I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 453 The Child Chosen by the Gods

"Where are you going?" Winston asked wearily, his voice weak and listless.

"Go find trouble!" Perhaps fueled by anger, Zhang Xiaolin looked more energetic now.

"Looking for trouble?" Winston was taken aback. His gaze passed over the two men and landed on the two coffins. In an instant, he understood what had happened.

Sirius Black commanded all wizards affected by amnesia to pair up to prevent one from forgetting something important, such as how to walk or breathe, so that the other could remind them.

Unexpectedly, both of them would run into trouble at the same time.

"Go to the meeting first," he said.

"I need to report on the physical examination this morning."

After saying that, he turned and walked away, appearing somewhat indifferent.

In the cold corridor, the metal surface reflected a mottled human figure. He was hunched over, a mechanical prosthetic leg supporting him against the wall, moving weakly.

He was utterly exhausted—not because he was indifferent, but because he simply lacked the strength and energy to do anything else, such as burying the two coffins or continuing to waste his breath trying to persuade Zhang Xiaolin and Basil not to leave the Camelot.

When people are extremely tired, they don't even bother to show their emotions.

Anger – Regret – Fear.

These emotions all require energy to generate, but now, exhausted, he only has one emotion: indifference.

Because indifference is the most energy-efficient thing to do.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The two people in front of the makeshift coffin remained silent, watching Winston walk away step by step.

That figure instantly extinguished the anger in Miss Zhang's heart.

For the first time, she did not act impulsively, but instead pulled Mr. Basil along with her.

Even if no agreement is reached, simply living and sitting there can be a source of comfort for others.

Ship's conference room.

Several people were sitting around a huge round table.

It was a round table made of English oak, with engravings depicting the story of the Knights of the Round Table.

The entire room is decorated in the style of the Camelot era.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: ①⓪①ⓚⓚⓢ.ⓒⓞⓜ]

The federation's flag hung calmly from the ceiling.

Sirius was staring intently at the flag.

It wasn't until Winston sat down and slammed his fist on the table, making a loud thud, that the wizards present were finally drawn to his attention.

"Why are two people missing?"

Perhaps because the Occupational surgery provides some resistance to amnesia, Sirius Black looks more energetic than others. Apart from the lingering fatigue between his brows, he doesn't seem to be affected by amnesia at all.

"Dead," Winston said calmly.

Sirius's expression froze for a moment, then a hint of pain appeared on his face.

He opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Winston didn't give him time to grieve. After Miss Zhang and Mr. Basil were seated, he spoke frankly, "Of the seventeen people on board, apart from three who were unaffected and Lin and Basil who returned late, we have checked on the rest."

The people present responded in silence; they didn't have much energy left to speak.

"Based on the current test results..."

"Our symptoms are similar to those of victims who suffered from a mysterious creature that ravaged the European continent a few years ago."

"That kind of creature is called—the Deadborn One."

"According to records from various magical injury hospitals, wizards or Muggles who have been attacked by the Deadborn will suffer from severe fatigue, memory loss, anemia, and loss of personal capacity."

"This is exactly the same as the symptoms we are currently experiencing."

Winston paused, not giving anyone a chance to ask questions, and continued, "The Deadborn on the European continent were not completely eradicated, and there were very few wizards who mastered the Ancient Flame of Bryant, practically none. In the spring of 1994, they all retreated to the island of Samothrace in one fell swoop, like some kind of natural monsoon, for reasons unknown."

"Perhaps there are similar creatures on this island, but we just haven't discovered them yet."

Winston stopped and looked at Sirius; he had said what he needed to say.

As the commander of the group, Sirius immediately frowned. He knew more. In the spring of 1994, the Deadborn were defeated because of the great battle in the Forbidden Forest. Owen discovered a way to completely kill the Deadborn, and he taught that method to Dumbledore. As Dumbledore achieved several great victories in Europe, those creatures seemed to have real intelligence, which is why they all retreated to the Isle of Samothrace.

Damn!

Sirius's face darkened further.

