The wheelchair-bound warrior is speedrunning Hogwarts.

It was the vulnerability she hid beneath her calm and composed mask, the almost pathetic obsessions she didn't want Vera to see.

Little did she know, Vera had already seen all of this.

It turns out that on her journey across a century, that person had never truly left.

Vera looked at her reddened eyes, gently wiped away the tears that were about to fall from the corners of her eyes with her fingertips, and said softly, "So you see, you've never been waiting alone."

Sera's throat tightened, a thousand words stuck in her chest, finally turning into a very soft, hoarse sigh.

She reached out and pulled Vera into a tight embrace again, with such force that it seemed she wanted to fill the void of the past century.

Vera was held tightly in her arms, quietly listening to the slight trembling of her heartbeat. After a long while, she raised her head, coughed lightly, and asked:

"What happened with that thunderstorm? And Knox? It seems different from what you told me before?"

Sera froze, instinctively trying to look away, but Vera forcefully cupped her face, her fingertips gently pressing against her chin to prevent her from looking away.

"Hmm? If you don't explain yourself clearly, don't blame me for using dirty tricks on you."

Sera raised an eyebrow, then asked with interest, "Oh? Would I be so fortunate as to know what method it is?"

As soon as she finished speaking, a soft slap landed on her face.

She tilted her head slightly to the side, looking at Vera with some disbelief.

"Didn't you write that in your diary back then?" Vera's face flushed slightly, but she still kept a straight face. "You said you missed me, wanted to kiss me, even if you were slapped, tied up, and..."

Before she could finish her string of wild and inappropriate words, Sera swiftly covered her mouth.

As for Sera herself, her ears instantly turned red, and her neck was also tinged with a light blush. Her previous composure and calmness completely disappeared, and she instead showed some embarrassment at having her secret fetish exposed.

She secretly wrote those things in her diary and then disposed of them immediately!

Who knew Vera would see it...

She coughed lightly, raised her hand and placed it on Vera's hand, her tone carrying a rare hint of vulnerability: "It's been so long, there's no point in talking about this anymore..."

“It means a lot to me.” Vera refused to back down, her dark eyes shining brightly with a hint of stubbornness. “I want to know everything, good or bad. Since I am your lover, shouldn’t we share joys and sorrows together?”

Sera looked at her, remained silent for a moment, and her embarrassment gradually faded.

She slowly released her hand, letting Vera cup her face, her fingertips curling slightly as she gently brushed against Vera's palm.

“That was a method I stumbled upon while traveling through a small African country,” she said softly, her voice slightly hoarse. “I couldn’t travel through time, so… I used a secret method to send a part of my will and memories a hundred years into the future.”

The price... is that my physical body will fall into a deep sleep after the secret technique is performed, and my memories will be lost after my will returns.

She paused for a moment before slowly raising her eyelids and saying, word by word, "And I was able to awaken again five years ago, on the first day of Hogwarts, when Knox came to the place where I was sleeping."

Vera frowned. In her vague memory, Knox had indeed disappeared for quite some time on the first day of school that year.

But who would have thought that it was going to see Sera, who was still asleep, at that time?

“Wait a minute,” her mind raced, trying to make sense of the logic, “so, you will only wake up if Knox, carrying your will, returns to Hogwarts to see you, right?”

Sera didn't deny it, but simply shrugged slowly: "I just don't want to have to wait that long after I wake up."

“But what if Knox hadn’t met me?” Vera’s brows furrowed even more, and her voice rose slightly. “Or what if something went wrong and it didn’t make it to me? What would you do then?”

Sera, observing her suddenly tense expression, reached out and gently smoothed her furrowed brows. Her tone remained gentle, yet it held an undeniable resolve:

"Then sleep forever, until your soul dissipates into the depths of the secret vault."

Vera's heart sank, and her fingertips trembled.

"You're crazy..." Her voice was hoarse. "How could you dare to gamble everything on such a vague possibility?"

“Why not?” Sera took her slightly cool hand and pressed it to her heart. “I knew you would come. Even if it wasn’t Knox, something else would have guided you here.”

Hogwarts will guide you, time will guide you, and every ounce of magic I leave in this castle will do its utmost to bring you to me.

She paused, a faint smile spreading across her crimson eyes, carrying a hint of the stubbornness of yesteryear:

"Besides, I've waited so long, one last gamble won't make a difference. If I win, I'll see you; if I lose, it'll just be burying this wait in eternal sleep."

