Early on Christmas morning, Skyl woke to the sound of knocking.
"Who is it?" He waved a hand, and his clothes naturally appeared on his body. A cold winter made a person reluctant to leave the blankets, and if the clothes were still icy cold, putting them on would feel as painful as torture. Fortunately, magic could solve that little problem.
After a night of celebration, the tavern had become quiet again. The guests from other worlds had all returned to their own lives.
Skyl vaguely remembered that it had been around four or five in the morning when he finished sending everyone home and went up to the guest room on the second floor to rest.
The one knocking was Henton. The elderly ghost gentleman was like a dutiful butler.
"Did you rest well? I apologize for waking you so early, but many owls are gathered outside the tavern. They seem to be here to deliver packages to you."
"Please invite them in."
The first floor of the tavern turned into an owl zoo. Feathers flew everywhere, and packages fell as densely as raindrops. There were already many gift boxes in the room as well, left behind by last night's guests.
Skyl had more or less gotten used to this fixed part of Christmas. Among the gifts he received this year were ones from Lily and James.
The gift Lily the witch had prepared was a small bottle of Felix Felicis, while James had prepared a Firebolt for him. Both gifts were very precious. Felix Felicis required a great deal of effort and many rare potion ingredients. Lily had brewed it at Snape's suggestion, so he had paid for that part of the expense. As for the Firebolt, James had ordered it by letter. He had always been wealthy, and he earned quite a good salary working at the White Tower, so he could afford such a high-end flying broomstick.
By comparison, Skyl's return gifts were rather perfunctory. He had sent candy.
Grindelwald had also sent a gift, though his was placed together with Dumbledore's. One old bumblebee and one vampire had each knitted one glove to make a pair. When Skyl imagined those two old wizards sitting by the brazier knitting, he really got the impression of an old married couple.
The friends from other worlds had left behind some local specialties before they departed. Most were odds and ends, such as the dwarves' homemade swords, knives, and shields, while the hobbits had left handmade cakes. Gollum had left a pebble.
The Dragonborn had given him a small figurine made from dragonbone. Brelyna had sent another painting, this one showing Skyl reading in the library.
Melina had made a box of rowa fruit preserves. It tasted pretty good, though Skyl remembered that this stuff was meant for mounts in the game. Millicent had given him a knight's sword.
Tony's gift was a magic suit of armor, with a note saying that Skyl could come to him for upgrades anytime. The Ancient One had sent tea leaves. Rocket had sent a handmade bomb. Star-Lord had sent a music cassette.
Ao, the new friend he had just met, had left behind a twenty-sided die. After playing with it for a while, Skyl discovered that the thing could influence fate, making it quite a nice little toy.
Marika came down to the first floor while yawning. When she saw the gifts covering the floor, she could not help sighing over just how wide Skyl's circle of friends was.
"Skyl, you really do have a lot of friends."
"Having many friends is a good thing, but sometimes it can be troubling too."
Among so many friends, there were not many who could accompany Skyl through endless years. Most of them would be taken away by time. The aging of their bodies and minds would leave them unable to adapt to the living world, and in the end, they would willingly throw themselves into death's embrace. Perhaps this moment was Skyl's golden age.
Marika sat on the floor and helped Skyl open the packages.
"Where are you planning to go next?" she asked casually, as if she did not care in the slightest whether Skyl stayed or left.
"Back to Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore said they urgently need my help. I'm going back to see what's going on."
"Then have a good trip," Marika said with a smile.
"This is probably the last time you'll wish me a good trip. Uh, I mean, I'll graduate next year."
"I know. I know."
Before noon, Skyl and Gally stuffed all the packages into the Tower of Tomes, which meant he could return to school with light steps. On Christmas Eve yesterday, Dumbledore had dragged him aside to complain about his troubles, saying soul-entity programming was too difficult and that they urgently needed guidance. Skyl was someone who helped people in their hour of need, so he prepared to go to the White Tower and see the situation for himself.
When he hurried back to school, it happened to be lunchtime.
Hogwarts was truly deserted now. There were only three students left. The long House tables in the Great Hall had all been moved into the corners, leaving a single dining table in the middle. Dumbledore and Grindelwald, the heads of the four Houses, Hagrid, Professor Trelawney, the caretaker Filch, James Potter, and the three students staying at school were already seated.
"Skyl! You came back this early? I thought you would stay a few more days." Dumbledore happily invited him to sit.
"Before we eat, let's pull the crackers first!" Dumbledore cheerfully handed out the magical Christmas crackers.
Skyl casually took a red cracker and pulled the string. With a loud bang, many fake butterflies flew out of the cracker tube, along with a pointed witch's hat decorated with many petals and butterflies. Smiling, he took off the wizard's hat on his head and replaced it with this flashy holiday hat.
Everyone pulled crackers next. Coincidentally, all the men got women's hats, while all the women got men's hats. Skyl suspected that the crackers had been designed that way on purpose.
James happily put on a lady's hat. When he saw Snape's gloomy face, he provoked him by saying, "What, Professor Snape? Has a hat actually defeated you?"
The old bat frowned and pushed away the women's hat in front of him.
After the sumptuous meal ended, Skyl burped and followed several professors to the second floor of the White Tower.
The central brain was now a finished product, like a brand-new personal computer. It only needed an operating system and software installed before it could run. Unfortunately, this step had truly stumped all the traditional wizards.
"Soul-entity programming really isn't easy." Skyl had expected this long ago. The central brain he had made in the Tower of Tomes was controlled by Mora, which counted as a shortcut.
Shaping a soul entity from scratch was, of course, extremely difficult. This was a divine domain beyond legend. The method Skyl had provided was to hypnotize the central brain with the Draught of Living Death, then have wizards enter the central brain's dream one by one and use Soul-Capturing Charms to gradually shape its consciousness-body. But this work was like building a bridge out of wooden stakes on the stormy sea. Not only was it full of danger, but there was always a risk of all previous efforts going to waste.
"The central brain's thinking ability is hundreds of millions of times greater than an ordinary person's. In the time it takes a human to produce one thought, the central brain can produce hundreds of millions. It's truly difficult to make it remember human instructions. But there is actually one simple and practical solution. We put a soul into the central brain and use it to gather the scattered strings of thought together, allowing it to focus its attention. It's the same principle as turning cotton into stone so it becomes easier to carve."
"But the requirements for that soul would be very high. It must be strong enough, or it will be destroyed by the strings of thought produced by the central brain." Dumbledore frowned. He did indeed have one soul on hand that met the requirements, the Dark Lord Sauron. But putting Sauron into the central brain would be no different from releasing a tiger back into the mountains.
"Professor, perhaps you've forgotten that lady," Skyl reminded him at the right moment. "Helena Ravenclaw's ghost."
When everyone heard this, they all voiced their doubts.
"I'm afraid Ravenclaw's ghost won't be able to bear such a duty. The power of the central brain is too great. The moment she enters, she'll be shattered by the strings of thought."
"Lady Helena has something special about her." Skyl explained the special relationship Helena had once had with the Bloody Baron. "As long as the Baron still remembers that grudge, Helena will not truly die."
"Then that's what we'll do!" Dumbledore clapped excitedly. "Let's all go invite Lady Ravenclaw here."
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