“No.”
Eliudela refused him.
Weilan frowned unhappily.
Eliudela explained to him:
“Because the last time I gave you power, it was discovered.”
“So Olena created a special Trace, connected to me.”
“This Trace is specifically used to detect ‘authority’ level power fluctuations—I haven’t yet figured out a Confundo that can fool this Trace.”
“If I give you the authority of ‘healing’ now, we will immediately be discovered by Olena.”
Weilan sighed, accepting the fact with frustration.
In the darkness, the flow of time was infinitely slowed. Every minute and second was an ordeal.
The oxygen in the cramped space quickly ran out.
Fortunately, the stone slab above his head and the adjacent slab were not perfectly aligned.
Weilan pressed his nose and mouth close to this almost imperceptible gap, greedily breathing in the cold air from outside.
“Don’t you feel suffocated?”
He found that Eliudela, opposite him, was still standing, without the slightest discomfort.
“I don’t breathe.”
She said.
Weilan was already mentally prepared for this answer.
After catching his breath from the gap, a bad guess emerged in his mind.
The ghost Eliudela mentioned, it couldn’t be the ancestor who guided Olena, Salazar Slytherin, could it?
“In what form does that ghost exist?”
In the pitch-black environment, Weilan asked:
“Does it have a name? What is it called?”
Weilan’s thoughts were conservative; he thought at most, it was just a lone ghost from some era, impersonating Salazar Slytherin’s name to do evil.
A great Wizard of Slytherin’s caliber shouldn’t…
“It is Slytherin. It relies on a Horcrux, in the form of the dark side of a soul, attached to Olena’s body.”
Eliudela’s answer was like a bolt from the blue.
Weilan did not immediately believe her reply:
“How can you be so sure that it is Slytherin?”
Eliudela’s answer was even more surprising to Weilan than the last one:
“Because he was once my Professor. I studied magic with him when I was at Hogwarts.”
“This is too ridiculous…” Weilan thought to himself, but didn’t say it out loud.
He and Eliudela had only known each other for twenty minutes.
This Veela goddess was not yet worthy of his complete trust.
However, a medieval Veela goddess was right in front of him; she must know a lot of valuable information, so there was no harm in asking.
Who cares if the information is true or false? Weilan would discern it himself after asking!
Weilan reached into his pocket and touched the Merlin coin he had inadvertently brought into the Forbidden Forest.
“Do you understand Ancient Runes?”
Weilan thought: If Eliudela had truly lived from the Middle Ages until now, then she must be the best ancient reference document.
“Yes.”
Eliudela was still as sparing with her words.
“Can you read Ancient Runes?”
“Yes.”
Weilan immediately perked up.
He was truly grateful that he had developed the habit of carrying this coin with him.
He handed the Merlin coin from his pocket to Eliudela:
“Can you read the words engraved on it?”
Wandless casting, silent incantation.
A glimmer of the Lumos Charm lit up from the tip of Eliudela’s index finger.
She took the coin with one hand and brought the light closer with the other, carefully examining the coin Weilan handed her.
“This is your coin.”
Eliudela raised her wide blue pupils and stared directly at Weilan:
“Why ask me?”
Weilan felt she had misunderstood him, so he explained: “This isn’t mine; it’s temporarily given to me by my Principal, Albus Dumbledore.”
“No, this is yours.”
Eliudela seemed disoriented—“I saw you take out this coin, a long, long time ago…”
“Hey, hey, are you alright?”
Weilan shook her shoulder, trying to wake her up.
“Could it be that this girl has limited waking hours each day, and her waking time is almost over now?”
Weilan was very worried about whether he could get the pronunciation of that phrase.
He covered Eliudela’s forehead with his hand and saw her long eyelashes flutter once.
“I need to know the magic infused when these Ancient Runes were written.”
Seeing Eliudela regain her senses, Weilan wasted no more words and directly told her the key spell used for deciphering— “Tempora Retexere (Time Rewind)”.
Eliudela stared at the runes on the coin for a moment, then uttered the first strange syllable.
Then came the second strange and difficult-to-pronounce syllable.
Followed by the third, the fourth, the fifth…
These peculiar pronunciations entered Weilan’s left ear and exited his right, impossible to remember.
“I remember the ‘Tempora Retexere’ spell can help recall past memories.”
Weilan finally found a second use for this functionally useless spell.
“When I go back, I’ll use this spell to recall the pronunciation.”
“Or, I could use a Pensieve—if Professor Dumbledore allows it.”
Just as Weilan was racking his brain, thinking what other valuable questions he could throw at Eliudela, she suddenly, without warning, let out a gut-wrenching scream.
Weilan frantically tried to stop her, but Eliudela’s strength was terrifying. Disregarding Weilan’s obstruction, she forcibly pulled open the stone slab above their heads.
Clutching her lower abdomen, her agonizing screams grew louder and louder, as she used both hands and feet to climb up.
Weilan understood what was happening.
Olena and Eliudela’s distance exceeded the limit, triggering the Cruciatus Curse on her.
Weilan knew the moment of separation had arrived.
Currently, Weilan did not have the ability to break the curse and save her.
“You must… save me…”
In the final moments, Weilan heard Eliudela say this to him in a voice so painful it was almost incoherent.
Weilan’s heartstrings trembled.
From their meeting until now, Weilan could say he hadn’t fully let down his guard.
Even the things Eliudela told him, he planned to carefully select and selectively believe after returning.
However, Weilan could vaguely feel that Eliudela trusted him very much.
Whether it was offering her secretly dug small space, asking Weilan to temporarily hide.
Or answering every question Weilan asked.
Or entrusting such an important matter as her escape to Weilan without reservation.
“Is she too naive, or too cunning?”
Weilan looked up, watching Eliudela climb out of the square opening.
Then, his gaze met the pitch-black void beneath the Dementor’s hood.
His heart suddenly skipped a beat.
He immediately understood what was going on.
Olena had guessed that Eliudela and Weilan were hiding together.
She and the Dementor only knew a general area, not the exact location.
To pinpoint their exact location, Olena deliberately left the Dementor in place while she herself left.
When the distance reached its limit, it triggered the Cruciatus Curse on Eliudela.
To alleviate the pain, Eliudela had no choice but to crawl out of her hiding place and run in the direction of Olena.
When Eliudela appeared, Weilan was exposed along with her!