Even now, Erebus continued running dungeons given to him by the System. After reaching level 31, he knew that he couldn't leave quite yet until he was closer to that level 40 requirement because he could feel like his very life depended on it. This sensation of desperation had some happy--yet unintended--side effects that helped push Erebus past the threshold of peak Gold tier cultivation and into the early stages of Nascent Soul.

When his System notified him of this breakthrough, Erebus further understood that there was more to cultivating than he previously thought. However, this did not make him stop grinding out the dungeons and clearing them with at least S-Grade perfection.

It would take quite a bit longer for Erebus to stop, but not for the reason you might expect.

==+==

Alex had brought Professor Fig into the Map Chamber below Hogwarts as soon as he had returned from London--explaining what had occurred while he was gone. He had explained that he found the missing pages after discovering that Richard Jackdaw stole them from Peeves, discovered the Map Chamber, and even told him about what he and Sebastian discovered about Erebus.

Naturally, the old wizened Professor was surprised to learn about all of these things. Upon arriving to the Map Chamber, Eleazar was left bewildered and amazed by the feat of magic within the chamber. This led to the duo discovering more about Percival Rackham and the trials of the Keepers--unaware that Arch had also been keeping track of their progress while Erebus was away.

The holographic [Cyber Monarch] was also left amazed about the wonderful feats of Ancient Magic from the Wizarding World, but even he knew that if left in the wrong hands, power could be easily rendered dangerous. Upon learning that Alex had to go to San Bakar's tower for the first Trial, Arch intended to keep an eye on how that would go.

He also felt that Erebus didn't need to be there with Alex during the first trial since they had made it this far without his presence. Thus he simply left things on for a recording as soon as they reached the location.

==+==

Arch noticed how the memory left behind by Percival Rackham showed the beginning stages of her adventure into Ancient Magic--starting from when Percival was teaching Isadora (and later having a disagreement) about Ancient Magic to when Isadora returned to Hogwarts as a professor and asked them to meet at her house for a demonstration of what he had learned--and grew concerned. Even with minimal clues, Arch had learned psychology and human behavioral patterns which those skills were screaming at him that Isadora was already fated to go into the dark side.

To him, it appeared that Alex didn't quite yet fully understand what the secret of the Keepers were. Arch was already mostly sure that Isadora started to wield Ancient Magic in an attempt to remove her father's pain and that alone made him want to go back in time to bitchslap Isadora out of her little childish notions.

'Human emotions are a powerful and dangerous natural force unto their own right, you stupid bitch,' Arch thought to himself in disgust. 'Not even with Ancient Magic can you truly understand that until it becomes far too much.'

By this point in time, the very clever [Cyber Monarch] was already drafting up plans to help aid Erebus and Alex in this historical skirmish against Ranrok's little rebellion.

==+==

After dealing with the first Keeper trial, Alex had begun to deal with Beasts class (aka Care of Magical Creatures) and befriended Poppy Sweeting. The pair of students who were planning on harming a Kneazle for their whiskers had been told off by both Alex and Poppy before the teacher came up and congratulated them for helping.

From there, Alex met a hippogriff named "Highwing" by Poppy herself and grew fonder of magical beasts. He then delved into an old witch's tomb to find the Helm of Urtkot for Lodgok to use to regain Ranrok's trust, but to only find out that the poachers had beaten them to the helm first. Mere moments later, he retrieved the helm for Lodgok and wished him the best to do his part.

After that, Professor Weasley had called him up towards the Seventh Floor of the castle to talk about the Room of Requirement. This proved to be invaluable to Alex as he began to study more about the magical world over the course of the year.

Then the much anticipated event of Alex's school year came about. Sebastian had finally told him to meet him in Feldcroft.

What neither Sebastian or Alex knew at the time was that it was this moment that Erebus would return to their lives.