Vera stared at her blankly, speechless for a long time.

They cut off all escape routes, leaving only one path leading to her, and even if the path ahead led to an abyss, they dared to leap into it.

This is Sera, the Sera she loves, and who loves her in return.

Vera looked at her, her eyes welling up uncontrollably once again, the emotions she had been suppressing surging up again.

She didn't know whether to be angry at this person for being so reckless or to feel sorry for her desperate obsession.

Sera chuckled softly and pulled her closer: "But I won, didn't I?"

She triumphed over time, over fate, and over this century-long wait, finally holding her firmly in her arms.

Vera nestled in her arms, took a deep breath, and the familiar scent of pine and snow enveloped her, soothing all her unease and bitterness.

“One last question,” she asked in a muffled voice, her voice lingering on Serra’s chest, “the reason you didn’t come looking for me for the first two years was because…you didn’t remember me?”

This time, Sera remained silent for a long time.

After a long pause, she nodded gently: "I haven't forgotten everything, but I can't remember many details, so... I've been secretly observing you for those years, until you finally came to me."

As for making a scroll overnight as an emergency measure after learning about Vera's little troubles through Knox, she had already explained that to Vera beforehand.

Of course, it's best not to reveal too much about how he quickly regained his will after realizing Vera wanted to reject him, and how he made it put on a big show in front of Vera, for the sake of future harmonious life.

As Sera was silently thinking to herself, the person in her arms suddenly raised his hand, cupped her face, and traced her face from her brow bone to her chin, inch by inch, as if he wanted to firmly engrave the person in front of him into his own bones and blood.

"Don't do that again." Vera's voice was slightly choked with emotion. "Don't gamble with your life anymore. Let's be good to each other from now on, okay?"

Sera looked at her reddened eyes, gently wiped away the moisture from the corners of her eyes with her fingertips, and softly replied, "Okay."

From now on, they will all be fine.

She bent down and kissed away Vera's tears, her movements gentle and almost reverent, slowly moving from the corner of her eye to the corner of her lips, carrying the tenderness and appreciation that had accumulated over the years.

The moment their lips touched, all the unspoken words were transformed into a long and peaceful kiss.

The sky outside the window gradually brightened, and the first rays of morning light pierced through the window frame, falling on the intertwined shadows of the two people.

Vera tilted her head slightly, responding to the long-overdue kiss, her arms tightly wrapped around Sera's neck, as if she wanted to make up for all the regrets missed over the past century in this moment.

This time, they will never be apart again.

Author's note: It will be finished in about three chapters.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Leapfrog Improvement

[Name: Vera Black]

[Age: 16 years old]

[属性：力（7）敏（9）魔（9）智（9）魅（8）幸（5）]

[Ancient Magic Learning Status: Multicast (Advanced), Source Reshaping (Intermediate), Form Creation (Beginner)]

[Current Magic Circuit Level: Mastery - High-Level (2417/2500)]

[Magic Reserves: 999+]

Sure enough, after clearing out a large number of fairy minions, her magic circuit level experience points increased dramatically.

But... it's still a little short.

If Vera were to simply rely on time to improve, she was confident that she would be able to advance to the next grade this semester.

However, just as she was about to make this decision, she received another task from Hogwarts—

[Cleanse or absorb the ancient magical energy within the vault; must be completed before the end of the Christmas holidays]

They really know how to find her work.

Vera swears that when she received the assignment, she genuinely wanted to refuse.

She once troubled the four guardians, and even a genius wizard like Sera couldn't deal with her. Now, she's the one being asked to do it, even though she's an underage wizard?

Is this appropriate?

Absolutely perfect!

As someone recognized by Hogwarts, it was her duty to eliminate these potential dangers for Hogwarts!

It's definitely not because they're after the massive amount of experience points that this huge mass of energy can bring!

Seeing her lover's initial hesitation turn into a sudden gleam in his eyes, his face beaming with eager anticipation, Sera couldn't help but furrow her brow slightly.

“The ancient magic deep within the secret vault is violent and chaotic; getting even slightly close will affect one’s mind,” she looked up at the distant mass of energy, her unease growing stronger. “What do you want to do by suddenly suggesting coming here?”

After the two of them finally made everything clear and shared all the information, they originally planned to leave school for Christmas and travel to other places alone.

However, for some reason, Vera suddenly withdrew her application to leave school and postponed her travel plans.

