Developing magic for flight without support shouldn't be difficult—after all, both Voldemort and Snape had achieved it in the original canon. And for Avada, who possessed Magical Perception, failing to do so was even less likely. Setting everything else aside, he already had quite a few ideas along those lines; he just hadn't verified their feasibility yet.
There was also an unexpected bonus: he no longer needed to put in the effort to develop perfect invisibility magic. Since the Near Yet Far Spell could make his entire body vanish into thin air, what use was simple optical invisibility?Even if he wanted to interact with objects in the real world while hidden, the Near Yet Far Spell didn't produce noise like Apparition did, and combined with a well-practiced Disillusionment Charm, it was more than sufficient.
"Come to think of it, Harry's Invisibility Cloak should be arriving soon, right? When it does, I can analyze it as well—see what these so-called 'Deathly Hallows' are really all about…"
For now, he still couldn't move within the spatial interstice itself, so there was no way to really let loose. After testing several spells and confirming that magic functioned normally within the interstice, he returned to reality and continued toward the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor.He had only detoured into an empty classroom to test the effects of breaking the Apparition restriction; the real research still needed to be done in the Room of Requirement's dedicated workspace.
Recently, his research tasks had been fairly singular. Aside from the most critical objective—finding a way to counter Voldemort's mental power—there was only the study of spatial magic, and his attempt to comprehend the contents of Professor Baker's massive tome.
Voldemort wasn't available as a test subject, and spatial magic had just reached a milestone breakthrough, so Avada could now devote his attention to that book which made him deeply uncomfortable—
"Section Six: Research Notes on the 'Repentance Effect' of the Soul."
"The Repentance Effect?"
Avada raised an eyebrow. Was this related to the "Repentance" magic Professor Baker had left behind last year?
He began reading, word by word, fully focused.
"Through previous research on Horcruxes, I have confirmed that the soul possesses volume. Whether it has mass remains unknown… however, that is not the topic of today's research."
The author of this note appeared to be the same person who had written Sections Two and Three. Sections Four and Five, meanwhile, recorded detailed experimental data from a certain dark wizard's research into vitality and mental power. The research on mental power overlapped heavily with Avada's existing knowledge, but the work on vitality had benefited him greatly.
"And in the process of collecting extensive materials on Horcruxes, I discovered that a great many sources all mention the same thing—the so-called 'Repentance Effect.'"
"According to these sources, if the creator of a Horcrux sincerely repents—truly from the heart—for the evil act of murder committed in the making of the Horcrux, then the soul fragment can return, restoring the soul to wholeness."
"To be honest, at first I scoffed at this. I already knew that what causes the soul to split is not 'evil murder' itself, but the sudden descent of that force capable of tearing the soul away—the Power of Death. If someone created a Horcrux through what they believed to be a 'just' killing, such as self-defense or revenge, using the effects of the Power of Death… then if they wanted to restore their soul, would they have to repent for their so-called 'righteous deed'?"
"Moreover, Horcruxes can be destroyed, and once destroyed, the unprotected soul fragment will be taken away by the Power of Death. Repentance? Could repentance really earn Death's mercy, persuading it to return a soul fragment that had already been taken?"
"However, far too many Horcrux-related sources mentioned this phenomenon. Some Horcrux creators even attempted it personally and proved it effective. Under those circumstances, I had no choice but to take this absurd matter seriously."
"But the very first step of the experiment posed a problem: how was I supposed to find a powerful dark wizard capable of creating a Horcrux—and then force him to sincerely repent his crimes?!"
"…"
"After two years of research, I finally succeeded in improving the Horcrux creation method, greatly simplifying its precision and complexity. In this way, any dark wizard with a bit of ability could meet the threshold to create a Horcrux. And who would refuse immortality? However, I deliberately did not remove the requirement of 'evil murder,' for the sake of the experiments to follow."
"…"
"Thus, I spent another year traveling the world, finding those mediocre dark wizards, gaining their trust, and teaching them how to create Horcruxes. Through this method, I obtained a total of thirty-five samples possessing Horcruxes. To be honest, the number was a bit small, but I was already desperate to explore the mysteries of the soul."
"…"
"Although I consulted a vast number of priestly methods for guiding repentance, as well as those convoluted philosophies of good and evil… in the end, I still couldn't make a single Horcrux creator repent for his 'sins.' I suspect that even if I dragged the Pope over, he wouldn't have managed it either. So I simply burned those books that had tormented me for months and began experimenting in my own way."
"I modified the memories of the first sample, making him believe that he had created the Horcrux only because he was terminally ill and desperate to survive. It was completely useless—his personality hadn't changed. He believed his pursuit of life was only natural, and even told me that if he were healthy, he would still create a Horcrux for the sake of immortality…"
"…This was the first time in my life that I killed someone out of anger at another's evil."
"If word of this ever got out, I'd probably be mocked by dark wizards around the world for centuries."
"But there was no choice—the experiment had to continue. So I gave the second sample a thorough wash with a Memory Charm, erasing everything about who he was and turning him into a blank slate. Then I sent him to live for a while in a small village that seemed to have a decent atmosphere, so that he would at least come to believe that murder was a crime…"
"Next, I fabricated some evidence, making him the culprit of a particularly 'heinous' Muggle murder case from several years ago, and guided the police and detectives to him. When he learned the 'truth,' his reaction was mostly shock and disbelief—still no repentance…"
"Then again, it makes sense. He didn't remember committing murder at all—how could he repent for it?"
"I was sorely tempted to fire off a Blasting Curse and send those damned fools on their way, but to avoid getting tangled up with the Ministry of Magic, I let it go."
"…"
"Merlin above, the thirty-second sample finally carried out a repentance. To be honest, if this one had failed too, I was ready to try repenting myself—repenting for why I ever sought immortality through Horcruxes, only to be tormented by this pack of lunatics."
"Back to the point. During his repentance, I continuously monitored his soul and Horcrux using the system I designed. And then, the most shocking thing unfolded before my eyes, displayed through numbers and symbols—"
"His soul truly returned to a complete state, and the soul fragment within the Horcrux vanished accordingly!"
"And as the next experiment proceeded, my entire worldview was overturned—I destroyed the next sample's Horcrux first, then guided him into repentance using the same method… and his soul likewise returned to wholeness!!"
"Why?!"
(End of Chapter)