Cecil had thought his friend had tracked down the inal culprit, but that wasn't the case. It was as if the Dark wizard had vanished from the face of the earth, leaving no trace behind. His friend had only found information on the wizard's family.

  The excitement Cecil had felt crumbled into disappoi.

  After his frie, a tormented Cecil drank himself into a stupor, smashing up his home in a fit e.

  The m, sober and exhausted, Cecil had an idea: he would stake out he family's home and wait for the Dark wizard to e back.

  Amid the chaos of the wrecked room, Cecil frantically searched for the part his friend had left, which held detailed information on the family.

  Cecil found the location aled nearby, watg and waiting for the Dark wizard to appear. He was determio kill him with his own hands in front of his family to avenge his mother and sister.

  A whole year passed, and the Dark wizard never showed up. The endless waiting and bitterness slowly drove Cecil mad, making him increasingly votile.

  Seeing the family living happily each day was a cruel reminder of the happiness Cecil had onown, which had been ruthlessly taken from him.

  In his frustration, Cecil made a new decision...

  "P-Professor.. What decision did you make?" Eda asked.

  "…There aren't many Dark wizards in Britain," Cecil expined, pag his pipe with fresh tobacco. "During Grindelwald's rise to power, many flocked to his side. When Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald, most of his followers perished. I thought perhaps my Dark wizard had joined Grindelwald and been killed. Or maybe he died somewhere else—dabbling in Dark magic is always dangerous."

  "So…" Eda trailed off, already guessing where this story was headed.

  "Yes. I hurt his family."

  "I.. I redirected my hatred toward them," Cecil fessed, full of remorse. "It's the decision I regret most in my entire life."

  Eventually, Cecil's as couldn't be kept under s, and the Ministry of Magicovered the dark deeds he'd itted. With the terrrindelwald had spread only retly subdued, the Ministry was determio prevent simir is within Britain.

  They unched a thh iigation, vowing t the culprit to Azkaban.

  The iigation ultimately led to Cecil.

  The then-Miaft sent numerous Aurors to capture him and even granted permission for them to use Unfivable Curses, revealing the Ministry's firm stance against him.

  Many Aurors had worked alongside Cecil before, and they found it hard to believe that the once-charming young man had turned into a Dark wizard capable of such cruelty.

  Initially, Cecil had no desire to harm those pursuing him; he kept fleeing, even sidering esg abroad.

  Before leaving, he wanted o visit with his family. But, because of his obsession with Dark magid the unfivable acts he had itted, his father had fallen ill with anger, and his brothers fronted him in disgust. Everyone in the family regarded him with shame.

  Disheartened, Cecil left, but on his way to the smuggling point, he faced another onsught from the Ministry's Aurors. The st thread of his sanity snapped, and in his frenzy, Cecil resolved to kill all who hunted him.

  The Aurors were no match for him and were in grave danger, fag possible death. In that critical moment, Dumbledore arrived.

  During Grindelwald's reign of terror, Dumbledore had been the one wizard capable of standing against him, finally defeating him in 1945. If even Grindelwald couldn't best Dumbledore, Cecil had no ce.

  Dumbledore subdued him but chose not to kill him.

  Instead, he sent Cecil to Azkaban, where he remained for thirty years.

  "The Dementuard Azkaban, and in that pce, you feel not a trace of happiness. Every day I spent there was full of suffering; the faces of those I killed or harmed would appear in my dreams," Cecil said, his face twisted with pain. "If it weren't for my mother and sister's memories, I might have died there—one mad."

  "After leaving Azkaban, I did many things to try to make up for my past mistakes. Even though I knew nothing I did could truly make amends, I still tried." His story cluded, and Cecil squatted down, grief-stri and uo calm himself.

  "And your family? Did you ever go to see them?" Eda asked gently.

  "No, I haven't had the face to see them. My father never fave me, not even when he passed," Cecil replied. "But I have never regretted studying Dark magic. I regret that I did something as ruthless as the killer himself—that I became as merciless as him."

  "Sometimes I wonder if, instead of going after him alone, I had goh other Aurors, maybe I could have captured him myself. Or, if I hadn't been blinded by power, perhaps I wouldn't have bee a murderer." Cecil tinued, "But all those thoughts are just what-ifs. Wrong is wrong, and what happened has already happehere's a price to pay."

  Watg Cecil close his eyes in anguish, Eda was at a loss for words to fort him.

  pared to him, her own life felt as empty as a bnk sheet of part.

  Glover Cecil—a pitiable yet ptible man, one whose remaining days would be filled only with sorrow a. Perhaps this was Merlin's ultimate punishment for him.

  Eda didn't uand why Cecil had shared his story with her. They had only known each other for a mere two weeks, nowhere near enough time for such fidences.

  Even if Cecil "saw potential in her," it didn't seem reason enough to share sutimate parts of his past. Eda couldn't make sense of his motives for doing so.

  Cecil stood up from where he crouched, fag the Bck Lake with tear-streaked cheeks. With a wave, he motioned for Eda to leave; he needed some time alone.

  Eda took Garlon and walked back to the castle, but Glover Cecil's desote figure by the ke lingered in her mind. She looked bace more, seeing him standing there, solitary by the ke's edge—a bleak and somber se.

  That afternoon, Eda returo the underground chamber.

  Despite her preparation with protective charms and ois for bruises, she left the chamber with her body covered in fresh marks once again.

  Throughout her sparring with the trial dummy, Eda couldn't focus. Her attacks and defenses were clumsy, as if she were a beginner again. Uo trate, she ehe session early, dragging her weary self back to the dormitory.

  All day, Eda felt a tightness in her chest, like something blog her.

  She began recalling her past, revisiting mistakes and the regrets they left behind. She wondered if, had she hahings differently, things might have turned out better—less riddled with regret and remorse.

  It wasn't that Eda was easily influenced, nor was Cecil's story particurly moving to her. What trapped her was her own past, a world of memories she herself had woven.

  Life, whether long or short, has those few moments filled with regret and things we wish we could ge. Though people are meant to let go of such painful memories, they're often the ohat lihe lo.

  After dinner, Eda sat in a lounge armchair, staring bnkly at the book in her hands, which she hadn't turned a page of in ages.

  The twins sitting across from her had been her. They had noticed her strange demeanor sihe afternoon and thought she seemed ented, lost in some trance.

  The twins hovered around Eda, peppering her with questions, but her responses were half-hearted, even a bit absent-mihey tried to make her ugh, but her smile held a faint sadness, like the forced cheer of a in the circus.

  With no other options, the twi Eda return to her dorm, then sank bato their armchairs, deep in thought. They khey o find some way t her back to her normal self; the way she was now, it was only a matter of time before somethi wrong.

  Si was already te, they decided to try the library first thing in the m, hoping to find a way to help Eda escape her current state.

  Lying in bed, Eda was overwhelmed by her own sad memories, unaware of the lengths the twins were going to for her.

  She didn't know about the heated debate taking p the headmaster's offi the castle's seventh floor for her sake, nor did she know that the lonely old man by the Bck Lake, after she left, had a faint smile on his face.

  ___________

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