— though perhaps these two friends didn't realize that no one in the 'Twilight Zone' could actually imprison him.

Once the time was up, he would be forcibly sent back to the real world...

"Are you learning magic from Ms. Mara?" Ariana asked curiously.

Ian nodded. "Professor Mara is incredibly knowledgeable. She's helped me get a head start in learning compared to other young wizards." He wasn't just saying this to flatter her.

"That's great."

Ariana was happy for Ian but also a bit envious. "Maybe I can bring some magic textbooks in for you too."

Ian remembered that Ariana had always harbored some longing for Hogwarts.

"Teaching her is useless. Here, magic has no meaning."

Pandero shook his head beside them, speaking in a somewhat proud tone, "It's better to learn swordsmanship from me. You can cut whatever you want."

As he spoke, the overbearing swordsman swung his ordinary-looking sword.

"I once defeated everyone in the 'Twilight Zone'. Even that guy from your school... what's his name... Godric Gryffindor could only barely keep up with me for a few moves!"

'Wow! He even crossed swords with the founder of Hogwarts?'

"Do you know Godric Gryffindor?" Ian was curious.

Although Professor Mara seemed very wary of this friend, how could she compare to Gryffindor? That's the legendary swordsman of Hogwarts! While there's no documentation of how strong Gryffindor's swordsmanship was, as a legendary wizard evolving toward the "Gandalf" route, ordinary swordsmen probably weren't his match.

"I ran into him a few years ago, but he left soon after. That guy's swordsmanship was decent, so I remember him."

Pandero proudly raised his head and began swinging his sword again, performing a few flashy flourishes. He then turned to persuade Ariana to learn swordsmanship from him.

"You've both been dead for who knows how long. Isn't swordsmanship and magic equally useless here?" Ian almost had his little toe cut off by Pandero's sword swings.

"Yeah." Ariana nodded helplessly beside him.

For the souls here, they didn't shy away from discussing the fact that they were already dead.

"There will definitely be a time when it's useful. Trust me." Pandero spoke with full confidence.

"Uh, you also told me to trust you when you brought me up the mountain earlier..." Ariana, however, was exasperated beside him.

"It's different, it's different." Pandero awkwardly chuckled.

Perhaps to change the subject, he immediately turned his bright eyes to Ian.

"I heard from Ariana that you've started learning magic. We got you a welcome gift. Take a look, it's something good. I wouldn't waste time on just anyone!"

As he spoke, Pandero pulled something out from his pocket— it was an apple, shining brilliantly even in the dim light of the castle.

It looked like a fragment of the sun left behind in the mortal world, or a masterpiece crafted by the gods.

(End of Chapter)