Chapter 118: The Observer And Destiny
Until a seer divined Eloise’s time travel.
Divination is a more mysterious ability than magic itself. That seer’s divination left people dejected – he predicted that the Muntab family descendants should be twenty-five more than they were now.
However, historical fact is that for nearly 500 years, there has been no trace of those twenty-five individuals in the Muntab family; they were never born!
This signifies that the Eloise incident was fated from the very beginning, including the changes in time that occurred after her return!
Although the Eloise incident stemmed from an accident, its impact was far-reaching. It was the first documented case in the wizarding world of time travel spanning centuries.
It was also the first time wizards widely understood that time travel was not the answer to unraveling destiny, and that within the cycle of fate, time travel itself was part of destiny.
But Dumbledore knew that Vaughn did not believe in destiny!
Indeed, in the silence, he heard Vaughn say, “…This is a very interesting phenomenon. Time is like a circle folded from a line; all of us, all events, are constantly moving in a circle on the inside… But I have a question: was it like this from the beginning?”
“A few years ago, I read a theory by a Soviet physicist in a Muggle magazine called the Novikov Self-Consistency Principle!”
“This theory was created to oppose parallel universes and parallel timelines. Its basic principle is simple: time and space are unique, and the past cannot be changed.”
“But interestingly, it doesn’t prohibit the existence of time travelers, and it suggests that throughout our long history, there have been many, many time travelers. It doesn’t even forbid time travelers from interfering with history!”
Hearing this, Dumbledore couldn’t help but ask in confusion, “This seems somewhat contradictory?”
“No, it’s not contradictory,” Vaughn shook his head. “To summarize that theory simply, it can be condensed into two points: 1. The past we experience is already the past after being changed by time travelers.”
“2. The outcome we achieve, whether good or bad, is already the final result produced by the interference of time travelers!”
“Indeed, countless possibilities exist for things. But just like in quantum mechanics, where our observation of a particle causes it to collapse, what can present itself to us is ultimately only one out of countless possibilities… that single possibility is reality!”
“…”
Dumbledore’s hand, stroking his beard, paused. His lips moved, wanting to say something, but he couldn’t. Only the tremor in his heart reminded him of his astonishment!
He could tell that behind the so-called “Novikov Self-Consistency Principle” theory was a concept Vaughn had vaguely proposed months ago when they were conceiving the Painted World!
It was a hypothesis: that long ago, the past, present, and future of the real world could all be changed.
Until one day, an “Observer” appeared. Its interference caused all uncertain possibilities to begin collapsing towards “uniqueness,” ultimately becoming the reality of today, where the past can no longer be changed.
So, the question arises: Who is the “Observer”?
This question, upon mere thought, makes one unable to suppress a sense of dread.
Even a Legendary Wizard like Dumbledore couldn’t imagine what kind of power could accomplish such a feat.
In fact, no one could imagine.
That’s why Vaughn proposed the idea of creating a small world.
To use a newly created, “crude” world to test his thoughts on time, destiny, and the Observer.
Looking at the smoke screen below, transformed from a key and covering the sky under his magical influence, Dumbledore hesitated.
He suddenly felt a sense of fear. What if… what if Vaughn’s theory was correct?
Seeming to sense his apprehension, Vaughn, who had been waiting nearby for a moment, suggested, “Perhaps I should take over?”
The response was a long silence.
After a long while, Dumbledore let out a sigh, shook his head, and said, “No. Though I am old and no longer possess the ambition of my youth, even the most aged lion has the courage to face the facts.”
However, despite saying this, he still drew his wand, tapped his forehead, and pulled a strand of silver from his mind.
“This memory contains the method for controlling the key.”
With a wave of his hand, the silver strand drifted over. Vaughn didn’t catch it, but instead, used his wand to keep it suspended—he hadn’t forgotten that Dumbledore was a master of Memory Magic, and directly interacting with memories released by a master of Memory Magic was not a wise choice.
Seeing Vaughn’s caution, Dumbledore didn’t mind.
He walked to the edge of the magic carpet, took a light step, and landed on empty air. The light air beneath his feet felt as solid as the ground, supporting him as he walked further and further away.
