Chapter 197: The Sanctuary Incident, Second Perspective

Unlike the veiled confrontation between the two girls, Ino was standing with a peculiar expression on his face, holding a suitcase on the snowy ground of the sanctuary.

Just a few minutes ago, intrigued by the thought of alchemy with dolls, he had returned alone to the shelter from a secluded corner outside the castle.

He had thought it would be just a routine entry.

But as he entered the sanctuary, he noticed something different.

Ino realized he had an additional perspective in his vision, or rather, his senses. It was like a split-screen on a TV, with two screens showing two different views.

However, what puzzled him was that the second screen was almost entirely black, as if there was some sort of interference affecting it, limiting the view of the surroundings.

Just as he thought about this limitation, he sensed something through the second perspective.

"Huh? It can move..."

Ino raised his head in surprise.

It was a strange sensory experience, like slapping a sponge with thick gloves on. It didn't hurt much, but there was still a tangible feeling.

This discovery piqued his interest.

Yes, interest. In the sanctuary, there was no room for worry or fear; there was no safer place than this.

With his interest piqued, he decided not to design any dolls and sat down to explore the mystery of this second perspective.

...

Time ticked by.

"A rectangular space..."

Sitting on the ground, Ino rested his chin on his hand, carefully calculating the experience he had just had.

In the second perspective, he could move, although he wasn't sure of the speed.

Assuming the distance moved each time was the same, by exploring up, down, left, and right repeatedly and noting the time differences with each touch, he roughly deduced that the second perspective was in a closed rectangular space.

"Rectangular... closed..." Ino immediately turned to look at his suitcase.

He chuckled and shook his head. Although the suitcase met the criteria, the invisible extension space shouldn't be pitch black unless it was in Muggle mode...

"Muggle mode! Rectangular!"

As if he suddenly remembered something, Ino decisively opened the suitcase in Muggle mode.

Inside were a few ordinary clothes, a small bag of candies, and a shrunken single wardrobe, only about a foot tall.

Although he already had a guess in his mind, he still carefully opened the wardrobe.

A streak of light pierced the sky, illuminating the dark night!

Of course, this was in the second perspective.

Opening the shrunken wardrobe revealed a small black mist.

He was very familiar with this object; it was the Boggart that Lupin had given him after a Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

Initially, it had been kept in his bedroom, but considering Draco's feelings, he had to use a shrinking spell on the wardrobe and put it in his suitcase.

Two months had passed, and what should have been forgotten reappeared in a different form.

Looking at the mist in the wardrobe, Ino felt like he was looking in a mirror, as in the second perspective, he saw himself, a giant face.

"Not a spirit, nor a magical creature... just a mass of conscious emotion..."

At this moment, he realized that everyone had misunderstood the Boggart.

The black mist in front of him was merely a mass of emotions brought together by magic, unlike wild Boggarts which had independent consciousness.

Perhaps because of this, it perfectly evaded the sanctuary's mechanisms, as it was a lifeless mass of emotions. The Boggart had merely been stripped of its consciousness, not completely obliterated.

Considering the precedent of Voldemort's Horcruxes, which also lacked physical form but existed in a soul state, it made sense that this entity wasn't completely erased.

Ino calculated in his mind while carefully observing the black mist before him.

"Light, floaty mist. Without a physical form, it should be able to fly..."

As soon as he had this thought, the mist began to float gently in his vision.

In a short amount of time, Ino realized that the misty Boggart could move freely with his thoughts, much like controlling a remote-controlled car.

Unlike the limited perspective of remote-controlled toys, the Boggart had a 360° unobstructed view, truly showcasing the mobility of a spirit-like entity.

As the novelty wore off, Ino leaned back on the snowy ground, lost in thought.

"I wonder if the fear is still there..."

He couldn't help but recall his conversations with Lupin, or rather, the notes Lupin had written. The notes mentioned that Boggarts had a lot in common with nightmares.

Both lacked physical forms and fed on fear.

Of course, these were just speculations, based on a thorough understanding of nightmares.

However, no one in the wizarding world had ever seen a nightmare, let alone understood one.

Thus, all records about nightmares remained mere conjecture and legend.

...

While Ino was contemplating in the shelter, the corridor on the first basement level of the castle had entered an intense confrontation.

Daphne looked upset, especially as more people gathered to watch. Not only did her verbal sparring not gain any advantage, but she was also repeatedly ridiculed by her opponent.

"So how long do you plan to block the way? Instead of wasting time here, you should read more books to avoid talking nonsense."

Hermione's eyes sharpened.

She noticed that the surrounding crowd was all Slytherin girls, and beside her were only Harry and Ron.

Ron, realizing the situation was getting dangerous, knew that unlike boys who just watched for fun, Slytherin witches were serious about fighting.

Ron whispered to Harry, "Mate, if a fight breaks out, take Hermione and run! My brothers are many; they won't do much to me."

In his heart, Ron had another half of a sentence he didn't say: no matter what, his surname was Weasley.

Although he didn't agree with pure-blood ideals, he was still a legitimate member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families, and the Slytherins would have to be cautious.

Harry didn't say anything, just nodded slightly and clenched his fist. Surrounded by dozens of girls, his instinct for running away, honed in his Muggle elementary school days, hadn't been forgotten.

"Move aside!" a voice shouted.

As the voice fell, Daphne quickly stepped aside, followed by the surrounding Slytherin girls.

Snape walked through the crowd with an expressionless face. He first glanced at Harry, then turned his gaze to the defiant Hermione Granger.

On his way here, Malfoy had already told him what happened, but the scene still made him feel a bit dazed.

Once, there had been another Gryffindor girl.

On a weekend after the start of their first year, she naively went alone to the Slytherin common room to find her friend.

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