The faint castle stands majestically in a mist, and the 10,000-year-old trees stretch across the perimeter, emitting the smell of dampness and decay. The woods are grey and green, with strong oak trees and old iron trees. Here, thick black trunks huddle against each other, twisted branches weave a dense towering tree top, and deformed intertwined roots wrestle with each other underground.

In dreams, I don't know the time. Above the river, there is a white mist. Hoffa sailed alone in a dinghy, roaming the dense rivers, calling Chloe's name from time to time.

Ever since he sailed away from the previous dream, he had come to this strange and familiar place.

Black Lake in the Forbidden Forest.

Hogwarts.

This place of deep silence and suffocating shadows.

On the Black Lake, the boat slid along the wooden paddles, and the night breeze ran through his hair. Everything was so quiet and serene, was it finally his turn, he thought to himself.

The castle in the distance was out of reach, and in the mist he saw a dark green meadow on the shore of the lake, and Chloe's back sat on the edge of the meadow.

He parked the boat on the shore of the lake and walked up to it.

There was a faint laughter in the woods behind him, "Are you hiding? I'm looking for you." The voice was as cheerful and familiar as Yinling, and he turned his head to see a strand of long silver hair flashing behind the old oak tree, and his heart sank, and he immediately turned his head and clenched his fist.

Calm down.

After his mood had barely calmed down, he walked up to the nun, and saw her sitting on the grass like a Japanese tea ceremony lady, looking at the castle on the other side of the lake.

"Is that Hogwarts?" she asked, without looking back.

"Yes. He replied.

"I would have been at that school, my family would have sent me there, and I would have received that magical letter, if I hadn't had this weird ability. She whispered, "I don't know which house that the fabled Sorting Hat will sort me into. ”

Hoffa sat beside her: "Aldo is dead. ”

"If I could be at Hogwarts, maybe I wouldn't have encountered this mess, I would have studied in peace, passed the wizarding registration exam, and finally got a job at Gringotts or the Ministry of Magic, maybe opened a coffee shop in Diagon Alley......"

"It's the same everywhere, it's not as good as you think. ”

"Are you sure it's not your own sake, and who would leave that school if it weren't for being too cold?" she said nonchalantly.

"Maybe, Chloe, I'm sorry. "Hoffa tried to pull her form back.

"What are you sorry for?"

"Mary's death, I'm sorry, I could have done better, but I didn't. I don't care about your feelings and don't care about her life or death, that's a fact, and I'm sorry. ”

Chloe was stunned for a moment, then she slowly turned her head as if she had known him for the first time.

Hoffa continued: "If you want to save her, I'll help you when you get out of here. ”

Chloe shook her head and sighed: "Forget it, it's been a long time... Even if I tried to save her, there was nothing I could do. ”

"That being the case. Hoffa grabbed Chloe's palm, "Come back with me, this is not the real world, and we still have important things to do." Remember the ship of orphans, you swore to take them to England? ”

Chloe said weakly, "But how are we going to get out of here, out of this never-ending nightmare." ”

"I've found the source of my dreams. ”

"But it's not an entity," Hoffa said. ”

"What is it? It's been a long, long time, Hoffa, and I even think that death may be the only way out of this dream. Perhaps, in the real world, Aldo would have woken up long ago. ”

"No, it can't be. Hoffa shook his head, "You would think so, it's just this dream that makes you think death is liberation, but it's not necessarily so." It uses all kinds of means to stir up the shadows in the hearts of people in nightmares, either to kill each other or to destroy themselves, with the aim of breaking the human spirit. I think if you choose death, its purpose will be achieved. ”

"What can I do?"

"I have a guess. The monster that created the dream didn't come sooner or later, but came when your magic was raging. ”

"How do I know, coincidence?"

"No coincidence, how long have we not eaten and drunk?"

"It's been a long, long time. Chloe muttered.

"Time. ”

"When?"

"Time doesn't pass at the same speed. For all this long time, I was not even aware of any of the normal human physiological needs of hunger, thirst, or the urge to urinate. ”

"What are you trying to express?"

"Either I'm dead, or the speed of time in reality is completely different from that of dreams, and the speed of time passing here is greatly reduced.

And the source of this ability, I think, is because it absorbs the time-related magic from you and transforms it into the power of dreams. ”

"It's possible that when I activated my ability, I did feel like something was eyeing me, but so what?"

"So it absorbs your magic. ”

"If you have something to say, just say it. ”

"Don't you understand, Chloe, your magic is gone, and my magic is gone. Aldo, Ankel, their magic is gone.

It doesn't cost to maintain this dream, but the wool comes from the sheep, and the more I try to recover my magic to fight this dream, the more my magic will unconsciously pass away. Be the source of the nightmare to use to hurt my capital.

In the beginning, the nightmare was an entire island, an underground corridor, an entire city. Because there were four of us then.

But as we got smaller and smaller, the scale of this nightmare became smaller and smaller, and I noticed it when I was in Paris, the nightmare seemed to be big, but there were places that could not be reached at all, and it was just an illusion. ”

He pointed to the towering castle in the distance: "Don't look at the Hogwarts Castle in front of you so magnificent, but in fact, we can't get by, that's just for us, the real dream distance is only as big as this meadow." ”

Chloe's eyes lit up: "So the only way to stop this nightmare is to stop trying to restore the mana, and cut off all channels to restore it." ”

"That's right. Hoffa couldn't help but touch her head.

