"It's a strange feeling..."
Andy's astral body muttered to itself. The voice was clear and sounded no different from Andy's own.
"Well... what should I call it?"
A living ghost needs a name to distinguish it from the dead ones.
"...let's call it True Soul or, well, just a Soul would do too."
After thinking about it, Andy decided to call his current state 'True Soul'. The name is easy on the ear.
"Hmmm..."
Andy looked around, then moved his finger slightly, and a small stone on the ground flew up silently.
The levitation charm.
'Magic still works,' Andy thought to himself.
In fact, it's only logical.
After Voldemort's remnant soul absorbed vitality, it also had the ability to use magic.
Andy's body is still alive, and so is his soul.
Under these premises, it is only natural that his soul can use magic.
What's more, Andy has previously achieved the fusion of his mind and magic, and now he has even more successfully achieved the fusion of his soul and mind.
Andy's soul, mind and magic have become one.
This is an unprecedented state!
At least, as far as he knew, this had never occurred in the British magical community in this era.
Andy is a little excited and begins to try out the various abilities in his new state.
First, he tried to change shape, although he couldn't change into a ray of light like the one he had seen before during the Dementor's Kiss, probably because he is accustomed to a human shape; he still can take on a ghastly humanoid fog-like shape Voldemort's remnant soul took, and the invisible thought tentacles he had seen at the Brain Hall are now easy to form.
Second, his control over the breath of death increased in this state.
Looking at his ethereal hands, he felt like becoming more and more inhuman.
The thought of him turning into an Eldritch-like being one day surfaced in his mind, which he quickly shook off and tried to notice other changes.
***
In the cave, Andy's body sat motionless on the cushion.
The Fat Cat Patronus crouched in midair, tilting its head as it looked curiously at Andy's soul form.
"So that's it!"
After experimenting for a while, Andy made another discovery.
There was essentially no difference between using magic in the soul form and using it in his body. Even the ability of magic transfiguration could be used in the soul form.
But that wasn't the point!
The point is that the magic level of the soul cannot be improved.
In other words, once the body stops nourishing it, the soul alone, even if it can still use magic, will lose the ability to improve.
Maybe he can improve by developing the ability to feed off life force or mental power like Voldemort and Dementor.
Otherwise, only by returning to the body can Andy continue to improve his own magic level.
"Is this the role of the body?"
Andy looked down at his body.
This body looked like it had been kissed by a Dementor. It still had a heartbeat, and blood was flowing through its veins, but it truly was a shell of what it once was.
After a moment's thought, Andy controlled his soul to return to his body.
The next moment, Andy opened his eyes.
"Hmmm..."
Andy was silent for a while.
Unlike the soul state, after returning to the body state, Andy suddenly felt a heavy feeling.
It was the weight of the body, the feeling of flesh and blood.
"This is being alive..." Andy had a sudden realisation.
For humans, only when the soul and the body are united can one truly be alive.
A body without a soul is just a shell.
And a soul without a body... Even if the soul can exist on its own, it has lost the element of 'diversity'
Andy let out a breath and then slowly got up.
There were still many unanswered questions.
But for now... "The magic is mine, and so is the soul!" No matter where they came from or where they will go in the future... at least, at this moment, they truly belong to Andy!
"I am master of my life!"
Andy could finally say it now.
'I can control my life!'
It sounded a little ridiculous, but that was how Andy felt.
It was a strange feeling.
Yes, it wasn't just empty words; Andy really felt it.
Controlling his own body, Andy felt a sense of freedom he had never experienced before.
Somehow, Andy could clearly feel it deep down that it was all truly his own.
It felt great!
Andy felt exhilarated!
Every cell in his body seemed to be cheering. Even just standing still, Andy could feel the beauty of life.
So Andy kept standing with his eyes closed for more than half an hour, still feeling a little restless.
"Time to go back."
Andy waved goodbye to the Fat Cat Patronus and cancelled the spells on the cave. He then walked out of the cave at a relaxed pace.
"What a beautiful day."
The sun felt warm on his body.
The air was fresh.
After walking around a bit, Andy felt that everything was new and full of wonder.
The scenery, which he had long since grown accustomed to, now looked different.
Everything felt new!
"It's so nice…" Andy smiled.
But…it was time to go back.
The next moment, Andy Apparated back to the outer part of the Forbidden Forest.
***
Hogwarts.
At noon, the young wizards gather in the Great Hall to eat their lunch.
It is noisy and bustling in the hall. The young wizards always seem to have endless things to talk about when they get together.
"Hey, have you read today's newspaper?"
"No, have you? What's new?"
"Have you finished your essay on Transfiguration yet? I'm a bit short of ideas. Can I borrow yours?"
"Oh, Merlin's knickers! I just planned to borrow yours!"
"Harry, don't forget about Quidditch practice this afternoon!"
"I know!"
Out of nowhere, Nearly Headless Nick appeared from the Gryffindor table.
He looked around, then nodded to Harry encouragingly, "Go for it, Harry! You've got to win this year's Quidditch championship!"
"Thank you, Sir Nicholas," Harry said with a smile.
"No! This year's Quidditch championship should go to Ravenclaw."
Andy's ghostly figure also emerged from the Gryffindor table. "Harry, this is my last wish!"
"No! Andy, we have to compete fairly..."
Harry's words were cut off mid-sentence, and he was unable to say anything else.
He looked at Andy in horror, and after a long pause, he cried out, "Andy! How did you become a ghost!?"
"You're dead!?"
"As you can see." Andy said, spreading his hands.
In fact, Andy had intended to scare Hermione.
But Hermione was still reading in the library, and if she disturbed Madam Pince, Andy felt that he would have a very rough second term.
Madam Pince was the person Andy 'feared' most because she had the power to expel anyone from the library.
Besides, scaring Hermione was not a good idea.
Once she found out the truth, she might end up killing Andy.
So... the first victims became Harry and the others in the Great Hall.
Because they couldn't beat Andy.
"Andy, who killed you?" Harry asked anxiously.
The others hurried over when they heard the sound.
Everyone was shocked when they saw Andy's ghost!
Andy...died at Hogwarts?
"Andy, who did this to you?" Andy's roommate rushed over and asked fearfully.
Well... this question...
Andy quickly recalled several people who could take the blame.
"It was Snape!"
There was no other better choice because Snape was currently the only suitable scapegoat.
So Andy insisted, "It was Snape who killed me!"
----
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