Gradually, he approached the smoke screen that covered the sky.
The moment he got close, a powerful surge of magical energy was released from him, distorting the air and light around him.
They swirled together, emitting a faint silver-white glow. The magic was unobservable; it was an anomaly created by the interference of magic with reality.
Then, Dumbledore stirred his wand into the smoke screen.
Instantly, the entire sky lit up. Countless dense symbols appeared from the void, like a galaxy, tracing arcs across the firmament.
It was the “world” responding to the creator’s call!
On the magic carpet, Vaughn, who was deciphering the silver strand with Memory Magic, suddenly looked up. He felt a ripple pass over him, and over the entire “world”!
Every gust of wind, every air molecule, even every photon, every energy level transition, seemed to come under the control of some higher existence at the moment the ripple passed.
All things, at that moment, were brought under control.
Vaughn knew that from now on, this “world” would no longer be in a state of chaos; it would revolve around a will and achieve the results that will desired!
How wonderful…
Just like destiny!
…
*Whoosh—*
A whistling sound like a cannonball zipped overhead. In the next instant, a thunderous explosion erupted, sending large clods of soil flying. A plane tree not far away fell with a mournful cry.
Hermione, who had been about to dodge in that direction, quickly pulled the handle of her flying broomstick. The rapidly moving broomstick soared over her head. Below, the dust kicked up by the explosion rained down like a downpour, and the dense canopy of the plane tree crashed to the ground with a crackling sound of breaking branches.
Dust, flying wood chips, tremors, and the whistling and bombing sounds of more high-speed objects.
Everything around her was chaotic and harsh, as if the end of the world had arrived!
Hermione didn’t dare to stop. In the distance, Harry was blocking the gallery, smashing stone guardians with his spear.
The spear in his hand quickly broke, so he picked up the shattered limbs of the stone guardians to use as weapons.
But he was only one person, and the stone guardians seemed to be endless. Even with all his might, he could only hold off a small portion around him. From further away, more stone guardians hurled weapons, bombarding Hermione relentlessly.
Run!
Run as far as possible!
Riding her broom, narrowly dodging the bombardment of thrown objects time and again, Hermione showed no panic. She calmly controlled the broom, continuously moving away from the gallery.
This was by no means fleeing; Hermione knew very well that she was currently a burden to Harry.
The greatest help she could provide to Harry was to stay far away.
*Wooo—*
She hadn’t flown far when Hermione heard a sharp phoenix cry; it was the sound of a high-speed spear narrowly missing her.
The whistling sound and the pressure change caused by the violent air vibrations made her ears ring.
She quickly raised the handle, flying upward. The spear that had grazed her feet below plunged far into the forest, trailing a white wake.
Smoke and dust rose, and the sound of breaking trees carried from afar.
Relieved that her reaction had been quick enough, Hermione, flying upward at an angle, noticed that the sky had inexplicably darkened; the once azure firmament had turned leaden gray.
It was as if it were shrouded in smoke!
“When?”
The thought of confusion surfaced in her mind, but she had no time to dwell on it. Her peripheral vision noticed several more “white lines” rapidly approaching in the distance.
In the blink of an eye, they were upon her, the rumbling sound filling her ears.
Without tension, still maintaining her composure, Hermione predicted their trajectory and gently nudged the handle.
If nothing unexpected happened, this time she would bypass them, just like the previous few times, and continue trying to get away from Harry.
But the unexpected suddenly occurred!
Perhaps it was a wisp of wind.
Perhaps it was a sudden change in air currents.
Just as Hermione was predicting their trajectory and attempting to bypass the flight paths of those spears, the closest spear suddenly veered off by a tiny arc.
It was only a small angle.
But at the terrifying high speed of the spear, even the slightest change would rapidly magnify.
That spear abruptly drew an arc. Hermione, who was adjusting her broom, didn’t have time to react before she heard a *crack*.
A violent jolt beneath her feet!
The next second, her suddenly blank mind finally realized that the broom had been hit and was out of control!
