Ian Prince.
That was the name Ian had in this life.
Actually,
he had no idea how long he'd been traveling between worlds.
Unlike many who found themselves in another world as soon as they closed and reopened their eyes, Ian hadn't been reincarnated immediately after dying unexpectedly as a college student in his previous life.
His consciousness had drifted through a stretch of years so hazy he could barely piece together any memories. It was as though he had been flying the whole time, passing through many places and seeing many things he couldn't remember.
Now that he thought back on it,
Ian didn't know why he'd had that experience. It hadn't felt like he was searching for some lost sheep. It had seemed more like aimless wandering, his soul without a home.
Until a light appeared.
He flew toward it.
Only then did he open his eyes again and see a world that was both familiar and strange.
As a transmigrator, Ian had the usual cheat abilities. Aside from his status panel, the fact that he could cross the boundary between life and death seemed to have become his unique talent.
Once every week, while he slept, Ian would come to this strange place—the place the simple, innocent little girl before him called Limbo.
That was right, Limbo—the realm of the dead in the Harry Potter world. Some said it was a waystation on the road to the underworld; others said it was the path souls took to the next life... From what Ian had learned about Harry Potter in his previous life, he only knew that after Dumbledore died, he appeared in a train station in Limbo.
He guessed that he could come here because he had died and come back to life, and because he had the wisdom of two lifetimes—maybe he'd gotten caught in a glitch in this world?
Forgive him for only having watched a few movies and read some fanfiction instead of boning up on all the related lore. If he'd known he was going to transmigrate, he would've become a Harry Potter scholar in his previous life.
Of course,
perhaps even a Harry Potter scholar wouldn't know much about this place. Otherwise, Limbo wouldn't have remained one of the most mysterious locations in the original story.
"You look a little shaken."
The girl before him was a ghost who didn't even know how long she'd been dead. Even so, Ariana had retained the innocence and childishness she'd had in life.
She was one of the few friends Ian had in this place.
As for Limbo,
Ian had always thought it was a treasure trove. Young wizards usually only awakened to Level 1 magic control, but Ian had reached Level 4.
That was because he'd studied here.
Of course,
not with the girl before him. Ariana was an ordinary person who knew no magic. Ian had learned magic control from another friend.
It was just that
the other one had always refused to teach him real magic, insisting he was too young and all that.
"A terrifying old man! It's because of a terrifying old man!"
There was emphasis in Ian's voice.
"Why do you say he's terrifying? Does he look scary?"
Ariana asked curiously.
Ian and Ariana began to stroll together. He shook his head and explained,
"No, he doesn't look scary. On the contrary, he's quite a refined old man. It's just that he's a peeping tom. Well, at least I heard he was a peeping tom."
"Aren't you curious why he came to see me, Ariana?"
The two of them reached a river. A few butterflies fluttered around them, chasing one another, while a little rabbit peeked out from beneath a tree, watching them from behind.
Sunlight spilled over the scene, softening it.
"Why did he come to see you? To spy on you while you bathed?"
The girl's words left Ian speechless.
"He came to invite me to study at Hogwarts, Ariana. I really am a wizard with an official registration!" Ian boasted, watching the river flow by.
He hadn't been that old in his previous life, either. Though he'd drifted for ages, he'd spent most of that time in a daze... To sum it up, he was a ghost who was only a little better off than Ariana.
How else could the two of them have become friends?
They had to have something in common, after all.
"Hogwarts? I know it. I still remember Hogwarts. It's the best wizarding school in the world! And it's also the safest place in the world!"
Ariana looked at Ian in delight.
"Ian, if you run into trouble at Hogwarts, you can ask my two brothers for help. They're students there, and they're very kind."
She was clearly eager to help.
But—
"I'm definitely going to run into trouble."
Ian stuck his legs into the river, then flopped down on the grass and spoke with a hint of resignation. "Your brothers are students. How powerful can they be? This year, or maybe next year, our school's going to get the Noseless Freak. That thing's not something ordinary people can handle."
