“The Black Lake, you say… Isn’t that interesting, Mr. Taylor?” Dumbledore said as he lifted an eyebrow, staring at me.

“Eh?” I tilted my head.

Until now, I thought that Professor Dumbledore just wanted to talk about the disappearance of the last curse, but it seems that he had something else in mind.

{Don’t tell me…}

“As I’ve said before…” Dumbledore smiled. “I’ve noticed the recent interest of my students for searching this Last Vault.”

“Ah… I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Professor…”

“Is that so, Mr. Taylor? Isn’t there any adventure you had recently that might have a connection to the lift of the curse?”

“Wait…” Andrew opened his eyes wide as he turned to me. “Did you find the Last Vault, Logan!?”

“Um… Haha…” I just chuckled.

[You know, I’ve had this feeling since quite a while ago, but you’re really bad at keeping secrets… Even if those can greatly affect your life… This system is worried…]

{Shut it!}

“Well?” Penny asked. “Is that true, Logan? Did you find it?”

“Well…” I scratched the back of my head. {Ha… I hate this old man…} I thought as I turned to look at the smiling Dumbledore, who couldn’t look more detestable even if I tried. “Let’s just say that I was lucky… And had a lot of help too…”

“What? How? When?” Andrew couldn’t stop asking a lot of questions.

“Calm down, Mr. Nolan, let Mr. Taylor explain himself.” Dumbledore intervened as Andrew kept asking things.

“Haha… Well… I kind of overheard you guys talking about how the Last Vault could be in the Black Lake. So I went to inspect.” I started to explain what happened in there, me befriending the merqueen through our duel and she guiding me to the entrance of the Last Vault. “Originally, my plan was to actually tell you guys once I found it, but as I still needed to make sure if the place was certainly the Last Vault, I kind of went it myself, and as I found the Last Vault, I couldn’t help but just break the curse and seal the place…”

“I must say, Mr. Taylor. That what you did was a really dangerous thing.” Dumbledore said with a frown. “These vaults are unpredictable, and hold secrets from thousands of years ago.”

“Professor Dumbledore is right, Logan, something really bad could happen to you!” Andrew said.

“These vaults shouldn’t be taken lightly, Logan, you’re lucky that you’re safe…” Penny also said with a worried face.

“I would love to have heard that I’m right before, when a certain group of students went in and fought a Dragon inside the previous vault.” Dumbledore said with a lifted eyebrow.

“Um… I’m sorry Professor… But this is different!” Andrew said.

“Yes, and we went in as a group before.” Penny said with a slightly red face.

“Ok… I know that it wasn’t really wise.” I said as I scratched the back of my head. “But I just saw the opportunity to free my friend, and I took it… I don’t think I did something bad.”

“You most certainly not, Mr. Taylor, but it’s not about doing something wrong or right, it’s just that your life could have been in danger inside the Last Vault.” Dumbledore said with some gentleness in his eyes.

“I… I think the risk was worth it, Professor.” I said. “Now not only my friend is free from the curse, but so are the rest of the students and even Madam Pomfrey.”

“That’s certainly true. And for that, I will thank you profoundly. But it would have been better for you to let us, the teachers, know, so we could handle it.”

“Yes… Professor…” I nodded.

“Well, I guess we can finally leave these cursed vaults behind, right? Mr. Nolan?” Dumbledore asked as he turned to look at Andrew.

“Yes, professor. With the Last Vault out of sight, there should be nothing more to worry about for now…” Andrew said.

“I hope that my students could stop going on these dangerous adventures.” Dumbledore said as he looked at both Andrew and me. “I’m sure that it’s but a hopeless dream of mine, so, for now, I’ll just deduct 20 points to Ravenclaw.”

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“But Professor!” Andrew suddenly turned to Dumbledore. “Even if he broke some rules, he still saved the students from the curse!”

“I’m aware of that, Mr. Nolan, so let me continue.” Dumbledore turned to look at me. “While bravery is certainly not a quality that most Ravenclaws would proudly announce to others, it’s not as if your house lacks it. And is with such bravery that you not only found the Last Vault but also solved the problem that haunted our school. Freeing your friend, and your schoolmates on the process. For that, Mr. Taylor, I proudly grant your house 50 points.”

{This is going on a weird way…} I thought for a moment as I nodded.

“Thank you, Professor.”

“It’s me who should be thanking you instead.” Dumbledore said with a warm smile. “Oh, but don’t think that I will overlook this kind of action in the future. I hope that, from now on, you behave inside the school, or I’m afraid I must punish you for any misbehavior.”

“Yes, Professor…” I nodded.

[But this isn’t the first time you’ve done something like this, though… And he’s even aware of that.]

