It was quiet.
Everything was simply peaceful, filled with silence.
Edith lay face-down, surrendering herself to that comfort.
Was this what death was?
Was this gentle sleep death itself?
But something felt wrong for being dead.
She was thinking like this, and had a sense of truly existing there.
"...Hm?"
Edith opened her eyes and slowly sat up.
Upon rising, the first thing she noticed was that she wore nothing.
She instinctively covered her body with her hands, blushing, but fortunately no one was nearby.
Yet even with no one around, being naked wasn't particularly comfortable, and she wished for at least some clothes.
Then, as if reflecting that wish, folded uniforms appeared before her.
"...The Room of Requirement?"
What you wished for appeared.
It was just like the Room of Requirement, yet Edith held a strange conviction that this wasn't that place.
While dressing, she looked around and realized this was a pure white world.
Everything was wrapped in white mist, making it impossible to see the full picture.
Where exactly was this?
Thinking thus, Edith stood and slowly advanced.
Then she noticed someone besides herself standing ahead.
A girl in a maid uniform with refined features.
Her flaxen hair tied back, she smiled gently upon noticing Edith watching.
An unfamiliar face.
...No, wait—was it really?
Edith felt a sense of nostalgia from that figure.
She felt they'd met somewhere before.
That was... yes, before going to watch the Quidditch match with Mirabelle.
A maid who'd worked at her house.
The maid-uniformed girl approached Edith and extended her hand with a smile.
"We meet again."
This was Edith's first time seeing her.
Yet she held a strange conviction.
Perhaps because this was a special space?
Without any explanation, Edith felt she knew who this girl was.
"Could you be... are you..."
"My name is Mary Orwell. Dear young lady."
At Edith's question, the maid girl laughed jokingly.
She even displayed the service of lifting her skirt hem and bowing politely, suggesting she might quite enjoy jokes.
Tears overflowed from Edith's eyes, and before she knew it, she was clinging to her.
"...This isn't a dream, right? It's really you, isn't it? I wanted... to see you... I've wanted to see you and apologize...!"
"Don't be silly... you have nothing to apologize for."
Mary stroked Edith's head, calming her.
After separating from Edith, she extended her hand.
"Now, let's walk together."
Edith wiped her tears and placed her hand over Mary's.
And so the two girls began slowly walking through the white space.
Unlike Edith, who walked nervously, Mary's steps held no hesitation.
She almost seemed to know where this place was.
"H-hey, Mira—no, Mary. Where is this?"
"Who knows? Where does it look like to you?"
At the prompt, Edith looked around again.
Several buildings surrounded them, a pub, and what appeared to be Honeydukes.
In the distance stood the Shrieking Shack.
This was... yes, this was...
"...Hogsmeade Village?"
"Yes, it 'looks like that' to you."
Though devoid of people, this was the Hogsmeade Village Edith knew.
Understanding this, the mist thinned and the overall view became clearer.
Yet strangely, mist remained over places she remembered faintly, leaving them invisible.
Meanwhile, the mist grew extremely thin over places she'd visited with Mirabelle, like Honeydukes, or the Shrieking Shack where they'd fought Wormtail.
"Hey, is this... heaven? Or hell?"
"Hehe... why do you think that?"
"B-because I died after taking Sidney's curse..."
Edith clearly remembered the events before losing consciousness.
The death magic had undoubtedly struck her directly.
Then she must have died.
No—it would be strange if she hadn't died.
Besides... Mary, who had died, was also here.
"Who knows? Perhaps the same thing that happened to Harry Potter happened to you."
"Eh? What does that mean..."
"At that time... during the battle at the Ministry, I offered my life to protect you. Then, couldn't we think of it this way? That in that moment, protective magic using my life was completed."
Protective magic.
Edith had heard of its existence from Harry.
Long ago, his mother had offered herself to protect Harry, defeating the Dark Lord.
What if the same thing had occurred?
If so... Edith hadn't died yet.
But wait, that still seemed wrong.
Because Mary had been attacked by Voldemort that time. Not Sidney.
Perhaps that doubt showed on her face, or perhaps nothing could be hidden here... either way, Mary smiled as if reading Edith's heart.
"I understand your question. But protective magic doesn't necessarily only affect the one you offered your life against. In fact, Harry Potter was in a state where Death Eaters couldn't touch him for seventeen years because of protective magic, wasn't he?"
Protective magic affected not only the one against whom life was offered, but also encompassed their subordinates.
Looking at Harry Potter made this obvious—he'd lived without Death Eaters touching him, and that's precisely why Dumbledore deliberately placed Harry in an environment as terrible as the Dursleys'.
Yet Edith still couldn't accept it.
