I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 358 Confrontation with the Gods—The Purple Sea

The stone pillars in the pool slowly lost their charm, like an old machine that had finally stopped turning its gears.

As he said before, the stone pillar cannot be taken out.

Over the years, it has long since become one with the World Tree.

All Irving could do was turn it off as much as possible.

Now he finally understood why the city of Ionia was digging downwards. It was to sever the World Tree. At this depth, they were probably almost at the belly of the World Tree's trunk.

"The World Tree!"

Irving chuckled softly. What a great reputation.

Unexpectedly, they encountered such a legendary and magical plant at a crucial point in their journey.

Hmm, Professor Sprout would be overjoyed if he were here.

This legendary plant, said to have originated from the nine realms, is truly a treasure in herbal medicine!

Irving could guess what Professor Sprout's first words would be upon seeing it.

The professor would definitely say, "Irving—go find out if there are any seeds."

She definitely wants to cultivate her own World Tree.

Just as Hagrid had an obsessive love for magical creatures, Snape had an obsessive love for Harry's mother, and Sirius Black had an obsessive love for Harry's father.

Professor McGonagall has an obsessive love for the young wizards, while Professor Flitwick has an obsessive love for dueling.

The professors at Hogwarts are more or less mentally unstable.

They all have their own obsessions.

Professor Sprout is obsessed with all sorts of magical plants, whether dangerous or rare.

In fact, as the Hufflepuff wizard who has spent the longest time in the greenhouse, Owen has the right to say that Professor Sprout and Hagrid are almost indistinguishable in their obsessions.

The only difference is that most magical plants don't have legs, so young wizards don't perceive them very well. In fact, some magical plants aren't necessarily much friendlier than dark magical creatures.

Good heavens—what herbalist would allow a young wizard to grow the Ming Dynasty man-eating cabbage in a greenhouse, which can cause anything from missing limbs to death if bitten!

Oh—all the herbalists throughout history have allowed it.

That's alright.

It has to be said, this is Hogwarts.

A magic school where the lives of young wizards are constantly put to the test.

Putting aside the magical aura—it really takes immense courage to come to school here.

After all, during your seven years of study and life, the tragedy of losing an arm or a leg is more common than eating and drinking. In more serious cases, it's like being cursed, with acne all over your face, blisters all over your body, being suddenly attacked and unable to get out of bed for several days, or being unable to speak for several days due to tongue and throat blockage.

Even if you are lucky enough to avoid these.

It's also possible that someone might be drugged because they are handsome or beautiful.

Love potions, which can trample on personal will at will, are readily available in the castle. You can imagine how easy it would be for students to do something wicked if they really wanted to.

In short, remember that life at Hogwarts is a mess, and no matter how comfortable your bed is, it's just a temporary place to live.

Your permanent home is in the Hogwarts School Infirmary!

Shaking his head, Irving put the school out of his mind for the time being.

Fortunately—he doesn't need to worry about those things.

Although he hadn't been able to find a single clue about the secret yaoi (female fangirl) organization in the castle, it was just a form of self-deception and a way of achieving mental victory. Apart from disgusting him, it didn't cause any real harm.

Turn your head to look at the passageway leading into the cave.

After losing the nourishment of the World Tree, the corpses finally stopped reviving. They turned into dust upon landing, becoming nutrients for the tree, just like ashes from a fire.

They spent their entire lives plundering the World Tree's energy, and they deserved their fate.

"I'm home, I'm home!" Irving stretched and stepped out of the pool. "I haven't had a good night's sleep in days. I need to make up for it today."

Stretching his body, Owen picked up Sirocco, who was playing in the pool.

A twig floated in the water, and the creature stood precariously on it, staring intently at its reflection below. Occasionally, it would touch the reflection with its claws. Then, on a whim, it stood on its hind legs, its two front paws held high in a menacing display, striking a ferocious pose to intimidate its reflection in the water.

Of course, given the cat's intelligence, it couldn't possibly be unaware that the reflection on the water's surface was merely its shadow.

Therefore, Irving believes more that it was just showing off and posing.

He grabbed the vain cat with his right hand and picked it up along with its little stick.

Bakal flew back, landing panting on his head, patting his forehead with his two paws as if in silent protest; the continuous dragon breath had exhausted him.

Honestly, he really didn't want to leave.

The treasures in the underground warehouse of Ionia are too numerous to count; it's equivalent to the entire warehouse area of ​​Hogwarts. He has only toured a very small portion of it these past few days.

It's like having a treasure in front of him, but he can only take a portion of it, and that portion is extremely painful.

