"...I forgive you, Baron."
Inside the Room of Requirement.
Helena's voice sounded like a heavenly music drifting by, ethereal and fleeting, yet upon hearing these words, the Baron seemed to suddenly relax after holding onto a tension lasting a thousand years. His silver-grey form quickly began to shrivel, and the bloodstain belonging to Helena Ravenclaw on his clothes gradually disappeared—
Then, the next moment, a gentle white light emerged from the Baron's body, like a desk lamp strictly adhering to the national standard GB/T 9473-2017 for eye protection. Even when the people around looked directly at this light, it did not feel glaring. Despite this, the nearby crowd still instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes.
"What's happening to him?"
Sirius looked somewhat shocked at the unexpected scene in front of him. Originally, he was pestering Dumbledore to clarify the situation, but in the next moment, the Bloody Baron suddenly, without warning... uh, exploded; could this be considered an explosion?
At this point, the Bloody Baron's figure had completely vanished, replaced by a resplendent, pulsing silver sphere of light.
It floated where the Baron had just been, slowly pulsating like a newborn heart. And as time passed, its pulsing sped up until an invisible string suddenly snapped, and with a "Pia!" sound, the silver heart faded into nothingness.
"...He has embarked on a new journey, a greater adventure."
Dumbledore also gazed at the spot where the Bloody Baron disappeared, a complex expression flashing in his eyes. The old man sighed, his tone full of sentiment. As he spoke, Dumbledore's gaze drifted to the window not far away, where the sun seemed to pulsate as well. "It seems both Slytherin and Ravenclaw House will lose their ghosts—"
On the other side, in Ravenclaw's Secret Chamber.
A silver-grey sphere of light had also formed, but it seemed in no rush to disappear. It circled around Ms. Ravenclaw several times, finally, after being soothed by Rowena Ravenclaw, reluctantly floated to William and slowly stopped—
It bobbed up and down, as if urging William.
But William ignored it, instead turning to the blue-gowned woman standing beside the Meditation Basin, smiling.
After a moment of silence, he decided to flirt with Helena's mother right in front of her.
"Madam, I always thought you would be difficult to get along with—"
William scratched his cheek, smiling as he spoke.
"Death can change many things; perhaps when I was alive, I truly was difficult to get along with? For that, you might want to ask my daughter."
Ravenclaw's face also bore a smile, but this smile was entirely different from the one she showed Helena earlier, not reaching her eyes.
"Alright, then... will we have a chance to meet again in the future?"
William's tone carried a hint of ambiguity, and he seemed to blush a little. His behavior successfully shocked the nearby "Helena Globe," who out of shock even forgot to pulse, staring blankly at William, who seemed like he intended to embrace the thousand-year-old rich lady.
You, you, you...
"Perhaps yes, perhaps no, but who can say for sure about the future? After all, I'm not a prophet—"
Ravenclaw's face still bore a smile, and time had done nothing to change her appearance. In fact, compared to Helena, who died at a young age, this lady, whose visage was eight parts similar, seemed even more charming—
The normally stern face now bore a smile, seeming... like a mature beauty?
And then, it hardened.
William's fist clenched—this thousand-year-old woman spoke like a pure Riddler, always saying only half or even less than half of what she meant.
Apart from handing him the notebook just now, almost all his probing questions had been deflected with vague responses by this most intelligent wizard of a thousand years ago, who clearly saw through his probing.
Tsk, I really want to punch her...
William discreetly rubbed his slightly itching fist. Ever since he punched Fudge in the face, he seemed to have found pleasure in this action.
"So, are you really dead?"
William no longer pretended to be shy and instead squinted slightly, staring at Ravenclaw in front of him, asking in a serious tone.
"...It seems your time is running short?"
The smile on Ravenclaw's face also faded, as she looked at William, who seemed determined to get to the bottom of things. Her gaze shifted to the increasingly rapid pulsing of the "Helena Globe" beside him. But seeing William's unrelenting gaze again, she could only sigh helplessly, "Stop asking; you'll find out sooner or later."
"When is sooner or later?"
"Just when the time comes..."