After the Deadborn retreated to Samothrace, the wizards relaxed their vigilance again. They did not know the way to kill them completely, since they had never encountered such creatures again. As a witness, he knew that Owen had defeated the Deadborn using the Patronus Charm—but it was by no means a simple Patronus Charm, otherwise the other wizards would have discovered this secret long ago.

"Hoo—" He took a deep breath, his gaze hardening again. He should have brought that kid with him; he was full of tricks and would surely be able to see through the truth of this strange illusion.

After the Sky Isle of Giants, Sirius developed a strange trust in Irving, perhaps because Irving had performed too many miracles for the world!

"That's just your guess. What evidence do you have?" he said.

"If it were a Deathborn Being—almost everyone here has seen that kind of creature, it's impossible not to recognize it, but the fact is we haven't been attacked at all."

"What if the attackers weren't biological?" Winston suddenly asked. "That's right. This morning I examined the memories of many of us from the past two days and found nothing amiss. This leads me to deduce that if the attack wasn't man-made or some kind of biological or disease-related event, then it was—"

"But what about this entire virtual realm?"

"The entire virtual realm?"

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes widened in shock.

"Is this even possible?"

"If it's the entire virtual realm, then why weren't Jenas and the other two affected?"

"That doesn't make sense! Besides, the bishop on the island seemed perfectly lucid. If the attack from the virtual realm was indiscriminate, why was he still able to maintain his senses?"

"Incredible, such a thing has never happened in the magical world before."

Suddenly, all sorts of opposing voices rose up one after another, and everyone mustered their last bit of strength to defend themselves.

After all, the idea of ​​the whole world being against you is simply unbelievable.

"If the entire Void Realm were to attack us, that's a possibility—" Mr. Basil, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up, "Good morning."

As he spoke, he recounted everything he had heard and seen from the bishop that morning.

"Thinking back now—the body decomposed too quickly, and it was dry and crumpled, like melted wax. It seemed as if the earth beneath, or the roots of some willow tree, 'absorbed' her body."

"If Winston's words have any merit, then those trees are like the dead, absorbing people's souls and flesh."

"But how do you explain that nothing happened to Jenas and the others?" the wizard asked again, raising the same objection.

"Does the Void Realm discriminate based on the freshness of the flesh when it eats people?" Another wizard beside the man joked. Since Jenas and his two companions were the youngest present, averaging only nineteen years old, they had just graduated from magic school. Their main job was to perform simple maintenance on the Camelot and they would not go to the battlefield, which was why Sirius had brought them along.

"Heh." A cold laugh came from the surrounding area.

Clearly, no one really believed Winston and Basil's story.

Sirius Black's attention wasn't on Winston or Basil at the moment; his grey eyes were fixed on Miss Zhang.

She was fidgeting with the silver earring on her right ear, looking rather distressed.

And every time she presses and rubs the earring, her hair changes color, constantly switching between black and silver.

Like Tonks—but it's clear that her hair color isn't something she can change at will, but rather relies on earrings.

There should have been another one—Sirius looked at her left ear; he had seen another one yesterday.

Of course—earrings are not important.

The most important thing is the silver hair!

After so many things have happened, he has developed a stress reaction to silver hair.

Silver hair—meaning this person may be entangled with Outer Gods, coupled with the powerful magical abilities she previously displayed, automatically disregards the possibility of heredity.

Miss Zhang got angry. She simply took off her only earring. The armor spell on it had lost its effect, and the illusion spell was only working intermittently. She found it tiring to keep wearing it!

"What?" When she put away her earrings and looked up again, she met Sirius's gaze.

"Your hair—"

"Hair?" Ms. Zhang was taken aback. "Your natural hair color. Is silver rare? Are you that curious?"

"It is quite rare—" Sirius said noncommittally. "By the way, I have never known you before. You are so young to be a professor at the Imperial Academy in Chang'an. Your parents must be renowned wizards."

"???" Zhang Xiaolin narrowed her eyes, a strange look on her face—what time is it, and she still has the mood to understand this?

However, she did not refuse him. After pausing for a moment, she said, "I have no parents. I was adopted by the teachers of the Imperial Academy. I have been staying at the Imperial Academy since I can remember."

