'Stubbornness Phelps' Goblin Potion

Replacing your past self with your future self to remove certain indelible pains and curses had long been a rejected topic in goblin memory.

It would create a powerful Time Paradox, one that would take three days and three nights to explain.

Yet the subtle thing was that, after this day, Nagini would spend the next thirty-eight years living by nothing but a snake's instincts.

The goblins' Secret Potion, Sealed Prison, also sealed away a person's soul, leaving them with only their instincts.

That left room to work with.

The original Nagini had been struck hard by Rosier and killed once, her human will completely swallowed by the snake's body. So as long as they fed her the Sealed Prison potion before killing her, the result would be the same.

Getting her to drink the potion was the crucial part!

Of course, no one knew whether it would work. Anton could only do his best and leave the rest to Fate.

"Protego!"

Anton cast a Shield Charm on himself, then charged out without hesitation.

The giant snake noticed him at once. It flicked its tongue, its slit pupils filled with madness, and lunged at him.

It moved so fast that only a blurred shadow remained on Anton's retinas.

Anton didn't dodge. He raised his Wand and softly spoke the incantation. "Soul-Reversing Charm!"

The spell flashed and sank straight into the giant snake's head.

At that moment, its mouth was less than a few centimeters from him.

Anton felt as if he'd been hollowed out. This advanced Dark Spell wasn't something he could use easily yet, and a tearing pain spread from the Depths of the Soul.

But it was worth it.

The powerful Dark Magic instantly sent the giant snake crashing to the ground.

It went rigid, unable to move.

The Displacement Soul Curse flipped a person's soul over, misaligning it with their body. Its effect was like that of Sleeping Beauty. It was like turning a Turtle onto its back: no matter how it struggled, it couldn't right itself.

This was the life-saving spell Anton had carefully chosen from among the countless Dark Spells in the Old Wizard's notes. It worked remarkably well.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

He cast again, and the giant snake's enormous body floated like a feather. Anton poured the spare Sealed Prison potion into its mouth without hesitation.

This potion would trap a person's intelligence, knowledge, and will in a prison, leaving them with only their instincts.

By then, the footsteps and calls of someone searching for their mother in the Garden had drawn closer.

"What are you standing there for?" Anton shot Pedro a cold look. "Come help me carry her away, and let the other Nagini out."

Pedro swallowed and hurried out from the pile of rubble. The Golem behind him grabbed the giant snake.

"Hold her tight!"

Anton swung his Wand again. "Counter-Curse!"

It was the counter-curse to the Displacement Curse, capable of undoing its effects.

The giant snake woke again and writhed in the Golem's grasp.

Anton, meanwhile, collapsed to the ground, gasping. After casting two advanced spells, he was at his limit.

"Let the future Nagini out quickly. Get far away from here. Rosier will attack this place soon. If the blast lifts the big cloth and Rosier sees you, we're done for!"

Pedro hesitated. He could tell Anton was forcing himself to keep going. "But you..."

Anton gave him a cold look. "Stick to the plan. Release the snake, get to Anna, cover yourselves, and hide. Understand?"

The several-hundred-year-old Goblin was clearly a bit slow on the uptake. When Anna had failed just now, he shouldn't have stood there staring. He should have rushed in and restrained Nagini.

Pedro shook his head. "What admirable determination."

Anton had no time for him. He hurried toward their original hiding place. He still had to protect six-year-old Anna.

If Rosier didn't arrive in time when the giant snake attacked Anna, Anton would have to cast a Shield Charm to protect her.

As the Backup Plan, Pedro had to be ready not only to restrain the giant snake, which no one else could manage, but also to protect six-year-old Anna.

But that would expose him, so it was their last resort.

After all, Pedro could easily give himself away in front of the powerful Wizard Rosier, whereas Anton could transform into a magical, invisible little bird without being noticed.

Next came protecting little six-year-old Anna.

The plan could fail, but if Anna ended up getting killed, they'd be well and truly screwed.

Once Anton was hidden, Pedro quickly released the giant snake. With a soft pop, he appeared beside Anna and covered them both with the big cloth.

Anna anxiously grabbed his suit jacket. "Will Anton be all right?"

Pedro sighed. "I don't know."

Anna grew even more agitated. "Then what do we do?"

Pedro looked at the giant snake in the Purple Goblin Golem's grasp. "Though Time Correction has affected things, at least for now, we're still on plan."

Anna could only stare at Anton in the distance. She wished she could cast a Shield Charm that powerful too, so he wouldn't have to fight alone.

The Old Wizard clicked his tongue and sank into the Great Tree once more.

Glug, glug.

Anton downed a large bottle of Potions.

He'd told Pedro to hurry away so he could secretly drink this stuff.

