Chapter 67 - Sixty-Seven: Fifth Diary Entry

Chapter 67: Chapter Sixty-Seven: Fifth Diary Entry

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Fifth Diary Entry

November 13, 2023

"Looking at the time, it’s already five o’clock in the morning, but I can’t sleep at all. Today I met Miss Worley and talked with her until just now."

"Miss Worley used to be a very proud young woman, but now she seems much gentler. In some ways, I think she’s a little like Vesey."

"I was at the cemetery when I saw her today. I’ve been feeling uneasy for a long time. I suspect that Dumbledore was responsible for Vesey’s death, but I have no evidence. And even if I did have evidence, what good would it do?"

"Vesey is dead. Dumbledore is dead. They’re all dead. I can’t even take revenge."

"I can only find some comfort by sitting quietly in the cemetery and looking at Vesey."

"I didn’t stay long today before I met Miss Worley. She seemed to be in good spirits as always. When she saw me, she took the initiative to come over and talk to me."

"She told me that she had inherited the Worley family and become its head."

"I congratulated her, but she didn’t look happy. There was a sarcastic smile on her lips as she said that I didn’t really mean it and must be looking down on her."

"I shook my head vigorously. How could that be? I’ve always thought Cassandra was an impressive person."

"I’ve heard that even in the wizarding world, pure-blood girls are often used in political marriages. So for a girl to become the head of her family... What an incredible achievement that is!"

"But Cassandra doesn’t believe it. Or perhaps she looks down on herself."

"After a long silence, she began mocking Miss Granger. She said Miss Granger was a fool who would eventually take her own life."

"She had become Minister for Magic. How many girls admired and envied her achievements? Yet she still ended up taking that path."

"She said those words, but the corners of her eyes had already turned red."

"I didn’t say anything. I just looked at her sadly."

"After a while, Miss Worley suddenly burst into tears."

"She said she couldn’t leave with Vesey because Vesey had helped her fight for everything she had now. If she gave up, all of Vesey’s efforts would be wasted."

"She had to accomplish what Vesey had always wanted to do: free the house-elves, reconcile wizards and Muggles, and..."

"And Vesey had made an agreement with them long ago. If Vesey died, they had to keep living and make something of their lives."

"She also told me that Miss Granger had erased her parents’ memories of her during the summer of their sixth year."

"Her parents no longer recognized their own daughter. Even if they met again in the future, they would be strangers."

"Hermione lost her family and the person she loved, and eventually took that path."

"I didn’t know any of this. I rarely pay attention to anyone other than Vesey. At most, I’ll ask a few questions out of curiosity when the subject comes up."

"Now that I think about it, their story is just as tragic as Vesey’s."

"When she had finally calmed down a little, I asked her about Dumbledore and Vesey. She was surprised that I actually knew about it. After hesitating for a moment, she still told me what she knew."

"After listening to Miss Worley, I realized how na?ve my previous thoughts had been."

"It turns out that many people knew that Vesey had destroyed her portrait in despair after seeing Dumbledore."

"Yes. If even I could sense that something was wrong, how could those wizards not have noticed?"

"Miss Worley also told me that everyone had already had their suspicions. They believed that Vesey might actually have been capable of curing her own physical problems. She simply didn’t want to live."

"She seemed to have guessed Dumbledore’s intentions after the final battle. She had even figured out why Voldemort was stunned when he saw her beneath the Killing Curse."

"From then on, she stopped trying to prevent her condition from deteriorating and simply waited for death."

"Many people have said that Vesey’s health problems were something no one but Vesey herself could do anything about."

"But she never tried to stop her body from deteriorating. She was silently waiting for death."

"Those who knew Vesey well had understood this for a long time. Vesey had lost the desire to live long ago."

"She had lost too much and witnessed too many deaths. Perhaps she simply wanted to sleep forever. Maybe that was a kind of relief for her."

"But no one expected her to destroy her own portrait."

"Because of that, she went to find Dumbledore’s portrait. But Dumbledore’s portrait claimed he had forgotten everything about her and that no one could get any information from him."

"Not even the current Headmistress could order him to reveal anything."

"Miss Worley had no way of knowing whether he was telling the truth, so she went to ask Professor McGonagall."

"The result was, of course, a failure. Even Professor McGonagall couldn’t make Dumbledore reveal the truth. He insisted that he knew nothing."

"’Actually, there’s no point in knowing anymore. Dumbledore is dead. Vesey is dead. They’re all dead. So what difference does it make?’ Miss Worley told me that."

"She also told me to forget about Vesey and live my own life."

"But when I said that to her, she fell silent."

"Look, even she can’t forget Vesey. So why should she tell me to forget?"

"After a moment of silence, the two of us tacitly changed the subject."

"Miss Worley told me that many of the potions Vesey had developed in the past had already become widely used."

"For example, Vesey had already come up with some ideas about the Vampire Transformation Potion during her first year. Now it has been added to the textbooks and become a potion students are required to learn."

"I don’t know exactly what that potion does, but I still feel proud of her."

"There are many more examples. Just listening to her talk about them, I can feel Vesey’s talent and ability."

"But it’s useless. All of it disappeared fifteen years ago."

"Vesey was resolutely walking toward death. None of us could stop her."

"We can only miss her quietly, over and over again."

"Eventually, some people will forget her. They’ll forget her more and more as the years pass."

"And I might be trapped here."

The end of the diary suddenly became wet, as though water had dripped onto the page.

Hermione quickly touched her eyes.

She was worried that she had started crying.

But strangely, she wasn’t crying.

This wasn’t her.

It was the diary’s owner who was crying.

Tears had fallen onto the page one after another, blurring some of the words.

Hermione stared blankly at the small patch of wetness.

Then the scene of her casting the Memory Charm on her parents appeared in her mind.

In the future, she would lose her loved ones.

She would lose Vesey too.

Would she really end up taking that path?

And was Miss Worley actually Cassandra Worley?

Was she one of Vesey’s wives?

From the diary, it seemed that she was suffering terribly.

She wanted to leave everything behind, but she couldn’t.

Hermione lowered her eyes.

Compared with living like that, perhaps it would be easier to simply disappear early.

But the thought left her feeling strangely uncomfortable.