Hogwarts: Voldemort, don't stop me from studying

Chapter 997 Memory 1
Those memories, as gentle and clear as moonlight, flowing silently, brought Abigail an extremely strong shock.

She stood there stunned for a while before slowly walking over.

The cloak had already passed the two of them and was the first to approach a row of shelves. The edges of the fabric, like the flexible tentacles of an octopus, gently brushed away the layer of dust on the bottles.

"Wow, it even has a label, let me see..."

Upon hearing this, Abigail immediately turned her head, wanting to know how it "saw".

But no eyes grew out of the cloak. It swayed slightly and muttered, "Jaylen Henry, Brandon Chapp, Miles Lindor... who are these guys?"

“Wait, Brandon Chab?” Abigail walked over to look at the tag, and said softly, “I know him… he’s a Purifier too, and I’ve heard he’s been active in Indiana.”

"Purgers in the Midwest? This is the first time I've heard of such a thing." The Cloak muttered, then asked Braun, "Did you know that?"

“Of course I know. The IRS will handle the ordinary ones, and the troublesome ones will become the achievements of the new president of the Magical Congress.” Braun said irritably, “Do you think everyone is like you, who doesn’t have to worry about anything?”

"Hey, jealous? Want to trade with me?" the cloak said smugly.

Braun rolled his eyes: "Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and find your memories!"

Abigail looked at them with a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

Although Braun always spoke to the cloak in a very impolite manner, it was clear that the two had a good relationship and were much more relaxed with each other.

Their relationship... wasn't like that of master and clothes, nor like that of a wizard and wand... but rather like that of equals, close friends who could play around together.

—Equal status with the successors of the UMNO party?
Abigail lowered her eyes slightly, and many thoughts flashed through her mind as she pondered how much of this information could be used.

This was an instinct honed through countless days and nights. Whenever she was in the magical world, she would subconsciously collect all the information around her and transform it into potential weapons to fight against wizards and strengthen the Purifiers.

But then, she suddenly realized—

The Purifiers have almost disappeared from the face of the earth. Her loyalty to the organization, her hatred for the wizards... all of this is shrouded in a veil of illusion, neither real nor fake.

Everything she knows is rooted in lies... so what's the point of her current thoughts and actions?
Abigail felt a slight dizziness, like the weightlessness of suddenly stepping into empty air.

She stood there, once again sinking into despair and confusion, her mind a blank and empty void.

After a while, Abigail put aside her dark thoughts and turned her gaze to the countless crystal bottles.

The cloak next to him had only been searching for two minutes when he started complaining:
"Merlin's underwear, Merlin's smelly socks, Merlin is a bald man... So many! Hundreds and thousands! How are we supposed to fish out the few drops that belong to this lady from a vast ocean? Isn't there an easier way?"

"Ah, how could I forget... Let me try." Abigail snapped out of her daze and waved her wand. "Sera Abigail's memories, fly!"

The light of the spell swept across the shelf, and many crystal bottles began to vibrate with a buzzing sound. The cloak quickly moved aside to avoid blocking the path of the crystal bottles flying towards Abigail.

However, the buzzing only lasted for a few seconds before the bottles quieted down again.

The cloaked figure asked doubtfully, "Excuse my bluntness, but is this normal? I remember that things summoned by a summoning spell should fly very fast?"

Abigail put down her wand and said with disappointment, as expected, "The bottle is protected by a powerful protective charm, which includes magic to ward off summoning spells."

"...So we still have to look, right?" The cloaked figure sighed deeply.

It felt tired before it even started working.

"sorry."

For some reason, Abigail subconsciously apologized, as if it was indeed her fault that her magic hadn't brought back the memories.

“Don’t rush,” Braun said. “At worst, we can do a thorough search. There are only so many crystal bottles. If all goes well, we can finish them all in a few hours.”

"Furthermore, since Grimson put the labels on them, he certainly didn't do it randomly; there must be some kind of pattern. Finding the pattern will narrow down the possibilities."

