Chapter 232: Transmission

On the other side, Dumbledore watched John standing still for a long while, his expression changing repeatedly, assuming he had run into some difficulty.

Then he opened his mouth to ask.

"Can't you sense it?"

"Ah, no, I already know—one is under that cabinet over there, and another is in the attic; I went up and saw exactly."

Hearing Dumbledore speak, John finally came to his senses and said to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow slightly, because John was completely correct.

He even knew the locations without entering the room; it seems he truly can sense the Horcrux.

"Headmaster, I find that my soul seems unusual..."

John was too lazy to bother with the Horcrux now, and instead told the Headmaster about that other soul.

"What do you mean?"

"Just..."

John began to describe to Dumbledore his observations of that soul.

Its recent activity suggests it may have its own consciousness and is slowly developing...

Dumbledore, after listening, fell into thought.

But he didn't rush to give an opinion; instead, he once again produced the Silver Incense Burner he had seen before.

He plucked a small tuft of his own hair and tossed it into the burner.

Soon, a wisp of greenish smoke rose slowly, unruffled, ascending straight until it vanished completely.

"This is my Soul State: a single soul, with no other soul intervening."

Dumbledore introduced it slowly.

He paused, then produced a tuft of black hair that didn't seem to be his own.

As the black hair was thrown into the burner, this time two strands of green smoke rose, twisting together like two entwined snakes, yet they neither merged nor separated.

"This is another Dual Soul Symbiosis state: they affect each other but remain independent."

While speaking, Dumbledore waved his hand, and a tuft of John's hair was plucked and dropped into the burner.

Again two strands of green smoke rose, but they differed from the previous pair.

This time the two strands initially rose separately, then slowly intertwined, one enveloping the other, merging into a single, more robust wisp of smoke.

"This, then, is your Soul State, interwoven as previously observed."

"To be honest, your situation, though I've never seen before, I guess..."

"Perhaps your mother originally conceived twins—maybe a boy–girl pair—but due to some special circumstance, she only gave birth to one body, and then the two souls ended up coexisting within it."

Listening to Dumbledore's speculation, John pursed his lips.

If I were a native of this world, I would have believed that.

But he happened to be a time‑traveler, specifically a Fetal Transmigration.

So he wondered whether his other soul might be the original owner of this body, since the soul hadn't developed yet and was overtaken by his adult soul's dominance?

Now, after many years, that soul has also matured, gaining consciousness and continuing to grow.

The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt...

Not only does he feel guilty for having taken someone else's body without cause, but also because it is gradually growing, and he doesn't know whether it will affect him in the future...

Even if he feels guilty, he has lived in this body for over ten years, forming many ties to this world, so even the original soul's essence he cannot simply relinquish.

So he asked Dumbledore.

"Headmaster, do you think that in the future I might clash with it over control of the body?"

Dumbledore didn't know the answer either; he just shook his head.

At that moment,

Another soul inside John reacted again, seemingly responding to John's words.

It seemed to convey some thought to him.

A... thought of denial?

"Hm???"

John instantly looked up in shock, "What the heck, it can answer my questions?"

Dumbledore also looked at him strangely, unsure what was happening with John.

"Headmaster... it seems to be denying what I just said..."

Dumbledore was taken aback; he hadn't expected John's soul to respond, and before he could ask anything further—

John immediately began talking to himself again.

"You can hear us speak, right? That's how you helped me locate the Horcrux and can respond; can you continue talking about yourself?"

"Hey? Can you hear me?"

Dumbledore instantly realized that John was trying to converse with his other soul.

But after a while there was no second response.

Why is it sometimes responsive and sometimes not?

Just as John was about to give up, a faint thought entered his mind.

Not a verbal transmission, but an abstract feeling.

"【... communicating... tired...】"

The thought vanished in an instant, and thereafter he sensed no trace of the other soul's activity.

Suddenly, John was also stunned.

"It stopped responding, but at the end it seemed to say, 'communicating, so tiring'?"

Dumbledore also furrowed his brow, pondered for a moment, then spoke slowly.

"It seems that, even if you coexist, you still cannot convey information at will."

"Or perhaps it hasn't fully matured yet."

"However, given the current situation, it not only harbors no malice toward you, one could even say it is doing its utmost to help you."

Listening to Dumbledore's analysis, John became even more confused.

Why does it strive so desperately to help him?

What exactly is the relationship between them?

But it's okay; at least the situation is gradually becoming clear.

Just wait for it to recover and then ask it again.

"You needn't worry too much about its condition, nor think that it is trapped within your body."

"In my judgment, it is likely usually in a dormant state, only briefly awakened when it needs to express itself or is strongly stimulated by the outside world."

"Just as when you first touched the Horcrux, you stimulated it; likewise last year, when you first suffered the Soul Snatching Curse and the Piercing Heart Spell, you also stimulated it."

"This also confirms why it only began to appear frequently in the past two years, because it had been dormant before and was only recently awakened."

"As it grows, I believe it will soon be able to communicate with you independently."

"If it harbors no malice toward you, I trust it will become your unique helper."

Seeming to perceive John's lingering worry, Dumbledore gently reassured him.

John could only accept this, for at this stage he has no means or ability to alter it.

Later Dumbledore investigated other conditions for him, confirming that only another soul had recently matured, with no other abnormalities.

He also told him to relax, noting that the soul's dominance is not so easily replaced.

Whether there is a matter or not, talk to yourself often and see if you can get its response.

Afterwards, John left Dumbledore's office.

When John departed, Dumbledore watched his back and fell into thought.

"If the other soul within John is indeed affected by the Horcrux, yet John experienced no abnormality when touching Harry…"

"Could that indicate that there is still room to intervene in Harry's situation…"