A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 712 So this is how cruel I can be

A well-thought-out plan doesn't necessarily have to be complicated, but it must be able to plug all the loopholes.

Peter and Crouch each provided crucial intelligence, and various unexpected events caused Voldemort's plans to change time and again.

These changes have also gradually eliminated any potential vulnerabilities.

Even though Crouch's escape led William and Hermione to deduce that Barty Jr. was still alive, it did not affect the progress of the entire plan.

Therefore, for a complex plan, a good executor is extremely important.

Barty Crouch Jr. is undoubtedly such a person.

He was also a terrifying genius.

While in school, he earned 12 OWL certificates, which is more than just academic excellence.

He was only eighteen years old when he was arrested. For the past ten years or so, apart from being imprisoned in Azkaban, he has mostly lived under his father's Imperius Curse.

After all these years of wasted time, his magical abilities are much weaker than they were when he was eighteen.

But whether it was last year's Quidditch World Cup or their last encounter... William could clearly sense that Barty Jr.'s strength was greater than that of many Aurors!

Furthermore, Voldemort's initial plan was actually to have Barty Jr. go to Hogwarts in place of Moody.

This is happening right under Dumbledore's nose, and he's even impersonating a wizard the headmaster knows very well.

Voldemort never underestimated Dumbledore's abilities, but the fact that he dared to send Barty Jr. can only mean one thing:

He had absolute faith in his servant's abilities and believed that Dumbledore would not notice.

Is this something an ordinary Death Eater could do?

When William appeared at the graveyard, he heard Voldemort praise Barty Crouch Jr.'s abilities more than once.

A wizard whom Voldemort greatly admires... William increasingly felt that if this little Barty continued to grow, he would become an extremely troublesome existence.

This child must not be allowed to live!

Just as William was pondering how to kill Barty Jr. after leaving the time loop, instead of sending him to Azkaban, Dumbledore looked up and asked:

"William, is there anything else you don't understand?"

Since William hasn't left the time loop yet, it means there's something he doesn't understand.

But William did not ask immediately. Instead, he remained silent for a moment before raising his head, staring into Dumbledore's eyes, and said softly:

"Professor, Harry is Voldemort's... Horcrux, right?"

Dumbledore's lips trembled slightly, he gripped the armrests of the chair tightly with both hands, and closed his eyes.

William didn't urge him, and for a moment the office was eerily quiet; even Fox stopped his lament.

The centenarian slowly opened his eyes and whispered, "When did you realize it?"

Upon receiving Dumbledore's affirmation, William, though mentally prepared, still felt a complex mix of emotions.

He sighed softly:

"In the year of the secret chamber, in order to gain the strongest power after being resurrected, Little Tom sacrificed his soul."

Before the sacrifice, Harry "voluntarily" entered into a protective spell with Tom, taking the damage of his soul's destruction in his place.

Harry willingly took the harm; it had nothing to do with Tom. Lily's magic couldn't have protected Harry from dying... but he unexpectedly survived.

That's very strange, unless someone dies in his place.

Looking at the black tea in the cup in front of him, William continued:

"When Harry woke up, he told me that he dreamed of a baby dying and then saw another baby appear."

Since then, Harry has been able to repeatedly dream about my battle with Tom.

He could still see the scene of me killing Tom during the World Cup, and the scene of little Tom drinking the potion while searching for the Horcrux.

And his perspective wasn't that of an observer, but rather Tom's.

William paused for a moment, then said softly:

"There's another piece of evidence... Harry actually speaks Parseltongue."

This magical talent relies on bloodline inheritance, but I checked, and Harry's ancestors did have a marriage alliance with Iolans Peverell.

But she herself doesn't speak Parsley, nor did she bring that talent to the Potter family.

Iolans Peveril is the granddaughter of Ignotus Peveril, the youngest of three brothers.

Starting with that generation, the Potter family inherited the Invisibility Cloak, one of the Deathly Hallows.

The Potter family did not inherit the Parseltongue from the Peverell family, and Lily and James' son... could not possibly have that ability.

Unless Harry isn't James' son.

William said softly, "I've thought about it for a long time, and the only thing I can think of is that Harry is also Tom's... Horcrux."

Otherwise, these things can't be explained.

Dumbledore took a deep breath, his tall figure momentarily hunched over.

He looked up at the window and said heavily:

"On the night Voldemort tried to kill Harry, Lily sacrificed her life to stand between them, and the Killing Curse bounced back at Voldemort."

A fragment of his soul was blown away and attached itself to the only surviving soul in the collapsed house.

A part of Voldemort lives within Harry, giving Harry the ability to communicate with snakes and connect with Voldemort's mind.

"William, the baby Harry saw died, it was that soul that accidentally took the fatal blow for him." Dumbledore stared into William's eyes.

"But Tom was hit by his own Death Curse, and like Voldemort, a piece of his soul split off and entered Harry's body."

That's how you can have a second baby.

Harry is not only Voldemort's Horcrux, but also Tom's Horcrux.

William was speechless.

At that time, besides Harry, William and Ron were also in the secret chamber.

But the fragment still chose Harry.

Indeed, people's physical constitutions are different.

He then asked, "Why does Harry's forehead hurt?"

