“I finally figured out why Dumbledore went along with your pn!” The day, Alexis rushed over to Scarlet’s side after Scarlet finished her m meeting with her assistants. Alexis whispered, “He’s totally not the inal version - he’s the fanfic version!”

  Notig the dark circles under Alexis’s blue eyes, Scarlet replied, “...You stayed up all night just to figure that out?”

  “This is, like, really important! We o know if he’s on our side!” Alexis protested.

  “And if he’s not?” Scarlet asked, “Is he going to join the dark forces and take over the world?”

  “No, but...”

  “Then, even if he isn’t with us, he’s still fighting against evil, which suits our needs, doesn’t it?” Scarlet gathered her notes as. “The enemy’s enemy is our ally, and I don’t mind if he doesn’t pletely align with us as long as the vilin be wiped out. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  Alexis thought for a moment. “Yeah, I guess you’re right...Just, you know, I’ve got this uneasy feeling.”

  “Life’s always uneasy, especially for adults. We’re no longer children, so we make promises to achieve oals,” Scarlet said with a gentle smile. “As long as he doesn’t try to kill anyone, I even handle him expelling me from Hogwarts.”

  “...Okay, sensei, I get it. Always have a backup pn, huh?”

  “...Shut up.”

  Days passed peacefully.

  No news worth alerting the students from the neers, h threats looming. The Auror substitute teachers were all verified wizards - no imposters had snu - meaning Barty Crouch Jr. hasn't escaped from Azkaban. Acc to Professor Dumbledore, his mother was still i health for her age, though she would likely bee very ill within a few years, enough to disguise herself as the risoner in Azkaban, if the storyline was still following the inal series.

  “Professor Dumbledore promised he’d keep an eye on her, so we should be fine for this school year,” Scarlet said, finishing her novel draft.

  Alexis, sittio her iraining room while w on a character design, chimed in, “But summer break is gonna be a disaster for Harry when Dobby causes havoc at his aunt’s house.”

  “Well, he’ll have to mail I’m doh Kreacher and talk to the Malfoys,” Scarlet replied. “Maybe I ask Mr. Bck if he’d order Kreacher to guard Harry at the Dursleys’ after we hahe locket problem.”

  Alexis sidered Scarlet’s idea and nodded, “Then it should be fine.”

  “By the way, how’s the game going? I haven’t seen those two experimenting iely.”

  “They’re almost doh the demo.”

  Scarlet looked at Alexis in surprise. “That was fast.”

  “Yeah, they’re super quick,” Alexis nodded. “They tested it out on paper in their dorm. It’s hirious to see the ink dots fighting under and. Now all they need is to project the characters in 3D, like a hologram or something. They’re hunting for a suitable table, so they’ll probably start experimenting here soon.”

  “Great progress.” Scarlet raised an eyebrow. “And they haven’t asked me for any cash, so they’re still using recycled materials? How are they even finding these things?”

  “Through Hogwarts’ House-elves,” Alexis looked equally surprised. “They’ve made friends with a few of them and often ask for materials for free.”

  “...So that’s how they got their hands on those greatswords.”

  “Probably?” Alexis shrugged. “If they mao work out the runes for projes, or transfiguration, or anything that works, I might finally get to show you the epic Servant fights I’ve been telling you about.”

  “...I keep telling you, there’s no such thing as the Holy Grail War here. My dad never found any city called Fuyuki in Japan.”

  “Just in case! You’re, like, our Batman with a backup pn for everything, so I’m just saying, if it really happens, you’d be ready.” Alexis insisted. “I mean, this is a fanfi world! I still haven’t figured out Snape’s storyline. Who knows if this could be a Harry Potter and Fate crossover, and he might even be one of the Masters?!”

  Scarlet sighed, “Fine. I’ll take note of your , though I still think you’re overthinking it.”

  She had expected it would take a loime for the Weasley twins to create a charm or runes capable of projeg something hologram-like, but progress was surprisingly fast. The biggest hurdle ended up being applying Alexis’s character design to the game.

  In other words, Fred and Gee were struggling with modelling.

  The characters they jured from Alexis’s drawings turned out as a mess, so horribly dohat the twioo defeated to even prank anyone for a few days.

  “Oh my Merlin, I ’t believe this,” Alexis said, half-amused, half-frustrated. “I mean, they’re genius with hands-on stuff. Their senses are great, and their products look amazing, though I don’t really like the colour palettes, but whatever... How is it possible they ’t accurately visualize my character? Or... is my design too plicated to materialize?”

