"In a moment," Bernadette said, "we should probably run another experiment."
"What kind?"
"When I prayed to you just now, you happened to be on the other side of the door at that same moment — which is why you received the prayer in real time. But what if I pray to you while you're in the real world? Would you still receive it?"
Vincent considered it. "I think so — because your prayer doesn't reach me directly. It passes through the Scale and then to me. That part works the same as when someone prays to me from your world."
He added: "Of course, this is all still conjecture. We should run the experiment either way."
"Speaking of that, once we swap back, I have another experiment I want to try as well."
"What?"
"You know how once I'm back in my world, I should be able to pray to myself, open the offering gate, and send things to myself through it." Vincent continued: "Does that mean... I could use the Land of Chaos to send things between the two worlds?"
Bernadette understood what he meant at once — but immediately raised a problem. "What do you plan to use as the spiritual material to complete the ritual?"
Vincent paused. "Would magical materials not work?"
"Based on my current understanding, spirituality and mana are fundamentally different things."
"What about my own blood, then? Now that I'm back at Sequence 8, my blood should contain spirituality."
"Containing spirituality is not the same as functioning as a spiritual material."
She shook her head. "What can be confirmed is that once someone reaches the demigod stage, every part of them — blood, hair, every piece of their physical body — qualifies as a spiritual material. There are also some special Pathways — such as vampires, lycanthropes, Wraiths, or Demons — where the body's fundamental nature changes even at low and mid-Sequences. But for most Pathways, this transformation only occurs at Sequence 4. For the Hermit Pathway, at least, that is the case."
Vincent was mildly disappointed. He continued: "One more question, then."
"Go ahead."
"As we've seen, every exchange cycle lasts three days on your side and seven on mine — meaning the flow of time between the two worlds is clearly different. But right now, as we speak, time seems to be passing at the same rate. So when we each return to our respective realities, what happens to time then?"
Bernadette narrowed her eyes slightly. She genuinely hadn't considered that.
Carrying the question with them, both returned to their respective realities — and found nothing unusual. Everything was perfectly normal.
Perhaps it's a property of the Land of Chaos itself — bending the flow of time in both worlds simultaneously?
Was it really that powerful?
That was almost touching on the level of a multiverse...
After this, Bernadette re-entered the sitting room of the Land of Chaos and recited the three-segment Honorific Name.
Vincent answered the "call" almost immediately — as long as she was praying to him from within the Land of Chaos, he received it in real time.
This meant from now on, the two of them could speak at any moment.
Next, Vincent tried using the Scale to send Bernadette a direct "message" — but unfortunately it still couldn't function across worlds. She had to enter the Land of Chaos herself to receive anything.
...
Harry Potter's World.
After a short rest, Bernadette took her notebook and made her way to the office of Bathsheda Babbling, Professor of Ancient Runes.
These past few days, beyond studying Chinese, most of her attention had been devoted to researching Ancient Runes. Frustratingly, she'd accumulated a great deal of theoretical knowledge but found little practical use for it.
The root problem was that she had no idea how to actually inscribe Ancient Runes — and thereby access the magical power contained within them.
Professor Babbling was one of perhaps only two people at Hogwarts with a genuine mastery of Ancient Runes.
Professor Bathsheda Babbling appeared to be in her late twenties, and was, to put it plainly, extraordinarily beautiful. According to what the man had said, she had already been teaching Ancient Runes at Hogwarts for at least fifteen years — yet time had left barely a mark on her face.
Vincent suspected she carried some bloodline of a long-lived race, though that had never been confirmed.
"Oh — Vincent? You, of all people?"
The beautiful professor had apparently just woken up; the air around her was soft with drowsiness, her dark hair trailing across her cheek, and her sharp, fox-like eyes carried a kind of effortless allure.
Bernadette was unmoved. In her eyes, this sleeping beauty was simply a convenient tool for learning Ancient Runes.
"Come in."
Babbling stepped aside and let her in, yawning as she flicked her fingers to send an empty cup floating toward Bernadette, then poured her a cup of black tea.
"What brings you?"
