Dumbledore's azure eyes gazed at Lia's tiny speck of consciousness, his expression more solemn than ever before.
"So, child, I am waiting for you here so that you may make a choice."
"A choice that will determine in what form you return, or, if you will disappear forever."
In the pure white world, Dumbledore's voice was clear and calm. Every word was like a pebble dropped into a lake, sending ripples through Lia's consciousness.
"Stuck between the end and a new beginning..."
Lia's speck of consciousness flickered, struggling to understand this concept that was beyond her imagination.
She could feel that her current state was very peculiar.
She was neither a complete soul nor pure nothingness.
She was like a candle flame held carefully in the palm of a hand, liable to be extinguished by a slight breeze at any moment, yet burning tenaciously because of some sustaining force.
That force sustaining her was exactly that strand of circling gold-red thread in Dumbledore's palm—the link belonging to her and Hermione.
"I don't understand, Professor."
Lia's consciousness transmitted waves of confusion.
"Since I'm not completely dead, why can't I just go back? Back to Hermione's side?"
"Because of balance, child." Dumbledore shook his head, his expression carrying a hint of helplessness.
"You used your ninth death as the price; you sacrificed yourself to erase Lord Voldemort."
"It was a fair exchange."
"But I, or rather, Fawkes's power, intervened in this exchange."
"Like a shrewd thief, at the final moment of settlement, it stole the most precious part from your'sacrifice'."
Dumbledore's azure eyes looked at Lia, his gaze deep.
"This broke the balance. You did not pay the 'full' price, so you cannot receive a 'new life'. The world's cycle of reincarnation was forcibly interrupted, and your current state is the consequence of that interruption."
"A... fragmented soul shard that retains the past yet cannot move toward the future."
Lia's speck of consciousness trembled violently.
Fragmented... the word caused her a surge of instinctive panic.
"Then I... what will happen to me?"
"You will slowly dissipate."
Dumbledore gave a cruel answer.
"This pure white space can be understood as the world's 'recycle bin'."
"Soul shards stuck here eventually end up completely decomposed, returning to the source. You don't have much time left."
"However," he changed his tone, his face showing that signature smile of having everything under control.
"There are always exceptions. Especially under an old man's meticulously calculated plan."
He pointed to himself, a flash of craftiness in his eyes.
"I anticipated the worst result. I knew that with Hermione's personality, she would never give up on you. I also knew that with your personality,"
"for her sake, you would walk toward death without hesitation at any time. Therefore, when I used Fawkes's feather to make the collar for you, I left a 'backdoor'."
"This backdoor is the reason I can speak with you in this form at this moment."
"And it is also the reason you... have a chance to make a choice."
Dumbledore stood up, pure white light flowing around him as if weaving a scene for him.
Behind him, two distinctly different images emerged.
In the image on the left was a vibrant forest.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, and a pure white kitten with blue eyes like jewels was curiously chasing a butterfly.
Its eyes were innocent, filled with the purest curiosity for the world, and its body overflowed with the vitality of a new life.
"The first path," Dumbledore's voice rang out, "is New Life."
"You can give up the portion of memory snatched back by Fawkes."
"Use your love for Hermione as the final sacrifice to completely finish this offering."
"In this way, the balance of the laws will be restored, and you will follow the reincarnation of the Nine-Lived Cat Demon to obtain a true new life."
"You will regain nine lives, your soul will be complete and flawless, and your future will hold infinite possibilities."
"Perhaps one day you will again encounter a brown-haired girl who loves to read, or perhaps you won't."
"But the story of 'Lia' will end completely, and a new life will begin from zero."
Lia's consciousness looked at that carefree kitten and fell into silence.
Forget everything... forget Hermione... forget everything between them.
Just thinking about it made Lia's speck of consciousness dim so much it almost went out.
Dumbledore did not rush her; he simply waved his hand, and the image on the right became clear.
That image was dim and cramped.
It was the girls' dormitory in Gryffindor Tower, specifically the bed with soft bedding that belonged to Hermione.
On the bed, a thin girl was curled up, burying herself in the covers, her shoulders twitching slightly from suppressed sobbing.
Around her were scattered items belonging to a cat.
An empty can of Dried Fish, a scratching post, and a broken silver bell with charred marks on it.
