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0585 Magic
🕑 Added 2025-01-01 10:58:11 +0000 UTCThe shocking and absurd notion that magic originated from some outer world rather than being inherent to our own world would surely send shockwaves through the magical academic community if anyone dared to suggest it openly. Such a radical idea would provoke immediate and fierce condemnation from both academics and general public.
For most witches and wizards, magic was as universal and omnipresent as the very air they breathed, as vital as the soil beneath their feet or the water that flowed through their veins. Few among them would have ever thought to question its existence or to delve into the depths of its origins, so deeply ingrained was the belief that magic was simply a part of the natural order of things.
But if someone were to say that magic was not native to the earth at all, but rather a gift from some distant, otherworldly source... such a notion would have been met with scorn and mockery, dismissed as the ramblings of a madman.
Horn had initially expected that his shocking claim about magic's otherworldly origins would leave Bryan Watson stunned in disbelief, inciting the man to loudly argue against such an outlandish notion. After all, any wizard of outstanding skill and renown surely possesses deep insight into the nature of their own magical abilities. They would not readily accept such an unproven claim from unproven historical records.
However, to Horn's great surprise, Watson's reaction was far quieter than anticipated. Rather than lashing out or dismissing the claim outright, he simply replied in a slow tone, "Could you please elaborate?"
Horn took a moment to collect his thoughts, and his gaze drifted to the star chart on the chamber wall. When he spoke again, his voice carried the weight of ages long past. "In an era so distant that its exact time is lost to history, perhaps hundreds of millennia ago, our world was a desolate place, Mr. Watson. Magic was completely absent from the natural order.
Magical creatures were nowhere to be found. Human civilization had yet to take root, and even the spark of sapient thought had not yet emerged. Then one fateful day, without any warning, a land overflowing with magic descended upon our mundane world from the stars above."
"No one knows why it came here. Perhaps it was simply a celestial wanderer, drifting aimlessly through the cosmos until chance brought it into contact with our once-barren planet. Unable to resist the pull of gravity, it settled here, merging with our reality. This magical domain couldn't be directly observed or interacted with, as it does not fully exist within the material plane. Yet its presence could be felt by all living things, and the mysterious power it exudes permeated every corner of existence."
"In the ages that followed this event, our world underwent a metamorphosis of breathtaking proportions, spurred on by the magical energies now permeating it. Those humans who possessed the sharpest minds and keenest intuition were the first to learn how to tap into and manipulate this power for their own use. And as magic seeped, it wrought wondrous changes upon the beasts and creatures that populated the earth. Across every continent, magical species of every description began to appear and thrive."
Horn was greatly encouraged to see Watson listening intently, showing no hint of finding it absurd, which pleased him greatly. So, he continued,
"—Unfortunately, that magical land's destiny was perhaps a wandering one. Like a cosmic nomad, it was fated to wander the stars for all eternity, never lingering in one place for long. After an untold epoch of enriching our world, it eventually resumed its journey through the infinite stars, gradually withdrawing from the lands it had so utterly transformed."
"It's departure signaled a calamity for those creatures that had grown accustomed to magic's presence. Gradually, they began to lose the extraordinary abilities they had gained, reverting back to their formerly mundane selves. Only the most gifted could retain their powers for a time, but losing it all was only a matter of time."
As Horn spoke, Bryan's mind drifted to the various ages recorded in wizarding history: the Mythical Age when magic reigned supreme, the Ancient Era when its decline began in earnest, the Middle Ages that saw Muggle civilizations rising to prominence as magic faded, and the Modern Era in which magic's role was greatly diminished.
Each period marked another step-in magic's protracted retreat from the world it had once transformed.
Horn's voice broke Bryan's train of thought. "Are you familiar with the terms 'Saint' and 'Magus', Mr. Watson?"
"Those titles carry a great deal of context-dependent meaning," Bryan replied calmly. "But in this case, I believe you're referring to how they were used in past, particularly in the Middle Ages and prior, to denote individuals of extraordinary magical strength. Is that correct?"
"Precisely so," Horn confirmed with a nod. "As the magical realm withdrew, the ability to perceive and interact with it faded from the common people. But those souls with the strongest inherent potential used the lingering residue of its power to nourish their own spirits. In so doing, they cultivated a source of personal magical energy that allowed them to maintain a conduit to the departing magical realm. From that point forward, they could possess nearly limitless magic."
