Chapter 29. Cyber Celebrity
Harry finally understood the deep sadness in her heart when she requested to use the most dangerous yet closest thing to resurrection magic...
"I... want to try and see if I can say a final goodbye to Anna," the old woman said with a sorrowful expression.
"But may I ask, if in the afterlife, souls are all interconnected, how can they be summoned back with the Resurrection Spell?"
"In the world of souls, there are no individual souls of the deceased. However, it is possible to summon the light of the soul, which will merge with the Akashic Records of this world, allowing the memories that have slumbered in the world's records to come alive again. Ordinary portraits, illusions, they do not contain this kind of soul energy, and their memory information is incomplete, so they are just illusions, mechanically repeating certain clichéd impressions from their lives. Only by summoning the soul energy from the afterlife world and driving the complete Akashic records can a true soul be restored, capable of creating new memories. You could say it's the deceased person themselves," the old woman explained enthusiastically. She enjoyed discussing her research.
"I see."
"If I could see her again..." The old woman picked a bunch of wildflowers from the roadside, and her wrinkled face revealed a tender expression. It was as if she had returned to the High Cones Valley over a hundred years ago when she, as a young girl, had picked a large bouquet of wild daisies and given them to another girl.
"Perhaps you should think about what you want to say to her first?" Harry gently reminded. After all, they both knew that even if the ritual was successful, the time that a spirit could stay in this world was very short. Because, for a spirit to be active in this world, the caster had to provide their own life force as the energy source. Therefore, it was impossible for the time to be too long, as the caster would eventually die.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, the time for the ritual had arrived. Harry obtained her permission to observe from outside the protective barrier and helped guard against external disturbances.
The wizard finally said, "Considering we've been talking for quite a while, I have many of my research notes in my basement. If you're interested, you can take a look. Aurors can't enter, but you should have the ability."
Harry thanked her and then erected a barrier, enclosing the outer circle of the necromantic ritual. This prevented external sounds and magical fluctuations from affecting the concentration of the lady inside. After all, such a dangerous magical ritual, any distraction for a necromancer could be fatal.
Then Harry watched as the renowned magical ritual was about to necromantic spell drew a magic circle that was not very large, and a semi-circular, shield-like pale red magical barrier rose around the circular magic circle. The ritual had begun. Once it started, it could not be stopped unless the ritual was completed in its entirety or the caster died.
Harry watched as the old woman struggled to control the magic within the circle, and the ever-changing magical symbols in the air fused together.
At about that moment, it was just that one spell that didn't keep up with the rhythm, and the power was a bit too strong. It was like a musical instrument in an orchestra that missed a half-beat and played too loudly. The old woman felt a tearing pain, and the entire magic circle collapsed. All the dark energy rebounded on her exponentially.
The Death Trap, that's how cruel it was. She had become the latest victim on the long list of sacrifices made by the Resurrection Spell.
In the final moments of her life, she still knew clearly that once she left this world and entered the world of souls, she would not be able to reach the girl she had longed for her whole life.
Anna... I'm about to go to the place where you are. Although, once I go, we will still be forever apart.
Harry sighed deeply, saddened by this story and its ending.
He returned to the wilderness, and by now, it was late in the afternoon, and the weather had turned gloomy. Removing the concealment barrier, he saw the "bodies" scattered haphazardly among the rocky terrain. Their bodies were gray and lifeless, and even their clothes seemed to have lost their color for some inexplicable reason. Some of them were even partially damaged. The scene was eerily unsettling.
Without hesitation, Harry began his work. Following the previous method, he meticulously examined over a thousand "bodies," identifying those who might be saved and disposing of the rest. In the end, he found more than five hundred people who could be treated, which was by no means a small number—those intricate and advanced soul surgery spells were incredibly draining in terms of energy and magic.
But Harry still felt that he had to complete this task as quickly as possible; souls couldn't remain frozen for too long.
When all those who could be saved had awakened under the spell to unfreeze their souls, the sun had set, casting its last rays of light on their bewildered, newly awakened faces.
Harry's face was pale, and he felt a bit dizzy. He raised his hand to massage his forehead, deliberately ignoring the fact that his magic core hadn't fully healed yet, and he still couldn't use magic very effectively. He told himself that such an exertion of physical and magical energy was nothing new to him; in the past, he had frequently experienced situations where he had depleted his strength and energy.
As the dizziness and dark mist before his eyes dissipated, he let out a long sigh of relief. Finally, it was all done.
Efficiently erasing their memories, sending each person back home, Harry could barely stand. His legs went weak, and he sat down on a nearby dry stone, huddling in his loose-fitting hooded coat against the evening's cold breeze.
Then he returned to his rented house, deliberately reinforcing it with protective spells. He collapsed on the bed, still fully dressed, feeling as if he had sunk into the mattress.
This time, he managed to fall asleep, but it wasn't a very restful sleep. Perhaps it was because he had promised James to find Sirius again last night, and Harry dreamed once more of the events of that day. Sirius's furious shout echoed in his ears as if it had just happened. Probably around midnight, Harry woke up again from the dream and couldn't fall back asleep.
