When Harry saw Lily in a newly purchased house, looking even younger than himself, he was completely stunned.
Victor Wick tapped Harry on the head with his wand. "What do you mean, 'this'? Your mother was in her late twenties when she passed away. Reviving her younger just means she can live longer in the future. You'll get a few more years to show your filial piety, you little fool!"
"That might be true, but... I just feel like something's weird..." Harry stared blankly at Lily.
"No matter what she looks like, she's still your mother, Harry. Are you saying you don't want to recognize her? You ungrateful son!" Victor asked with feigned annoyance.
"No, no! Of course not!" Harry hurriedly explained, looking a bit aggrieved. "As long as Mom is back, it doesn't matter what she looks like!"
He certainly had no intention of disowning his mother!
It was just... being revived so... 'young.' Anyone would be dazed and need a moment to adjust...
Lily watched Harry quietly. She knew her son would need time to adjust to her current appearance, which was why she had remained silent.
Hearing Harry say that, Lily could no longer suppress her emotions. She ran over and pulled her son into a hug.
Although this maternal embrace wasn't quite what Harry had imagined, what more could he ask for?
It was a hundred times better than being an untouchable, cold ghost!
Then, the mother and son held each other and wept...
Snape, who had been standing to the side like a stone statue, remained silent, a look of deep regret flickering across his face.
It was unclear whether he regretted the leak he had provided back then, or... the fact that he had lost the girl he loved most...
After a long while, their emotions finally began to settle.
"Mrs. Potter... no, I should call you Lily Potter now. You should enroll in Hogwarts next year," Victor said with a smile.
Harry looked at Victor in shock. So this was what Professor Wick meant when he said he would go to school with his mom!
"Me? I graduated so long ago, and I have to go back to school?" Lily asked in surprise.
"Well... your physical age is eleven now. Hogwarts might even send you an admission letter next year... You don't have to go, of course, but... you and your son have been apart for so long; don't you want more time together? Besides, it fits your new identity perfectly—the lost daughter of the Potter family. How could she not go to Hogwarts?" Victor explained patiently.
Not far away, Snape looked at Victor in shock, but a glimmer of ecstasy flashed deep in his eyes!
'Victor Wick... this bastard isn't always so detestable after all...'
If Lily re-enrolled, didn't that mean he could see her often?
Points! He had to award points!
The revived Lily looked younger than Harry, so...
"My mom turned into my little sister?" Harry's expression was priceless.
This... was too absurd!
"If Mom calls me 'big brother,' should I answer or not?" Harry actually started to seriously ponder the dilemma.
Lily laughed, covering her mouth.
"Stupid! Just call each other by name," Victor said, frowning.
In the West, it wasn't exactly unheard of for children to share names with their parents.
Take Barty Crouch for example; he was a high-ranking official, and his son was also named Barty Crouch.
Perhaps only the middle name was different...
In families that got along well, it wasn't uncommon for children to call their parents by their first names.
It was much better than forcing himself to call his mother his sister...
"I'll still call you Harry. You can just call me Lily," Lily said with a light laugh.
Their situation was unprecedented in the wizarding world for a thousand years; they would just have to handle it as a special case.
Lily didn't think there was anything wrong with that.
"But... in my situation, will Hogwarts really send me an admission letter?" Lily asked, sounding a bit anxious.
"We have a backer! What are you afraid of?" Victor declared confidently.
Who was their biggest protector? Professor Dumbledore, of course! The current Headmaster of Hogwarts!
Once Ariana was revived, Dumbledore would naturally find out about the resurrections. If Lily's name wasn't in the Book of Admittance by then, they could just go through the back door and send her an admission letter anyway. A special case!
Knowing Dumbledore's personality, how could he possibly refuse?
"We... we really don't know how to repay your kindness..." Lily looked at Victor gratefully.
They owed Victor Wick far too much...
How could they repay Victor's kindness? It was impossible to fully repay!
"Dumbledore told me to make more friends... I think we can be considered friends now. So, don't mention repayment again. I only hope that if I ever need help in the future, you'll assist me generously. Just like Severus," Victor said softly.
Snape, still acting like an invisible man, couldn't help but be taken aback. 'I'm involved in this too?'
But fine, friends it is...
Snape took Victor's words to heart.
After resolving Lily's situation, Victor returned to Hogwarts to busy himself with Ariana's matters.
When he was mostly done, Victor wasted no time and went to see Dumbledore.
The old man's luck was quite good; the temporary ring Victor had fashioned hadn't encountered any issues.