Horn gazed at the pensive Bryan Watson with a meaningful stare. "But at a certain period of time, the magical realm's departure soon accelerated to a very fast pace, putting incomparable gulfs of space between it and our own world. As a result, the path to Sainthood or Magushood is now presumably lost to us, Mr. Watson--"
"I believe I can pinpoint the era you speak of," Bryan interjected, his gaze still fixed on the mural before them. "The great battle in which King Arthur and Merlin joined forces against Morgan le Fay, correct? That earth-shattering war caused drastic changes in the magic on earth, leading the magical land to rapidly move away from ours?"
A heavy silence settled over the room. Puzzled by the lack of response, Bryan turned to face Horn and found the centaur standing in slack-jawed astonishment, rendered speechless by his words.
"Hehe--" Bryan chuckled in a low voice. "You seem rather taken aback. Is something the matter?"
"How... how can this be?" Horn finally managed to stammer out. "I was under the impression... Mr. Watson, I've read over nearly every piece of magical history on record, and that particular chain of events is mentioned in precisely none of them. How in Merlin's name do you know of it...?"
The young Bryan Watson was turning out to be even more of a mystery than Horn had anticipated. Tracking down Cray could certainly explain how Watson knew of them centaurs sheltering the druids. And perhaps he had caught some subtle clue that allowed him to see through Miss Cliodna's disguise, but chose not to fight in the castle to avoid harming the young wizard. But how did he learn of that secret history?
Wizarding and Muggle histories both contained no records of these events!
And still the shocks kept coming. Bryan let another casual question drop, as if he were asking him about the weather. "I don't suppose you'd happen to know if it was Merlin himself who found this Forbidden Forest for your people after the fall of Avalon?"
By the end of that decisive confrontation, Merlin was the only surviving wizard. King Arthur had met his end in the battle, and Morgan le Fay, the Witch-Queen of Avalon, had shared his fate. As for the shadow that had lurked within Morgan, it was most certainly none other than Herpo the Foul, the most evil and powerful dark wizard known to magical history - but his whereabouts were unknown. But Bryan was convinced Herpo had not died.
Based on the evidence Bryan had pieced together, in the immediate aftermath of Morgana's fall, and before he took his final bow and vanished from the stage of history, Merlin had made a number of intriguing arrangements.
He located Herpo's lair, the Temple of Azkaban in the North Sea and transported this stronghold, along with Herpo's abandoned Twin Serpent Staff to the war-ravaged ruins of Avalon, which had been now saturated with the taint of dark magic and "death". As a final measure, Merlin then established an isolated pocket dimension, using his unsurpassed knowledge of magic to seal off both Avalon and the temple, enfolding them into a land cut off from the outside world.
If the rumors swirling through the wizarding world's underground world were to be believed, this had also been the moment when Merlin established the secret enclave now known as Knockturn Alley, with the infamous Black Stone Tower at its heart.
According to legend, Merlin had erected the tower to serve as his final resting place, and whosoever succeeded in breaching its seals would be granted supreme dominion over all magic.
Bryan did not believe in such sensational tales, but he had his own speculations about Merlin's true motives, though his conjectures still had flaws.
Horn was shocked to the point of fear. Just moments ago, in the temple above, Watson had been asking him why the centaurs no longer remained on Avalon but migrated to the Forbidden Forest. Yet he seemed to know everything like the back of his hand. Horn even suspected Bryan Watson might have secretly infiltrated the centaurs' sacred land before!
Seeing the elder centaur staring at him in horror, Bryan shook his head and chuckled. He had no intention of explaining to the centaur how he knew all this. However, his heart remained heavy. From Horn's expression, Bryan knew his guess was correct.
After Morgan le Fay's downfall and the collapse of Avalon, Merlin had to find new homes for the isle's residents as Centaurs, merfolk, unicorns, and other magical beings who had lived there were now homeless.
With few other options, they probably had entrusted their fate to Merlin, the only survivor, hoping that with his wisdom, he would find them a safe home. Yet of all the places in the world the centaurs might have been settled, Bryan found it a bit strange that Merlin had chosen to place them here, in the depths of this Forbidden Forest. This was before the birth of the four founders, before the establishment of Hogwarts. On what basis did he leave a group of centaurs here?
Bryan stood before the third doorway. He had a hunch that the answers to his questions could be found inside.
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