"I understand."
Even though Tom's unreliability had made Arianna trust him a little less, she still obediently closed her eyes and did as he asked—activating the "Silent One" inside her.
What else could she do? She trusted Tom. Since she had chosen to put her faith in him, she was determined to see it through.
As her memories sank deeper, the terror and pain she had buried began to surface. Her expression slowly collapsed—her smile twisted and crumbled until it was replaced entirely by agony.
At the same time, wisps of pitch-black, cottony mist seeped uncontrollably from her body. As the dark smoke thickened, the air around them grew heavy and suffocating.
"Arianna…"
Dumbledore looked at his sister's tortured expression, worry etched deeply into his eyes. In this moment he wasn't a legendary wizard or "the greatest wizard of his time." He was just an old man who loved his family—and could do absolutely nothing to help.
With Newt nowhere around and him completely helpless against the Silent One, all he could do was pin his hopes on that suspiciously unreliable big blue cat.
(It's coming out! (★ω★))
Sensing the energy beginning to gather, Tom's eyes lit up.
Sure, he didn't know the specifics of the Silent One, but so what? He could clearly feel its true nature inside Arianna.
To Tom, the Silent One was nothing more than a clump of magic energy given physical form. In other words, a mass of magic tainted by intense emotion.
After spending some time studying this world, Tom had discovered that Harry Potter–style magic was incredibly abstract—far more than the structured spell systems of the Western fantasy worlds he remembered. Here, magic felt more like wish-power, like the manifestation of one's desires.
The Silent One? It was probably just the result of a young wizard subconsciously wishing for their power to protect them when they were terrified… and that wish mutating into a monster.
Still, no matter what shape it took, the Silent One was ultimately still magic—just a slightly unusual form of it. And for Tom, magic was nothing more than a toy.
(￣ω￣) "A little ball of magic thinks it can cause trouble? Sit down and behave, fuzzball."
But before he could finish the thought, the destructive dark energy gathered rapidly, trying to swallow Arianna whole.
"Meow?!" (Wait—this thing eats its host?!)
Feeling Arianna's soul start to slip toward being absorbed, Tom panicked and immediately reached out, pulling a strand of the black energy away as if unraveling silk.
And then—under everyone's stunned gaze—he opened his mouth and slurped the dark mist down like a noodle.
As Tom kept sucking it in, more black smoke poured out of Arianna—but it quickly thinned, losing strength.
When the final wisp left her, her body dropped from the air. Thankfully, even though she was weak from the Silent One's collapse, she was still a spirit—so she floated instinctively and avoided face-planting into the floor.
"(;ﾟДﾟ) This… how is this even possible?"
Dumbledore felt his worldview collapse in real time.
The Silent One was something he, Newt, and even Grindelwald were helpless to deal with!
Sure, killing one was easy—but doing so would also kill the innocent Obscurial. He, Newt, and even Aberforth had tried everything to save Credence back then… and all of it had failed.
And now?
Tom had slurped one up like ramen.
So what did all their years of struggle even amount to?!
As for Tom—he was savoring the flavor of the energy while replaying the earlier scene in his mind:
Wait… from a certain angle, doesn't this count as an indirect kiss? And like… the "tasting every inch of the body" kind… (._.)
His whole body froze for a second. He recovered quickly, but still—
Did NOT expect the Silent One to be so different from the magic orb Pandora created…
He remembered saving Luna's mom the same way—back then, he had swallowed the unstable magic sphere she accidentally created during an experiment gone wrong.
He had assumed the Silent One was the same kind of thing…
But no—when it formed, it actually tried to absorb the host's body and soul!
Luckily, Arianna didn't have a physical body anymore. The Silent One got stuck halfway trying to consume her, giving Tom the perfect opening to inhale it all.
Honestly, if anything had gone wrong, today would have ended very differently.
(´-ω-`) Good thing everything worked out. If I failed her trust… I don't know how I'd face her.
Arianna floated in front of him, studying herself with excitement, and Tom let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Sure, he had all kinds of ridiculous abilities—but this?
This wasn't his field.
Until he understood this world's magic better, he had no guarantee any alternative method would have worked.
"Tom… thank you!"
Free from the Silent One for the first time in her life, Arianna felt lighter than air. She threw her arms around Tom, eyes shimmering with tears.
Now she could finally make friends without worrying about accidentally hurting them.
Tom gently patted her head, then smugly rubbed his own stomach:
Eh, this was nothing. Pandora's little accident last time was way worse.
If I can digest that, a tiny thing like the Silent One is easy.
Arianna nodded hard, face flushed, then floated over to her brother, opening her arms even though they passed straight through him.
"Albus… can I enroll at Hogwarts now?"
Dumbledore forced himself to stay composed and managed a wobbly smile.
"Of course. Starting today, you're officially a Hogwarts student."
"That's great! Can I be in the same house as Tom?"
She did want to meet new people—but Tom was her first and only friend so far. If possible, she wanted to stay close to him.
"Haha, that's not something I can decide," Dumbledore chuckled softly.
"Your house depends entirely on you—your qualities and your heart."
Then he turned to Professor McGonagall.
"Minerva, would you mind conducting a Sorting Ceremony for our two special new students?"
He handed her the Sorting Hat, and while Arianna was distracted inspecting it, he quietly stepped closer to Tom.
After a long moment of silence, he said softly, voice trembling just a bit:
"Thank you, Tom… truly. Thank you."
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