Sidney wasn't Voldemort's subordinate. He was on Mirabelle's side.
She couldn't understand why he'd be included as a target for protective magic's exclusion.
To such an Edith, Mary spoke like a teacher providing answers.
"It means Voldemort wasn't the only one I willingly offered my life against. You couldn't have known, but... I offered my life to Lady Mirabelle before I was killed by Voldemort."
The protective magic itself activated during that battle in the Department of Mysteries. That was certain.
But at that time, something that should never have occurred had happened, Mary explained.
"Normally, protective magic repels only one person, or those carrying their will. That's natural, but because the activation condition for protective magic is 'death.' Humans die once and that's the end... normally, you couldn't have multiple targets. But that person bent that providence... gave me an impossible 'second time'..."
Normally impossible—two deaths.
And since both were offered willingly, they met protective magic's conditions and were granted to Edith, whom she'd shielded with her own body.
Moreover, there were likely other contributing factors.
Mary's blood had been used when Mirabelle became a vampire, and conversely, something like a fragment of Mirabelle's soul had been given into Mary.
A strong connection similar to the relationship between Voldemort and Harry Potter.
Perhaps the protective magic Mary created responded far more strongly to Mirabelle than normal.
Either way, what this meant was—
"I'm... not dead?"
Edith was still alive.
But Mary didn't confirm this, saying evasively:
"That's for you to decide from now on."
Mary waved her hand.
Then the surrounding scenery changed, becoming somewhere she'd never seen.
A place like a school Muggles attended.
Many young boys and girls were there, among them a golden-haired, golden-eyed girl she recognized.
Though bearing painful wounds in various places on her body and radiating a sharpness that repelled all comers, she was unmistakably Mirabelle Beresford.
"This is...?"
"Memories from the past I knew. Memories I knew of Lady Mirabelle and your sister. And what you need to know."
Mary narrowed her eyes as if looking at something distant.
Edith couldn't understand the emotion there.
But she felt she could tell Mary was sad.
"Now, let's go. On a journey through memories."
The images of the past shown to her gradually changed, showing Mirabelle becoming gentler.
The images from Mary's perspective were unimaginable from the current Mirabelle.
At first, there wasn't much difference from now.
Though not as chaotic as now, the tyrant's traits were already visible, emitting an atmosphere like a starving beast that repelled others.
Subjected to elite education bordering on abuse—no, that could only be called abuse itself—she trembled with rage and humiliation, steadily amplifying the malice she harbored within.
Trusting no one, viewing even parents and siblings as enemies or tools—that nature was precisely the Mirabelle Beresford Edith and the others knew.
However, there was someone who changed that Mirabelle.
A silver-haired girl who approached Mirabelle when everyone kept their distance, continuing to approach despite being treated coldly.
Unfazed even by Mirabelle's extraordinary talent for making others submit—already manifesting then—smoothly entering her heart was something Edith found hard to believe.
Eventually Mirabelle was won over by her, gradually narrowing the distance between their hearts.
"I won't go anywhere. I won't leave your side. From now on too, we'll always be together... Mirabelle."
"...Ah... yes—from now on too, always together... Lettice."
What Edith saw was Mirabelle in a form she'd never seen before.
Laughing with a friend, exposing her defenselessness as if completely at ease—she almost thought it some kind of joke.
That Mirabelle who trusted no one lying down on someone's lap and sleeping peacefully was a scene she couldn't even imagine.
That influence appeared externally too—her very facial features became considerably gentler, and she began treating servants more softly.
Perhaps if she'd grown up like this, she might have blossomed talent as a good leader like Dumbledore.
Rather than the deviant who now found joy in trampling others, she might have become someone who helped others.
But that was merely a "what if."
The Mirabelle who existed in reality now reigned as a tyrant, threatening the wizarding world.
The scenery changed.
Mirabelle and Lettice disappeared, replaced by a corridor in Beresford Manor.
A maid cleaning there—Mary—accidentally overheard a conversation leaking from a door gap.
Normally she wouldn't commit the rudeness of eavesdropping on her master's conversation, but when Mirabelle and Lettice's names came up, she felt an unpleasant premonition.
Mary suppressed her voice and, though knowing it was rude, pressed her ear to the door to eavesdrop on the conversation inside.
"...Hey dear, are you really doing it?"
"Yes. I've already informed Umbridge."
"But... won't that child be sad if you do such a thing?"
"That's not the issue. Right now, the priority is quickly brushing off the insect clinging to Mirabelle."
It was Mirabelle's parents' conversation.
The chirping of fools who poured abnormal love and expectations onto their daughter, unable to realize they were thereby promoting her malice.
