[HP] Riddle's Spirit Behind

Saoirse pushed open the door of her father's room.

"What are you doing, Dad?" She looked at the scene in front of her in confusion.

Mr. Travis sat on the edge of the bed, smiling with an oddly pleasing expression, staring intently at the thin air ahead.

"What's wrong with you, Dad?" Saoirse felt a little uneasy.

"Come here, baby Saoirse." He waved to his daughter, "Come and say hello to your mother."

"What does that mean?" Saoirse's eyes widened.

Travis spreads his palms forward and stares eagerly ahead of him, as if someone is actually standing on the floor in front of him.

"Can't you see, sweetheart?" he said with a smile, "Your mother is standing right in front of me."

Then he said into the air as if talking to himself: "You are so beautiful, dear, as beautiful as when we first met... Yes, I have always missed you. See our baby Is it? She is a little beauty, almost exactly like you."

"Who the hell are you talking to, Dad?" Saoirse said, frowning. "I don't see anyone."

Mr. Travis slowly turned his gaze to his daughter, his face full of confusion, "What? You can't see her?"

"Yes, I didn't see anything," Saoirse replied.

"No! It's impossible!" Travis suddenly became irritable, "She's standing there! How dare you say you can't see her?! She's wearing the pajamas she wore when you were born !"

"You're crazy!" Saoirse took half a step back in horror. "Have you been using LSD again, Dad? Mom has been dead for many years, and you can no longer be like you used to be..."

"No, no...you don't understand, it was different before and now." Travis said irritably, then stood up, as if he was really talking to someone who couldn't see: "...oh, dear Yes, don't worry, I'll find a way to get Saoirse to see you."

Travis strode up to his daughter, grabbed her slender shoulders, his gaze regained firmness and clarity.

Saoirse didn't flinch anymore, she asked in a worried whisper: "Dad, what's the matter with you?"

"Saoirsa, listen to me, this time is different, I didn't use any psychedelic potions." He stretched out his hand to reveal the ring in his palm, "See this? This is the resurrection stone, I have been looking for it for a long time The Resurrection Stone. Just now, it finally called your mother back from the cold death."

"But……"

"Yes, you really can't see her now." Travis smiled wearily, "but I will work out a way...it will definitely bring your mother back. Don't you want to see your mother, Sis Elsa?"

"Of course I do," Saoirse murmured.

"But I need your help, Saoirse," Travis said. "You'll help me, won't you?"

Saoirse hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

A few minutes later, Saoirse came to the basement door with a plate of sandwiches and a jug of water.She pushed open an inconspicuous little door below the door, and stuffed the dish in.

"Saoirse? Is that you?" A girl's voice came from inside.

Saoirse immediately closed the small door tightly with a look of panic, but was blocked by an elbow protruding from inside.

"Don't! Listen to me, Saoirse!" cried the voice eagerly, not even noticing that his arm was being squeezed hard by the door. "At least tell me why, please? Why did you lock me up?" ?”

"I can't tell you that," Saoirse replied, biting her lip.

The voice inside was silent for a second before saying, "It's that ring, right? Your father intends to use that ring to resurrect your mother, is that so?"

"How do you know?" Saoirse blurted out, and immediately covered her mouth.

"Sure enough." The voice—that is, Eleanor, said with a sigh, "Listen, Saoirse, the resurrection stone can't really call the dead back. People are dead when they die, it's impossible really revived."

"But you're still alive." Saoirse couldn't help but say.

"Yes, I'm still alive." Eleanor said helplessly, "But it's not really alive."

As she spoke, she stretched out her hand—it was a milky white translucent hand.

Saoirse flinched back in horror.

"Don't be afraid." Eleanor said, "See? My body has started to look like this again. This is not really a resurrection at all."

After a short silence, Saoirse whispered hoarsely: "So what? All this time, I can only see my mother's appearance from the photos... I just want to see her, what's wrong with that?"

Eleanor sighed, "Okay, Saoirse. I won't stop you, and I'll help, but let me out first, okay? It won't do you any good to keep me locked up."

"No." Saoirse immediately refused, "My dad said you would tell others."

"Of course I won't tell anyone." Eleanor said, "Don't forget, I was also resurrected by that ring. I know some secrets of using that ring, as long as you let me out, I will tell you. "

Saoirse was silent, she looked shaken.

"Don't listen to her, she's talking nonsense," Travis' voice suddenly came from behind Saoirse. .He stood at the stairs and said with a serious expression, "Go back to your room, Saoirse."

Saoirse immediately turned and left.

"Why are you doing this, Mr. Travis?" Eleanor asked.

"I'm sorry, Eleanor," Travis said, frowning, "but once I'm done with that, I'll get you out."

"You don't have to lock me up."

"Yes, I have to." Travis sighed, "If I let you out, who will guarantee that you won't write us a letter? Or call your little boyfriend Tom back from London? And , you're not going to like what I'm about to do to that ring."

"What are you going to do?" Eleanor asked warily.

"You don't need to know." Travis replied coldly, "I have successfully recalled my wife's soul, but it seems that only I can see her. Obviously, this is because the energy in the ring is almost used up by you So I need to separate you from it for a while."

"You're wrong, Mr. Travis!" said Eleanor eagerly. "The Resurrection Stone summoned only phantoms—you know that, don't you? Your wife's soul is gone—"

Travis had been studying the Resurrection Stone for years, and Eleanor knew he must know about it.But he doesn't seem willing to admit it.

"Shut up!" he yelled petulantly.