Calculating the time difference, it must have been late evening in the United States while it was nighttime in the UK. Since he couldn't sleep anyway and had promised to do it, he might as well go and find Sirius right away. With his weary body, he struggled to get up.
Last June, he found himself wandering the streets of the United States, not remembering where he came from, not even his own name.
He casually gave himself a name, Leo Hunter.
He wandered, slept on the streets, worked odd jobs, and faced the towering skyscrapers and bustling urban life as if everything was completely unfamiliar to him.
Typically, amnesia would cause a person to forget who they are, but they would retain common knowledge. However, he was strange in that he seemed to have forgotten a lot of common knowledge as well. For instance, he didn't know how to use a subway card, a cellphone, or the internet. He didn't even know how to use a washing machine or a dishwasher. Yet, strangely, he could ride a motorcycle and perform stunts on it, including trying to lift the front wheel in advance.
"I've forgotten, but not everything. There's still a lot of self-creation," he summarized.
He felt as if he were distant from this world, as if he didn't belong here. This feeling was strange because he genuinely loved the bustling and modern city, street art, video games, rock music, riding motorcycles on the streets – he loved everything popular here.
The change in his life began when one day he suddenly discovered that he could transform into a large black dog.
He wondered if he had been some kind of superhero before. But superhero abilities in comics were meant to be kept secret, so he wisely didn't mention this to anyone.
In his dog form, he could roam the dark alleys at night, scaring away thugs, and protecting pedestrians who walked at night. He enjoyed this game; it was thrilling and allowed him to do some good deeds, though it was genuinely exciting since many of the thugs he encountered were armed.
Later, he found new joys.
He opened a YouTube channel and uploaded videos of his dog performing tricks, solving puzzles, understanding human speech, and showing off his intelligence. In just a few months, he had over a million subscribers.
Ah, this.
The comments section was filled with remarks like:
"How can a dog be this intelligent! Did he graduate from Stanford?"
"I can understand why this blogger is gaining followers so quickly; this dog is unbelievably smart."
"He must be trained for these performances, and then the videos are edited with voiceovers! This is animal abuse! The Animal Protection Association strongly condemns it!"
"This dog is incredibly intelligent! I saw it once when walking at night; it even put a trash can on a gun-wielding thug's head, saving me."
"I bet Leo can actually upload videos himself."
"Is this dog a shapeshifter?"
He laughed heartily when he came across this comment and gave it a thumbs-up.
In recent months, he had been trying something new. Leveraging the popularity of his YouTube channel with a million subscribers, he started dabbling in rock music. He formed a band all by himself, called Earendel.
He had no musical background, just pure enthusiasm. He played the electric guitar and sang whatever came to his mind. The lyrics were also randomly written by him.
But perhaps it was because he leveraged the popularity of his dog, or perhaps it was because of his handsome appearance and carefree personality, but his popularity as a musician wasn't too bad, and he even garnered some real fans.
Fans said that they could feel a lot of friendship, love, and the power of hope in his music. Like a persevering traveler in the dark night, they saw the morning star representing light.
Leo Hunter didn't quite understand where this musical inspiration came from; it seemed like it had always been in his heart.
Back then, to prevent Sirius from being traced, Harry had cast a spell on him to shield him from all magical tracking. Finding him through magic alone would be difficult.
But Harry had a plan. He opened the YouTube website, checked his subscriptions, and found a YouTuber named Leo Hunter.
While he was studying in the Muggle world, he mainly watched educational channels on YouTube, but he would occasionally be recommended popular videos on the site. Until about a month ago (though it felt like a different lifetime), he saw a video cover of a rock song with a familiar-looking YouTuber on the thumbnail. Oh, Sirius.
Harry didn't know whether to be relieved or worried that his father and the Death Eaters weren't online.
Harry opened the account and checked the location information. He then Apparated to the city. He browsed Leo's Tumblr feed, found some selfies, and frequently saw a restaurant as the background. Knowing the name of the restaurant made it easier to find on Google Maps.
When Harry entered the restaurant, it was perfect timing. It was dinner time, and the person he was looking for was sitting by the window, eating a hamburger.
Harry approached with some hesitation about how to start the conversation, given their tumultuous history.
Leo, the internet sensation, greeted him warmly, "Hey, kid, you look thin. You should eat more. I recommend the cheeseburger here."
"Um... I'm here to find you," Harry said.
"Ha, are you a fan of my YouTube channel?" Internet sensation Leo seemed quite self-aware. He often had fans visit him because they wanted to meet him, and he was always welcoming.
"Well, sort of..."
"Hey, kid, don't be so formal. It's not often I bump into someone with a British accent over here. Let me treat you to some good food." Leo beamed with a sunny smile and was about to call the waiter to order a hamburger for Harry.
However, Harry shook his head and declined, "I came to find you... for something important. It's not convenient here. Can we go somewhere more private?"
Leo leaned back casually in his chair, "We can talk after dinner. You look like you're starving." Regardless of Harry's attempts to decline, he insisted on ordering a cheeseburger with fries and added a salad for balanced nutrition. He rather liked this skinny and quiet kid.
a n:
I am not sure if there's some reading it. If not, maybe...