manynovel Chapter 122 Some Roads You Have to Walk Alone
Chapter 122 Some Roads You Have to Walk Alone
The memory fragments that Barty Crouch gave to Dumbledore were very detailed.
From Igor Karkaroff's confession about Barty Jr., to his wife drinking Polyjuice Potion and dying in Azkaban in place of their son, to their son's disappearance at the Quidditch World Cup, all the details and clues matched the contents of Glitter's memories. This made Harry and Morgen begin to think about each other's motives for taking the initiative to "apologize" to Dumbledore.
"Professor, what do you think of Barty Crouch's actions?"
The light reflected from the Pensieve shone on Harry's face, like a piece of constantly flowing liquid metal, swirling softly and gracefully. Albus Dumbledore stood beside him at that moment.
"He wanted to gain my trust and then my protection."
"Dumbledore said softly."
He drew his wand, manipulated the Pensieve to levitate in the air, and then walked step by step back to the desk, placing the stone basin on the smooth surface.
"Come sit down, Harry, we have something to talk about."
Harry stood there thoughtfully for a moment, then walked over and sat down opposite Dumbledore.
"I used to think Batistuta was an incorruptible person."
As Dumbledore spoke, he drew a shimmering silver memory from his temple with his wand. Unlike the trial where Buddy Crouch Jr. was captured, what Dumbledore remembered was Ludo Bagman's response to accusations of engaging in Death Eater activities.
“August Lukewood, Severus Snape, Ludo Bagman… Igor Karkaroff suggested many names to exonerate him from the Ministry of Magic. Now Lukewood is imprisoned, Snape has become a professor at Hogwarts thanks to my guarantee, and as for Ludo Bagman…”
"I have no idea!"
Ludobagman’s voice rose like bubbles bubbling up from the bottom of the water.
“Old Lukewood was a friend of my father’s. I never imagined he would be one of the Man from Darkness’s men. I thought I was just gathering intelligence for our people! Lukewood promised to help me find a job at the Ministry of Magic. You know, no one can play Quidditch forever…”
"Alright, shut up!"
Batty Crouch looked furious.
"The jury, please vote. Raise your hands if you think Ludo Bagman should be imprisoned."
The right side of the dungeon was silent; not a single juror raised their hand, but instead applauded. When Bagman was acquitted, Barty Crouch's face turned ashen.
......
"So, the two of them have had a feud since then, is that right, Professor?"
Hearing Harry's words, Dumbledore nodded helplessly.
He recalled Barty Crouch from his memories and sighed:
"Some things are destined to have no perfect solution, Harry. Barty used to be the kind of person who didn't explore degrees or boundaries. In his view, evil was evil, and even if the Inquisition wasn't his personal fiefdom, he would do his best to bring all the guilty to justice. But now you see, there are no saints in this world..."
Dumbledore's words were true; in fact, Harry and Morgen had sensed it as early as when they used the Imperius Curse to control Blink Dagger. Barty Crouch, besides holding the high position of Minister of Magical Execution, was also someone's husband and father. Even tigers don't eat their cubs, let alone a righteous person who dared to openly fight Voldemort.
But then again, is Batty Crouch really someone who can be trusted?
People change. How different is he from the fool Ludo Bagman, whom he despised at that time, who broke the law to save his son?
"So, are you going to save him, Professor?"
Harry asked.
Dumbledore fiddled with his charred fingers a couple of times, glanced at Fawkes perched by the window, and tossed the question back to Harry.
"You knew the truth before I did, so what were you thinking back then?"
"I......"
Harry hesitated for a moment, then replied:
"At that time, I wanted to use his help to find Little Barty, but I wasn't sure if it was a safe approach, so I could only take it one step at a time."
“That’s wise. In that case, I can keep Batty Crouch’s secret for now and prevent him from being imprisoned in Azkaban.”
"Don't you have anything else to say, Professor? For example, suggestions or advice?"
"Eh..."
Dumbledore sighed.
"Do you think I'm always right, Harry? I'm an old man now, and I've heard plenty of praise and criticism in my life, but I always felt that there were too few criticisms... No one can be perfect, and I'm certainly not omniscient."
At this point, Dumbledore's meaning was quite clear. However, to Harry, who knew Dumbledore's abilities very well, his words sounded more like an excuse to slack off. Thus, the two continued their conversation.
"But Professor, you have always been the wisest person I know..."
“Don’t rely on my judgment, Harry. You’ve been far more astute than I am about Barty Crouch and his son. Just do what you think is right.”
"What if I can't catch Barty? Are we just supposed to wait for Voldemort and his servants to succeed in their schemes before we take any action?"
