At this moment, Wayne contemplated uprooting Mahoutokoro entirely and rebuilding it from scratch.
What stopped him wasn't conscience, but Tomoyo and Sakura standing behind him.
Taking action in front of them would be a direct insult - after all, they had spent several happy school years here and undoubtedly held deep affection for the place.
Such matters were better handled privately.
If Mahoutokoro knew what was good for it and offered him the entire school as a welcoming gift, everyone would surely be pleased.
But if they failed to understand basic courtesy...
Well, if some 'Dark Lord' happened to target this place, he'd be far away at Hogwarts and unable to help even if he wanted to...
In any case, Wayne already considered these buildings his property.
His gaze upon them had fundamentally changed.
Koga and several professors led the three on a tour of the school, explaining the history of each building while Wayne occasionally nodded and expressed admiration.
"This building is quite nice..."
"This one's good too, suitable for a library."
"The pagoda doesn't quite match my aesthetic tastes, unfortunately."
Seeing Wayne's apparent fondness for his school, Headmaster Koga beamed with pride and grew increasingly enthusiastic in his explanations.
Finally, they reached the third floor inside the pagoda.
This entire level consisted of library rooms, with access determined by the colour of students' robes.
"Mr Lawrence, while Mahoutokoro's collection may not match Hogwarts in quantity, we possess many rare volumes your school lacks. Please feel free to browse."
"If you have any questions, you may consult Miss Daidouji and Miss Kinomoto. I shan't disturb you further."
Koga tactfully took his leave, no longer wishing to intrude with his entourage.
"Professor Koga may attend to his duties," Wayne said gently. "I'll treat this place as my own home and won't stand on ceremony."
"Excellent, that's excellent."
Believing he had significantly warmed relations with Wayne, Koga departed with a pleased smile.
...
England, St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries
A single room was crowded with people.
Dumbledore, Amelia Bones, Lupin, the Weasleys, Tonks, and the hospital's current Head of House, Vertin Augustus, were all present.
Harry sat at the bedside, holding Sirius's hand with worried eyes.
The door opened as Snape entered with a grim expression, a steaming cauldron floating behind him. The crowd parted to let him through.
"Make him drink this," Snape said.
Harry hesitated. Given Sirius and Snape's relationship... Could this be poison?
However, Dumbledore acted quickly, directing the potion in a thin stream into Sirius's mouth.
Before the potion was fully consumed, Harry noticed with delight that Sirius's eyelids fluttered slightly and his pale complexion rapidly regained colour.
By the time the potion was finished, his eyes were fully open.
"Sirius!" Harry cried out joyfully. The others showed relief, particularly Tonks, whose tense face finally broke into a smile.
Only Augustus shook his head in disbelief, muttering words like 'incredible' and 'miracle'.
He clearly remembered that when Sirius was brought in, he already had one foot in death's door.
Even with Fawkes' help, they could only barely keep him alive.
Snape's potion had actually taken effect in such a short time.
Augustus knew well that the other ingredients hadn't changed - it was just that yesterday, someone from the Greengrass family had visited and given Snape a small vial of nirvana ashes.
Could there really be such a big difference between Phoenixes?
For a moment, Augustus desperately wished he could obtain a vial of nirvana ashes for research.
He wasn't the only one with this idea.
"The toxins in his body haven't been completely cleared yet," Snape glanced at Sirius, who had regained consciousness and was speaking quietly with Harry, seemingly casually remarking to Dumbledore.
"If we had just a bit more, I guarantee he'd recover completely within a week."
After seeing Astoria produce various treasures yesterday, Snape's eyes had turned red with desire.
The nirvana ashes and tears he had worked so hard to obtain through exchange with Lawrence were, in Astoria's hands, no different from Flobberworm mucus - she could casually produce over a dozen vials.
There was even a more precious golden liquid - he didn't even know what it was exactly, but judging by the fact that there was only one bottle, it must be extraordinary.
If not for his dignity as Head of House preventing him from losing face by scamming his own student, he would have already sweet-talked those items away.
But with so many other materials remaining, surely there'd be no harm in asking for a few more bottles?
Dumbledore saw right through his little scheme and lowered his voice: "Severus, Wayne is the Headmaster now. You wouldn't want Wayne causing trouble for you after finding out, would you?"
Snape's expression stiffened as he weighed whether materials were more important than his life.
In the end, he yielded.
Seeing he had come to his senses, Dumbledore said, "You should return quickly. Voldemort will probably contact you soon - better prepare yourself."
"I know," Snape replied coldly, leaving the room without looking back.
