Leaving the events at Hogwarts aside for the moment, let us turn our attention to Hector and Wendell. After all, the latter young man doesn't have much screen time left.
Outside Hogwarts Castle, by the edge of the Black Lake,
Behind Wendell and Hector lay a dense forest, while beneath their feet stretched a shore paved with a mixture of pebbles and sand.
The father and son sat facing the sunlit, shimmering Black Lake, casually sitting on two nearby stones.
No blankets, no chairs; the two of them sat in this rather uncomfortable fashion.
Sitting in silence.
After a long while, Hector spoke up.
"So, what actually happened back then?"
Wendell shook his head, his gaze fixed steadily on the surface of the lake, offering no immediate response.
"I can't say, or I don't know."
"You can't say, or you don't know."
"Why?"
"The future isn't set in stone. Of course, it doesn't change arbitrarily either. Without some extremely serious factor, the course of the river of time doesn't shift, but the minor tributaries do, and they change constantly."
"I know that. What I want to know is why you don't know."
"My family has never brought it up. In other words, nobody at home likes to mention you. It's not because you did anything wrong, but... I can't quite explain it either. Anyway, Mom has never spoken of you in front of me. Great-grandfather Aberforth mentioned you a few times, but every time he just grazed the surface and rarely talked to me in depth about your story. As for Grandpa Albus.…
Chapter 163