Hogwarts Raven

Chapter 331, Section 330: Time for some chicken soup!
The feeling of exiting a dreamlike illusion.

It's like being forcibly pulled out of a deep dream.

Ian felt his consciousness enveloped by an invisible force, his body as light as if it were weightless. The surrounding sounds gradually faded away, as if through a thick curtain of water.

He tried to grasp something, but he couldn't grasp anything.

The scene before him rapidly disintegrated; the castle, books, and starry sky all turned into specks of light, swirling and scattering in all directions. His consciousness also floated in this void.

Until a warm light engulfed him.

Ian returns to the world.

This was something Ian often experienced, so he wasn't surprised. Before he even opened his eyes, he heard a gentle voice tinged with a hint of helplessness.

"No, Claire, a phoenix is ​​not fit for soup. Even if it's an immortal bird, it doesn't mean it enjoys that treatment," Dumbledore argued gently but firmly.

Followed by.

The voice of female Titan Lyle also rang out.

“But this person from the future,” another voice said with a hint of self-righteousness, “my phoenix can be stewed, and every time I eat her, she will be reborn.”

"And she seems to really like this feeling." It has to be said that the female Titan has a rather primitive feel to her; she even said that the phoenix feathers look like enoki mushrooms.

I don't know how she knew what enoki mushrooms tasted like.

Enoki mushrooms originated in ancient northern China, and their cultivation history can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty. According to the "Essential Techniques for the Common People" by Jia Sixie of the Northern Wei Dynasty, cultivation methods for enoki mushrooms only began at that time.

Wild enoki mushrooms are yellow.

During the Tang Dynasty, it was called small fire mushroom, winter mushroom, or frozen mushroom.

In 1932, a white enoki mushroom variety was developed in Japan. In 1982, the Sanming Fungal Research Institute in Fujian Province bred the first enoki mushroom variety in China, "Sanming No. 1".

This is clearly not something a Titan living in ancient times should know; however, the profession of prophet might have been experienced in dreams through prophetic abilities.

It's quite unsolvable.

“My dear Titan,” Dumbledore’s voice was gentle but helpless, “Fox is a companion, not food, not something to be eaten when you’re hungry.”

He was still explaining to the female Titan.

"No way, eating a phoenix? That's outrageous! It's even more outrageous than eating a phoenix egg!" Ian suddenly opened his eyes and found himself lying on a soft sofa.

He sat up and saw the scene before him—Dumbledore was sitting in a chair by the bed, and Fawkes was shivering and curled up in his arms, his feathers ruffled, his eyes warily staring at the tall girl opposite him, dressed in a chef's uniform. Her three-meter-tall frame was by no means small.

It was that mysterious female Titan Lyle.

The three-meter-tall female Titan Lyle holds a gleaming kitchen knife in one hand and a large, steaming pot in the other, filled with a liquid containing many seasonings.

There is a magic potion.

There were also some ginger slices and the like—yes, ginger slices. Ginger originated in tropical Southeast Asia, and the earliest record of its domestication can be traced back to about 5000 years ago, around the time of Ian.

In this day and age, nobody knows how many billions of years ago it was.

God knows why there are ginger slices here; perhaps they're like enoki mushrooms, something the female Titan created after "seeing" something in the future.

It's normal to think that way.

After all, Titans can create all life, so creating something as simple as enoki mushrooms or ginger slices is perfectly reasonable. Ian even saw peppercorns and chili peppers in the large pot. For a female Titan who possesses both creative power and the ability to glimpse the future, her quality of life is indeed out of step with the times.

Claire noticed that Ian had woken up and smiled. "You're finally awake, teacher."

“Uh…” Ian rubbed his temples, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the two of them. “You two…are you really discussing cooking with phoenixes?”

"It was she who was discussing it."

Dumbledore corrected him helplessly.

“I was just trying to stop her from turning my Fox into dinner.” The old headmaster did look a little nervous, as if he was genuinely worried that she would force him to hand over the Fox.

Even as a legendary wizard.

Even against a being like Titan, they still felt somewhat powerless.

"Don't be so stingy." Claire shrugged, not in the way of forcing anyone. "Anyway, the phoenix will come back to life after it dies, so it's not a loss to take a bite."

She was simply trying to persuade Dumbledore to sacrifice Fawkes so that everyone could be happy—the female Titan seemed quite curious to know if the phoenix flesh of later generations was even more delicious.

Ian was stunned.

