Chapter 596 - The End of a Turbulent Year

Chapter 596: Chapter 596 - The End of a Turbulent Year

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While Hermione was questioning her life choices, the rest of us continued doing our own thing.

Lily and Tori were discussing something with Sue and Padma, while Daphne remained near her sister, although the expression on her face made it clear that she was completely lost in the conversation, much to Tracey’s amusement.

Further away, Neville was showing some of his Herbology notes to Hannah.

Justin, Michael, Megan and Stephen were talking about Quidditch and the differences between the wizarding sport and Muggle sports.

Luna was sitting near me, apparently distracted as she watched a small creature she’d found in the garden.

Everything seemed normal and peaceful.

It was a rather pleasant moment.

Meanwhile, I was leaning against the stone bench, letting my body relax as I stroked Nyx and watched my friends.

For a few minutes, I simply sat there, doing nothing.

And, as I did, my mind began to wander.

The holidays were finally approaching.

After months of lessons, training, research, duels, magical creatures, disguised Death Eaters, the Triwizard Tournament and a kidnapping attempt that had nearly ended in disaster... I would finally have some time to breathe.

The first thing I planned to do when I got home was simply throw myself onto my bed and take a long nap.

After that, I wanted to catch up on a few things from the Muggle world, mainly to see whether the world was following a path similar to the one from my previous life.

Then, I’d probably finish writing and publishing the books I’d ended up putting aside during the year.

In short, I just wanted to spend a few days without even thinking about magic or anything like that.

Just for a little while, I wanted to have a normal life.

The problem was that I knew it wouldn’t last.

Voldemort was back.

That meant the Death Eaters would start reorganising, while Headmaster Dumbledore would probably be doing the same on his end.

And, to make matters worse, I’d interfered with the original timeline so much that I no longer had any idea how things would unfold over the next few months.

In the original canon, Voldemort would have spent much of this period rebuilding his influence while the Ministry refused to believe he had returned.

Now...

I’d wounded his Death Eaters.

Some were even dead, while others were probably too traumatised or cautious to act so soon.

And one of them, according to what Theo had told me, apparently shook just at the sound of my name.

That wasn’t exactly the kind of change that would go unnoticed.

On top of that, Dumbledore would probably start making his own moves.

And because of me, the Ministry would also have far more reason to keep a close eye on the wizarding world for anything suspicious.

With all of that happening, there was no way Voldemort could simply operate quietly like he had in the original timeline.

But anyway, he would definitely do something.

The question was what.

’Unfortunately, this is where my knowledge of canon stops being quite so useful.’ I let out a sigh.

’But well... at least some important parts of the story should still remain untouched.’

’And the ones that could have changed because of me, like the locations of the Horcruxes, don’t matter as much anymore... after all, I’d already dealt with them.’ I consoled myself.

Then I paused for a moment.

’I mean... Nagini’s location is still a mystery. But since she’s a living creature, it’s not like she has a fixed location.’

Even so, I really regretted not finding that damn snake anywhere in that cemetery.

I’d searched for her with my senses, but I hadn’t detected any sign of her nearby.

’Voldemort probably left her somewhere else or simply told her to stay away as a precaution.’ I guessed.

That made sense.

After turning Nagini into a Horcrux, it would have been much smarter to keep her hidden somewhere safe rather than leave her out in the open.

As far as I remembered, Voldemort only started taking Nagini everywhere with him after he realised Harry was hunting down and destroying his soul vessels.

At that point, with his arrogance beginning to be replaced by paranoia, he realised that the safest place for her was right by his side.

’This is such a pain...’ I closed my eyes for a moment. ’If I’d managed to kill or at least capture that bloody snake, I’d have one less Horcrux to worry about.’

It was frustrating.

I’d come so close to an opportunity that probably wouldn’t come around like that again.

If Nagini really had been in that cemetery and I’d managed to find her, a huge part of my problem would have simply disappeared.

But there was no point dwelling on something that had already happened.

Either way, I still had four Horcruxes in my possession.

Slytherin’s Locket.

Ravenclaw’s Diadem.

The Gaunt Ring.

And Riddle’s Diary.

Four ridiculously dangerous pieces of dark magic that, in the original timeline, would have been a nightmare to find.

And I already had all of them.

Besides, the remaining two Horcruxes weren’t exactly a mystery either.

Hufflepuff’s Cup was in Bellatrix’s vault at Gringotts.

And the last piece of Riddle’s soul was in Harry’s scar.

The problem had never been finding them.

It was deciding when and how to act against them.

’As for the Cup... well, I already have a few ideas.’

Either way, I didn’t have to do anything immediately. In fact, it would probably be better to wait.

And in this situation, time was one of the few advantages I actually had.

As for Nagini...

’I’ve got a few ideas for you too, you bloody snake.’ A cold glint appeared in my eyes.

I just needed to wait for the right opportunity.

And when it came, I wasn’t going to let it slip away a second time.

Thinking about it, I wasn’t in such a bad situation.

In fact, compared to the original timeline, things were much better.

Voldemort had returned, yes.

But now he also had reasons to worry.

His return wasn’t completely hidden.

His followers were now under close watch, and they no longer had the confidence that they were unbeatable.

And I’d already gotten my hands on more than half of his Horcruxes.