The entire scene was permeated with a suffocating, deathly silence of despair.
"The second path," Dumbledore's voice became low and serious, "is 'Return'."
"You can choose to hold tightly to this memory, letting it become the 'anchor' for reshaping your soul."
"I will use my remaining power, together with Fawkes, to send this soul shard of yours back to where it belongs."
"Into that bell that carries the Phoenix tail feather and the bond between you two."
"You can go back, back to her side."
Hearing these words, Lia's speck of consciousness suddenly brightened!
Go back!
Back to Hermione's side!
"But," Dumbledore's voice was like a bucket of ice water, dousing her ecstasy, "the price is enormous."
"You interrupted the cycle, and the world's laws will take back everything they were supposed to grant you."
"You will not have nine new lives; you will remain at the end of your ninth death. This will be your... last life."
"Not only that, everything you gained in exchange for your first eight deaths will be stripped away."
Dumbledore's azure eyes became incredibly sharp as he said each word with emphasis:
"All those abilities that made you powerful will disappear."
"The power you obtained after devouring Lord Voldemort's soul shard, your Soul-Insight ability that rivaled a god's, and even your almost infinite, majestic magic power... everything will be taken back."
"You will turn back into the most ordinary and weakest Nine-Lived Cat. Aside from still remembering Hermione and remembering how to love her, you will have nothing."
"You will become fragile, easily injured, and your lifespan will only consist of this last time."
"You will no longer be her sharpest sword or her strongest shield. You might even... become a new burden to her."
Dumbledore finished speaking and looked quietly at Lia, waiting for her answer.
In the pure white world, on one side was a vibrant new life with an infinite future.
On the other side, amidst despair and deathly silence, was a return to stay together, weak and fragile.
"Now, tell me your choice, Lia."
"Do you choose to forget her in exchange for a powerful, brand-new self?"
"Or do you choose to return with nothing but your love for her?"
---
As Dumbledore's voice fell, the entire pure white space lapsed into absolute silence.
In the image on the left, the newborn kitten had already pounced on a colorful butterfly and was rolling happily on the grass, the sunlight making its white fur shimmer.
That was freedom, the future, and infinite possibilities.
In the image on the right, the girl curled on the bed seemed to have stopped crying, but that deathly despair grew even thicker, as if it were about to swallow the entire room.
That was the past, a shackle, a heavy responsibility, and endless sorrow.
God-like power versus a return without power.
Eternal forgetting versus a fragile life carrying love.
It was a choice that seemingly required deep consideration, one that was incredibly difficult.
However, after its initial flickering, Lia's speck of consciousness began to burn steadily with an unprecedented brightness.
She didn't even cast a single glance at the image on the left representing 'New Life'.
Her entire 'vision' was concentrated on the scene on the right that made her soul ache.
She saw the broken silver bell that Hermione held tightly in her palm.
That was the starting point of their bond.
She'smelled' the familiar scent in the air belonging to Hermione—a mix of salty tears and the ink of old books.
That was the destination of her soul.
She 'heard' the barely audible whimpering suppressed deep in Hermione's throat, like the cry of a young animal.
That was the entire meaning of her existence.
The abilities brought by her first eight deaths flashed through her consciousness one by one.
But what did that matter?
In that high-and-mighty 'divinity', she couldn't feel the comfort of being petted by Hermione, nor could she taste the deliciousness of Dried Fish.
Moreover, she couldn't experience that sense of fulfillment, as if the whole world belonged to her, when held tightly in Hermione's arms.
In that state, she wouldn't even be able to act spoiled toward Hermione.
That wasn't Lia.
If she forgot Hermione, then that 'newborn' Nine-Lived Cat Demon, no matter how great its power or how long its life, would have nothing to do with Lia.
That would be the most thorough betrayal of Hermione, and of herself.
"I don't need a future without Hermione."
Lia's consciousness vibrated, for the first time so clearly and firmly, without the slightest hesitation or wavering.
"I don't need infinite magic power, nor do I need eyes that can see into souls."
"I don't even... need nine lives."
Her speck of consciousness flew straight toward that heartbreaking image on the right.
She wanted to penetrate the barrier of the image, wanted to return to that girl's side, wanted to use her ethereal body to embrace her, wanted to lick away the tears on her cheeks.
"I only want her."
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