The Dead Returns

Crack…

There was a faint noise, and the claw that held the crystal in place loosened. The Resurrection Stone floated in the air, pulled by magic, and slowly rotated three times.

Ivan hesitated for a moment, then gently placed the wand against his temple and extracted a few memories from them.

The next moment, several familiar figures appeared in front of Ivan.

Albus Dumbledore, Nicolas Flamel, Orlando Hals…they all had incredibly gentle smiles on their faces, and their bodies were different from the ghosts Yvonne had seen.

It was as if the power of the Resurrection Stone had brought them back to the living.

"Hales… it seems that you have used the alchemy knowledge I taught you to create a stone of your own…" said Nicolas Flamel, glancing at the alchemy decoration on Ivan's right hand.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect your grave," Ivan said, looking apologetic.

"No, you've done well enough. When I brought the Resurrection Stone into the graveyard, I expected something like this to happen…" said Nicolas Flamel soothingly, shaking his head. He then turned to Dumbledore and said teasingly, "If anyone should be blamed, it should be Albus…"

Ivan also turned to look.

"You can't blame me for that, since I didn't let him break into your chamber." Dumbledore looked exasperated, then changed the subject and turned to Ivan. "How is Grindelwald?"

"Thanks to you, he managed to escape from the prison at Nurmengard, and is now planning to stir up even more trouble," Ivan explained, raising his eyebrows.

"So he does not intend to keep his promise…" Dumbledore muttered to himself, but did not seem surprised.

"What exactly was your agreement, Professor?" Yvonne asked curiously.

"I needed his help with the final arrangements, and in exchange, I removed all restrictions on Grindelwald so that he would be comfortable for the rest of his life…" Dumbledore said slowly.

"Is that all? Nothing more?" Ivan asked, frowning.

Dumbledore merely smiled and did not reply.

Before Ivan could ask any more questions, Orlando approached him, his right hand trembling as he tried to stroke Ivan's head.

It was clear that the Resurrection Stone did not grant them a physical form. Their bodies were still illusory, but they appeared to be normal.

Orlando must have realised this, for he pulled his hand back in disappointment and asked sadly, "Ivan, my boy, I'm sorry I wasn't a good father to you. How have you been?"

"Not too bad. I'm doing fine, and so is my mother…" Ivan replied, forcing himself to remain calm.

"Yes, you're a lot better than I thought you'd be… and you've become a disciple of Master Nicolas Flamel, which means that Alicia has taught you well, but… she doesn't seem like the person I know," Orlando said half-jokingly, then asked Ivan about his experiences over the years.

Ivan tried to pick the most convenient ones to talk about as Dumbledore stood quietly at his side, listening without interrupting him.

Time passed, and when Ivan's mouth went dry from talking, he suddenly realised that the sky had darkened, which meant that he had been in his room for four or five hours.

"What is it, Yvonne?" Orlando asked, puzzled by her sudden outburst.

"No, nothing. I just remembered something." Ivan shook his head, hesitated for a moment, then turned to Nicolas Flamel. "Professor, I'm at a bottleneck in my alchemy. Could you teach me something new?"

"You haven't finished the two books I gave you, have you, Harls? Learning is a good thing, but you must remember not to bite off more than you can chew…" Nicolas Flamel replied casually.

"I'm going to ask you the questions in that book, the conjectures about the efficiency of magical conversion…" Ivan persisted.

"That's for you to find out. You can't be a true master alchemist if you rely on others for answers," Nicolas Flamel replied with a smile.

Ivan looked at Nicolas Flamel for a long moment, then let out a faint sigh and waved his wand to retrieve the memories he had separated.

As the forgotten memories were retrieved, the three figures in front of him changed slightly, especially Orlando, who seemed to have become a completely different person. His image was rapidly moving towards the one he remembered, but Orlando was unaware of it, still smiling faintly.

Seeing this, Ivan was no longer reluctant to leave. As Orlando and the others urged him to stay, he slowly released the Resurrection Stone, and the three figures gradually dissipated into thin air.

Ivan stared at the diamond-shaped crystal suspended in mid-air with mixed feelings. "Unfortunately… it's ultimately false."

The Resurrection Stone does not truly bring back the dead, only the unconscious version of the dead.

It was to confirm this that he extracted the memory of Orlando's image before activating the Resurrection Stone to confirm his suspicions.

The result was exactly as Ivan had predicted. The Resurrection Stone eventually conjured the image that best fitted Orlando in his imagination, which was why his appearance changed after retrieving his memories.

However, after experiencing it firsthand, Ivan understood why so many people had fallen under the power of the Resurrection Stone, as the conjured images not only looked and acted like the deceased, but also spoke and acted exactly as they were in his memory, and even jokingly accused each other.

If Ivan had not been so cautious, he would have believed that he had summoned the souls of Orlando and the others from the Underworld.

In fact, Ivan did want the Resurrection Stone to have such power, so he did not retrieve the memory immediately after activating it. Instead, he wanted to confirm this through communication, even if it was only a slight possibility.

However, Ivan was ultimately disappointed.

Although the visions were well-disguised, almost perfect, everything in line with his subconscious vision, and for a moment Ivan almost believed them, there was only one thing that could not be created out of thin air, and that was knowledge…

(PS: Issue Chapter 2 later)