Darcie's fingertips touched the Remembrall, remembering its Stats.
…
[
Item: Remembrall (Named)
Grade: Rare
Sub-Grade: Low
Specification: A magical marble-sized glass ball that contains smoke which turns red when the user has forgotten something
Requirement:
— Magical Aptitude
— Correspondence >20
— Hogwarts Student
Attributes:
— Mana Consumption: 50 MP
Effect:
— Irrespective of spatial, temporal, and unknown, existing as well as non-existing influences, if the user has forgotten something, the smoke within will turn red upon contact
Quality: 100%
]
…
No matter the Effect's nature, mere remembering that she had forgotten something shouldn't have been enough to bring back memories.
However, after the Sorting Hat incident, Kai became much more careful regarding his memories and mindscape.
Following Lucky Intuitions, he had planted a copy of his core memories within the Remembrall before hiding it in Harry's trunk.
Harry possessed Prime Providence of the timeline… which meant Timeline was actively monitoring him all the time.
As Timeline needed Nyarlathotep's existence, in case of such scenarios, IT could use the yellow crystal within the ball to let Harry know of some secrets.
That was what Kai had been counting on.
The same happened with Darcie, who possessed the Supreme Providence, but in a much deeper realm.
The moment she touched the Remembrall, the yellow crystal seeped into her mind. And, as per the Ad Infinitum's nature, it got reflected infinitely by all the other yellow crystals hiding within the Black Hole that represented Kai's mindscape.
A boom resounded within Darcie's mind.
No word could explain the distortion of memories, experiences, and thoughts that were occurring within a moment.
From Kai's birth to experiencing the loss of his father during the Sorting Ceremony…
Everything just rushed back to him, giving him no respite.
When it was all done, a bubbling rage exploded within him.
The rage was so palatable that even Kai's mastery of Facelessness couldn't hold it in. The wrath spilled out from Darcie's eyes, rooting the young Harry to his place.
"Who… Who are you?!" Harry asked, shocked. He took several steps back as if the entity standing up in front of him would devour him in the next moment.
Darcie blinked away the oddity.
She brought up the Remembrall, putting it between her and Harry. The ball was filled with red smoke, but then it gradually lost its color, becoming colorless.
"I remember him," she told Harry. "I remember Arlen Black."
Harry was still looking into Darcie's eyes, forgetting everything about Black.
What was that?! He asked himself, gulping. He suddenly realized he couldn't feel his knees.
An unbearable nauseous feeling was welling up inside him. His skin was itching all over and his mind had gone numb, a primal fear setting deep in his subconsciousness.
Darcie frowned.
Suddenly, two yellow crystals bobbed up and down in Harry's eyes, easing his unusual state.
Kai couldn't use these Yellow Crystals to influence Major Characters to a great extent without getting blocked by the Timeline. Much less needed to be said about the inheritor of the Prime Providence — Harry Potter.
However, what the yellow crystals did just now amounted to healing.
No way the Timeline would consider this a physical, magical, or spiritual attack.
It was the same when Black jokingly hit Harry, Ron, or Draco. He never got a warning notification about harming the Characters and facing the consequences.
No matter how far he had come in mastering the Contrasts of the Facelessness, Kai still couldn't hide his intentions from entities like Deep Ones and Timelines. Not yet. Not fully.
Harry came out of his troubled thoughts, shaking his head. Only then did he realize what he had heard. His entire bearing changed, suddenly.
"Yes!" Harry shouted, beaming. "I knew it! I knew it! I am not mad!"
Darcie put the Remembrall away. "Not yet."
"What?"
"Nothing," Darcie said, rolling her eyes. She then began walking away.
"Hey!" Harry shouted. He lunged at her and grabbed her shoulder.
Darcie looked over her shoulder and her green eyes became needles.
Harry let go. "I… I am sorry," he stuttered, letting her go.
"I will not warn again, Mr. Potter," Darcie warned for the second time. "You will get more than a… scar if you touch me again. I promise."
Harry gulped. There was a chill in the air. He could hear the strikes of lightning.
Harry looked at the wand in Darcie's right hand and he could have sworn he saw the wand trembling as if it was angry or something.
He took a deep breath. "Where are you going?" Harry asked.
"We have an intruder," Darcie said, pointing toward the office's entrance.
"No, I mean…" Harry cursed himself. "I mean, you can't go."
"I can't go?" Darcie raised an eyebrow.
"I mean…" Harry cursed himself again. Why was it her?! He didn't hate her, but god she infuriated him so much. "Why are you so calm?"
"Tch!" Darcie tsked. She just turned around and walked away. "Now you are just wasting my time."
"Hey!" Harry shouted again. "What about Black?! We need to tell the truth to everyone. We must find him."
Darcie paused. She turned halfway and told Harry, "Here's the deal. You keep standing here and thinking about how to tackle your questions. Questions that are mystical and elusive. Meanwhile, I, and Hogwarts, have real and urgent problems to solve."
Harry's face went red.
...
Kai let the Ad Infinitum run amok as he walked through the Hogwarts' corridors.
When Black had disappeared, the AIs were in a state of Total Unsynchronization. That's why, Kai didn't even know himself what had occurred with his Item.
Still, from what Professor Dumbledore told him, he could connect the dots.
Black went to see the Mirror of Erised, Kai analyzed, the Ad Infinitum generating probable theories.
He couldn't access the Lucky Intuitions for now to reach a much better and solid conclusion because he was still wearing Darcie's face.
Let's assume the Mirror managed to invade the Mindscape, no matter how improbable the task is. Hmm… even then… how could this all make me forget myself?!
Such a thorough rejection of Oneself…
Even Facelessness wasn't capable of that, Kai knew.
Hmm… Kai narrowed his eyes, going through the generated probabilities. Let's assume the Mirror somehow made Black disappear and used the Source we share to make me forget myself.
Then how did Meg, Spawn, Red Sun, and Old Sage forget Kai… despite having a Soul-Blood Oath? Not to mention, they were separated by a Bounded Field!
Everything felt so convoluted and insanely complex that even Kai, despite AI for brains, felt confused and irritated.
There was only one way to know now.
The Mirror of Erised!
Kai couldn't just give up on his Item.
The sole reason for Black's existence was to take such risks, anyway.
It let Kai know of the potential risks and rewards that he couldn't find by putting himself on the line.
Now, from Black's disappearance, Kai at least knew there was something deeply wrong with the Mirror; something much worse than the Contestants of Primordial Tower were aware of at least.
He stopped at the 3rd floor's corridor, opened the door, and stood in front of the three-headed dog.
The huge dog stared at the little girl in front of it.
Fluffy… that was what Hagrid had named it. Alas! This dog wasn't Fluffy anymore.
Fluffy had long been killed by Selene because she didn't like the smell coming out of it.
Kai ignored the Techno-Dog and passed all the restrictions laid out by the Professors to the end location of the Mirror as if they were bugs in his path.
In the majestic hall, Kai descended step by step and came to a stop in front of the giant Mirror.
The Mirror of Erised reflected Darcie's tiny figure. Unknown to her, it looked into the past and then far into the future, searching for her deepest desire.
Yet, moments passed by without any change in the mirror.
The world gawked at the strange turn of events.
"I have no more desires…" Darcie mumbled, her lips arching up, becoming a grin. "I have long achieved Greatness."
**************
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