Victor Wick adjusted the equipment one last time before finally leaving Knockturn Alley.
It was already quite late, and he planned to continue with the project to resurrect Ariana tomorrow.
Ariana hoped to be a bit older after her resurrection, which required Victor to remodel her form—a task that could not be completed quickly.
In truth, this kind of resurrection only provided the deceased with a physical body identical to their original appearance. Essentially, there were still internal differences between the resurrected body and the one they once possessed.
The body currently prepared for Lily was completely different from her original one in terms of those minute, unique details—such as fingerprints.
Since it was a case of 'placing an old soul into a new shell,' he realized he should prepare in advance.
For example, he could first create two general modeling templates—one male and one female—and construct the most complex internal structures. When it came time to resurrect someone, he would only need to modify the exterior to match the person.
That way, the next time he needed to resurrect someone, he wouldn't have to spend a massive amount of time and effort slowly refining it as he was doing now.
Furthermore, Victor planned to build a super alchemy computer for himself.
After all, he couldn't stay at Hogwarts forever. While Hogwarts possessed immense computing power, he would be at a total loss if he ever encountered a situation where even that wasn't enough.
As Victor's mind raced with ideas for his future projects, the communication stone in his pocket began to grow warm.
"The Dark Lord is awake?" Victor placed the communication stone back into his pocket, a thin smile playing on his lips. "It seems... he had a pleasant dream."
Pop!
Victor Apparated directly from Knockturn Alley, appearing on the deserted island.
Inside the cave, a faint purple glow emanated...
Victor glanced up at the stars in the sky before taking a stride inside.
A moment later.
"I need an explanation, Logic... why did I have such a dream?" Voldemort's mood seemed extremely irritable.
"You mean to say that while you were in your restorative slumber, you dreamed... and experienced someone else's entire life?" Victor spoke as if he were trying to digest Voldemort's words.
"You didn't know?" Voldemort asked with a frown.
"I wasn't aware... To my knowledge, such a thing never happened when you absorbed those soul fragments before, did it?" Victor asked in return.
"Hmm..." Voldemort nodded. He had absorbed soul fragments before, and while they had caused some useless emotions to surface, nothing like this had ever occurred. "Since it wasn't your doing, can you find the cause?"
Voldemort easily believed Victor's claim that he hadn't tampered with the process. After all, he couldn't see what benefit Victor would gain from doing so, other than provoking his own suspicion.
Thus, perhaps it was merely an accident...
An unprecedented amount of soul fragments having side effects that even the researcher himself didn't fully understand was a plausible explanation.
In truth, Voldemort didn't particularly care about minor side effects. In the past, he had attempted far more dangerous things with much worse consequences in his pursuit of greater power.
That being said, he certainly wanted to understand the source of these side effects and to what extent they might affect him.
"The soul fragments you absorbed previously are essentially no different from the ones I gave you later. There is only one difference," Victor said suddenly.
"What is it?" Voldemort asked, narrowing his eyes.
"The amount you absorbed all at once," Victor pointed out the crux of the matter.
Voldemort nodded again in agreement. "True. I absorbed very little before, but the soul power you delivered later was far greater in volume."
"I must ask, when you absorbed such a large amount, were there any other side effects besides the dreaming?" Victor inquired again.
"No... other than those dreams that made me feel uncomfortable, I felt no ill effects. On the contrary... I feel as though a large portion of my missing soul has been mended!" Voldemort spoke the truth.
Aside from those annoying, incredibly realistic dreams, the soul power had brought him only benefits and no harm. Naturally, he didn't mention the extra annoying emotions, as those were side effects he had known about for a long time and Victor had already explained them.
"Could you tell me what kind of dream it was?" Victor asked curiously.
"I do not wish to speak of it!" Voldemort snapped angrily.
Anyone could see that the dream had been far from pleasant, so Victor naturally didn't press the matter further.
Victor stood up and began to pace quietly through the cave.
For a time, the cave fell silent, save for Victor's steady footsteps and the crackling of the firewood in the hearth.
"Do you know how I collect these soul fragments?" Victor asked, stopping suddenly.
"How should I know?"
