Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 293 A Giant Like the Sun!

Its creation was originally intended to serve alchemy and ancient magic, as many things in ancient times required the use of potions as "enlightenment".

The most typical example is the Animagus.

Vaughn held up the small bottle in his hand.

Inside, a pale, silvery-gray potion swayed, shimmering with a faint yet brilliant light against a bizarre background where colors were constantly collapsing and black and white were constantly expanding and repeating.

It is a "water of life and death", also known as the living hell potion. "Advanced Potions" briefly describes it as a powerful hypnotic, but as the saying goes, there are no wrong nicknames, only wrong names.

The term "living hell" vividly illustrates what will happen if you take it.

That state, somewhere between life and death, yet worse than death, akin to hell, is exactly the situation described in the notes.

"No wonder so few people master alchemy and become alchemists. It's not just a matter of talent; how many people are willing to take such dangerous potions and venture into an uncertain realm?"

But the twins were willing.

Vaughn too!

Without thinking further, he uncorked the bottle and drank the medicine inside in one gulp.

"This is ridiculous! Entering the Aether requires drinking the Water of Life and Death, and Vaughn..."

"Professor McGonagall, you weren't this nervous when we took the potion and traveled through the ether before."

"There are two of you, and I'm here to look after you!"

"Dumbledore said that Vaughn can handle it on his own, and besides, we were planning to wait for him outside that classroom after the match so that we could bring him back if anything went wrong."

In the dimly lit corridor, Professor McGonagall, who was hurrying towards the secondary tower, glared at the twins with a stern face.

The twins beside her exchanged a helpless glance and shrugged. Just as they were about to say something, they suddenly stopped and looked in the direction of the secondary tower.

Noticing their unusual behavior, Professor McGonagall frowned. "What's wrong?"

One of the twins, whether Fred or George, murmured in reply, "It has already begun."

Vaughn gradually regained consciousness, but everything before his eyes was pitch black.

"Is this the state after falling into a coma after taking the 'Water of Life and Death'?"

As soon as this question arose in my mind, light slowly began to appear in my dark vision, growing brighter and brighter, gradually dispelling the darkness and making my vision clearer.

"Where is this... Aether?"

He tried to make out the things in his field of vision with a puzzled look.

Before him stretched a vast, azure sea, its waves crashing overhead, seemingly endless. He was adrift in the swaying waves, feeling weightless, watching the white lines of the fine waves roll silently past, breaking the brief calm on the surface of the sea.

Light, from who knows where, shone down from the calm sea, rippling the water and drawing winding patterns that moved with the waves.

Everything seemed both inexplicable and beautiful.

It doesn't look real at all.

Perhaps, it really isn't true!

Vaughn thought to himself, then reached out and splashed around in the water, trying to swim, but just like when he regained consciousness and found himself in the water, he felt nothing.

He didn't feel the resistance that water should provide, but rather a hollow sensation as if he were swinging in the air.

After struggling for a while, I realized that I had nowhere to put my strength, I had lost my reference points, and I didn't even know if I had moved at all.

Vaughn then stopped moving and paused to consider his current situation.

"According to the procedure, after drinking the Water of Life and Death, I should have entered the Aether, but this place is completely different from what Dumbledore brought me here last time!"

Last semester, Vaughn studied Ether.

Even after a long time, and without using memory magic, his impression was still very vivid: the hazy gray fog, the frame-skipping movements, and the color blocks with material outlines that could only be seen sporadically floating in the boundless gray fog.

Everything I saw and heard then was different from my current situation.

Why is this happening?

Vaughn frowned slightly. He looked down at his hands and feet, but the limbs he saw were the same as when he entered the ether last time. The colors on his body were layered and overlapping, like colorful mosaics. Faint gray particles made up of "smoke" diffused outward between the colors on his body.

This is his mental body.

It is the manifestation of his consciousness, subconsciousness, personality structure, and dreams in the ether; it is the external expression of the unique "self" that is the fusion of the id, ego, and superego.

Only ether can reveal such a complete and profound spirituality.

"And—" Vaughn raised his hand and scratched his head. When he last came into the Aether, Dumbledore had taught him the method of "anchoring".

Because there is no concept of space and time in the ether, on the one hand, perception will be lost in the disordered space and time that no longer has boundaries and structure; on the other hand, when the consciousness is exposed to the ether where cause and effect have been eliminated, it is also impossible to avoid cognitive disorder.

