"Professor Sykes, long time no see."

"Oh, Williams?"

In the flowerbed, a thin woman raised her head from the lush flowers. Even though she was engaged in such hard outdoor work, Professor Sykes' skin was still fair, and the years seemed to have left no marks on her face. The middle-aged woman still looks like a young woman who still has charm, and even a plain linen dress can hardly conceal her outstanding beauty.

The sun cast mottled spots of light from the edge of the straw hat, leaving a pattern on her face like a Central American wizard, and this spot of light moved slowly as she raised her head, and it stayed on her neck , like a scar on the head of an owl, stayed at the tip of her nose again, dividing her into a black and white painting, which reflected with the sickle and wand in her two hands, presenting an incomprehensible central idea scenery.

"haven't seen you for a long time."

She nodded with a smile, shifted her eyes to Christian next to Nelson, and blinked at the trembling girl. Even though it was just a distant glance, Christian really calmed down a lot and clasped her hands tightly. The nails on Nelson's palm also slowly loosened.

"I didn't expect that we would meet at such a time and in such a place. Fate is really interesting, isn't it?" She hung the sickle in her hand on a branch beside her, wiped her wand on her apron, and said with a smile, "Times have changed... I am no longer a professor at Hogwarts."

"And I'm no longer a student of Hogwarts." Nelson nodded, "Many things will change over time, but some things have already lost the qualification to change."

"Are you here to ask the teacher?" Professor Sykes didn't care about the sarcasm in Nelson's tone and the thorns hidden in the words. She waved her wand and carefully washed her hands with the water spell—every day. Fingers, fingernails, and the stains hidden in every fingernail. After doing all this, she took out a delicate silk veil and wiped the wand over and over again, from beginning to end, even when Nelson was standing in front of the sun. Without interrupting her, she was like the last nobleman of a dynasty sitting on his seat for the last time on the last day when the building collapsed, "I thought you could at least say Recalling the old days, you are not Albus, you shouldn't be such a confused man."

"What kind of man is a man who understands style?" Nelson took off his hat, nodded slightly at Professor Sykes, and put his hat back again, "Are you referring to the kind of man who is used to forgiving on behalf of others? That is indeed satisfactory. It's a gentleman's demeanor, Professor Sykes, I really want to do this, but I may not be qualified to forgive you for those students who were hurt by the Obscure, and I don't have enough wealth to compensate them instead of you."

"wealth?"

"I mean, it's none of my business," Nelson said. "I'm here for trouble, my own trouble, and other people's bills are left to other people."

"You are a rude man."

After a long silence, Professor Sykes lowered his head and said in a voice that only Nelson could hear: "Do you mind if I dress up? I want to be decent, and this may be the last thing I can hold on my own. "

Nelson let go of Christian's grip and shrugged noncommittally.

"You can stare, don't worry, I won't run, I have nowhere to go," Professor Sykes saw, stood on tiptoe, hung his wand on the treetop, took two steps back, turned and walked towards He walked to a corner of the garden, "Come on, take Miss Jewell, I still have the last spell to teach her."

Nelson pushed open the low wooden door in the middle of the fence and stepped in. Christian stood still and looked at Nelson's back, clenched his fists, and after hesitating for a moment, he caught up with him.

Lori Ann's flower garden is as colorful as herself, and all kinds of flowers that Nelson has never seen are blooming at the same time. She seems to remember the preferences and habits of her only friend. There is little green in the flower garden, which makes people walking in it Nelson didn't feel that bad. Where his footsteps passed, Familiers pulled the flower stems and vines one by one, so that his footsteps didn't hurt those fragile flowers at all.

At the end of his sight, Nelson saw the figure of Professor Sykes disappearing into a cabin. It was an extremely simple cabin, located in this remote location, which was almost like the farmers in the southern United States who housed black slaves. Her stables were no different, and her voice rang out in the cabin when he was surprised that Professor Sikes lived in such a place.