“Ah—”
With a piercing scream, Hermione, along with her out-of-control broom, plunged towards the gallery she had been trying to escape.
Everything appeared to be an “accident.” If reviewed afterward, the sudden turn of the spear would undoubtedly be attributed to an accident.
Because those caught in the situation, even if they felt doubt, couldn’t perceive what was abnormal.
No one would believe that a person’s will could make everything in this “world” revolve around him, and that he needed Hermione to return to Harry’s side.
Thus, the “world” responded to his will!
This interference happened naturally.
High above, Vaughn watched below intently. Only when the broom, trailing thick smoke and moving erratically, miraculously brought Hermione back near Harry did he let out a slight sigh of relief.
“Don’t worry, I will take good care of Granger.”
A faint whisper, like the sound of the wind, reached his ears.
“Albus?” Vaughn raised an eyebrow slightly. He had clearly seen Dumbledore still in the smoke screen below.
“It is I.”
“What is your current state? Is your consciousness enveloping this world, or has this world become a part of your consciousness?”
“Difficult to describe… I think you should experience it yourself later.”
Vaughn was somewhat interested in this, but it was clearly not the time to discuss it, as in his misty vision obscured by smoke, he saw that the situation at the gallery had changed with Hermione’s return.
“We’ll discuss the experience later; Harry is in trouble!”
…
Let’s go back a few tens of seconds.
Harry’s heart experienced another heart-stopping ordeal.
While fighting, he suddenly saw Hermione, who should have flown far away to hide, flying back on her out-of-control broom.
His heart leaped into his throat.
“Hermione!”
Hermione screamed as she flew past him. In the slow-motion view of his surroundings, he clearly saw the tears streaming from the corners of her eyes.
Harry desperately reached out, trying to grab her.
In the midst of the fierce battle, such an action was undoubtedly inappropriate. A stone guardian took the opportunity to lunge at the “Queen,” locking her arm.
Thus, the mistake immediately escalated into a despairing disaster—
With Harry’s arm locked and his offensive capabilities greatly reduced, several more stone guardians lunged and hugged him.
Then, more and more!
In the blink of an eye, Harry’s vision was filled with the bare faces of the stone guardians. The terrifying weight, even with the “Queen’s” strength, was unbearable, rendering him immobile.
He desperately wanted to break free, to save Hermione, but could only watch helplessly as the broom, trailing black smoke, dragged her into the gallery!
Like a tiny droplet falling into the sea, she was swallowed by the dense stone figures.
Harry couldn’t describe what he was feeling at that moment, only that his mind went blank, his thoughts seemed to have stopped.
This was the second time he had experienced something like this today; the last time it was Ron…
Damn it!
The boy’s inner rage erupted. He suddenly regretted why he had acted like a hero today? Why had he entered the mechanism to guard the Philosopher’s Stone?
If not for his arrogance, his stubbornness, his hubris.
Ron wouldn’t have died, and Hermione wouldn’t have…
The “Queen’s” tall figure stood frozen on the gallery. Countless stone guardians charged forward one after another, completely submerging the boy who was lost in pain!
…
“Ah—my trial is over!”
Dumbledore’s soft sigh echoed in Vaughn’s ears.
“Harry has finally understood the consequences of his recklessness. I believe he will engrave the pain in his heart at this moment for life.”
“I don’t expect this child to become a calm and wise person from now on, but I hope that when he encounters similar situations in the future, he will deliberate more, think more, and consider whether he can bear the consequences of failure…”
Vaughn listened quietly to his rambling. Although he still disagreed with his so-called trial, Vaughn had to admit that for a 12-year-old boy, having “killed” two friends consecutively was indeed a profound lesson!
And too profound.
He reminded, “Albus, if there isn’t a dramatic turn of events soon, your savior’s mentality is likely to completely collapse.”
“Hahahaha!” Dumbledore laughed, “Alright, next, let Harry witness a miracle that only exists in fairy tales.”
As his words fell, Vaughn soon heard the long-silent narration begin again:
“The warrior’s heart sank to the bottom. Although he fought valiantly, the dragon’s endless stone guardians were merciless, and his companions fell on the battlefield. Harry Potter despairingly began to question the correctness of his decision, blaming his own recklessness and haste!”