Ian was also a little worried about Voldemort.
He could avoid getting involved with the Chosen One, but who knew if he might become collateral damage while studying at school? Only a fool would believe Hogwarts was really the safest place.
"The Noseless Freak?"
Ariana tilted her head in confusion.
"Yeah. He's a big bad who's about to come back to life."
Perhaps because this place was cut off from reality, and because the person before him was an old friend, Ian hadn't hidden the fact that he "knew the future."
He'd shared plenty of things that sounded like prophecies before.
But Ariana had never been curious about them.
"Is the Noseless Freak really powerful? Ian, my two brothers are both very strong."
Ariana was quite serious.
Ian sat up and asked curiously, "Are your two brothers twins?"
When he thought of twins, Ian immediately thought of the Weasley family. But Ariana's hair was the wrong color, and he'd never heard of the Weasley family having a sister who died young.
Was she from some other magical family?
One of the twenty-eight pure-blood families?
He couldn't figure it out. Ian scratched his head and asked again, "You really can't remember your last name?"
Ariana shook her head, looking dejected.
Ian blinked. "Then how am I supposed to ask your brothers for help?"
"My brothers..."
Ariana had the look of someone lost in memory, but she couldn't remember anything about her brothers. She only remembered having two brothers who loved her dearly, and that she was waiting for them here.
"It seems I'm close to completely forgetting my obsession and my past."
Ariana's eyes turned sad. She propped her cheek on her hand and gazed at the flowing river.
Ian hurried to comfort her, awkward and unsure what to do. "In Limbo, souls linger because of their attachments. When your attachment fades, or you forget everything, it'll be time to move on to the next life."
"That isn't a bad thing."
Ian looked at Ariana with clear eyes, only to see her eyes suddenly turn red.
"But my brothers..."
Ariana choked on her words.
This...
Ian didn't know how to comfort her, so he could only pull out the chocolate he'd prepared earlier and say, "Here, you can have it. I was going to save it for myself."
He'd bought the chocolate ahead of time and tucked it in his pocket. He hadn't just forgotten it there.
"Chocolate! Ian, you're so kind!"
Ariana brightened at the sight of the chocolate. She broke into a smile through her tears, then took a bite. Even so, she couldn't help saying, "I really want to see my brothers one more time."
Ian scratched his head and looked at the girl's profile.
"I'll ask around when I get back. Maybe I'll find out whose family lost a sister. If I tell you, perhaps you'll remember and get to stay here a few more years."
"Everyone dies eventually. Just hang in there until they die, and then you'll see them here." Ian said it to Ariana with complete seriousness.
Ariana looked delighted and grateful. "Thank you for trying to comfort me, Ian. But you can't go and kill them just so my brothers and I can be together again."
Good grief!
Was she giving him a new idea?
Ian: "."
He didn't even know how to roll his eyes at that.
"What kind of evil weirdo do you take me for?"
Ian looked innocent.
"The witch who lives in the castle said you had that kind of nature."
Seeing Ian's speechless expression, Ariana couldn't help laughing.
The witch in the castle?
Ian sensed something and glanced behind him at the castle hidden in the forest. He'd heard a little about it.
Limbo was vast, though, and he wasn't capable of exploring much of it yet.
Just then, he felt a cool touch against his palm.
Ian turned and saw Ariana take his hand, smiling at him. "Ian, thank you for being so kind. This is also my congratulations on your starting school..."
"I want to give you a present."
As she spoke, Ian soon felt warmth spreading from her hand. He looked down and saw a vivid red glow flow from Ariana's hand into his.
An intricate pattern appeared on the back of his hand, then quickly faded away.
"What is this?"
Ian had barely asked when the surroundings began to blur and distort. The person before him grew indistinct, too.
He knew
he was about to leave, so he made no attempt to resist.
"See you next week."
Ian smiled and waved goodbye.
Ariana smiled and waved back.
"See you next week."