And these two dreams were completely connected!
In the dream:
The Dark Lord stood before a full-length mirror. In the reflection, he was handsome, dressed in a brand-new Gestapo uniform that made his figure look even more upright...
These dreams were far too realistic... Perhaps Victor Wick's deduction was correct; these were indeed memories contained within that soul power.
Suddenly, a cautious knock came from the door.
"Sir! The vehicle to the concentration camp is ready!"
The Dark Lord took a deep breath and straightened his hat in the mirror.
"Let's go!"
Victor Wick brought Ariana Dumbledore to the laboratory.
Drawing from the experience of resurrecting Lily Potter, the rebirth chamber had undergone strict improvements.
Whether it was the appearance or the internal environment, major changes had been made.
At least... it didn't look quite so much like a coffin anymore.
Ariana Dumbledore had been dead for a long time. The discomfort after resurrection would be more severe than Lily's, so this version focused more on comfort.
"Are you ready?" Victor Wick took out the box Grindelwald had given him.
Inside the box was a rib belonging to Ariana Dumbledore. He had tested it in various ways and even asked Merlin to identify it.
Only after confirming that no tampering had been done did he officially begin today's resurrection plan.
"I'm ready." Ariana Dumbledore drifted beside Victor, looking at the box in his hand. "Um... I think it's better if you don't mention the details of the resurrection process to my brothers... Also, are you sure you've completely restored my grave?"
"I know. I've already checked your grave; there are no issues." Victor wasn't lying this time.
After checking the bone, Victor had gone to inspect Ariana Dumbledore's grave just to be safe.
If that old man Grindelwald had left some trace of himself at Ariana Dumbledore's grave to pull strings in secret, there would definitely be trouble.
However, Grindelwald had done no such thing.
"Then I'm relieved. I wouldn't want my brothers doing anything bad to you," Ariana Dumbledore laughed, her smile quite beautiful.
"I think if your brothers knew the first person to see you smile like this was me, they'd certainly be jealous," Victor said with a smile.
"Hmph, they wouldn't be jealous!"
When Ariana Dumbledore died, her personality was reclusive and withdrawn. She was guarded against the outside world. In the Dumbledore brothers' memories, it had been a very long time since they had seen their sister smile so radiantly.
In the world of the dead, with her parents' company and a stable environment over many years, Ariana Dumbledore had finally managed to step out of the psychological shadows of the past.
So, strictly speaking, Victor Wick was indeed the first to see Ariana Dumbledore's current smile.
'Ha! Dumbledore! Who's the favorite brother now!'
Tsk, tsk. Victor couldn't even imagine what kind of changes would overcome Dumbledore when a healthy, happy Ariana Dumbledore stood before him...
The subsequent operations were the same as when he resurrected Lily Potter.
This time, Victor didn't bring Snape along, but he had already fully recorded Snape's methods for brewing this resurrection potion into the database.
He only needed to follow the prompts given by the database step by step.
No emotion involved, just mechanical precision...
Soon, the potion was successfully brewed. Upon receiving the command, Ariana Dumbledore went directly into the rebirth chamber...
Over ten minutes later, the lock on the rebirth chamber lid was opened from the inside by Ariana Dumbledore!
Since the chamber had been improved, the reshaped Ariana Dumbledore was able to wash her body clean directly inside the pod.
Once the potion was drained, she could open a partition in the chamber to take out the clean towels and clothes placed there in advance...
This way, the slight awkwardness from Lily Potter's resurrection was avoided.
The lock clicked open, and the lid of the rebirth chamber opened automatically. Ariana Dumbledore stood up, wearing a clean floral dress.
Ariana Dumbledore appeared to be eighteen or nineteen now, perfectly matching her request to be a bit more grown-up.
However, Victor could tell that having a physical body again made her look a bit unadjusted.
Ariana Dumbledore's brow furrowed slightly as she supported herself with her hands in front...
"It's so heavy!"
"Ahem... you adjusted the parameters yourself; don't blame me." Victor, his eyes momentarily dazzled, quickly distanced himself.
He could understand Ariana Dumbledore. After all, not everyone gets the chance to re-roll and create a new character.
This led to her being somewhat lackadaisical with the adjustments...
Ariana Dumbledore stuck her tongue out at Victor, then used a ladder to walk down unsteadily.
Having been a ghost for so long, she was used to floating. Anyone would feel unadjusted to feeling weight again.
She walked back and forth for over ten minutes using the cane Victor handed her before she was fully adapted.
Victor didn't find this strange.
Lily Potter could walk normally shortly after resurrection because she hadn't been dead for very long. Ariana Dumbledore was different.
"Alright! I can walk!" Ariana Dumbledore put down the cane and began to jog happily around the lab.
Victor observed carefully with a notebook. "Good. Currently, it seems there are no issues with the soul and body mismatch."
"Great! I can go see my brothers now, right? I want to treat them to sweets!" Ariana Dumbledore laughed cheerfully.
