The Essence of Magic: Reflections on Life, Death, and Limitations

There isn't anything particularly strange in the drawer.

"A monocle?"

During the time of Ravenclaw, were glasses already invented?

Jon carefully grabbed the wooden eyeglass frame that looked almost rotten, gently placed it on the table, and then took out a dozen manuscripts that were pressed under the glasses.

The parchment was much more durable.

The manuscripts were written in an ancient language known as the Ni script. Jon hadn't learned much of this magical language yet, so he couldn't understand it well.

But there was someone on the wall who could understand.

"Well... this manuscript is nothing special. It's just the design concept for that eyeglass. It's the last magical item made by Rowena during her lifetime."

"A magical item?"

Jon's heart skipped a beat. Magical items were different from alchemical tools. Alchemical tools were merely common tools used by wizards, but anything that could be called a "magical item" was not an ordinary object.

The relics left behind by the four founders of Hogwarts could fall into the category of magical items. These items not only possessed simple magical powers and special abilities, but most of them also had a certain degree of sentience.

For example, the Sorting Hat, Gryffindor's sword, Ravenclaw's crown that enhances intelligence, the golden cup that automatically assists house-elves in transporting food, and those magical portraits in the wizarding world.

They might not possess extraordinary power, but they certainly had exceptional qualities.

Just like the lowest-grade magical items, such as magical portraits, they also stored a certain level of human consciousness.

Would the magical items created by Ravenclaw herself, like the ancestors of his own family, store a part of Rowena's soul?

"No, there is not a trace of Rowena's soul in here."

Although Helga lived within a portrait, she could sense the world outside the painting. This was something that could only be done with the essence of a soul and was distinct from those ordinary portraits enchanted with magic.

"If Rowena really wanted to stay, even if her body was already in poor condition, she wouldn't truly die." Helga's voice suddenly became serious. "She was a master of dark magic and had delved into many aspects of the Dark Arts. If she didn't want to die, she could even transform into an undead creature—that would be far more advanced than the ghosts in the castle and the Horcrux you mentioned."

"Then why didn't she stay? Being alive is always better than dying, right?"

Helga shook her head. "Some people live because they are unwilling to let go, but when we reach our position, our perspective on the world and our understanding of it changes..."

"But even ants fight for survival."

"What?"

"It's an ancient saying in the Orient: 'Even ants fight for survival,' so humans cherish life even more." Jon touched the eyeglass frame in his hand. "You know, I have some Eastern heritage."

"The Orient is indeed a mysterious place, home to many philosophers. Unfortunately, I have never visited there." Helga nodded and stopped pursuing the topic. "But Rowena is not an ant; she is a witch who has stood at the pinnacle of the world and witnessed the world. When you look at the world from the perspective we had back then, you'll realize that life and death are just like that."

"Being alive or dead, it's not really a question."

Jon sat behind his desk, wearing an expression of attentive listening. After all, Helga rarely mentioned anything about their legendary wizards from the past.

"The magic of wizards comes from this world, so when a wizard dies, their magic returns to this world. But sometimes, the wizard's soul is coincidentally preserved by their own magic and becomes a ghost or something else. So, are you really you, or are you your magic?"

Jon shook his head. Clearly, he didn't understand.

There were too many convoluted philosophical questions, and he wasn't good at them.

Why bother pondering over the question of who he was?

He was himself, and that should be enough.

In the world of magic, what's the point of delving into so much dialectics?

"You are you now, but what about your past life?"

Jon froze.

"If death exists, then reincarnation should exist. When magic comes into the body of a wizard and returns to where it came from after the wizard dies, it's a cycle. And the souls of living beings, inherently no different from the essence of magic."

"Imagine this: after you die, your soul is ground into nothingness by the will of the world, and then these energies are scattered and reassembled, eventually giving rise to a new soul of a newborn. Is this possibility real?"

"But it can only be a possibility, right? Whether it's wizards or Muggles, no one has ever proven that there are beings more advanced than humans in this world."

"But has anyone proven that they don't exist?"

Jon remained silent.

"When I became a legendary witch, my own research into the essence of magic was not outstanding. But Rowena and Salazar were different. They both witnessed their own magical limits, like a lock that firmly sealed the ladder for wizards to advance further. It's a rather sad thing."

"But what hope does choosing death bring?"

Jon couldn't understand. He had died once—even if according to Helga, his memories were just the remnants of the previous person's memories that hadn't been completely wiped away—so he was obsessed with being alive.

If he could live, he should try his best not to die. This world was too wonderful, and he wanted to see it all.

If possible, he even wanted to see beyond the world.

"No hope is needed because they were already in the most desperate state back then."

Helga's voice echoed in the empty study, and Jon felt as if her voice had stirred something, filling the entire room with a strange sadness.

"Except for those wizards blinded by desire, there were actually no legendary wizards who truly wanted to teach students. Although I'm a bit different and have a strong longing for the peak of wizardry, let alone wizards like Rowena who possessed exceptional magical talents."

"The goal of a wizard is eternal magic. Upward, it's the stars in the sky. Downward, it's the endless deep sea. The higher you stand, the more unknown things there are. Establishing Hogwarts was to provide wizards with a safer research environment because sometimes, an individual's power is not enough, even for legendary wizards, and their power can seem weak and feeble at certain moments."

"But when Rowena and the others saw the essence of magic's outline, they discovered that it was already the limit. It's like being able to clearly see the stars from the towers of Hogwarts, but never being able to touch them... It's more despairing to have something right in front of you that you can't touch than not being able to see it at all."