On the first day of the Christmas holiday, after seeing Harley and Hermione off, she suddenly showed up and dragged Sierra along to the Vault of Secrets once again.

Wei stretched out her hand and took her arm, her fingertips gently twitching, her eyes gleaming with undisguised expectation: "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

She looked up at the surging energy deep within the secret vault, its halo slowly rolling beneath the dome, carrying an ancient and violent pressure that even caused the air to tremble slightly.

"Hogwarts wants me to deal with these mixed energies, so I need to check on its condition."

Sera's brows furrowed tightly, and without thinking, she reached out and grabbed her hand: "Are you serious?"

“Of course.” Vera took her hand in return, her fingertips warm with certainty, and looked up at the dark purple energy slowly surging in the center of the secret vault. “As long as it exists, it will always be a hidden danger, and may attract ambitious people like Lanlock at any time in the future.”

In other words, Hogwarts entrusted her with the task of disposing of it in order to prevent the castle from being invaded again in the future.

The castle did not make any hard and fast rules regarding whether to simply clear it out or absorb it.

That's why Vera chose to come back here to observe again.

However, in the past, she simply felt that the aura of this energy was unpleasant, but if she looked at it from a different angle, it would be a little different.

For example, from the perspective of whether it can upgrade the level of magic circuits... this thing is simply a great tonic!

"10000+ experience points..." Vera murmured to herself as she looked at the ball of energy.

It's already a vast amount of experience points, enough for her to break through from mastery to transcendence, and even to cross one or two minor levels.

More importantly, the sooner she breaks through, the sooner she can realize her idea and extract Voldemort's last remaining soul fragment from Harley's soul.

Sera didn't hear the numbers she muttered, assuming it was just a sigh in the face of this violent energy. Her brows remained furrowed: "But this is not something you can touch right now. Even I can barely suppress it. To absorb it rashly would be tantamount to setting yourself on fire!"

"Don't worry," Vera turned her head and smiled slightly, gently tapping Sera's heart with her fingertip, "I'm here for you, aren't I?"

One sentence made Sera's tense expression relax slightly.

If I remember correctly, this seems to be the first time Vera has so naturally intended to lean on her?

She paused for a moment, clearly already wavering, but still forced a stern expression: "Don't try to get away with that. Such immense energy, if it were to go berserk, the consequences would be unimaginable..."

“Of course I’ve thought about that.” Vera reached out and pressed her lips against hers, easily silencing her. “But don’t forget, I’m now the official Guardian, and dealing with it is my responsibility.”

She paused, her skin glowing with a faint golden light that resonated subtly with the bricks beneath her feet. "Besides, with Hogwarts helping me, it won't let its hard-won master get into trouble so easily."

Sera gazed at the faint light emanating from her body, and her tense expression finally softened little by little.

“You always manage to convince me.” She grabbed Vera’s hand, her voice tinged with visible helplessness.

Vera smiled, tiptoed, and quickly pecked her on the corner of her lips, her tone light and resolute: "Because I know you'll always be on my side."

Sera was rendered speechless by her self-righteous attitude and could only sigh softly, looking up at the ball of energy: "So, that's why you waited until the Christmas holidays to bring me here?"

After all, if the commotion down below is too loud, the students inside the castle will also feel it.

But during the Christmas holidays, there will be less than a hundred students left at the school. If something goes wrong, we can just let the giant squid in the lake splash around a bit, or pretend it's an earthquake to cover it up.

Bringing Sera along was also a form of insurance that Vera was giving herself.

If her will has truly been corrupted, then the only person in the entire magical world who can stop her is Sera.

“That’s exactly it.” Vera nodded slightly, her fingertips lightly hooking Sera’s palm, a hint of slyness and certainty in her expression.

"Moreover, I am confident that I will not get into trouble. This energy is chaotic and violent, and only I can disassemble and sort it out piece by piece, and then integrate it into my own magic circuit little by little."

She looked up at the surging dark purple halo in the center of the secret vault, her eyes showing no fear, but rather a hint of excitement.

"You stay here and watch over me, okay? If I show the slightest sign of losing control, you pull me out immediately."

Sera gazed into her bright black eyes, ultimately unable to resist this stubbornness and trust, and nodded slightly, her fingertips gently stroking the back of her hand:

"Okay. But remember, if you feel something is wrong, stop immediately, and don't force yourself for any reason."

"Okay, I promise you!" Vera tiptoed and kissed her, then let go of her hand and slowly walked towards the ball of dark purple energy.