"Forget it, let's come back another time." Owen said in a somewhat resentful voice, grabbed Sirocco, and then, with the two of them, Apparated away from there.

Once the surrounding scenery became clear again, Owen saw the cold, icy rain drifting haphazardly in the sky.

Raise the umbrella of magic.

The sudden cold wind made him shiver.

This cat was definitely doing it on purpose. It could have easily taken them back to the camp, but it deliberately led them to the snow-capped mountains.

"You go back first, I still have some things to do." Owen glanced at the lake in the distance.

But in my mind, I thought of that pale purple sea.

That hideous, fleshy sun.

"Where are you going?" Sirius was perceptive; he said bluntly, "The Great Whirlpool? I warn you, that place is extremely dangerous."

"A glorious mission." Owen smiled suddenly, facing the Dog Godfather. "Although most missions are burdens, not glorious ones, believe me, I don't want to bear this burden at all. Honestly, even if Outer Gods devour this world, what does it have to do with me? I can take Miss Granger, or anyone else I want to take, away from Earth in a rocket. Magic is enough for me on spaceships, on Mars, on Europa, even Proxima Centauri, Procyon, Betelgeuse. The universe is so vast, what can a mere Outer God do?"

Outer God? Hah—outrageous and laughable. Compared to a galaxy, even a lackey can call himself a god. So what if he could destroy the Earth with a single spell? God? That's laughable!

Owen rambled on, his tone filled with strong contempt and mockery, and he woke up the dozing tool dragon again.

"It is Dumbledore who does not want to see the world destroyed, it is Grindelwald, my grandfather who does not want to see the world destroyed, it is Miss Granger who does not want to see the world destroyed. I do not want to bear this burden at all, but it is something I have to do."

My affairs are solely my affairs.

"So, don't follow me anymore if you don't want to become a burden to me."

The next second, the fire dragon roared and soared through the sky.

Irving stood atop the mountain and leaped down, where Barker caught him.

Then, with a sweeping motion, even the raindrops seemed to pause in that instant.

"Oh, right. My big toy, remember to bring it back with you." High above, Owen's voice echoed like waves.

The giant dragon soaring through the sky ignored the man's loud shouts from the snow-capped mountaintop.

Those who do not possess ancient magic will find it difficult to resist the Outer Gods.

As Irving said, he inadvertently became a burden.

------

Fire dragons don't fly very fast. Even Bakal, with his special bloodline, is incredibly slow compared to magical creatures bred for flight.

He cast an illusion spell around himself to prevent the down-on-the-way Muggles from seeing even a glimpse of the otherworld.

After flying for about an hour, Irving finally approached the high-heeled summit of the Yanin Peninsula, located on the southern coast of the Ionian Sea.

The area near the Calibdis whirlpool faces Greece across the sea.

This is a storm zone.

It was raining coldly when we took off from the island of giants where Ionia City is located.

The closer he got to the coastline, the more intense the rain became, and by this time, the torrential rain and strong winds had forced him to remove his hood.

"Lower your altitude, Barker, let's not get struck by lightning." Owen patted Barker on the neck, and then the dragon's flight altitude began to drop rapidly.

Below, the sky was extremely dark due to the looming dark clouds, and the rays of light that managed to penetrate stood like pillars of the heavens on the sea.

Thanks to the light, Owen could see beneath him, in what looked like the underwater vortex that appeared during the battle between the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

A massive whirlpool, three to four kilometers long, churned up seawater more than ten kilometers long.

It was vaguely visible that there was a hole in the sky, and the hole was still widening.

The surrounding clouds spun along with the sea. The entire sky seemed to be spinning.

The oppressive feeling, the magnificent feeling, the sense of destiny were so heavy that it was hard to breathe.

It is certain that a powerful tropical cyclone is forming, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, this cyclone will intensify into a typhoon, or even a super typhoon, in a short period of time, and then destroy any invading ships.

In addition, Owen saw many wizards.

They sailed side by side on the sea in several huge shuttle boats, riding the waves.

A row of wizards stood on the deck.

They were all dressed in black trench coats, holding wands, controlling the Muggle ships passing by in the raging storm. Any that got too close would be driven away, presumably with measures such as memory erasure.

The lights flashing on the shuttle boats looked like lighthouses, turning in the waves. Soon, Owen realized they couldn't hold on any longer.

Magic cannot counteract such terrifying natural weather.

Then they wouldn't be wizards, but gods.

Moreover, this is only the intensity of a tropical cyclone. Once it strengthens into a strong typhoon or a super typhoon, even a wizard would have to take shelter.

Of course, it's uncertain whether they will choose to lay low when that time comes.

