Noah staggered out of bed. It was already around nine in the morning.
He couldn't remember the last time he had slept in. Ever since discovering the Room of Requirement and founding the League of Mages, his days of waking up naturally had become a distant memory.
The pain of sleep deprivation was something he preferred not to think about. Waking up early every single day, even on weekends—it was exhausting.
Still, Noah had no choice. As the leader of the Mage League and the chief administrator of the Room of Requirement, sleeping in wasn't a luxury he could afford.
"But it really does feel nice… waking up naturally and meditating in the system space. At least I can rest and grow stronger that way. It's too cruel getting up early every day with only two days off."
Noah stretched and glanced out the window at the gloomy gray sky. He yawned again.
Christmas in England always seemed like this—a cloudy sky and a light snowfall, which felt like a blessing.
If it rained too, that would be the perfect excuse to stay inside and warm up by the fire all day.
Shaking his head, Noah got out of bed. He had promised himself to return to the orphanage every holiday.
This time, though, he hadn't come back alone. Harry Potter had chosen not to stay at Hogwarts and had returned to the Muggle world with Noah instead.
Given how strained Harry's relationship was with his relatives—the Dursleys—he ended up following Noah to the orphanage and politely asked Ms. Haifin if he could stay for the holidays.
Kind-hearted as always, Ms. Haifin agreed without hesitation. After all, Harry was Noah's classmate.
Noah had just rolled his eyes. He didn't say much.
"Whatever. The orphanage has plenty of kids and even more empty rooms. Let him stay."
Still, he wondered, Why does this guy always follow me around? But he had to admit—it was helpful. At least he's good at housework. Saves me a lot of effort.
After freshening up, Noah yawned again and slowly made his way downstairs, his stomach grumbling.
He was used to having three meals a day at Hogwarts, and skipping breakfast wasn't something he liked. It was already nine o'clock—no wonder he was starving.
As soon as he entered the living room, he heard Harry enthusiastically talking about their school life.
Of course, Harry avoided mentioning anything magical. His audience included Ms. Haifin and a group of curious children from the orphanage.
"Noah's always been the top student at school. One time, our professor asked a question that was way beyond our grade level, and Noah answered it flawlessly. He even earned ten points for Ravenclaw right there! That's when we realized how amazing he really is."
Hearing that, Noah scratched his nose, feeling a little embarrassed.
Eventually, his hunger won out, and he interrupted, sheepishly.
"Good morning, Avril. Morning, Harry."
"You're finally up? It's already nine. Are you always this lazy at school?" Ms. Haifin teased. "Sit down. I saved you some eggs and mushroom soup. Come and eat."
"Thanks. Sleeping in is rare for me."
Smiling, Noah sat down, added some butter to his eggs, and turned to Harry.
"Why don't you talk about your Quidditch glory? I remember back in first year, I was just a nerd in your eyes, right?"
"I wanted to," Harry replied with a smirk, "but no matter how well I play on the pitch, you never seem to care."
"Alright, kids," Ms. Haifin cut in, "go play. You must be bored. But no going outside—it's snowing, okay?"
The children cheered and rushed off to play, thrilled to be excused.
"Now, you two can talk about whatever nonsense you like," Ms. Haifin smiled at Noah and Harry.
"I'm used to it by now," Noah shrugged, sipping his mushroom soup.
"Used to it? I still remember how withdrawn you were as a child."
"Can we not talk about that? That was ages ago."
"Fine, fine. Then tell me something fun from school."
"Uh… not much, really."
Noah took a bite of his egg and tried to recall. What had he done this semester?
He expanded the League, took down the Basilisk and a sixteen-year-old memory of Tom Riddle, and even taught Professor Dumbledore the basics of elemental magic.
And… that was it?
He didn't want to bring up anything dangerous—he didn't want Ms. Haifin to worry. Maybe he could throw Harry under the bus?
But just as he was thinking, Harry jumped in.
"Noah's done a lot of incredible things this semester!"
"Oh?" Ms. Haifin raised her eyebrows and turned to Noah, who now looked visibly uncomfortable.
"Noah, be quiet. Harry, you tell me. Don't worry—I already know about the magical world. I'm Noah's guardian, after all."
Harry looked at Noah cautiously, noting his expression, but decided to go ahead anyway.
"Um… well, not only did Noah ace every subject, but he also taught a sixth-year a lesson using magic! And then—"
"What happened next?"
Harry hesitated but continued.
"He solved the mystery behind the creature in the Chamber of Secrets. The monster had killed a student and petrified a cat and another student. It was a sixty-foot-long Basilisk—just looking at it could kill you! But Noah defeated it!"
"…I'm done now."
Noah couldn't take it anymore. He saw Ms. Haifin's brow twitching and quickly stood up with his plate.
"Time to go."
"Noah—"
"Ahem. Sorry to interrupt. Am I in the right place?"
A deep voice cut through the room.
A tall, handsome man with messy brown hair and sharp blue eyes stood in the doorway. Snow dotted his coat and shoulders, but it didn't diminish his charisma.
"John? John Constantine?" Ms. Haifin blinked in surprise.
"Yup. Bloody cold here in England. I miss L.A.'s afternoon sun. But, a promise is a promise."
Constantine shook his head and walked in, sitting down where Noah had been moments earlier.
"Got any coffee? I'm freezing."
"Third shelf in the second cabinet. Make it yourself. Noah, get over here!"
Ms. Haifin didn't even acknowledge the smaller figure trailing behind Constantine. It was rare to see her act so dismissively.
Noah sighed and approached, greeting Constantine with a grim expression.
"John… long time no see. Hey, Chase."
"Greetings later. First—Basilisk? Sixty feet long? And you fought a sixth-year? What the hell are you doing?"
"Basilisk?" Constantine muttered in disbelief. "You mean the Basilisk? Giant snake, death by eye contact? That thing's illegal even in the underworld! And you killed it? Blimey, kid."
"…Thanks," Noah said, forcing a smile. "Really helping me out here, John."
He turned to Ms. Haifin, trying to explain.
"Someone released it. It started attacking students. The professors couldn't find it, but we were just… unlucky. We happened to encounter it."
"And you dealt with it?" Ms. Haifin frowned. "Where were the professors?"
"They were trying their best, but the creature was well-hidden. We stumbled upon it by accident. We figured out what it was, closed our eyes, and I managed to kill it using a spell."
"Impressive," Constantine smirked. "You don't kill a Basilisk with just any spell. Must've been something powerful."
"Of course. I used elemental magic."
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