Looking around, Harry couldn't help but shake his head slightly at how awful the surroundings were, especially the small house in front of him. The dilapidated building was nestled among a tangle of thin, old trees; their branches grew long and tangled all around. He still couldn't decide if this was a particularly strange place to choose a house, or to let the trees grow so close, blocking all the light and the view of the valley below. The walls of the house were covered in moss, and so many tiles had fallen from the roof that the rafters were visible in places. Nettles grew all around it, their tips reaching the tiny, grimy windows.
Walking onward, Harry reached the door of the Gaunt family's small, run-down house. There was hardly anything left of the dead snake that had been nailed to the door. In fact, only a mark caused by dirt and time remained. The nail used was rusty and bent, leaving a bit of skin hanging off.
Harry's gloved hands moved and he carefully opened the door. Harry's nose wrinkled slightly at the smell. He had already stepped into his home world, but the smell was something he couldn't resist. The interior was, quite literally, a mass of filth, rusty pots, and moldy food. The windows were so dirty that even if sunlight reached them, it wouldn't illuminate the interior.
"Abscondere morte," Harry muttered, and the Invisibility Cloak, which he almost always wore as his black trench coat, concealed him from everything. In this case, its purpose was to hide him from any magical traps. Of course, if this were some kind of ancient crypt with pressure-activated traps, it wouldn't do any good. The traps that were triggered by a magical signature or any spell cast no longer worked, because the cloak concealed him from such things.
Then, Harry moved his hand and removed the floorboards one by one, revealing the golden box where the Gaunt ring should be. Smiling, Harry floated the box with one hand while magically opening it with the other, so he didn't touch anything. The box fell a few seconds later, the ring floating onto Harry's left hand.
Harry looked at the ring with a small smile. Marvolo Gaunt's ring, or the Gaunt family ring, was made of gold set with a black stone, engraved with the Peverell family crest. And he knew what that black stone was: the Resurrection Stone. This was the second one he would own. The Elder Wand was with him, his cloak was another of the three Hallows, and the stone from his home world was also among his possessions. Now he would have a second Resurrection Stone.
Harry drew a dagger that was completely white, from blade to pommel. It looked like it was made of bone, but its edge was incredibly dangerous. The word 'Ratatoskr' was also engraved on the blade. Based on the name and the Norse mythological creature of the same name, which could mean piercing fang or drill fang, the dagger could not only pierce and cut souls, but also forcibly extract them from objects or people. At the same time, the dagger could be controlled with the mind (spiritual power) and would return to its owner if lost.
Placing the point of Ratatoskr against the ring, a small white glow appeared on the blade before Harry slowly withdrew the dagger from the ring. A scream echoed through the ruined house as the part of Voldemort's soul residing within was slowly extracted. The soul's scream, filled with hatred and pain, continued until Harry moved the dagger and forcefully severed it, destroying it forever and leaving only the ring with a curse. But Harry simply had to remove the Resurrection Stone; the ring was useless to him.
In the end, the ring, along with the curse, was burned to ashes.
"My work is done..." Harry said before leaving the house and glancing to the side, where Riddle House stood, a grand manor. He knew that Tom might be there with Peter Pettigrew, but it didn't really matter. The diary and the locket had already been destroyed. And while he was finishing up with the ring, Dumbledore was dealing with the diadem. That made four Horcruxes; Nagini and Hufflepuff's cup remained.
"I could go for the snake, but... Nah... let the guy suffer when it's destroyed in front of him. It'll turn up in the graveyard at the end of the tournament anyway," Harry chuckled a little, imagining Voldemort's expression at that moment.
Turning his head, he shrugged before disappearing using Apparition. He still had to talk to Albus and others. From what Lily had said, James would be visiting because he wanted to meet him, as did Sirius. And Harry wanted to see the old dog. After his name was cleared in his home world, he'd disappeared for a while along with Remus. The two men, having sorted out their problems, had decided to travel the world to relax and have fun. And if they were lucky, to find someone they could spend their lives with. They spoke from time to time, but with all the work that came up after the incident with the dragon, Harry found himself very busy, so those calls and letters dwindled.
And when he thought about it more, Harry felt that despite gaining love, friendship, power, and other things, he had lost important people. Daphne, Hermione, Sirius, even Ginny, who had matured a lot and become a budding historian and a curse-breaker in training. Albus had also become a dear friend with whom he could have a quiet conversation.
When he appeared at the castle, Argus Filch opened the door for him. After greeting the grumpy man, Harry headed toward the headmaster's office. However, he stopped and looked at the Hogwarts warden before smiling slightly and quietly placing a small vial containing a clear liquid that emitted a faint golden glow mixed with a pinkish hue. Beside it lay a small wand that appeared to be made of copper, along with a note.
This small vial was the result of an improved Squib ritual. No longer did they need to perform elaborate rituals, draw magic circles, and so on. Simply drinking this small potion was enough, at least for Squibs who possessed the magical gene.
