After saying goodbye to Terry at the dormitory door, Sterling returned to his bedroom carrying an unfinished cherry cake. He hadn't been back in ages.
Azure magic flowed from his fingertips as he wrote four lines of text in the air.
"Harry Potter—Hero Magic (complete?)"
"Terry Boot—Prophet Magic (complete? Engraving?)"
"Ron Weasley—Knight Magic (tentative, confirmed as engraving)"
"Hermione Granger—Witch Magic (tentative, confirmed as engraving)"
Sterling stared at the floating words. Ron and Hermione's situations could wait. Harry and Terry's cases worried him most—and made the least sense.
He'd stood beside Dumbledore when the headmaster modified the magic array. He'd confirmed then that the Thirteen Magic each student obtained was merely an engraving.
The difference between engravings and true magic was vast. Engravings were empty shells containing nothing at first. Only after you filled them with your most accomplished magic would they fuse with the engraving, creating pseudo-Thirteen Magic that possessed partial characteristics of the real thing.
But from this perspective, Hermione and Ron's situations were also abnormal. With their current skill level, what could they possibly use to fill their engravings?
Just now at the gathering, Hermione herself hadn't figured out what effect her magic had. It only manifested as making things "move"—like making wooden figures dance ballet. Advanced Transfiguration could achieve that too.
As for Ron—if his "Knight Magic" was filled with anything, it was probably Magic Power Shaping. But Ron hadn't learned Magic Power Shaping yet. Still, at least theirs fell within the scope of engravings. Maybe Merlin and that unfamiliar witch filled their engravings for them?
Either way, Sterling could understand their situations.
Harry and Terry, though... Hero's Heart and Peering Prophet...
These two magics were both Thirteen Magics Sterling knew. Hero Magic was even his most skilled magic right now. Its strength after fusing with "Witness of the Author" was undeniable.
Prophet Magic... he'd learned that name in the false Hogwarts. From this perspective, its traces might exist in every corner of the real Hogwarts, too.
Sterling withdrew his magic power. The increasingly thick book descended into his open palm.
"Witness of the Author"—his greatest asset now, and his life's most important magic.
No matter how much magic you learn, Origin Magic is always the most important. Maleficent had emphasized this repeatedly in her notes. Though Sterling had never actually seen her, Vivian, or Ursula use their Origin Magic. These great wizards seemingly never displayed it.
He hadn't forgotten the vision that appeared in his Origin Magic when he'd made all of Hogwarts reverse time.
He opened the book. A golden page appeared before him immediately. One line of text, plated with faint silver light, read: "Everything of Hogwarts returns to yesterday's present."
The first abnormality.
Previously, any "reality" Sterling wrote or modified never left traces. They only existed in that instant. When Sterling closed the pages, they'd reset and disappear.
But that other line had disappeared then. In its original location remained only a hazy light remained. Sterling tried touching that area, but his finger could never approach it. No matter how far down he pressed, he simply couldn't reach it.
I have to ignore unsolvable things until they become solvable. He'd learned that lesson well this year.
Sterling turned that page. Every subsequent page now had a milky white glowing border.
He couldn't understand what this meant yet. But inspiration suddenly struck.
He wrote down "Andrew Durpett."
Deep black light immediately exploded from that name, swallowing most of the page in an instant. Then it touched that layer of milky white light.
The black light recoiled as if slapped, contracting rapidly back into that name.
Reality about Andrew Durpett continued emerging:
"Andrew Durpett continuously listens to someone's words, being bewitched, walking in London's rainy night."
"Still alive," Sterling murmured.
He hadn't tried writing Andrew's name before. His intuition had warned him that if he did, something terrible would happen. He'd always had that premonition.
Only after seeing "Witness of the Author's" changes did this premonition disappear. The facts proved his intuition right again. That black light gave off a deeply ominous feeling, though Sterling didn't know what it was yet.
Just like those black threads he'd seen during Apparition. They emitted the same unsettling aura.
He wanted to modify the text, but he couldn't grasp Andrew's situation clearly enough. The modifications he could make were merely to that person's words or the bewitchment's results. But the outcomes from both methods were uncontrollable.
Andrew wasn't at Hogwarts. He was in distant London.
I have to be careful. Fortunately, finals were coming soon, then vacation. Then he'd have ample time to search for Andrew.
Just as Sterling prepared to close the pages, the text suddenly blurred. Modified text projected into the air.
"Andrew Durpett continuously listens to someone's words. Though being bewitched, he still preserves his own will, walking in London's rainy night."
If he pressed this phantom text, it would fall onto the paper and rewrite reality. Sterling had this premonition.
He stared at the text for a long time. His hands holding the book wanted to close it several times. But he ultimately pressed the text down.
Then Sterling immediately dismissed "Witness of the Author." His expression darkened.
He hadn't thought this way before. This text was written by the "Witness of the Author" itself.
Early on, when he'd just awakened it, the book had made prophecies. The prophecies had that same tone. Even alchemical creations would mysteriously produce streams of text. Back then, he couldn't tell it had self-awareness.
Then that line had abruptly appeared when he reversed time. Sterling had tentatively considered that external forces were intervening.
But now, Sterling couldn't use flimsy reasoning to convince himself anymore.
"Witness of the Author" seemingly possesses self-awareness.
Moreover, it was directly providing reality modification methods.
Does it want to influence my thoughts?
Sterling's gaze turned cold. He opened Maleficent's treasury and pulled out notebook after notebook from his chest.
He had to properly research Origin Magic.
"Never easily trust any independently-thinking object unless you've seen clearly where it hides its brain."
That sentence from his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook was marked in red.
Origin Magic might be completely safe. But how many "theories" had he already shattered?