After the old headmaster locked the cabinet, he turned to Ian, "This is the crux of the problem. He seems to have attained immortality; no matter how he dies, it doesn't affect his revival."
Such remarks indeed made Ian feel a chill upon careful thought. The little wizard could almost picture the two older men in the underground palace trying various ways to kill Ronnie Ehrich.
This really is some dark business!
"So, what does this imply?" Ian dared not let his imagination run too wild; he was more concerned about whether the two extraordinary wizards had found any useful information.
"It implies he's not truly alive; his current 'living' state is not genuine." Albus Dumbledore stood in front of the cabinet without beating around the bush.
He straightforwardly began to explain to the little wizard, "Ronnie Ehrich's memory stops at the moment he received a letter from our Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Of course, the letter he received was forged, but that's not important right now; let's just discuss the last point in time his memory holds."
"At that time, Ronnie Ehrich had neither encountered an attack nor died, and it was precisely at that moment that he was taken to the underground palace of Hogwarts."
Albus Dumbledore's words didn't completely make sense to Ian.
"But we saw his body?"
Ian furrowed his brow. Not only that, but when he first entered the mysterious underground palace, he hadn't seen a trace of Ronnie Ehrich at all.
Albus Dumbledore nodded and continued to explain, "Indeed, the body we saw was the real Ronnie Ehrich."
His increasingly puzzling answers made the little wizard almost develop cartoon eyes.
"What's he in the underground palace then? A duplicate? A clone?" Ian could only let his imagination go wild, linking the bizarre Ronnie Ehrich with Biological Alchemy.
"It's a segment of fate captured, child. It neither has a past nor will it birth a future, neither alive nor dead; when Ronnie Ehrich read that letter, what was taken wasn't himself, but a segment of fate dependent on him," Albus Dumbledore sighed gently.
He returned to his long table to make tea and took out three cups.
"Is this why Ronnie Ehrich can't leave the underground palace? He's not a truly existent person and can only continue to exist in certain specific environments?"
Ian's eyes widened in shock, feeling a chill from Dumbledore's words, reminiscent of those eerie stories where souls are collected without anyone noticing.
"I think you must have examined his memory too, his memory presents just the range of possibilities of fate, with countless possibilities converging and collapsing onto the Ronnie Ehrich we now see." Albus Dumbledore also clearly examined the poor Saint's memory, discovering Ian's magical trace within it.
"Why did Salazar Slytherin do this, what was his purpose?" Ian scratched his head, unable to fathom the true intention behind this legacy left by the founder.
"Maybe it's to showcase his achievement, after all, he has ventured into divine domains, or possibly conducting a type of experiment he wanted to do; we are all his test subjects."
"Of course, this is just our Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts' perspective."
"I still have enough respect for our founder; perhaps he wanted to use this method to teach you something," Albus Dumbledore's tone carried uncertainty.
This great White Wizard indeed wasn't omniscient nor omnipotent.
"The situation with Professor Ronnie Ehrich and my experiences don't seem particularly related?" Ian raised his hand and looked again at the Curse Seal Rune on the back of his hand.
The Ouroboros mark continued to flash sensitively, like breathing.
"No, your experiences and his are deeply linked, or rather, it is precisely due to Ronnie Ehrich's existence that you and I are having this conversation now."
Albus Dumbledore walked to the sink, turned on the faucet to wash his face, and magically cleaned the bloodstains on the back of his robes.
"Ian, can you tell me what you did after you watched the argument between me and Abeforth during this time?" Albus Dumbledore's unexpected inquiry left Ian somewhat embarrassed.
It was like being caught in the act by the owner of the drama he'd been watching.
"I saw the Weasley Brothers and Peeves having a tussle and also observed the conflict between Professor Quirrell-Snape; afterwards, I was taken by Professor Snape to work as a cleaner."
"It was precisely due to Professor Snape's malice that I inadvertently entered that underground palace; after leaving it, I discovered this mark on my hand."
"At the time, I didn't pay much attention, and continued cleaning the bathroom until morning, when I learned from our Ravenclaw Common Room door knocker that it was something from Slytherin."
"It said something about Slytherin choosing me for something and also mentioned Slytherin had been researching high-level magic." Ian recounted his entire experience in detail.
Of course.
There may have been some embellishments, but it didn't affect the description of the events.