“What touching friendship and growth!”
“Dear warrior, please remember today’s pain, but also remember that pain is not meant for you to retreat, but for you to understand what your justice and responsibility are for!”
“The Observer shed crocodile tears and made a decision with unforeseeable consequences—Now, the first rule is lifted!”
Harry heard the narration.
Although the pain and darkness in his heart made him want to ignore it, it was everywhere, echoing in the sky, in his ears.
He wanted to roar, what was the use of lifting that damned rule now?
Could it bring Hermione back…
The frenzy in his thoughts was still brewing. Then, amidst the grating sounds of the densely packed stone guardians, he heard a clear voice chanting a spell loudly:
“Everte Statum! （Flip Spell）”
Harry didn’t know what that spell was.
But the voice, he knew very well.
Was it Hermione?
He blinked. The dull, lifeless pupils of his eyes suddenly regained their luster.
He wanted to lift his head, to try and see past the human wall formed by the stone guardians, to see if Hermione was there in the direction the voice came from.
But there were too many stone guardians.
“Her—mione…”
Harry desperately reached out, desperately resisting the weight of the stacked stone guardians.
Would a miracle truly happen?
Back at the Dursleys’, he had also prayed for a fairy-tale miracle to appear before him.
Santa Claus, Jesus Christ, countless nights, he begged them to take him away.
But each prayer was met with disappointment after disappointment. Around the age of six, he had stopped believing in such things.
Until this moment!
Six years later, he yearned for a miracle to happen again.
And then, the miracle truly came!
*Boom—*
With a deafening roar, the bridge deck vibrated violently!
Immediately after, Harry’s vision, which had been completely blocked by the stone guardians, suddenly brightened.
He looked in astonishment as the stone guardians piled on him, one by one, flipped into the air by some power, and then fell.
At the same time, he heard Hermione, with a voice almost torn, chanting the spell again, filled with even more intense emotion:
“Everte—Statum!”
With a resounding roar and full emotion, the spell gained immense power.
All the stone guardians on Harry were flipped outward by the spell, like stones tossed up by a shockwave, they were uncontrollably flung into the air.
His vision cleared. Harry stared blankly at the girl not far away, standing amidst the shattered limbs of the stone figures, panting, her face pale.
“Hermione…”
“You idiot Harry, what are you still standing there for!” Hermione shouted, stumbling over as she ran.
Despite being scolded, Harry was overjoyed. “Hermione, you’re not dead! You’re really not dead! A miracle has happened!”
His voice choked with emotion. Tears streamed down the “Queen’s” stern, cold face.
This stunned Hermione, who was still shaken and emotionally volatile, but it wasn’t the time for sentimentality. She quickly ran to the “Queen’s” feet and climbed with all her might onto the intricately patterned, magnificent cloak on the “Queen’s” back.
The stone-carved cloak was sturdy enough to support her.
Having confirmed she was secure, Hermione tapped Harry hard with her wand: “Harry, hurry! Rush across the gallery, into the castle! I’ll help you with magic!”
Extremely surprised by Hermione’s “resurrection,” Harry instinctively obeyed her command. He casually picked up a broken stone arm, swung it at a stone guardian lunging at him, and laughed, “Great, Hermione! I saw you being carried by the broom into the stone figures just now, I…”
Before he could finish his thoughts, Hermione shouted, “Stop babbling and watch the sides of the bridge… Thunderclap Explosion!”
Two stone guardians climbing up from the sides of the gallery were blasted back by Hermione’s explosion spell.
Her breathing became more labored.
*Bang!*
With the accelerated thinking and dynamic vision granted by the “Queen’s” promotion, Harry precisely caught a flying spear. The spear, abruptly stopped from its high speed, released a powerful kinetic energy that erupted into a shockwave.
Amidst the hazy dust, Harry knocked away a stone guardian. Hearing Hermione’s labored breathing, he asked with concern, “Hermione, what’s wrong? Are you injured?”
“I’m fine, just a bit drained from using too much magic!”