"The ontology of that creature must not be very powerful, and there is no way to physically destroy our ontology, only by using this shady method, otherwise it will not be too much. ”

But the recovery of mana is as natural as breathing for people with wizard blood, and without special potions, can you cut off the mana yourself?"

Hoffa: "I have a way, but in the process of cutting off the magic, I think we should be calm." ”

Chloe smiled, "Thank you, but I'm calm, Hoffa. Aldo told me that dust is dust, dust is dust, and the past is gone, and Mary cannot come back, nor can the people of the convent. It's just that it's your dream, and it's you who thinks about how to keep your peace. ”

As soon as she finished speaking, there was a faint laughter in the woods in the distance.

"Hofa, where are you? I'm going to die if I catch you. A girl said cheerfully.

"He may be hiding in a tree hole somewhere, like a sloth. The other girl calmly analyzed.

By the lake, Chloe turned her head and said curiously: "It's strange, our nightmare is either bugs, darkness, or tragedy, but your dream is to play hide and seek with girls." ”

"Nightmares don't care what the content is, as long as it makes me miserable. Hoffa said calmly.

"Hide-and-seek is painful?"

"Of course not. ”

The voice behind him was getting closer and closer, and he couldn't help but say something, and jumped into the black lake with a thud.

"Hey, there's a guy there. ”

"It's weird to dress up. ”

In the water, the sound was still clear in Hoffa's ears, making him saddened. He covered his ears, but the sound still penetrated with precision.

"Did you see a boy? Black hair, blond eyes. ”

Someone on the shore was asking Chloe.

Chloe: "See. ”

"Shhhh

Chloe pointed to the castle in the distance, "He went back." ”

"Lying. A girl said calmly.

"Ha, it's really fake, that's too foul. Wait, what's the matter with your dress, aren't you a student at our school?" asked the other girl swaggeringly.

"I'm not. ”

"Truth. The calm girl said.

"Hmm...... Forget it, whatever. Miranda's feeling is right, you lied before, come on, where is Hoffa? I can let you watch him play dead, it's fun. ”

Chloe was silent for a moment, then shook her head.

"I really haven't seen anyone with black hair. ”

"Truth. ”

The calm girl was slightly stunned.

"Hey, that's weird. ”

The two chattered for a while, "Forget it, Miranda, let's go ahead." ”

As the sound faded away, Hoffa soaked out of the water and sat down beside Chloe, letting out a long sigh.

"Your friend?" Chloe asked.

"Yes. ”

Hoffa nodded.

"Why don't you come out and meet them, they don't look dangerous. ”

"It's all fake. Hoffa shook his head, "Let's get started." ”

"What have you done to be sorry for them? ”

"It's true. Hoffa smiled, grabbed Chloe's palm, and closed her eyes.

"Empty yourself and don't think about anything. ”

Chloe closed her eyes, and Hoffa meditated, transforming her life.

As soon as the incantation was pronounced, it was like a weak encountering a strong current, and it was broken in an instant. But very rarely, he had a small amount of magic stored in his body, and although this magic power dissipated in a blink of an eye, it already gave him hope.

It worked, and he recited the incantation in his heart.

Over and over again.

4:6

3:7

Little by little, the magic was removed from their bodies and transformed into life, and the violent brain-tearing sensation made him feel extremely uncomfortable, like a car without gasoline forcibly starting, extremely difficult.

Gradually, the proportion of magic in the bodies of the two became less and less.

There was a clattering sound around him.

He opened his eyes slightly, and Chloe must have been in great pain, her brow furrowed, her teeth biting her lips out of blood. But the effect is quite significant. The grass, the sky, and the castle in the distance are like glass mirrors, and cracks appear one after another.

2:8

1:9

The scale of the shattering grew larger, and he could almost see the moonlight beyond his dreams, and he could smell the salty sea breeze in the air.

However, at the most critical moment, a pair of soft hands climbed his back, followed by a teasing chuckle: "You don't have to hide this time." The voice blew the sideburns in his ear, real and incomparable: "I found you." ”

Hoffa froze like an electric shock.

Not only that, strands of silver hair hung down from his ears, and the man behind him chuckled and muttered, "You have grown up a lot, and you seem to have suffered a lot." ”

"Stay here, stay with me, as long as you turn around. ”

The girl gently bit her earlobe and said softly.

Hoffa opened his eyes, the rift in his dream healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and his life was frantically re-transformed into magic.

Urgent, cold sweat kept pouring out of his forehead, he needed something to divert his attention.

So he saw Chloe's hands, the hands of many people he had seen, and these hands were undoubtedly the most beautiful, with soft lines but three-dimensional, white but powerful, pointed fingers, nails with a faint pink.

"What are you looking at? Why don't you look at me. ”

A grumbling voice came from behind him. He forced himself not to think behind him, staring at what was in front of him.

Hey, it's amazing that her thumb knuckles can be turned backwards. Hoffa gripped Chloe's palm tightly, why did he flip back, did he let go?

Raising her head, Chloe opened her eyes, touched the back of her head with her palm, pressed his head against her own, and said irrefutably: "Mr. Bach, we still have a lot to do." ”

At this moment, Hoffa understood why Aldo had fallen so desperate for a nun, yes, she did have a calming power.

"Of course. ”

The voice in his ears subsided, and he finally recited the incantation. Transform lives.

Finally, the dream shattered, and in the countless collapsed cold fragments, the two woke up from the dream and returned to the real world.