In front of a dilapidated stone bungalow, Kai Adler and Hermione materialized from thin air.
Because of the kind man's warning earlier, Kai had cast a Disillusionment Charm on both of them before stepping into the slums.
As expected, the buildings here were in various states of ruin—the walls crumbling, the windows boarded, the narrow streets littered with refuse. The occasional figures wandering the alleys were either thuggish in appearance or worn-down common folk clinging to life's edges.
Compared to the aging but orderly working-class district they had passed through earlier, this place looked as if it belonged to a different century altogether.
It was the slum of the slums.
Hermione wrinkled her nose, frowning at the surrounding decay.
"You didn't live here… did you?"
Though Kai hadn't explained where they were or why, Hermione's sharp mind had already pieced together the truth. But as much as she tried, she couldn't reconcile the composed, noble Kai Adler with this place.
What had he endured before they met?
Kai stared at the battered door and broken windows, a strange mixture of familiarity and detachment coiling in his chest.
"Perhaps," he murmured.
Perhaps?
Hermione studied his face, a quiet realization dawning.
He'd told her fragments of his life—of Grindelwald's tutelage, of surviving Nurmengard—but his past before that? It was a blank page.
"Do you… not remember your childhood?" she asked softly.
Kai's lips curled faintly, though his eyes betrayed little. "Sort of."
Pity flooded Hermione's gaze. For all her determination to understand him, there were still so many locked doors between them. But then, her eyes fell to the crumbling doorstep.
He had brought her here—to this forgotten corner of his history. That meant something. He wanted her to understand him.
Her mood lifted at the thought.
"Shall we go in?"
"Of course."
Creak—
The rusted lock gave way easily under Kai's hand, the door groaning open.
The interior was sparse: a modest two-bedroom, one-living-room arrangement, long abandoned. Furniture lay overturned, dust caked every surface, debris littered the floorboards. Pale sunlight filtered through cracked windowpanes, illuminating the drifting motes in the stagnant air.
Kai narrowed his eyes. The room was identical to the vision from his prophecy.
Exactly identical.
"Cough… cough…"
Hermione doubled over, waving away the dust with a grimace. With a flick of his fingers, Kai summoned a gentle breeze that swept the debris out the window, leaving the air clear.
"Thank you," Hermione sighed, flashing him a bright, appreciative smile. She sidestepped a toppled chair, hands clasped behind her back as she explored the room.
"So… this is your old home." Her tone was teasing. "It's sort of like your little hideout in the Chamber of Secrets."
Kai chuckled softly. That room hidden deep within Hogwarts did mirror this place—though the design had been drawn from his past life. Still, architecture across Europe often echoed the same worn, utilitarian styles.
He let her wander while he moved toward the corner from his vision—the faint flash of silver engraved in his mind.
Yet when he reached it, the floor was bare. Only worn wooden boards and faded, peeling wallpaper greeted him.
Kai crouched, examining the area closely. A small tear in the wallpaper caught his eye.
He drew his wand, gently peeling the paper back to reveal what was hidden beneath.
A faded red sigil came into view—its lines blurred by time, yet still recognizable. A ring-shaped emblem intertwined with intricate patterns—a C shape woven into its center.
The moment he saw it, the Obscurus within him stirred, dark tendrils coiling uneasily.
This is it.
Kai's frown deepened. He tapped the symbol with his wand, listening for a hollow space or hidden compartment—but only solid stone answered.
After a pause, he traced the emblem with his wand, its tip glowing faintly red, pulsing with magic.
Nothing happened.
It absorbed no energy, accepted no spellwork.
Could it be just an ordinary carving? But no—this symbol had triggered the prophecy, had roused the Obscurus. It was not ordinary.
"Kai~ Look what I found!"
Hermione's voice broke his focus. He turned as she bounded toward him, excitement shining in her eyes, holding a small, dust-free booklet.
"What is it?"
Hermione's grin widened. "Your photos."