Having done his good deed for the day, Harry reached the office and knocked. When the door opened a moment later, he saw several people inside. Albus was sitting behind his desk. Lily was sitting opposite him, with James behind her. Sirius was sitting to one side of Lily. But besides them, there was also the young Harry Potter of this world and Remus Lupin.
"Quite a gathering, isn't it?"
"Henry," Albus nodded with a smile.
"Well, damn, I really can see the resemblance!" Sirius exclaimed, slapping his leg with one hand. The man's typical grin was plastered on his face as he looked on with a mixture of amazement and amusement. James, standing near his friend, was also looking at Henry (Harry) with surprise.
As for Harry, he looked curiously at his counterpart. He could see that, although they looked alike, they felt different. To him, Henry (Harry) was more serious, but approachable when talking.
"Did you find that?" Albus asked, his head slightly bowed, his eyes peering over his glasses.
"Yes... As I thought, there were some nasty traps and curses, but nothing I can't handle."
"Can I see the object?"
"No," Harry replied immediately and sharply, surprising everyone.
"May I know the reason?" Albus didn't get angry or respond forcefully. He asked calmly.
"I can see that you're just like the headmaster from my timeline. The Gaunt ring was completely destroyed; reduced to ashes. But the stone that adorned it is the Resurrection Stone. I know and understand that you would want to use it, but that wouldn't end well, neither for you nor for the soul echo you would wish to summon."
"Wait, the Hallows are real?" James asked, surprised.
Henry (Harry) raised an eyebrow as he looked at him.
"So you really don't know?"
"Know what?"
"The Invisibility Cloak, which is inherited in House Potter, is one of the three Hallows. It passed from House Peverell to House Potter when the last Peverell wife married into the Potters. The stone then passed to the descendants of Slytherin, the Gaunt family, and remained in the ring without anyone realizing it was something so important."
"So that's why it's kept working for so long," Albus commented, his expression one of surprise. He had thought about and wondered about the cloak, but he never really knew, since he hadn't researched it.
"Damn it, James! We've been using a Deathly Hallow for so long..." Sirius stared at his friend in shock. Even Harry looked surprised. He had read the stories when he was little, and he had also used the cloak on occasion.
"And the wand... do you know about it?" Lily asked curiously.
Henry (Harry) chuckled softly as he looked at Albus.
"Of course, the headmaster is the one who uses it."
"Huh?" Lily looked at the headmaster, a little puzzled, before Albus nodded and showed the Elder Wand to everyone.
"Amazing..." Harry murmured, looking at the powerful wand on the headmaster's desk.
"It seems there aren't too many differences between our timelines, Henry."
"That seems to be the case, at least until this year."
"What do you mean?" James frowned slightly.
"Voldemort will end up dying at the end of the tournament, if the cup is recovered. His body will simply disintegrate. Besides, I don't think that damned dragon's accident will happen here, so the wizarding world will remain a secret."
"I've thought about that..." Lily commented carefully, looking at him. "But what has the world been like since then?"
"I've thought about that..." Harry sighed softly as he took another chair and sat down near Sirius.
"By the time I graduated from Hogwarts in what should have been my fifth year, I had already become... well, famous, so to speak. I had already earned a First Class Order of Merlin for discovering the reason behind the transformation of people with lycanthropy and creating a perfect cure. I had discovered a love for research and decided to study many things related to magic, until I was finally able to create a method for Squibs to use magic, and then for Muggles as well. It wasn't the same as wizards, but it worked."
"I created Aternum University of Research and Development, a place where any intelligent race could attend and contribute to the progress, care, and preservation of magic. Then, when the wizarding world revealed itself, I was able to invite many people interested in researching magic and its potential applications in science and in the lives of people all over the world."
Henry (Harry) shrugged slightly at the astonished looks.
"I created Aternum University of Research and Development, a place where any intelligent race could attend and contribute to the progress, care, and preservation of magic. Then, when the wizarding world revealed itself, I was able to invite many people interested in researching magic and its potential uses in science and in the lives of people all over the world."
Henry (Harry) shrugged slightly at the astonished looks.
"I created Aternum University of Research and Development, a place where any intelligent race could attend and contribute to the advancement ... "I did what I could. Besides, Hermione was a huge help with the investigations."
"Hermione?" Harry asked, a hint of interest in his voice.
"Yeah... we had a bit of a falling out as friends in my fourth year, because of the tournament, when someone put my name on a fourth school while they were cheating the Goblet. Hardly anyone believed I hadn't put my name on that thing. But then we were able to get back to normal and we got involved in some joint investigations."
"That's a lot of information..." James couldn't help but grunt at someone putting his son in danger. And if the two timelines were similar, at least so far, the possibility of someone putting Harry's name on the Goblet was pretty high.
"Perhaps we should keep an eye on the Goblet at night," Albus said seriously.
