Chapter Thirty: The Phantom Xiwen and the Little Sorcerer Xiwen

“You really don’t have to stay here with me.” After a long silence, Siwen finally spoke. He couldn’t shake the discomfort he felt at having Helena remain in such a dark, filthy place.

“For us lost souls, it makes no difference where we linger.” Helena’s voice was soft.

Silence settled between them again.

Siwen suddenly realized he wasn’t very good at handling situations like this, nor at saying gentle, intimate things. Helena must be the same, he thought; after all, she’d spent centuries as a ghost, always locked away in her own world, rarely interacting with others.

‘Perhaps it’s only someone as pure as her who would trust me so easily,’ Siwen mused.

At last, an idea came to him.

…

“Is anyone here?” A young wizard in Slytherin robes strolled over, feigning surprise. “I’ve never seen anyone come to this side before, but today it seems… livelier.”

“Livelier?” Helena looked at him, half amused. “It would be more fitting to call it lifeless.”

“Oh, are you both ghosts?” The young wizard Siwen put on an exaggeratedly astonished expression. “Why are you staying here?”

Ghost Siwen replied—rather, asked himself and answered, “For certain reasons, I have to stay here for now, and she’s keeping me company. Can you do me a favor and help clean up this mess?”

Ghost Siwen found it strangely comical to be talking to himself like this and couldn’t keep from laughing.

“Pfft!”

Helena gave him a perplexed look. “What’s so funny?”

Ghost Siwen replied, “I just thought of something happy.”

“Pfft!” Helena’s expression grew even more peculiar. She turned to the young wizard Siwen. “Did you think of something happy too?”

The young wizard Siwen nodded, suppressing a laugh.

Helena looked from one to the other, puzzled. “So… the happy thing you thought of was the same?”

‘It really was the same thing,’ Siwen thought, though he didn’t dare say it aloud.

When he finally regained his composure, ghost Siwen cleared his throat and explained, “Ahem. I was thinking, maybe we could ask the young wizard to help make this place look better—so we won’t be giving those villains the satisfaction. Yes, that’s it!”

The young wizard Siwen followed up, “I just discovered a good spot to practice magic. That makes me happy.”

Helena glanced at the Siwen inside the door, then at the young wizard outside, feeling something wasn’t quite right…

She shook her head and asked the young wizard Siwen, “Do you really want to help us clean this place? It’s not a small task, you know.”

The young wizard Siwen nodded eagerly—after all, making it comfortable for himself was more than welcome—but said instead, “It’s no trouble. Good chance to practice magic.”

He raised his wand, pointed it at the floor, and called out, “Scourgify!”

There seemed to be a little less dust, but the change was barely noticeable.

Siwen was dissatisfied, so he tried another spell.

“Tergeo!”

The effect was a bit better, but still not great.

Helena reminded him, “It’s probably been too long. The dust and dirt have fused with the floor. In that case, cleaning charms that rely on the Vanishing Spell lose some effectiveness.”

Only then did Siwen remember that the woman before him was Rowena Ravenclaw’s daughter, whose magical prowess in life would certainly not have been lacking.

“So, what spell should I use, then?” The young wizard Siwen asked politely, barely keeping a straight face.

“I don’t remember any spells,” Helena replied.

She added, with interest, “Perhaps you could try washing it with water?” Then drifted into the air, ready to watch the young wizard’s attempts.

Siwen’s face fell. Washing with water could take forever. Maybe he should seek help from an older student or a professor?

“You might consider asking an upperclassman for help,” ghost Siwen suggested, deciding to give his spectral double an extra line.

“Good idea,” the young wizard Siwen replied to himself. “I’ll just try a bit today and ask someone else to help tomorrow.”

Suddenly, he remembered something and looked at the transparent barrier at the door—he wondered if a non-ghost could pass through.

Ghost Siwen seized the opportunity, saying, “Come inside and do some cleaning.”

The young wizard Siwen nodded, walked to the open bronze door, and passed through the transparent barrier without any resistance.

He smiled.

Now, if he wanted to leave, all he had to do was let his soul return to his body, then simply walk out as the young wizard. No problem at all.

In high spirits, Siwen began casting spells at every corner of the room to express his excitement—

“Aguamenti!”

“Scourgify!”

“Tergeo!”

…

After a bout of frantic activity, the young wizard Siwen was nearly out of magical energy. With the last of his strength, he summoned a few spare candles from the dormitory and lit them nearby. At last, the cell looked somewhat presentable.

“Thank you for today, young wizard,” Helena said sincerely. “What’s your name?”

The young wizard Siwen smiled. “Siwen Rosier, madam.”

Helena nodded, then shot ghost Siwen a glare and urged, “Don’t you have any gratitude? Hurry and thank Siwen.”

Both ghost Siwen and young wizard Siwen froze, finding the situation utterly ridiculous.

‘So it’s come to thanking myself…’

Ghost Siwen, wearing a very odd expression, said to the young wizard, “Thank you, Siwen!”

Young wizard Siwen’s face wasn’t much better as he stiffly replied, “You’re welcome, Mr. Ghost.”

Helena, oblivious to their awkwardness, smiled warmly at the young wizard and said gently, “If you ever need help in the future, you can come to us. You may call me Lady Grey, and he is Dr. Strange.”

The young wizard Siwen forced a crooked smile and answered, “Alright, thank you, Lady Grey and Dr. Strange.”

Siwen fled back to his dormitory, feeling that if he talked to Helena any longer, his embarrassment would reach new heights.

Finally collapsing into bed, Siwen let out a long breath.

Curfew had already passed. Thankfully, the castle’s dungeons were so remote that the caretaker, Pringle, rarely patrolled down here, giving Siwen the chance to be out so late.

‘Come to think of it, this place of confinement isn’t so bad after all.’

With that thought, Siwen, utterly exhausted, drifted into sleep…

…

…