Adam took a deep breath and walked straight into what looked like the solid trunk of the ancient tree. The sensation was bizarrely familiar, like his memory of walking through the barrier to Platform 9 ¾. But instead of arriving instantly, he found himself plunged into a corridor of absolute, oppressive darkness.
The familiar sights and sounds of the Forbidden Forest vanished, replaced by a deafening silence and a profound blackness that his eyes couldn't pierce. He cautiously took a step forward, his foot meeting solid, unseen ground. His heart, once steady with confidence, began to pound in his chest. A primal fear of the dark and the unknown gripped him. This twenty-second walk felt like an eternity.
And then, just as suddenly as it began, it was over. He took one more step and was violently ejected from the dark path.
A kaleidoscope of brilliant, gentle light assaulted his eyes, forcing him to throw an arm over his face with a stunned cry. He was completely blinded. It took a few moments for the spots in his vision to fade, and when they did, he slowly lowered his arm.
His jaw dropped in sheer awe.
He had appeared in a beautiful and thick forest, bathed in a soft, magical glow. The light wasn't coming from the sky, which was a soft lavender color, but from the trees themselves. From every branch of the ancient, silver-barked trees, long vines of flowers hung down like weeping willows. Each vine was a living tapestry of color, bearing at least three or four different kinds of flowers—some sapphire blue, others emerald green, soft pink, and brilliant gold—all glowing with their own gentle, internal light.
The sheer beauty of the place was intoxicating, but Adam forced himself to focus. This was an unknown, potentially dangerous territory. His previous secret spaces had been straightforward—a cave, a corridor, a clear path forward. But this was different. There was no path. No walls. Just an endless, beautiful forest stretching in every direction. It felt less like a secret space and more like a completely new, fairy-like world.
Thinking of this, his first logical step was to establish an exit. He turned back towards the spot where he had appeared, expecting to see the rough bark of the ancient oak tree. There was nothing. The door he had used to enter this world had vanished.
A cold knot of fear began to creep into him. This wasn't a dungeon with a clear entrance and exit. This was a cage. A beautiful, glowing cage.
He chose a direction and decided to walk in a single, straight line, his wand held ready. As his initial fear subsided into a tense alertness, he began to talk to himself in a low whisper.
"Incredible," he muttered, admiring the glowing flora. "The smell... it's so sweet and appealing." A momentary breeze rustled the flower-vines, and the air that washed over his face was the perfect temperature. "This place is almost too perfect. Honestly, at this point, I wouldn't even be surprised if some fairies came flying up to me."
He walked like this for what felt like half an hour, the scenery beautiful but eerily unchanging. Finally, he decided that it was enough. Walking aimlessly wasn't a strategy; it was just a way to get more lost.
He stood perfectly still in the middle of the glowing forest, his senses on high alert as he tried to formulate a new plan. Until now, the air had been filled with a constant, gentle symphony—the soft rustle of the flower-vines in the ever-present breeze, the distant, melodic chirps of unseen birds, and the occasional scuttling of a squirrel-like creature with a luminous tail running up a silver tree trunk.
But then, he heard it.
It was a very tiny noise, almost lost beneath the other sounds, coming from somewhere ahead and to his right. It was a faint, high-pitched whimper, like a small animal in distress.
Instantly, Adam froze. His head snapped in the direction of the sound. That was different. That was the first sound he'd heard since arriving that didn't feel like a natural part of this forest's peaceful harmony. His grip tightened on his wand, every muscle in his body tensing with caution. That was the sound of something in trouble.
Taking a slow, deliberate breath, he began to move towards it, his footsteps making no noise on the soft, mossy ground. As he moved silently toward the source of the sound, he pushed aside a heavy, sweet-smelling vine of glowing flowers and peered into a small, open clearing ahead. He saw something that, despite his earlier joke, still made him freeze in genuine surprise.
There, hovering in the center of the clearing, was a small group of fairies. They were exactly like the creatures from the fantasy movies and cartoons he had seen in his past life—tiny, humanoid figures with delicate, shimmering wings, each wearing a colourful dress or skirt that looked as if it were spun from flower petals. They were huddled together, their backs touching, as they looked around in all directions on high alert. The whimpering sound was coming from them.
It took Adam a second to register the sight, his mind trying to reconcile the fairytale image with his tense reality. Seeing their defensive posture, he came to a logical, but incorrect, conclusion. They're scared. Maybe they're on high alert because of me. For him, these cute, tiny creatures seemed completely harmless.
Deciding to show that he wasn't a threat, he took a slow step out from behind the tree, holding his hands up where they could see them. "It's okay," he started to say. "I'm not going to—"
All of their tiny, shimmering heads snapped in his direction as he emerged, their eyes wide with a mixture of fear and surprise.
