Chapter 281: Dumbledore's King's Cross Station
Grindelwald once asked Dumbledore if he truly understood Gilderoy Lockhart. The reason for the question was that Grindelwald himself couldn't quite grasp him.
Few people in the world now transcended his framework of understanding. Perhaps in the past, there was Newt Scamander, a spirited type whom he could never quite figure out. But not anymore. After decades of solitude in Nurmengard, reviewing his entire life, he felt he could easily handle someone like Newt now.
Then he met Lockhart. This was a completely new breed, one that was somewhat 'transcendent,' and he genuinely found him alien. So he asked Dumbledore for his opinion.
Unfortunately, he didn't get a direct answer. Because Dumbledore simply didn't care.
He put it this way: "I once thought I was the World. Later, I realized that the World is me, and it is entitled to its own unfolding changes."
This wasn't a collapse of his Self-Will; on the contrary, it was the transcendence of Self-Will. A storm will certainly destroy everything in a forest, but the rain will pour, the rotting wood will nourish, and a vibrant new forest will emerge from the earth again. This cycle repeats, each time more spectacular than the last.
So, whether it was fair weather or a raging storm, both were simply the world's repeated cycles of renewal and accumulation of strength.
Of course, this viewpoint had a prerequisite: Lockhart wasn't a murderous maniac like Voldemort. Lockhart was always full of goodwill toward many people and things. And that was enough, wasn't it?
Therefore, Dumbledore always looked upon Lockhart with the affection of an old man watching a small sapling break through the decaying earth, and he was happy to offer more guidance.
Lockhart was an interesting person. He could always build a brand new perspective on top of Dumbledore's own concepts.
Just like now.
They returned from the 'Mirror World' to reality. Lockhart looked up and said in astonishment, "You really locked Voldemort in there?"
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure this time?"
Lockhart nodded. "His world is in there, isn't it?"
This was an unforeseen extension for Dumbledore. His magical philosophy was certainly powerful, but it didn't include the ability to see the worlds of others. If he had that ability, he would have long since broken the curse Tom had placed on the Defence Against the Dark Arts professorship at Hogwarts.
Now it was Dumbledore's turn to be curious. "Sociality?" He instantly thought of the concept Lockhart had mentioned. This new extension seemed to be an interpretation of the magical theory 'I am the World' from that angle.
Lockhart didn't answer, merely shaking his wand with a thoughtful look.
A long, long time passed.
Dumbledore was very patient, smiling as he watched the scene. Suddenly, he sensed something, turned around, and saw Gellert approaching with a bundle. He quickly raised a finger to his lips to 'shush' him.
Grindelwald glanced at Lockhart, keenly sensing a magical force in the Time dimension surging. He immediately became curious as well.
"Hahaha, so that's it!" Lockhart suddenly shouted in excitement, swinging his wand in a large circle.
A silvery-white smoke appeared, transforming into a hazy mist that slammed down on the ground and rapidly spread outward. Grindelwald paused his steps, hesitated, and didn't draw his wand, allowing the smoke to sweep past him. He instantly felt the entire world rapidly invert, entering the mirror space created by Lockhart.
Watching this, he complained to Dumbledore, "This magic Gilderoy cast is terrible. I remember when you were young, you could enter this world without anyone noticing." He sounded utterly disgusted.
The spell itself wasn't particularly powerful to him. His formidable will and magic were enough to easily twist this world back instantly. He felt the only useful function of this magical trick was to allow a caster to enter a false world without the enemy noticing. Gilderoy's movements were too broad, his technique too rough, making the spell useless. Well, useless to great magic masters like them.
But he quickly changed his mind.
As the silver smoke swept out, expanding the space and reaching the location of the stone hut, a figure suddenly appeared in this mirrored world.
Voldemort!
"Dumbledore!" Voldemort looked at Dumbledore in disbelief, then looked at his own hands with confusion, finally setting his gaze on Lockhart, who was casting the spell, his expression becoming unreadable. "Gilderoy Lockhart!"
"Did you use some of the Castle Magic I taught you?" Grindelwald asked, confused, sensing carefully, then adding, "It also seems to use some magical techniques from the domains of Time and Magical Bloodline?"
Lockhart stopped casting, answering contentedly, "Yes, especially Bloodline Magic. Sociality, My Heart's World, Magical Bloodline—it's all so marvelous."
Voldemort was an extremely clever person. Looking at the scene, he seemed to guess what had happened before and laughed loudly, a very eerie sound. His laughter was utterly mocking as he looked at Dumbledore. "You are just the same as before, always teaching students who exceed your ability to control?"
"Heh heh heh~~~"
He walked barefoot in this mirrored world, taunting them and speaking with malice. "Dumbledore, when the day comes that Gilderoy stands against you, remember this: you will never be able to lock him up again. No matter what method you use, he has the ability to walk out of any prison!"
Dumbledore looked at him indifferently. "That's none of your concern, Tom."
