Brainstorming

"The author? Who is the author of this book?"

When Stephanie asked the question, Sean realized that he had forgotten such a key person.

Who exactly wrote this Collection of Greedy Poet's Stories "?

He quickly leaned closer, and Stephanie swiftly closed the book; the author wasn't listed on the cover.

Turning to the title page, there was nothing there either.

The author's name was missing from the last page, the spine, and even after searching the entire book, Stephanie couldn't find it.

This is a book without an author.

The two exchanged a glance and decided to start reading the first story from the beginning.

However, the first story was a bit cliché. The protagonist was still Bard, but this time the Bard solved a major incident in the kingdom and was loved by the people.

As you continue reading, the main character remains the same. The second story is about Bard who meets a woman he falls in love with, pursues her relentlessly but to no avail, and finally leaves dejectedly.

This book, "The Collection of Greedy Poet's Stories," isn't very thick, especially since each story is illustrated; a quick read through the entire book won't take too much time.

The two huddled together and quickly turned to the last page.

The last story was about Bard's wicked alchemical experiments, and the two of them even felt a slight dizziness after staring at it for a while.

Sean raised his head, shook it, and frowned as he said, "Although most of them are dark stories, fables, and fairy tales, they are not related to each other."

"The only common thread is that Bard appear in every story, mostly from the perspective of the storyteller," Stephanie added.

"But the image of the Bard in the illustrations is rarely consistent, and there are no key points connecting the various stories—after the story of ' The Poet and the Greedy Wisdom Snake,' the next story becomes a story of Bard and a medieval vampire scheming against each other..." Sean said.

After a moment of contemplation, Stephanie said, "I feel that perhaps those are all the Bard ' real experiences. After all, if we exclude that story, the other stories at least have a gradual change."

"Hmm, how so?" Sean asked, puzzled.

"Think back, aside from that story, in all the other stories, the Bard's character becomes increasingly dark and despicable—it's less a collection of stories and more like the Bard's process of depravity, though of course, we don't know how he fell into that trap."

Sean recalled that, just as Stephanie had said, the Bard was slowly turning bad. In the final evil alchemical experiment, the Bard even killed an entire village of innocent residents, making him utterly wicked.

"Then what was the purpose of the authors who recorded these stories? Was it to reveal the evil truth about Bard to the world?" Sean pondered.

Stephanie shook her head. "There's no definite answer to that, but I'm curious about the relationship between this author and the Bard."

Sean pondered, "If this author and the Bard were enemies, how could he possibly reveal the Bard's evil nature to the world by leaving behind such a vague collection of stories? If he were a friend, family member, or descendant, there would be no need to write all this..."

"This is clearly not a fairy tale that can be mass-produced—" Stephanie patted the strange, heavy cover. "The author must have written it to convey some kind of message."

"The Poet and the Greedy Wisdom Snake, that's the message the author wants to convey. He/she/it is revealing a truth—as for why it is expressed so subtly instead of in a straightforward way, I have a guess."

Stephanie speaks at a steady and rapid pace, with equally clear enunciation, giving people a very reliable feeling.

Sean hadn't expected the other person to have thought of so much, and he became interested. "Tell me about it."

"That new world, the Realm of Illusion you told me about, is a place between the living and the dead. Obviously, the illusory environment is very special—" The silver-haired girl spoke as she walked, patting a stone wall as she did so. The wooden door opened, and she waved her wand, releasing two velvet armchairs from the Room of Requirement.

"Let's sit down and talk," Stephanie said, pushing a chair towards her.

After Sean sat down, she curled up in the chair, hugged her knees, and stared blankly at the library ceiling.

"The Realm of Illusion is special enough, and the slain Wisdom Snake and Robin must also be among the most special in this special world, otherwise the Realm of Illusion wouldn't have started to collapse after their deaths."

"Then can we assume that the Wisdom Snake and the Robin are, in a sense, the rulers of the Realm of Illusion —those who go there must pass seven trials before they can see the Robin, and the Wisdom Snake can drive away the final test-taker right under the Robin's nose?"

"This means they are likely beings that transcend ordinary wizards..." Stephanie paused, then secretly glanced at Sean's thoughtful expression. A slight smile crept onto the girl's lips as she continued her explanation in greater detail.

"They may have represented the rights of the Realm of Illusion, and the Bard killed them and took a piece of the Black Gem. So, it's quite possible that the Bard also possessed some of the abilities of the Wisdom Snake and the Robin —just as we both have some access to the Room of Requirement."

Sean nodded as he thought about it. Although they were all guesses, everything made sense. Stephanie's mind worked quickly and was very sharp.

The Silver-haired Girl continued, "We liken Hogwarts to Realm of Illusion. If Bard had the same access to the Room of Requirement as we do, or even more..."

"Then he can [watch over] everyone in the castle, just like we do." Sean's eyes lit up; he knew what Stephanie was talking about.

"That's right," Stephanie agreed. "We won't monitor the other people in the castle, but the Bard will."

Sean continued, "So, the author of this ' Collection of Greedy Poet's Stories ' might very well be a being from Realm of Illusion?"

"Yes, that Bard might be an incredibly powerful wizard in reality, and in the Realm of Illusion he might be the supreme being who controls the survival of the creatures within—although it's just speculation, I think it's the most reasonable explanation." Stephanie slowly lowered her head, which had been tilted back, and then rested it on her knees.

"Therefore, it dared not write in too much detail, much less be too explicit, and only dared to use the form of fables to imply it." Sean clenched his right fist and gently tapped it against the palm of his left hand.