"Haha, thanks for your insightful nonsense." The cloak muttered, "Then you guys search from below, I'll fly up and take a look!"

Due to the warehouse structure, the number of crystal bottles decreases and the spacing increases from bottom to top. While looking at one row below, you can see several rows above.

Cloak likes this kind of work that looks very rewarding.

Abigail and Braun, on the other hand, began by analyzing the patterns.

The names on the labels were haphazard and clearly had nothing to do with alphabetical order; a closer look at the age of the labels also suggested that it had nothing to do with time.

As for their allegiance, after Abigail recognized the names of several of the Purifiers, she found that they were scattered all over the place, with no discernible pattern.

As Braun was pondering several methods of text encryption, he suddenly heard Abigail say:
“Wait, these names… Aura, Skye, Celeste, Samir, these are all related to ‘wind’! Freya, Demi, Peter, Adam, these names are related to ‘earth’!”

She suddenly perked up and turned to look in the other direction: "Douglas, Morgan, Lake... these are 'earth'. Then Amber, Nina, Carly, Olsen... these are fire."

"What? What?" The cloak suddenly appeared in front of her, and asked, "What are you talking about? What attribute? Doesn't 'Ossen' mean 'little bear'?"

Its tone was childlike innocence and liveliness, and Abigail couldn't help but smile, saying, "Aarson is a bear, but its pronunciation is similar to arson, which makes you think of fire."

Her gaze casually swept over the many crystal bottles, and she said, "Take 'Adam' for example. It means a person made of red earth, so this name is considered to be of the earth element."

Abigail looked at Braun, who was listening quietly beside her, and said, "Grimson doesn't classify things in the conventional way, but according to the four elements: earth, air, water, and fire."

"And what's your name?" the cloak asked. "Sera... it must mean rock? So that means earth!"

It flew toward the "earth" side, and just as it drifted over, it heard Braun say, "If 'Sera' is short for 'Selena,' then it means the moon goddess... Is it 'air' or 'water'?"

The cloak abruptly brought the car to a stop.

“It’s ‘water’.” Abigail gave a complicated smile and said, “And my surname, Abigail, is also related to a source. So, I should be in the water elemental zone, or somewhere where water and air meet.”

"Great!" the cloak exclaimed excitedly. "Let's get started! This reduces the workload by three-quarters..."

It looked up at the tall wooden frame that stretched all the way to the roof—the interior of the warehouse was much larger than it appeared from the outside, with a ceiling that looked at least ten meters high.

"...Okay, the rest are probably in trouble too!"

The cloak said dejectedly.

The search proceeded in silence and anticipation. Everyone remained quiet, with only the occasional soft clinking of the crystal bottle as it was picked up and put down.

Not long after, Braun found the first memory, and the name written on the label was indeed "Selena Abigail".

He handed the memory to Abigail, but after she took it, Braun suddenly said:

“My personal advice—actually, you’re in a pretty good state right now. Even if you’ve temporarily lost your goal, you can still see the world with your own eyes and make your own judgments.” Abigail held the crystal bottle, her eyes gazing quietly at him.

Braun said in a deep voice, "So there's no need to dwell on the past."

"While those Purifiers mostly gave you lies and deception, they were right about one thing—"

"Forgetting is actually a form of protection."

The cloak floated down silently from above, listening intently—even though it didn't need to breathe.

Abigail looked at Braun, then at the memories in her hand, smiled, and said:
“But I just want to know the truth—if my parents really were killed by a wizard, I will still become a Purifier, even if I am the only Purifier…”

She asked softly, "Will you stop me?"

Braun shook his head and said, "I will respect your choice—whatever it may be."

"Thank you." Abigail smiled and looked down at the cool crystal bottle.

—How amazing!
she thought.

Even though he... might not be human, she saw compassion in the man's eyes.

Abigail smiled inwardly at herself, then took a deep breath and uncorked the bottle.

A wisp of silver memory, like a firefly, flew lightly from the bottle and disappeared into her brow.

……

“Remember? You came here when you were little.” Brolin looked at Abigail and smiled. “Me and you, we came together, and our teacher was here too.”