It was in that exact moment of shared distraction that the air directly behind the fairies seemed to curdle. A sudden, dark shadow erupted silently from the mossy ground. For a horrifying second, it was just a plume of dark smoke, but then it slowly took the horrifying form of a weird, floating creature that looked nearly like a wolf made of pure shadow.
Before Adam could even finish his sentence or shout a warning, it plunged onto the terrified fairies.
Terrified by the sudden, vicious attack, Adam's body moved on pure reflex. He instantly held his wand out towards the direction the dark shadow had emerged from and waved it quickly, a desperate act of defense. What shot from the wand wasn't a proper spell with an incantation, but rather a disorganized, shimmering ball of pure magical energy. Adam didn't have any specific spell in his mind; all he wanted, with every fiber of his being, was to protect the little fairies from the monstrous shadow.
The ball of magic instantly crossed the clearing and penetrated the shadow wolf. Adam heaved a quick sigh of relief as the creature's form exploded into wisps of dark smoke. But his relief was short-lived. The shadowy tendrils only dispersed for a moment before they began to writhe and coalesce, once again reforming into the menacing wolf-like shape. Ofcourse, his attack wasn't enough, it wasn't even a proper spell.
This time, however, the fairies all faced it head-on. They zipped towards each other, bravely forming a small circle. They all held each other's hands, and then, as one, they all started to glow. The light grew exponentially, a brilliant, warm radiance that intensified until the six of them together seemed like a little sun itself, burning away the gloom of the grove.
The shadowy figure didn't just disperse this time. As the pure, white light washed over it, the creature seemed to feel pain, writhing and dissolving like smoke in a strong wind. Adam, caught in the edge of the blinding light, had to shield his eyes, but he felt no scorched feeling, only a pleasant warmth. Within seconds, the shadow wolf was gone, burned into nothingness as if it had never existed.
As the intense light calmed down, the fairies finally relaxed, their individual glows returning to a soft, gentle shimmer. Adam lowered his arm, his eyes adjusting, and looked closely. There were six of them in total, each a different elemental hue.
They slowly flew over to him, their tiny wings beating the air silently. One of them, a fairy that glowed like a bright red ember, flew right up to his face, looked at him with curious, luminous eyes, and said something in a high, tinkling voice that he couldn't understand.
"Elu'shae, vel'anar, kor'ali?"
Adam just blinked, completely baffled.
Before he could respond, another fairy, this one a calm, sapphire-blue, drifted over to the red one and gently tapped her on the head. The blue fairy then spoke, and this time, Adam could clearly understand the words, which sounded like tiny bells chiming in his own language.
"Hush, Ignis. This one is a Human. He does not understand the Old Tongue."
The little red fairy, Ignis, puffed out her chest, her fiery glow intensifying with indignation at being corrected.
"Serena, don't treat me as a kid!" she chirped, her bell-like voice sharp. With an audible pout, she zipped away from the group and hovered near a hanging vine of golden flowers, her arms crossed.
The calm, sapphire-blue fairy, Serena, paid her no mind, her attention focused entirely on Adam. She floated closer, the other four fairies forming a curious, shimmering semi-circle behind her.
"We thank you, Human," she said, her voice calm and melodic. "Your first thought was to protect us. That is a rare and noble thing."
"I tried," Adam said, still processing the fact that he was talking to actual fairies. "Where... where is this place?"
"This is our grove," Serena replied simply. "A small world woven between the seams of yours. A sanctuary." Her intelligent, luminous eyes drifted down to the Gryffindor crest on his robes. "You are from Hogwarts, are you not?"
Adam was stunned. "Yes. But... how do you know of Hogwarts?"
A faint, knowing smile touched Serena's lips. "We have had dealings with your castle and other mages for a very long time. Protections are woven, bargains are struck. Tell me," she continued, her gaze turning more intense, "were you sent by the old one? By Dumbledore?"
Adam's mind raced. This was a complication he had not foreseen. "No," he said, deciding on the truth. "He doesn't know I'm here. I came secretly. It's better if he, and the others, don't find out."
Serena hovered for a long moment, studying him. "I see," she said finally. "I will trust you. Your soul... it is damaged, yet it is pure. When the shadow creature appeared, your first thought was not of your own safety, but of protecting us. I will keep your secret, Adam Taylor."
Adam was lost for a second, his mind reeling from the flood of new information. Hogwarts has deals with fairies? And she mentioned other 'mages' from my world... not just wizards. And what did she mean... my soul is damaged? The last part hit him like a physical blow, a cold dread washing over him.
"What do you mean by 'damaged soul'?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
Serena's expression was not one of pity, but of a scholar stating a fact. "It is my nature to sense the essence of a creature's soul," she explained. "Those shadow creatures have none—they are just empty hunger. Yours... yours seems to be fractured, as if it were once broken. But it is not lost. It is pure, and it is healing, mending itself with some sort of powerful magical effect I have not seen before."