Last time, due to the failure of spacetime, his linear thinking collapsed, and his thoughts split into many parts, each with its own ideas. He spent a lot of effort to anchor and reunite the independent thoughts.

But this time when he came in, he didn't find the same thing as last time.

"Was it already anchored last time, or is there some other reason?"

Uncertainly thinking about it, Vaughn, who was experiencing the Ether's Invitation alone for the first time, was really clueless.

He decided to put aside his doubts for the time being and made a gesture towards himself:

"Levio!"

His consciousness clearly sensed the surge of magic and the depletion of emotions. In an instant, magic took shape, enveloping his consciousness, and a gentle yet powerful force pulled him into the sky.

Soon, he burst out of the sea and floated into the air.

"Magic can still be used normally, which is the only advantage wizards have in the Aether."

Floating in mid-air, Vaughn briefly tested the spell's effect and, confirming that the magic was working properly, began to observe his surroundings.

As far as the eye could see, there was only a vast, boundless ocean, like a huge blue gemstone, stretching out in all directions from his feet without any boundaries.

Besides that, there was nothing at all. Even the sky was the same color. There were no clouds, and the sun was nowhere to be seen. It was so clear that it was terrifying.

Vaughn flew for a while using the Levitation Charm. The ocean and sky were exactly the same, so he couldn't find any reference points. If he couldn't sense the depletion of his magic power, he would have thought he was standing still.

"How could this happen?"

After flying for a while longer, Vaughn stopped.

This is very abnormal!

This was not the ether he had ever seen before, nor was it the ether he knew from many notes, Fred, and George; rather, it seemed to be—

"A dream?"

In the theory of the Golden Soul, ether is the spirit of the universe, the home of all things, and the place that intelligent life enters in its dreams.

Last time in the Aether, Vaughn was taken by Dumbledore and witnessed a Muggle's dream appear and disappear in the Aether. They even greeted that Muggle.

In theory, dreams can be infinitely vast here.

If his ritual went correctly, what came was indeed ether.

Therefore, what he has arrived at now is likely a dream born in the ether.

But—here's the problem!

Although dreams can theoretically be infinitely vast, they are still a part of mental activity. Dreaming is like a wizard casting a spell by expending emotions; it also requires physical and mental effort.

Vaughn glanced solemnly at the seemingly endless ocean beneath his feet.

What kind of life could support such a grand dream?

He couldn't quite imagine that, in his understanding, the only beings with such powerful spirituality were probably legendary wizards like Dumbledore.

However, even legendary wizards cannot dream such grand dreams. No matter how legendary they are, they are still mortals who rely on carbohydrates for energy, rather than having a power plant inside their bodies.

Energy is the foundation of life and mental activity, whether in Muggle society or the magical world!

After a moment's thought, Vaughn looked at the ocean again: "If this really is a dream, then the subconscious of the dream's owner must be in the dream, otherwise this place would collapse like the Muggle dream that Dumbledore and I saw, collapsing as the owner left. But this place is completely open, how could it be—wait!"

He seemed to remember something, and lowered his head again, gazing at the sea.

To be precise, it's deep in the sea!

You can't see anything here except shallow waves rippling across the surface of the sea, and beneath that, only the deep blue of the ocean.

After gazing at the deep sea for a while, Vaughn reached out his hand.

As he channeled his magic, a faint, wand-shaped streak of light appeared in his hand.

That was his wand projected onto the ether.

The wand itself cannot enter, but as a magical artifact spiritually connected to the wizard, it can continue to accompany its master in another form conforming to the ether.

This is a valuable little trick that Vaughn painstakingly found from reading literature and notes some time ago, amidst countless messy and rambling nonsense.

With the wand's projection in his hand, Vaughn felt much more relaxed casting spells. Without further hesitation, he uttered a rather awkward incantation:

"Concieni preidio"

The magic took effect on him as soon as he finished speaking. Within the ether, the magic seemed to be more efficient.

A faint, flickering halo, like a flame, appeared in Vaughn's palm.

As magic continued to flow in, the eerie and deep flames began to expand and spread, soon enveloping Vaughn entirely.

In the blink of an eye, Vaughn's mental body, which was exposed to layers of color and constantly dissipating gray particles like smoke, was completely enveloped by the firelight and then solidified.

When he lowered his head again, the form of his mental body was no longer as bizarre as before. It regained its fixed outline, only now it was protected by a deep, tranquil, dark "film".

This spell, which Vaughn recently learned from his notes, is called the Mind Protection Spell.

