Chapter 376: Charles' Fate
Rowena walked into the Time Auror's department, and everybody waited at the door for him. The older man in charge of the department was in the front.
"Your highness."
"Stuart, how are you doing?" she asked with a smile.
"Better than I've ever thought."
"That's good. I've heard you have a new girlfriend. Isn't that your sixth this month?"
"No, it's only the fifth."
"And the reason you broke up with her this time?"
Stuart smiled in embarrassment, and Rowena did not ask. He knew Stuart had a bad habit of getting with women who looked young despite being the same age as him. The odd thing is that he refused to use Youth Elixir to regain his youthful appearance. Moreover, he would break up with them for the most absurd reason.
He has often been assassinated as these women tried to kill him after he broke up with them.
"Where is he?" asked Rowena. Then, Stuart led her to the prison chamber where Charles stayed.
"Leave us alone."
"Yes."
After watching Stuart leave, Rowena used her authority to take control of the entire building, isolating Charles' prison room to prevent any form of spying. Then, she walked in.
Charles–who sat in an ordinary bed–saw a beautiful woman walk inside his room. He immediately recognized her as Empress Rowena, but he knew her best as one of the founders of Hogwarts, Rowena Ravenclaw.
The moment he saw her, he squinted his eyes. He had become very sensitive after his reincarnation, and he could sense the terrifying mana echoing from Rowena's body.
'Is this the power of a Tier 7 Arcanist?' Compared to the mana inside his body, it was like comparing a basketball to the size of the sun. After seeing this power, he desired it for himself.
"Do you know me?" asked Rowena.
"Of course I do. You're the Empress."
"I mean do you know me from somewhere else?"
"Somewhere else? If you are talking about your title as the founder of Hogwarts, I've read about it in school."
Rowena squinted his eyes, "Then, I'll ask you. Do you know who J.K. Rowling is?"
Charles trembled slightly as he rapidly tried to control himself.
"It seems you know," commented Rowena after seeing his reaction.
"I have no idea who you are talking about."
"It does not matter. You're coming with me to the palace."
"What is going to happen to me?"
"I don't know. My husband will decide your fate, but you must wait a while."
Rowena brought Charles back to the royal palace. She did not imprison him but restricted his movement. He could only move about in a few specially designed rooms that blocked the power of time to prevent him from escaping.
He had no access to the Empire's knowledge–including public ones. He could watch television and surf the web–but only news and entertainment channels. So, Charles spent the next two years like this–until Edward returned.
He stood before Charles' room as he reviewed all the information gathered on him in the past two years. Finally, he walked in.
The first thing he saw was the slight surprise on Charles' face when he walked into the room.
"So, my fate is finally going to be decided."
"You can say that," replied Edward before looking around. He waved his hand to create two chairs and a table for two.
"Are you going to kill me?" asked Charles after sitting down. Edward did not answer.
"I will give you two choices: firstly, swear loyalty to Empire and sign a contract never to betray it."
Charles immediately frowned.
"You won't be loyal to me but the Empire. And if you have the mean, you are more welcome to try to take my position."
Charles did not say anything for a few seconds. "What is the second choice?"
"I will send you to a parallel universe where the story of Harry Potter has just begun, and I do not exist. However, I will erase all the knowledge you have from the Empire. I won't touch your memory from Earth, but all the knowledge you or the previous Charles had will be erased."
"So, I'll have to start over."
"Basically."
"I choose the second option," he replied without hesitation.
"Very well," nodded Edward before taking a scroll with a contract. Charles read it thoroughly, ensuring there was no trickery. Then, he signed it. Finally, a mysterious came into his mind and erased all the relevant information.
The process lasted for a few minutes. Charles felt his mind empty as he could not even cast a spell like Wingardium Leviosa. He closed his eyes to see if his cheat-ability could secretly keep these memories, but it could not.
'I really have to start from scratch,' thought Charles. He could not remember the meditation method he had to sense and absorb mana. He could feel the mana inside his magic core, but he no longer knew how to expand his core to hold more mana.