"Tsk, I really feel like punching you to death—"
William sighed as well. Clearly, he realized Ravenclaw was not planning to say anything further, and could only reach out to grab Helena Ravenclaw, who was on the brink of disappearing. Instantly refining... cough cough, in an instant, a gentle light shone, enveloping William within—
"Pia—"
With a faint sound, William's figure disappeared from the Secret Chamber. Ravenclaw stood aside for a while, then looked around expressionlessly, as if ensuring there would be no unexpected occurrences next. Then he pressed his hands onto the Meditation Basin beside him and—
Rather unceremoniously, he pushed with both hands and jumped right in.
"Splash—"
With the sound of a heavy object hitting water, splashes flew out from the Meditation Basin, but quickly returned to calm.
...
...
"Bong↑ Bong↓ Bong↑ Bong↑——"
The melodious chime spread throughout the campus, and William woke up from the desk.
His gaze involuntarily turned to the window next to him, beyond the clean glass lay a thick heavy mist. Without rising, William listened to the echoes of the chime, expressionlessly looking at the desk in front of him, with a hint of reminiscence in his eyes—
He had just speculated quite a bit about the appearance of his Illusory Realm; it's said this world forms at the place of deepest soul memories. He originally thought it would be the Room of Requirement, or the underground of Hogwarts where he battled Lanlock—but he hadn't expected to return to his previous life's high school classroom.
...Which also seems quite reasonable.
Looking at the familiar surroundings, William closed his eyes, and the next moment, the sounds of merriment reached his ears. A pungent smell drifted from his side, and the boy opened his eyes, everything before him was tinted with color in that instant.
The physics teacher in a jacket was leaning over the podium, talking passionately about his "legendary life"; the student at the desk in front of William was sound asleep, with drool soaking through the physics book; while next to William, a girl in a blue and white uniform squinted her eyes, burying her head at the edge of the desk cavity, her cheeks puffed up like a hamster. Noticing William's gaze, she wiped off the red oil from her mouth corner, then reluctantly offered the packet of spicy strips she was holding—
"Want one?"
The voice sounded incredibly real, as if everything experienced before—Wizardry, Magic, the United Kingdom... were all just William's illusory dream...
...What nonsense! William did not reach out but instead closed his eyes again. Upon reopening them, blue light flashed in his eyes, turning the pure white classroom empty once more.
Haha, how dare you try to disturb my Dao heart! In a flash, William stood up from his seat, his intuition telling him there was certainly something wrong with that spicy strip just now, and what "dream" could feel that real? What's more, before crossing over, he only knew Harry Potter's main character's last name was Har...
Nope, it's Potter.
Messed up by that old woman Ravenclaw, feeling somewhat mentally deranged.
If he could conjure up a logically coherent Magic World out of dreaming, why bother working part-time for Didi? Wouldn't writing novels at home be a better choice? At least, typing at home would not get you knocked flying tens of meters by a truck... Probably, right?
After a moment's silence, William rubbed his still somewhat bewildered head and raised his hand. A Magic Wand appeared in his hand, as he swung it, William's figure was enveloped in a blue bubble, then he reached out to touch the glass beside him, his palm applied slight pressure—
"Crack—"
The glass reaching up to the classroom ceiling broke instantaneously, gravity seemed to transform at that moment, and William's figure toppled towards the glass, uncontrollably falling into the seemingly boundless cloud sea below. Falling aimlessly for an unknown amount of time, William finally waved the Magic Wand, directing the blue bubble encasing him to gradually halt.
Because at this moment, the white mist obscuring his vision had vanished completely, leaving him floating aimlessly in a vast white space. And in all the places his eyes could reach, there were clouds, one after another, emitting white light.
"All the Illusory Environments in the world at this moment?"
Viewing the suddenly appearing clouds that disappeared moments afterwards, William confirmed his suspicion: judging by this disappearance speed, it seems even Muggles enter the Illusory Realm upon death. However, they don't have the option to return to the reality world and become Ghosts. Hence, these clouds vanish promptly after a brief existence.
And the clouds swaying without disappearing evidently symbolize a Wizard currently experiencing choices.
At this moment, William seemed to be at the gap of the multi-universe, with enormous gateways before him, he needed to find the correct one and fly over—"Hopefully, Voldemort isn't too far from dying..." William took a deep breath and pulled out a Compass from his pocket—
The blue needle spun wildly, finally stabilizing after a while and pointing in a direction—
The power left in Harry's mind was originally meant to monitor if Diary Tom had any chance of resurrecting, and at this moment, it unexpectedly proved useful—William waved the Magic Wand, then, the bubble enclosing him began to shoot off like an arrow towards the direction indicated by the Compass—