The continuous spellcasting made Hermione’s face even paler, but she dared not delay. It wasn’t just because of the stone guardians on the gallery, but also because the first rule was now invalid.
“Harry, don’t worry about me, hurry and go… Using magic now has no penalty. Quirrell might come at any moment!”
Hearing this, Harry, who had been about to ask more, suddenly felt a jolt.
He had almost forgotten Quirrell!
But as the community nannies often said in his childhood, “If you speak of the devil, he is sure to appear.” (In English, “speak of the devil and he’s sure to appear” means “speak of the devil and he’s sure to appear”; in Chinese, it’s “speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives.”)
Just then, Harry and Hermione heard a faint whisper:
“Heh heh, Mr. Harry Potter, and Miss Granger, were you waiting for me? Waiting for the poor, poor Quirrell?”
Harry suddenly turned around. At the end of the battlefield, which stretched from the gallery to the edge of the forest and was in a state of disarray, a cloaked figure stood somewhere, having appeared at some unknown time.
“Qu—irrell!”
Blood rushed to Harry’s brain. He gritted his teeth and pronounced the person’s name word by word.
Quirrell slightly lifted his black robe and bowed, “Hello, Mr. Potter, we meet again!”
Before he finished speaking, he flicked his wrist, and a spell was cast.
“Protego!”
Hermione, clinging to the “Queen’s” back, reacted extremely quickly and uttered the spell. She couldn’t recognize the silent spell Quirrell cast.
However, in a magical duel, as long as it wasn’t Dark Arts, the Full Body-Bind Curse could generally provide good protection.
It was just that Hermione’s proficiency in this spell was not deep. She had never imagined that one day she would face an adult wizard directly!
The thin barrier formed by the Full Body-Bind Curse, while successfully blocking the spell, collapsed after flickering a few times.
Quirrell chuckled, “I wanted to say this when we were in Chessboard Town: crude magic… Of course, Miss Granger, don’t be discouraged. Professor Quirrell is actually very happy. For your age, this performance is already very surprising!”
Quirrell was very relaxed now.
He wasn’t in a hurry to deal with these two overconfident brats. After all, there was so much stone trash on the gallery. Why bother himself when he could utilize existing labor?
He slightly lifted his hood, fiddled with his wand with his fingers, and as he walked onto the gallery, he chuckled and reminded Harry and Hermione, who were glaring at him as if facing a formidable enemy, “Are you sure you want to keep watching me? Those stone guardians are still there!”
“You—”
“Harry!” Hermione called out to Harry. She stared at Quirrell and quickly said, “You continue clearing those stone figures, I’ll keep an eye on him!”
Harry gasped in anger a few times but suppressed his temper and chose to obey Hermione.
He picked up a broken stone torso and, roaring, charged into the approaching group of stone figures, smashing and thrashing wildly, venting his anger.
Quirrell really didn’t make a move, just watched from afar, leisurely commenting,
“Speaking of which, Potter, is this the reward you received after winning the game? Professor was in a hurry to leave last time and didn’t look closely. It turns out to be a form of Transfiguration… How peculiar. Dumbledore truly is a master of Transfiguration, isn’t he, Miss Granger?”
What should I do now?
Hermione sat on the “Queen’s” cloak, using a spell to adhere herself to it so she could concentrate fully on Quirrell’s every move.
She ignored Quirrell’s question, partly because she didn’t want to waste words and distract herself, and partly because she was thinking about how to break the stalemate.
The current situation was dire; she and Harry were trapped on the gallery. Ahead were stone guardians, and behind them was Quirrell, slowly strolling towards them.
The gallery bridge was less than six feet wide, leaving no room to maneuver.
The girl gritted her teeth.
She was absolutely certain that she was no match for Quirrell. As for Harry… the “Queen’s” power was indeed formidable.
However, this kind of power posed no threat to a wizard. Although based on his performance in Chessboard Town, Quirrell’s magic couldn’t harm the “Queen.”
Similarly, the “Queen” couldn’t harm a wizard who was no longer bound by rules and could cast spells freely.
