The Space Where Death Resided
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Seventh Floor the Main Tower of Hogwarts, in front of the Headmaster's Office.
"Is everything ready?" Headmaster Dippet adjusted his hat and asked solemnly.
The four deans and Professor Woflin spent three days resting and have now fully recovered. They nodded to the former president in turn, indicating that they were ready.
"No problem, we can leave anytime," Dumbledore nodded in agreement.
Headmaster Dippet nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to Ghost Xiwen and asked, "Doctor Strange, are you currently able to connect to the space where Death resides?"
"Yes, but some preliminary preparations are needed," Xiwen said, then raised his hand and drew a circle, opening a Dimensional Gate.
Behind the golden halo of the Dimensional Gate lies a lush tropical rainforest, shrouded in mist, with towering trees reaching for the sky and countless vibrant green plants rising up.
On the ground, puddles were everywhere. The afternoon sun suddenly pierced through the gaps in the trees, shining on the shallow puddles and reflecting a golden light.
In the primeval forest that blocks out the sky, there are giant trees with strange buttress roots that I have never seen before, and all kinds of exotic flowers and fruits, natural wonders, are everywhere.
However, there is one particularly strange area in this rainforest.
Looking through the Dimensional Gate into the distance, one can vaguely see another direction of the rainforest, which, unlike the lushness nearby, appears exceptionally barren and desolate. The ground there is covered with black powder, and few creatures linger.
"This is... Indonesia?" Dumbledore paused for a moment upon seeing the forest, then turned his gaze to Xiwen.
"That's right, this is the forest of Indonesia, and also the former stronghold of one of Death's followers," Xiwen nodded. "I need a suitable place to connect the present world with the alternate dimension where Death's true form resides, so that I can find the seal left behind by the Peverell Brothers."
After briefly observing the current state of the rainforest and confirming that there were no dangerous places, Xiwen took the lead in crossing the light circle of the Dimensional Gate and drifting towards that desolate and barren region.
In that area, many charred, dead trees still stand precariously, bearing witness to the devastation of the forest that once devoured all life.
Fortunately, a thin layer of green grass has already covered the ground covered with black powder. These tenacious little lives can still radiate vitality in a barren land where no life has been preserved.
The professors followed Xiwen across the Dimensional Gate, stepping onto the damp ground filled with puddles and low bushes.
In late autumn, November, the air here is much warmer than in the Scottish Highlands where Hogwarts is located.
The professors had made thorough preparations for leaving the castle, but these preparations proved somewhat unnecessary upon arriving in the rainforest... They were all wearing heavy wizard robes and large cashmere scarves, and immediately felt the heat upon entering the Indonesia rainforest.
"Strange, I think next time you should tell us where you're going first, to prevent a situation like today from happening again," Dumbledore said to Xiwen as he took off his leather gloves and fleece cloak and tucked them into his top hat, which was enchanted with Undetectable Extension Charm.
"It was indeed my oversight," Xiwen said apologetically, turning back with a smile to the professors. "To be honest, I'm just a ghost, I have no sense of temperature, so I inadvertently overlooked that..."
"It's alright, Doctor Strange, you can continue with your work." Professor Merrythought smiled understandingly at Xiwen. "Don't forget, we are wizards, there's no need to worry about such a small matter!"
As she spoke, she pointed her wand at her heavy wizard robes, and the thick robes instantly became thin and delicate, transforming from winter clothes into summer attire. Her scarf also quickly narrowed and thinned, eventually turning into a necklace that she wore around her neck.
The other professors followed Transformation and transformed their clothes as well. Those who were too lazy to Transformation their clothes had other methods, such as taking off their coats like Dumbledore and stuffing them into their portable, Undetectable Extension Container.
Seeing that the professors had finished tidying up the clothes with magic, Xiwen once again raised his hand and drew a Dimensional Gate to retrieve the Invisibility Cloak, one of the Deathly Hallows. As a precaution, the Invisibility Cloak had been kept in the Room of Requirement, jointly guarded by Xiwen and Helena.
