Chapter 53: Death is But Another Great Adventure
"Welcome, young man," Helga's voice was soft, even more comforting than her smile and eyes. As she spoke, the herbs planted around the room seemed to come alive, gently pulsing.
"Hello," Tver bowed respectfully, unable to be discourteous to such a figure. "I presume you are Helga Hufflepuff?"
Helga tilted her head noncommittally, which added a playful air to her demeanor.
"And you, young visitor? Could you share your name and how much time has passed?"
"It was remiss of me not to introduce myself first," Tver bowed slightly. "You may call me Tver, Tver Fawley, the current Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. As for the time, it has been a thousand years."
A flash of zeal crossed Tver's eyes—this was indeed Helga from a millennium ago!
"A thousand years..." Helga's interest piqued as she scrutinized him more closely this time. "Are all the professors at the school as young as you now?"
With his mood lightened, Tver relaxed a bit. "Just me, because I am particularly outstanding."
"Could you tell me how you, a young, outstanding professor, found your way here?" Helga asked with a gentle laugh.
As the conversation turned serious, so did Tver's expression. He raised the badge in his hand. "It was guided by this badge."
Helga's expression hardened, the gentleness in her eyes replaced by a sharpness that revealed the aura of a legendary witch.
"Could you give me that badge?"
This request puzzled Tver. If the badge was crafted by Helga, she should know it well and not show such an expression. The situation seemed to be moving in an unexpected direction.
He stepped forward, placing the badge in Helga's outstretched palm. He also took the opportunity to observe this figure from a thousand years ago.
Her hands were not pretty; they were large and rough, marked with scars from thorns and calluses from hard work.
Upon receiving the badge, Helga first touched the animals representing the four houses, her touch causing the Hufflepuff badger to seem to respond happily, jumping slightly.
A nostalgic look appeared in her eyes. As her fingers touched it, the badge's magic was continuously activated, unleashing waves of vitality.
Standing beside her, Tver absorbed this hard-earned vitality like a sponge, inhaling and exhaling. He instinctively raised his right wrist.
The Dark Mark there was continuously washed by the absorbed vitality, the snake retracting and the skull symbol gradually dissolving and shrinking.
Eventually, it was only the size of a pinky finger. But even that small point, no matter how much vitality washed over it, remained steadfast.
After several futile attempts, the vitality ceased to waste away, retreating back into Tver's body.
"This is a formidable curse," Helga remarked as she came out of her reverie, a puzzled expression on her face. "What people often call a curse is really just sustained destructive magic, hardly worthy of the name 'curse.'"
"But what you have," she continued, looking intently at Tver, "seems more like—"
"An evil prophecy?" Tver finished for her. He had been carrying the ring ever since it had uttered those words just before being sealed away. It was those words that drove him to wear the ring constantly, seeking a solution in them.
Helga's face lit up with realization. "Yes, a prophecy, that's a very apt description. It seems the magic of wizards has advanced significantly over a thousand years."
"Can you help me remove this curse?" Tver asked eagerly, his voice laden with urgency. This was his primary reason for coming here—to rid himself of this damned curse!
However, to his disappointment, Helga gently shook her head. "If you understand the nature of this curse, you'll see that it has become a part of your fate. It could be removed easily before it became a part of you, but once it has, it integrates into the thread of your destiny. Unless..."
Tver's despondent eyes suddenly sparked with hope. "Unless what?"
Helga pondered for a moment, then lifted the badge in her hand. "Unless you can find the creator of this badge. If I'm not mistaken, as a seer, she possesses the ability to evade fate."
"But aren't you the creator of this badge? I found this place by following its magic," Tver asked, frowning.
Helga shook her head, a playful smile forming on her lips. "Some of the magic in it does indeed originate from me—specifically, the part that releases vitality. But in reality, it combines the magic of four people to form this badge."
"Four people? The four founders?" Tver's confusion deepened. "Who could possibly have done this?"
"Of course, her." Helga smiled, pointing at the eagle on the badge. "Rowena Ravenclaw!"
Tver's eyes widened in astonishment. Upon meeting Helga, he had already vaguely speculated whether all four founders might still be alive.
"Is Lady Ravenclaw also still alive?" Tver's question was met with laughter from Helga, ringing clearly through the small cabin as if he had told a hilarious joke.
"Alive?" she chuckled, "What made you think that?"
Her eyes twinkled as she pointed to herself. "You don't think I'm still alive, do you?"
It was then that Tver realized he might have misunderstood, and his gaze sharpened as he looked more closely at Helga.
Feeling his scrutinizing eyes, she openly faced him, her smile never fading. "Do you see now?"
Tver nodded reluctantly, "Your current state can't really be called 'alive.'"
To be precise, Helga's present form was more akin to a soul—more complete than a ghost, but not fitting the definition of 'living.'
"In my research into vitality, I succeeded in creating a 'me' that is nearly a soul. Of course, the dissolution of the physical body was inevitable."
Helga gestured towards a corner of the room. "But I don't have the habit of showing people my ashes," she said with a mischievous shrug.
"A nearly soul?"
"Indeed, this is only a part of my will; the real me has long since pursued a new journey."
Tver had an epiphany.
Even with immense life force, a legendary figure like Helga would not seem the type to evade death. For the mighty, death is but another great adventure.
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