Harry Potter and the Obscurus

Chapter 41 Calamity and Hope

"Headmaster Dumbledore is back!"

Halfway through lunch, Harry, Ron, and Hermione suddenly heard such a sound coming from outside the Great Hall. This further reduced the already small number of students staying at school in the dining hall.

Aren't you going to go and take a look?

Harry asked as he ate, while Ron, who was also enjoying his meal, replied nonchalantly, a chicken leg in each hand:

"What's so interesting about it? Weren't we the ones who killed the Basilisk and stopped Voldemort's plot to resurrect him? Besides, when it comes to the Chamber of Secrets, even Malfoy might know more than Dumbledore."

Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance, seemingly completely taken aback by Ron's words. Then, prompted by Harry's look, Hermione tentatively asked again:

"Ron, I heard from Harry that you slept for a really, really long time last night. How are you feeling now?"

In response to Hermione's greeting, Ron first swallowed a glass of pumpkin juice to cleanse his mouth of chicken before speaking, as if taking a moment to steal a moment from his busy schedule:

"It was quite comfortable, but if I had known Harry was going to find the Basilisk last night, I definitely wouldn't have played with Fred and the others for so long."

Hermione nodded, then secretly made a face at Harry, as if to say:

“I told you, Ron wouldn’t be angry with us over something like this.”

……

Various sounds could still be heard from outside the Great Hall. At this moment, not only Professor Dumbledore and his students, but also the heads of the various houses, the Aurors sent by the Ministry of Magic, and the reporters had all gathered together.

Harry's gaze swept across the crowd, precisely finding a pair of intelligent blue eyes. Similarly, the owner of those blue eyes—Professor Dumbledore—seemed to be waiting for an opportunity to meet Harry's eyes.

"Minerva?"

Professor Dumbledore looked at Harry and said thoughtfully:

“I have just received my new appointment from the Board of Governors, so as the Vice-Headmaster of Hogwarts, could you please help me deal with the situation at the Ministry of Magic? I have something I'd like to discuss with Harry.”

Professor McGonagall nodded and replied with a very efficient "Okay".

The crowd that had gathered together began to disperse slowly. Neither the Hogwarts students nor the non-faculty members who shouldn't have been in the castle dared to contradict Dumbledore.

As Dumbledore drew closer, Harry quickly finished the last few pieces of meat on his plate. Then, he stood up, patted Ron and Hermione on the shoulder, and walked straight toward Dumbledore.

"Shouldn't we have gotten that thing back by now?"

Dumbledore asked softly, but his expression was no longer as nonchalant as it had been during his first year.

Harry patted the Horcrux hidden under his robes, nodded to the Headmaster, and then suggested:

"Why don't we go back to your office and talk, Professor?"

"good idea."

……

When Dumbledore and Harry returned to the headmaster's office, they were both shocked to varying degrees by what they saw.

Apart from the small tea table in front of the fireplace where cockroaches were piled up, which remained unchanged, the entire room looked as if Mo Ran had thoroughly ravaged it with his black wind.

"Uh, Professor, this isn't me..."

Harry was about to speak up to explain when Dumbledore gently interrupted him.

“Oh child, of course I know this isn’t you.”

As the Elder Wand flicked in Dumbledore's hand, all the overturned and broken pieces of furniture bounced back to their original positions, one by one. Wood chips and shards of glass regained their shape in mid-air, and feathers and scraps of paper disappeared back into their cushions and books. Trophies of all sizes, souvenirs, and many other items that Harry couldn't even name were neatly arranged. Everything was sparkling clean again.

After the portraits of the last few unfortunate old headmasters were restored to their original state along with the stains on the wall, Dumbledore put away his wand and sat back down in his chair.

"Have a seat, Harry."

Dumbledore summoned a rather comfortable chair and then began to recount his recent travels and discoveries:

“I recently visited the forests of Albania. According to my sources, the remnants of Voldemort's soul are currently hiding there.”

"So, did you catch him?"

"No, I spotted him, but I couldn't catch him..."

At this point, Dumbledore pinched the bridge of his nose between his eyes and let out a long sigh.

"Hey... Harry, you might not believe what I'm about to say. But this time, it's really thanks to you that Voldemort's scheme didn't succeed."

Just as Dumbledore had predicted, Harry wore an incredulous expression upon hearing this.

he asked:

"But Headmaster, didn't you set up a protective barrier in your office beforehand, and had Fawkes hand the Sorting Hat to me? And what about the 'Stone Pillars Emerging' spell in the eighth-floor corridor? Weren't all of these things planned out step by step?"

Dumbledore seemed a little tired. He smiled and looked at Harry for a moment before explaining:

"As I planned, anyone who tries to steal the crown from my office should be caught by a freezing spell... Oh, of course, except for you. You should have already received Newt's 'Christmas present' by now."

Harry nodded.

"That thing wasn't originally meant to help you defeat Voldemort."

