Chapter 5: Roger’s Path to Immortality

Dumbledore entrusted Minerva McGonagall with a task: to observe the boy Roger more closely. He hoped that by gaining a deeper understanding of Roger’s inner world, he could better guide him onto the right path. The tragedy of Tom Riddle had been more than enough; he did not wish to witness another.

However, Professor McGonagall’s approach to this task was not to adopt the covert surveillance style of an intelligence agent. In her view, communication was the only true way to reach children burdened with heavy thoughts. The so-called “for your own good” concealments only drove their hearts further away. Only openness and honesty could bridge the distance between them.

Only by becoming someone they genuinely trust could one hope to unravel the knots in their hearts.

Having confirmed that Roger’s mind was far more mature than that of an ordinary young wizard, Minerva McGonagall planned to engage him in some deeper conversations—about his future life plans, for instance.

Professor McGonagall had helped him greatly, both at the funeral and later when answering his magical questions. Naturally, Roger chose to be candid on matters he deemed not worth keeping secret.

“I won’t join the Ministry of Magic, nor will I return to the Muggle world. I want to study magic,” he said.

“If all goes as expected, much of my life will be devoted entirely to magical research. I want to know everything about magic,” Roger answered.

McGonagall sensed that his response was sincere and thoughtful—not the kind of idle dreams a child might have, like “I want to get into an Ivy League school” or “I want to be a scientist or a superstar.” He truly intended to make magical research the main theme of his life.

“Why?” she asked, a little puzzled.

Usually, most people yearned for fame and success, to become remarkable figures. Even children aspiring to be scientists generally aimed to become great luminaries like Einstein, inventing many magnificent things. Few were simply fascinated by knowledge itself, driven only by the desire to understand more, to unveil the mysteries of the world.

Roger’s answer surprised McGonagall.

“Because I don’t want to die,” Roger said, giving her a gentle smile.

“Ah?” McGonagall was even more confused.

“Professor, do you like this world?” Before McGonagall could answer, Roger continued, answering his own question: “I like it very much.”

“After thousands of years of toil and hardship, human civilization has finally entered the fast lane.”

“In just three hundred years, three industrial revolutions have brought about earth-shaking changes.”

“By studying the laws of the world, even Muggles can harness the forces of wind, fire, thunder, and lightning, making the sun shine upon the earth.”

“Reforms in productivity and social relations have freed the shackles of thought—capitalism, communism, constitutional monarchy… a variety of new civilizational ideas flourish.”

“Movies, television, comics—everyone has a chance to present their inner world to the entire globe.”

“The world is already so wonderful now; the future surely holds even more fascinating things.”

“And this is just the beginning beneath our feet.” Roger looked up at the clear sky, as if trying to gaze beyond it to some distant place.

“The Earth we live on is but a speck in the vast universe.”

“There are nearly 400 billion star systems in the Milky Way, about two trillion galaxies like ours in the universe, and beyond the universe, there may be other universes.”

Roger spoke of “may be,” but he was certain that universes beyond the known universe did exist—he himself was a visitor from another universe!

On the flight back to Britain after the war, Roger was somewhat lost. Having escaped the mire of hell and embraced peace, he did not feel happiness but emptiness. Like many veterans unable to reintegrate into society, Roger was unsure of his next step.

By his own “foreknowledge,” he could easily amass great wealth and, with his ability to sense danger, achieve extraordinary fame and accomplishments as effortlessly as eating or drinking. The former Roger might have indulged in this.

Wealth, luxury, fame, beautiful companions—if he had these, the past Roger might have laughed in his sleep.

But after dancing with death countless times, through blood and fire, Roger had realized something.

All is illusory; only life itself is precious.

No matter how much one possesses, in a few decades, it all turns to dust.

No matter how fiercely he resisted—his ability to pass through a hailstorm of bullets unscathed, his immense wealth—he could not defy the great power of time.

As he hesitated whether to drown himself in the worldly pleasures to numb and deceive himself, the wizards who came to arrest him disrupted all his plans.

Their arrival shattered Roger’s original intentions but also restored direction to his lost heart.

He wanted to witness the world’s transformations, to see human civilization leave its home planet for the stars, to explore the boundaries of cosmic expansion and contraction.

To watch stars extinguish, to behold life’s infinite possibilities, entropy, heat death, the birth of universes, and the wonders beyond the cosmos.

“I want to see all the wonders of the world, to encounter countless fascinating souls, to have my own presence woven into one exciting story after another.”

He dreamed of all these possibilities. He did not want them—all that he had never seen or attained—to vanish with his aging self in the torrent of time.

Like tears lost in the rain.

“Human life is too fragile; a single cheap bullet can take it away. Even a seer like me, who can dodge malicious bullets, cannot escape the gunfire of ‘time.’”

“I don’t want that. So, I made a choice.”

He did not want to die; he wanted to live forever.

And in the magical world, this was not impossible!

In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Nicolas Flamel, the owner of the Philosopher’s Stone, lived for over six hundred years.

This path exists—and perhaps he could go even further!

Minerva McGonagall gazed into Roger’s eyes, which seemed to reflect the starry sky, shimmering with brilliant light, and found herself momentarily speechless.

“Professor,” Roger withdrew his gaze from the sky and looked at her.

“Aren’t you curious? Wizards, Muggles, humans—how far can they ultimately go? Don’t you want to see it with your own eyes?” he asked in a deep, tempting voice.

“Infinite time means infinite possibilities. Give a monkey infinite time and a typewriter, and the probability of producing Hamlet approaches 100%. Give a wizard infinite time and magic, and perhaps… wizards could gain the power to reverse everything, dissolve all regrets, and fulfill every desire.”