Chapter 27: Death

Of course, there was another small episode. Why did the descendants of Slytherin inherit the relatively gloomy Resurrection Stone, rather than the invincible Elder Wand? That might be because the eldest brother, Anti'e Ke Peifulier, was not interested in women and was single-mindedly exploring magic; in the end, the eldest brother should have remained single and without descendants.

When Harry calculated the family tree of the first generation of the Peverell family, the problem followed: if Cadmus Peverell's wife was a descendant of Slytherin, what caused this woman to die young?

In other words, what exactly was it that caused these four top powerhouses—Slytherin plus the Peifuliers—to be unable to handle it? Even according to *The Tales of Beedle the Bard*, the youngest brother's Invisibility Cloak was enough to delay Death's footsteps.

And why did the Peifulier family disappear? The eldest brother's Elder Wand began to circulate in blood and conspiracy through a half-true, half-false legend, and the Resurrection Stone and Invisibility Cloak were brought into other families by female heirs and almost never appeared in the sight of the world again.

Harry still insisted on his initial point of view, which was that the three brothers really didn't want the Deathly Hallows to reunite. It was even highly likely that the family that gathered the Deathly Hallows and attempted to defeat Death would suffer a catastrophic disaster and be stained with a blood curse sufficient to cause death.

He irresponsibly speculated that, judging from Deng Buliduo's comments, Beedle took great criticism to write a fairy tale like *The Wizard and the Hopping Pot* that advocated treating Muggles kindly. Then, is it possible that this bard was even bolder than he imagined, and he took great risks to write the truth about the destruction of the Peifulier family: they offended Death.

When this thought popped into Harry's mind, his own heart was pounding. What if Death was not a symbol or a metaphor, but a real deity, and even a petty deity?

Death did not want to see wizards have power exceeding his own. For those with high magical power, he turned them into Obscurials; for those with outstanding talent, he planted a blood curse. And whether in ancient or modern times, blood curses were something powerful wizards could not solve. Perhaps it wasn't that they couldn't solve them, but that they didn't dare.

The Peverell three brothers, in order to save Cadmus's wife—or perhaps Slytherin was also involved—made the Deathly Hallows and used the power of the Deathly Hallows to fight against Death. But the result was that, to this day, one cannot find a single person named Peverell; even the Gaunt family had died out, and the Potter family only had one lone seedling left.

When Harry came back to his senses from the pile of old papers and boundless reverie, he found that cold sweat had soaked his back. Pei Xu being cursed with a blood curse represented Death's jealousy of his talent. Even the Peifulier family, with all three Hallows in hand, had failed. Harry, relying only on the one Invisibility Cloak in his hand and an eleven-year-old's level of magic, even adding some help from technology, wanted to challenge Death?

He didn't even dare to think about it.

In the end, Harry put away all the pages and notes, no longer harboring fantasies. He said softly to his friends, "This matter has come to an end. I just want to ask one more question, ask the most powerful wizard in the world one question."

"Zhang Qiu, please help me ask your Master what the end of magic is," Harry picked up his textbooks. "And I am going to find Deng Buliduo and ask him the same question."

"Wait, what about Pei Xu?" Luo En asked eagerly. "Didn't you say before that there was hope of curing him yourself?"

"Sorry, I forgot for a moment," Harry said with a bitter smile. "I don't think I can cure him. I'd better ask Deng Buliduo while I'm at it."

"I thought about it and realized it won't work. It's best if we don't tell the professor about Pei Xu," Zhang Qiu said. "You'd have to explain where Pei Xu came from, and that would lead to Nuo Bo, which is no different from snitching."

"Then what should we do?"

"I'll ask my Master in the letter. If I beg him for help, Haige will be safe," Zhang Qiu said.

Harry arrived at the door of the Headmaster's office, only to realize that one needed a password to enter. Having no choice, he could only stand at the door and wait. Fortunately, not long after, Deng Buliduo came out.

"Harry, what are you doing here? Do you have something to ask me?" Deng Buliduo said.

"Yes, Professor Deng Buliduo. I had a sudden thought during my studies, and perhaps you can tell me," Harry said.

"Oh?" Deng Buliduo's lenses reflected light, and Harry couldn't see his eyes clearly.

"What I want to ask is, what is the end of magic?" Harry said. "I know you are the most powerful wizard. Have you ever imagined what you would become if you were even more powerful?"

"This question..." Deng Buliduo's expression gradually became solemn. "I cannot tell you the answer to this question, and I even hope you won't ask such questions in the future. What I can tell you is that love is the most powerful magic; there is no magic more powerful than love."