……

A few minutes later, Abigail opened her eyes and shook her head: "It's a memory of the last time Brolin and I were here... It's not worth much."

In the last part of her memory, she saw the image of the "Dream Weaver," but since Grimson had already died at Braun's hands, this memory became irrelevant.

Not long after, Abigail found her second memory on her own.

……

On a cold, damp night, the air was filled with the smells of rust, gasoline, and sewers from the industrial area.

Abigail lurked in the shadows outside the ventilation duct, yawning boredly. Below, the warehouse was dimly lit, filled with shadowy figures, and occasionally, the sounds of heated arguments could be heard.

That was their partner making a deal with an underground organization.

Abigail has been in a bad mood lately, and she doesn't care about the details of the deal; she just wants to make sure her partner isn't taken down.

Just then, a faint whistling sound suddenly came from the night wind, mixed with the cold, crisp sound of chains being dragged and clattering.

Perhaps it was the childishness of the voice, or perhaps the stark despair within it, that touched the hidden compassion within Abigail's heart...

As if guided by some unseen force, she quietly moved over.

She found a building where the windows were boarded up, carefully crept inside, and then, a horrifying sight, like a nightmare, abruptly assaulted her eyes—

A rudimentary yet brutal laboratory, a cold metal operating table, a thin figure, long and sharp probes, and a man who looks like a butcher even in a white coat...

A surge of overwhelming anger exploded in Abigail's heart!

……

"Do you even remember you went to protect them?" Brolin roared. "You killed them all! Abigail, are you insane?"

“Yes, I’m insane! I should have killed those bastards sooner, because they all deserve to die!” Abigail roared back, “Do you know what I saw, Brolin! Do you know what our partners did in the factory?”

Brolin's facial muscles twitched a few times, and he forcibly suppressed his anger.

He said in an icy voice, "Oh? Then tell me, what exactly did they do to make you so ruthless?"

Abigail, oblivious to the cold scrutiny in his eyes, paced angrily around the room, waving her arms and rambling incoherently about what she had seen and heard at the factory.

Those deaths, that bloodshed... those innocent victims, most of whom were children.

She was furious, but tears involuntarily streamed down her face.

Brolin's gaze followed her back and forth silently, and after Abigail finished speaking, his anger seemed to subside.

After a suffocating silence, he slowly took a breath, rubbed his temples, and his shoulders seemed to slump.

“I’m sorry, Abigail, I…I don’t know.”

Brolin said wearily, "This line has always been handled by peripheral members, just ordinary exchanges of supplies. I never expected..."

"In short, since they were secretly conducting such horrific experiments on innocent children, you were right to kill them! You did the right thing! Not a single one of them should have been spared!"

He said with disgust, "It's not just those in the factory; everyone involved must pay the price. You bear no responsibility for this. From now on... I will personally take over and thoroughly investigate the matter."

Her tense emotions instantly relaxed, and her raging anger quickly subsided. Abigail looked at Brolin with trust and asked, "Then... what about the children I rescued?"

“Let’s get them to the training base first, then look for them; maybe their parents are still looking for their children,” Brolin said gently. “You should go and rest too, Abigail. You’ve done… enough!”

As he spoke, he seemed to grit his teeth. But Abigail didn't notice; she was simply relieved to have received understanding and support.

……

Those vivid images and sounds receded like the tide, and Abigail stood in the glittering warehouse of memories, the crystal bottle long since rolled to the ground.

Her body was trembling slightly, as if she were very cold.

Now, as she re-examines her memories, she realizes how foolish she was back then!

Brolin's shock, anger, understanding... his sincere yet heavy face, so hypocritical, how could she not realize it at all?
A sudden, violent spasm shot through her stomach. Abigail bent over abruptly, covered her mouth, and gagged a few times, but nothing came out; only tears welled up uncontrollably in her eyes.

She hated Brolin, but she hated her own ignorance and lack of awareness even more.

"Stop," Braun's gentle voice advised from beside her. "This is enough."

(End of this chapter)