Albus Dumbledore didn't answer directly, but his eyes, like a tranquil lake reflecting the stars, rendered Harry speechless. After a long pause, he spoke again:
“Some paths, even if we take the wrong one, are ones we have to walk ourselves. I know you didn’t come here today to talk about the Crouch family, so let’s change the subject.”
......
After a brief silence, Harry temporarily put aside the idea of investigating Crouch and his son.
He first told Dumbledore about his idea of training Animagus for the second project of the Triwizard Tournament. Then, he put forward some hypotheses based on the ancient alchemy knowledge that Nicolas Flamel had taught him, which made Dumbledore quite interested.
For a full ten minutes, the old man and the young man seemed to have switched roles in school, one talking incessantly while the other listened intently. This one-sided discussion about the possibility of transforming into a magical creature only ended when Phoenix Fox flew away from the window and then returned.
Dumbledore was the most skilled Transfiguration wizard of his time, and with his guidance, Harry quickly grasped the core logic of Animagus transformation. However, just as Harry sought further assistance, Dumbledore politely declined.
“Harry, I’m not refusing, and this has nothing to do with my role as a judge in the Triwizard Tournament.”
Dumbledore explained succinctly:
"As you may already know, my family has a very rare talent... Legend has it that when a Dumbledore is in trouble and desperately needs help, a phoenix will appear. This talent allowed me to master the Patronus Charm with twice the efficiency, and perhaps it will also make my research into Animagus magic much easier. But that's where the problem lies, Harry."
"question?"
Dumbledore sighed and nodded, saying:
"The transformation magic I can develop may be impossible to replicate. And some paths you have to walk yourself..."
......
By the time Harry left the headmaster's office, it was already evening. Although Dumbledore had made it clear that he wouldn't offer Harry much help, he still did his best to help him organize his thoughts, which gave Harry more confidence in his Animagus training, which hadn't yet begun.
From an academic perspective, the animal forms randomly generated by Animagus magic are actually a manifestation of one's inner self. Like the Patronus Charm, the more genuine and intense the emotion, the more easily it is expressed through magic.
But not everyone's guardian spirit is exactly the same as their Animagus, whether they have it or not.
Not necessarily.
According to Dumbledore, some wizards have had their Patronus magic altered after experiencing significant life changes, but once an Animagus is formed, there is no chance to reshape it. Therefore, the Animagus should represent a deeper, more deeply rooted personality trait within the human soul.
With this important piece of knowledge, Harry and Morgen had a more accurate general direction in choosing magical creatures.
Harry's Patronus is a reindeer.
Just like in the original story, this Patronus deer is partly derived from Harry's memories of using the 'Palmtopsus'. The parental love he felt through the Mirror of Erised unintentionally led him to inherit either James's or the Potter family's soul traits.
The other reason is that reindeer represent shrewdness and wisdom in Western culture. In the Arthurian legends, which are widely known among European Muggles, the wizard Merlin is sometimes depicted as a reindeer.
If Rowling did indeed borrow these settings to strengthen the protagonist's position in the novel, then even if Harry wanted to cultivate into an Animagus capable of underwater movement, he would have to be a magical creature related to deer.
"I remember that Nicolas Flamel's notes mentioned the 'underground god' in ancient Celtic mythology. However, based on the description, this 'underground god' is more like a natural prophet with a human body and deer antlers, rather than a magical creature. In addition, there is the Ceryne stag, the mount of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt in Greek mythology. It's a pity that Professor Scamander never mentioned this creature, so it's probably not a fabrication."
Harry strolled down the corridor, talking to Mo Ran one sentence after another. Clearly, he was quite excited after his conversation with Dumbledore.
"Actually, instead of choosing a magical creature, I think we should first consider how to optimize the Animagus ritual."
Mo Ran replied somewhat irrelevantly:
"The mandrake, the ghost moth, and the dew that's mixed into your hair are clearly insufficient to support the transformation of a magical creature. We must improve upon the existing ritual to have a chance of safely completing this magic."
“What you said is not wrong, but Professor Dumbledore just spent most of his time talking to us about things similar to what we learned about the Patronus Charm. Since he values things like soul qualities so much, doesn’t that mean the choice of magical creatures is even more important?”
After Harry and Moran finished speaking, they both fell into a brief silence.
Since they met more than a decade ago, the two have never had any disagreements on anything.
Whether in studies, daily life, or important matters such as fighting Voldemort, they are both serious in their work and calm in their personalities, and they always make similar judgments without prior agreement.
Before Harry enrolled, Mo Ran even considered that if Harry ever came up with some "stupid ideas" like in the original story, he could use his time-traveling skills, which he had read the script, to persuade Harry.
But today's situation is different.