He forgot the method to enter his Mind Space or any information about the Arcane Rune Magic. He also sensed that some key ideas were gone from his mind, and he knew just these ideas were valuable, and the Arcane Emperor did not even want him to think about them and try to replicate them.
At this moment, Charles realized how much work he had waiting for him.
He was lucky the contract did not take the previously gained spiritual power, so he could still reach Tier 2. However, he had to find ways to absorb or increase his mana; he was not a bloodline wizard, so his body did not make mana of its own.
Charles took a deep breath, 'If he can do it, I can too.'
"Are you ready?"
"Y-Yes. Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, but I won't necessarily answer."
"It's not important information. I just want to know how strong Voldemort was?"
"In the First Wizard War, he was only Tier 1. But, by the second, he was a Pseudo Tier 2."
"So weak?"
Edward smiled, "Anything else?"
"Could you send me to a particular period?"
"Sure."
"Thank you. I will repay the favor. Send me at the same time as the Marauders."
"Fine."
Edward pointed his hand, and a portal appeared. Charles hesitated for a moment before entering, and the portal closed after him.
"You just let him go so easily?" asked Fleur, who teleported into the room with the others.
"People from Primordial Earth have either god-complexes or Protagonist-syndrome after reincarnation. It's impossible to control their ambitions, and it's not worth all the time and effort."
"In that case, wouldn't it be better to kill him? He might become a problem for the Empire," said Bellatrix.
"If it were before, I would have eliminated him," said Edward. "However, as I said, I suspect Merlin was injured. If the situation of the war is so dire, Charles might develop to one day become useful."
"It's good you're looking far into the future. But we should have someone look after him," added Olivier.
"I've already sent someone to keep watch on his progress."
"I wonder what he's going to do?" asked Hermione.
"It's not hard to guess. He will try to copy me and create an Empire of his own. He wants to create something better than me," said Edward calmly.
"Indeed, he seems envious of you," replied Hermione. "How much do you think he will accomplish?"
"His personal power can reach Tier 6 if he does something extreme. The Empire he created will be stuck at Tier 3–if you don't count Nuclear Bombs classified at Tier 5."
"Tier 6? Aren't you given him too much credit?" said Rowena. "Without the knowledge from other worlds, he cannot create a perfect system like you did."
"You forgot the Divine Sparks that are in the Minister of Magic. If he creates ceremony magic using them, he could sacrifice all life and leylines on the planet to reach Tier 6."
"I've overlooked them."
"The first problem he will have to deal with is expanding his magic core," added Hermione. "I did years of research and only succeeded because of your Arcane Rune Magic. I don't know how long he will take."
"No, the first problem will be to increase his mana," said Fleur. "He has to create ways to absorb it from the leylines or invent a potion. If he is smart, he will probably try to transfer magic or wizard's bloodline on him, granting his body the ability to produce mana on its own."
"If he wants to create the Empire, he also has to create a way for non-wizard individuals with magical talents to condense a core. Luckily for him, he has his core as a perfect example to study," said Hermione. "You're too kind. You should have broken his core and have him really start from scratch."
"Don't be stingy. Let the kid have some breathing room."
"I just thought of something," said the quiet Luna. "Would he take some of us into his harem?"
"He will definitely do so," said Fleur with gritted teeth. "And since he went to the Marauders era, he will probably add Lily, Bellatrix, and Narcissa."
"Luckily, I'm safe," added Rowena with a gloating voice.
"Are you? The Time Turner exists. And as long as he gets his hand on Flamel's Elixir of Immortality, he could go back in time to anywhere he pleased without worrying about rapid aging."
"No, I'm still safe. He has to first create a Youth Elixir. Plus, if he uses such a low-level method of time traveling as the Time Turner, he won't ever make it back so far to my time."
"Danm it, you're right."
"I suddenly regret not killing him," Edward added.
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