"Understood, thank you, Professor," Harry said politely. He was very satisfied with this answer, but he was very dissatisfied with the truth behind the answer.

"By the way, Harry, how have you been lately? Are you happy at Hogwarts?" Deng Buliduo asked about Harry's situation with a smile.

"Not bad, Professor." Speaking of this, Harry was still very happy. "The courses are very interesting, the professors are all very kind, and I've made quite a few friends. I'm very happy."

"Then, who do you think is your best friend?" Deng Buliduo asked as if casually.

"Luo En," Harry blurted out without thinking. "Oh, I mean, there's no need to rank best friends. Luo En, Nawei, Zhang Qiu, Hemin, Haige, even Ma Erfu—I think the more friends, the better."

"That's great, Harry," Deng Buliduo said. "I'm very happy to see you happy here. However, I want to remind you that this school year is coming to an end, so you should make good use of the remaining time."

"Understood, Professor." Harry immediately thought of the final exams, and he promised earnestly: "I will review well."

After returning to the dormitory, Harry picked up *The Tales of Beedle the Bard* again with mixed feelings. Only then did he discover that Cadmus was not trying to resurrect his wife; he had always assumed that the woman who was "deeply loved but died young" must be his wife. But from the fact that the Gaunt family was left behind later, perhaps Cadmus had loved a girl in his early years, and that person was not Slytherin's daughter. In this way, Slytherin should have been completely uninvolved in the making and use of the Deathly Hallows, and he might even have been opposed to it.

Of course, just grasping the point that "the Peifulier family died out" was enough to prove that great terror stood at the end of magic. And calculating it this way, the Deathly Hallows were three items instead of four, excluding Slytherin's share, which seemed even more reasonable.

The next evening, Harry rushed to the library as soon as class ended. He couldn't wait to ask Zhang Qiu how her Master had replied.

Zhang Qiu had indeed received a letter. When Harry entered, he found her writing and drawing in her little notebook, facing that long letter.

"Zhang Qiu, did your Master answer my question?"

"Sorry, Harry," Zhang Qiu said. "He is unwilling to tell me. He said the answer to that question is a taboo."

"As expected." Harry nodded. If a powerful wizard were willing to give his own insights on this, it would mean his speculation might be biased. But they all chose silence without exception, which meant that Death might really exist. He stood at the end of magic, coldly watching every wizard who might surpass him.

And Deng Buliduo seemed to have studied this more deeply. He was willing to tell Harry a little more information: there was only one way for a wizard to become powerful under Death's tolerance, and that was love. Magic researched based on love was the most powerful magic allowed by Death. Death drew a line for living beings called "love," and then told everyone qualified to see this line: you may go only this far, and no further.

"By the way, what about Pei Xu? What did he say?" Harry looked curiously at the long letter. He felt that the word "taboo" shouldn't need so many square characters to express.

"He said," Zhang Qiu paused, "he would contact the right people, and I also need to confirm Pei Xu's condition."

Harry looked suspiciously at the letter, which was at least twelve feet long; it must have said many other things. However, he thought again that Zhang Qiu's unwillingness to share might be her private business.

At this moment, Zhang Qiu's expression was solemn, her left thumb was still tapping between her other four fingers, and her right hand was writing something non-stop. Harry thought to himself, perhaps she had also suddenly figured out some magical puzzle; this feeling was actually quite fascinating.

Spreading out the parchment and opening the textbook, Harry began his final exam review three months early. Although he didn't deliberately pursue getting the best grades in every subject like a typical good student, it was better to do well where he could; excellent grades were also nice to bring home.

"I'm going out for a bit," Zhang Qiu suddenly said, and then, without taking her books, she walked out of the library without looking back. Harry glanced at her seat; Zhang Qiu had taken her little notebook, but that letter was still left on the table.

After hesitating for a long time, out of curiosity about powerful wizards, Harry knew he shouldn't peek at other people's letters, but thinking that he didn't know Chinese anyway, he still took a few glances.

Among the many square characters, there were still some things he could recognize. In the first few lines, there was an English word written in parentheses (TABOO). Harry thought to himself, Xuanjun specifically noted the English word, perhaps because this was a consensus recognized by powerful wizards internationally. Just as people called Voldemort the "mysterious person," they also called Death a "taboo." It could be said that human nature is common.

From the second paragraph, Xuanjun's letter mentioned the two abbreviations CIA and KGB. Because Harry couldn't understand the Chinese, he had no idea what these referred to and could only guess irresponsibly—for example, CIA might be "Charm In Animagi," a spell about Animagi; while KGB was "Kitten (for) Girl (to) Breed," a guide for girls raising cats. ===== CHAPTER 28 =====