Chapter 284: Helena: I Must Miss Her Too Much.
"Since my death, I have been afraid to face my mother, so I chose this form of existence."
"Not belonging to the world of the living, nor the realm of the dead."
"Forever burdened by the chains of guilt, using a false name, drifting in this sorrowful place."
"Now, I must make a decision I am ready to move forward. Perhaps, I will finally see my mother?"
Dylan hesitated, intending to mention something about the Bloody Baron. But on second thought, the Baron was merely an instance of unrequited obsession for Helena, and the one who had ended her life.
Bringing him up now would only ruin this rare moment of peace, so he swallowed the words. Besides, he was eventually going to bring her into his own space, and she would naturally see Ravenclaw then.
Instead, he was more interested in Helena's statement about "leaving." The departure of a ghost was extremely rare.
From a certain perspective, ghosts and portraits shared similarities. What drove them to persist and be active in the world were the various traces a wizard left behind in life. Those traces might be intense emotions, an unfulfilled obsession, or some profound memory, acting like invisible threads that maintained their connection to this world.
However, a closer comparison reveals distinct differences. While a portrait could imitate a wizard's actions and speech and communicate with people, this interaction was often relatively passive. Their responses were mostly based on the magic infused by the wizard and the remaining traces, like a set program. They could only offer limited responses in specific situations.
For example, if someone mentioned something familiar to the wizard in life, the portrait might utter a few related phrases or make a few habitual movements. It was difficult for them to proactively initiate a deep, unpredictable conversation or truly understand the complex emotions and deeper meaning behind it unless the wizard who created the portrait was exceptionally skilled.
Ghosts, however, were completely different. Their agency in interacting with people was much stronger. The key behind this was that ghosts carried the true consciousness of the wizard himself.
This consciousness fully retained the wizard's thought patterns, emotional fluctuations, and autonomous judgment. They could actively observe the environment, perceive the emotions of others, and even choose their conversation partners and topics according to their own will.
Like Helena Ravenclaw: she could drift freely in the Hogwarts corridors, actively approach Dylan to ask about the Diadem when she saw it, reveal genuine emotion when reminiscing about her mother, and, after reading the letter, make the decision to leave. None of this was a pre-set response but originated from her own independent consciousness and thoughts in other words, the autonomous actions of the individual "Helena Ravenclaw."
This agency made the connection between the ghost and the world much tighter and their existence appear more vivid and real, as if they never truly left, but simply changed their way of perceiving and participating in everything in the world.
If a ghost's soul lingered in the limbo state, unwilling to move forward toward true death but unable to retreat and come back to life, their consciousness would reside in the traces left in life, appearing in the world in a state of non-life, non-death.
It's important to note that this is not non-existence; the two are fundamentally different. The former is a complete absence of the concept of life and death, while the latter means they cannot come back to life and cannot completely die they are simply stuck in the middle.
Compared to a Horcrux, which has the powerful effect of allowing a wizard to continue living no matter how fragmented their soul, the state of a ghost, which cannot even come back to life, seems quite tragic. They are mostly unable to cast magic because their soul and body have long left them, losing the foundation for spellcasting.
They cannot touch physical matter, and although this allows them to freely phase through walls, the hollow feeling of being unable to touch things always persists. They also cannot enjoy the delicacies of the world. Only intensely pungent smells, such as rot, can allow their sense of taste to perceive a faint change.
Yet, now, hearing Helena say that she could choose to continue "moving forward," Dylan's understanding of ghosts underwent a change. He felt that the existence of a ghost might not be so bad compared to a Horcrux. At least that fellow Voldemort, after his death, didn't have the right to choose to move forward. He could only drag his tattered soul, wailing forever in the limbo state, with no other possibilities.
However, Dylan still wanted confirmation. "Can all ghosts choose to move forward?"
Helena looked at Dylan in surprise, then nodded. "Yes. But I don't recommend choosing to linger. This violates the rules of life and death, and this state doesn't bring a good experience. It is filled with endless emptiness and confinement."
"I know, I was just curious." Dylan smiled slightly. Given his own situation, if he died one day, it would essentially be because he was tired of living. Why would he stop at the moment of death and choose to remain in the world as a ghost?
If, while living his life of leisure, the System could also slowly play a role for example, living for a hundred years and directly unlocking a set of achievements related to longevity perhaps by the time he died, he would have the ability to arm-wrestle with Death. Of course, all of this is predicated on the existence of a Grim Reaper.
"Actually, as you know, this treasure was once subjected to Dark Magic." Dylan changed the subject, mentioning the Diadem.
Hearing this, the peaceful and serene smile on Helena's face instantly disappeared, replaced by a clear look of disgust. "I certainly know, that little thief who tricked me and defiled my mother's Diadem never mind..." Helena sighed, as if she didn't want to mention the name again, and gently raised her hand, signaling Dylan to continue.
"I drew a little inspiration from that Dark Magic of course, not the parts concerning murder or soul-splitting that belong to Dark Magic." Dylan deliberately sped up his speech to emphasize this.
He then waved his wand. A blank piece of parchment and a quill dipped in ink floated over from the table in the distance. The quill began to write rapidly on the parchment, leaving lines of text.
