Deep within the Sherwood Forest in the East Midlands of England, a giant wolf padded cautiously through the thick woods, surveying its surroundings. It approached a lake to drink, where many other animals had already gathered. It made no move to attack, and the other animals simply backed away from it a little.
The lake sustained the surrounding wildlife, naturally forming a sanctuary. The animals that came here did not attack one another. This particular wolf appeared old and injured.
It crouched in the grass some distance from the lake, fixing its eyes on a rabbit not far away. Once the alpha of its pack, it had been defeated by a younger, stronger wolf and driven out. Now it was far too weak and desperately needed to eat.
It stared fixedly at the wild hare, then suddenly launched itself forward, sinking its teeth into the rabbit's neck. The warm blood spilling from its fangs turned its eyes bloodshot as it began to devour its meal.
At that moment, a noise came from beneath a tree in the distance. The wolf instantly dropped into a defensive posture, lowering its body and emitting a threatening low growl. Just as it focused all its attention on that patch of bushes, a gust of wind rushed past its ears.
Before it could turn its head, a silver-gleaming dagger drove upward into its throat. As it prepared to snap its jaws down on the arm wielding the dagger, it felt its throat wrenched by a tremendous force. The vertically driven dagger twisted horizontally inside its windpipe and slashed sideways.
The former alpha fell to the ground, its throat thoroughly pierced. In the final moments of its life, it saw a young girl whose eyes and forehead were wrapped entirely in bandages.A girl put away her dagger and looked toward the bushes opposite her. "Angus, you didn't need to act as bait; it's too dangerous." There was no blame in her voice; the young girl spoke softly, full of gentleness.
She looked at the dog emerging from the grass, which had black fur on its back and rust-colored hair on its chest. Angus gave a bark and came to the girl's side, and she affectionately stroked Angus's head, which was even a little taller than she was. Then, making quick work of it, she skinned and deboned the wolf, very skillfully tied the giant wolf—which was much sturdier than she was—onto her back, and left with Angus.
The girl had long, jet-black hair tied in a high ponytail, and despite the scorching summer heat, she wore black long sleeves and long pants. She was like an experienced hunter, often hiding in the mud or grass for hours in the forest to hunt beasts.
This also resulted in her being covered in dirt, even down to the bandages tied across her face to cover her eyes and forehead, which were dusty gray. Yet she seemed never to mind. Gradually, the girl and the dog walked out of the forest and entered a nearby small village.
It was now late at night, and she picked deserted paths to walk to a small cabin that was the most remote and dilapidated in the village. She carefully checked the doorway for any traces of someone having entered, and then circled the house to inspect it once more. Finally, she entered the house herself, checked it over, and only then called Angus inside.Though called a cottage, it was more like a cramped warehouse, with wind whistling right through the roof. The room contained only a single, dilapidated wooden table that looked ready to collapse at any moment, and a thin, tattered bedsheet spread on the floor beside it. There were no candles, no lights.
Yet this did not hinder the young girl's movements. In the darkness, she accurately retrieved two strips of dried meat hanging from the ceiling and shared them with her companion. Afterward, she sliced off a small portion of the wolf meat to hang up, and said to Angus, "Stay here. If I haven't returned by tonight, hide in the forest immediately and wait for me to find you. Understood?"
Angus let out a whimper as if in protest, but meeting the girl's expressionless face, stepped closer and licked her. He only stopped barking when he saw a faint smile tugging at the corner of the girl's lips. Then, putting on a slightly strained expression, she dragged the giant wolf's carcass out the door.
Dragging the heavy carcass, she walked into a pub. The moment the door opened, a thick haze of smoke and the pungent smell of men's sweat rushed into her nostrils. The girl showed no reaction at all as she approached a middle-aged wizard slumped sideways at the bar.
The wizard was drunkenly cursing something, and feeling the cold draft brought in by the opened door, he turned his head to glare angrily at the girl who had entered. With a wave of his thick arm holding a glass of wine, he struck the girl squarely on the head. The noisy chatter around them instantly fell silent, and everyone looked over. Yet the moment they saw the girl, they withdrew their gazes, ignoring the man's act of violence against a little girl.
The clamor resumed, as if nothing had happened at all. A trickle of blood slowly ran down the girl's forehead. She dragged the giant wolf's carcass right in front of the man and held out her hand.
A sneer of contempt crossed the wizard's face. "A giant wolf that's about to die of old age? You actually expect to sell this for money... though I suppose this is the extent of your skills." With that, he pulled a few scattered coins from his pocket and tossed them. Some bounced off the girl's body, while others fell to the floor.
The girl silently squatted down, groping around on the ground, while the blood from her head dripped drop by drop onto the already filthy floor.
"Don't get my floor dirty!" Immediately after, a heavy leather boot stepped down on the hand the girl was using to clutch the coins. The rest of the patrons in the pub watched as the girl, without a word, used her sleeve to wipe the floor while clumsily feeling around the ground for the coins. Jeers, indifference, and a pity that remained cold.
"Useless mute! A squib who can't even use magic! Shawn wasted a whole year supporting you back then, and you didn't even learn how to hunt!!" All sorts of insults rang in the girl's ears, and the moment she stepped out of the pub, someone even kicked her out from behind.