"Miss Cornalo is very enthusiastic. Not only did she arrange an alchemy magic circle that is different from wizards, it is enough to protect me for several years, and she also tidied up a beautiful and warm house for me, but I always feel that I am not suitable to live there , You should have dealt with my sister later, that room is too much like a happy home, even though it is really comfortable and happy, but whenever I lie on the soft mattress, I can always think of my father in a happy home. What the family has done, the sense of guilt and uneasiness almost seized the timing of my sleep every time, constantly disturbing the soul and life of a sinful person like me.”

Her voice is ethereal and helpless, as if she floated from the pasture behind the red pine forest more than ten years ago. Compared with the name "Happy House", it is more like an airtight prison. Everyone in it is imprisoned, and to this day has not let go of its nightmares.

"So I asked her to let me build a hut outside. After all, the gardener should live here, shouldn't he?" Nelson stepped on the threshold of the hut, and Professor Sykes' words stopped his steps, and he was dazed. Christian almost bumped into his back, "Wait a minute, Williams, I'm changing."

Nelson turned his back, helped Christian who almost fell, and waited for Professor Sykes to finish changing. After she spoke again, Nelson raised his leg and walked in, but this time Christian didn't dare to follow Come in.

The first sight is a cabin that cannot be called cozy. A hard bed with a thin sheet is placed in the corner of the cabin. Perhaps because Professor Sykes is not skilled in building houses, the room is not a regular square shape. The bed and the corner of the wall presented an uncomfortable angle, and the cyan quilt was spread out on the bed evenly, and there was a small standing coffee table at the head of the bed. Professor Sykes was sitting in front of the writing desk and dressing table opposite the end of the bed, There is a half-written letter in front of her. She is fully dressed, wearing the gorgeous dress that appeared at the ball of the Triwizard Tournament, and is holding a handful of hair and pulling the knotted ends with a comb. .

In front of her is a mirror that is almost as big as the wall. Nelson can easily see the whole house in the mirror, including the expressionless self and the smiling Professor Sykes. The mirror makes the room look better. It's getting bigger, but Nelson can't imagine how a person who is troubled by nightmares can sleep peacefully under such a mirror?

"Welcome to my home." Professor Sykes turned his head and reached out to Nelson, "There is a bottle of gold powder on my bedside table, can you pass it to me?"

After receiving the vial from Nelson with the floating spell, she unscrewed the cap, leaned close to the mirror, dipped the golden powder inside with a face swab, and smeared it on her face: "I have lived in many places, happy home , Hogwarts' dormitory, Ravenclaw head's lounge... But without exception, they are not as solid as this place makes me feel."

"Such a mirror seems to be more harmful to sleep." Nelson commented, "What about other places? For example, the hotel on the run."

"No, this mirror makes me feel very solid," Professor Sykes did not respond to Nelson's question, and continued to talk about her mirror, "I'm used to sleeping without pajamas. Every time I wake up from a nightmare, I I can always see my frailty and ugliness at the first moment, I have nothing to lose, and I have nothing to lose."

"A person who is alone often wants more, especially if she once had everything," Nelson said, leaning against the doorframe, squinting his eyes, "I'm still curious, you exposed the location of Hogwarts to the first What is Salem's intention? This is tantamount to suicide for them, and you will get nothing, I hope you will not give me a ridiculous answer."

"What position are you asking me this question?" Professor Sykes turned his head, half-painted makeup hung on his face, the golden powder was applied to the lid of the right eye, and there was a dark glint in Nelson's eyes Light, like a perverse smiling face, with teardrops like weeping, "Hogwarts? Ministry of Magic? Dumbledore? Or yourself?"

"Myself."

"I understand..." Professor Sykes turned his head, sighed, and continued to apply makeup, "You have to know that once you get contaminated with some things, you will fall into the quagmire, and those who struggle hard tend to sink deeper and deeper , the Sykes family, apart from one unfounded charge, is most commendable for our research on magical animals, and you should understand that whether it is magic, alchemy, potions or other things, inventions for the purpose of harm are always the most."

