Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 251 Changes

Time is the most mysterious force in the magical world. Throughout history, there have been many magical items that possess the power of time, such as the Sands of Time, a treasure that Persia unexpectedly obtained after defeating and conquering a city. Coincidentally, legend has it that the Sands of Time were eventually scattered into the land beneath Ike's feet today.

So, is the formation of this place where time stands still related to the Sands of Time?

Ike didn't delve into it; it was pointless. He carried all the time-tamperes in the British Ministry of Magic's collection, and had little interest in the Sands of Time.

He sat down on the ground, closed his eyes, held his wand upright in front of him, and focused on sensing the changes in the magic within his body. After a long while, he suddenly opened his eyes, his face full of relaxation.

The magic is still flowing; though the consumption is small, it still exists, proving that time is still at work here. The so-called stagnation is just an illusion caused by the slow flow.

This makes things much easier. Stagnation and slowness are two different concepts, and the level of danger is incomparable.

Ike stood up, circled around the floor for a moment, and then stepped onto the stone steps leading upwards.

The moment you step onto the ground, the surroundings change instantly. The decorations that were exactly the same as they were thousands of years ago vanish, even the walls disappear. All you can see in all directions are bizarre and distorted colors, shifting and changing without any discernible pattern.

The stone steps stood alone, and looking up, all one could see were spiraling circles of stones; the higher one went, the more dilapidated the steps became. Ike slowly ascended, wand in hand, his guard heightened.

This scene is completely different from what Lao Fu described.

When Voldemort climbed the Tower of Babel, he easily reached the top and saw the magnificent garden and the magical Tree of Life. But here Ike, with time frozen and this utterly bewildering scene before him, could the tower have come to life?

Having lived in this world for over a decade, Ike knew very well that when in doubt, blaming magic was always a safe bet. Besides, Voldemort and Dumbledore had both said that magic was the most wondrous thing in the world!

I slowly climbed upwards, silently ascending, but the stone steps seemed endless; no matter how far I went, I could not see the end in sight.

Continue, continue. Gradually, only one thought remained in Ike's mind, and it was this thought that drove him forward. His consciousness remained clear, but his thoughts could no longer control his body.

The brain keeps giving commands to stop, but the body has its own ideas.

Aside from thoughts and magic, nothing else can be controlled.

The mechanical walking and climbing made Ike lose his sense of time. He had no idea how long or how far he had walked on the stone steps. What was despairing was that the environment had not changed at all.

The magic wand had been put away at some point, the clothes on his body were worn out, and his hair had grown so long that it dragged on the ground, with many white hairs on it.

His body gradually weakened, wrinkles deepened, and small spots appeared on his skin. Muscles and fat disappeared, leaving only a wrinkled skin clinging to his bones. He resembled a terrifying skeleton, yet he continued to walk, accompanied by creaking and groaning sounds.

Sometime later, Ike's soul fell into a deep sleep, as if in a dream, lying on his back on soft clouds. A gentle breeze blew by, slowly pushing the clouds, leisurely and relaxed.

In a daze, I felt as if soft sunlight was falling on my face, warm and slightly itchy. I subconsciously scratched it, but couldn't muster any strength at all.

Ike was getting annoyed, annoyed that his hand wouldn't obey him. So he tried harder, but his hand still wouldn't move. He tried the other hand, and the same thing happened.

The sunlight on his face became scorching, and the itchy feeling made him even more irritable. He had a vague feeling that something was wrong; the sensation was very similar to sleep paralysis.

Hmm... sleep paralysis?

As if by instinct, Ike's leg jerked violently, and then the cloud beneath him suddenly tilted to one side, hurling him off. A strong sense of weightlessness washed over him, and solid ground seemed to appear before his eyes.

The speed of the fall increased, and the distance to the ground decreased. Ike panicked even more. A rumor suddenly flashed through his mind: if you tumble during a fall from a great height, you might be able to save your life…

He struggled to move his body, but it remained unresponsive. So he tried harder, harder still… Finally, his fingers moved, then his arms, and then his entire body. During this process, a powerful force emerged within him, dispelling the cold, dispelling the fear, and even stopping his falling body.

"What is this?" A question arose in Ike's mind. He felt a strange familiarity with this power, but he had somehow forgotten its name...

"What exactly is it?"

"What is it?!"

Ike grew even more agitated; he knew all too well that the name of this power was extremely important, as important as life itself.

In an instant, the skeleton, which had been walking up the stone steps, stopped. Then, gradually, the long, snow-white hair trailing behind it shortened and turned black. The wrinkles and spots on its body disappeared, its skin filled out, and flesh reappeared beneath.

The wand silently fell into his hand, its tip flashing with a soft white light. Then, a golden light flashed, intertwining with the white light to form threads that coiled and formed a cocoon, enveloping Ike inside.

Light and dark, light and dark, like breathing, the white and gold cocoon shimmered rhythmically.

Suddenly! The cocoon shone brightly, then vanished abruptly, transforming into scattered starlight. Ike stood with his eyes closed, his breathing steady and long, and everything about him returned to how it was when he first stepped into the tower.

The next second, his eyes opened, his wand was raised high, and he slammed it to the ground!

Golden ripples spread outwards, and the bizarre and fantastical scenery around them appeared out of thin air like a broken mirror, with spiderweb-like cracks appearing out of nowhere.

"Click, click click click..."

I seemed to hear the sound of breaking glass. The seemingly endless stone steps above my head disappeared, leaving only seven short steps in front of me.

Ahead, there was a dazzling yet soft white light.

One step, two steps, three steps. With each step, the white light dimmed a little, and a warm feeling fell on my body, like the sunlight under the dense shade of a summer tree.

Very comfortable.

Four steps, five steps, six steps, Ike took the last step with determination, his magic power surging, and he suddenly blew away the white light in front of him.

Then, everything became clear!

It felt like walking on thin air, with the dilapidated Tower of Babel beneath my feet and soft sunlight overhead. Surrounded by flowers and plants, the air was filled with an intoxicating fragrance that effortlessly relaxed my spirit.

Directly in front, there is a small fruit tree in the very center, bare except for two leaves that stubbornly hang on the branch, with a red fruit the size of a cherry hanging below the leaves.

It was full and had a subtle sheen like ripples on water.

In a way, Ike knew the name of the fruit, which was also the purpose of his trip:

The fruit of life!

(End of this chapter)