==+==

》Congratulations! You have reached level 40! (EXP to Level: 0/641,000)《

》Due to being in an extended Dungeon Run, all free AP rewards have been halted. These points shall be calculated and rewarded momentarily.《

》...《

》You have received 240 free AP due to levelling up from 20 to 40. You now have 250 free AP.《

》As you have reached the maximum level for the current world and time period, you are now experience locked until you leave this place. No further experience shall be rewarded except for Skill Levels and Cultivation.《

Erebus read these notifications as he had returned from the latest dungeon run--this one awarded him a couple of Totems of Undying as a reward. His {Inventory} was filling up with rewards for his perfect clears and he had even managed to keep the skill rewards unredeemed for a time since they weren't required quite yet.

Upon leaving the dungeon and getting up to level 40 in one go (considering he wanted the System to hold all of the required EXP until there was enough to level up 20 times in one go), the very first thing he was met with on the Control Deck was a letter written by Sebastian laying on a table in front of him. This was a bit odd to him, but it didn't take him too long to remember that Sebastian wanted to introduce him and Alex to his twin sister in Feldcroft.

"Congratulations on getting to level 40, Erebus," Arch congratulated him with a pleased smile. "Despite reaching the maximum level for the current time period and world, we still have some things to do. The letter arrived mere minutes ago and it seems like it is now that Sebastian has found the time to go visit his sister in Feldcroft."

"Let's take the ship to Feldcroft," Erebus mentioned as the interior started to turn a bit brighter. "I don't want to have this ship near the castle grounds for too much longer nor do I want the ship to be left away from me again."

"Setting coordinates for Feldcroft," Arch nodded as the subtle thrummm of the engines were made known in the Control Deck.

If one were to watch the ship from the outside, they could've seen it dematerialize just like the TARDIS from Doctor Who and silently reappear just outside of the village of Feldcroft. No noises to signal departure or arrival, but this time, there were no accidents.

"Ship has appeared just outside of the Feldcroft village," Arch announced to Erebus as the viewpoint appeared on a high definition television screen due to the ship not being in its original form that was best fit like an interstellar ship. "We have made it before Sebastian and Alex are set to arrive--even by Floo Flames."

"Arch?" Erebus asked as a thought had come to him.

"Yes?" Arch asked back.

"What should I call this ship?" Erebus inquired. It was a thought that bothered him quite a bit since he first acquired this ship due to a System quest back on Dromund Kaas. Now that he wasn't quite as busy as he was back then, he wanted to take the time to inquire about what to call his ship.

》The instanced quest event: "In the Shadow of the Estate" is soon to begin.《

The system had announced before Arch could answer the question Erebus put forth. This had effectively put all notion of naming the ship on the backburner for now as Erebus prepared for entering the instanced event.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

He went to the ship's Treasury area and, with it acting as a huge bank vault, unloaded most of his entire [Inventory] of items. Only his Lightsaber, wand, robes, and a couple of Health Potions were left in his inventory. This helped shed the burden of what he was carrying, but it was nice for his Voidship to have a secure place to put away the things that would otherwise clog up his [Inventory].

After doing his business with his ship's Vault, Erebus had quickly left the Voidship and appeared just within the center of the village--right next to an old well. It was of no surprise that right as he made himself known, Alex and Sebastian were the first ones to notice his arrival.

With some exchange of greetings and apologies for being out of the picture for some time, the trio went to go visit Sebastian's twin sister and uncle. At the beginning, the visit went just fine. Sebastian had greeted his sister with a smile and pulled out a shrivelfig--much to Anne's amazement--but that was when things turned worse.

"We've been over this, boy!" A gruff stern male voice erupted from off the Sebastian's right side just as the Shrivelfig was removed from his hand. In Erebus' mind, this must be Sebastian's uncle Solomon--which the System confirmed almost immediately. "Shrivelfigs cannot reverse a curse. Nothing can."

With a slight movement from his wand, the shrivelfig had been destroyed, but not before Solomon said to Sebastian "the sooner you accept that reality, the better."

