Chapter 132: Ryan Has the Tables Turned on Him
The ethereal sea of fire existed only in his perception, not in reality. Yet, Ryan could still feel a searing sensation on his soul. It felt like an eternity had passed, but also just an instant. Gellert's eyes refocused. He was still standing in the same spot, holding the book, but a monumental change had occurred.
At least in Ryan's perception, he and Dumbledore were now on the same energy level. The accumulated decay from decades of imprisonment had been swept away. Like a phoenix, he had been reborn from the ashes, living out a second, magnificent prime.
"A person's perspective is always one-sided," Gellert said with a smile, standing perfectly still. The marks of time on his face seemed to have faded slightly. "Even when analyzing a problem from all angles, you are still standing in your own shoes, and so you will inevitably overlook things you cannot see."
"In my youth, I had no such understanding. The flame then was fierce, scorching, a purely destructive force. Later, in that fortress, the flame gradually died out, leaving only a pile of embers that seemed to be burning still. Until this year..." He closed the book and returned it to Dumbledore's shelf. "A spark was rekindled in the ash, but it was nothing like the blaze of my youth."
He smiled. "Only now do I realize that there are many kinds of fire. They do not all have to burn with scorching intensity."
Ryan, who had never experienced such a world-altering epiphany in his entire magical career, looked at the player who had just activated his cheat codes and felt his face fall. Shut it down, he thought, this isn't fun anymore. I'm tilted.
"The reason you haven't had such an insight is that your own philosophy of magic is not yet sufficient," Gellert said, as if sensing Ryan's resentment, before twisting the knife. "What you have mastered is the magic that the professors and I have taught you. It is not your magic. Merely learning is useless. You must transform what is in the textbook into your magic."
Ryan felt that these overpowered individuals had no understanding of the joys and sorrows of ordinary people. "Turning textbook magic into 'my' magic is not what most wizards think it is," he said wearily. "Achieving a state where you have completely mastered a spell and can cast it at will—that's what I would call proficiency, but it is far from enough. True personal magic for a wizard requires a deeper understanding of its essence. Why does magic exist? How does magical energy function? Why do wizards cast spells?" He paused, then said with great sincerity, "These are not simple questions."
"Are they that hard? I think it's manageable—"
"Ralvin and the others are almost here. I should go. Farewell." Seeing that the conversation was starting to veer into humble-bragging territory before they'd even set foot in France, Ryan hastily cut Gellert off and turned to leave.
A moment later, Dumbledore came down from the second floor. "If I recall correctly, my acting professor is only in his fifth year..."
"You're aware he's a fifth-year? I thought you'd forgotten," Gellert said, producing a plate of sizzling grilled sausages from thin air.
Dumbledore said, "When we were in our fifth year, we certainly did not have his current level of power."
Gellert replied, "But by then, we already had the beginnings of our own magical philosophies. Your student is very strange. Logically, when a wizard encounters something beyond their comprehension, it should impact their original magical worldview, create a spark, and trigger deeper thought. Sometimes a single sentence or a single image is enough to cause a drastic change."
"Your student has indeed done some deep thinking, for example, with the Communicator. And his sentient golems and alchemical devices, not to mention his Mana Beads, are all groundbreaking creations for the wizarding world. But none of this has been reflected in his own magical understanding. Don't you find that strange?"
Dumbledore sat down beside Gellert. "Compared to the most likely alternative, I find it easier to accept that Ryan's situation is due to a congenital defect in his perception of magic."
"You know the reason?"
Dumbledore nodded. "Although Ryan has never said it directly, he hasn't hidden it either. We can all make a basic judgment. That child genuinely dared me to use Legilimency on him."
"It seems the boy is a bit mad, then. It makes me rather curious about the environment he grew up in."
At the gates of Hogwarts Castle, Ryan embraced the former outstanding graduates, now Ministry of Magic employees, one by one. "Long time no see, seniors."
"It hasn't been that long. I only started this year," said someone who had just graduated from Ravenclaw last year.
"In just a year or two, you've invented the Communicator and received an Order of Merlin. Any ordinary wizard could live off that for a lifetime."
"It's not that exaggerated," Ryan said.
"But when it's Ryan, none of us are surprised."
"Ryan would never stop here. With all the fantastic ideas in his head, I'm just curious to see what the wizarding world will look like next."
"You praise me too much, seniors."
"So, what's for lunch?" Amidst the pleasantries, there were always one or two pragmatic wizards.
Ryan said, "I was planning to go to France. If nothing happens, we could even visit their Ministry and school."
The moment Ralvin heard this, he knew something was definitely going to happen. Ryan must have seen something in a prophecy and wanted to bring them along as backup.
He said suddenly, "Actually, none of us have much to do for the next couple of days. We have plenty of time for a trip."
Ryan was stunned. Nothing to do for a couple of days? Is working at the Ministry that relaxed? You can just be absent from your post for two whole days? Or... what on earth did these guys do?
Is the Ministry still standing? Is Fudge still alive?
But Ralvin gave him no chance to ask. "Come on, let's get going. We can eat and talk when we get there."
The others immediately agreed, grabbing and pulling Ryan as they all Apparated to Paris.
They arrived and made their way to the most famous Muggle restaurant in the area. They even had a private room booked in advance. The window of the room offered a direct view of the plaza and the Eiffel Tower.
It was Ryan who had suggested going to Paris because of the intel. He had wanted to see the situation on the ground. But as he was pulled into a chair, he realized his seniors had come fully prepared. They knew this place like the back of their hands. The tables had been turned on him.
"How are you all so familiar with this place? We never said we were coming here, did we?" Ryan asked, taking a sip of water. "It feels like you were just waiting for me to say 'Paris,' and then you dragged me straight here."
"If we're going to give Fudge a piece of our minds, we can't fight alone," Ralvin explained.
In truth, as they were executing their plan, they realized they needed someone with reputation and ability to rally support for things to go perfectly. Otherwise, their coordination might not be as flawless as they imagined. But being young and reckless, they had been planning to forge ahead anyway. Worst case, they'd stage a magical coup at the Ministry.
However, just because Ralvin's group was young and reckless didn't mean everyone they recruited was. One person had gone directly to Hogwarts to see Dumbledore, asking in detail if the Headmaster was behind this push. His name was Arthur Weasley, an old-guard member of the Order of the Phoenix. He had been worried that this was just a few kids acting on their own, with no way to clean up the mess if they failed.
After speaking with Dumbledore and receiving his guarantee, Arthur had returned to the Ministry and told Ralvin's group everything.
"No wonder you knew I was planning to go to France. You must all know about the prophecy as well," Ryan said, the pieces clicking into place. It made perfect sense for Mr. Weasley to have gone to Hogwarts. After all, Ron was in the hospital wing, and it was only natural for his parents to go and ask what had happened.
~~~
Get early access to 50+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn