Hogwarts Card System.

Chapter 55 Ravenclaw's Longing, Dumbledore Panicked

"Helena, think carefully about the time you spent with Ms. Ravenclaw. Think about whether she ever brought up this topic," Ted said to Helena.

"Thoughts, tangled thoughts..." Helena's eyes were empty and lifeless as she fell into deep thought.

For a ghost with little sense of time, this period of contemplation can last for two or three hours.

When Ted returned after dinner, Helena was still there, lost in thought.

It was past midnight when Ted couldn't stay awake any longer and decided to talk about it tomorrow.

He wanted to advise her to rest and think things through, but he was interrupted before he could finish speaking.

"I...I think I remember now, my mother...she seems to have said something similar..." She was somewhat agitated, looking sad and with a hint of reminiscence.

She walked to the statue and called softly, "Mom? Mom! Mom, I'm back. Open the door for me, it's Helena."

Suddenly, Ted sensed magical energy emanating from the statue!

He quickly cast a detection spell and, sure enough, saw an increasingly bright blue light on the statue.

Suddenly, the Ravenclaw statue blinked and then spoke: "Helena, my daughter, is that you?"

It was a gentle, clear voice, giving the impression of an elegant and intelligent woman.

Pearly white tears streamed down Helena's face as she choked out her arms, trying to embrace her mother, but could only pass through the statue—she was now a ghost, having been dead for almost a thousand years.

"Mom! Mom, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." she said, choking back tears.

"Don't cry, Helena, don't cry. My poor daughter..." He looked at Helena.

"I was already in a very bad state at that time. I was worried that I wouldn't see you again, and I was worried that you wouldn't be able to go on. It was my fault. I shouldn't have let Barrow go to find you. His mind had already been severely damaged by the black magic..."

"Please don't blame me, Helena, please don't blame me," she pleaded with her daughter.

"No, it's my fault. Mother, it's all my fault. If I hadn't stolen the crown and distracted you, you wouldn't have died. Mother, please forgive me, Mother." Helena was practically sobbing uncontrollably.

The Ravenclaw statue reaches out, seemingly embracing its daughter. The mother and daughter, one a statue unable to weep and the other an untouchable ghost, together express an apology a thousand years overdue.

After a long while, Mrs. Ravenclaw calmed Helena down, and they finally calmed down.

"When I heard that devastating news, I was already on the verge of collapse. But I was worried about you, Helena. I was afraid you would be too afraid of death to go on."

"In hindsight, my fears were justified. But it was all too rushed at the time, and I could only cast an incomplete spell on this statue, which is why I couldn't wake up on my own..."

"Thankfully, I left enough magic in the secret chamber. Helena, don't be afraid, come with me..."

As she spoke, a fist-sized ball of light floated out from the statue of Lady Ravenclaw.

She floated ahead, leading the way, with Helena following behind.

After walking a short distance, Helena waved to Ted. "Ted, thank you. Please come with me. I may have to continue walking, and I hope you can be my final witness."

Ted bowed slightly, said nothing, and followed.

The ball of light floated in front of them, and the entire castle seemed to come alive.

The portraits seem to have lost their self-awareness, remaining motionless within the frames. The moving armors seem to salute on their own, and the moving staircases seem to float over to form a smooth path.

This is much more impressive than a regular castle; it's like a transforming building block.

Soon, they left the Ravenclaw Tower and crossed the skybridge to the main tower.

In a corridor on the eighth floor, the ball of light stopped in front of a tapestry.

"This blanket is quite interesting," said the Ravenclaw light cluster.

That's a tapestry of a troll beating up Barnabas. It tells the story of a wizard named Barnabas who tries to teach a troll to dance ballet, only to be brutally beaten by the impatient troll with a big club.

Suddenly, a door appeared on the wall opposite the tapestry. It was a three-meter-high double wooden door with gold-painted edges, and inside the door was a raven pattern.

The door opened, and a ball of light flew in. Ravenclaw's voice came through: "Please come in, Helena and that little one. This was my old research lab..."

Ted never expected that Ravenclaw would bring him to the Room of Requirement.

He knew this place, but he didn't plan to come here to hang out in his first year of high school.

Unexpectedly, Ravenclaw had also left a "secret room" here!

Upon entering, it wasn't what Ted had imagined—no bookshelves, lab tables, or anything like that. Instead, it felt rather empty—with only a large, curved table, a few chairs, an old-fashioned sofa, and a bookcase.

However, on the opposite wall, there are many blue lines that shimmer with a faint golden light, converging into an extremely complex geometric pattern.

The light flew into the wall, and then all the blue lines connected, spreading rapidly in other directions of the house, towards the unseen magical veins within the walls…

Dumbledore, who was fast asleep, suddenly opened his eyes. He pulled off his pointed nightcap, picked up the moon-shaped glasses on the table and put them on. He looked around uncertainly, then reached out as if to do something, but there was no response.

He looked at his hands, and before he could even change out of his pajamas, he quickly got out of bed and hurried down the steps to the principal's office.

He looked at the wall of portraits of past principals sleeping soundly with snot bubbles coming out of their noses, and his heart sank—his authority as principal had been revoked!

However, before he could take any further action, his access was suddenly restored.

From the moment he was jolted awake until he realized his permissions had been "usurped," and then, as he was about to do something, his permissions inexplicably returned, the entire process took less than a minute.

"What happened?" he muttered to himself.

……

Meanwhile, in the Room of Requirement, Ravenclaw's secret chamber, a powerful blue magic gathered and eventually formed the image of a middle-aged woman—a Ravenclaw in a blue robe.

She reached out and gently took Helena's hand!

She's come into contact with a ghost!

Ted and Helena were both surprised.

Madam Ravenclaw chuckled. "Don't be too surprised. While ordinary methods can't reach ghosts, some advanced magic can influence them. I'm just temporarily using the Headmaster's authority to manipulate the castle's magic and create this temporary body that allows me to touch Helena."

Ted was completely bewildered, wondering what contact with ghosts, high-level magic, principal's authority, and body shaping were all about.

Is it that amazing?

"So, you are now..." Ted swallowed hard and asked with difficulty.

"I am not resurrected, nor am I even Ravenclaw herself. I am merely a memory into which she has poured her emotions. No one can live for a thousand years, much less be resurrected a thousand years later."

She glanced at her daughter in her arms. "Time is running out, Helena, are you ready?"

Helena looked up at her mother and nodded: "Mom, I'm not scared anymore."

After saying that, she turned to look at Ted again, "Ted, thank you."

Ted bowed slightly and said, "Have a safe journey."

Helena smiled and nodded.

Ms. Ravenclaw smiled. "Thank you, little one, thank you for your help. I hope this is helpful..."

A book appeared on the curved table, then automatically turned its pages, revealing countless fonts and even drawings.

The light came on, and a gentle white light enveloped the mother and daughter.

Helena waved to Ted, "Goodbye Ted, goodbye."

Ted waved: "Goodbye, goodbye Helena, goodbye Ms. Ravenclaw."

After the white light dissipated, everything disappeared.

Although the room remains as it was, the blue lines on the walls have disappeared.

Ted glanced around the house, looked at the bookshelf, and then flipped through the book left behind by the Ravenclaw lady—it was a good ten centimeters thick, with bronze edging that could kill someone if it hit them.

He looked in the direction where Helena had disappeared, never expecting that one of his friends would be separated from him by death so soon.

Although I should be happy for Helena, I have very mixed feelings.

At this point, the system also joined in the fun.

"Ding~ Hidden quest completed: [Ravenclaw's Chamber (Purple)]. Reward: 3000 EXP, random card..."

"A purple quest? 3000 experience points, random cards?!" This is quite a surprise.

Ted glanced again at the spot where Helena and Ms. Ravenclaw had disappeared.

He decided to calm down first and leave the situation as it was. He wanted to go back and clear his head before deciding how to handle things here.

Based on Ms. Ravenclaw's final actions, Ted had gained access to the secret room.

Let's come back another time then. Let's go back and calm down for now.

Ted pushed open the door to the Room of Requirement and, after walking only a few steps, bumped into Dumbledore in the hallway, who was wearing pajamas and a nightcap.

Behind his moon-shaped glasses, an inquiring gaze peeked out.

"Mr. Epifani, what's wrong?" he asked.

Thank you to reader "Emerging Spring" for the 100-coin reward!

(End of this chapter)