A year and a half. That's how long it's been since I woke up in this world. Since the system healed a dying body and gave me a second life.
We've moved so many times I've lost count. Forests, ruins, half-collapsed cottages, even an abandoned abbey once—but tonight it's another cave, damp and cold, the air heavy with the smoke of our small fire. The flicker of the flames paints the stone walls in restless light.
Outside, the world is a storm of fear. The Church hunts us like animals. Every whisper of "witch" or "wizard" draws torches and pitchforks. Whole villages burn because someone saw a spark that shouldn't exist. They call it the cleansing. I call it ignorance.
But we survive. We always do.
I pull the Elder Wand from the folds of my cloak and let its weight rest across my palm. Even after all this time, it hums faintly with restrained power, as if waiting for me to stop being cautious.
"Open status," I whisper.
The familiar translucent window flares before my eyes, words of light hanging in the air.
Name: Seraphina SilverwindAge: 16Status: Alive / HealthySkills• Eidetic Memory – Perfect recall• Mind Arts – Legilimency 9 / 25 Occlumency 10 / 25 Mind Design 2 / 25• Wandless Magic 4 / 200• Expelliarmus 10 / 25• Wingardium Leviosa 1 / 25• Lumos 15 / 25• Petrificus Totalus 5 / 25• Incendio 3 / 25• Sectumsempra 3 / 25• Dark Magic Talent 5 / 200• Genius at Magic 20 / 100• Fire Magic Talent 10 / 100
Items• Elder Wand• Basic Book of Charms• Basics of the Dark Arts• Advanced Potion Making – Half-Blood Prince edition• Advanced Curses and Jinxes• Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts• Elemental Spell Book
Points: 150
I close the panel with a thought. The numbers are comforting—order in a world that has none. They show progress, proof that the hours of study and practice aren't wasted.
Helga hums softly near the fire, stirring a pot of broth that smells faintly of herbs. She insists on feeding us, even when rations are low. Godric sits by the entrance, sword across his knees, listening for anything that might mean danger. Rowena leans against the wall with a quill, sketching runes into parchment. And Salazar… Salazar watches the fire the way I do, thoughtful, dangerous.
We've become a family. A strange, mismatched, magical family.
"Another raid barely missed us," Godric mutters without looking up. "They're getting closer every time."
"They won't find this cave," I answer, more to reassure him than because I believe it. "I wove concealment wards an hour ago. Even the keenest priest couldn't see through them."
He nods, trusting me implicitly now. That trust is what keeps us alive.
Rowena glances up. "You've been experimenting again, haven't you?"
I smile. "Maybe."
"Maybe," she echoes, rolling her eyes. "Your maybe usually means we'll wake up to half the valley glowing blue."
I laugh under my breath. She's not wrong. The Elemental Spell Book I claimed from the system still surprises me—half its runes behave like physics equations written by someone who only vaguely understood gravity. I've been translating them, building connections between my modern knowledge and their raw, ancient magic.
Fire is my favorite. It feels alive in my hands.
I lift a palm, whispering, "Incendio." A tongue of flame blossoms above my skin, small, dancing. I will it to twist into the shape of a spiral. It obeys, smooth and effortless. Fire Magic Talent 10 out of 100. The next plateau will let me shape heat, not just light.
Salazar watches, his green eyes sharp. "You make it look… easy."
"It's not," I admit. "It's logic. Everything obeys rules, even magic. You just have to find the right equation."
He smirks. "Spoken like a Ravenclaw."
"Maybe," I reply. "But you're learning my equations too."
His smirk widens. "Touché."
The laughter that follows is quiet but genuine. For a moment, the fear outside fades.
Later, when the others sleep, I sit alone at the cave's mouth. The night air is cold, heavy with the scent of pine. I open the Basics of the Dark Arts and flip through the pages by the light of a softly glowing Lumos. The system didn't give me this for decoration—it expects me to learn balance: light and shadow, protection and destruction.
Dark magic here isn't evil. It's knowledge too dangerous for the unwise. And I… I intend to be wiser than anyone.
I close the book and look up at the stars. Somewhere beyond them, the future Hogwarts waits to be born. Right now, we're only children hiding in caves—but soon we'll build towers that touch those stars.
And when history remembers the Founders, maybe, just maybe, it will whisper the name Seraphina Silverwind as the one who taught them how to dream.
The system hums faintly, a notification waiting to be opened.
[New Quest Unlocked: Establish a Safe Sanctuary for Magic Users – Reward: 500 Points + Skill Upgrade Token]
I smile into the dark.
"Looks like it's time to build a school."