Fate truly worked in mysterious ways—everything he had previously described, that story so eerily similar to Ariana Dumbledore's, had all been his own real, lived experience.
Back when Avada had only just begun to perceive Magical Perception, his memories from his previous life had yet to fully awaken. His thinking was neither rational nor mature enough. And yet, the fragments of memory already surfacing in his mind were enough to reveal the world's complexity and harsh reality to a still-immature heart, plunging him into fear and confusion. Coupled with the effects of Magical Perception, this shaped the introverted and timid personality he had possessed in those early years.
It was also those few children back then who planted the seeds of kindness in his young heart. When his memories finally returned in full, and he realized that this was the world of Harry Potter, those seeds took root and sprouted, continuously guiding him to look at this familiar yet foreign world from a completely different perspective.
That, perhaps, was why he had been chosen by Hufflepuff.
As for what Avada had seen in the Mirror of Erised, it was not complicated at all—just a calm, peaceful life. In the mirror, he was enjoying afternoon tea while talking on the phone with a friend. The smile on his face shifted between gentle serenity and carefree delight…
…
In the end, after thanking Avada for the information about Nicolas Flamel, Harry donned the Invisibility Cloak and left. Dumbledore, after standing there in a daze for a moment, also vanished. Only Avada remained in the room, quietly replaying everything that had just happened.
What I said should have convinced Dumbledore. He even personally verified my sincerity through Legilimency. In that case, he probably won't harbor too much suspicion or prejudice toward me…
Though he'll likely keep a closer eye on me from now on. There are pros and cons to that.
And my identity as a "prophet" has been exposed as well. That means next year I can deal with that diary without obstruction—but how should I handle the Basilisk? Let it sleep to death in the Chamber, or drag it out and stew it—cough—slay it…
But there's one more thing that really bothers me—why is the magical structure of Harry's Invisibility Cloak so similar to a Thestral?!
If I remember correctly, the Elder Wand's core is Thestral tail hair. That means at least two of the Deathly Hallows are connected to Thestrals… what's going on there?
Forget it. I'll think about that later. The most important thing right now is still dealing with Voldemort.
In the end, I still couldn't bring myself to tell Harry about Voldemort's existence, to scare him away from the Philosopher's Stone… Even if that's a bit unfair to him, he is, after all, the only person who can guarantee absolute safety in front of Voldemort…
Casting a Disillusionment Charm on himself, he obediently walked back to the Hufflepuff Common Room.
If he wanted to go to the Restricted Section from now on, he would need to be more careful. Today, he could still use "waiting for Harry" as an excuse—but if Harry stopped coming and he went alone, and Dumbledore discovered him, how would he explain that?
Fortunately, his Near Yet Far Spell allowed him to observe the outside world from within a spatial layer. Otherwise, this would have been truly troublesome. As long as Dumbledore didn't live in the Restricted Section, he could always find an opportunity to sneak in and browse the books. Not only that—he could even take the books directly into the spatial layer, cast Lumos, and read there, completely avoiding the risk of missing changes in the outside world due to excessive focus…
Sure enough, the very next day, when he attempted to sneak into the Restricted Section again, he spotted a large mass of brilliant mental energy through the spatial layer. As a result, for the next several days he became extremely jumpy whenever he infiltrated the area. After obtaining a book, he would immediately hide in the spatial layer, reading under Lumos while protected by a Bubble-Head Charm. His efficiency plummeted as a result.
During this period, Harry dragged Ron along to take a look at the Mirror of Erised. Over the following days, Harry couldn't resist returning alone a few more times—but he didn't seem as obsessed as in the original story. Each visit lasted only ten or so minutes before he left.
That didn't stop Dumbledore from stepping in anyway, forcefully salvaging the situation by giving the Chosen One a round of psychological counseling—and then removing the Mirror of Erised altogether.
In the end, even after the Christmas holiday had passed, Avada still failed to come up with a single new idea for magical innovation. On the other hand, his knowledge of miscellaneous Dark Magic had increased by quite a bit.
Baron returned to the school the day before term resumed. That very evening, wearing a dark expression, he dragged Avada straight into the Room of Requirement…
"So what exactly happened?" Avada asked, baffled, as he looked at Baron, who clearly hadn't vented his anger yet. Could it be that the Wit-Sharpening Potion I gave him went wrong?
That shouldn't be the case. He had carefully examined it with Magical Perception—the quality was excellent.
Facing Avada's innocent, bewildered gaze, Baron let out a cold laugh.
"After I went home this time, I dug out the prophecy crystal Professor Baker gave me last year—and I used it once."
A sense of foreboding rose in Avada's chest.
"And the prophecy I made was this: If I were to deeply investigate Professor Quirrell's background, how dangerous would it be for me?"
He then pulled a black crystal sphere from his pocket and thrust it in front of Avada's face, almost poking his nose and making his eyes go cross-eyed.
"This is the result."
Avada took a step back, finally able to see the image within the crystal sphere clearly—
Six stars.
Extremely dangerous.
Professor Baker had added a function to the crystal sphere that allowed it to be used once per month. It could predict the danger level of an intended action, displaying the result in stars—one star being the safest, seven stars the most dangerous.
The reason it hadn't reached the full seven was probably because Baron was a Slytherin pure-blood—or because Voldemort was currently extremely weak and didn't dare to act recklessly under Dumbledore's watchful eye.
"So you put yourself in a six-star danger level for an entire semester?!" Baron snapped.
"Sorry… I didn't mean to hide it from you…"
"Is this about hiding it or not?! Six stars! According to the manual, that means life-threatening danger! And that's just for investigating! You stayed right by his side for a whole semester! No matter what you know or what you plan to do, how little regard do you have for your own life?!"
"..."
Looking into Baron's furious eyes, Avada clenched his teeth. At last, he made up his mind.
"…Voldemort."
"What?"
"Voldemort—the one who disappeared more than ten years ago—is currently hiding on Quirrell."
If it were anyone else, Avada would never have revealed Voldemort's existence so easily. But since Baron already knew how dangerous this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was, not explaining things clearly would only increase the risk of an accident.
"You knew? Then how dare you—"
"I have a chance to finish him off completely this year."
That single sentence left Baron silent for a long time. Then he stared at Avada with an odd expression, his lips twitching for ages before he finally squeezed out three words:
"…Are you insane?"
"On the contrary, I've never been more clear-headed. Do you remember what Professor Baker said? I have some little secrets—and those secrets happen to counter the extremely weakened Voldemort. I've spent half a year confirming this."
"And Professor Dumbledore knows about my actions as well. There's no need to worry too much. For me, this isn't nearly as dangerous as it seems."
"Professor Dumbledore knows too?"
At the mention of Dumbledore, Baron finally relaxed a little, though concern still lingered. "But that's Voldemort! What is Professor Dumbledore thinking, letting a second-year student face him alone?"
"Don't worry so much—we definitely have a thorough plan…"
As Avada comforted Baron, he couldn't help grumbling internally about Professor Baker. Why on earth would he add such an absurd function to the crystal sphere? Didn't he ever divine his own fate before stuffing his primary soul into—wait…
…Hmm?
Putting the primary soul into a Horcrux?
A Horcrux?!
That's it! How did I not think of this before?! If soul-merging principles can't be used to draw in a soul, then why not just use the method of placing the soul into a Horcrux instead?!
"Thank you, Baron!"
The moment the realization struck him, Avada turned and sprinted toward his dormitory. He needed to write down these inspirations as quickly as possible—and then begin researching immediately!
"Hey—why are you running off…?"
(End of Chapter)