First of all, the idea of training magical creatures like Animagus never happened in the original work.
Secondly, after nearly four years of honing his skills, Harry has now grown into an excellent wizard, and he is confident that he and Moran are on the same starting line when it comes to exploring new ways of magic.
This made the two people, who were used to being in sync with each other, feel a sense of unfamiliarity.
"How about we each study separately first? I'll use my free time during the day, and then give you my body to you tonight, okay?"
Harry's suggestion was immediately accepted by Mo Ran. A strange sense of unease made both of them want to end the conversation early, so he quickly replied:
"Okay, let's do it that way..."
Just like the corridors of Hogwarts, Harry's mind went quiet.
Time passed day by day. The high-intensity study, using the same body 24 hours a day without interruption, forced Harry and Moran to drink stimulants to keep going. Unfortunately, despite their efforts, the two, researching in different directions, did not achieve the results they desired.
Were they all wrong?
of course not.
There are only two key points to improving Animagus magical rituals, and even if Malfoy and Ron were in charge of this tricky task, they would be able to figure out the logic behind it.
But as the saying goes, everyone has their own area of expertise.
Having inherited his mother's potion-making talent and having studied advanced potion-making knowledge with Snape, Harry was actually more suited to be in charge of researching Animagus magical rituals.
Similarly, Moran, who has no physical form but can live on Harry's body as the Obscurus, has a unique understanding of magical creatures and souls that is hard for others to match.
The somewhat misaligned tactical arrangements caused the two, who were originally highly skilled in magic, to run into a series of setbacks. Fortunately, Harry was not the child in the original story who quarreled with Ron over a trivial matter, and the reborn Moran was not a stubborn person who couldn't save face. As the two realized that they were actually researching each other's areas of expertise, this little episode immediately came to an end.
Everything seemed to confirm the saying, "Choice is more important than effort." With "memories of Eastern mystical magic," Mo Ran only spent half a day using her own advantages to help Harry find a suitable transformation option.
......
As early as when watching the movie "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald", Mo Ran discovered that the mythical beasts recorded in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" and other ancient books also exist in the magical world of Harry Potter.
Zouwu comes from the "Classic of Mountains and Seas, Northern Section of the Seas Within":
In the Lin Kingdom, there is a rare beast, as large as a tiger, with five colors and a tail longer than its body, named Zouwu. Riding it, one can travel a thousand miles a day.
The Qilin is recorded in the Gongyang Commentary from the Warring States period:
The Qilin is a benevolent beast. It appears when there is a ruler, and does not appear when there is no ruler.
......
While J.K. Rowling's understanding of Chinese mythical creatures may not be comprehensive, she certainly conducted thorough research before creating these fantastical beings. It was precisely because of this understanding of the author's creative process that Mo Ran was able to so quickly connect the creature to Fuzhu, another mythical beast from the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
What is "夫诸"?
The phrase "夫诸" originates from the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, specifically the *Central Section Three*.
There is a beast that looks like a white deer but has four horns. It is called Fuzhu. If it appears, the town will be flooded.
To put it in a way Harry could understand, the Fuzhu is a white deer with four antlers; wherever it appears, there will surely be a great flood...
A stag with antlers and the magical ability to influence water—without a doubt, Fuzhul is the perfect magical creature to fit Harry's transformation needs.
With a clear goal in mind, Harry's research into Animagus magical rituals went smoothly.
Recalling his trip around the world in his third year, Harry had seen a magical plant in the Far East that was quite similar to mandrake—Polygonum multiflorum.
Wild Polygonum multiflorum has a relatively fast growth cycle, reaching maturity in just three to five years. However, only a very small number of these individuals can grow into human form.
Unlike ordinary He Shou Wu, the human-shaped He Shou Wu possesses powerful magical effects. It can not only neutralize the deadly poisons of most magical creatures, including the poison sac leopard, but also enhance physical strength and delay aging.
In the legends of the Muggles of the East, some old people even transformed into immortals after eating the "magic potion" stewed with Polygonum multiflorum.
Mo Ran did not tell Harry the story of "Zhang Guolao Becomes an Immortal by Stealing He Shou Wu". In this magical world, it was probably similar to the "Beedoubt Tales" circulating in the European magical world, both being mysterious and of dubious authenticity.
Importantly, if Ha uses a human-shaped He Shou Wu leaf instead of Mandrake to put in his mouth, and then adds the rootless water that falls on the day of Rain Water in the Twenty-Four Solar Terms of the East to the dew that has not been exposed to sunlight or human contact for seven whole days, then theoretically, the chances of him transforming into Fuzhu will greatly increase!
Thus, a complete and highly successful Animagus magic ritual was finally perfected and completed.