If this place were located in the Pacific Ocean, a super typhoon wouldn't be a big deal, but this is the Strait of Messina.

Although the Charybdis whirlpool is not in the very center of the strait, it is only 3.2 kilometers from one coastline and 16 kilometers from the other.

The intensity of a tropical cyclone alone is enough to affect Muggle cities on both sides of the strait; if it intensifies into a super typhoon...

That wizard is truly going to challenge the heavens for supremacy.

"It seems my estimate was too conservative."

Above the sky, tens of thousands of meters above the ground, a faint, flickering light could be seen.

Irving glanced at it and immediately understood what it was.

Muggle high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft.

His previous estimate that several weather satellites worldwide would be aimed at the Strait of Messina was a conservative estimate.

Now even the Muggle Air Force has entered the fray.

If a reconnaissance plane were to capture a figure riding a silver dragon, they might actually discover the Otherworld.

"The fate of our nation is in danger!" he complained, adding that the International Wizarding Federation must be in a real panic right now.

This level of magical disaster far surpasses the 1926 New York magic leak incident.

That time, all the Muggles in New York City saw magic.

In the end, it was Newt who, with the help of the Thunderbird, diluted the venom of the Winged Demon and released it into the clouds, causing rain throughout the city. The venom of the Winged Demon could be used to erase bad memories, which allowed the wizard to hide once again.

This time—unless the Federation gathers wizards from all over the world and they all cast a spell to conceal the typhoon.

But that's just wishful thinking!

The core area of ​​a super typhoon is generally 10-60 kilometers wide.

With the whirlpool drawing in more and more seawater, Irving estimates that soon the Muggles on both sides of the strait will be able to see the spectacular sight of the ocean appearing above their heads.

This doesn't even mention the spiral cloud bands on the outer edge of the typhoon, those terrifying cloud layers exceeding 400-1000 kilometers in altitude.

How can a wizard cover up this situation?

The clouds stirred up by the typhoon were almost as big as the Mediterranean Sea.

Can a wizard really hide the Mediterranean Sea?

If they had that capability, they wouldn't need to hide it.

"There are more and more wizards," he murmured.

In Irving's view, the area around the vortex was filled with apparitions and illusions, as many as the 100,000 fans who came to watch the World Cup.

Of course. There couldn't possibly be 100,000 Aurors in Europe; they couldn't even muster 10,000—no, even 1,000 would be a struggle.

But these people are the elite among wizards, not comparable to those Quidditch thugs.

Despite the harsh weather and storm, they all came tirelessly to hide the magical world and clean up the mess left by the gods.

This sentiment is truly heartbreaking.

"Oh! Looks like I'm here to clean up after everyone else too. Hmm—never mind then."

Bakal was already flying very slowly.

The illusion spell attached to it was full of flaws, but fortunately, the dark clouds blocked the sun, the sky was terribly gloomy, and the torrential rain obscured the view, so the group of Italian wizards did not notice him.

Sirocco had already crawled back into its backpack; it didn't want the dirty rain to get its fur wet, especially in front of its feline overlord.

Barker's entire body is covered in scales, and after being rained on, his whole body shines. A kitten would only get soaked if it got wet in the rain.

"Hmm—I think I can see the center of the vortex."

He pulled Weasley's underwater breathing apparatus from his pocket and dangled it through his mouth.

She then cast several layers of insulating spells on herself.

He stared at the seawater, then leaped into the water.

It fell into the water, splashing up a spray.

As for Bakal, it burrowed into Owen's backpack the moment he fell into the water.

Dragons can bathe in lava, but they can't stand the cold seawater.

------

The real ocean is different from Black Lake.

The swirling seawater pushed Owen around in circles. He had to use magic to steady himself.

Logically speaking—at this moment, he should be lying on Miss Granger's lap, eating the food the elves had prepared, and tilting his head back to discuss with her what flowers they should plant in the house.

Only someone who's sick would come to this place to suffer.

"Stop the shock!" Filled with grief and anger, Owen swung his wand violently.

An infinite amount of magic surged out.

Like mud surging into the surrounding seawater, the galloping wild horse finally calmed down.

However, this prevented Irving from going fast.

Because he must maintain the effect of the spell at all times.

He could only ride on Miss Granger's surfboard—ah—missing Miss Granger for a day, damn it! Dude, I regret it, is it too late to go back now?

Irving, whose memories were stirred by the surfboard, felt heavy-hearted.

The surrounding seawater reminded him of the void crevice that the World Tree had shown him, that pale purple ocean.

Fortunately, no twisted creatures swam around him, which was a stroke of luck amidst misfortune, indicating that the power of the Outer Gods had not spread out on a large scale.

