Link was having a lucid dream.
In the dream, he had become that boy, and was playing inside a huge castle.
To be honest, Link was very happy throughout the entire playtime. Because this castle seemed to be the embodiment of all beautiful things from both his and the boy's memories.
In this castle, Link could, without any concern, enjoy all sorts of delicacies with Madam Flamel, Emily, even Cedric and John, watch all kinds of movies, and even play games together.
The only slight flaw was, Link kept feeling like someone was secretly watching him.
This feeling wasn't strong at first, but as time went on, it became something Link could no longer ignore.
So, Link began searching.
In the dream, he was the creator. With the flow of his thoughts, everything in the dream instantly turned into nothingness, even Emily and Madam Flamel disappeared the same way.
But... that feeling still existed.
'This really makes no sense.' Link frowned and sat in the void, thinking deeply.
And just then, he seemed to see something move under his feet from the corner of his eye.
Link lowered his head in confusion. He saw that on the ground beneath his feet, his own shadow was continuously waving at him.
It looked like it was just trying to greet Link in a friendly way.
———
"Huff!"
In a ward of the Hogwarts infirmary, a cold-sweat-drenched Link suddenly sat up in bed.
That nightmare just now had tormented him quite badly. But for some reason, Link still felt that the shadow in the dream didn't hold any ill will toward him.
It really seemed like it just wanted to say hello.
Thinking of this, Link rubbed his temples hard, silently wondering whether he should find a dream interpreter to analyze it.
At this moment, a fierce argument came from outside the ward, and judging by the voices, it sounded like Dumbledore and Snape.
This made Link temporarily put aside those chaotic thoughts, and he curiously activated the Hyper-Sense Charm.
"...It was because you said you could cure Link that I agreed to this plan! And in the end, you just watched Link get hit by the Killing Curse? Dumbledore! You must give me an explanation!"
"Severus, isn't Link fine now? Our plan succeeded."
"But what if it hadn't succeeded? What gave you the right to guarantee that the Killing Curse shot by Tom Riddle would precisely eliminate Mike, without harming Link's body in the process?"
"You know this, Severus, that soul called Mike had a connection with Voldemort. Under those circumstances, the only thing to be destroyed would be Mike!"
"I don't believe that! You and I both witnessed how terrifying Mike was. There's no way he would come out just to die that easily! To put it plainly, Link just got lucky, or else the one who died would've been him!"
"Enough, Severus. It's best not to say more, because Link is already—"
"Don't talk to me about Link. You don't deserve to say his name! I never should've trusted you! I saw right through you more than ten years ago! You're a cold-blooded butcher! A liar! If Link had..." Snape's words suddenly stopped.
Because Dumbledore had already pushed open the door, and at this moment Link was looking at him with a "so it really is like that" expression, even with a hint of an ambiguous smile at the corner of his mouth.
Seeing this, the muscles on Snape's face twitched uncontrollably. Then, Link saw him suddenly transform into a shadow and flee from the infirmary in the blink of an eye.
"Hahaha, Link, Severus really does care about you." Watching Snape's back, Dumbledore said with a laugh.
Upon hearing that, Link laughed out loud to himself.
Snape's expression just now was truly too funny.
As for whether Snape cared about him, Link had known that since a year ago. Dumbledore didn't need to remind him.
And after laughing for a bit, Link put on a serious face again and said, "Professor Dumbledore, just now were you saying, it was you who deliberately let me be hit by the Killing Curse? And... what was that about Mike and Voldemort being connected?"
Link had clearly heard the argument just now between Snape and Dumbledore, especially the second part. He felt it very necessary to get an explanation from Dumbledore.
Upon hearing this, Dumbledore was silent for a long time before finally saying in a low voice, "I'm very sorry, Link."
"I don't need your apology. I just want to understand what you meant by 'connected.'"
"You'll understand in the future. We did it all for your own good," Dumbledore said sincerely.
"Besides, now your soul disorder has been completely cured. The connection between you and Tom is severed. Isn't that the most important thing?"
Upon hearing this, Link's fists clenched tightly.
Dumbledore might not know, but Link knew very well. The one who had been destroyed by the Killing Curse was the original soul of the young Link.
As for that "Mike"...
If he really still existed, then at this moment he was probably still well hidden inside Link's own body.
Taking a deep breath, Link was about to continue asking.
But before he could speak, Dumbledore took out a small wooden box from his robe and placed it in front of him.
"Alright, let's stop discussing this topic. I actually came here today to bring you a gift."
As he finished speaking, Dumbledore opened the lid of the box.
Immediately, a black shadow shot out from inside, and fled straight under Link's blanket.
"Arkam?"
Link said in surprise. Then he reached in and pulled out the little snake that had already wrapped itself around his lower leg.
This was his first time truly seeing the miniaturized Arkam.
Compared to the previous massive creature, Arkam now looked just like one of the most common and cheapest white-striped king snakes sold in reptile pet stores, and an immature one at that.
And thanks to his Parseltongue ability, after staring for a while, Link actually began to find Arkam quite cute in his current form.
"Mmm! Long time no see, Arkam!" After looking closely for a while, Link smiled and greeted in Parseltongue.
Being able to see Arkam again made Link feel like all the effort he'd put in this past year wasn't in vain, and his mood lightened up because of it.
But just then, Arkam tightly coiled around Link's palm, hid his head in his hand, and anxiously said, "Link! Link! Quickly move me farther away! I never want to see that old man again! He's really... really too terrifying!"
Hearing that, Link's smile instantly vanished.
He turned his head expressionlessly and looked straight at Dumbledore.
Which made Dumbledore subconsciously swallow hard, and after a long while, he nervously asked, "Uhh... did he say something bad about me?"
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