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Chapter 940: The Departed Return
Chapter 940: The Departed Return
Snap…
With a slight sound, the claw hooks securing the crystal on the disk loosened, and the Resurrection Stone, guided by magic, floated in the air, slowly spinning three times.
Ivan hesitated for a moment, then gently pressed the Human Bone Wand to his temple, extracting a few strands of memories. He then clasped the Resurrection Stone in his palm.
In the next instant, several familiar figures appeared before Ivan.
Albus Dumbledore, Nicolas Flamel, Orlando Hals… Their faces were filled with gentle smiles, and their forms were more like those of living beings rather than the ghosts Ivan had seen before. It was as if the power of the Resurrection Stone had allowed them to cross the boundary between life and death, returning to the world of the living.
"Orlando… It seems you have used the alchemy knowledge I taught you to create your own Philosopher's Stone…" Nicolas Flamel glanced at the alchemical ornament on Ivan’s right hand and spoke with evident satisfaction.
"I am sorry, Master, I failed to protect your graveyard", Ivan’s face showed a hint of regret.
"No, you did well. When I brought the Resurrection Stone to the graveyard, I anticipated something like this might happen…" Nicolas Flamel shook his head, offering comfort. He then turned to Dumbledore and teased, "If anyone is to be blamed, it should be Albus."
Ivan also turned to look at Dumbledore.
"You can't blame me. I certainly didn’t force him to break into your tomb", Dumbledore’s face showed a touch of helplessness. He then changed the subject, looking at Ivan and asking, "How is Grindelwald?"
"Thanks to you, he managed to escape from Nurmengard Prison and is now preparing to cause even more chaos", Ivan raised an eyebrow and explained.
"So, he doesn’t intend to keep his word…" Dumbledore murmured to himself, though he didn’t seem surprised.
"What was your agreement, Professors?" Ivan asked curiously.
"I needed his help to complete the final arrangements. In return, I removed all the restrictions on Grindelwald to ensure he could live out his remaining years in comfort", Dumbledore explained slowly.
"Is that all? Nothing else?" Ivan furrowed his brow and asked again.
Dumbledore only smiled and didn’t respond.
Ivan was about to ask more when Orlando stepped forward. He extended his trembling right hand as if to touch Ivan’s head, but it passed right through.
Clearly, the Resurrection Stone hadn’t given them physical form; their figures remained ethereal, though they appeared normal on the surface.
Orlando, realizing this, withdrew his hand in disappointment and asked sadly, "Ivan, my child, I am sorry. I wasn’t a good father and couldn’t take care of you properly these years. How have you been?"
"I’ve been fine, and Mother is doing well too…" Ivan replied, trying to maintain his composure.
"Yes, you’ve surpassed my expectations… You’ve even become a disciple of Master Nicolas Flamel. So, Asia has been teaching you well, though… that doesn’t sound like the Asia I know at all." Orlando spoke half-jokingly, then asked with interest about Ivan’s experiences over the years.
Ivan tried to focus on the parts that were easy to explain, and Dumbledore stood quietly by his side, listening without interrupting.
Time slipped by unnoticed. By the time Ivan's throat felt dry and hoarse, he realized the sky outside had grown dark. It turned out he had been in the room for four or five hours.
"What's wrong, Ivan?" Orlando asked, puzzled by Ivan's sudden distraction.
"No, nothing. I just remembered something", Ivan replied, shaking his head. After a brief hesitation, he turned to Nicolas Flamel. "Master, my Alchemy has hit a bottleneck. Could you teach me some new knowledge?"
"Have you finished the two books I gave you? Hals? Studying is good, but remember that greed can lead to indigestion..." Nicolas Flamel responded calmly.
"I'm asking about the problem in those books, the hypothesis about Magic Conversion Efficiency..." Ivan pressed on.
"That's something you need to explore yourself. Always relying on others for answers won't make you a true Alchemical Master", Nicolas Flamel replied with a smile.
Ivan stared at Nicolas Flamel for a long moment, then sighed deeply and waved his wand to retrieve the memories he had separated earlier.
As the forgotten memories returned, the three figures in front of him changed slightly. Orlando, in particular, seemed to transform, his appearance rapidly aligning with the image in Ivan's memories. Orlando himself remained oblivious, a gentle smile still on his face.
Seeing this, Ivan no longer lingered. Despite the protests of Orlando and the others, he slowly released the Resurrection Stone, and the three figures gradually faded into the air.
"Pity... this is all just an illusion", Ivan said, gazing at the diamond-shaped crystal floating in mid-air, his emotions complex.
The Resurrection Stone could not truly bring the dead back to life. What it manifested were merely the images of the deceased from one's subconscious.
To confirm this, Ivan had separated the memories related to Orlando's appearance before activating the Resurrection Stone, to verify his hypothesis.
The result matched Ivan's expectations. The Resurrection Stone ultimately brought forth the image of Orlando that best fit Ivan's imagination. Therefore, when the memories were retrieved, Orlando's appearance changed.
However, after experiencing it firsthand, Ivan understood why so many people became ensnared by the power of the Resurrection Stone. The manifested illusions not only looked exactly like the deceased but also behaved and spoke just as they did in the memories, even joking and scolding each other.
If Ivan hadn't been on guard, he might have believed he had truly summoned Orlando's soul from the Underworld.
In fact, Ivan had hoped the Resurrection Stone possessed such power. That's why, after activating it, he didn't immediately retrieve his memories but tried to confirm through conversation, even if there was only a slim chance.
However, the final result was disappointing.
Though the illusions were well-disguised, even perfect in every detail, there was one thing that couldn't be created out of thin air: knowledge...
(End of Chapter)
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