In the basement, two lamps were lit.
On a table, an open notebook lay.
Under the light of another lamp, a person was tied to a chair, wearing a hood. Perhaps sensing the light, he twisted and tried to make a sound.
Murphy lifted the hood, revealing Albert Lankoen's swollen face.
He pulled a rag from the other's mouth.
"Lankoen, any last words?"
"Murphy!"
Lankoen, sweating profusely, looked around. "Where is this? What do you want to do?"
"Guess?"
"You want to kill me? You can't kill me! My kin are spread across the globe, they will avenge me! You better release me, or I will make you regret it..."
Murphy rolled his eyes, "Seems like you have no last wishes."
"Say goodbye to your current self then."
"What? No! Wait! Wai..."
"Obliviate!"
The spell's light lasted for half an hour, finally erasing all of Albert Lankoen's memories.
This was just the first step.
Secondly, Murphy forced down a Polyjuice Potion on him.
After a terrifying transformation, Lankoen turned into a blond boy around eleven years old.
This was the appearance of a Muggle boy Murphy had found in an orphanage.
The effect of the Polyjuice Potion was potent, but it would last only a few hours at most.
Hence, he hurriedly proceeded to the third step, beginning to implant memories into Albert's mind using comprehensive recall and copying spells.
Scene 1:
Children playing with a broken broomstick in ruins.
Suddenly, missiles rose at the horizon at dusk, piercing the sky and entering the clouds with a bright arc before descending again.
"What's that?" The children, bewildered, watched the missiles streak across the night sky, even making wishes.
"Run! Run!" Someone off-screen shouted.
Then, amidst panicked breaths, someone grabbed his arm, and the scene spun.
He vomited, then looked up to find himself on a hillside.
The flashing trajectories finally reached their destination.
Like thunder from the sky, they fell where they had been playing.
Next, blinding white light filled everything. When visibility returned, only a towering inferno was visible.
Shockwaves and roars followed, throwing him around. When he got up again, all that was visible in the distance was a huge, dark red fireball rolling and rising, forming a mushroom cloud over the ruins of the city where he had lived.
"Death."
Someone beside him said.
Scene 2:
"That's Night City."
A man with an obscured face stood ahead, pointing at a brightly lit city in the night.
"I lived there once, then I escaped."
"The King of Wizards died there."
The man said, pulling out a black notebook, "This was his last Horcrux."
"I'm giving it to you now, Lucas. Take care of it, then, write down our battle."
"It's immortal, maybe after we all die, only it will remember us."
"Remember, don't believe what it says, don't open your heart to it, it can devour you."
Scene 3:
"Stop! Why bully her?!"
A hand parted the crowd, pushing away a boy about to pour paint on a girl lying on the ground.
"Our parents died trying to save them! Their parents are dead too, but she! She's still laughing!"
He knelt, pulling up the slim girl, an East Asian, her face serene. Despite being doused in paint and mud, her face remained clean and fair.
The girl gently gathered her paint-stuck hair, looked at him, and smiled, "Thank you."
"Look! She's still smiling! She's a heartless witch!"
Scene 4:
On a rocky hillside, only a narrow path.
The girl walked ahead, her steps light and hopping, like a sprite.
"Why can you be so happy at a time like this?"
"Because, it's a beautiful world."
"Beautiful?"
"Look!"
Suddenly, the girl stopped, pointing somewhere in the distance.
Below the hillside, a large lake shimmered, the distant jungle intermittently visible through the morning mist.
"Isn't it beautiful?"
His gaze returned to the person admiring the scenery.
The morning sunlight shone on her smiling face, too brilliant to face directly.
"Yes, it's beautiful."
"I like this world, mountains, lakes, trees, grass... and flowers, and people... Seeing so many different, so many lovely things, it's all because we are alive."
"So, every minute we are still alive, we are so fortunate. What reason do we have not to cherish this fortune, to respond to this fortune with happiness?"
