The Prince Of Magic

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The Stasis Chamber was one of his grandfather's inventions.

Its appearance bears resemblance to a flat operating table with several cushions and a transparent lid that covers the length of the table from top to bottom to keep the patient inside. It might be eerily similar to one of those cryogenic tubes that were usually seen in a sci-fi movie, but what it was capable of was far more important and interesting.

It was made for the purpose of manipulating the time of the patient's body, preventing it from further degradation by the effects of time outside the chamber.

For as long as the patient was inside the chamber, any damages upon their body can be reverse, which makes any research related to a surgical or spiritual operation an easier time to maintain, much to the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e of a certain magician, who could never be more happy to prick and prod most of his 'patients' (victims) bodies to his heart's content.

It would not be far off to say that, with the Stasis Chamber, the subject's life and death is in the hands of the operator.

In simpler terms, the stasis chamber was an enclosed time-manipulating operating table.

Hadrian was not privy to the important details, but he did remember discussing about the stasis chamber's capacity in delicate operations with his grandfather a couple of times in the past.

The old magician mentioned subjects such as time manipulation, spirit-hacking, alchemy and runes, and how difficult it was for him to combine the four elements to create just one object.

The result of his labor was the 'Stasis Chamber', a special mystic code that enables the operator to manipulate the time of its subjects and runs on the essence of true magic.

Now, if his grandfather placed the child in the mystic code, the situation must have been serious.

If it had not been so, the old magician would have never resorted to using the Stasis Chamber to save his other self.

"You had no choice, then?" Hadrian settled, unsure of what to say.

"Unfortunately, no." Zelretch said with a quiet exhale. "It was either to put him in the chamber, or run the risk of the child being possessed by that leech once his remaining life-force was depleted."

Hadrian blinked, a bit surprise and confused by the late comment.

"Possessed?"

"Ah, I never did tell you what kind of ritual it was, didn't I? Mein schlechtes (my bad), I thought I already mentioned it to you before." Zelretch apologized, which Hadrian didn't mind in all honesty. "Anyways, the ritual was for the creation of a Horcrux. Do you know what that is, enkel?"

With squinted eyes, Hadrian tried to recall a memory that was related to the subject.

"Hmm, a little. I think that's a spell that originated from ancient Egypt, yes?"

"Hah, good memory. I'm glad to see that you're not relying on the automaton too much for your studies." Zelretch complimented, to which the young mage simply huffed in response. "And ja, you're on the right mark on that. But, it's not a mere spell; it's actually an object that is created through the combination of a spell and a certain action."

Hadrian lifted an eyebrow at that.

"And that action is?"

"The act of murder."

The solemn answer had caused Hadrian to narrow his eyes.

"… I see." Inhaling once, he continued in a calm and quiet tone. "And what does this create? An object of what?"

"The Horcrux is an object in which a person can impart a fragment of their soul." Zelretch explained.

Hadrian blinked in surprise, realization dawning upon him.

"Soul magic? Then, that's –"

"Ja, it's one of those methods to become immortal." Zelretch finished in a tone of distaste, a feat that his grandson shares as a small frown appeared on the latter's face. "The process for the creation of a Horcrux involves a spell that must be cast soon after the murder has been committed. Once the process is done, the caster would need to hide the object in a safe location of their choosing. And once that part is met, even if one's body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot die, since a part of their soul remains earthbound and undamaged. From what I've seen via the Kaleidoscope, that has what occurred to your alternate counterpart. Although, in his case, he was supposedly intended to become a Horcrux."

"What happened for the ritual to go awry?" Hadrian asked.

"I'm still investigating, but I did manage to find this. Your counterpart's mother, she had casted a protection spell of sorts upon him. There are also traces of a blood ritual that surrounded their home that time, of which I'll bet is similar to the bounded fields here in our world. I would presume that it is a magical barrier that tests the intent of their visitors, which I find somewhat impressive despite the backwards way of thinking of the masses in that world." Zelretch commented idly, giving a backhanded compliment to the wizards and witches.

Hadrian absorbed the explanation in silence, taking mental notes on his growing list of things to investigate in the future.

Although, he was curious on one thing in particular.

With a sigh, he conjured a small mirror in his free hand and lifted it to at himself.

Looking back at him was a young teenager with a pale, ivory complexion.

He has a slightly wavy medium length black hair, looking well cared for but a bit unkempt. It was the type of hairstyle that one would see in a patient who had just awoken from a long-term coma.

Before he left the room he had awoken earlier, he had don his usual black framed glasses, and behind them was a pair of vivid emerald eyes that stared back at him with a small frown.

Hadrian's counterpart looked a bit similar to his original form in comparison to their facial features, such as the structure of their lips, nose, eyes shape, brows, and the like.

The main differences between them were the colors of their hair and eyes. His counterpart was also on the slim side in physique and paler in skin tone than him, though that might be due to the lack of delving outdoors and the former lacking in exercise, which can be easily fixed in the near future.

There's also one little thing that separates them.

Using a bit of telekinesis, the small mirror levitated in the air as he used his left hand to part the somewhat long bangs that covered the right side of his forehead, revealing a fading scar in the shape of a small lightning bolt.

Seeing it only made Hadrian frown slightly in distaste, not knowing why but having the niggling sense of how it was there.

"I take it that this scar on my forehead was a wound from that incident?" Hadrian asked in a monotone manner.

"Ja, the low-life instigator of that event left that mark on your counterpart's forehead by accident." Zelretch explained. "The leech didn't expect for the spell to rebound, thanks to the blood wards in place. He got himself killed by his own spell, the blödmann (stupid moron)."

Hearing the details, Hadrian didn't know whether to laugh or sigh.

In the end, he huffed quietly to himself, feeling a bit satisfied and vindicated by the turn of past events.

Now, there are only a few things that he needed to know.

The name of his counterpart, and the bastard that did him in.

"What's my counterpart's name? And who's the bloody idiot that gave me this scar?" Hadrian asked nonchalantly, as if fishing for a name that was about to become his next prey.

"Your counterpart's name is Harry James Potter." Zelretch announced, then continued with a hint of mischief in his tone. "And as for the blödmann who left you that god-awful mark, it's Voldemort."

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