She poured one for herself as well, crossed her legs, and settled into the sofa across from her.
"Yes, Professor Babbling." Bernadette opened her notebook. "I had some questions about Ancient Runes I wanted to ask you."
"Oh?"
Babbling looked mildly surprised. "A sudden renewed interest in Ancient Runes, is it?"
Renewed?
Bernadette hesitated.
Propping her chin on her hand, Babbling said: "As I recall... the last time you came to ask me about Ancient Runes was the year you were expelled. That must be seven or eight years ago now."
"My answer is the same as it was back then, I'm afraid." She blinked. "If you simply want to study Ancient Runes — to understand the magic of ancient wizards through the script itself — I can teach you that. But if you want to study ancient magic through Ancient Runes, then I'm sorry."
Bernadette frowned. "Why not?"
Babbling extended one slender finger toward Bernadette's forehead in a light tap, which Bernadette dodged with a frown. Babbling didn't seem to mind and continued: "Because ancient magic and Ancient Runes are simply not the same system. Knowing Ancient Runes does allow you to use the spells of ancient wizards — but that is not true ancient magic."
"Ancient Runes are very difficult — but in principle, anyone can learn them given enough effort. Ancient magic is different. Only a very specific and very small number of people can ever learn it."
Bernadette couldn't help her surprise. "Is that so?"
The beautiful professor narrowed her fox-like eyes into a smile. "For instance, the very first requirement is this: before the age of fifteen, the person must have been either a Squib or a Muggle."
"That alone rules out ninety-nine percent of candidates. Then on top of that, the person must possess a certain innate quality necessary to learn ancient magic — which eliminates ninety-nine percent of the remaining one percent."
Babbling spread her hands with a shrug. "Clearly, you enrolled at eleven as an ordinary young witch, which means you don't meet that first requirement."
But I am effectively a Squib right now.
A Squib who's nearly two hundred years old, in fact...
Bernadette kept all of that very firmly to herself. She asked instead: "Professor, how is it that you know so much about ancient magic? Is information about it publicly available?"
"Oh, not at all — I simply happen to know. After all these years studying Ancient Runes, picking up a few of the wizarding world's deeper secrets is only natural, isn't it?"
"Then... can you use ancient magic?"
Babbling raised her cup and took a small sip. "Take a guess."
Tch.
Bernadette was quiet for a moment, then said: "Very well. Whether you can or can't makes no difference to me right now. I came today purely to ask about Ancient Runes — not ancient magic."
"Oh, that's the easy part. Give me a moment."
She stood and went to her desk, pulling a yellowed piece of parchment from a drawer. "Most of the Ancient Runes I know are recorded here. I've embedded a Pensieve Memory charm in it — when you try to learn, you'll be able to access the memories I've stored within and see exactly how each character is studied."
Bernadette accepted the parchment with a hint of hesitation. "You're giving something this valuable away just like that?"
"Hahaha."
Babbling laughed. "Think about it this way: aside from the Unforgivable Curses and a handful of other dark spells, every charm and spell is available to buy through legitimate channels. And yet the vast majority of wizards still only know a handful of simple spells by the time they come of age — was that through lack of wanting to learn? Ancient Runes are harder than any of those spells. Do you think it's a mystery why Ancient Runes has become, in our era, essentially a purely theoretical subject?"
Fair enough.
"Once you've genuinely mastered all these characters, come back to me. I can continue teaching you the higher aspects of Ancient Runes — linking, chaining, and the like."
"Thank you."
Babbling shook her head. "Don't thank me. As someone who belongs to the practical school of Ancient Runes, I want nothing more than to find someone who can carry it forward."
"Good luck, Vincent."
After leaving Babbling's office, Bernadette's first instinct was to begin studying immediately — but she had a class shortly, and reluctantly set the thought aside.
The next day was Saturday.
Bernadette had barely finished breakfast when another knock came at her door. She opened it to find nothing visible at eye level — and then, from somewhere below, a high, reedy voice: "Good morning, Vincent! I think you'd need to lower your gaze a touch."
Ah. Professor Filius Flitwick — with his hint of goblin heritage.
To be continued…
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