"Even if we might die at any moment?"
"Because of the sorrow and pain of parting, we should be grateful for the joy and happiness of meeting. Even in this world filled with cruel deaths, I want to smile happily, not wasting a single minute or second, trying hard to live on."
The girl said, suddenly turning around.
"Let's stop here."
Her face came closer.
"Lucas. 'Light.'"
"I like this name."
Scene 5:
"Why can't we use wands?"
"They have a magical monitoring system that can detect magical reactions in an area. We need to be careful. This beehive isn't high, I'll climb up and take it down."
The view rose, nearly reaching the large beehive.
He covered his face with his clothes, ready to poke the beehive down with a stick, when suddenly, a bee landed on his hand.
He shook his hand, but noticed a number on the bee's back, "B-039." Then, under his astonished gaze, the bee's wings stood upright and transformed into a slender tip, a red light flickering at its end.
"Mechanical bee!"
He slammed his hand against the tree trunk, smashing the mechanical bee.
"Quick! Alert the camp! We've been discovered!"
Scene 6:
Birds flew out of the woods in alarm, followed by the sound of trees snapping. A giant silver spider-like creature emerged from the woods.
Eight metallic legs reflecting sunlight, with a large and a small cannon in the center.
"Warning! All wizards surrender immediately! Otherwise, face execution!"
"Warning! All wizards surrender immediately! Or face execution!"
Scene 7:
"The Dementor's Kiss is useless!" Inside a tent, a wizard said, "I interrogated a Muggle 'engineer.' This war system isn't commanded by humans!"
Chapter 173: Carrying Hope
"All these machines follow the orders of a super AI called 'Crimson Network.' We aren't even their primary enemy. The Crimson Network's main combat targets are the war AIs of other corporate giants. We are just insects to be crushed along the way."
"Can't we find this 'Crimson Network' and destroy it?"
"The Crimson Network is a blockchain-based distributed computing system. It has no center, no servers; it is the entire machine cluster. Killing it would be no different from destroying all the machines."
"So, you're saying we have no hope at all."
"From the beginning, we never had any hope."
"No." Suddenly, someone said, "We still have hope. Go north, to the Scottish Highlands."
"Again with this, Angel. That's just the ramblings of a madwoman! There's no savior! Voldemort is a madman! A fool! A murderous dark lord!"
"That's only because he hasn't met that 'Prophet' yet."
"And do you have a better plan?"
"..."
"Let's go, to the north." An old man in the tent said.
"It's just a fantasy..."
"Even if it is a fantasy, I still want to try it..."
"At least, I want to die with hope."
Scene 8:
"We're too many; the spy satellites will detect us. We must act separately."
"Lucas, you lead these children."
The bright-eyed girl stood in front of him, "Don't look so glum, smile a little, we're just separating for a few days."
"If you're in danger, don't try to be a hero, understand?"
"Mhm."
"Make sure to stay safe."
"Don't worry, I still want to see the ocean with Lucas. We haven't fulfilled our wish yet, I don't want to die."
"Don't use that word."
"Okay. I'll live on. Pinky promise."
Scene 9:
"Run! Run! It's the swarm!"
In the distant sky, a gray mass spread, their speed extremely fast. Soon, several of the fastest drones arrived.
The buzzing of machinery filled their ears, a wizard lifted his wand and destroyed a drone about to fire at a young wizard.
The next second, several lasers targeted that wizard.
Suddenly, a giant ring appeared on the ground, quickly shrinking towards the wizard's center.
"No, no..." The wizard, foreseeing his fate, cried, "Disapparate!"
He vanished from the spot.
But the next instant, a bright light shot down from the high sky, "Boom!" A forest hundreds of meters away ignited, distant screams were heard.
"Heavenly Fire!"
"Don't raise your wands! Use the portkeys!"
Scene 10:
"Drones! Get down!"