It's a rather niche form of magic. After all, in reality, wizards' consciousness can only exist within their physical bodies; they can't exist independently as a unified spiritual entity.

The Mind Protection Charm is magic specifically used in the Aether. In the notebook where Vaughn discovered it, it is described as being able to help defend against an attack on the mind and help the wizard's mind escape the Aether.

This was the first time Vaughn had used it.

Curious, he examined his arms, now covered in a dark film after the firelight solidified. He then summoned some personified artifacts, which turned into wisps of white smoke that swirled around his body. Vaughn then turned his gaze back to the ocean below.

Without further hesitation, he manipulated the levitation spell to slowly descend.

Before long, he was submerged in the seawater and slowly "sinked".

There is no concept of space in the ether, so there is no such thing as direction or distance. Vaughn could not even accurately judge how far he had "sunk". He could only see with his eyes that as he "sank", the seawater gradually became darker.

But that light, whose source is unknown, has not disappeared.

It hangs down from above, swimming together with the invisible and intangible seawater that offers no resistance, filling your entire body. It looks so close yet so far away, like the aurora borealis in Northern Europe.

There is no time in the ether, and one cannot feel the passage of time. Vaughn cannot judge how long he has been submerged. Everything in his eyes seems so monotonous and desolate.

For a fleeting moment, he even had the illusion that his "decline" might continue forever, without end.

The seawater appeared increasingly dim in the field of vision.

The scene was deep and dark, as if an abyss was slowly swallowing everything in sight.

Only the ethereal and illusory band of light, dancing with the flowing water overhead, seemed to shine from near and far, yet it made the surroundings appear even dimmer, until it became utter darkness.

Vaughn's eyes were indifferent, but deep within his heart, a cold feeling, like a trickle of water, kept surging up, suppressing his thoughts and resisting the loneliness brought about by the darkness before him and the deathly silence around him.

At the same time, he maintained his rationality.

Just as he was hesitating about how long this behavior should continue and whether he should continue, a faint blue light suddenly appeared at his feet and around him.

As mentioned earlier, there is no concept of space here; when you see something, it is everywhere!

Vaughn stared intently at it.

The blue glow was the outline of a human figure. It seemed to appear suddenly. In the loss of space and distance in his vision, Vaughn clearly saw it rapidly approaching him from his feet, from in front, from behind, from the left and right, as he "fell".

Getting closer and closer.

That should indeed be a "person".

The reason for using "should" to make an uncertain judgment is that the "person" is transparent, like a phantom.

Its eyes were open, but the empty gaze showed no sign of consciousness. It stared blankly as it brushed past Vaughn!

77

Vaughn stopped manipulating the levitation spell and stood still, watching the pale blue "human" figure pass by him, like lines intersecting.

The dark blue figure disappeared into the distance, continuing to drift away in all directions within the chaotic space.

Vaughn instinctively chased after him.

It wasn't recklessness, but the dark blue figure was the first thing he had encountered so far in this vast ocean that appeared to be intelligent life.

In such a bizarre place, it's better to take a "risk" than to wallow in endless ignorance.

It was very fast and had a clear direction, as if it were being attracted by something.

After an unknown amount of time, there was no light left around us, and even the overhead light was as dim as a candle flickering in the wind.

Vaughn was very patient, and even had the time to analyze what the blue figure was.

A projection created by a dream?

Or, a pitiful mind like his, lost in the ether and then stumbled into this dream?

Is he a wizard or a Muggle?

Where is it going?

Curiosity kept surging into my mind, and in the midst of my wild thoughts, at a certain moment, the blue image "ahead" lost its power and suddenly stopped.

"Um?"

Vaughn stopped in surprise, just as he was wondering whether he should go closer to take a look.

Below, a glimmer of dusk appeared.

It was a pure amber color, rising from the dark, deep ocean, its fiery light swiftly dispelling the darkness.

This gave the once dark and cold deep sea a different color and a feeling of warmth.

But----

Vaughn looked ahead in surprise.

In the instant the amber light of dusk shone down, he saw the faint, hazy halo around the blue figure flicker a few times.

Disintegration!

Tiny specks of light fell from it, like some withering life struggling to shimmer, but ultimately swirling and "melting" into the seawater illuminated by the twilight.

In the blink of an eye, the figure vanished completely.

"—It's dead—"

Quite abruptly, Vaughn suddenly had this thought.

But he was certain this wasn't his own thought, since he still hadn't figured out what that blue figure was. This idea was something he instantly understood the moment he saw the blue figure disintegrate.