But that chirping wickedly possessed enough power to move part of the wizarding world.
"That child has the talent of a king. Not parental favoritism—a natural ruler who surpasses even Dumbledore. But you know that's currently rotting, don't you?"
"Yes... Lettice Valentine."
"Correct. Some girl of unknown origin with tainted blood is bewitching Mirabelle. Ruining our greatest masterpiece that we raised with our heart and soul."
At this time, Mirabelle was beginning to progress in the right direction as a person.
But from the Beresfords' perspective, that wasn't justice but evil.
To them, justice meant being "the victor." Having talent enabling that yet voluntarily discarding it was unforgivable.
Therefore, she was in the way.
The angel who reformed the demon called Lettice Groasteist was unnecessary to them.
"Such a commoner isn't suitable as Mirabelle's friend. She should have someone more noble, pure-blood and superior attending her."
"But even so..."
"Don't worry, no evidence will remain. We can handle everything as a Dementor rampage. Right about now, Umbridge should be releasing Dementors at that girl's house. Fudge will feel some discomfort, but that man will surely think it just an accident anyway."
Hearing that, Mary threw down her cleaning tools and ran.
She rushed to Mirabelle's private room and burst into the room without even knocking.
Then Mirabelle turned around in surprise, but upon recognizing Mary, immediately changed her expression to a smile.
"What is it, Mary? How rude to enter without knocking. Well, never mind. I just had something I wanted to show you."
Saying so, Mirabelle produced a silver necklace.
"Look, Lettice's birthday is coming up, right? So I tried making this as her birthday present myself—"
"Milady! Lettice... Lady Lettice..."
"...Something happened to her?"
At Mary's unusual state, Mirabelle's complexion changed.
At that moment, Edith and the others saw Mirabelle's fearful face for the first time.
As she listened to Mary's story, Mirabelle's face grew increasingly pale, her pupils widening.
And before hearing the entire story, she burst from the room and Disapparated.
Mary immediately chased after her and vanished.
Before Lettice's house, an oppressively heavy rain fell.
Mary ran to the house without caring about getting wet and leaped inside through the already-open door.
And—there, a scene that should never have existed spread before them.
"Mi... rabelle... -sama..."
"..."
The master didn't answer.
She simply held the girl's body in silence.
As if never letting go of that warmth, strongly, strongly.
But the girl no longer responded.
Life had left her eyes, unresponsive like a doll.
She was alive... but living while dead.
The fate of one attacked by Dementors and having their soul sucked out.
Beside her sat a man with vacant eyes, likely Lettice's father.
As a Muggle, he was helpless against Dementors. How cruel.
Belatedly, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge and Dolores Umbridge arrived there.
In a sense, the worst timing.
"M-Miss Beresford! What on earth are you doing here?!"
Fudge's eyes widened in surprise.
Likely he was uninvolved in this matter and only perceived it as an accident.
But it was obvious this was a deliberate crime, and Umbridge couldn't even hide her filthy smile.
She grinned crookedly with joy at eliminating one Muggle-born.
"We, you see, received a report that a Dementor had escaped. We rushed here, but... ah, it seems there were victims. Truly regrettable, yes."
"But it's good. That the damage was only this much. Really, truly wonderful that no precious pure-blood wizards were harmed."
Mirabelle's shoulders twitched.
Umbridge didn't understand how much she'd just stepped on a landmine.
If things went badly, this woman was repeating dangerous statements enough that everything here could be dyed in blood right now.
"Oh, are you sad, Miss Beresford? No, no, no, that can't be. Because you're from one of the wizarding world's most distinguished pure-blood lineages. Moreover, descended from nobility. There's no way you'd be moved by such a commoner."
"..."
"Besides, there are plenty of replacements for someone like that, right? More suitable pure-blood families for you. And if you think about it, this is actually good. Because Muggle blood won't enter the wizarding world. Bad blood needs to be expelled from the wizarding world."
With a voice she surely thought was gently consoling, she spoke persistently.
Mary and Edith's group watching could only be on edge.
They thought Mirabelle might explode at any moment.
But Mirabelle stood while still holding Lettice's body, turning around with a face as if nothing had happened.
That face was the usual Mirabelle. The usual... "Mirabelle that Edith and the others knew well."
"I see, you're quite right. Trash is only trash no matter what you do with it. If you think of the wizarding world's future, you need to eliminate them by any means necessary."
"Yes, exactly! You understand! I'm so happy!"
"Ah... I understand very well indeed."
Umbridge and Fudge didn't notice.
That Mirabelle's words were directed precisely at them.
That they themselves were the trash to be eliminated.
