0397 The Limit

'The Dementors are wizards who have split their souls multiple times – So, what is the limit?'

As Bryan's mind raced with this question, he couldn't help but connect dots with Voldemort. From what Bryan had pieced together, Voldemort had created at least four Horcruxes: Ravenclaw's diadem; Hufflepuff's cup; Slytherin's locket, and the diary. Harry is an unintentional Horcrux, a fact known only to Dumbledore and himself- even Voldemort is likely unaware that he accidentally created this Horcrux.

That makes five in total.

Given Bryan's understanding of Horcrux magic and his knowledge of souls, it seemed impossible for Voldemort to have created multiple Horcruxes beyond a certain point. At some stage, the loss of soul would be enough to drive a person insane. Judging from Voldemort's behavior, he hadn't yet gone mad.

Moreover, as the soul split approaches some limit, would the main wizard even retain the ability to actively split their soul?

The agitation in Bryan's eyes subsided a little, as he pondered these deeply.

Probably not - creating a Horcrux is no easy feat. Bryan had personally witnessed the torment suffered by wizards who failed in their attempts to achieve immortality through Horcruxes. If, as Gryffindor and Ravenclaw had claimed, Dementors were indeed wizards who had split their souls too many times, then "too many" likely meant an astounding number - perhaps a dozen or more!

This realization led to another perplexing question: If even a wizard as powerful Voldemort hadn't achieved such a feat, could there have really been so many wizards throughout history capable of rivaling or surpassing Voldemort's power?

The answer was impossible.

Therefore, these poor souls were likely controlled by the inventor of Horcruxes and the origin of all these schemes--Herpo the Foul. 

The more Bryan considered this possibility, the more convinced he became. Herpo must have used some method to force other wizards to split their souls against their will.

The Blood Curse spell was evidence enough of Herpo's mastery of soul magic.

Many puzzles were solved after the two Hogwarts founders revealed the true nature of Dementors, but at the same time, new questions arose.

Sirius felt like he had returned to his ignorant student days. Of everyone present, he was the most clueless. He blinked his eyes expectantly, hoping Bryan would say something, but Bryan, noticing his confusion, only shook his head slightly and said.

"Let's keep watching,"

The scene before them continued to unfold. Gryffindor, having confirmed that the Dementors could not be directly destroyed by force, lifted his magical suppression on the outer ring of the soul-sucking creatures. The effect was immediate and surprising.

The freed Dementors, rather than launching into a frenzied attack on the two Hogwarts founders as one might expect, began to emit strange, high-pitched squeaking cries and scrambled to flee - this at least proved one thing: these monsters could feel fear, even if that fear stemmed from instinct rather than conscious emotion.

The carefree Gryffindor sheathed his sword and dusted off his hands, paying no mind to this detail. Ravenclaw, however, had a glint in her ice-blue eyes as she observed this scene.

"We've finally confirmed some things!" Gryffindor exclaimed, his voice booming with an enthusiasm that seemed almost out of place given the grim nature of their discoveries. But such was Gryffindor's nature - eternally optimistic. Even though he knew what kind of opponent they were facing, there wasn't a trace of worry on his face.

Ravenclaw's response was more measured. Her lips were pursed in thought as she gently stroked the diadem on top of her head. The crown seemed to come alive under her touch. It emitted a soft, otherworldly glow, pulsing with a mysterious power that reached out towards the battered Dementor before them.

In a display of magic that left even Bryan awestruck, the diadem began to absorb the Dementor. It was as if the creature was being drawn into the magical artifact, it's dark essence was sealed away within the gleaming diadem.

"I'll take it back to study with Helga and Salazar," Ravenclaw said, her voice calm despite the extraordinary feat she had just performed. Then, without missing a beat, her piercing gaze turned towards a distant point on the island. "Let's go take a look over there, Godric. I sense something."

With those words hanging in the air, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor vanished from where they stood.

"That place!" Sirius exclaimed, his voice a mix of recognition and dread. Among the four of them, Sirius was the most familiar with the layout of Azkaban. Bryan eager to follow the founders was about to take flight, when Sirius's face suddenly drained of color. His eyes, wide with a mix of fear and excitement, darted to the small, barred windows dotting the exterior of the high tower looming over them.

"Remember what I told you?" Sirius said, his voice barely above a whisper. "That stone pillar you were so interested in - it's in the ruins in that direction!"

"Let's go and have a look," was all Bryan said in response.

As they approached, the landscape transformed dramatically. Where once there had been nothing but bleak, windswept rock, there now sprawled a vast expanse of ancient ruins. Bryan, surveying the scene from above, felt a jolt of recognition. The crumbling structures below matched perfectly with the architectural style of the temple he had seen at the center of Avalon Island.

So, he immediately confirmed that the temple at the center of Avalon Island had been relocated from this very spot.

Sirius, noticing Bryan's intense focus on the ruins, felt compelled to share what he knew. "When I was in Azkaban, this entire area was submerged underwater. It was only at certain times of the year, when the sea receded, that you could catch a glimpse of these ruins."

Bryan nodded, acknowledging Sirius's information while his gaze zeroed in on a tall, rough-hewn stone pillar that dominated the center of the ruins.

It was the same scale and form as the pillars used to construct Stonehenge.

As they drew closer, they could see that Ravenclaw and Gryffindor were already there, examining the pillar with intense focus. Ravenclaw had one hand pressed against the ancient stone, her eyes closed in deep concentration.

