Professor Merlin could actually tell that Damian had practiced the Meditation Method! And this was despite him being nothing more than a magical portrait.
Merlin clearly knew about the technique. So why hadn't it been passed down?
Damian voiced his thoughts. "Professor Merlin, why was the Meditation Method lost to time?"
"The method circulated freely between 400 AD and 600 AD," Merlin explained. "But beginning in the sixth century, it mysteriously vanished almost overnight. After that, the practice could not be recorded or described in any way. Even related memories, when extracted using memory magic, would be completely erased by some mysterious force."
"As time passed, the number of wizards who had mastered the technique dwindled until it was lost entirely." A flicker of genuine confusion flashed in Merlin's painted eyes. "I am exceedingly curious as to how you learned it in this era."
Damian's heart churned in turmoil. He hesitated, unsure of how to explain. He absolutely could not expose his secret of traveling to other worlds.
Fortunately, Merlin noticed his reluctance and smiled understandingly. "Everyone is entitled to their own secrets."
"However, the situation today seems a bit different," the ancient wizard continued. "This level of communication between us would have been completely impossible in the past. It appears that the mysterious force suppressing the Meditation Method has disappeared."
"The change must have occurred within the last hundred years or so. Two centuries ago, a scholar studying Runic Script was also curious about my teacher's manuscript. He asked me the meaning of 'meditation,' but at the time, my portrait was physically incapable of discussing it with him."
Damian was stunned. Even a portrait's conversation was interfered with? He couldn't fathom what kind of immense power could achieve such a thing. "Was it the power of magic?"
"In the sixth century, every wizard who had mastered the method attempted to find the source of this suppression," Merlin said. "But until the practice was lost completely, no one could uncover the truth. As for whether it was magic..."
Merlin paused thoughtfully. "I believe it was."
Can magic really achieve that level of control? Damian was dazed. A large-scale influence lasting for over a thousand years, only ceasing within the last century... it was terrifying.
He suddenly remembered the Taboo curse placed on Voldemort's name during the wizarding war. As long as someone spoke the Dark Lord's moniker, his followers could instantly sense their location. Perhaps this mysterious force was a similar, but vastly more powerful, curse.
But the Taboo only tracked locations. It wasn't even close to the same level as a conceptual force that could actively interfere with reality and erase memories.
"Then how was that phrase—'Meditation is the key to Runic Script'—left behind in the manuscript?" Damian asked. "The text said it was a record of a conversation between Salazar Slytherin and yourself. Doesn't that count as discussing the method? According to what you just said, shouldn't that record have been erased?"
"I only spoke that single sentence, and my teacher did not learn the actual mechanics of the method from it," Merlin replied, his tone lowering. "The mysterious force was absolute, but it was not entirely rigid. Vague mentions could sometimes slip through."
Damian suddenly realized a discrepancy. The Merlin standing before him should have been active between the tenth and twelfth centuries. If the interference started in the sixth century, how did he know so much about it?
Damian voiced his inner doubt. "You were Salazar Slytherin's student, which places you hundreds of years after the sixth century. How do you know all these historical details?"
Merlin smiled slightly. "I once explored the deepest secrets of time. I learned these truths by gazing directly into the currents of history."
Damian was astonished. Merlin could actually perceive history from centuries before his own birth.
The modern wizarding world possessed tools for time travel—Time-Turners—but their maximum safe limit was only five hours. Exceeding that window caused catastrophic consequences.
"I can sense a unique rhythm of time upon you," Merlin said softly. "If you wish to truly explore the mysteries of history, I can invoke this Time Power within you and send you to the past. My portrait does not possess the specific memories of the Meditation Method... but perhaps you could obtain it from the living, past version of me."
Damian frowned in confusion. He had time-related power on him?
Then it hit him. Every time he traveled between worlds via his mysterious disk, he always returned to the exact moment he had left. Perhaps this was the "Time Power" Merlin was sensing. Aside from his dimensional travels, Damian couldn't think of anything else.
The prospect of traveling to the past was incredibly tempting. If he succeeded, he might secure a complete, flawless Meditation Method.
"Is there any danger in returning to the past?" Damian asked cautiously.
"Exploring the mysteries of time is exceptionally dangerous," Merlin warned. "Therefore, you must first pass a preliminary trial. Only then will I help you travel back a thousand years."
The portrait leaned forward. "I will send you to the year 1943. My teacher raised a Basilisk within the Chamber of Secrets deep beneath this castle. He did not take the beast with him when he left Hogwarts. A Basilisk's lifespan is incredibly long, and a millennium later, it still slumbers there."
"In 1943, a student opened the Chamber, resulting in a tragic death. I need you to go back to that year and slay the Basilisk."
Damian's heart pounded. He knew perfectly well who had opened the Chamber of Secrets in 1943. It was Lord Voldemort, who was still attending Hogwarts at the time under his given name: Tom Marvolo Riddle.
With his current magical reserves and combat experience, Damian felt reasonably confident he could handle the Basilisk. He nodded firmly. "How do I return once the beast is dead?"
"There is a secret passage within the Chamber that leads directly to the Forbidden Forest," Merlin explained. "After slaying the Basilisk, use that passage to leave the Chamber unnoticed, then return to this exact room. From here, I will pull you back to your proper time."
Merlin's expression then turned deadly serious. "When you arrive in the past, a layer of Time Power will protect you. You absolutely must return to this room before that power is exhausted. If you fail, you will be permanently stranded in a splintered, parallel timeline. You will never be able to return to your own present."
The ancient wizard continued to emphasize the rules. "This Time Power will also conceal your tracks. As long as you merely observe, you will remain undetected. But the moment you take action and interfere with past events, the concealment will drop. Furthermore, you must not let anyone who lives to see your current timeline lay eyes upon you. Doing so will cause a massive, rapid drain on the Time Power on you."
Damian understood immediately. It was the standard rule of time travel: minimize interference. He had to avoid interacting with anyone who was still alive in the present, especially powerhouses like Albus Dumbledore or Tom Riddle.
"But wait," Damian asked, a frown creasing his face. "Wouldn't killing the Basilisk in 1943 be a massive interference with the current timeline?"
Merlin smiled slightly, a knowing glint in eye. "There is no Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets in your current timeline."
Damian's pupils shrank sharply. A violent shock rippled through his heart.
There was no Basilisk in the present?
Did that mean this was no longer the original canon timeline? Or was he locked in a predestination paradox, destined to be the one who goes back and kills it so that it isn't there in the future?
What would happen if he just said no? A surge of rebellious defiance swelled in his chest. He couldn't help but ask the burning question.
"What if I simply choose not to go? What happens if I refuse to kill the Basilisk right now?"
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