NOVEL WEB Chapter 102: Unseen Ones
Harry Potter Universe, India
Universal Time: January 10th, 1989
Current Time: Ancient India
Time until Hun and Po souls are deemed suitable by the laws of the Harry Potter Universe to learn structured HP magic: July 31st, 1991
Harry's Physical/Mental/Emotional Maturity: 13 years old
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"I have a residence nearby," Siddhartha said, standing up from the table. His white robes rustled softly as he moved. "A place more suited for discussing matters of spirits and emptiness."
Harry followed him out of the restaurant into a quiet alley.
"The path between spaces opens," Siddhartha whispered. He placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, and the world... shifted.
They now stood in a small courtyard with plain white walls. A patch of garden grew along one side, with strange plants that smelled nice and soothing. The building had a covered porch across the front, with wooden posts decorated with Buddhist carvings.
"Master!" A young voice called out. A boy about Harry's age rushed down the porch steps, almost stumbling on his orange robes in his excitement. "You've returned! And brought a- WHOA!"
The boy stumbled backward with big wide eyes. "The Unseen Ones! There are so many crowding around your guest!"
"Ah, Mohan!" Siddhartha smiled warmly. "I see you've noticed our guest's unique nature."
Harry's mind screeched to a halt. Mohan? MOHAN? The same name as the hermit who had helped him understand the Oracle's silver tears? No way. That was impossible. The odds of meeting the same person thousands of years apart... but then again, Siddhartha was clearly immortal in some way, so maybe... No, that would be ridiculous. Mohan wasn't exactly an uncommon name in India. Right? Besides, the Mohan he knew lived in a mountain temple, not here in... wherever here was. But still...
His rambling thoughts were interrupted by Siddhartha closing his eyes. The man stood perfectly still for several seconds before opening them again to stare intently at the air around Harry. He raised one hand, speaking words that made Harry's teeth vibrate. But… nothing seemed to change.
"The Unseen Ones aren't directly harmful," Siddhartha assured Harry. "They gather around all people with magic." He gestured toward the house. "Come, let us move inside where we can speak more comfortably. Mohan, would you prepare some tea?"
"Yes, Master!" Mohan bowed quickly and rushed inside, still shooting amazed glances at whatever he saw surrounding Harry.
"What exactly are these Unseen Ones?" Harry asked as they walked toward the house. "I couldn't see anything change when you cast that spell."
"Ah!" Siddhartha's eyes lit up. "The spell dispersed a cluster that was growing too dense. The Unseen Ones exist between states of being - neither fully real nor unreal. They gather around magical energy like..." He paused, considering his words. "Like fish swimming toward food in a pond."
They stepped onto the wooden porch. The boards felt smooth and cool under Harry's feet as he removed his shoes.
"Most cannot perceive them without years of specialized training," Siddhartha continued, leading Harry into a simple room with cushions arranged around a low table. "Mohan was born with the gift of seeing both states simultaneously. The way his mind processes reality allows him to-"
"Master!" Mohan burst back into the room, nearly dropping the tea tray in his excitement. "There are SO many different types around him! I've never seen some of these forms before! And they keep changing shape when I look directly at them and-"
"Mohan." Siddhartha scolded him. "What do we say about maintaining peaceful mindfulness when discussing the Unseen Ones?"
"Oh! Right! Sorry!" Mohan set down the tray carefully, took a deep breath, and bowed to Harry. "Please forgive my outburst. Would you like some tea?"
"Yes, thank you," Harry smiled at the boy's enthusiasm. "I'm called Soulfire."
"Ohhhhh!" Mohan's eyes went wide again as he poured the tea. "That makes so much sense! The Unseen Ones around you keep flickering between shapes that look like souls and flames and- wait, no, peaceful mindfulness, right." He took another deep breath. "I am Mohan, Master Siddhartha's disciple."
The tea smelled wonderful, some kind of herbal blend Harry didn't recognize. The room itself felt peaceful as well, with simple wooden walls and a few scrolls hanging in alcoves.
"Mohan has studied with me for three years now," Siddhartha explained, accepting his cup with a small nod. "His natural ability to see the Unseen Ones makes him invaluable in maintaining balance at sacred sites."
"They're usually not THIS interesting!" Mohan blurted out, then immediately covered his mouth with both hands. "Sorry! But Master, you should see how they keep changing! Every time I look away and look back they're different and-"
"Mohan," Siddhartha interrupted with gentle amusement, "maybe you could tell us exactly what you observe? With calm attention to detail?"
