The Dust Settles

Chapter 34 The Dust Settles

After watching the fake Beck's body be completely covered by a layer of dark blue frost, "Flitwick," who had already hidden to the side, breathed a sigh of relief. Then, his entire body slowly melted like a wax figure, grew taller, and a few seconds later transformed into another appearance—Avada Kendavia.

"Mr. Ken, what are you trying to say?"

"Professor, according to you, at this point, 'you' should be doing everything you can to break the spatial magic and try to escape the Room of Requirement, and with the magic you've set up, it's unlikely you can stop it, right?"

What I'm trying to say is, since we can't stop him, then let's not stop him, or rather, let him run into a dead end on his own.

Besides its ability to open different rooms based on the user's needs, the Room of Requirement also has another feature: even after entering a room, its contents can change again to meet the user's further needs. For example, it can become larger or have its decorations altered.

[So, if that's the case, why don't we build a fake "eighth-floor corridor" in the House of Requirement?]

[Since neither you nor your fragments of consciousness will be detected by the House of Requirement, only Baron and I can modify it. Therefore, we can build a fake eighth-floor corridor inside the House of Requirement beforehand and hide it; during the battle, you'll use spatial magic to hide the door, right? Then, the invisible Baron can take the opportunity to alter the House of Requirement with his thoughts, using that fake eighth-floor corridor to block the real door.]

[In this way, even if the fake Baker breaks the spatial magic and finds the door, he will only push open a fake door and enter a fake corridor, while actually still inside the Room of Requirement...]

[And if I did that, he would lower his guard drastically the moment he entered the corridor, leaving him vulnerable. If I then drank Polyjuice Potion and transformed into Professor Flitwick or another professor to pretend to help, his last shred of vigilance should vanish. The only problem is that I don't know how to brew Polyjuice Potion, and I also don't know the right time to drink it...]

As a result of Professor Beck's explanation, Avada realized that he had overestimated the power of Polyjuice Potion—it didn't require any additional magic or advanced skills to brew; all it took was to put specific ingredients into a pot at a specific time and in a specific way, and then simmer it for ten days to half a month.

In other words, anyone can make it as long as they have the recipe, the ingredients, and the care and patience. The reason it was listed as a banned book is because its effects were too special and therefore subject to regulation.

As for those somewhat difficult materials, some were collected from the Forbidden Forest, and the rest were purchased directly by Avada himself by sending letters to the herbalists' shops in Diagon Alley. He had money; he didn't need to steal from Snape's office.

As for Professor Flitwick's hair, that was even easier to get—as an elderly British man, even with his fairy lineage, hair loss was inevitable.

Finally, on Professor Beck's advice, Avada and Baron chose to use the "Flash Smoke" spell to block the fake Beck's vision, and used that opportunity to have Avada drink the Polyjuice Potion and change her clothes, and for Baron to begin preparing his dark magic.

In retrospect, the results are remarkable.

From beginning to end, every move of the fake Beck was calculated by the three, and every step was carefully planned, making it impossible for them to turn the tables from the start. The previous fierce battle seemed dangerous, and Avada and Baron, as participants, were indeed very tired, but in reality, they remained as steady as a rock.

"Phew, it's finally over..."

Having regained his original form, Avada casually threw on a robe and then lay down on the ground without any regard for appearances. After a fierce battle and frequent use of trickery, his energy was completely drained, and all he wanted to do was collapse and get a good night's sleep.

Baron, standing to the side, was also somewhat pale—the black magic he had just unleashed had damaged his mental strength, but it wasn't serious and would heal on its own in a few hours.

"Yes, it's over..."

Baron also leaned against the wall, a slight smile on his face.

For months, the two had sacrificed almost all of their free time to receive instruction and training from Professor Baker in order to reach the required level of competence to execute the plan as quickly as possible. Even with Professor Baker's clever arrangement, none of the material they were learning was more difficult than a fourth-year student's level, which still exhausted them.

However, this also means that the two have experienced an exaggerated surge in strength—Baron, for one, is now completely unsure of his own level.

"Hey, hey, hey, there's only one last step left!"

Suddenly, a wry laugh interrupted their thoughts as they were about to relax—it was Professor Baker.

"Oops, sorry, I almost forgot."

Baron coughed awkwardly, and Avada struggled to her feet. Together, they used a levitation charm to lift Professor Baker's body and brought him to the black crystal ball. Then, Baron waved his wand, first dispelling the frost that was causing him continuous damage, and then activating the "Repentance" spell.

As the wondrous magical structure activated under his magical senses, a golden light emanated from the black crystal ball and pierced Professor Baker's brow. Immediately, his body trembled violently, veins bulging on the back of his hands and forehead, as if he were enduring intense pain.

Avada strained to observe Professor Beck's mental state with rapt attention—guided by "repentance," Professor Beck's spiritual and magical voids had returned to his body and were gradually merging with the remaining spiritual energy within his original body. The two magical voids, one large and one small, were also slowly converging, eventually merging back into one, indistinguishable from one another.

"Well!"

Suddenly, Professor Baker sat up abruptly like a fish thrashing about, startling Avada and Baron.

"Merlin, you're finally back..."

He took a few deep breaths, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with the corner of his clothes, and turned to Avada and Baron, who had somehow taken a few steps back and were watching him warily, and smiled: "Now, we've truly succeeded."

"Judging from your expressions, fine, I'll keep my wand for now, just give it back to me before class..."

Professor Baker chuckled, and after stretching his body a few times, he slowly got up. Holding the crystal ball in one hand and using the other to turn the ropes back into his sleeves, making himself look less disheveled, he then opened the real door first.

"Don't worry, you saved my life. Even without the contract, I would never harm you."

"Let's go back first. I need to prepare the reward for you for a while, and it will probably be ready by tomorrow... Come to my office tomorrow night. In addition to the promised Galon and knowledge, I also plan to prepare some other things to make sure you feel that your hard work over the past few months has not been in vain."

"Alright, go back now, take a shower, change your clothes, and tell your friends that you can study and play with them again, haha..."

In the end, the two returned the two wands to Professor Baker and left the Room of Requirement with him.

Watching Professor Baker's retreating figure, Avada frowned slightly, revealing a hint of confusion.

In his perception, the sense of unease that Professor Baker's spiritual power had originally given him still remained—meaning that he had merely allowed his main soul to return to his body, without further allowing the original body and fragments to re-integrate, and for his soul to return to wholeness.

But this also means that the magic called "Repentance" isn't what he imagined—it can't directly repair the soul. If that's the case, why did Professor Baker name it "Repentance"?

(End of this chapter)