Late at night, Hogwarts fell into silence. Of course, this did not include Lyla's office.
She sat at her desk, intently studying the black notebook resting in front of her. This was Tom Riddle's diary. Lyla was diligently trying to decipher the complex Magic Arrays carved into it.
Since arriving at Hogwarts, studying the diary was one of her only two ways to relax after replying to student letters. The other was lying on the grassy grounds of Nurmengard hidden inside her Spatial Storage Book.
Riddle's diary was engraved with incredibly complex Magic Arrays. However, after weeks of study, Lyla had successfully identified and separated three familiar arrays.
These were the Connection, Transmission, and Memory Arrays. This breakthrough significantly simplified the remaining magical structure on the diary.
Over the past few days, she had been trying to isolate the remaining unknown Magic Arrays. It was an arduous process.
The arrays were heavily superimposed, layering over one another like inextricably intertwined threads or a chaotic spiderweb. Even with her vast knowledge of Magic Array theory, deciphering them was incredibly mentally taxing.
This was especially true since she had been stressing over her lesson plans just a few days ago. However, she was quite lucky. Professor McGonagall had kindly agreed to her request and provided her with several extracted memories to use for teaching.
But those memories were a bit too old. They were Professor McGonagall's personal memories from when she was still a Hogwarts student.
'They seem a bit out of touch with the current era...' Lyla's pointed ears twitched, reminding her to snap out of her wandering thoughts and refocus on her research.
"Oh... it seems to have worked..." she whispered excitedly.
She held up the piece of parchment where she had painstakingly traced the new array. It was an incredibly complex diagram—more intricate than any Lyla had ever seen before.
This was definitely not an ordinary array. She might have just stumbled upon another massive discovery!
But... Lyla gently patted her own cheeks to calm herself down. She couldn't afford to get too excited just yet. After all, she still had absolutely no idea what this new Magic Array actually did.
The function of any array is dictated by the Ancient Runes at its core. Unfortunately, Lyla did not recognize the meaning behind this particular set of runes.
Therefore, there was only one way to find out what it did. She had to test it through experimentation.
According to her father, the earliest Magic Array scholars discovered new applications using this exact method. Her father had also used these methods to...
Lyla firmly pursed her lips, forcing herself not to dwell on those sad memories.
'Mr. Riddle's diary shouldn't contain anything too dangerous, right?' she reasoned. 'At least, based on my interactions with him so far, it shouldn't...'
She carefully held the traced parchment. Raising her wand, she cast a spell to open her Spatial Storage Book. To be safe, she certainly couldn't conduct a blind experiment inside her office.
Accompanied by a brief wave of dizziness, Lyla was transported beneath a tranquil, illusory night sky.
A small, two-story wooden house had already been constructed on the grassy Nurmengard grounds, complete with a cozy little yard.
Purple cornflowers bloomed vibrantly along the fence, dotted with bright yellow nasturtiums. These were Gellert Grindelwald's favorite flowers, and naturally, they were Lyla's favorites as well.
She clearly remembered how they used to bloom just under the porch. However, after her parents passed away, the original flowers had all withered.
Lyla's slender fingers gently brushed over the illusory petals, and a faint, fleeting smile graced her lips.
Carrying the traced parchment, she left the garden and walked out to an open, grassy space in the distance. Next, she needed to inject it with magic.
Lyla deliberately did not engrave an Energy Storage Array alongside it. If this new array turned out to be dangerous, an Energy Storage Array would just continuously supply it with power. That would be disastrous.
Lyla still vividly remembered the last time she studied the Memory Array. If she hadn't strictly limited the amount of magic she injected into it, she might have been trapped inside those traumatic past memories forever.
That was absolutely no laughing matter. Whether it was being forced to repeatedly relive the bullying at Durmstrang or facing the horrifying memories of Dumbledore defeating her boss, it was comparable to psychological torture.
'Maybe Azkaban could use my Memory Array to punish prisoners?' she mused darkly.
Shaking her head, Lyla gently raised her wand. Buzz! A transparent membrane shimmered into existence, enveloping her body and securing the immediate surroundings. She cast a Shield Charm and several other layered protective spells.
After all, robust self-protection was the very first step in any Magic Array experiment. Unless the array was entirely known, one could never be too careful.
Lyla gently flicked her wand, sending a tiny trace of blue magical light to touch the drawn array.
...Then came absolute silence.
Lyla's blue eyes stared unblinkingly at the parchment, but nothing happened. The Magic Array simply glowed faintly, but produced no visible effect.
'What does this mean?' she wondered. 'Is it some kind of passive Protective Array?'
Lyla flicked her wand again, levitating a small stone and floating it directly into the array's center. Unfortunately, nothing happened. The stone merely hit the ground and rolled a few times across the glowing lines.
'What... what does this mean?'
Frowning, Lyla flicked her wand once more. She caught a wild frog from the nearby grass and studied the croaking little creature.
Pursing her lips, she gently levitated the frog and placed it directly in the center of the Magic Array.
But still, nothing happened. The frog just croaked twice and happily hopped away.
'It doesn't seem to be triggered by living beings either...' Lyla was extremely puzzled. 'So what exactly is the function of this Magic Array? Could its only purpose be to emit a faint glow?'
'But the light isn't even that bright...' She watched the blue glow slowly fade away as the magic dissipated, completely stumped by the mysterious array.
'It's a pity father isn't here...' Lyla sighed helplessly. If her father were here, he would probably know exactly what kind of Magic Array this was.
'I'm just not like him... I lack imagination... and I'm not smart enough... and...' Wait! Imagination! Lyla suddenly thought of her new penpal, Miss Luna Lovegood. 'Perhaps she could figure something out?'
But it was far too late to contact her now. Lyla remembered it was already past one in the morning when she entered the Spatial Storage Book. She doubted the young Ravenclaw would still be awake.
'I'll ask her tomorrow, then,' Lyla decided.
She and Miss Lovegood had already agreed to share a meal together. This bizarre Magic Array felt like the perfect conversation starter for their dinner.
'As Luna's genuine friend, I need to learn how to actively find topics to discuss!' she encouraged herself. 'Otherwise, all I ever do is nervously repeat the last few words of whatever she says.'
Feeling a bit more optimistic, Lyla picked up the drawn array, which had gone completely dark due to the lack of magic power, and returned to her office.
As she closed the Spatial Storage Book, Lyla let out a long stretch. It was getting incredibly late, and she desperately needed to rest.
Today had been truly exhausting. She had helped Mr. Lockhart, successfully traced a brand-new Magic Array, and secured teaching materials from Professor McGonagall.
'What a fulfilling day...' As Lyla blew out the candles and left, the black diary resting on her desk slowly creaked open. After a brief, eerie silence, it gently snapped itself shut again.
Perhaps it was just a draft?