"Are you about to succeed?" Luna pursed her lips and carefully sat beside Lyla, just as she had for the past few days.
"Mm..." Lyla nodded gently, then slowly picked up her wand.
Over the past few days, Lyla had finished engraving all the individual Magic Arrays.
The Energy Storage Array allowed the book to draw magic power by itself. The multiple Spatial Teleportation Arrays gave each page of the book independent storage space. There was even one page with an interior as large as the Great Hall.
Then came the protective arrays, which ensured the physical book would not be damaged by ordinary fire or water, and even some spells couldn't harm it.
In addition to these, there was also a Secret Lock Array, meaning only Lyla herself, and those she permitted, could open the book.
The combination of four distinct Magic Arrays was far more complex than any array Lyla had attempted before. She owed this inspiration entirely to Newt's suitcase.
Lyla subconsciously glanced at the Magic Array diagram, which was already heavily crumpled from excessive viewing.
Now, all that remained was to connect the various arrays.
To allow the Energy Storage Array to provide auxiliary power to the others, they had to be linked. This had to be done carefully so as not to violently interfere with the core runes of the already engraved arrays.
This was undeniably the most difficult part of drawing a Magic Array.
Fortunately, Lyla was highly advanced in her study of Magic Arrays. She felt as if she had returned to fifty years ago. She felt even better than when she was at Durmstrang... after all, back then she had to constantly deal with classmates who troubled her every single day.
'Hoo...' Lyla shook her head to calm herself down. She habitually patted her face and then waved her wand.
The small metal knife floated up again. Guided flawlessly by her wand, it struck down into the leather again and again.
Finally, as Lyla's wand stopped at the tail of the final array, the entire book's cover emitted a soft hum.
"Buzz!"
Immediately following the sound was a brilliant blue light. It first illuminated the central Energy Storage Array, then rapidly spread along the runic lines to the entire book cover. Finally, it slowly faded back into silence.
"It's a success..." Lyla let out a long breath and instinctively smiled.
Although it was somewhat difficult, she had managed it with relative ease... at the cost of not leaving her room for several days, all thanks to Miss Lovegood's company.
Lyla thought this as she looked at Luna, finding the eleven-year-old completely engrossed in the book, even though the Magic Array's glow had vanished.
"Do... do you want to... try it?" Lyla asked, nervously pursing her lips.
Despite her anxiety, she was genuinely happy to let her first friend be the very first to try it.
"Of course." Luna nodded immediately, seemingly having absolutely no doubt about Lyla's magical skills. She slowly picked up the book and gently flipped it open.
Immediately, a faint, glowing crack appeared, gradually obscuring the densely packed words of Grindelwald's manifesto on the opened page.
"..."
Lyla looked at Luna with sudden, intense nervousness. She instantly regretted it.
'What if something unexpected happens... what if Miss Lovegood gets permanently trapped in the book...'
But Luna didn't wait for her to overthink. She directly reached her hand towards the glowing crack above the book.
"Whoosh."
Luna vanished in a flash of light right before Lyla's eyes, making the Half-Veela shiver involuntarily.
'So... it makes such a big... commotion?'
Lyla let out a shaky breath and then called out softly, "Miss... Lovegood?"
"Are you... alright?"
"..."
What responded to Lyla was a long, terrifying silence.
'Oh no... oh no!'
Lyla's catastrophic overthinking took over. She subconsciously felt that something was horribly wrong. Had she really just trapped her only friend in a magical book?
And that was the best-case scenario!
What if it was some endless abyss inside... Lyla didn't have time to think further. Driven by pure panic, she also reached her hand towards the crack, immediately feeling a strong suction force.
'You absolutely must be alright!' Lyla prayed frantically to Merlin, Nerida Vulchanova, and Lord Grindelwald while allowing the spatial force to pull her in.
"Whoosh!"
With a flash of silver light, Lyla felt her body suddenly become lighter. She subconsciously squeezed her eyes shut, but immediately after, she heard the soft sound of her feet landing on solid ground.