"That's a good idea," Henry (Harry) agreed.
"Please do that, I really don't want to participate in that thing... I've had enough of it in previous years," Harry couldn't help but sigh after speaking, his shoulders slumping slightly as he looked at the ground.
"Okay, darling, I won't let anyone force you to participate," Lily said affectionately, gently rubbing Harry's arm.
"Thanks..."
"Wait, we've completely gone off-topic!" Sirius exclaimed, standing up and looking at Henry (Harry).
"You created a cure for lycanthropy?! Then please make it for Remus!"
"Sirius..." Remus, who had only been listening, called to his friend with a frown. "While I appreciate your words, I don't think producing the cure is that cheap."
Henry (Harry) simply pulled out the small kunai pouch he had obtained in the world of Naruto and reached inside. He had used enchantments to enlarge its interior and it was full of things. Finally, after taking some things out and putting them back inside, he pulled out a vial containing a liquid that glowed yellow and tossed it toward Remus.
Eyes wide, Remus caught it quickly so it wouldn't fall to the ground and looked at the vial.
"There you go. I still had some when I fell into this timeline."
"Good!" James and Sirius exclaimed, delighted for their friend.
"Um... Thanks... Henry," Remus trembled slightly as he looked grateful. "I... I don't know how to repay you."
"Bah! Repay me?! Man, I don't think I need anything. Just take it and you'll be cured."
"Yes..." Remus uncapped the small vial and gulped down the liquid in one go. At that moment, he could feel his blood rushing through his veins faster than normal and his heart pounding, almost as if it were thumping in his ears.
Suddenly, black lines appeared on Remus's hands and face. Actually, it spread across his entire body, but it wasn't visible because of his clothes. But, in a few seconds, those black lines vanished as a dark mist began to emanate from his body.
"Is that it?" Albus asked, a little worried.
"The cursed disease is being eliminated from his body; he's already healing," Henry (Harry) replied.
"You're amazing, Henry. Now I can't help but imagine what you know about Alchemy if you research Magnus Opus."
"A conversation about that is always fun; I used to do it with the other Albus," Henry chuckled, remembering his chats with his headmaster. They were always entertaining, especially when the man couldn't resist eating a lemon drop every five minutes. The old headmaster loved sweets.
"And I can't help but imagine all the chicks this boy has caught," Sirius remarked with a chuckle and a flick of his eyebrows.
"Sirius!" Lily exclaimed, annoyed.
"What?! Just look at him, he's a handsome boy! I'm sure more than one girl has imagined things about him!"
"In fact, I know several girls have imagined things about Harry!" Sirius said, pointing at his godson and tossing him into the water. Harry couldn't help but stammer as he blushed and mentally cursed his godfather. Especially since his father was laughing while his mother glared at him.
"You can count on Sirius to completely turn a conversation around. But as an aside, I have a girlfriend," Henry sighed slightly at Sirius's antics.
"Is she a redhead?" Sirius asked, but it sounded more like a statement.
"Why would you think that?" Henry asked, raising his eyebrows.
"It's one of the many things inherited in the Potter family."
"That's rubbish," Henry, James, and Harry replied simultaneously, exchanging glances before chuckling.
"So it isn't?"
"...Yes, it is," Henry replied after a slightly awkward silence, letting out a mildly annoyed sigh.
"Ha! I knew it!"
"Can we change the subject?" Harry interjected, knowing that if this continued, Sirius would steer things toward Harry, making him the target of his parents' teasing, and the old dog would want to know all about his life at Hogwarts. His nonexistent romantic life, that is.
"I can help you, young Harry," Albus said, giving Harry an amused look before asking, "What kind of wand do you have, Henry?" Since we're on the subject of the Hallows, I'm curious if it's the same one young Harry had here with us."
"Wand?" Henry tilted his head slightly before taking out his small bag again and pulling out a wooden box decorated with some engravings. When he opened it, he showed its contents to everyone: a 20-centimeter wand, made of holly with a phoenix feather core. It was quite a beautiful wand.
"If it's the same one..." Harry commented as he drew his own wand for everyone to see.
"Why would you have it in a box?" James asked, looking at him with a strange expression.
"Well... I don't need it." "All the magic I use is wandless."
"You can use magic without a wand?!" everyone exclaimed in surprise, even Albus. Of course, the headmaster could use wandless magic, but even he couldn't use all magic without a wand.
"A wand is a means by which a witch or wizard can channel their inner magic and centralize effects to achieve more complex results," Henry replied as he closed the box and put it in his bag before continuing.
"When you understand magic the way I do, a wand is no longer necessary."
"Oh... Hermione wouldn't believe me if I told her."
"Ha!" "That girl's still in her 'believing in books completely' phase," Henry snorted, a little amused. From her first research trip with Harry, Hermione's intellect and opinions began to fully blossom, so she was still skeptical of many things not found in books.
Lily and Harry chuckled at that, but it was true.
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