Along with these thoughts welling up from the bottom of my heart, there was also a faint sense of sorrow.

It was as if it were a lament of sympathy for one's own kind!

"this----"

Vaughn frowned, but before he could figure out what had happened, the pupils in his usually calm eyes suddenly contracted sharply—

The amber light of dusk spread wider and wider, driving away more and more darkness.

He saw that, in the indistinguishable distances around him, more and more dark blue figures were revealed in the twilight light.

Like the disintegrating human figure, countless specks of light appeared on their surfaces before they withered and collapsed!

It was as if a blue rain was falling.

"0

'

As countless eerie blue figures faded away simultaneously in the twilight.

A strange cry rang out in this world where there should be no sound.

The calls echoed powerfully through the ocean and the waves.

A profound and inexplicable sorrow welled up in Vaughn's heart.

Fortunately, the fully-level brain-sealing technique is still effective in resisting external "pollution." A faint, continuous, and persistent cold sensation, like a trickle, flows from the depths of the soul.

They dispelled the sorrow and "froze" the emotions.

Once his reason returned to calm, Vaughn looked in the direction of the sound without expression.

The direction from which the sound came was also the source of the pervasive twilight light, which seemed to be in an infinite depth, with an orange-yellow hue, and at first glance looked like a setting sun about to disappear.

But when Vaughn's gaze fell upon it, the setting sun also moved.

It flickered and spun!

The next instant, the setting sun suddenly "leaped" closer, becoming extremely huge and vast, like an endless sun, radiating fiery light, staring straight at Vaughn!

Yes, keep an eye on it.

When it suddenly "leaped" close, when it revealed its immense true form, even under the full-level Occlumency Technique, Vaughn still felt a chill run down his spine—

That was clearly a giant eye!

Endless flames sprayed and burned upon it, giving rise to the light of dusk, and further afield, another "great sun" rose once more.

Behind these two enormous eyes, the outline of a terrifying giant, so large that its shape was indistinguishable—like a person standing in the middle of a mountain and unable to see its contours—was sketched out endlessly in the amber light and in the orange-yellow water.

」—

'

Another distinct cry rang out, grand and vast, like thunder, like a bell tolling in the heart.

Vaughn felt his head go blank, and a few wisps of white smoke burst from his body—one of which was the persona he had prepared outside his mental body.

The personification suit he created to resist corruption, which had been quite effective even against legendary wizards like DeSantis, collapsed amidst the syllables of the giant's roar!

Fortunately, before Vaughn descended, another layer of protection placed on the surface of the mental body, the Consciousness Protection Charm, still existed.

The dark membrane trembled violently and cracked.

Although it was teetering on the brink of collapse, it held on until the giant's syllable-like roar subsided, and until its other function came into play. The dark film formed after the spell magic flame solidified returned to its transparent flame form after the giant's terrifying syllable-like roar.

This time, however, it no longer solidified itself, but instead licked Vaughn's mind, as if a flame had touched kindling.

Transparent flames instantly burned Vaughn's colorful, layered mental body into a deep, tranquil black.

Vaughn, who had just come to his senses from a blank mind, was immediately plunged into darkness.

However, he remained calm.

He had seen the author's description of the spell in the notes that recorded the consciousness protection spell.

"—The ether is the world of the mind, where there is no objective reality of matter; everything is the power of belief—The consciousness protection spell cleverly utilizes this. When the fire of the spirit engulfs the mental body in darkness, then you will also fall into darkness. Darkness is sometimes terrible, but sometimes, it may not be a bad way to escape from trouble."

What Vaughn was seeing now was exactly as described in the notes.

As his consciousness was burned black by the flames formed by the consciousness-protecting spell and his consciousness fell into darkness, he saw the amber-colored twilight light filling the sky, the endless ocean with its bands of light, and the enormous giant that could not be seen to the horizon.

They are all moving away rapidly.

Another dark force, also belonging to the ether, "stolen" him.

He saw the boundless darkness envelop him, dragging him toward an unknown place.

But as dusk, the ocean, and the giant receded into the distance, Vaughn finally had a different feeling. He felt as if the thoughts in his head had suddenly come alive, and one idea after another popped up uncontrollably. In just a moment, it was as if a hundred or ten thousand monkeys had crawled into his mind, chattering and making a ruckus.

This familiar feeling, this split thought, is just like last time!

Absolutely wonderful!

He returned to the normal ether.