— — — — — —
"...That's unbelievably rough."
By the time Sirius finished recounting his ordeal through gritted teeth, everyone in the compartment was wearing an expression somewhere between disbelief and sympathy.
Harry had no idea how to comfort him.
Ron, on the other hand, simply blurted out what everyone was thinking. "So Professor Lupin basically tricked you into becoming imported labor?"
Sirius had gone first to Central America because of Lupin.
Lupin had contacted him, claiming he was carrying out an extremely important mission. It was dangerous, he said, and told Sirius not to worry. Once everything was finished, he'd come back.
To Sirius, those words hadn't sounded like a warning. They'd sounded like an irresistible invitation.
Harry was busy at Hogwarts, and most of the Astra Abyssum Guild's affairs had already been handed over to Ikaros. Sirius himself was only the nominal supervisor now.
With nothing tying him down, he'd packed up and headed for Central America without a second thought.
Only after arriving did he realize he'd been completely duped.
The "important mission" turned out to be working as a construction foreman. And the "danger" was a young woman.
Well, to be fair, she was dangerous. He'd been taught a painful lesson several times for slacking off.
But that wasn't the kind of danger he'd signed up for.
He'd imagined secret expeditions, powerful enemies, ancient ruins, desperate battles, hidden treasure, and the thrill of defeating evil.
Instead... His biggest job every day was using the Levitation Charm to move construction materials from one place to another.
He'd barely been competent with the spell before. After several days of nonstop practice, he'd become so proficient that he could now cast it without a wand.
The Weasley twins, however, focused on something completely different.
"Tom built another city? Dark City? That's incredible!"
"I swear, he's the biggest magical landlord in the world."
"..." Sirius smiled helplessly, "Well... technically the city's owned by Jeanne d'Arc."
"You mean that Jeanne? The patron saint of France?" Harry's eyes widened. "But why is she building a city in Central America? And why is Professor Lupin working for her?"
"You'd have to ask Tom." Sirius shrugged. "Jeanne works for Tom. Lupin works for Jeanne, which basically means he's also working for Tom."
"Who knows how those two ended up together? She's... strange. Sometimes she's exactly like the kind saint from the legends. Other times she's more like a demon."
"She calls the place the City of Darkness. A lot of American wizards have been fleeing there these past couple of days, looking for protection. Honestly, thanks to them, my workload's gotten a lot lighter."
That reminded Harry why he'd called in the first place. He passed along Hagrid's advice.
Sirius's expression immediately grew serious. "Actually, even if Hagrid hadn't said anything, I was already planning to head back. Things really have gotten out of hand."
"According to the refugees arriving here, the U.S. authorities have gone completely crazy with their witch hunts. They've already captured quite a few unlucky wizards, and believe me, they're not pulling any punches."
"Then what about Professor Lupin?" Harry asked, happy that Sirius was coming home but still concerned.
"Oh, spare me." Sirius waved dismissively. "If Lupin enjoys playing foreman, he can supervise to his heart's content. We were short-handed before, but now more and more refugee wizards are arriving every day. They won't miss one extra worker."
"It'll be far more worthwhile for me to go back and protect you. So give me two days. I promise I'll be standing in front of you before then."
Before ending the call, Sirius reminded Harry several more times to be patient for the next couple of days and, above all, not to leave the Dursleys' house.
He knew the Dursleys treated Harry terribly. Living together was torture for both sides.
Even so, they weren't the sort of people who would deliberately expose Harry as a wizard. As long as Harry stayed there, Sirius could rest a little easier.
Then the call ended.
By then, the Hogwarts Express had left the station behind and was racing across the Scottish Highlands.
Outside the windows, Aurors flew alongside the train beneath Invisibility Cloaks. If anything happened, they were prepared to cast Memory Charms and Confundus Charms on any Muggles who witnessed it.
Ron took a bite of his pumpkin pasty and muttered through a mouthful of food, "Andros the Invincible. Jeanne d'Arc. Herpo the Foul."
"The world's gone completely mad. It's like every famous dead person keeps coming back to life. What the hell is going on? What's next, the founders of Hogwarts?"
Fred looked genuinely heartbroken. "What a shame. Tom only hangs around pretty girls. Hardly any boys at school are close to him. I wish I could go to his house right now and ask him what in the world's going on. He knows way too many secrets."
"You could ask Ginny," George suggested with a grin. "She's close enough to Tom. Honestly, she probably wishes her last name was Riddle already."
Fred shuddered. "No thanks. Like you said, Ginny's really close to him. If I started poking around for Tom's secrets, she'd definitely get mad at me. Then I'd have a miserable summer."
The twins' noisy banter barely registered with Harry.
His fingers drifted to the scar on his forehead.
Yesterday, it had burned with a sharp, tearing pain.
Then last night, he'd had another strange nightmare.
Unlike the visions he'd experienced before, this one had been hazy, as though hidden behind a veil. Even so, he could clearly feel the emotions of the person in the dream.
Greed. Fear. The overwhelming excitement of someone who had stumbled upon something extraordinary.
Harry knew it had been Voldemort.
But what exactly had happened to him? No idea.
Normally, Harry would have gone straight to Dumbledore or Tom. Under the current circumstances, though, Voldemort had become almost an afterthought. No one had the time or attention to spare for him anymore.
Harry didn't want to bother either of them. So he would have to unravel this mystery himself.
Staring out the train window as the countryside blurred past, Harry slowly lost himself in thought.
...
Meanwhile, at the very front of the train, Tom and the girls had claimed a compartment and expanded it with an Extension Charm.
Ignoring everything around him, Tom turned his attention to the system panel.
As far as the system was concerned, the school year didn't truly end until the journey home had begun. And so, the long-awaited mission completion screen was finally about to appear.
Tom opened the system interface.
Instantly, a long stream of notifications flooded the panel.
.
.
.