Mohan settled onto his cushion, hands clasped tightly in his lap. "Well... there are the usual ones, the small creatures that look like horses with twisted horns. And the floating brain-like things that buzz around everyone's heads." He glanced at Harry. "But around you... I see things I've never seen before! There's this huge creature that looks like a lion made of stars, and these tiny things that float around your head like... like upside-down plums!"
The boy's voice grew quieter. "Before Master Siddhartha found me, people in my village used to call me mad. They said I was cursed, seeing things that weren't there. My own parents thought evil spirits had possessed me." His fingers twisted in the fabric of his robes. "But Master Siddhartha explained that what I see is real, just in a different way than most people understand reality."
"The Middle Path teaches us that truth exists beyond simple divisions of real and unreal," Siddhartha nodded. "Mohan's gift allows him to perceive beings that exist in states between conventional reality."
"Oh! And there's this really weird one behind your left shoulder!" Mohan pointed excitedly at Harry. "It keeps changing between a snake and an eagle, but sometimes it looks like both at once! And- wait, what's happening to all of them?"
Harry had taken a sip of his tea, and apparently this simple action caused all the Unseen Ones around him to react strongly.
"They're all moving away!" Mohan exclaimed. "No, not away exactly... more like they're trying to hide behind each other! I've never seen them act like this before!"
Siddhartha waved his hand. "Let us clear the air once more. They gather too quickly around you, Soulfire."
The spell felt different this time… like a gentle breeze passing through Harry's bones. Mohan's eyes followed something invisible moving away from them.
"The Unseen Ones pose a constant threat to magical communities," Siddhartha explained. "When too many gather in one place, they drain the energy from spells and potions. A single wizard might draw dozens to himself. Around larger magical settlements..." He shook his head. "Hundreds. Thousands."
"We lost the great library at Nalanda because of them," Mohan added quietly. "The monks couldn't maintain the protective enchantments anymore. Some of the ancient scrolls, just... crumbled away."
"That is why we maintain a network of observers across the world," Siddhartha continued. "Mostly adults with specialized training, but people with the gift, like Mohan, are invaluable as well to spot gatherings before they grow too large. The Unseen Ones always return eventually, drawn to magical energy like moths to flame. But we can manage their numbers through regular dispersal."
He took another sip of tea. "The emotional void spreading across the land has made them more aggressive than usual. They cluster more densely, gather more quickly. Something about the emptiness seems to agitate them."
"The Unseen Ones are... interesting," Harry was definitely curious now. "Do they-"
"But they are not our primary concern," Siddhartha set down his cup with a soft clink. "The emotional void grows stronger each day. Three monasteries have already fallen silent. No more debates about scripture, no more joy in meditation..." He closed his eyes. "Just empty vessels going through the motions of life."
"Master," Mohan spoke up, "should I prepare the guest room? It's getting late."
"Yes, please do." Siddhartha smiled at his student. "And remember-"
"I know, I know!" Mohan stood up, grinning. "Don't get distracted watching the Unseen Ones while carrying blankets again. I only fell down the steps once!"
The boy hurried out of the room, leaving Harry and Siddhartha alone with their cooling tea.
"Now then," Siddhartha pulled out his wand, drawing glowing Sanskrit characters in the air. "Let us discuss what Pythia has divined."
The glowing Sanskrit characters shifted into a map of India. Red marks appeared at various points as Siddhartha spoke.
"Pythia has identified several locations where she believes this emptiness will manifest most strongly. The first is Varanasi, the holy city on the Ganges where we just ate. She saw the waters turning still and gray, with all the pilgrims walking past like empty shells."
More marks appeared.
"Pataliputra, the great city of learning and trade. Taxila in the northwest, where scholars from across the world gather to study. The mountain temples of Ajanta, where monks carve new caves even now."
He waved his wand, making the map zoom in on each location. "These places remain untouched for now, but Pythia's visions show them becoming nexus points for the spreading emptiness. Not because they hold any special power, but because they contain the greatest concentration of human consciousness and emotion."
Siddhartha looked at Harry, the map's red glow reflecting in his eyes. "You see, this entity - whatever it might be - seems drawn to places where humanity's emotional and spiritual energy burns brightest. Like a shadow that grows darker the stronger the light becomes. In Varanasi, thousands gather to celebrate life and mourn death by the sacred river. In Pataliputra, merchants argue prices while philosophers debate the nature of existence. Taxila thrills with the excitement of discovery as students learn new ideas. The Ajanta monks pour devotion into every chisel strike as they carve new temples from living rock."