"U-um? Miss Beresford, where are you taking that child?"
"Move."
"Eh? But..."
"Move."
In that instant, an unprecedented pressure dominated the scene.
Mary, Fudge, Umbridge, even Edith's group who were only watching—none could move.
Overwhelmed by Mirabelle's tremendous force, they couldn't even breathe properly.
Those directly subjected to it, like Fudge and Umbridge, were practically foaming at the mouth.
Without a glance at the trash crawling on the floor, she left the house and walked through the rain.
Mary hurriedly chased after her, and eventually the two stepped into the forest.
"Lettice... I won't let you become a Dementor... Rather than taking such a miserable form, I'd rather... with my own hands..."
Those whose souls were sucked by Dementors became new Dementors.
Only one method existed to prevent that.
While still holding Lettice, Mirabelle drew her wand and placed it against Lettice's back.
And before Mary could even cry out, that spell was spoken.
"Avada Kedavra."
Green light struck Lettice, stopping the life activity that had barely continued.
This was Mirabelle Beresford's very first murder.
Why Mirabelle showed no hesitation when killing people—Edith understood.
Because first, she'd killed her most important person!
Everything besides Lettice was dust to her... after killing her only friend, there was no reason to hesitate killing anyone else!
"Don't worry, Lettice... I won't let you be alone."
She laid out the silent corpse and closed its eyelids.
Then waving her wand, a small light flew out from the corpse's chest.
A silver shining remnant of a soul.
...The leftover scraps of a soul the Dementor had barely failed to consume completely.
Mirabelle summoned her Patronus and absorbed the soul into it.
Then the Patronus changed form, becoming Lettice's very appearance.
"From now on, always together. The two of us will change this rotten wizarding world."
Mary couldn't see Mirabelle's expression.
But contradictory emotions of joy and lamentation could be felt from her voice.
"Isn't it wonderful? ...I'll destroy everything, and I'll create everything. I'll massacre the scum who remain only through blood and connections, and build an ideal magical nation where those with talent like you can live."
Kukuku, Mirabelle laughed.
Her mouth twisted into a crescent, and the scales that had been tipping toward good instantly returned to their original position.
No one could stop her malice anymore.
She needed no one anywhere.
Therefore—the possibility of reformation vanished here.
All that remained was a broken demon with no restraints.
"Yes, that's good... let's do that. The filthy Dementors, the Ministry, the pure-bloods. This wizarding world that denied you. This world that drove you to death! I'll deny it all, I'll destroy it all! I don't need a world like this! If the world denies you, I'll kill the entire world!"
On this day, the wizarding world made the wrong choice.
They'd given the worst answer to the worst choice they shouldn't have made.
Therefore, it wouldn't stop anymore.
The only possibility that could have stopped this demon was lost. They had destroyed it.
Then afterward, the only remaining path was to plunge toward destruction.
"Hahahahahahaha!! Ahahahahahahahahaha!! Ah-hahahahahahahahaha!!"
Mirabelle laughed.
Maniacally, with inhuman mad laughter.
In the pouring rain, she continued laughing while shedding tears of blood.
"HaHahahahahaHaHaHaHaHahahahahahahaHaHahahaHaHaHaHaHaHaHahahahahaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHahahaHahahaHahahaHahahaHaHaHaHaHaHahahahahahahahahahahaHaHaHaHaHaHa!!!"
—On this day, the greatest and most evil demon in wizarding history was born.
****
Deleted Scenes
Edith: "Wh-where is this... Wah?! I'm naked?! Why?!" Dumbledore: "..." Edith: "!?" Dumbledore: "What a wonderful girl, what a brave child. Now, let us go together!" Mary: "Soryaa!" Dumbledore: "Fo!?" Mary: "You're alive unlike in canon! Why are you here?!" Edith: "Pervert! Pervert! Pervert!" Dumbledore: "S-stop, guboaaa!?"
Deleted Scene 2
Mary: "Where does this look like to you?" Edith: "...A bus stop? R-right... I need to go home..." Mary: "This is the 'final stop.' You can't... go back." Edith: "!? Wh-who are you?!" Mary: "Edith... you did splendidly... splendidly enough that I'm 'proud.'" Edith: "Wait! Mary, wait?! In that situation I'm going to die?! I'll die, won't I?!"
***
(´ω`) Good evening, everyone. Chapter 79 brought Mary's reappearance. Mary's protective magic is hard to understand, but it covers both Mirabelle's faction and Voldemort's faction. This is a normally impossible duplicate state of protection from the caster Mary having offered her life to two people. Well, since it's only protection against attack magic, if someone throws rocks using vampire power or something, there's nothing to be done. See you again tomorrow!
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