"This is a seal," Ravenclaw said calmly, breaking the tense silence that had fallen over the group. "I can feel that this pillar doesn't exist alone. Far in the distance, there are other structures that share the same source of power as this one."

Gryffindor, who had been circling the pillar with his head tilted back in curious examination, stopped in his tracks at Ravenclaw's words. He reached out, tapping the pillar with his finger as if testing its solidity.

"In that case," he said, his voice rich with interest, "The one who left it here must be Merlin?"

"It should be so," Ravenclaw agreed.

Merlin—

Sirius, who had been struggling to keep up with the rapid revelations, felt his jaw drop. He turned to Bryan, expecting to see an equally shocked expression, but found only calm acceptance on his friend's face. Sirius felt a wave of numbness wash over him as he realized just how many earth-shattering secrets he had stumbled upon in such a short time.

Ravenclaw's voice cut through Sirius's daze. "I can open it, Godric," she said, her eyes flicking to where Gryffindor's hand rested on the hilt of his sword. There was a note of caution in her voice as she added, "But, I'm just not sure if we should."

"We were guided here to this island, Rowena," Gryffindor said in a deep voice. "He must have known what we would do."

Ravenclaw nodded slightly, clearly in agreement with Gryffindor's assessment. Without further discussion, she turned her full attention to the task at hand.

The diadem of wisdom, that powerful artifact of Ravenclaw's own creation, lifted gently from her head. It hovered in the air above the stone pillar, seeming to glow with an inner light that grew stronger by the second.

Suddenly, a beam of pure white light shot from the crystal-studded diadem, engulfing the ancient pillar in its radiance. As the light touched the rough stone surface, an extraordinary transformation took place. A 'star curtain' - there was no other way to describe it - materialized on the pillar's surface. Countless pinpricks of light, like stars in a night sky, began to move in intricate, predetermined orbits across the stone.

Under the continued illumination from Ravenclaw's diadem, the star-like points of light began to accelerate. What had started as a mesmerizing dance soon became a dizzying spectacle, the 'stars' moved so quickly that they blurred into streaks of light across the pillar's surface.

As the stellar display reached a fever pitch, the entire massive pillar began to vibrate. The tremors spread quickly, causing the very island beneath their feet to shake. The black rocks that made up the ground began to crack and shift.

"What is this thing?" Sirius asked, his brow furrowed in a mix of awe and apprehension.

"Magical operation nodes,"

This time, it was Bryan's turn to be at a loss.

For Bryan, a somewhat skilled alchemist with years of experience and a vast repository of magical knowledge, to be rendered nearly speechless was a testament to the extraordinary nature of what they were witnessing. In all his years of study, among all the magical artifacts and alchemical tools he had encountered, nothing came close to the sheer complexity and power of the magical circuit nodes etched into this ancient pillar.

It wasn't just the seal of Merlin that left Bryan in awe. The fact that Rowena Ravenclaw, after just a brief examination, had not only deciphered the intricate magical nodes but also found a way to activate it, spoke volumes about her legendary wisdom and magical prowess.

Truly worthy of being hailed as the wisest witch!

As Bryan marveled at Ravenclaw's incredible feat, Sirius's sharp eyes caught movement in the periphery of their vision.

"Those Dementors are surrounding us again!" he shouted, his voice tight with tension.

Indeed, the Dementors who had earlier been scattered by Gryffindor's display of power had regrouped. They hovered at a distance, forming a loose circle around the ruined complex. Even from afar, the creatures radiated an aura of agitation, their cloaked forms seeming to ripple with dark energy. Yet, under Gryffindor's piercing gaze, none dared to approach too closely.

"It seems there's something particularly important to the Dementors hidden beneath this seal," Bryan observed, his voice soft but carrying an edge of excitement.

Boom!

A thunderous boom shook the air. The stone pillar, which had been vibrating with increasing intensity, suddenly burst with light so bright it momentarily blinded them all. When their vision cleared, they saw that the star curtain had vanished, leaving the pillar's surface rough and unmarked once more.

Under Ravenclaw's guidance, the pillar began to rise slowly into the air. As it ascended, the tremors that had been shaking the island intensified. The cracks in the black rocks beneath their feet widened, and an ominous power seemed to pulse from deep within the earth.

When the pillar had risen high enough, a gaping hole appeared in the ground before them, its edges jagged and uneven as if torn open by some colossal force. This pitch-black, seemingly bottomless chasm yawned wide, like the maw of some primordial beast awakening from an eons-long slumber.

The darkness that poured forth from this opening was unlike anything they had ever encountered. It was more than just an absence of light; it was as if the very concept of darkness had been distilled into its purest form. The inky blackness seemed to move with a life of its own, tendrils of shadow reaching out hungrily towards the assembled wizards.

But it wasn't just darkness that emanated from the hole. An aura of death and decay washed over them in palpable waves, carrying with it the whispers of countless tormented souls. The very air around them grew heavy and oppressive, as if the weight of centuries of suffering was pressing down upon them.

Even Gryffindor, known for his unwavering courage in the face of any danger, couldn't help but squint his eyes slightly as this malicious aura brushed against his face. His usually cheerful face darkened, a mix of anger and determination settling over his features.

"What a dreadful feeling," Gryffindor said, his words tinged with barely contained fury. There was a tremor in his voice that spoke not of fear, but of a deep, righteous anger. "How many lives lie buried down there?"

"Brace yourselves," Bryan said grimly before jumping into the black hole. "We're likely to see some shockingly cruel sights."

"What we've seen already is enough to shock me for a lifetime," Sirius replied with a resigned expression.

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