The day before the new term began, also the last day of the Christmas break, proved unexpectedly busy for Tver. Urged on by Lupin, he had no choice but to rush back to Hogwarts by noon. He hurriedly stepped into the castle, only to be immediately pulled up the stairs by Lupin, who was waiting at the entrance.
"Wait, you have to tell me where we're going and what we're doing, right?" Tver asked, looking utterly bewildered.
During the break, Lupin seemed to have recovered well. His grip felt much stronger, and his overall demeanor was vastly improved compared to before the holidays. Lupin agreed with Tver's point and halted his steps. Of course, they had actually reached their destination—Professor McGonagall's office on the second floor.
"You'll see when we get inside," Lupin said, his expression turning serious. "But first, I must thank you for your Christmas gift. It was wonderful—my health has improved tremendously, even surpassing my usual condition."
Before Tver could respond, Lupin knocked three quick, light taps on the door.
"Knock knock knock."
Almost immediately, Professor McGonagall opened the office door swiftly, as if she'd been waiting for them behind it.
"Thank you for bringing Tver, Remus." The sternness faded from her face considerably at their appearance.
"Not being able to help you more, this is the least I could do," Lupin said, sounding somewhat apologetic.
Tver's face still bore a look of utter bewilderment. However, the expressions on their faces were merely serious, and the student they'd just encountered seemed quite relaxed. So, the situation couldn't be that dire.
"Um, so can I ask what this is about?"
"Oh!" Professor McGonagall belatedly realized, grabbing Tver's hand and pulling him into the office.
Great, now someone else is dragging me around. Tver followed in resignation. But this time, no explanation was needed—he knew exactly what they were after.
A beautiful broomstick lay intact on Professor McGonagall's office desk. Yes, every single part was there—how could it not be complete?
"Is the school short on funds?" he asked jokingly.
"Why would you say that?" Professor McGonagall turned back, puzzled.
"You dismantled the broomstick, didn't you? To study its inner workings and then replicate one to sell?"
Tver examined the broom. The disassembled parts were actually detachable components designed for replacement and maintenance. Yet he could still appreciate the intricate craftsmanship within—after all, he'd been exposed to considerable alchemy knowledge.
"And such a beautiful broom at that. If I'm not mistaken, this should be the latest Firebolt model?"
Professor McGonagall gave the wisecracking Tver a sharp slap on the arm, shoving him toward the desk.
"You're not mistaken. This is the outrageously expensive Firebolt on the market. Care to guess who'll receive such a precious Christmas gift?"
Her lips pressed tightly together, her expression hardening once more. Standing alongside Lupin, she radiated an imposing presence. Any ordinary student witnessing this scene would likely already be contemplating how to survive detention.
Tver wore a peculiar expression. He knew full well that the only Firebolt at Hogwarts would end up in Harry's hands. But wasn't Harry supposed to receive it at the end of the school year? Why had it become a Christmas present?
"Um, it probably wasn't me..."
"It was Harry Potter!" Professor McGonagall emphasized, enunciating each word deliberately.
"What's even stranger is that the sender didn't sign their name, and they used public owls for delivery," Lupin said, his gaze fixed intently on the broomstick. "And I visited the Quality Quidditch Supplies—the staff there said they received a letter of authorization from Harry Potter before retrieving the Galleons from the vault."
"But I distinctly remember that vault number 711 belongs to Sirius Black!"
He didn't know how he felt saying this, but as Tver had advised him—whatever Black's secrets might be, they had to find him first.
Tver wasn't surprised by this answer, though he hadn't expected them to uncover so much information so quickly based on just a broom.
"So what? I recall Harry was Sirius's godson. It's perfectly normal for a godfather to send his godson a Christmas present after being released from prison, isn't it?"
Lupin couldn't help but chuckle, earning him a sharp glare from Professor McGonagall.
"Be serious, Tver!" She picked up the broom's ash handle and placed it before him. "This broom was given by Black. We suspect it's been cursed with dark magic, or perhaps some of its safety mechanisms have been tampered with!"
"Even after Lupin and I studied it all holiday break, we couldn't detect anything unusual."
"That's why we brought you in—to seek help from you, the Dark Magic… expert."
Tver took the wooden handle with a peculiar expression.
"Help? Honestly, if you two couldn't find anything, even I might not discover anything by casting spells myself." He shrugged. "Besides, have you considered it might just be an ordinary flying broomstick?"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Professor McGonagall declared firmly. "If it were an ordinary broom, that'd be one thing, but this is a Firebolt—an expensive broom whose price fluctuates based on craftsmanship."
"To put it bluntly, I wouldn't spend that much just to buy someone a Christmas present!"
"..."
Tver looked at her with a mix of emotions. If he didn't know the plot, he might actually have been convinced.
The scene froze for a moment before Lupin hurriedly broke the silence.
"Regardless, Tver could try some disenchantment spells. Whether there's an issue or not, we just need to remove any unwanted magic."
Tver raised the wooden handle to eye level, examining it while sighing helplessly.
"Forgive my arrogance, but if I were to use a Counter-spell, most of this broom's magic would likely be destroyed."
"That's unnecessary—we're only inspecting it," Professor McGonagall interjected quickly. "Potter still needs this broom for the tournament..." She cleared her throat. "Ahem, I mean, if this broom is truly a gift, we have no right to tamper with it!"
With Professor McGonagall having spoken thus, Tver could only make a show of producing his wand and tapping the wooden handle.
Instantly, strands of black thread emerged from the wand's tip. Simultaneously, golden runes began to appear on the broomstick.
"This is a manifestation. It resembles ancient runes, but it's actually me translating magic backwards into rune script—not ancient magic itself." To read the books Rowena Ravenclaw had hidden within her diadem, he'd supplemented his knowledge considerably with ancient runes.
"What do these runes mean?" Lupin asked curiously.
Ancient Magic Runes were primarily useful for deciphering ancient texts, making their study a necessity only for prominent families. Most wizards possessed little understanding of runes, even academic prodigies like Lupin.
"They indicate this broom is perfectly safe and free of any issues."
Tver had gleaned far more insights, but those were knowledge he'd "seen" within the broom itself—information he saw no need to share.
...
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