"This is too outrageous... You even dare to stew your own phoenix?" He still remembered the words he heard when he woke up before, and it was truly indescribable what kind of partnership this was.

“Of course.” Claire nodded proudly. “My dog ​​is named ‘Red Feather.’ She loves to drink soup made from her own meat. Every time she finishes making it, she says she wants to add some mushrooms next time.”

It's unclear whether this is just Claire talking nonsense. After all, if it were true, then Claire's phoenix would probably be mentally unstable, just like its owner.

That makes sense.

It's like an abnormal person keeping an abnormal pet, like Ian keeping a Dementors.

"..."

Ian was speechless for a moment, and could only look at Dumbledore, "You can actually tolerate being in the same room with her?"

"Adaptability is part of survival," Dumbledore said with a smile, gently stroking Fawkes' feathers to soothe its frightened state. His words were as reasonable as ever.

After he finished speaking, the old headmaster looked Ian up and down. This Dumbledore smiled, his blue eyes shining with satisfaction behind his half-moon spectacles.

"You woke up at just the right time."

Whether this meant Ian waking up to save her from a predicament or there was some other reason, Ian was about to speak when Claire dropped her kitchen knife and excitedly approached, her purplish-gold eyes full of curiosity: "How was it? How did you understand it? Did you remember anything?"

She used the word "memory".

"Forehead……"

Ian rubbed his temples.

He felt that his thoughts were still somewhat muddled.

"Still completely unclear..."

The young wizard paused, then looked at Claire suspiciously. "Is it because of you? The strange things I encountered in the illusionary realm seemed to echo some history."

There was no point in hiding the fact that he could enter the illusionary realm. The female Titan was a prophet; even if he didn't tell her, she would surely know.

Not to mention that this female Titan seems to know Ian very well. As for Dumbledore, there's even less reason for him to hide anything, since he already knew that Ian could travel between the two worlds.

"No, it has nothing to do with me. It's just that you felt you remembered something," Claire answered straightforwardly, her eyes so frank that no one could find fault with her.

"At most, I was just a contributing factor." This charlatan still insisted on her original statement, believing that Ian did not have the memories of Raven because Ian was unwilling to recall Raven's memories.

In this regard.

Ian also felt it was indeed difficult to evaluate.

The young wizard stared at the female Titan for two seconds, then finally sighed.

"……All right."

Ian looked into her eyes, trying to tell if she was telling the truth, but her gaze was so open and honest that he didn't know whether to believe her nonsense.

After all, judging from the fact that this female Titan wanted to eat Fox, even if she wasn't mentally unstable, her thought process was definitely abnormal.

It's actually normal.

After all, Titans and humans are two completely different species. The only reason they can communicate is because they are both intelligent species. Humans are not direct creations of the Titans.

The gods are.

In Ian's view, the thought processes of those gods were also rather abnormal.

“Sometimes, you have to verify the truth yourself.” Claire didn’t seem to care about Ian’s misunderstanding; she was still busy making her stew without Fox.

I wonder if he's ultimately planning to stew his phoenix again. "An echo of the past?"

Dumbledore gently stroked Fawkes's feathers. The phoenix, still trembling with fear, huddled in his arms, occasionally stealing glances at Claire, afraid she might suddenly bring up the soup again.

"It seems you've had a rather unusual adventure," Dumbledore said gently, without asking for details or revealing anything he'd learned from the female Titan.

Or perhaps Dumbledore himself simply wasn't curious about these things.

“I spent the afternoon playing with Ariana.” Ian knew what Dumbledore cared about most, so he told Dumbledore in a short sentence that Ariana was doing well.

In this regard.

Dumbledore was taken aback by these words, a hint of nostalgia and tenderness flashing in his eyes: "Really... Is she alright?"

“That’s nice.” Ian paused. “They even gave me a star-shaped candy.”

Dumbledore chuckled softly.

"She's always like that; she likes to express kindness with candy."

He spoke softly.

"Professor, you remember it quite clearly."

Ian smiled slightly.

“How could I not know?” Dumbledore’s eyes flickered slightly, revealing a hint of nostalgia and envy. “Those were truly…rare times.”

It seems the old headmaster still remembers his youth, and he cherishes the past more than ever before, mainly because he also experienced a unique adventure.

The house fell silent for a moment, with only the crackling of the fire in the fireplace—and perhaps the sound of Claire grinding spices; she seemed determined to stew something tonight.

