Chapter 459: I Just Tried Trusting Someone And...

A beautiful hand gripped the side of the coffin, and the senior slowly staggered to her feet.

Her long golden hair hung messily around her shoulders as her bloodshot eyes swept over her surroundings. Then she drew a deep breath...

And then...

"Cough, cough..."

The fresh air nearly made her cough her lungs out.

Perhaps it was because she had gone so long without breathing, or perhaps because this body was not actually her original one, but everything felt incredibly strange.

To put it rather oddly, she was... no longer quite used to being human.

"I... I'm out... This is what breathing feels like... This is what it feels like to have weight... This is... a smell! Flowers! I can smell flowers!" Her voice was extremely hoarse.

Clearly, all the screaming earlier had damaged her throat as well.

She clutched the side of the coffin and barely managed to steady herself on trembling legs.

This should not have happened. When she had originally been buried inside, her bodily functions had been frozen by magic.

So when her body resumed functioning, she should not have experienced the weakness of someone who had been bedridden for a long time.

At that moment, Dumbledore silently walked over to Wade's side. Wade then felt his wands return to his pockets.

Once Wade had regained consciousness, Dumbledore had finally relaxed. It was safe to return his wands now.

However, Wade's condition was not actually as good as it appeared.

In fact, his body now contained a great deal of "residue," and it made him feel stronger than ever before.

Although Ms. Paris had managed to calm his violent magic, the sensation of his power increasing so rapidly still gave Wade the fleeting illusion that he was invincible.

More troublingly, something inside him was stirring restlessly. He desperately wanted to find more "residue" and absorb it!

Fortunately, the Felix Felicis constantly warned him of the danger, while Ravenclaw's Diadem stimulated his mind and soul, repeatedly pulling him back from those impulses.

He placed the Hogyoku, now filled with "residue," into a specially made pocket and sealed it with a spell.

That tiny action alone nearly exhausted all of Wade's self-control.

Meanwhile, the senior tried to climb out of the crystal coffin, only to find that she could barely lift her legs.

"Wh... what's happening?" she asked anxiously.

After finally regaining her freedom, the thing she wanted most was to immediately climb out of this damned crystal coffin and run for miles.

But now she discovered that she could barely control her own body.

It felt like trying to operate a battle puppet whose joints had completely rusted over.

Ms. Paris stepped forward, a short wand appearing in her hand. She gently touched its tip to the senior's forehead.

A soft green light slowly enveloped her entire body.

"There's no need to rush. From what I can tell, there's nothing seriously wrong with your body. The problem is simply that your soul and physical body haven't fully merged yet..." As Ms. Paris spoke, the green light flowing from her wand gradually turned amber.

Even Wade and Dumbledore, standing several metres away, could feel a soothing warmth within that amber glow. Even the agitation caused by the residue inside Wade subsided once again.

"What kind of magic is that?" Wade asked in surprise.

"That is... magic involving the soul," Dumbledore said, equally astonished. "In truth, throughout history, very few wizards have ever specialised in soul magic. Magic involving the soul is simply too profound. As a result, very little knowledge concerning soul magic has been passed down. I myself only encountered a few records of it by chance in a magical manuscript from Northern Europe."

"Soul magic?" Wade said in surprise. "This is the first time I've even heard the term."

"Although very little knowledge of soul magic has survived, there are still spells used today that originated from it," Dumbledore said.

"Which ones?" Wade asked curiously.

"Occlumency, Legilimency, and... the Imperius Curse."

Wade immediately understood.

No wonder Ms. Paris had been able to bring him back to his senses so easily earlier and even guide his Occlumency.

Meanwhile, beneath the amber light, the senior could feel the weakness steadily leaving her body. She flexed her fingers with ease. Clearly, her condition was already far better than it had been moments before.

Only... for some reason, her vision was still blurry.

The amber light gradually faded. Ms. Paris lowered her wand and smiled at the senior.

Just as she was about to speak, the temperature around them suddenly dropped by several degrees.

Everyone's vision blurred for an instant, and another figure appeared among them.

Wade stared at Slytherin in surprise. By all rights, he should not have revealed himself at a time like this.

The usually composed Slytherin had been Wade's greatest hidden trump card. Yet now, Slytherin seemed even more impulsive than Lucifer. He had actually abandoned his hiding place and appeared directly before everyone.

Slytherin slowly pulled back his hood, revealing his milky-white, translucent face. His ghostly features were filled with disbelief.

He stared fixedly at Ms. Paris.

"How is this possible... How could this be possible... You can't be her! You can't possibly be her..."

