The raven rolled across the ground in agony again, its black feathers stained with blood.
As the fear of death closed in, Harris Raymons struggled upright, his eyes blazing with the desperate desire to live.
Perhaps that sheer survival instinct triggered some kind of transformation. Harris Raymons felt a surge of vigorous life force. He was not sure whether it was real or an illusion, but he seemed to hear a summons coming from that direction.
Warm. Vast. A little similar to "Nicolas Flamel," yet gentler.
A sliver of hope rose in Harris Raymons's heart. He exhausted all his strength, trying to make this body crawl in that direction.
But he was only a raven now. This body simply could not crawl.
Despair swallowed Harris Raymons whole. It felt as though the entire world had gone dark...
"Wait, why did the sky get darker?"
Only then did Harris Raymons realize the darkness was not an illusion.
Something had suddenly appeared above his head, blocking out the little sunlight there was in the forest.
Well, that was it. Had he run into some wild beast from the forest?
Harris Raymons gave a bitter smile. During the time he had been borrowing this raven's body, he had plucked quite a lot from the beasts in this forest. He had probably managed to offend the whole place.
Now he was probably about to get beaten while he was already down.
To die just like this... Harris Raymons could not quite accept it. He raised his head, wanting to see what kind of beast was about to kill him.
Then he saw a Treant twice the height of a man, with half of a ruined face still hanging on it.
"Leonard... Leonard William?" Harris Raymons was startled. "Did Raichel push you this far?"
He had no idea what principle was behind that half-plant form, but it looked like a true form forced into the open. One look and it was obvious he was badly injured.
The plant-man said nothing. He picked up Harris Raymons's raven body, rubbed it a little, then stuffed it into his own body.
Harris Raymons: ...
It... went in.
The sensation was strange, but Harris Raymons soon had no time to care. He felt life force, from the same source as the distant thing that had been calling to him, slowly pour into his body, drive out the magic lodged in his chest, and repair his injuries.
The pain faded. Harris Raymons felt dazed, like he was soaking in a hot spring.
Then he fell asleep.
The Treant with the ruined half-face carried Harris Raymons through the forest and headed toward the giant tree still growing in the distance.
Before long, he reached the area near the ruins of the Shrieking Shack. It was already bustling with voices. A group of Aurors had warily surrounded the giant tree, and many wizards who had no idea what was going on were standing around watching it.
They pointed and whispered, all curious about what this suddenly appeared giant tree actually was.
Seeing this, the Treant did not approach. Instead, he walked over to a nearby tree.
Then his body sank and merged into the ground.
Inside the giant tree, Leonard regained consciousness after finishing the review of his past memories.
He looked up at his surroundings. The place was exactly like the environment he remembered from when he had first transmigrated into this world. Everywhere he looked, starlight glittered.
It felt like the center of the universe, as though all those galaxies were within reach.
But Leonard knew perfectly well that "within reach" was impossible. Those galaxies were really just like background textures in a game, insubstantial backdrops, only good for looking at.
Perhaps the World Tree at its peak could communicate with those galaxies, but the current World Tree was struggling just to control the land around it.
Leonard let out a sigh. Starting from nothing really was not nearly as comfortable as inheriting something ready-made. He had no idea how many years it would take for this World Tree to grow back to its peak.
And besides, this was not the secret realm of Asgard. He was out in the real world now, standing right beside Hogwarts. Would anyone really just let some giant unknown tree grow here unchecked?
Leonard had already noticed that quite a few of the people outside were discussing whether they should cut the World Tree down.
Just as he was worrying about the World Tree's growth, a ripple appeared in the starry sky.
Leonard turned to look beside him. A Treant was slowly materializing there, with half of Leonard's own face still on it.
"I thought when you came back to the present, it was to help me deal with Raichel. Turns out you came back to help me rebuild the World Tree instead," Leonard said with a sigh.
"That was never up to me. Even if we are not borrowing the Time-Turner directly, but the World Tree that devoured the Time-Turner instead, the rules that must be followed still have to be followed." The Treant's voice was a little sluggish.
"My time is almost up. Even if I'm only an avatar, two World Trees still can't exist in the same time."
"I understand. Then why did you come here now?" Leonard looked at the Treant. "To tell me about the future?"
"That's impossible. Don't even think about something that would create a time loop the moment you heard it." The Treant laughed. "But even though I can't say it, I know who can tell you. It's extremely important information. It concerns whether we live or die in the future."
Leonard's expression shifted slightly. "Who?"
"Him."
As the Treant spoke, he pulled a raven out of his own body. From that raven, Leonard sensed a familiar aura.
It was the aura of Rune letters. All Rune letters came from the World Tree, and Leonard was certain this raven had also been formed from Rune letters.
But even if this kind of raven possessed intelligence, it was still only a supernatural construct formed from Rune letters. It could not have a soul.
And yet the raven in the Treant's hand did have a soul, and it seemed to be gravely injured. If the Treant had not been keeping it alive with the World Tree's aura, its soul would probably have dispersed long ago.
"Who is he?" Leonard asked.
"Harris Raymons," the Treant said.
"Harris Raymons? How did that guy end up in such a miserable state?" Leonard asked curiously.
"You'll have to ask him yourself after he wakes up. I know, but I can't tell you directly." As he spoke, the Treant tossed the raven to Leonard.
Leonard caught it casually and set it aside to be nourished. When he looked back again, the Treant had already broken apart and disappeared, and the consciousness inside it vanished along with it.
"He really leaves cleanly," Leonard murmured after a moment of thought, understanding that this was a hint from his future self.
When going back to the past, he had to act decisively, so as not to cause unnecessary effects.
"It won't be long before I need to make a version of myself to send back into the past... but the problem now is how I'm supposed to deal with what comes next."
Looking at the wizards gathered beneath the World Tree, Leonard sighed.