"Headmaster, are you sure you've obtained Mr. Potter's consent?" Xiwen asked, looking at the Cloak that still resembled a fluid mass without energy support.
"Yes, after Charlus heard that we needed to use the Potter Family's Invisibility Cloak to solve the Wizarding World's problems, he even wrote a letter home to ask for the opinion of the current true owner of the invisibility Cloak, Fremonta Potter," Headmaster Dippet said.
Fortunately, the helpful Potter family was more than willing to temporarily entrust us with the use of the Deathly Hallows.
"That's good." Xiwen breathed a sigh of relief and nodded gently.
Then, a deep black magic circle suddenly appeared in his hand. The shape of this magic circle was like a lifelike demon's head, as if it would pounce on Xiwen ferociously at any moment.
Under Xiwen's manipulation, an extremely malevolent black mist-like energy slowly approached the Invisibility Cloak and eventually came into contact with it, gradually becoming clear and transparent.
Seeing the energy begin to take effect, Xiwen followed the steps the Dark Knight had described three days earlier, skillfully condensing the transparent fabric into a fist-sized sphere. The sphere was a crystal-clear white, like a piece of exquisite and warm white jade.
The next moment, Xiwen's eyes shone brightly, and at the same time, a ripple, like countless shattered mirrors, swept across the professors and Xiwen's figure.
They arrived in the Mirror Dimension.
"Can you see that gap up ahead, which occasionally emits a dark aura?" Xiwen asked the professors, one hand supporting the white jade sphere formed from the Invisibility Cloak, the other manipulating the magic circle in front of him.
Dumbledore stepped forward, his brow furrowed deeply.
"I remember this area," he said with a grave expression. "I came to this rainforest in Indonesia to investigate the strange phenomena in the forest, and I even took care of a follower of the Death Reaper back then."
"So, does this dark rift represent the passage through which Death projects its power into the mortal world?"
"That's right." Xiwen nodded. "I want to use this special dimension of the Mirror Dimension as a window to indirectly connect the present world with the alternate dimension where Death resides."
"The advantage of this method is that it can avoid mistakes and prevent accidental damage to the seal, which could lead to the unintended release of Death; and it can also utilize the power of the Mirror Dimension to prevent Death from affecting the present world for a short period of time."
Dumbledore nodded. "So what are the drawbacks?"
"The downside is that the visual impact might be quite strong," Xiwen chuckled.
"Get ready, you're about to face Death!"
Xiwen looked at the professors, his smile gradually fading, and his expression becoming very serious.
Headmaster Dippet and the five heads of the main subjects immediately became serious, raising their wands in front of them and staring intently at the dark slit in front of them.
Seeing this, Xiwen took a deep breath and formed a hand seal with his left hand, changing the location of the Mirror Dimension.
The image in the Mirror Dimension behind the dark crevice immediately changed, gradually transforming from this desolate and barren rainforest into another color—
Blood-red light blotted out the sun, and a gloomy, blood-red world appeared before everyone's eyes.
Towering mountain peaks rose abruptly from the crimson ground, all appearing as if stained with scarlet blood, stretching as far as the eye could see.
In the gloomy purgatory, endless skeletal phantoms floated in mid-air, constantly shifting their incomplete bodies.
Seven or eight enormous mountains of bones stood tall, and an endless river of blood flowed among the corpses...
In the center of this space, a tall figure sat on a Bone Throne. Behind him hung a jet-black cloak, the hem of which was covered with countless skull-like phantoms that struggled and howled incessantly, trying to drag the cloak's owner into the surrounding river of blood, but to no avail, like an ant trying to shake a tree.
Just as the image in the Mirror Dimension became completely complete, the figure on the Bone Throne slowly raised its head, revealing a pair of eyes radiating a scarlet light to Xiwen and the others...