69novels Chapter 228 Memories of the Soul Weapon
Chapter 228 Memories of the Soul Weapon
Chapter 228 Memories of the Soul Weapon
Time seemed to flow faster by magic within the workshop of the Tranquil Abode. Several days of intense Occlumency and Legilimency training were like repeated tempering and refining of Karen's spirit. Karen's "River of Thought" defense technique became increasingly proficient, from initially being utterly pathetic to now being able to barely guard the core secret under her teacher's probing. Exhaustion was ever-present, and her temples often throbbed, but her mental resilience was growing at an astonishing rate.
That afternoon, the Horcrux research was once again on the agenda. Nico set up an even more powerful protective array, with Castor standing guard at the core like the most vigilant sentinel. The crown hovered on the stone platform, emanating an unsettling aura.
"Karen, based on the faint consciousness of the crown itself that you discovered last time," Nico pointed to the crystal recording panel floating beside the stone platform, displaying a complex energy spectrum, with a faint white dot highlighted, "Casto and I attempted to design an extremely weak 'Resonance Stimulation' rune array. Theoretically, it wouldn't directly stimulate Voldemort's soul fragments, but rather attempt to establish an extremely weak connection with Ravenclaw's remaining consciousness, like casting a ray of starlight into an abyss to see if it would elicit a response. But the effect—is difficult to observe."
Karen immediately understood Nico's intention. "You need my 'Eye of Truth' in conjunction with Legilimency?"
“Exactly.” Nico nodded, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. “We need the sharpest senses to detect any feedback from that dormant consciousness, whether it’s energetic or—mentally. But the risks are there too.”
Voldemort's fragments of soul are like venomous snakes; any unusual movement near his lair could trigger a frenzied backlash. Your Occlumency will be the key defense against this mental pollution.
"I'm ready," Karen said in a deep voice, his eyes resolute. He walked to the stone platform, took a deep breath, and instantly enhanced the perception of the "Eye of Truth" to its limit. At the same time, the "River of Thought" constructed by the Brain Closure Technique flowed endlessly in the depths of his consciousness, ready for battle.
"Understood, Master." Karen took a deep breath, composing himself. He first constructed a defensive "river of thought," allowing harmless information about alchemical formulas and Quidditch tactics to flow naturally from the surface, while the core secrets sank beneath the solid riverbed. Next, he activated the "Eye of Truth," and the complex and malevolent energy structure of the crown became clearly visible once more. Finally, he cautiously extended a wisp of mind-capturing intent—not an aggressive intrusion, but rather an extremely gentle touch and perception.
The threads of thought carefully bypassed the dense black magic shield on the outside, slowly probing in along the edge of the relatively "weak" gap that had been previously mapped. Instantly, a cold, viscous thought, filled with endless malice and arrogance, surged up along the threads like cold sewage! Karen's body trembled violently, her teeth clenched, and the "river" formed by the Occlumency spell trembled violently, countless waves of distracting thoughts instinctively rushing towards the point of invasion to wash away and dilute it.
"The lowly Mudbloods' power, eternal fear, grovel—" Chaotic and negative fragments of thought assaulted Karen's senses; these were the "noises" unconsciously emanating from fragments of her soul.
Karen suppressed his discomfort, trying to calm himself and focus the perception of his "Eye of Truth" on the area where the threads touched. He no longer tried to "push away" the filth, but instead, as Nico had taught him, tried to "listen" and "analyze" the faint signals behind the noise.
Just then, something unexpected happened!
When his "Eye of Truth" visual analysis ability and the wisp of mind-capturing intent he extended subtly overlapped at a certain energy node inside the Horcrux, a peculiar resonance occurred!
hum!
Karen's vision abruptly shifted! It was no longer a pure picture of energy flow, but a fragmented, distorted image, seemingly veiled in blood, crashed into his consciousness:
In a dimly lit room cluttered with miscellaneous items, a pale, slender hand with distinct knuckles gently caresses a crown resting on a worn wooden table with an almost obsessive devotion. The crown gleams with a dim silver light in the dim light.
A cold, ambitious yet strangely satisfied voice whispered in my heart: "—The crown of wisdom—Ravenclaw's legacy—it will bear witness to my immortality—"
The scene abruptly ended, like a film reel brutally severed. An even stronger surge of hatred and violence erupted from the Horcrux's core, crashing against Karen's consciousness along the threads! Like a venomous snake enraged!
"Ouch!" Karen cried out in pain, abruptly severing the threads of her will. She staggered back a step, her face turning deathly pale, her forehead covered in cold sweat. The river constructed by the Brain Occlusion Technique nearly burst its banks, held up only by her willpower.
"Karen!" Nico immediately stopped what he was doing, and Castor stepped forward to support him. A soft silver light shone from the tip of his wand, and a cool, soothing power flowed into Karen's chaotic mind.
"I—I'm alright—" Karen gasped, her heart pounding. The shock and what she had just witnessed still lingered in her mind. "Teacher—I—I think I just—saw something! Not energy, it was—it was fragments of memory!"
"What?" Nico and Castor both looked stunned. Nico quickly stepped forward: "Are you sure? Describe what you saw! Any details!"
Karen tried to calm her breathing and quickly recounted what she had just seen: the dimly lit room, the first-person perspective, the pale hand stroking the crown, and that cold, ambitious, and satisfied inner voice.