"Look "
Although Helena Ravenclaw claimed her wisdom was inferior to her mother's, that was just a statement between mother and daughter. Her own wisdom was still far superior to most people in the world. Moreover, she grew up by Rowena Ravenclaw's side, receiving a good education during the time all four Hogwarts Founders were alive. Her knowledge and insight were extraordinary.
Most importantly, Helena was about to leave the kind of leaving that was clean and absolute, never to return. Although Dylan didn't actually intend to let her go, her action of leaving could be utilized.
This was too good an opportunity, not only to take advantage of her but also to silently bring Helena into his space.
Indeed.
Helena watched the symbols and formulas Dylan wrote on the parchment while explaining. She showed no discomfort with the complex principles that integrated Charms, Alchemy, and Runes, involving Will and Thought. Instead, she listened with keen interest, her eyes shining with contemplation.
"Thought-Form... your idea is both ingenious and selfish." Helena said, after listening to Dylan's explanation. She looked at Dylan deeply, then spoke.
"Cough, cough, I'll take that as a compliment." Dylan chuckled and responded.
"Of course, it's a compliment." Helena's gaze fell on the parchment covered with symbols and formulas, her ghostly eyes holding complex emotions: astonishment, scrutiny, and a touch of ineffable melancholy.
"No one in this world could likely resist the temptation of this magic... It's just a pity that its conditions are too demanding... Can you really achieve this step?" She couldn't help but turn to look at Dylan, her ethereal eyes reflecting his calm profile, her tone carrying an imperceptible note of scrutiny.
"I'm not talking about using your memory of others as an anchor point hidden in the soul your theory is already sound enough; I can't find a single flaw."
"But... can you truly completely strip away a person's entire life?"
"It's copying, madam." Dylan emphasized the word, his eyes showing undeniable seriousness. "The Thought-Forms are only copies. Their original selves cannot move forward with a blank soul."
"I'd almost prefer you said 'stripping.'" Helena looked at Dylan with a complex expression again. Her gaze seemed to look through him to another person. This kind of near-absolute confidence was identical to her mother's in her youth. It made her unable to harbor any doubt about what he intended to do even though the idea sounded absurdly outlandish.
Copying a person's life? More accurately, copying a person's personality.
This required encompassing too much: the tiny memories of the warmth of the morning sun, the feeling of a fingertip passing over a book page, the sensations of trembling with joy or suffocating with sorrow, the thoughts that suddenly emerge, the obsessions hidden deep in the heart... Everything that makes a person who "he" or "she" is must be copied without error. And these things are inherently as complex as tangled threads and as ephemeral as mist that cannot be grasped. This isn't like letterpress printing, where one impression perfectly replicates the original.
If Dylan had said stripping, Helena would at most marvel at his selfishness, genius, and that near-cruel decisiveness to strip the dead of everything just to satisfy his own desires.
But Dylan said he could replicate it... allowing people who should have passed away to live again by his side.
Though they would only live in a portrait, the wizard's will would be complete! Wizards might not have the saying "I think, therefore I am," but the exploration of will and thought never stopped with Helena Ravenclaw. Especially now that she herself was a ghost an existence that relies on will, anchored to the traces left in life she could naturally better understand what this "completeness" meant.
The biggest difference between Thought-Forms and ghosts living in portraits is that they can enjoy food and won't be like ghosts, who can only swallow empty saliva at the sight of a feast, unable to taste a single flavor. This is clearly an immense benefit.
Of course, Thought-Forms also have drawbacks. They cannot float around like ghosts. But ghosts also have limited range, only able to move along the paths they walked in life. A portrait, however, can enter scenic paintings it has never been to! If they want to go somewhere, they just need to paint a scene it's actually more free.
Moreover, the core principle of this magic the Will-Anchor was actually derived from the Horcrux, the Fidelius Charm, and what Dylan learned from Ravenclaw's portrait. This ensures the portrait can be maintained until the person acting as the anchor dies, making it virtually indestructible.
However, this also brings a restriction: Thought-Forms cannot be made for the living. Because once the anchor person dies, the Thought-Form would also disappear. This is why Helena called the magic selfish. It's not true resurrection; it exists only to satisfy the caster's wish.
In addition to all this, Helena had an unspoken worry. The created Thought-Forms exist entirely because of the caster. And a wizard capable of casting this magic could also fabricate non-existent memories, shaping the Thought-Form into whatever he desired...
This perfect yet dangerous magic made Helena feel a flicker of jealousy toward Dylan's genius and madness. Mother, how could this young wizard conceive of such an idea? And actually put it into practice!
Especially, after looking at the manuscript Dylan gave her, she had a strange feeling that much of the content felt incredibly familiar. If she didn't know that her mother couldn't possibly be alive in this world, she would truly have thought that the manuscript wasn't written by Dylan at all, but by her mother!
I must miss her too much.Phew. It doesn't matter, we will meet soon. Helena breathed out a non-existent breath, her eyes filled with a certain complexity. As she had just said, who hasn't had someone or something they wished they could take back? If this magic could truly succeed, countless people would flock to it!
However, the emotion vanished in a flash. Helena had long accepted all of her past. Even in life, she didn't possess Dylan's ability to replicate a personality.
"I understand. When the time comes, I will try to maintain control and clearly show you the process of my dissipation." Helena's voice was calm but held an undeniable certainty. She floated in place, her ethereal gaze fixed on Dylan.
Dylan smiled faintly. "Actually, you won't truly dissipate."
"Hmm? What?"
"Nothing."