"Seeing your brothers is no problem, but as for the sweets... you'll have to wait a few days."
"Eh? Why?"
"Because for the next few days, you have to use nutritional fluid as food. You can't touch other food for now."
"Oh... okay..." Ariana Dumbledore looked very disappointed.
Victor shrugged. "But I asked Severus to pull an overtime shift to improve the flavor. So... do you want orange-flavored, honey-flavored? There's vanilla too..."
"Honey!"
"Hmm... still a little honeybee. A true Dumbledore through and through," Victor chuckled.
He handed over a bottle of honey-flavored nutritional fluid. "Drink up. Once you're done, I'll take you to see Dumbledore... But first, we need to get our stories straight on some key details... You know, resurrecting the dead is a forbidden art no matter how you look at it. It's easy for people to get the wrong idea... I don't want your brothers thinking I'm some evil dark wizard."
Victor carefully used an adjective prefix because he was technically a dark wizard, but there was a difference between one kind and another.
A dark wizard with that prefix would be sent to Azkaban by Dumbledore!
Winter was nearing its end.
However, the time when ice and snow melted was even colder than before.
Victor walked along the cobblestone streets of Hogsmeade, followed by a young girl in a black cloak.
Returning to the world as a human again, Ariana Dumbledore was in high spirits. Her steps were light, and she looked around curiously, completely unbothered by the cold.
However, she stayed close to Victor. Even when she saw interesting things she'd never seen before in nearby shops, she didn't stray a single step.
It seemed she only felt safe beside Victor.
Returning to the world of the living, though the psychological shadows of the past were gone, the bad memories had left a deep mark on her soul, making her instinctively afraid to be alone.
"Where is this? Aren't we going to Hogwarts?" Ariana Dumbledore asked excitedly.
"This is Hogsmeade, a wizarding village near Hogwarts. Every weekend, Hogwarts students from third year up come here to play. So... of course, there's a candy shop with delicious sweets."
"But! But! Didn't you say I can't eat candy for now?" Ariana Dumbledore asked in surprise.
She thought Victor had changed his mind and was taking her to buy candy!
"What are you thinking? Of course you can't." Victor ruthlessly shattered Ariana Dumbledore's fantasy.
Ariana Dumbledore looked at him with disappointment.
"I'm just saying, at this time... your brother Albus is likely tasting new desserts at Honeydukes. And... your other brother, Aberforth, also runs a pub in Hogsmeade. So, bringing you here allows you to see both brothers at once."
Clearly, Victor had made arrangements long ago.
Ariana Dumbledore became happy again. "But how did you know Albus would be in Hogsmeade at this time?"
"Because I wrote to tell him that Honeydukes has new products!"
"My brother is such a glutton..."
Victor glanced at Ariana Dumbledore; she wasn't much better.
"So... do you want to see Albus first, or Aberforth?"
Ariana Dumbledore frowned, hesitating.
She faintly felt that seeing either brother first might not be good.
"Alright, no need to be conflicted. We'll go to The Three Broomsticks and get a private room. Then I'll have both your brothers come find us." Victor offered a considerate suggestion.
"Okay! Whatever you say!" Ariana Dumbledore now felt Victor was a truly caring and wonderful person, solving her problem with just one sentence.
Of course, don't mind who brought up the problem in the first place!
The second floor of The Three Broomsticks had private booths.
Professor McGonagall often invited colleagues to the booths for drinks and chats on weekends. Victor had been there a few times, which was why he knew.
Inside the booth.
Victor ordered a cup of hot tea. As for Ariana Dumbledore... she had to take out a bottle of heated nutritional fluid, pour it into a cup, and sip it like a drink.
Suddenly, the sound of an argument came from outside the booth.
"Why are you here? That fellow invited you too?"
"Yes..."
"Heh, since you're here, I'm leaving!"
"Oh... Aberforth..."
"Don't pull me!"
"Aberforth, Victor called us here; there must be something important. Let's at least listen to what he has to say."
"What could that guy want? If he wanted to talk, he could have come to my pub to support my business! Not much of a friend!" Aberforth grumbled as he opened the door and walked in.
"Victor! You know we two don't get along, yet you called us both here. What on earth..." Aberforth's eyes suddenly widened, and the rest of his sentence died in his throat.
Albus Dumbledore, seeing Aberforth suddenly freeze in front of him, walked around him in confusion.
However, when he saw clearly who was in the booth, his expression froze as well.
Ariana Dumbledore sat obediently in her chair, looking timidly at her familiar yet strange brothers.
Her brothers were old now, but in their features, she could still see traces of how they looked when they were young...
In her memories, scenes of her brothers asking after her health and well-being flowed through her mind...
Glistening tears slowly rolled down from the corners of Ariana Dumbledore's eyes.
"Brothers..."
That single word hit Dumbledore and Aberforth like a lightning bolt.
"Ariana! It's you... it's really you!" Aberforth rushed over, knocking the dazed Dumbledore aside in his haste.
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