Adam stood stunned, his mind immediately jumping to his reincarnation, his second chance, his System. Was that what she was sensing? The magical effect of the System, slowly healing the trauma of a soul that had lived and died once before?
Seeing the profound shock on his face, Serena gestured with a graceful, glowing hand. "These are heavy thoughts for a place like this. You have helped us, and now you are our guest. Come. One of our dwellings is near. We can speak more where it is safe."
The other fairies, including a now-curious Ignis, zipped closer, their fear of him completely gone. They began to flit around him, their tinkling sounds now cheerful and welcoming as they began to lead him deeper into the glowing, magical forest. Adam, his mind a whirlwind of questions, could do nothing but follow.
The small elemental fairies guided him, flitting through the air around his head like a personal escort of living jewels. Adam, still trying to process everything, turned to the calm, sapphire-blue fairy who seemed to be their leader.
"You called me by my name back there," he said, his voice quiet. "I never told it to you. How did you know it?"
Serena glided closer, her light casting a gentle blue hue on his face. "A name is not merely a sound, as it may appear to humans," she explained, her voice like soft chimes. "It is a form of magic itself, etched into the very fabric of your soul. I can feel it, just as I can feel the life in the trees and the water in the stream."
Adam thought carefully about her words. Name magic... etched into the soul. It was a concept so foreign, yet it felt deeply, fundamentally true. It also explained the System's warning about "Name Magic" affecting him. And it seemed to be much more interesting and important too.
Soon, the group arrived in a larger clearing. In the center stood a beautiful, proper-sized hut woven from the living, silver-barked wood of the surrounding trees, with glowing flower vines serving as natural, living curtains over the windows. Outside, a simple wooden table and a couple of sturdy wooden chairs were waiting.
"Terra," Serena said, turning to a fairy that glowed with the soft green of new spring leaves. "Tea for our guest, if you please."
The green fairy, Terra, gave Adam a curious, wide-eyed look before nodding and zipping into the hut.
Adam gratefully sat down on one of the chairs, placing his wand on the table beside him. He looked from the human-sized chair to the tiny, flitting fairies. "If you don't mind me asking," he began, "why is this place so big? Since you're all... so small."
A tinkling, melodic laugh escaped Serena. It was a sound of pure, unbridled amusement. "A fair question," she said, her eyes twinkling. "The truth is, this is not our true home. Our real dwelling, the Fairy Dome, is hidden far from here, a sanctuary for our kind. This grove is merely a place we created for dealings with humans. It is... safer this way, to avoid any other creatures finding our tiny home." She gestured to the chairs. "And as for the furniture... we are not always so small."
Her body began to shine with a royal, bluish-white glow that grew brighter and brighter. Adam watched, mesmerized, as her form elongated and expanded, the light coalescing until she was no longer a tiny pixie of light, but a figure around the same size as Adam himself. She floated in the air for a moment before sitting gracefully on the chair opposite him.
Adam found himself momentarily speechless. He looked her over, from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet, then back up again. She was, by any measure, absolutely beautiful. Her figure and aura were stunning. Yet, the effect was strangely out of proportion; her bodily features were mature and very attractive, yet her height was the same as his own, that of a boy not yet an adult, which she seemed to choose herself. Her bare feet hovered an inch above the mossy ground. Her dress, which now looked like it was made of shimmering blue water, reached only to her knees, revealing her glowing, fair calves. A slim waist, ample breasts... she seemed to be the perfect woman, physically, and her calm, wise temperament only added to her allure.
He looked at her facial features one last moment—the high cheekbones, the luminous blue eyes, the silver-white hair that seemed to float around her head—before he snapped out of his daze, a faint blush rising on his cheeks.
"You... you look very beautiful," he stammered out.
A delicate, rosy blush appeared on Serena's own glowing cheeks. She who could understand the essence of a creature's soul looked at Adam and saw and heard more than just the simple words he had said.
"Thank you," she said softly. "Fairies are born from the raw elemental energy of the world, very close to nature. It is said our forms are appealing to all living creatures. And," she added, a small smile playing on her lips, "all fairies are female."
"That's..." Adam said, surprised by this new piece of information. "That's fascinating." He cleared his throat, trying to get his strategic mind back on track.
"You mentioned dealings with Hogwarts, and with 'muggle mages.' What kind of deals and bargains do you make?"
Serena answered as if it wasn't a secret at all. "Simple ones. We make deals for protection and for food. In return, they receive these."
As she spoke, a brilliant blue stone on the simple vine necklace she wore began to glow. It detached itself and floated gently across the table into Adam's waiting hand. The moment it touched his palm, it shone with a blindingly bright, pure blue light.
Serena looked genuinely surprised. "Remarkable," she breathed. "You truly are suitable for water-based magic. That is a water elemental stone, formed in the heart of our fairy dome, a place hidden from all eyes."