"..."
She opened her eyes somewhat fearfully and surveyed her surroundings.
This was a lush, green grassy area. Not far away was a continuous range of high mountains. This was a place Lyla was incredibly familiar with... Nurmengard.
Or rather, it was Nurmengard fifty years ago.
After waking from her coma and learning of Lord Grindelwald's defeat, Lyla had once desperately tried to go back. Unfortunately, Apparition had failed. Even the clumsiest Aurors from the Ministry of Magic wouldn't allow the former Wizarding Supremacist Party "nest" to be entered and exited freely.
And Lyla, who had rarely ever left Nurmengard's grounds during her service, did not actually know its exact geographical location.
And so... using the Spatial Teleportation Array and her past memories, Lyla had perfectly replicated the scene of Nurmengard from that year... right inside this book.
It was exactly the view one could see from the room at the top of the narrow spire of Nurmengard Castle.
But none of that mattered right now. Where was Miss Lovegood?
Lyla subconsciously looked around, her panic rising, and then finally spotted a glint of gold in the tall green grass.
It was Miss Lovegood. She was lying perfectly silently in the grass with her eyes closed.
'What... what happened?'
Lyla tightened her grip on her ebony wand. With a sharp flick, she Apparated directly to Luna's side.
But the very next second, her ankle was suddenly grabbed by a hand.
"Lyla, you arrived so quickly..." Luna didn't open her eyes, but spoke in her usual, song-like voice.
"I thought... I was scared... something might have..." Lyla realized she had been tricked. Or perhaps... Miss Lovegood simply hadn't heard her calling from outside.
But either reason was enough to make her blush fiercely and lower her head to hide beneath her hood.
But as she lowered her head, she met Luna's now-open eyes.
"Lyla's eyes are exactly like the divination sapphire my mother used to use," Luna said slowly.
"I... I'm not..." Lyla subconsciously tilted her head back up again to hide, but the result was Luna playfully tickling her ankle.
"Eek!" Lyla, trying desperately to pull away, slipped. She fell back onto the grass, landing side-by-side with Luna.
"I slipped just now too." Luna had closed her eyes again at some point. "Then I found it was very comfortable to lie here."
"Where is this?" Luna asked slowly.
"Germany..." Lyla whispered. At least, Nurmengard should have still been in Germany before she lost consciousness fifty years ago.
"When I find the Crumple-Horned Snorkack, I want to come here to see it too," Luna said, turning to look at Lyla.
As she turned her head, Lyla suddenly realized exactly how close they were lying.
Feeling a spike of severe social anxiety, she quickly recoiled, creating a slight, safe distance.
But Luna didn't seem to mind. "When that time comes, Lyla, you must bring me here to see it." Her gaze was exceptionally serious, completely lacking its usual hint of dreaminess.
"Of... of course..." Lyla whispered back.
She actually wanted to tell Luna that this was a replica of Nurmengard, Lord Grindelwald's base... Perhaps she might as well secretly recruit Miss Lovegood to be a member of the cause while she was at it.
"Then it's a promise," Luna nodded, looking up at the artificial sky again.
"Are these stars also magic?"
"Mm." Lyla nodded softly, then also glanced up at the stars.
These stars certainly didn't belong to the real Nurmengard. They belonged to Lyla's other home.
The home she could no longer return to.
"So beautiful." Luna smiled, her laughter like wind chimes in the breeze. "Perhaps I should draw it?"
"Now?" Lyla asked subconsciously.
"Of course not." Luna shook her head. "Now we should only admire it."
"Admire it... really?" Lyla nodded thoughtfully.
So, the socially anxious Half-Veela and the dreamy eleven-year-old lay on the grass in comfortable silence for a long time.
That is, until a very familiar, terrifying voice from outside the book suddenly echoed around them.
"Miss Hamilton, perhaps you should get up."
"D-D-D-D-D-Dumbledore?!" Lyla shrieked, suddenly flipping up in pure terror.