The old man wasn't worried about that at all. Because he felt inclusiveness in Lockhart's magic—a very unique kind of inclusiveness. Oh, it should be described as 'Sociality.'
He finally understood Lockhart's so-called 'Sociality.' From now on, he no longer had to worry about Lockhart truly becoming a Dark Lord, because the world would have countless threads pulling this young man, and similarly, this young man would extend countless threads pulling the world.
A very clever technique.
Dumbledore now gained some interesting insight from watching Lockhart cast the spell. Some of his previous conjectures about this magic, which he couldn't figure out and thought he might only understand after death, were suddenly becoming clear in his mind.
He felt as if he had arrived at a train station. People were coming and going at the station. It was his station, and it was also the station of every passing traveler. He could meet anyone here, and he could be filled with unknown anticipation, waiting for the surprise that would step off the arriving train.
This was the joy of magical education: teaching others to walk their own magical path, and being rewarded in turn.
"I have an idea..." Lockhart suddenly said, looking at the three of them with a very peculiar expression. "Do you know that when the spell state enters a powerful confrontation, the Self-Will reaches a peak state, but one's mental world is completely open, some elements of 'Sociality' will walk out of it?"
Dumbledore understood. He had just thought of this point himself. Perhaps he could call the magic he conceived the 'King's Cross Platform'?
Grindelwald also understood. He was madly obsessed with the Deathly Hallows in his youth. "It doesn't need to be that complicated. The Resurrection Stone, one of the Deathly Hallows, would also produce this effect."
Voldemort wasn't entirely sure. After all, he hadn't yet been in a spell-clash with Harry Potter, only to be interfered with by Lily and James who jumped out of the magical light.
"Specifically, how do I do it..." Lockhart's eyes were glazed, as if immersed in a captivating magical world. He murmured, "Maybe I should try with the Bloodline Magic I'm familiar with first."
Bloodline Magic?
For some reason, the three powerful wizards present all had a very uncomfortable premonition. Uncomfortable yet expectant—a very strange feeling. This was clearly information transmitted from the tide of vitality between the Self-Will and the World in the mental realm, like a sudden reminder from the world, similar to Divination or Prophecy.
Of course, in Lockhart's terms, this state was called a whim.
But no matter how it was described, everyone suddenly felt a sense of dread.
"Wait!" Dumbledore couldn't help but shout.
"Stop!" Grindelwald frowned with caution.
"Damn it, what are you messing with now..." Voldemort utterly loathed Lockhart's magic; it was all such bizarre nonsense. Things like suddenly becoming his closest childhood friend, or taking a higher ecological niche in the River of Time to plunder Parseltongue abilities, or dragging him back from death and rewinding time to before he died. Just thinking about these sickening spells made his hair stand on end.
But unfortunately... It was too late.
Lockhart's casting was incredibly fast. Very unique red lines quickly emerged from the tip of his wand, like the very sinews of the world, spreading through this illusory world opened up by the silver smoke.
Grindelwald recognized this unique red light. He had seen it as a child. His family had a book called the Book of Bloodlines, which could clearly outline the bloodline origins of every member. Such magical artifacts were common in ancient pure-blood families. The very unique red lines were so wondrous, as if they touched the underlying information of the world, breaking through the barriers of time and space to manifest everything.
The red lines spread rapidly. Illusory figures appeared at the nodes of the lines. Some were talking, some were doing various things, indistinct and not clearly visible. This seemed to be a step forward on the basis of Dumbledore's 'Deluminator' and Voldemort's 'Name-Sense,' but it hadn't left the realm of their magical abilities—it was just displayed more intuitively.
Soon, these illusions disappeared entirely. The red lines quickly extended to the feet of the three wizards, and then rapidly extended from under their feet, with new illusory figures emerging at the nodes.
"Done!" Lockhart shouted excitedly, quickly flicking his wand and chanting the spell, "Apparate!"
This was the counter-charm to Apparition, used for the manifestation of the space-travel destination. Wizards familiar with Apparition rarely used this spell, or rather, performed the effect silently by instinct. The Apparition Lockhart learned was not a simple spell; he learned it from Bellatrix and had long grasped its effect on the River of Time.
Well, the effect now was even better.
As his spell ended, two figures began to appear realistically in this illusory world of silver smoke.
Dumbledore looked at one of the figures in disbelief, trembling and trying to speak, but no words would come out. Tears unconsciously welled up in his old eyes.
Grindelwald, however, was delighted, shouting, "Ariana!"
On the other side, Voldemort tensed up completely, staring blankly at the witch who had appeared before him. He looked incredibly nervous, saying, "I... I..."
"I am Tom, Tom Riddle!"
He had always refused to acknowledge his name, refused to acknowledge the lowly surname from his Muggle father, and refused to acknowledge the common, unimpressive name Tom. He utterly hated being called Tom. But at this moment, he was so cautious, afraid that a wrong pronunciation might cause the witch before him to misunderstand.
Because, that was...
"Mother?"
..........
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