"Hmm—" Stephanie tilted her head, her tone becoming languid at some point. "Actually, we can also know that when the Bard killed the Wisdom Snake and the Robin at the end, there were one or more other pairs of eyes that saw this scene, and the author was one of them."

"If we can find that bystander, maybe we can find out the truth behind the whole story," Sean said.

The girl tilted her head. "That's true, but there's a problem. The Realm of Illusion should be in ruins now, but it still retains the function of a transit station between the mortal world and hell. We are all living people, so how do we get into the Realm of Illusion?"

Sean rubbed his forehead and gave a wry smile. Yeah, how do we get in?

Actually, Sean does know a guest in this Realm of Illusion...

The Sin of Pride, the colossal fire Giant Sean, resides in the illusory realm. Furthermore, Sean can even appear in the Realm of Illusion as a spirit, utilizing the Obscurus and his connection to the Sin.

But the only place he could move was that tiny patch of land on the Sky Island; as far as the eye could see outside, it was all lava...

You can't exactly ask [Pride]: "Hey, you big oaf residing in my body, tell me everything you know about what happened in the Realm of Illusion back then."

Aside from this possibility, another way to enter the Realm of Illusion is like Harry in the original story—he was unintentionally made into the seventh Horcrux by Voldemort, and when Voldemort struck Harry with the Killing Curse, a fragment of Voldemort's Soul Fragment blocked the curse for him, and then Harry went to the Realm of Illusion.

Putting aside the immense risks, what Harry saw when he went in was King's Cross Station, a projection of his own inner self—how he ended up in the mysterious world he was in was still unknown.

Of course, there's another direction— the Returners surely know...

"I need to know this secret so I can deal with you and the leader I've guessed you have. Tell me."

Only someone who'd drunk a whole bucket of Felix Felicis could do something like this...

Seeing Sean deep in thought, Stephanie said softly, "You don't need to be so troubled right now. Our guesses haven't been confirmed yet, and the hidden meaning in the story hasn't been fully explained."

"Yes, I know..." Sean smiled at the girl.

Stephanie did remind him of something: there's no need to be so distressed right now.

If there were anyone in the world besides those involved who knew this story, Sean could only think of two people.

Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald.

Even when Sean thought of Dumbledore, many thoughts had already popped into his head.

In his conjecture, Dumbledore and the Returners had made Unbreakable Vow, and it was clearly unrealistic to expect to learn the secrets of the Returners from Dumbledore.

But could this answer a question that has been troubling Sean: Why did Dumbledore choose to cooperate with the Returners?

Perhaps it was because of the truth of this story that Dumbledore made such a decision.

As for Grindelwald, he most likely doesn't know this story, and neither the Old Grindelwald nor the Young Grindelwald are in a position to discuss matters.

But when next year, in 1996, Grindelwald merged into one, and the effects of the Time Incident were eliminated. With his memories complete, would Grindelwald know more?

Sean is inclined to believe that, and perhaps even to believe, Grindelwald's incredibly long time travel might be related to all of this.

Thinking of this, Sean stretched.

"Sitting here in the middle of the night trying to figure things out won't yield any results, but today wasn't without its gains. At least we learned some more secret things that we can connect to many current events."

"Mmm," Stephanie responded softly.

"Let's go back and rest first, it's so late... Hmm?"

Not hearing a reply, Sean moved closer in confusion.

Stephanie, curled up in the chair, was breathing softly and steadily. She was hugging herself tightly, and her eyes were closed.

"Stephanie? Asleep?" Sean was speechless.

He leaned closer and could see the other person's eyelashes trembling slightly, their delicate and flawless face, and the weariness between their brows.

Sean then realized that Stephanie's incredible "Quantum Reading" ability and super memory didn't come without a price; it wasn't as easy as she made it out to be.

She had clearly expended a great deal of energy to harness her talent, and had just been racking her brains over the whole thing.

She must be exhausted...

Sean sighed softly and looked around.

She can't sleep here... Let's take her back to bed.

Sean thought for a moment, then took out his wand.

He unleashed an immense, abundant power upon himself, which instantly filled his body.

Then, Sean simply picked up the chair.

He went into the Room of Requirement and then into Stephanie's private little room, which was all hers.

After placing the chair beside the bed, Sean hesitated for a moment before picking up Stephanie.

The girl was as light as a feather, and even though the effect of Sean's Power Curse had worn off, it was effortless for him to pick up this sixth-grade senior.

However, Sean had no intention of enjoying the other's beautiful body. He quickly and gently carried Stephanie to the bed and covered her with a blanket.

"I should go back to sleep too..." Sean stretched and walked outside.

As soon as he took a step, Sean inadvertently discovered a piece of parchment on the desk in the room.

One corner of the parchment was charred, and on it were delicate, cursive characters.

A list of Hogwarts' secret rooms and known ways to enter.

This is...

Sean picked up the parchment in surprise; he had seen this parchment before.

He was trapped in Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets of Secrets, and the day after his return, he found the paper in the Room of Requirement, but at the time, Sean didn't think much of it.

However, he is now much more familiar with Stephanie than before, and naturally can recognize her handwriting.

This parchment was written by her at that time...

Sean, holding the paper, unconsciously glanced back.

The silver-haired girl was still soundly asleep.

Sean sighed silently, carefully put the parchment back in its place, and then tiptoed out of the room.

He closed the wooden door and said one last thing in a low voice.

Good night, sweet dreams.

On the bed, the silver-haired girl seemed to be having a sweet dream, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, her sleeping face peaceful and beautiful.