"Pathetic. Are you still keeping that beast? A beast raised by Muggles whose fur isn't worth a damn—you might as well sell it off for magical experiments!" Unexpectedly, as soon as those words left his mouth, the girl whipped her head around to stare at the man. As she reached for the dagger at her waist, a bark echoed from the distance. She hesitated for a fraction of a second, then turned and sprinted toward the sound.The man failed to process what had happened; he spat on the ground, cursed, and slammed the wooden door of the pub shut.
Snape walked into the headmaster's office with a dark expression, glaring at Dumbledore, who was chewing on a candy and looking back at him with a wide smile.
"If I recall correctly, we still have a month left before the term begins. So, what urgent matter does the Headmaster have that requires interrupting his poor employee's holiday?" He gritted his teeth, forcing the words out one by one.
"Ah, Severus. How is your holiday going? Would you care for some Lemon Drops?" Dumbledore gestured toward a large tray of golden-wrapped sweets on the desk.
Snape's expression darkened further, his sharp gaze fixed on the old man before him. "Thanks to you, utterly unpleasant!" He turned on his heel as if to leave.
"Would you accompany me somewhere? I think you'll find it interesting." Dumbledore stood up, walked over to Snape, and extended a hand.
With a sweep of Apparition, Dumbledore brought him to the edge of a forest, then stood off to the side without offering any explanation. Snape frowned deeply, just about to lose his temper, when rustling sounds came from the nearby bushes. Both he and Dumbledore were concealed under Disillusionment Charms.
He forced down the impulse to snap at Dumbledore and stared at the brush. Presently, a very short, thin little girl walked out, accompanied by a dog. She was covered in dirt and gave off the distinct smell of blood. What caught Snape's attention was the thick bandage wrapped tightly around the girl's face, covering most of it.
Snape stared intently at the girl, realizing that she also had a huge wolf strapped to her back. As he watched her recede into the distance, her figure gradually overlapped with his memory from five years ago at Spinner's End. She had grown a little taller and remained extremely frail, yet she lacked the profound weakness of back then.
Countless questions flooded his mind. Then came Dumbledore's slow, steady voice: "That extremely dangerous little girl with the petrifying ability seemed to have vanished from this world entirely... Last year, a hunter in this small village found and adopted a blind, mute Squib girl."
A brief silence followed. Snape and Dumbledore followed the girl the entire way, witnessing scene after scene. They stopped outside the pub and watched the girl run toward a dog, hugging it tightly as she said, "Angus, I told you not to come looking for me."
Then the girl led the dog into the forest.
Hearing that name, Snape was certain this was the child who had almost killed him years ago and ultimately healed him. Snape wanted to follow, but the old man beside him stopped him, gesturing for him to wait.
Before long, the figure of the person and the dog appeared once more. They did not get close before hiding themselves. After some time, the pair crouched in the dark shadows at the end of an alley, not far from where two other figures stood dimly outlined. A commotion broke out from inside the pub, and a moment later, the door was kicked open. The middle-aged wizard from earlier stumbled out, dragging the carcass of the giant wolf.
The girl trailed after him, keeping carefully hidden the entire time. Her experience hunting in the forest made it easy for her to conceal her presence while closing in on her target. Her injured head had been roughly bandaged, and the blood on her face had been cleaned away.
Snape spotted the dagger at her waist, and on her back was also a... long-barreled hunting rifle? Had she hidden it in the forest? Snape recalled that the rifle hadn't been in the girl's crude dwelling earlier. As the man walked into a dim alley, the girl dropped low into a rushing attack posture.
Without knowing why, Snape wanted to step forward and stop her, but he saw the dog accompanying the girl leap forward to block her path. The girl stared down at Angus as he stood before her, refusing to budge an inch. She slowly straightened up, gazed at the retreating middle-aged wizard, and immediately drew the rifle from her back, cocked it, and took aim. The entire sequence took less than two seconds, yet she hesitated, delaying pulling the trigger without lowering the gun.
"Why? If you don't kill him, sooner or later he will hurt you."
The cold, flat voice rang out, the girl speaking softly as if talking to herself. Then, feeling her trouser leg being tugged, she looked down at Angus and stroked his head. Watching her—a girl who moments ago had been as cold and bloodthirsty as a viper, lurking in the shadows and gathering strength to annihilate her enemy—finally show a trace of human warmth toward her pet, Snape stood in silence. After the girl walked away, Dumbledore waved his hand to lift their Disillusionment Charms and said,
"Based on my observations lately, this little one's situation can only be described as... unfortunate. She was adopted by a hunter named Shawn, but just a few days later, the hunter was attacked and killed by beasts in the forest. She lost her guardian, but the villagers seem completely indifferent. They carved up the hunter's belongings and cleared out a small storage shed for her to live in. Having lived with the hunter before, the child knows how to hunt and survive in the wild.
The pub owner in the village buys her hunting spoils for a pittance, or sometimes nothing at all. If she fails to bring back any useful game for the week, she gets a beating. The people around her... seem to notice her only when they are mocking and taunting her. Yet strangely, she hasn't chosen to run away, nor does she resist. With the skills she just demonstrated, even without magic, she wouldn't be trapped here."
"A person like a puppet; I cannot sense any emotion from her," Snape said after a moment of silence. "What matters is where she went and what happened after she left five years ago. How did you find her?"
Dumbledore looked into the distance, as if recalling something.
"The Book of Acceptance and the Quill of Admittance are never wrong. Come, let's go meet your new student."