The moment Theodore heard the name Dumbledore spoke, even after everything he had seen in the magical world—even after clashing repeatedly with the horrors hidden in its ancient history—he still stood stunned.
Ariana?
Dumbledore's dead sister?
The deepest pain of his life?
Dumbledore was saying Ariana had just been here?
In an instant, Theodore felt a numb chill spread across his scalp.
He remembered the line of footprints that had approached him through the blood rain.
That vague little shape…
Had it not seemed like a small girl?
Could Dumbledore's sister Ariana actually have been that sinister thing?
Under Dumbledore's urgent gaze—one that seemed to carry even a faint trace of pleading—Theodore fell silent.
After a long moment, he spoke slowly and carefully, weighing each word as he told Dumbledore the rough outline of what had happened.
Dumbledore drew in a deep breath.
His hands were trembling.
"You mean… while you were carrying out some special magic, you stirred the underworld—the world of the dead?"
"And among the dreadful things within it, Ariana became one of them?"
Theodore nodded.
The blow landed as though Dumbledore had been struck in the chest.
His tall frame bent.
In all the time Theodore had known him, he had never seen him look so old. Every line in his face seemed suddenly carved with a knife.
"So once again, I was too late."
"I couldn't see Ariana again."
"I couldn't rescue her from those things."
"All these years… and I'm still incapable of doing anything."
"No…"
"This time, perhaps I still can. Ariana cannot have gone far. If I enter the world of the dead, I can find her."
Looking at Dumbledore now, Theodore finally understood why, in the original story, Dumbledore had put on the cursed Resurrection Stone ring even though he knew perfectly well Voldemort had placed a powerful curse upon it.
Ariana's death was a pain Dumbledore could never escape.
To him, the hope of bringing Ariana back mattered more than his own life.
So much so that it had forced him to make hasty arrangements for everything after his death and pass the burden prematurely onto Harry.
Now, having learned that Ariana had only just left, Dumbledore's Elder Wand had already begun to gather a red-gold light at its tip.
Then the wand turned—
toward Dumbledore himself.
In the next instant, a great force struck his arm aside before the spell could be cast.
The red-gold flash missed his head by a hair's breadth.
For perhaps the first time ever, anger flashed into Dumbledore's eyes.
"Theodore!"
Theodore seized him by the shoulder and stared directly into his eyes.
"Headmaster, now is not the time for you to let yourself die."
"Harry and the others haven't grown up yet. And just as you've sensed yourself, there may be threats in the magical world far greater than Voldemort."
"You are one of the pillars of the magical world. The wizard closest to the Founders. If you throw everything down now, who takes your place?"
Dumbledore's hands clenched in agony.
When he spoke, it was almost a plea.
"Theodore… you don't understand what this means to me."
"I made too many mistakes in my life."
"And this may be the only chance I will ever have to make any of it right."
"I can't bear the thought of Ariana finding no peace even after death…"
Theodore cut him off.
"No, Headmaster. It is not your only chance."
"It is absolutely not your only chance to make things right."
"Love is the most powerful magic. That's what you taught me, isn't it?"
"A faith strong enough can let a wizard achieve miracles beyond common sense."
"Even entering the underworld and bringing back a lost soul."
Dumbledore drew in a long breath.
A faint spark of hope lit again in his eyes, as if some thought had suddenly occurred to him.
"The Deathly Hallows."
"Yes… the Deathly Hallows."
"If one gathered all three, one could defeat Death. Perhaps then Ariana could be brought back."
"The Resurrection Stone… perhaps finding the Resurrection Stone would be enough."
Theodore drew a deep breath and looked at him with a kind of exasperated disappointment.
"Headmaster. Be calm."
"The three Hallows. That legend of a malicious Death. Do you really believe that simply relying on the Hallows will grant your wish?"
"The owner of the Elder Wand dies violently."
"The owner of the Resurrection Stone is dragged away by the dead."
"And as for the Invisibility Cloak—the least harmful of the three—does a life spent hiding beneath it, escaping Death only by concealment, really count as a good ending?"
"Every wish pursued through the Hallows twists in the end."
The panic in Dumbledore slowly began to subside.
"Then the hope you spoke of—this hope of entering the underworld and bringing back a lost soul… what is it?"
Theodore answered without hesitation.
"It's me."
"Give me time."
"I do not need the Hallows gathered in one place."
"I will surpass death."
"I promise you—"
"Even if I have to search through the whole underworld, I will bring Ariana back."
Dumbledore fell into silence for a long time.
Then those blue eyes turned toward Theodore, full of emotions too complicated to name.
At last he gave a faint, bitter smile.
"Theodore Ashbourne… you are a good student."
At that moment, lines of text began appearing across the System screen.
[The Ghost Gate opens wide. Shentu makes his move. Houtu turns her gaze upon the scene. And from afar, the Southern Pole Elder Immortal senses what has occurred and arrives.]
[Seeing devastation everywhere, the Southern Pole Elder Immortal lets out a sigh of sorrow. He has already foreseen that one day the Heavenly Dao and the Earthly Dao must inevitably collide. When that day comes, it may bring slaughter beyond even that of the great tribulations.]
[At that time, you speak to the Elder Immortal of the great vow within your heart—that you wish for heaven and earth to know peace, and for the mortal world to know tranquility.]
[If heaven itself is unjust, then draw your sword and cut down heaven. If the earth is restless, then tread flat the deepest underworld.]
[The Elder Immortal is moved by the greatness of your vow. He cannot help but sigh that after cultivating through countless kalpas, even the firmness of his own heart of the path falls short of a junior disciple of the Chan lineage.]
[When the tribulation truly descends, this child's future accomplishments will know no limit.]
[Your relationship with the Southern Pole Elder Immortal has advanced once more and has reached the level of sworn friendship.]
[You have obtained the talent reward: The Secrets of Heaven Can Be Measured. In divination and the reading of heavenly secrets, you will be like one aided by the gods. With only slight study, so long as no great tribulation clouds the heavens, there is nothing above or below that cannot be calculated. Below the level of a Saint, none can escape your divination!]
At the same time, Theodore also noticed that when he had entered the dark wizard's chessboard earlier, the System had produced another message.
[You disregarded life and death alike and charged alone into the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls to rescue Lei Zhenzi.]
[Lei Zhenzi is moved beyond measure and resolves to share life and death with you.]
[Your relationship with Lei Zhenzi has reached the level of brothers who would live and die together.]
[You have obtained the reward: Deep Fortune.]
Theodore drew in a long breath.
First, the Judge's Brush had taken its initial form.
Now he had obtained The Secrets of Heaven Can Be Measured and Deep Fortune—both rewards of astonishing subtlety even by primordial standards.
The gains from this outing had been truly tremendous.
But in Theodore's eyes, the greatest gain of all was still the merit that had descended upon him after refining the Judge's Brush.
That alone was already enough to forge yet another treasure of merit.
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