"Um."

"When I was young, I was the orphan of the Sykes family. As a lucky survivor, I thought complacently that everything left by my father would become the capital for me to rebuild the family. Even if they were evil, I would They won’t reveal any secrets to outsiders, and those people don’t seem to have the idea of ​​robbing knowledge. I realized later that they just need someone to do these things,” Professor Sykes sighed, and continued, “When I understand By the time it was too late, I had gained wealth, fame, and the power to be promoted from the long and evil business. I was driven like that in a carriage with no brakes, and fell into the abyss.”

"Isn't this your own choice?"

"Yes, you are really rude, Williams, and don't expose a lady's sophistry so casually in the future."

Professor Sykes smiled and turned her head. The golden makeup shone on her face, like a dancer about to take the stage. Even if the symmetrical and flying paisley pattern was moved from the fabric to her face, there was no trace of it. With a sense of disobedience, her eyes are raised up, like a pair of wings that are about to fly away, and the vine-like lines are drawn along the eyelids to the temples, extending to the jaw.

"It's obviously me who is intoxicated by this feeling. I think I'm a smart person. I thought of many ways to get rid of their control. I first thought of power. This is a shortcut that any wizard who is weak in nature will think of. I Staring at Ravenclaw's diadem, I thought it and Rowena Ravenclaw's wisdom would give me the power to say no to everything, but unfortunately it doesn't recognize my wisdom."

"I have tried countless methods, tried to cut off the supply of key venom, tried to contact newcomers with higher quotations, tried to seek help from Albus, and even thought about Grindelwald, the demon king who destroys order," Sykes said. The professor's voice became deeper and deeper, "But every time, I haven't overcome my desire."

"Professor Sykes," said Nelson, straightening his back, "this doesn't seem to be cause for regret."

"Yes, this is my own choice, so I thought of Second Salem when I was at the end of the road. I thought that as long as they created chaos, I would have a chance to go to the ground by eliminating the crisis, or get out quickly through the chaos "Professor Sykes smiled, without the slightest bit of self-ashamedness, "I chose the second option, because you guys solve the problem too quickly, and they are really useless. The only luggage Gewarz took away was the tea set. In my plan, I would completely get rid of the shackles of British power and rely on Sykes' skills to rebuild our family in America, but the irony is that my The former allies quickly found someone to replace me, and the Second Salem I had high hopes for turned out to be a toy of the Magical Congress of America, more of a clown than me."

"Your confession astounds me, Professor."

Nelson narrowed his eyes and studied Professor Sykes' neck.

"I really didn't expect that you found my place so quickly."

She twisted her neck slightly, stretched her sore joints like most women who have finished a day's work, stretched out her hand and tied the hair that hung down to her forehead behind her ears, revealing her thin and almost transparent ears, earlobes There is an almost closed ear hole on her face. Compared with when she was a professor at Hogwarts a few years ago, she has lost a lot of clothing and appearance: "I thought this peaceful life would last forever go down."

"Do you like a quiet life? It doesn't look like it."

"I didn't like it before, but after staying in this kind of life for a long time, I became more and more infatuated with it." Professor Sykes looked at Nelson in the mirror, glanced at the wand in his hand, and said seriously, "If you give me another Once I have a chance to choose, I will be willing to be calm, and I am also a little curious about how you found me."

"It must not be Miss Jewell," she answered herself. "She can't tell me where I am."

"It was a coincidence." Nelson said in a deep voice, "Your mistake is also here. Why do you stretch out your hand to an innocent person who... may cause trouble?"

"Trouble? Do you think you are trouble?" Professor Sykes asked back, "Don't you think it will be an opportunity for me?"

"At least for you, yes."

"I'm so sorry," Professor Sykes opened the drawer and picked out the pitifully rare jewelry, "I just think she looks like me, no matter what the result is today, I hope you can forgive that girl later, I took advantage of her, but it wasn't her intention."

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