  “Maybe they’re just better at bringing life to more human-like figures than your 2D anime characters?” Scarlet suggested.

  “Although this is the version we all agreed on, I could ge the design.” Alexis sighed. “But they’re so stubborn - they won’t even sider my suggestions to alter it. Hey, they’re very flexible most of the time, why won’t they be flexible this time too?”

  “Persistence is a good quality. Let them work through it. They’ll figure it out.”

  “Yeah.” Alexis hen perked up. “By the way, do you have time tomorrow?”

  Scarlet g her. “Depends. What are you pnning?”

  “Half an hour here iraining room.” Alexis said, lookied. “I finally fihat AMV clip! It’s just a short one, but I want to project it here, like a full-on movie theater.”

  Scarlet thought for a moment, “How about just before my training session tomorrow night?”

  “Perfect!” Alexis beamed. “Just wait - yonna be blown away!”

  “Alright...”

  The day, Scarlet could tell just how excited Alexis was, as she kept peeking over at Scarlet whehey passed each other in the Great Hall or in the hallways. Alexis even grinned across the crowded dinner hall at her, catg the attention of Amelia and Maya.

  “Is she alright? Why does she keep staring at you?” Maya asked, curious and a bit ed.

  Amelia, oher hand, was a bit more blunt. “She looks like a nutter.”

  “Don’t say that.” Maya scolded slightly. “But, yeah, she does seem...a bit unhinged with that grin. Are you sure no one’s jinxed or pranked her?”

  “No, she’s just overexcited about tonight’s activity, which she’s kept a mystery from me,” Scarlet replied.

  Maya looking intrigued. “Is it something to do with the game Fred and Gee are making? I heard the Gryffindors were trying out their games, and it was supposed to be fantastic!”

  “It seems a bit poorly designed, if I’m being ho,” Amelia ented, “I saw the game on a piece of ented paper, and it was just lines and dots.”

  “Yeah, they’re a bit stuck at the moment. But I’m sure they’ll figure it out.” Scarlet couldn’t ehe excited gaze Alexis was fixating on her any longer, so she grabbed a few rice balls and headed to her training room fifteen minutes earlier than her usual diime. Guess I’ll have supper tonight with the cookies stored in my dorm desk, Scarlet mused as she trotted toward her room.

  Alexis soon followed behind her. “Why so early today? I thought I was going to leave earlier to set up the pce.”

  “It’s just a short AMV, isn’t it? Keep it simple and save yourself the hassle of peeking at me.”

  “Ehehee, sorry for the peeking! I’m just super excited. But hey, I wanna enjoy it and relive it.”

  “...Do whatever you want, just don’t disturb my training.”

  “Promise I won’t!”

  Finally, they settled into the training room on the sofa Alexis had jured. The lights were dimmed, and a crystal – what she called a projector – and two es – her makeshift speakers - were pced on the coffee table in front of them.

  Making sure everything erfect, Alexis flicked her wand with a flourish. “Py!”

  [“That is, a Faked Holy Grail War.”]

  To Scarlet surprise, the video was in Japah Mandarin subtitles. She even reised the watermark of the creator iht er. Even more surprisingly, both the Japanese voiceover and the Mandarin subtitles were spot on!

  Sihis was a clip that materialised based on Alexis’s memory, meaning she had a very solid memory of this video...how many times did she watch this video clip in her previous life? Scarlet mused.

  [A tattooed hand stretched toward a magic circle lit by torchlight. The se cut to anic circle surrounded by dles, with men in formal business suits.]

  A Japanese voice started to sing; it was a female singer whose voice sounded epi this song.

  [“The summoned seven heroic spirits--”]

  [Fast cuts showed a man studying scrolls and papers, an ill girl lying in bed, fshes of various csses or job titles in bd white, then a small hand with a red tattoo was showing on the hospital bed.]

  [“--shall desd to this world as Servants,”]

  [Another simir magic circle appeared, with another man standing before it. The magic circle glowed.]

  [“Sughtering each other in order to grab the Holy Grail.”]

  [An old man and a young man appeared in a forest, and then the se shifted to a teenage girl in a cave well-lit in torchlight, dressed in a white gown, gazing at a man in golden armor seated on a throne.]

  [“Thus, it is he Holy Grail War.”]

  [The se cut to Big Ben on a sunny day, where a bloeenage boy shouted, “But I really want to take part in the Holy Grail War set in America, Professor!”]

  [Chess pieces fell apart, but they looked different from the usual ones found on a chessboard.]

