"Huh?"
Logan blinked in confusion. "Dumbledore… what does this have to do with him?"
Then, after a brief pause, he cautiously asked, "Professor McGonagall… you're not secretly in love with Dumbledore, are you?"
If that were true, it would be the greatest scandal in Hogwarts history.
Professor McGonagall's expression froze instantly. The corners of her mouth twitched, and her face went pale with disbelief before she snapped, "What nonsense are you talking about?! It has absolutely nothing to do with Dumbledore!"
She took a sharp breath, clearly trying to suppress the urge to whack him with a textbook.
"I only mentioned him because I never expected fate to circle back like this," she said quietly. "After wandering for so long, I eventually returned to Hogwarts… the place where I truly belonged. Everything here felt familiar. Comfortable. Even my old professor became my colleague."
Her gaze drifted somewhere far away, filled with memories that only she could see.
"It's a very strange feeling."
Logan immediately realized he had gone too far. "Sorry, Professor. I shouldn't have joked about that."
"It's fine," McGonagall replied with a sigh. "I'm only telling you about my own foolishness, after all. Though honestly, Dumbledore really is an odd old man. Anyone who enjoys eating cockroach clusters can't possibly be normal."
Logan nearly laughed, but he held it in.
"Anyway," she continued, "when I returned to Hogwarts, everything around me felt so natural… as though I had been destined to come back here from the very beginning."
"I devoted myself entirely to teaching. Partly because I loved the work, and partly because I wanted to forget Doug… and the terrible thing I'd done to him."
Her voice softened.
"Over time, I became a respected professor. My colleagues approved of me, and the students liked me well enough. Life settled into something quiet."
"But Doug still wrote to me."
Logan stayed silent and listened carefully.
"He kept asking the same question," McGonagall said. "Why did I leave him? Why did I treat him that way? He only wanted an answer."
Her fingers slowly tightened around the teacup in her hands.
"But I could never give him one."
"At some point, I stopped reading the letters altogether. I sealed them away somewhere hidden, because it felt easier than confronting them. Easier than facing myself."
Outside the office window, faint evening light spilled across the castle grounds. The room grew quieter and quieter until only McGonagall's calm voice remained.
"So I continued teaching. Quietly living. Quietly remembering."
"At first, I thought time would eventually erase everything. That one day, those memories would stop mattering."
"But then my mother told me something I never expected to hear."
She paused for several seconds before continuing.
"Doug got married."
Logan's expression shifted slightly.
"He married a farmer's daughter," McGonagall said softly. "And at that moment… I regretted everything."
"I regretted hurting him. Regretted pushing him away. Regretted believing I had to choose between love and the life I wanted."
A faint, self-deprecating smile appeared on her face.
"I remember hiding alone in an empty classroom that day, crying so hard I could barely breathe. At the time, I didn't even understand why I was crying anymore."
"Perhaps I was mourning him. Or perhaps I was mourning the life I abandoned with my own hands."
She let out a quiet breath and finally looked back at Logan.
"But life moves on regardless of whether you're ready for it. I eventually pulled myself together and continued living as I always had."
The room fell silent.
Professor McGonagall stared at him calmly before asking, "Logan… if you had been me back then, what would you have chosen?"
"Would you have made the same decision?"
"Or would you have married Doug?"
Logan lowered his head and thought for a moment. Then he answered without hesitation.
"Children choose one option," he said seriously. "Adults take both."
McGonagall blinked.
"If it were me," Logan continued, "I'd want both the wizarding world and Doug. Why should I choose only one when giving up either side would just leave regrets behind?"
"Why not be a little greedy?"
"Why not take everything?"
Professor McGonagall froze completely.
For several long seconds, she simply stared at him in silence, as though his words had struck somewhere deep inside her.
"I want… both?" she murmured softly.
The idea sounded absurd.
Yet at the same time, strangely simple.
Why hadn't she ever tried to speak honestly with Doug? Why hadn't she fought harder for both futures? Why had she convinced herself that happiness only existed on one side of the scale?
If she truly wanted both… then who exactly had the right to stop her?
The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous her younger self seemed.
Suddenly, Professor McGonagall laughed.
Not her usual restrained smile, but a genuine laugh filled with relief and understanding. It was as though some knot buried in her heart for decades had finally loosened.
Logan stared at her in surprise.
She reached over and gently ruffled his hair, her eyes softer than he had ever seen before.
"You're right," she said quietly. "Why did I force myself to choose back then?"
"If I'd possessed even half your courage and shamelessness when I was young, perhaps things would have turned out very differently."
Then her gaze sharpened slightly.
"So tell me, Logan… after giving me such a bold answer, what exactly are you still hesitating over?"
"Why not simply follow your heart?"
Those words struck Logan harder than any spell.
He suddenly realized how foolish he had been.
Why was he so afraid?
Because of the Outer God?
Because he feared the future version of himself might someday die horribly?
But that future hadn't happened yet.
And even if it did… so what?
His future self wasn't the current him. Besides, he still possessed the Grimoire. He still had time to grow stronger. Yet instead of moving forward, he had been trapping himself inside endless anxiety and hesitation.
Worse still, he had used responsibility as an excuse to avoid confronting his own feelings.
The more he thought about it, the more irritated he became.
"Damn it," Logan muttered inwardly. "I really am an idiot."
Why should he let some cosmic nightmare dictate how he lived his life?
At the very least, he needed to stop lying to himself.
After finally sorting through the mess in his head, Logan stood up immediately.
He bowed respectfully toward Professor McGonagall.
"Thank you, Professor," he said sincerely. "I think I finally understand what I should do now."
McGonagall's normally stern face revealed an unusually playful smile.
"In that case," she said knowingly, "it sounds like you suddenly have something very important to handle."
"Yes, Professor," Logan replied without hesitation. "So… may I request leave for the rest of the day?"
"And what exactly are you planning to do with that leave?"
Logan coughed awkwardly. "Something extremely important."
McGonagall looked thoroughly amused now.
"Permission granted."
...
Inside the Hogwarts library, Madam Pince sat comfortably behind her desk while lazily observing the students around her. Every so often, her eyes drifted toward Hermione, who was sitting alone at a distant table surrounded by towering stacks of books.
Come to think of it, the girl had been studying by herself quite frequently lately.
Normally, that handsome little troublemaker who practically lived beside her was nowhere to be seen.
Madam Pince narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.
Had they argued?
Honestly, it seemed highly likely. Young people argued all the time. The truly unfortunate part was when neither side was willing to lower their pride afterward. Tiny conflicts could slowly become permanent cracks, and before either person realized it, the relationship would simply end.
She had seen such things countless times over the years.
Madam Pince sighed quietly to herself. Perhaps she would never again see those two causing chaos together inside her library. In truth, their strange little partnership had added a surprisingly lively atmosphere to the otherwise dull room.
Flip. Flip.
The steady sound of turning pages echoed rhythmically through the library like clockwork.
Yet Hermione wasn't truly reading at all.
Although her eyes remained fixed on the book in front of her, her thoughts were completely elsewhere. She absentmindedly flipped another page, her expression growing darker and darker.
And the source of her irritation was none other than Logan Anderson.
.....
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