The essence of the curse had basically been lured into the ring.
That day, Victor helped Dumbledore remove the ring containing the curse's power and carefully placed it in a box.
This thing was still incredibly powerful and lethal to the touch. Maybe he could use it to trap someone later... So, he had no intention of destroying the ring for now.
Next, he also helped Dumbledore remove the Magic-Locking Amulet.
Once Dumbledore's magic became active again, he pulled out his keyboard.
With the tapping of keys, rows of rune sequences floated out from the keyboard and were slowly branded onto Dumbledore's right hand in a way the Headmaster didn't understand.
As more rune sequences appeared, Dumbledore suddenly felt the magic within him being stirred involuntarily, flowing through his body in a special trajectory. It was warm and very comfortable.
Dumbledore felt the cold, lingering remnants of the curse melting away rapidly, like frost meeting the sun.
Soon, wisps of black mist emanated from Dumbledore's body and quickly dissipated into the air...
"Done," Victor said, putting away his keyboard.
"Am I... alright now?" Dumbledore flexed the hand that had once been cursed.
Previously, this hand had been as black as ink, but now it had returned to its original skin tone.
The fatal curse had been lifted just like that... It left Dumbledore feeling a bit dazed.
"Yes, now you can use the Patronus Charm to order sweets from Honeydukes in Hogsmeade again. I have other things to attend to, so I'll be going now." Victor rushed toward the door once more.
Dumbledore raised his hand, wanting to call Victor back to chat more, but ultimately remained silent.
'Sigh. It's all my fault! That's why Victor is always so busy... I should have accepted his suggestions sooner and reduced his workload.'
'Now... the earliest it can happen is next year...'
Dumbledore sat in his chair and spaced out for a while before taking out a thick book.
The book was opened, and each page inside contained a name and a photograph.
Dumbledore flipped to a certain page and smiled at the person in the photo. "Old friend, let's talk."
The old wizard in the photo nodded and turned to leave the frame. A moment later, he returned, but... this time, his eyes were full of life.
"Albus, is there something wrong?" the old wizard asked.
It was clear that this time, it was the real person speaking.
This thick book was actually a very magical address book.
"I'm looking for some experienced wizards. Hogwarts needs several new professors... Oh, and give me a list of Dark Wizards. For the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, I need experienced Dark Wizards..." Dumbledore paused, then added, "Remember, the worse, the better."
"Are you satisfied with this model?"
In the office, Victor showed Ariana her physical model.
The model, of course, was of the grown Ariana, not the current little beanstalk version...
Seeing the semi-transparent model, Ariana shyly covered her eyes with her hands.
"Can you put some clothes on her?"
"Stop covering your face. Your palms are transparent... I can still see your face. Besides, what's there to be shy about? I'm the one who made the model; is there anything I haven't seen?"
"You... how annoying!"
"Fine, fine..." Victor had no choice but to wave his wand and put a dress on the model.
"Hmm, the face is a great reconstruction. It's obviously me!" Ariana nodded thoughtfully. "However..."
"However what?"
Ariana floated up and circled the model suspended in mid-air. "Can you make it a bit bigger here? And... make it slimmer here? And also..."
"Do you think this is realistic?" Victor asked suspiciously while making the adjustments, seemingly doubting if this little girl would actually have such a body when she grew up.
"Mind your own business!"
After adjusting for over an hour, Ariana was finally satisfied.
Victor wiped the sweat from his forehead. Little Ariana was much harder to deal with than Lily.
"I'm going out. Keep an eye on Lucky for me." Victor put away the model and grabbed his coat, preparing to leave.
"Where are you going?" Ariana asked curiously.
"To dig up... your grave..."
Reshaping a physical body wasn't something that happened out of thin air. One of the most important materials was the bones of the deceased.
When he revived Lily, he had taken one of her phalanges...
This was the most crucial reference point. Otherwise, the reshaped body might not be a 100% match for the soul of the deceased, which could cause unnecessary side effects.
"What if my bones are gone?"
"Then I'll ask Dumbledore for some blood... You're blood relatives, so while the effect might be slightly worse, it will still work."
Victor put on his coat and left the office.
Ariana leaned on the desk, resting her chin on her palms. "Hmm... digging up my grave... it just feels weird..."
In the cave, Voldemort, having digested half of the soul power, groaned as he woke up again.
He opened his eyes and remained silent for a long while before recovering from the dream.
"Ah... Fuhrer... the Jews should be hung from lampposts too!"
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