Chapter 50: Motivation and Fear
The next day, during dinner, Dumbledore announced that Harry Potter would be teaching an elective class: Magical Theory. This class would start in a month, and all third-year students and above would be eligible. However, starting next school year, only third-year students would be eligible. This time, an exception was made because classes had already started, so there would be no need to request admission to the class in advance, as was the case with other electives, and students would be able to choose their class before their third year.
The news that Harry Potter would be teaching and almost living at Hogwarts once again delighted many, but it also caused some displeasure.
Harry had no problem with the time he had for research; he had already browsed most of the shop. They sold ancient magic from his world, but also information; The latter didn't cost more than 500 points, since they weren't spells, skills, or anything similar, just information about how magic was used in ancient times and what that magic looked like to people. However, he would still have to use the time to prepare his classes; knowing the information didn't make Harry good at teaching; he had to prepare so that his explanations could be understood by different types of people.
In addition, he also wanted to include a bit of Muggle history, because it was linked to magic in ancient times.
At the same time, he decided to buy a house in Hogsmeade. It wasn't too big; just two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, a dining room, and a small living room. With India's reward, this wasn't too big an expense for him, and he still had his inheritance from the Potter family.
And while Harry studied and prepared, things at Hogwarts were a little livelier with the news that he was teaching.
"Do you think Harry will teach about his theory of spiritual energy?" Ginny asked curiously.
"That could be, but I don't think I'll do it this year; it's more complicated than it looks at first glance," Hermione replied.
"Besides, I don't think everyone will understand it perfectly the first time. According to what the headmaster said, it's about magical theory, current and ancient. Perhaps he focused more on the ancients first, before moving on to the newer stuff."
"Hmm..." Ginny just hummed a little.
"By the way... What were you doing with Harry before he graduated? You spent a lot of time with him."
"Well... actually, we were doing research. And we finished just a little while before he left on his journey. However, we don't want to publish anything yet, not with the current times and what might come of that research," Hermione replied easily.
"Hey, Hermione..."
"Yes?"
"Are you able to get hold of history books?"
Hermione blinked at Ginny's question. That was totally unexpected; she'd never expected Ginny to ask such a thing or to be interested in history books.
"Actually, I have a lot of them at home and I can lend them to you. But what do you want them for?"
Ginny blushed a little as she used a finger to gently scratch her cheek.
"Well... I've gotten a bit interested in history lately because of my older brother's job. I don't know if Ron has ever told you, but my older brother, William, is a curse-breaker who works for Gringotts; he works in tombs or ancient sites to unearth treasure."
"And, well, even if they do that, they're kind of ignorant of history. I got curious, but there isn't much information about those things in the wizarding world, and I didn't know where to start looking for those books."
"Oh, that's right, your brother went to Egypt in his second year, wasn't he? That's why you went on holiday there," Hermione smiled.
"Actually..." Hermione looked up slightly, thinking for a moment. "Perhaps we could send a letter to Harry to pick up the books from my house and then bring them back next month."
"That would be great! I hope I can do that!" Both girls got up and went to get an owl from the school so they could post the letter.
. . .
"Huh?" Harry looked up from all his papers and books to see an owl tapping its beak against the window. He got up and opened the window before taking the letter.
"Interesting..." Harry smiled before waving the owl away; no answer was necessary.
"Although... Ginny, huh?... I didn't think she'd be the type to be interested in history," Harry smiled once more before placing the letter on his desk and then walking over to the coat rack to grab his black coat. After that, he used Apparition to go to an Apparition point in Diagon Alley; from there, he would walk out of the Leaky Cauldron and then travel to Hermione's house.
Upon reaching the house, Harry remembered that Hermione's parents were dentists, so they should still be working.
"Well, I can wait. I have plenty of time," Harry smiled before sitting down on the wall surrounding the house.
. . .
Elsewhere in the country, a man wasn't having a good time.
"Severus... have you discovered anything?" Voldemort asked, but his voice sounded tired, and his eyes were drained with dark circles under them. Voldemort couldn't even attempt to search for his Horcruxes; when he reached his lair, he collapsed from exhaustion and pain.
"My lord..." Severus spoke slowly. "It seems his body is slowly falling apart. There are clear signs of exhaustion, and his organs aren't functioning properly."
Severus said seriously, but he was thinking something else.
"Then Albus was right... his body is slowly failing... Apparently, Potter was right in his conclusions. Well, a fitting end for a Dark Lord like Voldemort."
"It has to be Potter! He must have done something!" Voldemort screamed loudly, but ended up spitting dark blood from his mouth. The cough came soon, and was so bad it made it difficult to breathe; His lungs felt heavy and clogged, as if they were about to collapse."
At this point, using even a little magic would cause the Dark Lord's complete death.
"My lord, take this, quickly... it will help you rest," Severus quickly handed him a potion. Voldemort didn't hesitate and drank it immediately. As he felt himself growing tired, Voldemort couldn't help but feel afraid of death. His body was in a precarious state, and he feared he wouldn't wake up if he slept.
However, he never had the chance.