This made Sebastian and Solomon get into an argument, but it had soon stopped when they heard Anne groan in pain. This made Erebus curious as to what affected Anne so much, but when he used the System to examine her status effects, it would only show up:

=+=

》Anne Sallow (Level 1 Witch)《

》Status: {Unknown Curse}《

》Afflicted by a curse casted upon her by Victor Rookwood (but mistakenly believed to be the work of goblins by Sebastian Sallow), Anne Sallow's body has been treated by nearly all healers in the Wizarding World--from Nurse Blainey to the healers of St Mungos--and has no known cure. Desperate to find a cure for his sister's ailment, her twin brother Sebastian believes that curing Anne lies in the Dark Arts. The only effects known are a gradual decrease in the target's Vitality and sudden onset bouts of pain.《

=+=

'If I recall it right,' Erebus pondered to himself as he recalled memories of the Harry Potter movies, 'killing Rookwood might save Anne since it had been discovered in Harry's sixth year that his mother's transfiguration spell for Slughorn was annulled due to her death at the hands of Voldemort.'

Even through the Force, Erebus could sense Anne's curse taking its toll on her body. This made him understand Sebastian's pain to a degree, but not even Sebastian could understand Erebus' pain to such a high degree--even after being told about it by Arch and himself some time ago.

After that, Sebastian left the house to get away from Solomon's actions. Alex and Erebus stayed behind to introduce themselves to Anne and Solomon.

Anne was overjoyed to learn that both Erebus and Alex were new Hogwarts students alongside Solomon being a tad hopeful that they could help convince Sebastian that it was foolish to chase after false hope to cure Anne. Alex and Erebus promised to try and help, but Erebus had other plans.

Since he had just finished a huge dungeon run before coming to Feldcroft and had played the game Minecraft--from which the Totems of Undying came from--he naturally knew about the function of the Totems. He theorized that he could attempt to cure (or reverse the dark magic on) Anne utilizing both a Totem of Undying and the Killing Curse.

Sadly, he'll have to try that out later since he had to go with both Alex and Sebastian to discover more about Isadora's musings.

==+==

It has been some time since Erebus had met with Alex and Professor Fig. The events of Feldcroft had gotten his attention for a short time, but strangely enough, both of the aforementioned people were wanting Erebus to meet with them at Rookwood Castle.

From what Arch informed him, it was most likely due to the second Keeper Trial taking place there. Ever since the events of Feldcroft, Erebus could tell that Alex had informed Professor Fig that he had found him and most likely suggested contacting him for aid in the second trial.

"Since two of the quest objectives are halfway complete, I might as well as accept their request," Erebus said to Arch. "Could you set coordinates for Rookwood Castle?"

Arch nodded with a knowing smile and the Voidship's engines whirred to life once more. This time, they dematerialized from the Forbidden Forest and reappeared outside of the castle.

"Should we let in both Alex and Professor Fig?" Arch asked as the view from the screen showed the Professor nearby the ship's arrival point--within eyesight. "Might be worth getting them inside quicker using the voidship?"

Erebus nodded. "I'm sure that the Professor and Alex would fight their way through Ranrok's little minions to get into the castle if we didn't interfere. Besides, I have the feeling through the Force that Professor Fig now knows that I possess a means of transport that not even the Ministry could track. I don't want Ranrok nor Victor to get their hands on Alex for their misconceptions."

"Straight into the Control deck then?" Arch asked Erebus for the entrance of the ship to take them to.

Erebus nodded again. "Wait until Alex shows up then we will open the doors."

It didn't even take too much longer for Erebus and Arch to notice Alex showing up and ready to talk to Professor Fig on the screen. Before Eleazar could explain the situation at Rookwood Castle, Erebus asked Arch to reveal them to the duo.

==+==

"There you are," Eleazar commented as he noticed Alex approaching via broom flight. "Ranrok's Loyalists are crawling all over the place----"

A soft humming interrupted Eleazar's train of thought--attracting their attention towards a British telephone box that seemed out of place in the Wizarding World--and they both noticed the door was slowly opening. It was like whoever was inside of the box was inviting them inside.

"Is this?" Eleazar inquired his young protégé as the latter nodded. Not even his Ancient Magic sight could see it nor even a casual Revelio.

To answer their questions, a man appeared in front of them--one that Alex recognized as Arch--and asked them to come inside. "We can get you into Rookwood Castle and avoid Ranrok's minions."

"Ah," Professor Fig noted before he walked into the Voidship--with Alex a few paces behind his mentor.

As soon as they went inside, the door closed behind them and Professor Fig was slightly amazed. He didn't know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't what he saw in the Control Deck.