Adam felt a cool, refreshing energy radiate from the stone, making him feel invigorated and clear-headed. He instantly understood why Dumbledore and these other mages would want them. These could be used to power spells, enchant items, create magical contraptions... their value must be immense.
He looked up at Serena. "I think I understand the need for protection, after seeing that shadow creature," he said.
"But I don't understand about the food. This place seems to be filled with so many trees, and I see fruits on them."
A wistful, almost whimsical look came into Serena's eyes. "A fairy can only eat so many glowing berries and enchanted fruits before she grows weary of them," she said. "But human food... it is so much more complex. You create so many different, wonderful things from a single type of ingredient. And when one has lived for a very, very long time," she sighed, a sound like a gentle breeze, "even we fairies get bored and crave a little excitement in our lives."
Terra, the green fairy, soon returned, levitating a tray with a tiny, steaming teapot and cups made from polished acorn caps. The tea smelled fragrant and sweet, like honey and morning dew. As they talked, Adam, now feeling more like a guest than an intruder, finally asked the question that had been burning in his mind.
"Serena, what were those creatures?" he asked, his voice serious. "Why did they attack you?"
Serena's calm expression tightened with a hint of ancient sadness. "They are the reason we require protection," she explained. "We call them the Umbrae. They are not truly alive, but spirits of emptiness, born from decaying, forgotten magic and even the negative feelings of fury and hunger. They are drawn to places of strong life, like our grove, and they seek only to consume it, to turn all that is light and vibrant into silent, empty shadow."
Adam thought of their non-corporeal forms. "So my magic was useless because they have no bodies to strike."
"Not exactly," Serena affirmed. "They can only be harmed by that which they are not—magic, light, and life. Your magic ball, while raw, was pure magic, so it hurt it. Our light is the essence of life itself, so it unmade it. If you had used the spell of pure good that your wizards seemed to use, then you would've finished it as well."
The conversation went on for a while longer. Adam learned more about the grove and the daily lives of the fairies. In return for their knowledge, and for the elemental stone she had given him, he wanted to offer them something. He remembered Serena's words about human food.
"You said you enjoy human food," Adam said, opening his System's inventory. He pulled out a few simple things he had stored—a meat pasty and a jam tart. "I have these." He then paused, an idea striking him. He quickly opened the shop and purchased a small, ornate box of beautifully crafted chocolates. "And... these."
He placed them all on the table. The fairies zipped around the items with excited, tinkling chirps. Serena floated down to examine the offerings. She gently touched the pasty, then the tart, then the box of chocolates Adam had just bought from the System. A curious, puzzled look came over her face.
"This is strange," she mused, tapping the System-bought chocolates. "This food... it feels clean. Pure. It has no history, no connection to the sun that grew its ingredients or the hands that made it." She then gestured to the pasty. "This one feels different. It has the warmth of the hearth it was cooked in. Both are fascinating."
Adam was taken aback by her perception but said nothing, merely smiling as he exchanged the food for a few more elemental stones of different colors. Finally, after the tea was finished and the food shared, he knew it was time to leave.
"Thank you for your hospitality," he said, standing up. "But I must return. How... how do I leave this place? The entrance I used is gone."
Serena smiled. "The entry door vanishes once used. An exit must be opened anew." She called out in her chiming language. "Ignis!"
The fiery-red fairy, Ignis, who had been excitedly nibbling a corner of a chocolate, zipped over instantly. Serena and Ignis flew to the trunk of a nearby silver-barked tree. They each placed a glowing hand on the bark, and a soft, shimmering light began to trace the outline of a small, human-sized door. Within seconds, a glowing, golden door stood before him.
"This will return you to the place you entered from," Serena said. "Farewell, Adam Taylor. I hope our paths cross again."
Adam gave a final nod of thanks and stepped through the portal.
He stumbled out onto the cool, damp grass at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. The air was crisp and the night was still young; the half-moon had barely moved across the sky. He checked his watch and was amazed to see that only forty-five minutes had passed in the real world. Time clearly flowed differently in that secret space.
As he walked back towards the warm, distant lights of the castle, his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. He had gone into the grove expecting to fight monsters and level up, but the experience had been something else entirely.
So Dumbledore, and even other mages, know about these places, he realized. As I had thought, they aren't my secret alone. They're a known part of this world's magic.
This space hadn't been one where he could just finish off monsters and level up, but he hadn't left empty-handed. He had learned so many new things, and he now possessed several powerful elemental stones. The knowledge he'd gained felt far more valuable than a simple level increase.
He thought of Serena's final, strange observation. She could feel the difference between normal food and an item created by his System. Just as she could feel that his soul was... damaged, but healing. The mysteries surrounding his second chance at life were deeper than he could have ever imagined.