{Let the old man be happy! If he wants to be forgiving, let him be!} I thought, thinking about how happy I would be if I could hit the system on the face. If he has any.

“Also, I would advise, Mr. Nolan, to leave any thought of finding ‘R’ out your young minds.” Dumbledore said as he turned to look at Andrew. “While unknown, they’re still one big organization with connections all around the world, it’s certainly not a safe choice to try and go against them. With the vault out of sight, they will surely turn their sight to some other place that would turn more profitable for them.”

“But Professor-” Andrew tried to speak, but Penny grabbed his arm.

“Andrew… I think that Professor Dumbledore is right… Trying to find ‘R’ is dangerous… and now that the Last Vault is sealed, there’s no reason for us to keep worrying about them.”

“Ha…” Andrew sighed. “Fine… I will stop looking for them.”

“Wonderful.” Dumbledore said as he clapped. “I hope that you understand that I’m only saying this out of consideration for your safety. At least while you’re in Hogwarts, I’m the one responsible for your safety, and I would like it if you could help me in keeping all of the students safe.”

“Yes, I understand, Professor.” Andrew nodded.

“Also… about that club of yours…”

“!” Andrew flinched, and so did Penny.

{At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire school knew of their oh-so-secret organization…}

[It sure is like your oh-so-secret escapades.]

{No comments.}

“I must say, Mr. Nolan, that you haven’t done a good job in keeping your… organization well-hidden.”

“Ha…” Penny sighed in frustration as she shook her head.

“Haha…” Andrew smiled awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head.

I limited myself to shake my head, though it’s certainly not because I didn’t have the morale to say something.

“Is it also prohibited?” Andrew asked.

“Not really, I encourage any kind of group that is willing to learn and to progress in the field of Magic. And if I would have to say, it’s a really interesting project you got there, teaching other students how to defend themselves in dangerous times is always a great idea.” Dumbledore said as he smiled. “But, I would appreciate it if you could keep things in moderation, and without putting the students in peril by leading them in dangerous adventures outside the castle.”

“Y-Yes… Professor.” Andrew smiled awkwardly.

“Now, I think you guys have things to do, and everything that should be talked about was already addressed. Mr. Taylor, I’m sure that your friends must be waiting for you back at the Hospital Wing, you should probably go back with them.”

“Thanks, Professor.” I nodded.

Andrew, Penny, and I went out of the office. Once outside, Andrew looked around and saw that no one was close, before turning to me.

“Logan, I’m truly grateful for what you did.” He started. “But next time, you should really look for help. Trust me, the dangers of these vaults isn’t something to be taken lightly.”

“Says the one who also broke into one of these vaults on his first year.” Penny rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t go there alone…” Andrew said with a sigh. “Anyways, I’m really glad that you didn’t hurt yourself.”

“Thanks, Andrew.” I nodded at him. “But really, it wasn’t that much. The vault was empty, there were just some weird statues and nothing more.”

“Is that so?” Andrew tilted his head. “It’s weird, the other vaults were full of dangers.”

“Maybe this one was so unprotected because it was well-hidden?” I asked. “It was even covered by a wall of rocks that would make it really hard for anyone to find, if it wasn’t for the merqueen Murcus who told me the direction, I wouldn’t have found it so easily…”

“It may be because of that.” Andrew nodded while rubbing his chin. “Well, I won’t take more of your time, as Professor Dumbledore said, your friends must be waiting for you.”

“Yes, you should go. We’ll talk with the rest to let them know that the problem is finally solved and everyone’s safe now.” Penny also said with a smile. “I think my little sister will be more relaxed now that the curse is out of the way.”

“Thank you, guys.” I nodded with a smile, before going back to the Hospital Wing.

This was only my first year, but all kinds of things have happened to me. Not only did I manage to make friends, something that I only did through the screen of my PC, but I also went through a lot of adventures.

{This is just the start… So many things are going to come in the future.} I thought as I walked towards the hospital wing.

This small episode with the cursed vaults is only the start and the proof of all the mysteries that this world holds.

{Everything’s going to be alright, isn’t it? System?}

[You should know already, that you hold immense potential, and even now, your power is nothing to scoff at. I assure you, that as long as you keep growing, everything’s going to be well.]

{That’s reassuring to hear…}

[Though, it would be great if you could be smarter when acting. While Dumbledore isn’t that worried about you for now, we don’t know what will happen in the future. You’ve already changed the future of this world, even if it isn’t that obvious right now.]

{Are you trying to warn me? Or mock me?} I frowned.

[There’s no reason why I can’t do both.]

{Ha… Forget it. I better rush back to the Hospital Wing.} I thought as I started to run back to see my friends.