Your comments, reviews, and votes really help me out so much and they make me super motivated to keep working on this story!
Thank you! Pat**on : ilham20
The outside world was full of chaos and noise, but the wizards within the dreamscape knew nothing of it.
An ink-black Wampus Cat raised its paw. Mist from within its body quickly enveloped it, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a black cat.
Spiritual Transfiguration was quite magical. Just as some wizards could freely switch between their human form and their Animagus form, Sean could freely switch between his magical beast forms.
And doing so was effortless.
The black cat gazed at the vast whiteness of the Borderlands. As it raised its paw again, several clumps of mist actively gathered together.
There were dream clusters belonging to Hogwarts professors; dream clusters from a distant orphanage; and even further away, at Ilvermorny, a relatively large dream cluster also existed.
The black cat summoned them as if a cat chasing a ball of yarn.
First, it carefully scanned them, then gently pulled some closer and pushed others away.
Observing, exploring...
Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall were not yet asleep—a strange occurrence.
Headmaster Dumbledore was nowhere to be found, even though he had said he intended to speak with Sean in a dream.
Sean was a little curious. What had delayed Headmaster Dumbledore?
This was Hogwarts Castle, after all...
Setting aside the conversation with Dumbledore for the moment, the black cat sorted through some faint, indistinct threads attached to the tower body.
These were special threads. They didn't point toward the dream clusters near the Victorian architecture, but rather toward a deeper part of the Borderlands.
—These were Ravenclaw's threads.
Following a vague guidance, Sean sensed that both Lady Ravenclaws should be somewhere nearby.
This meant he could perhaps attend to other matters first.
So, he quickly pulled over some other threads.
These threads were smaller than the others and looked even more bizarre, but undeniably, they made up half of the thread cluster.
These were the threads brought by the Castle Spirit Cat Club.
The black cat gazed at the threads thoughtfully.
Finally, as if having made a decision—it needed to know what changes would occur after establishing a connection with wizards in the Borderlands, and also the key reason for the appearance of these threads.
After all, the Castle Spirit Cat Club had been established a long time ago, yet the thread cluster had only appeared today.
Was it due to the number of members, or...
---
Meanwhile, at Hogwarts Castle.
Behind the large barrels on the right side of the corridor leading to the kitchens.
Although the holidays had just ended, everyone was already looking forward to the next break.
Therefore, on the last day of the holidays, many Hufflepuffs were not yet fast asleep.
In the Hufflepuff common room, the round room was filled with tables and squishy armchairs, and a fire crackled merrily in the hearth.
A few students were still whispering or playing the nighttime edition of Exploding Snap.
This was a brand-new version where the cards only woke up at night.
After all, the face cards were special types like Werewolf Wizards and Vampire Kings.
According to incomplete statistics, the nighttime edition of Exploding Snap had reduced the early bedtime rate at Hogwarts by 100%.
—Courtesy of statisticians Fred and George.
The students believed this firmly, and the game had been all the rage for quite some time.
Today, there were still students playing it.
Although many Hufflepuffs were awake, Hannah Abbott, the president of the Castle Spirit Cat Club, was evidently not among them.
She had organized another night patrol on Valentine's Day and the weekend following it. The seventy-seven club members had nearly turned Hogwarts Castle upside down.
Unfortunately, the Good Luck Black Cat that had once helped her never appeared again.
She was disappointed once more.
This led her to further speculate on her own theory: the Castle Spirit Cat only appeared during momentous occasions.
Like guiding Harry to the truth, protecting Ginny from harm...
So, how could she find it?
The Castle Spirit Cat must be secretly fighting terrible dangers, so it would be busy. She understood that perfectly.
But disappointment is like a grass seed carried by the wind; it takes root and flourishes in the soft soil of the heart.
"Oh, just once, let me see you once, Night Messenger of Christmas, Castle Spirit Cat who governs good luck, the towering castle is your ears, the moving staircases are your breath..."
Murmuring with a modest amount of hope as usual, she drifted off to sleep.
When Hannah opened her eyes in the dream, her jaw dropped.
—She had never had a dream like this!
Bizarre clumps of mist were everywhere, a vast expanse of holy whiteness. The only stark contrast was a patch of black, lying on a mist clump, looking at her with emerald green eyes.
"Good evening, Hannah," the black cat said.
"G-Good evening, Mr. Black Cat!"
Hannah controlled herself, trying her hardest not to scream.
The black cat nodded in a very human manner, then discreetly glanced at Hannah's thread.
It had grown significantly in an instant.
The black cat understood.
Deepening the connection with someone would affect the size of the thread.
That was easy to understand.
But there was still one thing it didn't get: how had these threads appeared so suddenly?
"Mr. Black Cat!"
Before the black cat could speak again, Hannah couldn't hold it in anymore.
Good heavens, she had so many questions, so many things she wanted to know. How could she hold back?
"May I... ask you some questions?"
Realizing she had lost her composure, Hannah quickly tried to make amends.
"It doesn't matter. In a dream, we have plenty of time," the black cat said.
Hannah thought that statement made a lot of sense, though she didn't know why.
She could only pour out all her vague, urgent, and worried thoughts at once.
"Is this my dream? Or is it yours? Did I really dream of you?
Will you appear in the castle again? Will we encounter you in the castle?
You like our club, don't you? Oh, Merlin, I have so much to say..."
Hannah finished speaking and hurriedly covered her mouth.
She had asked so much; would Mr. Black Cat be annoyed?
"It's okay to ask more, because this dream exists for you," the black cat said slowly, holding down its tail.
"Is that true?!"
Hannah couldn't control herself and let out a low gasp.
"It is true."
The black cat seemed to smile, its whiskers twitching gently.
It pulled out a thread, and within the thread, a shy young witch was lying in bed with a faint smile on her face.
It was herself!
This dreamlike scene made Hannah even more incredulous. She looked at the black cat, which was nodding humanly.
She covered her mouth.
It seemed that tonight, the wind of freedom had stirred the stoic tree, and the chatty young witch had dreamed a lucky dream.