As I swam forward, the surroundings became increasingly quiet.

All I could hear was the sound of the surfboard cutting through the water.

After continuing for another ten minutes or so, "bang!" the surfboard hit something—he reached the shore?

???

What's going on?

Are you kidding me?

This is the seabed, and there are about a hundred meters of seabed below him. Where is there a "shore" for him to lean on?

In an instant, Owen felt a chill run down his spine. He pulled out his wand and threw out the glowing tip.

The stark, pale light barely managed to pierce through part of the true face of the "shore".

He was so shocked that he couldn't speak.

Before me lay a sea of ​​flowers—the ground was covered with grotesque, broken petals, and some kind of scarlet vines intertwined and stood upright, forming what could be called a 'tree'.

A kind of incomplete butterfly, with missing wings and varying sizes, fluttered above the sea of ​​flowers. Everything was so peaceful and serene.

Beyond these, he also saw, in the distance, white fungi and mushrooms on the mountainside, densely packed together. Anyone with trypophobia would commit suicide just by looking at them.

If it weren't for the fact that the obelisk was located on this strange underwater island, Owen would never have chosen to set foot on this island filled with the aura of decay.

Suppressing the nausea rising in his heart, Irving stretched out his foot and stepped onto the small island floating in the sea.

"Whoosh—" Suddenly a current surged in, the water instantly breaking through his magic and slapping his handsome face.

This is the most violent part of the vortex.

Irving didn't know exactly how fast the current was, but he could see that it was already easily tearing apart the rocks at the edge of the island.

This is a protective spell!

Irving immediately understood where the vortex came from.

The great whirlpool protects—or rather—imprisons—the island, and anyone entering or leaving must pass through this razor-sharp sea.

This serves as a screening process, keeping most wizards or Muggles out to the greatest extent possible.

Even a fool could tell that Apparition shouldn't be possible here.

Those who created this storm could not have been unaware of these things.

"Shock absorption - stop speed!!!"

Ancient magic surged and flowed into the crystal wand.

The wand glowed with a deep blue light, the halo of which was dispersed by the seawater, leaving a silky ribbon of light that shimmered in the sunlight for a moment.

With another step forward, the seawater became even heavier.

Gravity nearly caused Owen's wand to slip from his hand and be swept away.

"Holy crap!" He quickly grabbed the wand with his left hand. He then gripped it with both hands at the same time.

"Almost—"

His heart pounded. Normally, losing his wand would be a big problem for Owen, but not unacceptable, as he was already quite skilled at wandless spellcasting.

He can even use the Staffless Killing Curse.

Of course, this could be because he is very skilled at this magic.

But now, if the magic breaks down for even a moment, he will be churned into Owen sauce by the seawater, giving him no time to cast spells without a staff.

"Armor for protection!"

Without a staff, Irving cast a spell, imbuing himself with an Ironclad Curse.

Regardless, he could no longer keep up with the surrounding currents and could only be pushed by the seawater, continuing to rush in at an angle.

And so—after overcoming countless hardships, Irving finally broke through the churning seawater.

We arrived at this peaceful little island.

Look up—this should be the center of the vortex, the eye of the typhoon.

The afternoon sun was shining brightly on the entire island.

Of course—if you ignore the decaying plants on the island, this place is actually quite nice.

Carefully dodging the fluttering, tattered butterflies, Owen gripped his wand tightly and cautiously made his way toward the center of the island.

The place was filled with an aura of decay and decay, and the petals beneath his feet were scattered by the air currents created by his footsteps.

Soon the true nature of the underground was revealed.

The ashes were as fine as sand, covered with bits of flesh and bones from all sorts of creatures. He even walked through a ribcage dozens of feet high—to avoid the butterflies, even though he didn't know what kind of harm they could cause. The deathly aura emanating from them was too heavy, like the weeds growing around a desolate grave. Any living person would instinctively stay away from such creatures.

These bones are not the only terrifying thing.

It's mostly flesh and blood.

The purple, withered arms that looked like some kind of greasy rock skin, standing upright on the ground, were still moving, their five broken fingers twitching mechanically. And limbs like these were everywhere on the island.

This place seems to be the laboratory of some kind of evil, unspeakable dark wizard, and what he is experimenting with is the taboo of physical modification.

What would happen if you put a dragon's head on a person's body?

What would happen if you attached the Thunderbird's wings to the Octopod?

Those terrible and evil thoughts are everywhere here.

Wait a minute—Irving's pupils suddenly contracted.

He felt like he had seen this similar scene somewhere before.

(End of this chapter)