"Enter the Nation of Disorder."
With a single thought, Vincent arrived once more on the great stone platform — and immediately noticed what had changed.
The stone pillars that had previously crumbled to broken stumps around the platform had been fully restored. They stood in two neat rows along either side of the platform, nine to each side — eighteen in all. Their surfaces were carved with exquisite relief patterns: dragons, phoenixes, and qilins, unmistakably in the ancient Chinese style.
The last time he had been here and glimpsed the ancient Chinese architecture of the distant thirty-three-storey buildings, Vincent had been deeply puzzled — why would a world built on a Western aesthetic contain structures that looked like they'd been lifted from ancient China? But that had been a distant view, with room for doubt.
Now, with these dragon-and-phoenix pillars right in front of him, there was no room for doubt at all.
The Nation of Disorder genuinely had some connection to China — or at least to Chinese culture.
Vincent craned his head back and examined the tops of the pillars. They were still incomplete — the capitals unfinished. Logically, pillars support something: beams and a roof. So there had presumably once been a palace-like structure here, which had at some point collapsed, leaving behind the ruins he'd first seen. The restoration was underway, but not yet complete.
So besides the pillars — what else has changed?
He scanned the area carefully, paying particular attention to the distant thirty-three-storey buildings, but found nothing else unusual. He moved to stand before the ancient scales and raised his hand, channelling spirituality into them.
Golden mist erupted in a brilliant spill, bathing everything around him in warm light.
The first thing Vincent learned was a change in his Boon allocations.
He now had a total of six Boon slots: four for Sequence 9 Merchants, two for Sequence 8 Shadow Merchants — matching his earlier estimates exactly.
Beyond that, in relation to the Prosecutor, the Nation of Disorder had granted him the ability to bring fragments of its rubble into the real world. By channelling spirituality into a piece of this rubble, he could briefly invoke the Nation of Disorder's divine status and treat a certain area around him as his own divine domain. Within that domain, he could freely declare crimes and issue Accusations against anyone.
In other words — he could theoretically rule that someone's morning toast was a capital offence, declare them guilty of it, and sentence them to death accordingly.
A remarkably powerful ability. This was something more befitting the Nation of Disorder's prestige.
By comparison, Klein's ability above the grey fog — which primarily enhanced his divination and shielded it from outside interference — now seemed rather modest. Though to be fair, the two abilities reflected the different emphases of their respective divine origins.
That was everything this advancement had revealed.
Vincent was thoroughly satisfied. The changes were all promising signs. The restoration of the platform pointed toward further exploration of the Nation of Disorder and, with each advancing Sequence, brought him closer to the truth of what it was.
He was about to tell Bernadette when the ancient scales pulsed again with a soft glow — a prayer was arriving, from the other Bernadette in the Harry Potter world.
Vincent opened the channel at once. The Bernadette currently controlling his body was sitting in the sitting room, perfectly composed. Clearly she had already anticipated the failed swap.
"This suggests that for the foreseeable future, we may be stuck like this for quite some time," Bernadette said, her tone level. "Any new discoveries on your end?"
"Quite a few, actually — I just advanced to Sequence 7, and the Nation of Disorder has unlocked some new permissions." Vincent ran through the changes. "In the worst-case scenario, as I continue advancing, I'll eventually uncover the Nation of Disorder's true nature, find out why we're swapping — and from there, things should eventually return to normal."
"When you say 'normal' — do you mean back to swapping every three days, or back to the very beginning?"
The very beginning... meant the state before the swap had ever happened. Two worlds with no connection between them. Two people who had never met, each living out their lives in their own world, their paths never intersecting.
Vincent was quiet for a few seconds. Then he said softly, with a small smile, "Either one would probably be better than where we are now, wouldn't it? Especially for the two of us."
"I'm managing fine."
Bernadette said, "Now that I know I won't be going back anytime soon, I don't need to rush anymore. I can approach your world with a calmer mind — a different perspective."
"Ancient runes, ancient magic — both genuinely fascinating. Your homeland's culture is extraordinary as well. And the people here are interesting."
"Why the people specifically?"
"Several interesting things have happened over the past few days," she said in her usual even tone. "First, I encountered someone in the Forbidden Forest who was hunting a unicorn — almost certainly the same person I'd sensed before, the one carrying that bloody smell. I tracked them, and then I ran into the centaurs, who mistook me for the culprit and attacked. I was defending myself."
"Wait, wait," Vincent cut in. "How did you suddenly end up 'laying them out'? You've skipped a rather important part."
"I was in pursuit of the unicorn killer when the centaurs jumped me. Self-defence."
"...Right. Understood."
"The following morning, someone left a unicorn carcass outside my dormitory door to frame me. Clumsy as the attempt was, Hagrid was fooled initially — though no one else was. However, the school governors from those pure-blood families used it as a pretext to cause trouble. Dumbledore had little choice but to give me a temporary leave of absence. In practice, that's actually rather convenient for me."
Vincent sighed, rubbing his forehead. Though my original intentions entering Hogwarts were hardly pure, I genuinely did put in the effort to actually be a professor. I'd done my homework on it.
After all this, I'll probably go down in history as Hogwarts' most incompetent Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher ever.
Bernadette continued, in the same flat tone: "I met with Lucius Malfoy last weekend."
"Did you hit him?" Vincent asked immediately.
"Why would you ask that?"
"Well, we talked about him before, and you said at the time, very confidently, 'I know what to do.'"
"I am a pirate, yes — but pirates don't only solve problems with violence."
She frowned slightly. "In any case, that's not the main point. The main point is: Lucius Malfoy's state was markedly different from the last time I saw him. The first time, he was his usual arrogant, calculating self — looking to recruit you as his instrument for dirty work, as you said. But this time, his mental state seemed unstable. He was doing his best to hide it, but I could still read the unease and fear underneath. And the only thing he kept pressing me on was whether anything unusual had been happening at Hogwarts recently."
Vincent went very still. Had Lucius realised Voldemort was returning?
To be continued…
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