Nico's brow furrowed deeply, his silver-grey eyes filled with disbelief: "This is clearly Voldemort's own memory! But how could such a level of contact possibly reveal such concrete fragments of memory? This goes far beyond ordinary Legilimency! Castor and I have used Legilimency before, and we didn't react like you. Although Voldemort's soul fragments are forbidden, his core consciousness has an extremely strong defensive instinct against mental probing! Castor and I have both tried deeper contact, and at most we could only sense strong emotions and scattered, incoherent thoughts and words, never such a clear scene!"
Castor said in a deep voice, "Nicole is right, I've tried it too. The protective layer of the Horcrux and the dark barrier of the soul fragment itself will distort, devour, and even backfire on any thought that tries to read deep memories. Forcing your way in will either result in contamination or trigger an even more violent counterattack." His sharp gray eyes scrutinized Karen, "Are you sure you used the Legilimency perception technique I taught you? Didn't you do anything extra?"
"No, teacher!" Karen answered firmly. "I was just following Teacher Nico's instructions, carefully touching the outer stream of consciousness with the threads of perception, while simultaneously observing the energy changes with the 'Eye of Truth,' searching for the previously discovered crown magic nodes. But just when they seemed to overlap at a certain point, that image rushed in on its own! It felt—it felt like my 'eyes' and my 'mind' resonated or amplified in that instant?"
Nico paced back and forth, his initial shock gradually replaced by the fervent curiosity of an alchemist facing the unknown: "Resonance? Amplification? Legilimency is an extension of mental will, and your 'Eye of Truth'—it's not just simple vision, but more like a talent for directly 'observing' and 'analyzing' the source of magic and the forms of energy—could it be that when you used Legilimency within the Horcrux, your mental will was simultaneously analyzed and 'revealed' by the 'Eye of Truth'? This is equivalent to equipping your mental tentacles with a pair of 'eyes' that can penetrate the fog of the soul and see straight into the past! Transforming the invisible, chaotic flow of mental information into a visible, concrete image? This—this is simply..."
He abruptly stopped, his gaze fixed intently on Karen: "An unprecedented 'Memory Retrieval' ability targeting magical items with strong mental imprints or consciousness! Karen, your talent combination may have opened a door we never imagined!"
Castor recognized its immense value, but he was more cautious: "Currently, it's only been triggered accidentally on one Horcrux, and the target is someone like Voldemort, with a torn soul and an extremely strong mental imprint. Is it universally applicable? Is it stable and controllable? What are the risks? All of these need to be verified." He looked at Karen, "How are you feeling? Mental strain?"
Karen assessed the situation: "This time, the workload was immense, much more tiring than simple defensive training or energy observation, and the final backlash was extremely intense. But—I can still handle it; it's mainly because I was caught off guard by the impact."
Nico suppressed his excitement, regaining his researcher's composure: "Verification! We must verify! We need to determine if this only applies to Horcruxes, or if any object possessing a similar consciousness will suffice. We need to find other magical objects with strong spiritual imprints or autonomous consciousness: the Sorting Hat? The ancient consciousness that might exist within Hogwarts Castle itself? Or some powerful alchemical creation?" His eyes gleamed. "The Sorting Hat is undoubtedly the best candidate. It has existed for millennia, passed through countless teachers and students, and must contain a vast amount of memories and consciousness! The portraits at Hogwarts might also contain parts of the memories and consciousness of the subjects they depicted! And the Room of Requirement—it possesses a powerful spatial will! If this ability truly holds true..."
Cullen's heart raced. Peek into the Sorting Hat's memories? Learn the secrets of the era of the Four Great Masters? Even witness the early days of Hogwarts? The temptation was too great! He almost immediately began to consider possible targets: the Room of Requirement, which might possess self-awareness, and the Elder Wand in Dumbledore's possession, capable of recognizing its master. But quickly, he forcibly suppressed his boiling thoughts. Castor's calm words brought him back to reality: "You're thinking too far ahead, Nico, Cullen." Castor, seeing the glint in his eyes, directly pointed out, "First, this is merely a speculation based on a chance occurrence; whether Cullen's abilities are truly like this is still unknown. Second, even if they are, in Cullen's current state, even steadily peeking into a sealed Horcrux fragment is so difficult, and he almost suffered a backlash, let alone the Sorting Hat, a being with such independent consciousness and a vast amount of memories. A hasty attempt might overwhelm Cullen's brain with a torrent of millennia of memories, or trigger unpredictable defense mechanisms."
Nico nodded, saying seriously, "Casto is right. The most urgent task is to solidify your current abilities and deepen your research on Horcruxes themselves. Since you can see fragmented memories, even the most peripheral ones, this is invaluable for understanding Voldemort's mindset and environment when he created the Horcruxes, and even for potential clues—we might even find clues to other Horcruxes from his memories! This is far more meaningful than simple energy mapping!"
Karen took a deep breath, suppressing the alluring prospect of the future. Yes, the present was paramount. Voldemort's main soul was still lurking in the shadows, and the secrets of the Horcruxes were far from being fully revealed. Moreover, Karen suddenly found herself having a plausible way of articulating what she knew about the other Horcruxes.
"I understand, teacher. Let's continue. I will try more carefully, focusing on capturing those scattered fragments of surface memory, while strengthening my defenses." He stood still again, rebuilding the defenses of his river of thoughts, and opened his Eye of Truth. A thread of mind-capturing intent, more refined and resilient than before, cautiously reached for the Horcrux once more.
Nico and Castor exchanged a glance, both seeing the solemnity and anticipation in each other's eyes. In the tranquil workshop, only the faint echoes of flowing energy and the suppressed breathing of the boy as he concentrated his full attention remained. A dangerous and unknown exploration, tackling to "salvage" memories from the edge of a soul's fragments, began once more.