Be careful…of contamination?
In the next instant, everything before Edward's eyes shattered and vanished. He returned to the Room of Requirement, where his past self still lay unconscious before him.
Edward stared blankly at his other self, momentarily dazed. He hadn't expected his past self to actually answer that final question. What surprised him even more was that the warning had nothing to do with the Mirror of Erised or the divine domain he had speculated about—it was simply a sudden, unexpected warning:
Be careful of contamination.
But why contamination?
Ever since becoming a Beyonder and acquiring [Dullness], Edward had never worried about contamination. That was why he had always regarded Dullness as his strongest "external plug-in."
But now, after visiting what might very well be a divine realm, the only clue left to him by his past self…was still to beware contamination.
What was going on?
Suddenly, Edward remembered the description of his pathway's Sequence 9, Fool, after his pathway had changed:
"You became a fool because you once endured high-level contamination, and thus can no longer be contaminated."
He had never given it much thought before, treating it like a typical "game-style ability description."
But now, looking back, maybe the phrase "once endured high-level contamination" wasn't just empty rhetoric.
Could it be that the Dullness he had always seen as his greatest protection was actually a gift left behind by some high-level contamination? That it wasn't that he couldn't be contaminated—but that all the contamination he had encountered thus far was just too weak?
Even the Box of Great Old Ones, which was suspected to be polluted by the cosmos—possibly a Great Old One—was afraid of him in return.
Then how high was the rank of the contamination he had once endured?
Was the warning to beware the being who had caused that high-level contamination?
Or…was it possible that he had been contaminated again, this time during his encounter with the Mirror of Erised?
Edward fell into a spiral of confusion.
"Whew—"
After a while, he exhaled a deep breath and forcibly calmed his chaotic thoughts.
"For now, I'll just have to take things one step at a time. If the sky falls, let Gods hold it up—I'm just a humble Sequence 6 Beyonder at the peak of my level."
He called Lilith back, brought his past self via Apparition back to the dormitory, and placed him gently on the bed.
Lilith sat on the edge of the bed, stared at the unconscious Edward for a while, then turned her head and asked, "Edward, will there be two of you from now on?"
"Of course not."
Edward shook his head. "He'll probably use the Time-Turner tomorrow to return to five days ago."
Lilith blinked. "Ohh, I get it now."
"You do?" Edward raised an eyebrow. "What exactly do you get?"
"Well…" She tilted her head, deep in thought. "Susie told me a few days ago that you seemed a bit weird, but she couldn't put her finger on why. Turns out it was because someone else had taken your place."
Edward picked her up and said helplessly, "Didn't I just explain all this to you earlier?"
"But Miss Lilith didn't understand it at the time."
"Exactly. All you remembered was that if you go back in time, there'll be two Liliths."
"Correct!"
Edward playfully hooked a finger under her nose and said, "Just don't slip up tomorrow~"
"Ugh…" Her gaze shifted.
"When I went back to the past earlier, that Lilith didn't let anything slip!"
Lilith's eyes widened instantly. "Then I won't either!"
"Great! It's a deal."
"It's a deal!"
Edward gently put her down.
"Then I'll leave it to the cleverest Miss Lilith. Don't forget—when you see me tomorrow, you're supposed to scare me a little."
"Okay~!"
"Good night."
Edward took a step back and Disapparated.
Lilith laid down at the edge of the bed again, rolled over, and snuggled herself against (past) Edward's head.
In a whisper, she said softly, "Good night, Edward."
——
[Hogwarts, Eighth Floor—Headmaster's Office]
By the time Edward arrived, Dumbledore and Grindelwald were already waiting—today marked the latest point that Edward's past self was supposed to return. If anything had gone wrong, it would have been very bad.
"He…the other me, is back."
With the very first sentence Edward said, both men visibly relaxed.
Grindelwald curled his lips in a smirk. "See? I told you. Nothing would go wrong. No need to worry."
Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, yes, quite right."
"…I feel like you're being sarcastic," Grindelwald muttered under his breath, then turned to Edward.
"Before you arrived, Albus and I were discussing something."
"What is it?"
"We were wondering whether using a Time-Turner can actually change the past—and if it can, what would happen afterwards."
Edward scratched his head in confusion. He didn't quite follow.
Grindelwald continued, "You already know Albus's theory—he believes that once you travel to the past, you become part of that past. You're not changing it—you're completing it."
"Right, that's also what I've been going by all along."
"But I believe," Grindelwald smiled, "that the past is eternally immutable. The moment you travel back, no matter what you do—whether to alter or ensure an event—it won't change anything. Because the past you saw in the future already included the part where you went back and did those things."
Edward froze for a second, then realised what Grindelwald meant.
It was just like what many time-travel movies in the future had suggested—like Terminator: you think you're going back in time to stop Skynet's creation, but it turns out Skynet only came to be because you went back in time.
