This pub seemed to gather all the idlers and lowlifes of Hogsmeade—shifty-eyed and sneaky types. Lys Black even spotted two Gryffindor students in the far corner, but they left quickly.
After throwing a belligerent wizard who had provoked her out the window, Lys realized she had been feeling impulsive lately, as if she needed to vent her emotions. Her gaze landed on another table where wizards were greedily eyeing the Galleons on the table. She shot them a mocking look.
This earned her a warning from the bartender. To pacify those piercing blue eyes glaring at her, Lys tried to buy a bottle of whiskey, but it didn't seem to work. She decided not to provoke him further; the magical waves emanating from him were the strongest in the room. Even Gobble, squirming in her pouch, was reacting strongly to the magic—a rare occurrence lately.
Quietly casting a Notice-Me-Not Charm on herself, Lys sat and listened to the wizards around her boasting. She was relatively relaxed until she overheard one wizard at the neighboring table whispering about how the Dark Lord might have recruited Fenrir Greyback. If that were true, the child-biting scumbag would have a perfect shield.
Hearing that name, Lys touched her left arm, pulled out a bottle of magical stabilizer, and drank it. Yet she couldn't suppress the twitch in her expression. Gripping her wand, she thought to herself: she was no longer that helpless little girl. One day, she would kill him.
The shady-looking man was surprisingly efficient. Before the sun had even set, he appeared at the pub, leaving his contact information with a cheerful demeanor. "I'm good at errands. Call me if you need anything next time."
Looking at the large bundle he left behind, Lys frowned slightly. It was rather conspicuous with its uneven bulges. After the transaction was completed and the man departed, Lys stayed a while longer. After discussing a potential deal with a Greek smuggler, she shook off a small tail following her and returned to school.
At the school gates, magical items were inspected for Dark Magic. However, the dried arms in her possession bore no magical properties, so they didn't trigger any alarms. Lys had also cast several Confounding Charms and Transfiguration Spells on them, avoiding unnecessary trouble.
Back in her dormitory, Lys began dismantling the arms. Each arm bone was slightly different, but their structures were similar. Lys studied them meticulously, spending hours examining and sketching each bone in her notebook.
Thanks to her boring childhood, Lys's drawing skills far surpassed her cursive writing. Her sketches were almost photographic in detail. While attempting to fit mismatched bones together, she noted issues such as wear, lack of sensitivity, and inability to bear weight.
Even during History of Magic class, Lys was deeply engrossed in her research, occasionally staring at her own or others' arms in contemplation. After a Rune Studies class, she sought out Professor Babbling, gaining some urgently needed knowledge. The disassembled arm bones suffered further experimentation.
Lys repeatedly tested how to engrave magical patterns into the bones and integrate non-flesh alchemical materials seamlessly. At the very least, she wanted to avoid the manticore's current awkward gait. The foreign materials embedded in its bones caused it to walk with a peculiar sway, alleviating the itchy sensation.
After inspecting the manticore, Lys found no solution. The uneven alchemical materials protruded or recessed into the bones, grinding against its flesh and causing discomfort. She worried about how she would handle this issue herself—her flesh wasn't as resilient as the manticore's, which could endure the grinding of gold, silver, and crystal without damage, only mild itching.
Lys scoured for information, even borrowing a peculiar book from a Hufflepuff titled On the Artistic Nature of Bones. Learning that the wizarding world had skeletal bands excited her, but discovering it was a privilege of the dead quickly dampened her enthusiasm.
Recently, Lys's schedule was stretched thin. She slept only a few hours each night, relying on stimulant potions to manage her assignments. The stress was overwhelming, leaving her tall but still painfully thin.
Every day, she carried Gobble around, either in the library, her dormitory, or the classroom—almost never venturing elsewhere. Despite her hectic schedule, Lys never skipped her daily routine of using her wand to dangle small magical spheres for Gobble to play with. Gobble's reactions grew increasingly quick, forcing Lys to improve her reflexes as well.
After their daily playtime, Lys collected Gobble's winnings into a small vial. Gobble had caught quite a lot. She marveled at how she should add more features to the collar to increase its consumption—the vial was nearly full. Gobble's head was tilted back in pride, almost to the point of snapping.
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