The map expanded again, showing how these locations formed a rough circle across the subcontinent. "Pythia believes the entity will appear in these places simultaneously, and that the emptiness we've seen so far are but mere glimpses of what's coming."
"All in all, the entity seems to be transforming emotional energy into corrupted emptiness," Siddhartha continued. "Like a void that devours the very essence of consciousness itself, leaving behind only the base motions of life."
Wait.
Emotional energy being transformed? That sounded exactly like... but no, it couldn't be. Except... the timing was too perfect. He had JUST opened a connection to the Animus Realm, a place of pure emotional energy, and now here he was thousands of years in the past facing something that consumed emotions?
Harry's blood suddenly stirred violently, and he flinched as memories relentlessly crashed together in his mind. The Animus Realm... he'd opened it just yesterday, hadn't he? But no, his eidetic memory showed weeks of aftermath… reports from the ICW about emotional disturbances worldwide, discussions about the changes in magic itself, Dumbledore's concerns about the new non-beings appearing...
But that couldn't be right. Dumbledore had appeared at the Flamels' door mere minutes after they'd discovered the realm. Except... he remembered hours passing, remembered the magical roses in the garden changing color from deep red to pale pink as the sun set. The memories overlapped, contradicted, made his temples throb with impossible simultaneity.
The dragon head!
He'd tested it on a steel beam Nicolas conjured, but... the beam had already been snapped in two before the conjuring was complete. He remembered both sequences clearly - the beam appearing whole AND already broken, the bite happening before AND after... Time had been fracturing around them all the while and nobody knew.
And the ICW reports... they'd referenced events that couldn't have happened yet, described phenomena that should have taken weeks to document. Everything around the discovery of the Animus Realm felt wrong, like multiple timelines had been running parallel and his memories had absorbed them all without noticing the contradictions until now.
"Are you well?" Siddhartha asked gently. "You seem disturbed."
"Just..." Harry pressed his palms against his eyes. "Some disorientation from the time travel. But I think I might know something about this entity. Yesterday - or what feels like yesterday to me - I discovered a realm of pure emotional energy..."
"Oh! Wait!" Harry suddenly reached for his belt. "I almost forgot!"
He pulled out a white and red sphere, pressing the center button. Red light burst forth, condensing into a golden-furred lion adolescent with invulnerable fur.
Siddhartha raised an eyebrow at the strange device but remained silent.
"This is Chrysa, my familiar," Harry scratched behind her ears while she stretched and yawned. "Sorry girl, got caught up in all this time travel confusion."
Chrysa bumped her head against his hand, then lay down beside him with a soft rumble.
"Now then..." Harry took a deep breath. "About that realm of emotional energy. I discovered it... recently. A place where pure emotions from all of human history flows like rivers through empty space. Joy, sorrow, anger, love… all of them exist there as something that can be felt."
He gestured at the map's marked locations. "And I think... I think that there must surely be a connection between this entity that devours emotions on such a large scale and this Animus Realm. The coincidences would be too much otherwise…"
"Can you access this realm at will?" Siddhartha immediately asked, the map's red glow fading as he lowered his wand.
"Yes..." Harry nodded. "I can create portals using a special mist that resonates with emotions."
"The Middle Path teaches us that all phenomena arise from causes and conditions," Siddhartha pondered. "If you discovered this realm in your time, and now face an entity that devours emotions in ours... there's a high chance both events are connected through the wheel of causality."
"But it's dangerous," Harry warned. "The first time I opened a portal, I didn't realize the air was filled with pure curiosity. It made me... reckless. Made me forget about being careful." He shook his head. "And my mist - the one I used to open the portal there - I can't use it inside the realm itself. Last time I tried that, it created this worldwide aurora in the sky. People without magic can't see it, but whenever they look up, they get hit with random surges of emotion."
"Hmmmm." Siddhartha stroked his chin. "I might have a solution for safely exploring such a realm. But first..." He picked up his wand again, making the map's red marks glow brighter. "We should investigate one of Pythia's locations. The monastery near Taxila seems most promising."
"Master?" Mohan's voice came from the doorway. "The guest room is ready, and I've laid out fresh robes."
"Thank you, Mohan." Siddhartha stood up. "We should all rest. Tomorrow will bring new challenges."