Kai froze. "Where did you find those?"
"In the master bedroom—bottom drawer of the bedside table. Looks like a family album."
She flipped it open without waiting, proudly displaying the pages to him.
"You were adorable," she teased, pointing to one of the images.
Kai peered down.
The photographs were unmistakable—the background matched this very house, though newer, well-kept. A man and woman stood together, cradling a small boy, no older than one. Despite his youth, the infant's features faintly mirrored Kai's.
The man—a sharp-featured, well-dressed gentleman in a tailored wool coat—had a distinguished, aristocratic air. His companion was striking: blonde, blue-eyed, with pale, elegant features that screamed old German lineage.
"Your parents are very good-looking," Hermione remarked, still smiling.
Kai studied the image quietly. "It's the first time I've seen them."
The Obscurus inside him churned more violently, black mist coiling at his fingertips, reaching hungrily toward the photograph.
Hermione didn't notice—her attention was fixed on him, concern replacing amusement.
"You know… I told you, my parents are your parents too."
Kai's lips twitched faintly at her determined sincerity. "I'm alright."
"Is the Obscurus… related to your background?" she asked suddenly.
The Obscurus froze. So did Kai.
She had guessed correctly. Her mind always worked that way—seeing the threads, pulling them together.
"You're clever," Kai admitted.
Hermione beamed at the rare praise. "So… the next step is to find your parents?"
Kai glanced around the ruined home. "If only it were that simple. They're gone. All we have is this album…"
And the emblem, he thought grimly.
Hermione frowned, stuffing the album into his hands. "You check the photos. I'll search for more clues."
While she busied herself rifling through drawers and overturned furniture, Kai flipped through the album.
His frown deepened.
The photos painted a neat timeline: his infancy, his toddler years—always inside this house. His parents by his side. Room to room, the images shifted angles but always captured that same corner—the wall with the emblem.
A hint?
Even if he hadn't seen the prophecy, the original Kai Adler returning here might have found it through these photos.
Meaning… the album itself could hold the key.
He examined every detail, watching himself grow older through the photographs—one year, two, three…
By the time he reached four years old, his expression darkened.
The album's right-hand pages were blank.
"There's nothing after I turned four," Kai muttered.
He had anticipated this. His earliest coherent memories were of Nurmengard—he was five when Grindelwald found him. Something… had happened before then.
Hermione returned, disappointed from her search, only to notice his expression.
"What's wrong?"
She glanced down—and brightened.
"Wait, look! There's another one tucked behind this."
She slipped a hidden photo from beneath the last page, its pale back marred by an old, dark brown stain.
"Ugh… what is that?"
Kai recognized it instantly—blood, dried with age. But he held his tongue, not wanting to alarm her.
Turning the image over, Hermione burst out laughing.
"You did have embarrassing moments!"
In the photo, a tearful young Kai—about three or four—clung to his father's arms, his chubby face scrunched in misery, fat tears rolling down his cheeks. His finger bore a small, bleeding cut, his mother tending to it with gentle concern.
Kai sighed, face shadowed with exasperation. His body's actions—not his doing.
Still… why hide this photo? To spare his pride?
Then he noticed the corner of the room in the background—the emblem, and faint smears of blood along the wallpaper.
The cut on his finger…
His eyes lit with understanding.
Without hesitation, he strode to the corner.
"What are you doing?" Hermione followed, confused.
The emblem was faintly visible, worn by time.
"Don't know… yet."
Kai's sharp gaze found the faded bloodstain, matching perfectly with the mark on the photo's back.
"Got it."
Before Hermione could react, Kai bit his fingertip—fresh blood welling—and pressed it against the emblem.
"Kai, wait—!"
But the blood seemed to pulse with life, seeping into the carved grooves of the sigil. The emblem glowed crimson, faint red light weaving along the pattern.
With a soft click, stone blocks around the emblem shifted, grinding apart, revealing a hidden compartment behind the wall…