  [“I ask of you...”]

  [“I ask of you...”]

  [“I ask of you...”]

  [“Are you--”]

  [“Are you--”]

  [“Are you--”]

  [“--the i Mage seeking to tto the radiance of the king before you?”]

  [The se jumped between various individuals posing the question - some young, some mature, some sounding manic, others stern - before finally fixing on the man in golden armour. The teenage girl in white gow before him in utmost respect. As the camera zoomed in, the back of her hand glowed, revealing a simir tattoo.]

  Scarlet found herself overwhelmed the moment this clip pyed. Dense information bombarded her relentlessly, not giving her a moment to breathe. The music was intense and approag the chorus, but she focused on the dialogue and the characters.

  [“Is it you?” The man in golden armour realized something.]

  [“Is that you?” An androgynous figure with long green hair turheir head in surprise.]

  [The man in golden armour amused. “Well, well, seems like this wasn’t as b as I thought.”]

  [A golden lowed, an object resembling locks and gears turning, and a hand reached out to grasp something within it.]

  [“Zabaniyah.” The cut se shifted to a veiled woman, who spoke sternly as she lowered herself to the floor. A man in an office suit attacked her from behind, but crashed and exploded under some eerie summoned limb.]

  Cruel, yet the visuals and music were so beautiful that every se could easily be framed as a puter aper.

  Epic.

  The music reached its chorus, featuring fme throwers, magic bsts, pentacles, and many other elements that Scarlet couldn’t fully prehend in just a glimpse. The fight between the individuals intensified.

  [The man in golden armrinned menagly while the green-haired person smiled knowingly, hinting at their reition of each other.]

  [“EA, sing as you wish!”]

  [“I’m happy.” The se shifted to the back of the green-haired figure, “So happy that I get to test my abilities against yours like this once again.”]

  [Drizzles fell upon flowers in the desert. The pure white flower bloomed. Thick clouds with a hole in the middle swirled above, as if punctured by something mystical and magical.]

  [“I’m going full throttle on you, Gil,” the green-haired figure said sternly, their eyes shining with determination. A pure white flower bloomed in their hand, glowing with iy. Interspersed frames showed the man in golden armour.]

  [“I will awaken the breath of the p...”]

  [“The vortex that turns the stars, this heavenly hell--”]

  [“For I walk with humanity.”]

  [“--is the eve of creation's celebration.”]

  [“Therefore...”]

  [“Enuma Elish!”] [“Enuma Elish!”]

  Alexis had eve up the audio el so that one voice ted from the left and the other from the right, building tensioweewo characters - one glowing with a warm greenish light, the other haloed in menag golden and red hues.

  [The view zoomed out, revealing the sky scattered with numerous golden dots. It then zoomed in on the green-haired figure, showing the h with simir golden dots. As the view pulled back, something shot out from the dots – they’re summoning portals, bsting missile-like projectiles toward the sky, g with every sword the summoning portals unched from above, aimed at the nd below.]

  [gs and ks echoed as swords cshed together. Each glowing shot bsted from both sides targeting their oppos. Explosions resonated, and many golden dots shattered into pieces. Some of the sky swords mao slip past the nd missiles, pierg the desert and creating numerous massive pit holes. The green-haired figure stood there, listening to the maniacal ughter of the man in golden armour, who floated high above in the sky.]

  Scarlet’s mouth fell open i this epic battle se, her eyes overwhelmed by the high iy and vibrant colours.

  [A few more characters fshed by, and the song began to slow down.]

  [“This shall be my st blow for tonight.” The man in golden armour held a peculiar sword, as the se suddenly faded into white and grey lines, leaving his red eyes and the greenish eyes of the ure shining brightly. “Take this blow as the substitute for our promise of reunion.”]

  [A few more characters fshed by, then the bloeenage boy appeared to be in a toilet, staring into the basin with an expression of disbelief. A car passed by the battlefield, with a man inside looking up at the punctured sky in shock.]

  [“So, this is--” the teenage girl in the white gown said in a frighteone,]

  [“--the Holy Grail War.”]

  The clip came to an end, transitioning to a bck s with the title Fate Strange Fake dispyed in white.

  An awkward silenveloped the two girls still seated on the sofa.

  “So...?” Alexis asked tentatively.

  “Iing,” Scarlet replied, taking a long moment to process the intense information she had just absorbed. “Mind expining who they were?”

  “Sure!” Alexis beamed, eager to share her insights.

  Qiya