In no time, the Dark Lord was fast asleep, never to wake again. Severus Snape had given him a special potion: Living Death Draught. A powerful potion that sends the drinker into a deathlike sleep, similar to suspended animation. He had prepared himself beforehand when Albus explained what would happen to Voldemort. It was only a backup plan that he didn't think would stand a chance, but his preparation and intelligence helped.
"Now... just "It remains to be delivered," Severus sighed with relief. It felt so refreshing, was what he'd thought. He was always tied to his past mistakes, but now he felt a little redeemed. Severus Snape was never one to trust the so-called Boy-Who-Lived. Now, Harry Potter was undoubtedly a genius at research and a powerful wizard, but he wouldn't place all his cards on him; that's not what someone intelligent and cunning would do.
. . .
Richard and Jean Granger had arrived home, but they were a little surprised to see a young man reading on their wall. The young man had black hair and wore round-framed, silver-tinted glasses; his bright green eyes couldn't be hidden even behind the lenses; those two orbs looked dazzling. He was wearing a completely black suit, even his shirt and tie were black. Draped over his shoulders was a coat that reached near his knees, but it was only held up at his shoulders.
When he saw them, he smiled slightly before stepping down from the wall.
"You must be Richard and Jean Granger, Hermione's parents?"
The two adults stared at each other for a few moments before looking back at Harry.
"It's us. Who could you be?" Richard asked curiously.
Harry smiled before leaning closer and extending his hand in greeting.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Harry James Potter, Hermione's friend," Harry introduced himself amicably. Unlike the story in the books he'd read, he hadn't met Hermione's parents in his second year.
"Oh, so you're Harry!" Richard smiled before accepting the handshake. Harry smiled and greeted Jean as well.
"It's nice to meet you, Harry. Hermione talks a lot about you, especially when she told us they started researching magic and that you graduated early." Jean smiled, looking more closely at Harry, almost as if she were examining him.
"She said that? That's a bit embarrassing," Harry said with a slightly embarrassed expression.
"By the way, Harry; what are you doing here?" Richard asked curiously.
"Ah... Yes, well, Hermione asked me for a favor. Since she can't leave Hogwarts, she wrote me a letter to see if I could come here and bring her her history books. It seems a friend of hers was interested in that, and you can't get those kinds of books on the other side."
"Don't you have any history books?" Jean asked, blinking.
"Magic-related ones, yes, of course there are. But not books that explain the history of humanity and its civilizations," Harry replied.
"I see... then, please be our guest," Richard smiled as he opened the gate to let the car in.
"Thank you..."
The three of them got in, and Richard fetched the books while Jane made cups of tea.
"By the way, Harry, could I know what you and Hermione were researching? I'm curious, but I knew Hermione wouldn't explain much to me. When she's excited about something like that, she ends up ignoring her surroundings a lot and just focusing on that. The same thing happened when she was a child and discovered a book she liked."
Harry took the cup of tea before thanking her.
"Actually, we were researching a new dimension. Maybe calling it a dimension is a bit of an exaggeration, but it's something that seems imperceptible even to wizards."
"A dimension?!" Jane exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes...", Harry smiled with a bit of pride. "The Information Dimension; it's where all the information related to magic is supposed to exist. When a spell is created, it stays there and is used to be able to use magic. Wizards didn't know about it, but even if they can't see it, we have access to it to be able to use magic."
"How interesting..." Jane commented, and although she didn't fully understand it, she felt proud of her daughter, who was part of the discovery of such a thing.
"She's very smart..." Harry smiled.
"She is... but it's good that she's changed," Jane commented, surprising Harry a little. Realizing this, Jane smiled a little sadly.
"Our daughter was too rigid before; she didn't understand the complexity of society too much and she stuck too much to the rules," she explained before letting out a small sigh.
"You don't have to worry, she's gotten into quite a few troubles at Hogwarts. No matter how much she says to stick to the rules, she's already had a few," Harry smiled in amusement, though it was a shame he couldn't see Hermione's reaction when her parents asked about this.
"Really?! Why don't you tell me a little more?" Jane asked, excited to know more about her daughter's time at Hogwarts. Because even though they talked, Hermione was quite reserved about some things.
"There was a time when there was trouble with a potion and Hermione turned into a catgirl..." Harry began to explain slowly, obviously omitting some things that might frighten Jane and Richard, who arrived shortly afterward with several books.
The three chatted for at least an hour before Harry happily took his leave.
"Hmm... Hermione's probably having a hard time wooing Harry."
"Wait, what?!" Richard exclaimed in surprise.
"Oh, dear. Haven't you noticed how enthusiastically your daughter talks about Harry? She may not have a deep love for Harry, but she's falling in love. Even with Hermione's enthusiasm for research, studying, and reading, no girl would be that excited about a boy if she wasn't in love."
Richard sat in his seat, not knowing what to say.
"You men can be so dense sometimes," Jane shook her head.
Outside the Granger residence, Harry grabbed his phone as he felt an incoming notification. When he saw Rias' message, he smiled.
"This girl... will really cause chaos in her world. Hahahaha! Isn't that fine, as long as she just causes chaos and doesn't kill innocents?!" Harry laughed, waiting for Rias' results.
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