"When people die, the soul power contained within their spirits dissipates... The ghosts at Hogwarts are like that; they can exist, but they no longer possess any magic. It was from them that I found my inspiration. I wondered where that soul power actually went... Evidently, it is scattered in every corner of this world. I slowly found a method to successfully collect it. As the method matured, I was able to collect more and more..." Voldemort's brow furrowed slightly. Victor's explanation sounded very logical, and he could find no fault in it, though he had never heard of such a theory before.
But since Victor had provided the pure soul power, it proved the theory was true.
Otherwise, he couldn't imagine how Victor could collect so much soul power without resorting to mass slaughter.
Victor certainly hadn't caused any massacres; otherwise, even if the victims were only Muggles, the wizarding newspapers would have reported it.
"What are you trying to say?"
"What I'm saying is that the world is filled with soul power that has dissipated from human deaths since ancient times. Now, it seems that this soul power is not entirely pure... Perhaps it contains memory imprints that I have yet to detect, belonging to the deceased themselves. Small amounts won't trigger anything, but if absorbed in bulk, you might inadvertently touch these memory imprints. Then... one of those imprints manifests in the form of a dream... This is the only possibility I can think of for why this happened." Victor explained with a grave expression. Voldemort fell silent; this was indeed the only reasonable explanation so far.
"To be cautious, you should avoid absorbing so much soul power at once in the future. Absorb it in smaller amounts. Though my time is limited, we can afford to take three to five years," Victor suggested.
"No!" Voldemort looked up. "That's not necessary! I need to recover as quickly as possible! This minor side effect won't have much of an impact on me!"
"But... it might affect your psyche..."
"I've endured far more severe side effects. This one is annoying, but what does it matter?" Voldemort rejected Victor's suggestion.
Indeed, in his pursuit of power, what agony had he not endured? This soul power only brought him some annoying dreams; it was inconsequential. Other than making him feel psychologically uncomfortable, it didn't cause him any actual damage. What was there to fear?
He had to absorb it! In bulk!
"Since you insist... then... as you wish..." Victor produced a new box. "However, for the sake of safety, wait a few days before starting the second absorption. Furthermore, to prevent you from having two dreams at once... the amount you absorb each time must not exceed the previous dose."
"There is no need to wait!" Voldemort refused; he was truly desperate to recover.
"Very well... Also, my Lord, Quirrell's body is far too frail. I don't know if he can continue to carry your increasingly powerful soul. So, wait these few days. I need to reshape a physical vessel for you to house your soul. Although such a temporary body may be somewhat unsightly and won't allow you to move freely, it will be strong enough."
These words moved Voldemort.
In fact, every time he woke up and opened his eyes to see that idiot's stupid turban... it truly frustrated him.
"Then I shall follow your advice..."
"Good, then I shall go collect the materials." After speaking, Victor turned and left.
Voldemort took a deep breath and then fell back into a deep slumber, returning control of the body to Quirrell.
Only this time, he did not dream.
By the time Victor returned to Hogwarts, it was already very late.
Ariana was squatting in front of Lucky, teasing the dog. Seeing Victor return, she hurriedly floated over, her face filled with an eager expression.
Victor naturally knew what she was worried about and couldn't help but smile slightly. "Don't worry, the experiment was a success. Mrs. Potter has been resurrected. I left her in Knockturn Alley; her new body needs some time to adjust."
"That's wonderful!" Ariana said happily. "It seems I'll be able to see my brothers while I'm alive very soon. I'm really looking forward to seeing them! I think they'll be so happy to see me grown up!"
"Don't worry, the modeling for your physical body is mostly finished. Your wish will be granted soon."
Victor chatted with Ariana for a while before preparing to rest.
Today, he had already worked far beyond his normal capacity.
However, just as he had changed into his pajamas and was lying down, there was a knock at the door.
The one knocking was Professor Slughorn...
"Victor, I think you need to come and take a look... Albus, he..."
Victor frowned. For someone to come looking for him in the middle of the night meant that whatever had happened was definitely serious.
Victor didn't say much; without even changing his clothes, he followed Professor Slughorn out.
Inside her frame, Ariana also heard the name 'Albus.'
'Did something happen?'
Ariana's brow furrowed, and she quickly dove back into the frame, her consciousness racing toward the portrait in the Headmaster's office.
[Support the story with Reviews, Power Stones, and Comments—they mean a lot and keep me going! 30+ chapters waiting on patreon.com/elite_reads]