The others were also shooed from the room by Augustus - Sirius had just woken up and needed to be examined promptly.
Before leaving, Dumbledore instructed: "Vertin, don't tell anyone about my return."
"Don't worry," Vertin nodded gravely, "but I hope when the Dark Lord appears, you'll help St Mungo's through the crisis."
"You have my word," Dumbledore said firmly, then left the room with Harry.
"Harry, come with me. There are some things I'd like to ask you."
Harry nodded nervously.
The two went upstairs to a tea room. After entering, Dumbledore set up anti-eavesdropping charms, and his expression turned serious.
"Harry, could you tell me about that dream you had again?"
"Alright." Harry swallowed hard. "I dreamed I became a snake, my body slithering along the ground as if boneless. It was a huge, dark space with only faint light around."
"Crystal balls were placed on shelves, with many hourglasses around them. Then I saw Tonks, sitting on the floor, dozing off."
Harry's face grew heavy. "The Basilisk desperately wanted to bite Tonks. I tried my hardest to stop it, and it finally looked away, moving through the shelves."
"But then Sirius came, he woke Tonks, the Basilisk charged out from the shadows and locked eyes with him, then bit down..."
"And then Tonks fired spells with her eyes closed, drove the Basilisk away, and then I woke up in pain."
After listening, Dumbledore remained silent for a long time, lost in thought.
When Harry finished his second pot of tea, he finally emerged from his contemplation.
"Harry, are you certain you transformed into a snake, rather than merely issuing commands from Voldemort's perspective?"
Harry nodded firmly. "Either Voldemort brought me into the Basilisk's mind, or I directly entered the Basilisk's mind myself. Everything looked grey and white through the Basilisk's eyes, except when looking at people - then a hint of crimson would appear."
"Could you control the Basilisk's movements?"
"Only influence them." Harry explained earnestly, "If I could control it, how could I have let it attack Sirius? I desperately tried to make it close its eyes, to avoid looking at Tonks and Sirius, I even used Legilimency."
"Legilimency?" Dumbledore looked at him in astonishment. "When did you master that spell?"
"Wayne taught me, along with Occlumency."
Dumbledore's eyes flickered, but he didn't pursue the matter further. "Harry, your Occlumency still requires diligent practice. You handled this situation very well - you didn't act impulsively but went to find Minerva."
"When Wayne returns, you must discuss everything with him."
"I understand, Professor, but you..." Harry wanted to ask if Dumbledore was returning as Headmaster.
He really didn't want to take so many exams every year.
"I still have many important matters to attend to." Dumbledore patted his shoulder. "This is your OWL year - focus your energy on your studies. Let me send you back to rest."
Harry still had many questions, but Dumbledore didn't give him the chance, directly having Fawkes return him.
...
Soon, the holidays drew to a close.
Two days before the term started, Wayne returned to London from Sakura.
During these days, he had copied all the books from Mahoutokoro's library - even those protected by magic had been forcibly broken through by him.
The normal magic books weren't particularly interesting, but there were quite a few books on unorthodox methods.
Wayne had only skimmed through them briefly before storing them in his pocket dimension. He had come here for a holiday, not to study - with two sweet, lovely girls by his side, who had the heart for studying anyway?
Better to play dress-up a few more times with that time.
Except for some outfits that were too sexy for Sakura to handle - she'd become too shy and absolutely refused to put them on.
Every other style of clothing suited her perfectly, living up to her title of the changeable Sakura.
In the end, Wayne designed her most classic angel outfit and planned to turn it into a magical item.
After seeing the design sketches, Tomoyo couldn't wait for Sakura to wear it so she could take photos.
Unfortunately, the outfit couldn't be completed in just a day or two - they'd have to wait until next time to feast their eyes.
Tomoyo and Sakura had already decided that after Wayne returned, they would go to China's culinary holy land, Sichuan, to study cooking.
They discovered Wayne had little interest in Japanese cuisine, particularly detesting the practice of pairing staple foods with other staples, preferring instead the stir-fried dishes from next door.
As young ladies from distinguished families, bridal training was an essential part of their upbringing.
Having achieved sufficient proficiency to graduate, they saw no reason to remain at school wasting time.
Upon learning this, Wayne expressed his support, even appearing quite pleased.
With Sakura and Tomoyo gone, he could act against Mahoutokoro without any reservations.
However, his good mood lasted only until his return home, then quickly evaporated.
That evening, Wayne visited Greengrass Castle to see Astoria. Neither Lady Greengrass nor Astoria mentioned the events of recent days, but a house-elf inadvertently let something slip.
The smile slowly faded from Wayne's face.