"Welcome to the Control Deck, Professor Eleazar Fig and Alex Fross," Arch announced as he manifested beside a three-dimensional holographic table which showed everything in real-time. All of Rookwood Castle and its surrounding environments were displayed in a crisp crystal clear image--including the enemy positions alongside the Voidship's current location--and this caught Eleazar Fig's interest.

"Astonishing!" Eleazar exclaimed as he took in the marvels of the Voidship's interior and obvious futuristic design. Even Alex was surprised since the last time he was in the Voidship, he was in the Lounge and caught by the holographic [Cyber Monarch] alongside Sebastian.

"That it is, Professor," Arch nodded softly as he walked back to look at the projection--Erebus already examining it. "However, time is of the essence. Perhaps you and Alex can come over and tell us what you know about Rookwood Castle?"

"We already know that Charles Rookwood--Victor's ancestor--is one of the Keepers and that you two are here to complete his Trial when you found the place crawling with Ranrok's minions, Professor," Erebus mentioned as he didn't bother to look up from the table.

"Yes, yes," Eleazar said as he quickly shook off the shock and awe of this place. Being a wizard, he could just attribute everything to something beyond wonder and inquire about everything at a later time. For now, he and Alex came up to the table and discussed what is going on in the Castle.

Taking a few moments to properly digest the news, Erebus pulled up the inner walls of the Castle on the monitor to show the camera angle of Ranrok and Victor's little argument--the audio coming in crisp and clear. This showed the wizards that their alliance is flimsy and tenuous at best, but Erebus saw a different angle. He subtly nodded to Arch and while the two wizards were listening to everything, Arch had already made the Voidship appear within the underground area where the portrait of Charles Rookwood lay within.

After seeing and hearing Ranrok say the word "Keeper," that is what keyed them both into the severity of the issue being presented. Before they could say anything else, Erebus had already made moves towards the door.

"So, we know that Ranrok knows about the Keepers and that Victor is descended from one," Erebus summarized as he opened the door of the Voidship--revealing to the Professor and Alex that they had moved from their previous location. "That does present a future issue, but that will have to be dealt with later. For now, we have to deal with the second Trial."

Deciding to better talk about things about his Voidship later, both of the wizards followed after Erebus and greeted the portrait of Charles Rookwood. Unsurprisingly, the portrait was a bit confused since he didn't sense their appearance until just a few moments ago.

While the Professor and Alex were left to explain what was going on with Charles' portrait, Erebus got a notification on his System.

=+=

》You have completed the mystery [Secret of the Keepers].《

》Long ago, Isadora Morganch had theorized that Ancient Magic could be used to remove the strands of pain from a person due to the death (and subsequent loss) of her brother which heavily affected her father. After getting a goblin by the name of Bragbor to build containers made of goblin silver to contain the removed emotional strands she had removed from other humans, Isadora had built repositories throughout Hogwarts Valley. Now, her legacy affects the Wizarding World of the current era with Bragbor's descendant Ranrok using the power of the repositories to wipe out Wizardkind.《

》In order to counter the growing threat of dark magic used by Ranrok and his Loyalists, the ambient magic of the Wizarding World has chosen Alex Fross as the Ancient Magic Avatar. As the Outworlder, you have the power to change the course of history.《

=+=

'So, that is what is going on,' Erebus sighed as he got the notification upon looking at the broken repository in front of him. 'Because of a dumb witch who wielded Ancient Magic, the goblins in the current era pose an actual threat to the Wizarding World. Just like during Harry's time, the Ministry doesn't believe it and chose to ignore it. Guess it falls to Alex, myself, and Professor Fig to stop Ranrok for good. I won't ask Kreia to get involved in this since I figure she'll get a good kick out of Voldemort's antics once we return in little over a century.'

==+==

Unbeknownst to either Alex or Professor Fig, the portrait of Charles Rookwood noticed Erebus with the realization that he was an Outworlder. The portrait didn't tell Alex or his mentor about this and wanted to bring it up with Percival and the other Keepers.

However, they wouldn't get the chance to speak with Erebus until the very end of the year.