Dumbledore continued.

“Over the past period of time, through some research, I have discovered a way… well, perhaps that’s not quite accurate, but it can definitely help you. That’s why I’m asking Newt for the other two Obscurials.”

Harry was a little confused by what the headmaster said, but after noticing the micro-expression on Harry's face, Dumbledore bluntly invited Mo Ran to replace him.

“It seems there are some things you don’t know yet… Well, that’s alright, Harry, you’ll understand these things gradually in the future. Now, if you don’t mind, could you let another Harry talk to me?”

Harry closed his eyes.

I. II.

"Headmaster, you wanted to see me?"

Dumbledore, who could already discern the distinctive changes in Mo Ran's tone of voice, immediately adopted a more serious expression and asked:

“I heard from Professor Sprout that when she saw Lockhart and Harry outside the Great Hall on the first floor, you were both quite exhausted. Can you tell me what happened before that?”

Mo Ran had no intention of hiding this from Dumbledore, so he simply told her everything that had happened before he fell asleep.

As Moran recounted his battle experience, Dumbledore's expression grew increasingly serious. Especially when he heard that Harry and Moran had identified each other by Lockhart's name for the Basilisk, and how Hermione had risked her life to summon the Sword of Gryffindor for Harry, his expression seemed to return to the night he was driven away by Lucius Malfoy.

"...Maybe I was just really resentful at the time, not wanting the guy who used such despicable means to escape, and not wanting Voldemort to win, so I used my last bit of strength to push Tom Riddle back to the ground. As for what happened after that, I don't know, but given that both Horcruxes are now in Harry's hands, he must have lost completely."

As he spoke, Mo Ran took the diary and the crown from Harry's arms.

“Harry and I now know two ways to destroy them, but this is a very serious matter, so we would like to discuss it with you before making a decision.”

Dumbledore glanced at the Horcruxes, then turned his gaze back to Mo Ran's face, and said:

“Generally speaking, Horcruxes can only be regarded as a reserve of soul fragments to prevent the creator from dying completely when he suffers a fatal injury. But according to what you just said, the ability to control people’s minds is a special ability unique to this diary. We can leave aside for now how you learned this important information, but you should have also noticed that there is a special connection between you and Harry that resonates with the Horcruxes.”

Mo Ran suppressed the ominous feeling in his heart and asked:

"what do you mean?"

“Before I left Hogwarts, I spoke with Newt a few times. According to him, neither you nor Harry should have been able to create such a powerful Obscurus. Your souls don't possess enough magic, so…”

Mo Ran had also doubted Dumbledore's hypothesis, but having always been able to easily control all of Mo Ran's power, he never took it seriously.

"What gave rise to this silent soul was a fragment of Voldemort's soul left in Harry's body..."

As Mo Ran uttered the second half of the word "so" in a low voice, Dumbledore fell silent.

After a moment, he spoke again.

"Credence, also known as Aurelius Dumbledore, this poor child is the son of my brother, Aberforth Dumbledore."

"He was very talented! If it weren't for the cruel twist of fate, he could have become a great wizard. Unfortunately, even he couldn't escape the tragic fate of the Obscurials."

“I was initially skeptical of this hypothesis, but after hearing from Principal Dippert that you had easily absorbed the Obscurus from Credence and the Sudanese girl, I understood.”

"Only the soul of Voldemort, who was himself a powerful dark wizard, could have allowed the Obscurus within you and Harry to grow to this extent."

Mo Ran could feel Harry's heart pounding wildly.

In countless battles and magical practices, the Obscurus, which perfectly resonated with his own soul, turned out to belong to Voldemort.

No wonder!

No wonder Harry's body didn't experience the side effects unique to the Obscurials!

No wonder he was able to draw life force from small animals like Voldemort from the very beginning!

No wonder Voldemort sensed him so easily when he was in first grade!

No wonder he could freely extract Tom Riddle's magical knowledge from the crown!

It turns out that fate had already written everything!

"headmaster……"

Mo Ran's voice trembled slightly.

"According to your original calculations, even if Tom Riddle collected the two Horcruxes through others, he still wouldn't be able to escape from the headmaster's office, right?"

Seeing Dumbledore nod slightly, he continued:

"The moment he received the crown, he actually absorbed the power of the three Horcruxes that existed in this castle. It was because of this that he was able to break free of your restraints and escape from the headmaster's office."

Dumbledore wasn't surprised that Mo Ran already knew that "Harry was an Horcrux that Voldemort unintentionally created." He reached out, took the diary, and said softly:

“That’s right, that’s exactly it. It was my miscalculation that led to all of this… But in a way, we were also lucky.”

"How can this be considered lucky!"

Mo Ran, who had been trying to control her emotions, suddenly raised her voice by an octave.

"If you're suggesting that killing Harry at the right time could be the key to defeating Voldemort, then I'd rather Voldemort live forever!"