Not to mention Quirrell, Hermione herself had several ways to toy with the “Queen”: the Jinx of the Tongue-Tying, the Tarantism, the Flip Spell, the Summoning Charm/Banishing Charm, the Constriction Charm… and even more terrifying ones, developed by wizards specifically for solid objects—
Crumble and Shatter!
Hermione didn’t know that spell, but she believed Quirrell certainly did!
“But Quirrell never used the Shattering Curse… or even many evil curses, why?” Hermione suddenly wondered.
The Shattering Curse was a powerful spell. In the modern spell system, great power also meant high requirements, both for emotional state and magical power!
According to Hermione’s knowledge, normally, young wizards wouldn’t have enough magical power until they were close to adulthood to cast evil curses like the Shattering Curse.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t cast it before, but the power would be very weak.
Quirrell had graduated long ago and was from Ravenclaw Academy, so he had no problem with knowledge or magical power… Why didn’t he use it?
Recalling that in Chessboard Town, Quirrell had only used the Splitting Charm, the Explosion Charm, and the Disarming Charm, and remembering the vial of unicorn blood she and Harry had found at the place where Quirrell had fallen.
A spark of inspiration struck Hermione, and she called out proactively, “Professor Quirrell!”
“Ah, dear Miss Granger, I finally hear you call me Professor again,” Quirrell responded cheerfully. “What do you want to say? Are you preparing to defect to your dear professor?”
He smiled slyly. His pale face no longer held the familiar timidity and eccentricity of the past.
Instead, it exuded the confidence of someone in complete control, even finding time for taunts.
Hermione offered a perfunctory smile in return, though it was a sarcastic one. “I’m thinking, how can a person’s face change so quickly? When Dumbledore was here, you acted like a clown every day, trying to please every student who mocked or bullied you, just to avoid Dumbledore’s attention.”
“When you couldn’t use magic before, you were also taciturn, low-key, and self-deprecating. We would mock you casually, and you would have a dark, menacing look as if you were going to eat someone.”
“And now, you put on the face of a victor, mocking and toying with two children in their teens… I wonder, how can there be so many changing, shameless people in the world?”
Quirrell’s expression darkened slightly, then he chuckled indifferently. “Stupid little girl, trying to provoke me will do you no good. You should be grateful that my main objective is to obtain the Philosopher’s Stone, not to kill people. Otherwise…”
“Otherwise what? Torture me with the Cruciatus Curse? I heard Dark Arts require malevolent negative emotions and vast magical power. Can someone like you, who bullies the weak and fears the strong, actually use that spell?”
Hermione retorted loudly, “We learned from the Centaurs that you have allied yourself with the Dark Lord. It’s strange, isn’t it? Some people refuse to be decent human beings and insist on being dogs!”
*Crack!*
It sounded as if teeth were being ground.
Quirrell’s face became completely grim. He tightened his grip on his wand, narrowed his eyes, and stared at Hermione’s face. “For the first time, I find your cute and pretty little face truly annoying!”
With a flick of his wand, magic silently emanated from its tip.
Hermione, who had been prepared, immediately shouted, “Protego!”
She indeed didn’t know many combat spells, but as Vaughn had told her when teaching her the Full Body-Bind Curse, most battles didn’t require much strategy.
Ensuring you have at least one spell for offense and one for defense is enough to handle 80% of combat scenarios.
Because battles ultimately have only two purposes: protect yourself and defeat the enemy!
As expected, the Full Body-Bind Curse shattered. Amidst the crystalline fragments, another spell Quirrell cast immediately after, also silently attacked.
Having been tricked once in Chessboard Town, how could Hermione not be on guard? The moment the Full Body-Bind Curse shattered, she had already lunged to the side.
Although her appearance was somewhat disheveled, she successfully dodged the spell. The spell left a faint black mark where she had been standing.
It seemed to be some kind of Dark Arts.
Hermione couldn’t spare time for further identification. She raised her wand and shouted, “Expelliarmus!”
Hearing the shout, Quirrell instinctively swung his wand to defend himself. The next moment, his face turned red—because of the loud shout, Hermione was just shouting; she had not seen the characteristic red light of the Disarming Charm.
