𝑨 𝑻𝑶𝑼𝑪𝑯 𝑶𝑭 𝑫𝑨𝑹𝑲𝑵𝑬𝑺𝑺

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕𝟓: 𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐞𝐧 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬

A WEEK OF exceeding hassle had passed despite Lilith being surrounded by all she loved. Admittedly, she could finally say that everything and everyone she loved were all comfortably placed at either arms or literal door lengths away from her.

The hassle of the week occurred naturally through the sudden overload of work and expectation that had been both directly and indirectly placed on her. Direct because the homework for each class most certainly wouldn't mark itself. And indirect because Dumbledore had left her classroom with a longstanding fragment of choice that tackled her dedication.

While her days were dedicated to teaching, her nights became increasingly dedicated to her book and all that Dumbledore had said.

'Words spoken will make the flames rise.'

To many and most it would be yet another intolerant remark from the man that gave inexhaustible use to his words. But she knew his antics far greater than that which led her to the deduction that Dumbledore knew that the spell she needed existed. It was real. But what that spell was remained entirely unknown. Pages managed with scribbles had become circled words, more scribbles and silent mental screams. She searched endlessly, devoting her time to something that she felt still held no guarantee. But Dumbledore saw it. He knew it. And while that should have comforted her, it made her feel all the more defeated.

She had spoken with Dumbledore countless times through the week, slowly and meticulously articulating her conversations in a friendly manor in hopes that he would not turn down the conversation she wanted most. He seemed unaware in those moments, as though he took her words with genuine care but then again, Dumbledore wasn't the one to miss blatancy.

"Might I be offered even a single word from you, Miss Arcane?"

The week had finally placed itself before days of rest, classes for the most part had finished and Lilith had eagerly brought herself from her last class to Dumbledore's office. It had been empty upon her arrival yet she found comfort in she guest seat placed by his desk. The empty office also meant that his abrupt voice startled her. She had been too submerged in her own thoughts to realised that he had already entered his office and placed himself on his own chair.

"Actually, Dumbledore." She cleared her throat in preparation for her request. "I anticipated an explanation from you, should you permit it that is."

He held himself with a certain strength that protected himself from her inquisition. He brought his hands from his lap and onto the table where they connected as firm fists.

"I find words to be my strength, arguably both a virtue and curse, Miss Arcane. But tell me, is it truly my words you want to know or perhaps just the uncertain meanings latching onto your own?"

When spoken like that, it could seem as though she had all the words she needed, as with everything else they existed but her interpretation had been either too shallow or too outstretched. In this case, words held a stronger threshold for being right or wrong and she feared she had been making all the wrong assumptions.

Severus had consoled her overworked mind but she never expressed the full extent that it drained her. At this moment in time her mind barely rested as it own, it was too busy arranging the information spoken and written by every overbearing soul. All the things assumedly proposing themselves as answers, as a saviour to all struggles. In reality those words could be equally vindictive.

"I'm not bound to this course simply because of an existing memory, am I?" Her query was reflective of what Severus had tried to soothe her with. How he assumed that this entire cause was meant for Lilith alone simply because she knew something the others didn't, even if she couldn't draw it from memory. "It's more than that, Dumbledore. I can feel it."