The Master said that I was born from a black bird without father or mother—haha—I think that old guy was definitely talking nonsense. He just wanted to take the opportunity to put down the other two academies—when I was a child, whenever it was summer vacation and there was nothing else to do, he would take me to Kunlun Xu and Jixia Academy.

Every time they saw the two academy's—well—principals—the teachers, they would proudly show off to everyone.

This seemingly naive monk, hahaha, is full of magic. Come here—kid, show me your newly learned trick of turning a stone into a tiger!

"."

"I don't even know what's so great about it—" Miss Zhang rubbed her temples, a smile playing on her lips, as if recalling the past, the happiness of her childhood.

"Hmm—" Sirius was secretly alarmed. Sure enough, the girl in front of him was very likely also someone chosen by a god.

However—unlike Koyatl, she didn't seem to have been bewitched by the Outer Gods. Perhaps there was magic on that ancient land that they had never seen before that could resist the Outer Gods' spiritual invasion.

After pondering for a moment, Sirius, who was already at a loss for what to do, suddenly spoke up, "Can you cast the Patronus Charm?"

He gazed at Miss Zhang, recalling the scene of Owen using the Patronus Charm to dispel the dead. If this girl was also chosen by the gods, perhaps she could discover some hidden things that ordinary people could not.

"A guardian spell?"

Without a word, Zhang Xiaolin waved her folding fan, exhaling a wisp of silver mist. Then, a divine bird, shaped like a swallow, with a murmuring cry and long tail feathers, spread its wings and took flight.

It soared above the conference room, circled a few times, and then landed in the center of the round table.

The endless argument ended, and everyone's attention was drawn to the 'swallow'.

"What did you see? What did you discover?" Sirius asked eagerly.

"See?" The girl looked at him in confusion. What else could she see? That he was pale from the silver light?

But just as she was about to speak—suddenly—her eyes widened involuntarily.

He jumped up from the chair in a flash.

"What?" Sirius's face lit up with joy. Sure enough, she had discovered something.

"This is—" The girl's black pupils were gradually replaced by emerald green. In her vision, a kind of black mist was swirling above the heads of most of the people present. The black mist was not solid, but it seemed to be some kind of primate creature. It was perched on the heads of the people, constantly absorbing some kind of silvery substance.

Zhang Xiaolin felt a chill run down her spine, and goosebumps rose all over her body.

The next moment, she swung her folding fan, and the black bird on the round table spread its wings and flew high, like a silver sword, directly piercing through the black mist above Sirius's head.

"Um?"

The guardian spirit pierced through the black mist, but the black mist dissipated without disappearing.

It quickly solidified again, and even made a provocative gesture towards her.

This immediately angered the native of Guanzhong.

She has a fiery temper and can spew profanities. She cursed at South American shamans for three days straight, causing them to chase them for hundreds of kilometers.

She's not the type to swallow her anger!

Immediately, Zhang Xiaolin once again controlled her guardian spirit. The silver black bird suddenly gained some red light, which contained the owner's furious emotions.

This time, the silver sword pierced through the black mist—the black mist boiled over as if water had fallen into boiling oil.

Then it became increasingly dissipated. Miss Zhang attacked several more times, and the black mist above Sirius's head completely dissipated.

"Hmph! You little brat, how dare you give me the middle finger! I'll make you fly away!"

Ms. Zhang clenched her fist, arrogantly raised her head, her face showing disdain, and let out a soft snort.

The black bird landed on her shoulder. She wasn't sure if there was any black energy hovering above her head, but she decided to just fly through it a few times randomly first.

On the other side—the instant the black aura dissipated, Sirius seemed to be reborn—it felt as if he had been carrying a hundred-pound stone on his shoulders and had finally put it down.

He then immediately examined his memories of the past two days to see if he had forgotten anything.

He quickly noticed something was wrong.

"Hmm?" Sirius frowned slightly. "I forgot—the life memories of those townspeople and bishops obtained through Legilimency?"

(End of this chapter)