Aberforth's time reminiscing didn't last too long; after a while, the two girls in the paintings returned, smiling.
It seemed they had a good chat.
On the way back, Howl was also curious and asked, "Ariana is a portrait with short-term memory. Were you able to chat with her well?"
Ariana was not a photograph, and there was no excellent color development technology when she left.
"Of course, there's no problem. After all, as portraits, we never forget who we are. That might be our only advantage over humans," Sindel said.
"Never forget who you are…" Howl repeated, "That's true."
"She asked me many interesting things that happened at school. She's all alone here, so she's very curious about school matters. When I mentioned that there are hundreds of magical paintings and thousands of characters in the school, she seemed very eager," Sindel said, pointing to her neck. "We even exchanged gifts."
Howl observed carefully and found a thin blue necklace there.
"That's good," Howl nodded.
Following the country road straight ahead, and then ascending diagonally, Howl soon arrived at the path to the Shrieking Shack.
There was some trash piled on the side of the road. This path had not been trodden by anyone for a long time before he arrived, though some people didn't mind casually throwing trash here.
Even now, only a few people knew that this haunted house, the Shrieking Shack, had new occupants.
Following the path upwards, just as he was about to reach the house, Howl also noticed a sudden light of fire on the other side of the mountain.
The fire flickered erratically, emitting a gray aura intertwined with the night. Just as he was about to get a closer look, he saw a somewhat familiar figure quickly descend to the other side of the mountain, blocking his view.
After thinking for a while, he changed direction and walked towards that side.
About ten minutes later, Howl arrived at this deserted small hillside, a short distance from Hogsmeade and close to the Forbidden Forest.
A chilling wind blew from the Forbidden Forest towards the small mountain. He pressed down his hat and stepped onto the mountain.
The fire was gone.
But the person had not left; she was still lingering there.
However, what first caught his eye was a tombstone.
And leaning against the tombstone, lost in thought, was Nagini.
She, apparently, had also noticed him. She hastily stood up, covering her discomposure, wiping her eyes with her hand, and lowering her face: "Mr. Jones."
"Hello, Nagini." Howl nodded and looked at the tombstone.
On the tombstone, there was only one line of text.
"Here lies Aurelius Dumbledore, who faithfully wished to be buried near his father."
It was the first time Howl knew that he was buried here.
And on top of the tombstone, there was a small wooden plaque, only palm-sized, with a slightly distorted name on it.
Credence Barebone.
"Is this yours?" Howl picked it up and handed it to Nagini.
"Thank you, yes." Nagini quickly took it. "I… I'm still more used to this name."
Howl nodded, silently looking at the tombstone for a moment, not disturbing her further.
A moment later, seeing Nagini's emotions gradually stabilize, he asked, "Now that you've come back to life, what do you plan to do?"
"Do what…?"
This question stumped her. She stared blankly at the tombstone, then shook her head: "I don't know either."
"Actually… I can't find my purpose."
"There will always be one; everyone has one." Howl didn't want to waste too much breath on such a philosophical and somewhat meaningless topic.
But thinking about it carefully, it was understandable for Nagini to feel such confusion.
The people she knew were gone, and she had no grand goals. After a sudden awakening, she would inevitably experience a period of confusion.
Unable to find anything she could do, after all, the world continued to turn just the same without her.
"Have you felt any problems with your body recently?" he asked instead.
"Problems…" Nagini thought for a moment. "It's just that when I sleep, I always have nightmares about turning into a snake."
"Nightmares?!"
Howl's gaze became a little more serious as he scrutinized the girl.
Then, he carefully asked, "Do you mind if I observe your soul?"
"Oh, okay, of course not. What should I do?"
"You just need not to resist." Howl nodded, bringing his two fingers together, and a silvery glow, identical to moonlight, gradually appeared.
Then, he touched Nagini's forehead.
The next moment, his consciousness plunged straight in, entering the deep layers of her soul.
Soon, his consciousness began to tremble.
Nagini's body was constantly vibrating, and the density of her soul was continuously increasing, like a sealed container constantly being pressurized.
The word "fermentation" was very accurate.
Similarly, the pressure on the body during this fermentation process was also gradually increasing.
But the question was, when would this fermentation end? Was it endless, requiring constant periodic clearing and pressure release?
A moment later, Howl reopened his eyes, his forehead beaded with sweat.
'It's still a bit too difficult to change a predetermined event at the soul level.'
What's done is done; a broken mirror can't be mended...
From the actual situation, even though Howl and Dumbledore had used a clever method—reconstructing the soul and adding memories—
Even so, it was still difficult to achieve perfection?!
This answer was somewhat unacceptable to him.
"Mr. Jones, what happened?" Nagini's tone was calm. She noticed Howl's unusual emotions; children from humble backgrounds often have an extraordinary sensitivity to these things.
But surprisingly, she didn't show much impatience or concern, even though it involved herself.
Although Howl was a little surprised by her attitude, the main problem now was clearly not here.
"Your soul state… is a bit chaotic. It might still need some time to recuperate," Howl said slowly.
"Okay," Nagini nodded.
"If there are any further abnormal situations, you can tell me or Aberforth. He will inform us. You don't need to be too reserved," Howl reminded her again.
"I will," Nagini smiled openly.
"Hmm." Howl nodded. "Go out more often when you have time. You don't have to stay cooped up in the bar with that old man Aberforth.
He hoped you'd wake up; he wasn't thinking of using you as free labor."
Nagini chuckled, covering her mouth when she heard Howl's description, "I know. Actually, Mr. Aberforth says the same. But I always feel it's better to help more and do what I can."
Howl nodded. A moment later, he bid farewell to Nagini and returned to the Shrieking Shack.
The next day, early on Saturday morning, Howl arrived at Dumbledore's office.
They discussed the issue of Nagini's high soul pressure.
The Phoenix, Fawkes, was nowhere to be seen, making the spacious office feel a bit desolate. Dumbledore was still wearing a bathrobe and a purple nightcap, gently putting a chocolate drop into his mouth: "So, it seems we still cannot resolve Nagini's soul's tendency to deform into a snake."
"To be precise, it's not necessarily a snake," Howl explained. "The main body will be a snake, but it might take on some even more bizarre forms. Remember? I already shattered the original snake's soul, like grafting a flower; no one knows what strange shapes will emerge."
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