Ms. Paris was startled when she suddenly saw Slytherin, but her surprise quickly turned to delight.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were still hiding somewhere in Hogwarts... I've been looking for you for a very long time," Ms. Paris said with a smile.

"You were looking for me?" Slytherin asked, confused.

"Yes... The main reason I returned to become the administrator was actually to find you. I simply never managed to."

"You can't be her! So many years have passed... She couldn't possibly still be alive! Unless she became a ghost as well, and you... you are clearly still alive! But... if you aren't her, then how could you possibly know soul magic?"

Slytherin looked completely bewildered.

"I am her, and she is me, Salazar... I'm standing right here in front of you."

Everyone present stared blankly at the two of them as they exchanged this confusing reunion.

Even the senior nearly forgot her dream of running several miles the moment she got out.

Still, her attention was not held for long.

Once she came back to her senses, she ignored the strange pair and climbed straight out of the crystal coffin before taking off barefoot.

"I'm free! I'm finally free!"

She ran while shouting at the top of her lungs, freely venting the resentment that had built up over the past several decades.

It was difficult to reconcile this excited, unrestrained display with the elegant composure she had shown before.

Then...

Thud...

"Ugh..."

Wade frowned at the senior, who had fallen straight into a flowerbed, his feelings complicated.

To guard against her, Wade had arranged the entire area like an inescapable trap, but now...

For the first time, he wondered whether he had made a mistake.

"Ouch... It doesn't hurt... My vision is just a little blurry, so I didn't see where I was going. Maybe once my soul stabilises a little more, it'll stop happening..." the senior said as she rubbed her toes. Her face had already been pale, but now there was not a trace of colour left in it.

Just watching made Wade's own foot hurt. He had personally seen her sprint barefoot and slam the big toe of her left foot squarely into a flowerpot.

"Is it possible... that your blurry vision is actually because you're nearsighted?" Wade could not help asking.

The senior, who had been trembling as she tried to stand up, suddenly froze.

Only then did she remember that Wade had told her before that there were marks on the bridge of this body's nose, proof that it had worn glasses for a long time.

"I forgot," she said quietly. "You know, I was too excited..."

Wade sighed, walked over, and crouched in front of her. Then he pulled out the probability glasses he had not yet had time to dismantle and study, and placed them on the bridge of her nose.

The probability glasses could assist a wizard in battle. Automatically adjusting their prescription and improving the wearer's eyesight was merely one of their basic functions.

"You can borrow them for now. Remember to give them back later." Wade drew his wand and tapped her swollen toe. The redness and swelling vanished instantly.

The senior said nothing. She merely raised a hand and silently adjusted the glasses, as if to spare herself any further embarrassment.

"Lucifer! Take it down," Wade called.

"Got it!" Lucifer shuddered, and countless clusters of flame shot over from the distance before merging back into his body.

"You believe me now?" the senior asked when she saw Wade remove the preparations.

"I do," Wade replied.

"You're lying again. Sigh... Looks like you've already realised I'm no longer a threat to you..." she said with a sigh.

"Not necessarily. Feigning weakness is a strategy too. You may not be as weak as you appear to me," Wade said.

"If you don't trust me, why remove all those precautions?" she asked with a frown.

"Just think of it as me trying to trust someone for once... I only hope you don't disappoint me." Wade pulled her up from the ground.

The senior snorted softly. "Back to telling people what they want to hear and ghosts what they want to hear? Go on, then. What do you want from me this time?"

"Sss... Have we really become this suspicious of each other?" Wade asked with a frown.

"I'm done talking about this. Lend me your wand."

The senior had already regained her former composure.

Wade handed her the beech wand in his hand.

The moment she took it, a brilliant stream of light burst from the wand tip.

Wade frowned. "Traitor."

"Looks like your wand likes me better..."

Whoosh!

Before the senior could even finish speaking, she shot straight into the sky and disappeared into the clouds in an instant.

"Sss... When did you learn a flying spell..."

Only after quite some time did Wade finally turn his head toward Slytherin.

"Do you have anything you'd like to explain to me?"

"I met an old friend. My old friend would never harm you, so I stopped paying attention to those dangerous traps of yours," Slytherin replied arrogantly.

"Then... Ms. Paris, perhaps there are also a few things you ought to explain to... Professor Dumbledore? After all, he is the Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts. It would hardly be appropriate for him to have no right to know anything."

Wade knew he probably would not get any answers if he asked directly, so he simply dragged Dumbledore into it.

"I'm sorry, but I can only answer one question. I cannot tell you anything more. Otherwise, it may lead to very serious consequences!"

Ms. Paris's expression was more solemn than Wade had ever seen it.

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