“Speaking of which, Professor,” Ian said, looking at Dumbledore, “I asked the question I’d been wanting to ask all along, “what are you doing here? I thought I was the only one trapped here.”

Ian could roughly guess why Dumbledore was here, but he still needed to verify it, since as the headmaster of Hogwarts, he naturally needed to know about the unusual situation in the Forbidden Forest.

Dumbledore smiled slightly, and his words confirmed Ian's guess: "Everyone was worried about you, so I came to find you—this wasn't an easy task."

Ian raised an eyebrow: "You found a way to get through the bronze gate?"

“Yes.” Dumbledore nodded.

“After you left, I have been studying that door. It is not only a key to time and dimensions, but also a test of wisdom. Only by understanding the essence of its operation can one truly master it.”

The old principal still speaks with that scholarly air.

Clearly, Dumbledore, who was previously trapped in his memories, passed the test inside the Bronze Gate and figured out its mechanism, which allowed him to reach the present era.

"So you... cracked its mechanism?"

Ian was also very curious about the Bronze Gate, but he had tried to crack it before without success, so he was very amazed that Dumbledore had succeeded.

of course.

He had no idea what Dumbledore had gone through before his success.

The former principal personally got involved.

In each "cycle," they were also studying the bronze door.

"You can say that."

Dumbledore nodded. "I spent a long time observing, calculating, and reasoning, and finally discovered that it is actually a system based on magical mathematics and causal logic."

"Once you understand how it works, you can find its operational records and thus pinpoint your location," the old principal explained, revealing how he was able to accurately arrive in this era.

Ian listened intently.

"You truly live up to your reputation."

He expressed his sincere admiration.

"It's just that I'm more patient than most people."

"Dumbledore said modestly."

“Oh, right,” Ian suddenly remembered something, and he probed Dumbledore to see if he really had Ravenclaw’s papers, “about the ‘Twelve Dragons Who Proved Themselves as Dragon Slayers,’ is that true?”

Dumbledore smiled and nodded.

“Yes, that’s true.” His tone was calm, as if discussing something utterly ordinary. “Killing twelve ancient dragons will grant you some kind of…world recognition.”

obviously.

Ian's guess was correct.

Dumbledore and Grindelwald found their path to legendary status in Ravenclaw's papers. And it was precisely because they knew they could further strengthen their position through the twelve dragons that they so decisively chose this most "weak" method of enlightenment; they had already planned their future.

"Okay, sure."

Ian didn't press the matter.

Some things are best left unsaid.

"If you can chat, then chat a little longer."

Claire listened with great interest. Her phoenix had already crawled in from outside and climbed into the pot. It seemed that this guy really wasn't exaggerating or lying.

The giant phoenix can freely change its size.

It actually curled up inside the large, golden-red pot, and even used its wings to pull the lid shut, covering itself completely.

Yes, this great phoenix looks like it's enjoying itself.

"...It's quite self-aware," Ian said dryly.

“Of course,” Claire said smugly, patting the pot lid. “My phoenix is ​​much more sensible than some people’s.” As she spoke, she gave Fox a meaningful glance.

Fox immediately shrank back and hid behind Dumbledore, afraid that he would also be captured and made into soup.

Claire hummed a song as she placed the pot on the fireplace. With a casual wave of her hand, the flames instantly transformed into a magical, ethereal blue, precisely controlled to a "slow simmer" temperature.

"You are truly outstanding to have found this era."

Claire looked at Dumbledore.

"It's alright. It's because I knew where Ian went that I was able to find you, isn't it?" Dumbledore's eyes twitched slightly as he looked at the phoenix in the pot.

However, he still maintained his elegance.

"correct,"

Claire held up one finger. "I showed myself voluntarily."

Her voice sounded somewhat guilty.

Dumbledore smiled noncommittally and did not refute.

His gaze remained fixed on the large pot. The phoenix inside seemed quite adapted to this cooking method, even adjusting its posture to make itself more comfortable while soaking.

Ian and Dumbledore looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Is this really... okay?" Ian couldn't help but ask.

"Of course, no problem!"

Claire didn't even look up. "The phoenix is ​​inherently capable of infinite rebirth. Stewing it only allows it to temporarily return to its original energy. Drinking its own stew can actually accelerate its rebirth cycle."

"This will only make the phoenix stronger and stronger."

I don't know if this is legitimate science education.

Ian and Dumbledore were both stunned.

(End of this chapter)