"—she's gone to heaven, can't you let her rest in peace? Believe me, it's not a pleasant thing to be resurrected and wait for a second death—"

"Shut up! Shut up!" Travis yelled angrily, then raised his hand and slammed the little door shut, and Eleanor's voice disappeared immediately.

After returning to downtown London, Tom visited an orphanage.

He gave Mrs. Cole some money, asked her to hand over all her files about herself, and then destroyed all the photos he had left in the orphanage.Finally, he erased Mrs. Cole's memory.

Now if anyone wants to find his past on a whim, he will find nothing here.

Life in the orphanage is a past that Tom has always hoped to undo.He had never found a way to shield Zongsi before, but now he finally did it.Now he can use magic freely outside of school, just like a grown-up wizard.

And that's not all he really wanted to do.His next stop will be Little Hangleton, where it all began.

But he didn't leave right away.He stopped in London for a few days to buy things for the next school year and other necessities from Diagon Alley.

During this time, his thoughts would always lead him to another place, which made him feel very irritable.

This is because of the resurrection stone.he said to himself.

Travis seems interested in the Resurrection Stone, as Tom sees a Deathly Hallows-shaped ornament on his desk.He is going to make sure that Travis has really found a way to heal Eleanor with the resurrection stone, and if so...

Suddenly, for the first time, Tom felt confused about what he was about to do.

If she does recover, he will get the resurrection stone back and part ways with her.But Tom felt vaguely that he did not wish to do so.

If he really wanted to get rid of her that much, he wouldn't have left her the Resurrection Stone in the first place.

In the end, he decided to visit Travis's house one more time before deciding what to do.

A few minutes later, Tom stood in the alley near Travis's house.He had just Apparated here a few seconds ago.

But he didn't rush to knock on the door because he felt something was wrong.

——It was clearly daytime, but the curtains of Travis's study were drawn.

He couldn't help being wary, and then drew his wand and held it in his hand.He went up the steps and knocked on the door, and after a while, the door was opened from the inside.

"Oh, Tom!" Saoirse cried, with a hint of panic in her voice.

Tom stared at her pale cheeks, then smiled impeccably, "Good afternoon, Saoirse."

Saoirse stood hesitantly at the door, as if hesitating what to do.

But Tom had already stepped in.

"Where's your father, Saoirse?" he asked.

"He's..." Saoirse paused, then quickly changed her words, "He's gone out."

"Really?" said Tom quietly. "And Eleanor?"

"She... she went out too." Saoirse replied.

Tom turned and looked Saoirse in the eye. "Tell me the truth, Saoirse. I saw Eleanor's shoes by the door."

Saoirse opened her mouth and her face became paler.

Suddenly she gave a low exclamation, and looked behind Tom over Tom's shoulder.

Tom turned sharply, pointing his wand at Travis who had just come down the stairs.

"What are you doing, Tom?" said Mr. Travis in surprise.His eyes were sunken and he looked like he hadn't slept well in days.

"Nothing." Tom slowly put down his wand, but he didn't relax his vigilance at all.He gave a fake smile. "Good afternoon, Mr. Travis. Where's Eleanor? Why didn't I see her?"

"She's gone shopping in a nearby store," said Mr. Travis without hesitation.

"Well, then I'll wait until she comes back," said Tom calmly. "What are you doing, Mr. Travis? I just saw the curtains in your study drawn."

"Oh." Travis finally showed a look of panic, "I was just taking a nap."

"At this hour?" Tom raised an eyebrow.

"Yes."

Tom's eyes slid to Travis's hanging hand, which was wrapped in a bandage. "what happened to your hand?"

"It's nothing." Travis moved his hand, as if trying to stop himself from hiding it behind his back. "It's just a little burn. Saoirse, go get Tom a cup of tea."

Then Tom sat down on the sofa in the living room.

Travis went back to his study, and Saoirse sat quietly across from Tom, her eyes fixed on the top of the coffee table.

Tom didn't seem to intend to touch the cup of black tea at all, but leaned on the sofa and read a copy of the Daily Prophet leisurely.

The living room suddenly fell into a terrible silence.

After a quarter of an hour, Saoirse finally couldn't help moving her body, and muttered softly, "The black tea is cold."

Tom put down the newspaper and suddenly asked, "Which store did Eleanor go to?"

"Just...just..." Saoirse stammered, "It's the one next door."

"Then she should be back long ago."

"I don't know," Saoirse faltered, obviously not a very good liar.

Tom observed the change of expression on Saoirse's face, lowered his voice and said softly: "Tell me, Saoirse, what happened?"

"Please, don't ask," Saoirse said, looking down, looking like she was about to cry.

"You don't have to hide it from me, Saoirse," said Tom softly. "Tell me, where is Eleanor?"

Saoirse's gaze involuntarily slipped to the door leading to the basement.

"Thanks, Saoirse," said Tom coldly, then got up from the sofa and strode toward the door.

But he soon discovered that the door was cast with some protective magic, and it could only be opened with a specific key.

He turned to look at Saoirse, but Saoirse immediately whispered, "I don't have the key. The key is in my dad's study."

So Tom drew his wand, and walked up the stairs.

"Please, don't go!" Saoirse suddenly stood up from the sofa and cried in panic. "My dad didn't mean to do this—he just—just wanted to resurrect my mother—"

A silent spell hit Saoirse, and she immediately fell to the ground like a marionette with its strings disconnected.

Tom went straight to the study and opened the door easily.

"I don't understand, why..." Travis's voice came from the dimly lit room, "Why didn't it work? Damn it shouldn't...I did everything I could..."

Tom waved his wand, and the curtains were automatically pulled to the sides, and some harsh sunlight immediately illuminated the whole room.