At the end of his tale, the brothers stood solemn, surprised, and stunned, clearly in awe of the boy before them.
They had lived a very long life but had never heard about something like this.
“No wonder you were chosen by Death, Harry!” Antioch remarked.
There was a shade of respect and awe mixed in his voice.
The boy before him was more special than he had assumed.
He now felt that there could really have been no better person than to receive their inheritance.
“But I did nothing special,” Harry countered.
“I do not even know how I survived the Killing Curse,” he said.
“And as for all the things that happened to me at Hogwarts, I barely escaped them by relying on luck rather than my own ability.”
The three brothers shook their heads, simultaneously.
“No, Harry,” Cadmus responded.
“No one survives so many times by relying on luck alone.”
“And even if luck played a part, you must have done things, made decisions, or performed miracles to survive,” he added.
“Be it your bravery in cutting through the Basilisk or conjuring a Patronus while your magic was bound.
You did awe inspiring things.
Great things if I may say.”
“And what about the Killing Curse?” Harry asked.
“We do not know,” Antioch answered honestly, “but there are two possibilities I can think of.”
“Perhaps you were blessed by Death and destined to wield the Hallows from birth,”he continued.
“This is the most simple reason.”
“Or perhaps your parents, specifically your mother,” he said, “performed some miraculous feat.
A ritual, some kind of spell or maybe something else to save your life.”
“It could even be a combination of both.
Whatever the reason, you were deeply connected to Death.”
Harry could only nod his head in agreement.
“Now is not the time to fret over these things,” Ignotus spoke up.
“In the future, you may continue your research and find the truth, but now we must move to our next explanation.”
“Would uniting all three Hallows make anyone a ‘Master of Death’?” Cadmus added.
“The answer is no,” he himself answered the question.
“We sealed away the true power of the Hallows.
“Oh, I wonder how many battles have been fought by people trying to unite the Hallows to become the Master of Death,” Ignotus laughed loudly while his two brothers also let out a soft chuckle.
The other two brothers chuckled at this, and even Harry managed a grin.
He had spent very little with them but for whatever reason, Harry was able to feel a sense of relaxation, a sense of security around them.
And this was something he had not felt in a long time.
“But what would happen when you unite the Hallows, Harry,” Antioch said, his tone extremely serious, “that we do not know.”
Harry was startled, wondering if what he was thinking was true.
“Yes, Harry,” Antioch added, as if reading his thoughts, “since you are our heir, you will wield the true powers of the Hallows.”
“And what would it result in,” he said, his tone unsure, “that we do not know.”
“But how am I going to find them?” Harry questioned.
The three brothers smiled but did not answer the question.
Harry was about to ask more, but Antioch stopped him with a raise of his hand.
“We are running short of time,” he said, “so we will move to the next point of discussion.”
“Your mindscape and why it changed,” Cadmus murmured.
“Tell me, Harry, were you ever even told about mindscapes, Occlumency, or Legilimency at Hogwarts?” Antioch questioned.
Harry shook his head in response.
“Though I am not always very attentive in class,” he said, sheepishly, “I am sure I would not have missed something like that.”
“What has Hogwarts fallen to?” Ignotus said, almost with a disdainful sneer.
“First those dangers, and now this pathetic level of education.,” he continued.
“No wonder, any noseless brat declares himself a Dark Lord and the whole wizarding community trembles in fear.”
“Salazar, Godric, Helga, and Rowena would be heartbroken if they learned of this,” he added.
“Anyways, let us start with what a mindscape is,” Antioch began.
“A mindscape is a simple representation of your mind and your soul, Harry.
At its most basic, it is the place where you store your memories.”
“So why does it look like this?” Harry asked.
“Every person has a different type of mindscape, Harry,” Antioch explained.
“People who have well developed mindscapes are well versed in the Mind Arts.
Basically, if you are a master of the Mind Arts, you can shape your mindscape according to your wishes.”
“Now let us discuss your case, Harry,” Cadmus picked up.
“As we told you, everyone has a different kind of mindscape, and with practice, they can expand and evolve it.”
“An average mindscape of an average person is as big as a single room with no visual representation.
With more practice, people build up a visual representation of their mindscape.
“These representations help them better organize their thoughts and memories.
It also improves the efficiency of various Mind Arts and strengthens their defense against mind attacks from others.
You can say that it is a kind of practice for them as it helps them in bettering themselves at mind arts.”
Hearing this, Harry again looked around to gaze at the juggled mountains and forests, the size of which was easily twice that of a football field.
Seeing the questioning look on Harry’s face, the three brothers chuckled.
“But you are no ordinary wizard, Harry,” Cadmus remarked.
“You are destined to be the greatest.”
“We three were the greatest of Mind Arts masters, and we were able to build such an evolved mindscape only after years of relentless practice and hard work.”
“Since your magic was bound along with your soul and mind, you never had access to this place.
Otherwise, you would have learned about it sooner or later.
You would have heard its calling.”
“The blue fog you are seeing, Harry, is your magic,” Antioch explained.
“When your magic was bound, this place turned gloomy and fell into disorder.”
“This disorder was what caused the juggling of mountains and forests.
But now that your magic is back, the landscape is returning to what it should have been.
It is naturally evolving and putting itself in order.”
“Do not worry too much.
We have given you the basics,” Ignotus said.
“You will receive all of our knowledge on this subject, along with Occlumency and Legilimency, in our inheritance.
With practice, you will learn to organize your mindscape in a better manner as you wish.
But seeing the initial state of your mindscape, I am certain that it is going to be a very easy task for you, Harry,” he added.
Harry nodded in affirmation.
To go from considering himself a weak and pitiful wizard to finding out he was destined for greatness in a single day was overwhelming.
Harry gave a mental laugh at the irony.
If such a thing was even possible while already inside his own mind.
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