'Stubbornness Phelps' Goblin Potion, a Secret Tradition of the Goblin. It was one of two secret potion recipes Anton had found in Pedro's memories.

The potion had a curious effect. It couldn't change anything, but it could give someone boundless willpower, stubbornly keeping them going.

To put it simply, it was a passive ability to grit your teeth and endure.

Even among the Goblin, only a few knew of this advanced potion, because it touched upon the realm of death.

It could keep someone alive in a miserable but resolute state. That was Pedro's secret to living for several hundred years!

Grit your teeth and endure. Keep it up for centuries and evade death.

If Pedro found out, he'd surely come after Anton.

Of course, all this stuff did was help you grit your teeth.

Anton gasped as he endured the dizziness in his head.

Magical Power in the Harry Potter Wizarding World didn't flow through meridians like Internal Force or Battle Aura. It was probably a force of the mind.

It was born of a person's will, memories, and soul—a formless power.

There wasn't a Magic-Restoring Potion for this stuff.

The simplest way to recover was to sleep. If you were too drained, you just had to sleep for a few days.

Casting the Displacement Soul Curse twice, beyond his ability, had left Anton feeling as if he were about to split apart.

He'd also cast a Shield Charm once and a Levitation Charm once.

He had no Magical Power left to cast any more spells.

But the interesting thing was that the extreme determination brought on by the 'Stubbornness Phelps' potion perfectly meshed with the Old Wizard's teaching: "Wizards as Gods. The will commands everything."

In Anton's eyes, this potion was as good as a second spell system.

"Mother? Mother, are you there? I heard you!"

Six-year-old Anna rubbed her bleary eyes, clutching a Rabbit plushie as she searched all around the Garden.

That Rabbit plushie was her mother's Animagus in Anna's memories. Her mother had told her that this was what she turned into, and that it would always keep Anna company.

An adult's lie had become a misunderstanding that young Anna truly believed.

Memory couldn't always be trusted.

"Ah!"

A gigantic Viper slithered toward her. Its slit pupils fixed on Anna as it flicked its tongue and licked her face.

"Hee-hee-hee." Young Anna was both scared and ticklish, and couldn't help letting out a clear laugh.

In the distance, everyone watched with complicated expressions.

Anton pressed his lips together.

The Old Wizard sighed.

Beneath the big cloth, Anna covered her mouth, but a choked sob still escaped. She looked at Pedro sadly. "I feel like I'm killing my future mother to save my mother from the past. I don't know if this is right or wrong."

"I'm killing her!"

Pedro smiled and patted her head. "Even the Goblin argue endlessly over this paradox, but trust me, this is the right thing to do. She's still herself, no matter what point in time she's in."

"No matter how her memories change, no matter what she's been through, no matter how much she seems to have changed, she's still herself."

"This is our effort, and it's her chance to save herself."

Anna stared blankly at Pedro. She was clever, but she was only ten, and couldn't understand what he meant.

Pedro smiled. "Child, you've already learned all my secrets about the Time-Turner. In the future, you'll follow the same path I did and become a 'Time and Memory Collector and Explorer.' Sooner or later, you'll understand."

The giant snake affectionately rubbed its huge head against six-year-old Anna's face, then reluctantly turned and slithered away.

Beneath the big cloth, Anna watched in confusion. "Even though Mother left too, everything's different now. Doesn't that mean we've changed history?"

Pedro shook his head with a sigh. "Time will correct everything. Just watch. Something will change next, forcibly pulling everything back onto the path Fate intended."

Pop.

A House-elf appeared beside six-year-old Anna, warily watching the giant snake as it looked back at her. "Little Miss, be careful!"

The giant snake hissed. Its tongue flicked, and its slit pupils were cold, filled with nothing but bestial savagery.

"Quick, get away!" The House-elf's expression changed. It grabbed Anna and prepared to Apparate.

Anton, hiding nearby, gripped his Wand tightly.

But the giant snake was far too fast. Whoosh—it instantly coiled around the House-elf's body, its girth as thick as a truck tire tightening rapidly.

Crack.

The House-elf burst like a watermelon beneath a truck wheel.

The giant snake lunged at Anna.

Just then, Anton saw the Old Wizard's hand dart out from the Great Tree. Finally relieved, he began preparing to transform into a Color-Changing Windbird.

His Biomimicry Charm was powerful, but there was one problem: it was still in its early stages and required a long windup. It was slow to cast.

A panicked shout rang out from the Garden entrance. "Nana, no! That's our daughter!"

Yes, Rosier had returned in time.

But the giant snake paid him no attention. It was moving so quickly that Rosier thought his daughter was about to be killed.

"No!"

Countless black mists surged.

Boom.

Heavy Torrential Rain poured from the sky. Rosier found Nagini's body in the rubble, overcome with grief.

At the same time, Anton transformed into a little bird and flew into the sky.