Chapter 730: Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust
Chapter 730: Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust
Bathed in the golden and black glow, one after another, glowing figures began to emerge from the light orb at the center of the cave. At the same time, the cave walls hummed in resonance with Hermione's spell, as if in response to her incantation.
As these figures separated from the light orb, they grew larger and larger, eventually reaching the size of ordinary humans. The details of their forms became clearer, no longer mere shadowy silhouettes, but distinct human ghosts made of smoke.
They wore ancient attire, resembling the people depicted in the portraits at Hogwarts. Liam could sense from their souls that they were not ordinary wizards in life.
After a brief period of excited fluttering, they gathered together and began to converse in Ancient Latin. A few minutes later, an elderly wizard soul with a white beard and an ancient Sorting Hat was chosen as their representative. He drifted slowly to Liam and performed an ancient wizard's greeting, indicating that all the souls wished to communicate through him.
"Please wait a moment", Liam returned the gesture and replied in Ancient Latin. "Let my companion release everyone else first, so we can address your situation all at once."
Fortunately, once Hermione's magical ritual was successfully underway, it required minimal effort to maintain. As more souls emerged, the light orb began to flicker more frequently.
After half an hour, the last soul left the light orb, which then flashed brightly before vanishing completely, like a candle that had burned out. The souls now crowded the small underground dimension, so densely that Liam was reminded of the bustling train stations during the Spring Festival in his past life.
Fortunately, the souls could fly. After a brief discussion, some of the ghosts rose and formed a semi-spherical shape around the cave, with Liam and Hermione at the center of their attention.
"Young man", the elderly ghost who had been chosen as their representative stepped forward and addressed Ryan and the others, "please tell us what year it is now."
"It is January 1998", Liam replied to the group of ghosts, then added, "By the way, do you understand the concept of the Common Era? It is—"
"Yes, we are familiar with the timekeeping method used by those without magic", the old wizard's soul interrupted Liam with a hint of impatience, then sighed lightly. "It has been over a thousand years. I suppose our kingdom must have faded into history."
"That is correct", Hermione confirmed. "After King Arthur left the world of the living for Avalon, the British Kingdom fell apart, and the people scattered to various places."
Hermione's words caused an immediate uproar among the wizard souls. Some ghosts' faces showed signs of sorrow, and a few even broke down into tears.
The chaos lasted for several minutes before the elderly wizard soul who had been chosen to speak calmed everyone down. Once the room was quiet, he continued, "I see that you two are wizards like us. What is the current state of wizards? Are they still revered and feared by Muggles?"
"Wizards are doing relatively well, but they are now separated from Muggles. A few centuries ago, Muggles began the Witch Hunts. To protect both sides, wizards enacted the Secrecy Act", Liam explained earnestly.
"Prey Movement, Secrecy Act." These new terms left the wizards, who had been confined for a thousand years, feeling lost and confused. After a few minutes of hushed discussion, the old wizard's soul asked Liam if he could explain the current situation outside.
Liam was more than willing to fulfill this small wish of these poor spirits. He took two chairs from his spatial bag and sat down with Hermione, then began recounting the history of the Wizarding World over the past thousand years, as they had learned from their History of Magic textbooks and various other sources.
The explanation lasted over three hours, and even with Hermione taking turns, Liam felt his throat dry and parched. Fortunately, when he finally finished, the ghosts were so overwhelmed with information that they were momentarily stunned. Liam took this opportunity to fetch two cups of Honey Mint Iced Tea from his spatial bag, offering one to Hermione.
After they finished their iced tea, the wizards' souls gradually calmed down. The old wizard's soul, who had been the spokesperson for the group, stepped forward again and asked Ryan and the others, "Can you tell us what you plan to do with us, the undead?"
"We will send you to the Realm of the Dead", Liam said. "After all, the World of the Living belongs to the living, and you do not belong here."
"That's good", the old soul nodded. "In our time, many evil individuals enjoyed enslaving souls, especially those of wizards. We are fortunate to have met two young, powerful, and kind wizards like you."
With that, the old soul bowed slightly. Then, all the wizards' souls reached into their chests and extracted a small, ping-pong ball-sized orb of gray mist. They threw these orbs into the air, and as they flew, they began to flatten and form edges, eventually turning into sheets of gray mist resembling A4 paper. Under the command of the leading old wizard, all the A4 papers gathered together and transformed into a book in soul form.
"I've heard that over the ages, much ancient wisdom has been forgotten. So, to thank you for your help, we have compiled all the knowledge we possess into this book. I believe you, as powerful wizards, will find it rich with useful information."
"Thank you", Liam and Hermione said in unison, performing an ancient wizarding salute. Liam then took out a purple sandalwood box covered in cinnabar talismans and carefully stored the soul book inside. "We will carefully organize this knowledge and pass it on to the appropriate wizards."
After the exchange, Hermione held Liam's hand, and their magic powers resonated. Using this powerful magic, they invoked the forces of the Black Book of the Dead and the Golden Book of the Sun.
Instantly, golden and black light surged from the two books, forming a two-colored Ancient Greek Gateway in the air. At the center of the gateway was a swirling mass of black mist, which contained a dense power of death. Surprisingly, this power of death was not evil but instead gave a sense of peace.
"Is this the entrance to the World of the Dead?" As undead beings, the wizard ghosts quickly understood the purpose of the gateway. One by one, they floated before Ryan and the others, bowed, and then marched through the gateway with heads held high.
Once all 300 souls had passed through, the gateway flickered and vanished. Hermione, drained from the effort, collapsed into Liam's arms.
"You rushed it", Liam whispered as he transformed the chair into a recliner and helped Hermione lie down. "Opening that gateway was too much for you right now."
(End of Chapter)
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