Dumbledore once said:

The scar would ache when Voldemort got close to Harry, or when he felt a particularly strong urge for revenge.

But William knew that this was not the deepest reason.

"I have my own guesses about this..." Dumbledore pondered for a moment before explaining, "Whenever a scar hurts, it's not because the scar itself hurts."

In reality, they are fragments of the soul seeking to reintegrate into the main soul.

When Voldemort is near Harry, or particularly active, his desire to re-enter Tom's body intensifies—this connection is always present.

William pondered for a long time before asking a crucial question that he had been thinking about for a long time.

"Professor, since Harry is Tom's Horcrux, does that mean... if he doesn't die, Voldemort can't die?"

William and his men have been destroying Horcruxes in order to ultimately defeat Voldemort.

But Harry is also one of the Horcruxes, so if he doesn't die, Voldemort will live forever because of his survival.

This is a dead end.

Dumbledore turned his head, slightly avoiding William's gaze, and said in a sorrowful tone:

"You keep asking me why we're cultivating Harry's courage instead of teaching him magic to fight Voldemort."

I protected him, trained him, nurtured him, and honed his courage... because I needed Harry to have the courage to willingly face death when the time was right.

William looked up at Dumbledore.

"Is there no way to stop it? Is Harry definitely going to die?"

“There wasn’t one before; Harry was always in a situation where he was destined to die. But now there is.” Dumbledore’s eyes flickered. “Voldemort created this opportunity himself!”

William suddenly realized and immediately said, "Harry's blood?"

"That's right!" Dumbledore nodded slightly. "Voldemort took Harry's blood and used it to reshape his flesh and blood!"

Harry's blood flowed in Voldemort's veins; they mingled, each containing the other.

He wanted Lily's protective charm, and he wanted that power too.

Of course he succeeded!

After he was resurrected, he could touch Harry's skin without getting hurt or feeling pain.

But Voldemort also made a fatal mistake.

Dumbledore's eyes gleamed.

"Lily's spell exists within both of them!"

Voldemort's body ensures that Lily's Sacrifice Amulet will never perish; as long as the amulet remains within Voldemort, Harry cannot be killed by him.

William squinted, carefully considering Dumbledore's words, and quickly understood the headmaster's meaning.

Harry was originally a Horcrux, and as long as he lived, Voldemort would not die.

This is a one-way process.

Now, because of the coexistence of the charms, another situation may arise: as long as Voldemort is not dead, Harry will not be killed by Voldemort!

Therefore, there is a chance that Harry will survive.

It's also the only chance.

That means Voldemort himself killed Harry with a curse.

In that instant, theoretically, both Harry and the Soul Shard should have died.

But because of the talisman's protection, Voldemort is still alive, and Harry will also survive.

However, the fragments of his soul have already shattered.

This process cannot be done by anyone else; it is only for Voldemort himself.

William looked up at Dumbledore.

The principal seemed to know what he was thinking and explained:

"That's my guess, but my guesses are usually pretty accurate."

"But Harry died in the cemetery, Professor, not as you expected."

William raised his wand, drew the memory from his temple, and tossed it into the Pensieve.

The Pensieve changed, and the scene of Voldemort's resurrection appeared.

This is the scene after William did not interfere:

After Voldemort resurrected, he forced Harry to duel him.

But Harry doesn't have a wand; his wand is with Krum.

Voldemort then had Malfoy throw him a weapon, and the two began their duel.

Harry was no match for Voldemort; a flash of green light from Voldemort's wand, and both of them fell unconscious.

In a very brief moment, Voldemort woke up, but Harry did not.

Dumbledore gazed at the Pensieve, pondered in silence, tapped his fingers together lightly, and after a moment spoke:

"At that moment, he was in a world between life and death."

Either return to our world, or head straight for the next leg of your journey.

But Harry wasn't ready; he lacked the courage to face death willingly.

Harry chose to escape, chose the next chapter... and the only result was death.

Neither of them spoke, and they sat in silence for what seemed like a long time before William asked his final question:

"Professor, what if Harry isn't prepared, and doesn't have the courage to face death after we destroy all the Horcruxes?"

Dumbledore lowered his head and said mournfully, "Then Harry's fate is only... death."

William's thumb ring suddenly lit up, signaling that the time loop was finally about to end.

As William was about to disappear, Dumbledore silently walked to the window and looked up at the starry sky.

Harry was kept alive so that he could die at the appropriate time.

Dumbledore closed his eyes, his eyes welling up with tears. His lips trembled slightly.

"I didn't know I could be this... cruel."

……

……

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To explain why, even though Voldemort used Harry's blood, Harry could still die, instead of necessarily surviving.

The Deathly Hallows in the final volume of the original book—King's Cross Station—clearly shows that Harry was struck by Voldemort's Killing Curse, and both of them fell unconscious.

Harry found himself in a dreamlike state—between life and death. Dumbledore appeared and told Harry that he was not dead.

He could choose to return to reality and eventually stop Voldemort, or board a train "onward".

Going forward meant certain death. Harry chose to go back.

So, Harry's survival isn't guaranteed; it depends on his mindset.

To put it more bluntly, it's courage.

(End of this chapter)