The Forbidden Forest was shrouded in a thin layer of morning mist. Evans walked through the fog, not accompanied by Nana and Alice this time—only a small orb hanging from his left wrist.
Alice and Nana had already taken Little Cloak to play in the Forbidden Forest. For the entire day, only Carl would accompany him.
But calling it "accompanying" was generous—Carl would just sleep inside the orb and wouldn't come out to watch him break the seal.
Sigh, the tedious journey of unsealing was always so boring.
In the end, was he the only one walking this path alone?
A trace of melancholy flashed through Evans's eyes.
Actually, at first, Alice and Nana would accompany him to break seals together. Other friends from the Forbidden Forest would also come to watch occasionally—partly to protect his safety, and partly because they were quite curious about the seals deep in the forest.
But ever since he started breaking the second seal and had been continuously breaking them for over half a year, these friends stopped coming to watch.
Yes, he admitted that the process of breaking the second seal was indeed a bit boring, and standing there enduring mental impacts really wasn't much to look at.
But having only one sleeping companion left was perhaps a bit excessive?
Shaking his head and looking at the rows of seals extending endlessly into the distance, Evans felt somewhat emotional.
After more than four months, he had finally completed the prerequisites for breaking the fourth seal.
Actually, he had visited the seals several times before, testing whether his historical knowledge was sufficient.
But each time he couldn't activate that seal—only a cup would appear on the seal's surface, with water inside that would increase slightly with each attempt, seemingly indicating how much his historical level still lacked.
If not for that cup clearly reflecting his learning progress, and the progress being almost full, he wouldn't have attempted to visit those historians.
After all, thoroughly understanding Professor Binns's knowledge might also meet the requirements, but that would take too long. It was better to take a shortcut and visit other historians to view this history from different perspectives.
And facts proved his approach was completely correct.
Walking closer, he placed his hand on the seal. After a moment, a cup filled with water instantly appeared and slowly disappeared. Runes flashed across the surface, converging toward the center and gradually forming a line of text.
[You have sufficient understanding of medieval history.]
A few seconds later, the characters slowly disappeared, replaced by the familiar pavilion. But this time, there were no spheres inside the pavilion—instead, a square box stood in the center.
Huh?
No puzzle mini-games this time?
Walking slowly into the familiar pavilion, without the puzzle games involving dragging spheres, Evans felt somewhat unaccustomed for a moment.
But this discomfort didn't last long before being replaced by another question.
He wondered how this thing determined that his historical knowledge was sufficient. Legilimency? But how could Legilimency automatically identify knowledge?
Did this seal come with AI?
Shaking his head and temporarily burying that thought, Evans looked at the box standing in the center of the pavilion.
If dragging spheres wasn't needed, then the activation condition this time should be this box?
It wouldn't be some puzzle game like a Luban lock, would it?
Please no—he had never played with such things in his previous life.
With an uneasy feeling, Evans placed his hand on the box.
However, the imagined puzzle game didn't appear. The box opened easily, and several lines of text appeared before his eyes.
[Unsealing condition: Experience five segments of illusory history and rewrite their endings.]
[Node One: The Witch Hunts.]
As the characters fell, streams of silver light surged from the box toward Evans, completely enveloping him.
"Hmm?"
The surrounding scenery gradually became illusory, but Evans, wrapped in silver light, wasn't afraid—just somewhat surprised as he watched the streams of silver light flying toward him.
If he wasn't mistaken, this was the radiance that only memory magic possessed?
Although many magical marks could change their color to silver-white, only memory magic could produce this bright silver luminescence.
Wrapped in the silver light, Evans felt his body was being affected by magical power. His height seemed to have shortened slightly, and his arms had thickened by a size.
Experience illusory history?
This feeling was completely different from entering memories in a Pensieve. Entering memories in a Pensieve felt very hollow—even when inhabiting someone else's body, it was only like watching an extremely realistic movie, but the body wouldn't feel anything.
But now, Evans could sense that his body was genuinely changing. Besides this, the cold air of the Forbidden Forest in winter was being replaced by a scorching atmosphere, as if being directly exposed to summer sunlight, making him feel very uncomfortable.
But out of trust in the seal, Evans didn't resist the silver light and completely accepted it.
Memory magic wouldn't cause harm to the body, and his spirit hadn't received any warnings. The fairy's danger-sensing talent hadn't been triggered either.
These silver lights should be like the previous puzzles—just a test.
It's just that this test was making quite a commotion.
A few minutes later, the surrounding bright silver radiance was gradually replaced by some blurry scenes. Evans stood in the center of the light, observing his surroundings.
The trees that originally belonged to the Forbidden Forest had completely disappeared, replaced by extremely blurry wooden houses and some dark shadows scattered everywhere.
At the same time, several lines of text appeared before Evans.
[Your name is Kevin, and you are a newly adult wizard.]
[Half a month ago was when you had just graduated from Hogwarts and returned to your hometown, planning to make something of yourself in the magical world.]
[On the return journey, you saved a pitiful Muggle. Without you, he definitely wouldn't have survived those zombies and made it back to the village alive.]
[At that time, he was full of gratitude toward you, saying he would repay your kindness no matter what.]
[But a few days later, Inquisition knights came to your door.]
[And today is your judgment day.]
[Note: Please survive until the end and destroy the nighttime judgment ritual.]
[If possible, change their fate.]
The characters slowly disappeared, and Evans's vision gradually cleared.
The next second, countless noisy shouts and curses entered his ears.
At the edge of the Forbidden Forest, a hooded figure was walking toward the forest interior. His steps were somewhat stiff and didn't look very natural.
Under the hood, a somewhat trembling voice was constantly saying something.
"Master... do we really have to do this?"
"You don't have the right to question me."
The hooded figure's steps didn't pause at all as a low, hoarse voice slowly responded.
"If not for your incompetence, I wouldn't need to use this method."
Speaking of this, the hooded figure seemed to remember something. His hands under the long sleeves slowly clenched, as if desperately suppressing rage.
If not for that person, if not for those few drops of water, he wouldn't have come to this point.
Who would have thought that even after luring Dumbledore away, there would be someone at Hogwarts capable of breaking the Drowning Curse.
Spring Nymph's Blessing—how could such a thing still exist in this era!
If he had known, he should have used a more difficult curse...
But there was no longer a chance to strike. Dumbledore seemed to have noticed his movements and was protecting that boy.
Even when that boy went for Quidditch training, he would quietly watch from a distance.
Damn it!
After pausing for a moment and slowly unclenching his hands, the hooded figure continued walking toward the depths of the Forbidden Forest.
His steps were becoming natural at an extremely slow pace, as if constantly adapting to this body.
But that trembling voice hadn't completely given up and was still trying to dissuade him.
"But Master, extending life this way..."
"Shut up! Don't test my patience!"
The trembling voice stopped speaking. In the silent forest, only the sound of the hooded figure's feet trampling grass and branches remained, gradually fading into the distance.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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