Now it was only a matter of time before the noseless Dark Lord was defeated.

’So that’s it.’ A small smile tugged at my lips. ’Things are much better than they should be... and if I can keep them that way, everything should turn out fine.’

It was at that moment that something hit me on the forehead, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Oops!" Someone squeaked.

I blinked, looking down.

A small piece of parchment scrunched into a ball had landed in my lap.

I slowly raised my eyes.

Across the courtyard, Anthony and Ron were trying to look completely innocent.

Ron was whistling as he stared up at the sky.

Anthony, on the other hand, seemed extremely interested in a fallen leaf on the ground.

"Which one of you did that?" I asked calmly.

"I have no idea what you’re talking about." Anthony answered far too quickly.

Ron immediately nodded.

"And neither do I."

I narrowed my eyes.

"Right... so neither of you threw this at me?"

Anthony placed a hand over his chest.

"That’s such a serious accusation."

"Extremely serious." Ron agreed solemnly.

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow, "Then why can I see other pieces of parchment scattered around you?"

The two lazy boys paused for a moment before looking down.

And, sure enough, there were several scrunched-up balls of parchment scattered around them.

...

...

...

"...Would you believe me if I said they just appeared out of nowhere?" Ron laughed nervously.

"Of course." I smiled.

For some reason, the two of them suddenly got the feeling that my smile wasn’t a good sign.

Without a word, I took a piece of parchment from my bag.

I tore it into a few smaller pieces and started scrunching them into little balls.

With a snap of my fingers, the parchment balls in my hand glowed with an ominous purple light.

Seeing this, Ron and Anthony immediately became suspicious.

"I think you two already know what to do, right?" I asked, still smiling.

Ron tensed.

Then he slowly turned towards Anthony.

"Run?"

Anthony nodded without hesitation.

"Run!"

Without thinking twice, the two of them jumped to their feet and ran.

Unfortunately for them, running away wasn’t going to help much.

The parchment balls I’d enchanted had a tracking spell on them, along with a few other enchantments that were a little more... interesting.

Within seconds, dozens of them began chasing the two boys, hitting them one after another.

Every time a parchment ball hit one of them, one of the enchantments I’d placed on it activated, hitting them with some sort of jinx.

"Ouch!" Anthony exclaimed as he fell to the ground, feeling his legs go as floppy as jelly.

Seeing this, all my friends burst out laughing, clearly having fun at their expense.

Hermione was the only one who looked at me helplessly.

"Even you, Ethan?" She sighed.

"They started it." I simply shrugged.

She then shook her head, but couldn’t stop a small smile from appearing on her lips.

I couldn’t help but smile as well.

’Yeah... this cheerful, carefree atmosphere was exactly what I needed.’

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The rest of the afternoon passed quickly.

Between conversations, little pranks, a few failed attempts at studying and several completely pointless arguments, time simply disappeared.

I tried to revise some Ancient Runes with Fay and Padma.

Emphasis on tried.

Because Anthony, Ron and even Stephen, who ended up joining the chaos, kept interrupting us every few minutes.

Eventually, Hermione simply lost her patience.

She pulled out her wand and threatened to jinx them if they kept getting in the way.

It was a pretty brutal way of handing things, but extremely effective.

The three of them ended up sitting obediently in a corner, not daring to move or even say a word.

However, judging by their restrained postures and the anxious looks they kept exchanging, it was obvious that this wouldn’t last long.

When I saw that, I couldn’t help but laugh softly.

Unfortunately, after tomorrow, I wouldn’t see this weird and lively group for quite some time.

Of course, I knew I could see some of them during the holidays.

I’d already promised to spend another day with Lily and Tori.

I also wanted to visit Luna.

She was one of my best friends, and I knew she liked spending time with me, just as much as I enjoyed being around her.

But with everyone else, it would be more complicated.

I’d probably be quite busy.

Still, there were a fee people I’d likely see quite often.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were a good example.

With the Order of the Phoenix almost certainly coming back, it was hard to imagine that I wouldn’t end up seeing the three of them several times.

And, naturally, the Weasleys would be around too.

Just thinking about it made me smile.

Deep down, I knew those holidays wouldn’t be exactly peaceful.

There were plenty of things I needed to deal with before the next school year began.

But now wasn’t the time to think about that.

For now, I just wanted to enjoy a few days of being another teenage wizard like any other at Hogwarts.

Well... perhaps a little more incredible and handsome than average.

Back in the present, I looked around again.

Sue, Daphne, Susan, Lisa and Megan were gathered in a circle, whispering about something that apparently required their full attention.

Mandy, Morag, Tracey and Hannah were playing around with some magical make-up, trying different things on each other.

Justin and Michael, an unlikely pair, were discussing the exams they’d managed to escape.

Neville was laughing at something Terry had said.

Fred and George were trying to convince Stephen to try some suspicious-looking sweet.

Luna was telling Tori and Lily about one of those strange creatures that propably only the dreamy girl could see.

Harry was talking to Ginny and Fay about the Gryffindor Quidditch team’s training for next year.

Ron was still trying to finish his homework while Hermione supervised him like some sort of academic bodyguard.

’Heh...’ I smiled.

’This group is a complete mess.’ I thought, slightly amused. ’But it’s MY mess.’

End.

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