Several drones flew over the hilltop, not noticing the people hidden in the bushes.
"Okay, they're past. Let's regroup and meet up with the other teams later."
"Up ahead is the place mentioned in the prophecy, there should be something to help us."
"General, what prophecy?" he asked.
"A prophecy of hope, I heard it myself, about the resurrection of the savior."
Angel Burton pondered, recalling, then spoke the prophecy:
"The child born from death, his darkness stems from the past, 'The Prophet' grants him endless wisdom, and leaves the key to him in the Chamber... He shall resurrect after death, walking the path of a savior."
Everyone was silent for a while, he asked, "General, who is the Prophet?"
"The Prophet, he was very famous a long time ago, I read about him in books. His name was &M￥#H@#, a Hogwarts professor. According to the prophecy, he will become the mentor of the savior... If you're interested, I have some books here, they contain many stories about the Prophet..."
"What does resurrection after death mean?"
"I don't know, prophecies usually only make sense to those involved in them... Look, they're here."
Down the hill, with a twist in space, a dozen wizards appeared.
His gaze searched around, finally resting on the girl in the back of the crowd.
"She's still alive." He breathed a sigh of relief, overjoyed.
"Wait, what's that?"
"The swarm! Behind them! They've been spotted!"
"Warn them quickly!"
"It's too late!"
Immediately, the swarm launched an attack.
He wanted to rush to their rescue but was held back by the general, "Quick, take the children and go!"
"No, I have to save her!"
However, at that moment, he saw the girl raise her wand, a whirlwind rose, blowing away several attacking drones. But soon, several lasers targeted her.
"No, no! No!" He screamed in agony, "Run! Run!"
But then, Heavenly Fire fell.
Scene 11:
"This is the Polyjuice Potion left by the Prophet, turning into a wolf shape should avoid the drones' surveillance." Angel Burton handed him a potion bottle, "Pull yourself together, Lucas, you're the oldest among these children, their safety depends on you."
Scene 12:
The jungle, companions, howling wolves.
Crying in the deep night.
Scene 13:
The Highlands, a cliff by the sea, he reverted from wolf form.
"Is this the ocean?"
"I wish, you could see it too."
Scene 14:
"Lucas... cough, this is a Time-Turner..." Angel's abdomen had a huge hole blown open, "Take it, find the ruins of Hogwarts..."
"General..." he held the other's hand, "But where are the ruins? What should I do?"
"The Philosopher's Stone..." Angel Burton struggled to say, "Use the Philosopher's Stone, resurrect the King of Wizards..."
"And time, time travel... you've read those stories about the Prophet, you'll understand..."
"Fate will guide you..."
"But..."
"Go, hurry..."
He stumbled away, and suddenly a flash lit up behind him.
"Lucas, the last hope, is yours."
"Boom!"
Scene 15:
Outside the window of a dilapidated room, mechanical war vehicles densely packed. In the sky, countless drones like a dark cloud.
He glanced at a ruined tower in the distance, then at the tens of thousands of mechanical forces in front.
Back in the basement, he took out the diary.
He wrote down a few lines.
Then, he twisted the Time-Turner's knob.
After a dizzying spin, the scenery suddenly changed.
The basement seemed to become a wine cellar.
He looked at the completely shattered Time-Turner in his hand, threw it aside, then climbed up the stairs, emerging into a tavern where people laughed and drank merrily.
"Oh, this isn't a place for kids."
A voluptuous beautiful woman noticed him, "Get out of here, kiddo."
He looked down at himself, realizing his body had shrunk considerably, and staggered out of the tavern into a bustling village. Wizards with pointed hats walked around, some casually performing magic with wands.
He picked up a newspaper a wizard had just discarded and glanced at the date.
"1990..."
"A hundred years ago..."
Scene 16:
In the basement, the notebook lay open on the table.
He muttered to himself: "Tom, when you read these memories, it means you've consumed me."
___________________
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