Dumbledore then added seriously, "To some extent, I agree with Gellert. But that doesn't mean travelling back in time gives you free rein. When it comes to time, there is one principle I hold to:"
"Those who toy with time…will eventually be toyed with by time itself."
"That's why," he concluded, "I've always kept a respectful distance from Time-Turners."
Grindelwald curled his lips. "Then let me ask you—if you had the chance to return to Godric's Hollow and save Ariana, would you take it?"
"…"
Dumbledore's pupils quivered. After a long pause, he sighed. "I don't know."
Edward shot Grindelwald a helpless glance and interjected, "Alright, that's enough philosophical debate about time. I have something far more urgent to discuss."
Both of them immediately turned toward him.
"The past version of me...was sent back by someone who might be 'Death.'"
They said in unison, "Death?"
"That's right!"
Edward pulled out the pre-prepared The Tales of Beedle the Bard, flipping to the illustration in The Tale of the Three Brothers—the one that depicted Death: a figure in a hooded black robe, skeletal from head to toe, wielding a massive scythe.
Grindelwald tugged at his beard. "So the Mirror of Erised truly leads to the domain of the gods? And this so-called 'god' is actually Death?"
Dumbledore asked, "Did you speak to this 'Death'?"
"Yes. At the time, he felt incredibly dangerous, so I only dared to ask him one question: 'Are you Death?' His answer was—'I am, and I am not.'"
"Tch," Grindelwald clicked his tongue. "Why do all these bigshots insist on talking in riddles?"
Heh. Aren't you exactly the same when playing the role of a "bigshot"?
"And then?"
"Then he returned into the mirror. After that, the Mirror of Erised shattered."
Edward pulled out a large sack of shards. "It's all here."
"Does this mean the door has been shut—to prevent anyone else from entering?"
Dumbledore pondered. "What about Voldemort? Wasn't he sent back as well?"
"No."
He quickly added, "At least, I didn't see him."
"Then let's assume he wasn't," Dumbledore said gravely. "Could this mean that Voldemort's soul remained in that world, while your body—your living self—was returned?"
"In that case, we can infer that the gods' domain is likely the world of the dead—the Underworld," Grindelwald nodded. "Which aligns perfectly with the idea of Death."
Edward hesitated for a moment. "But that hypothesis relies on several highly subjective assumptions."
"That's called bold conjecture, followed by careful verification."
Fair enough.
"Speaking of the Underworld, I have something else to report. We just encountered Sirius Black's younger brother—Regulus. To be precise, it was his soul."
"Oh?"
Edward then recounted everything that had occurred in the cave. "From the looks of it, that 'magical creature' was a guide for souls entering the Underworld, and the black vortex it opened was likely a gateway to that realm."
Dumbledore and Grindelwald exchanged glances, both clearly astonished.
The legend of Death had been passed down for generations—but that unknown "magical creature"? That was something neither of them had ever heard of.
"I'll contact Newt first thing tomorrow. See if he's come across anything similar," Dumbledore said.
"Oh, right, Professor."
Edward suddenly recalled the wand in Death's left hand.
"I just remembered—Death's left hand was holding a wand. Could that have been the Elder Wand you lost?"
Dumbledore frowned deeply.
Edward pressed on, "When exactly did you lose the Elder Wand, and under what circumstances?"
"About three years ago. Right here in this office," Dumbledore replied. "One morning, I woke up and found it gone. Nothing had happened. It was as if it had simply vanished into thin air."
Edward was stunned. "So...Death himself came to take it? I honestly can't think of anyone else capable of stealing your wand without you even noticing."
"Well, to be fair, it wasn't exactly on me," Dumbledore admitted with a sheepish grin, scratching his head like a mischievous child. "Before bed, I usually just toss it wherever I last used it...As you said, I never thought anyone could take it before I noticed."
Grindelwald gave a low grunt. That wand should have been his. Only after losing to Dumbledore did it become his wand.
He had always believed that whether it was in his hands or Dumbledore's, it made little difference—yet this old man had managed to lose the most powerful wand in existence in his sleep.
"Ahem. Whatever the case," Dumbledore coughed, brushing past the topic, "if that really was the Elder Wand in Death's hand, then perhaps...it's returned to its rightful owner. I actually prefer my current wand anyway."
Trying to steer the conversation back on track, he asked, "Did you attempt to communicate with your other self?"
"I did."
Edward then recounted the séance. Upon hearing the line "There are no gods in this world to begin with," both older men were stunned into silence—clearly baffled.
However, Edward deliberately left out the final warning—"Beware of corruption." Because once the topic of pollution was broached, it would inevitably lead to discussions of Outer Gods, the cosmos and a slew of things that Dumbledore simply wasn't equipped to comprehend.
Considering that one day he might very well take these two old men to the world of the Lord of the Mysteries, it was better to hold off for now. After all, if he had to Obliviate them later…Who knew what effect a memory charm might have on two centenarians?
He wouldn't want them accidentally developing magical dementia.
———
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