HP/LOTM: Visionary - 444

Chapter 444: Four Gather Again, Movements on All Sides, Going Home

“Tch. You show up late, and the first thing you do is try to look cool,” Ethan muttered, turning his head away.

“Ever consider the possibility that I’m just naturally better-looking than you?” Edmond wore a perfectly tailored suit, topped with a thick overcoat.

“Stop showing off. If you were that handsome, you wouldn’t have been exiled to Egypt,” a boy in white-and-gold robes said, stepping out of the rift.

“Oliver.”

Only then did the two who held the Deep Realm King’s core remember the man their minds had been made to ignore. They went up and pulled him into a hug.

“What a touching reunion,” another clear teenage voice called from the crack behind Oliver. “Mind if I join in?”

“Finally, you’re here.”
“I thought you weren’t coming.”

Edmond and Ethan released Oliver and hooked their arms around Aiden’s shoulders from either side. Ethan reached up and thoroughly messed up Aiden’s hair.

“Aiden…?” Harry rubbed his eyes.

“Aren’t you trapped in Avalon?” Hermione asked what all three of them had been dying to ask.

“Two people are covering my work for now,” Aiden said, scratching his cheek.

Somewhere inside Avalon’s formation, a blonde girl and a leopard-spotted cat clicked their tongues at the same time.

“So what’s the plan?” Ethan rolled his wrist, the other hand pressing his bicep like he was ready to start punching walls. “I’ve been itching for this.”

“You’ll need to keep it quiet that I’ve broken free,” Aiden said, curling his lips into a mischievous smile. “He doesn’t know yet. I want to give Him a surprise.”

“As for what’s next, Harry, you lot keep destroying Horcruxes…”

He did not finish before Harry cut in urgently.

“There’s only his snake left by his side, and there’s one more Horcrux I have no idea where it’s hidden.”

“It’s fine,” Aiden said, giving Harry a look that felt far too knowing. “You will know.”

"Do you know where He’s going to descend?" Oliver asked suddenly.

"More or less," Aiden replied. "It should be above the Pacific. Once the war starts, the people under female Tom will probably all become sacrifices."

He pulled out three of the newest model terminals he had made in Avalon and handed them over.

"Personal terminals. You can use these to communicate and look up information."

Oliver and the others already had theirs, so Aiden did not give them any. Harry, Ron, and Hermione each took a sphere. The instant it touched their hands, it melted and spread away, and a strange interface appeared in their vision.

They tapped at it a few times and quickly got the hang of it.

“This is brilliant,” Ron said, playing with it like a child who had been handed a new toy.

Aiden raised his eyebrows and sent a Howler through it.

“Aaagh!” Ron yelped, clutching his ear. “Aiden, don’t!”

Seeing Ron rubbing his ears and the dragon snickering nearby, everyone understood immediately.

“All right, back to the plan,” Aiden said. “Oliver and Ethan, you two hide yourselves. Edmond leads the army and hits Britain head-on. No one from the continent is coming to support her anymore.”

He tapped the terminal a few times. Far away in Europe, a mole remotely cut off all of female Tom’s communication networks.

“Oh, right. This is for you,” Ethan said, digging into his pocket and handing them a fang.

“Sirius insisted on coming, so I knocked him out and tied him up,” Ethan said, winking his left eye at Harry. “This level of fight isn’t something he can take part in.”

Harry stared for a second, then sighed. “Thank you.”

“Ha. Of course,” Ethan replied, grinning smugly. “I’m your uncle now, aren’t I?”

“Get lost,” Harry groaned, rolling his eyes.

“Haha.”

…

With the plan set, they split up to act.

Harry’s trio decided to sneak into Hogwarts and see if they could find any clue about the final Horcrux. Ethan and Oliver used the cover of night to sail out from Britain’s west coast.

As for a certain dragon, he took one step and crossed between the Sea of Consciousness and reality in an instant, then walked into the Hog’s Head.

“Evening, Professor. I’m back,” Aiden said, greeting Dumbledore.

“Hm. Took you long enough,” Dumbledore said, pouring him a little mead.

“Are all arrangements in place?” An elderly hand reached out from behind and snatched the mead right out from in front of Aiden.

The person behind him was the Director. Without Protocol support, he was no longer young, reduced to a withered old man.

“Aren’t you going to tell me your name, dear Weasley Director?” Aiden asked, ignoring the question and tossing him one of his own. “We’re family, after all.”

“Hah. Petty kid,” the Director sighed. “I never expected your mother to be that absolute, back then.”

“Yeah, I know it’s not your fault,” Aiden said, his voice calm but edged with suppressed fury. “Don’t worry. I’ll give that guy a proper welcome.”

He squeezed. The metal cup in his hand crumpled into a small ball, the force of his grip betraying the anger he barely kept in check.

“Oi, that cup’s expensive,” Aberforth barked at once. “Pay up!”

“I will. Look at you, stingy as ever,” Aiden said, dropping five Galleons on the table.

“And then?” A vigorous old man stepped out of the shadows. His unusual pupils gave him away at once. “Where are you going next?”

It was Gellert Grindelwald.

“To see my aunt,” Aiden said, swinging his legs, relaxed as if nothing in the world mattered. “I’ve let her worry long enough. Then I’m heading for the Atlantic. The final battlefield should be there.”

“War’s about to erupt, and you don’t feel any urgency at all?” Grindelwald clenched his fist, then forced it to loosen.

“I’m waiting,” Aiden said, winking his left eye. “Waiting for the perfect moment.”

Dense grey fog grew up from the floor, taking the shape of a tree.

Grindelwald’s eyes widened. “Even that? The Easterners gave you that too?”

“Of course,” Aiden said. “Everyone’s been fighting the Deep Realm for years. They’re tired. If there’s a chance to finish it once and for all, why wouldn’t they invest?”

Aiden drew the tree-shaped fog back into himself. He looked at Grindelwald lazily.

“Who knows how long it’ll be until the next chance. Money only matters when you spend it. Otherwise, it’s just numbers. And Easterners have never lacked money. The current Celestial Master is generous enough that I almost wanted to kneel and swear loyalty on the spot.”

“Tch. Greedy, lazy brat,” Grindelwald said, waving him away. “Go. Go be with your family.”

“Heh,” Aiden laughed.

His body dissolved into grey fog and disappeared.

…

The sun rose a little higher.

At the Burrow, another day of quiet, watched-over peace began.

Arthur, who had worked into the night, hurried back from the Ministry of Magic. Molly had breakfast waiting for him.

The Weasley children were all gone. George and Fred had fully moved into the shop, living there now. When she had a spare moment, Molly would stand in the garden and look out, hoping her missing nephew would appear.

“I’m sorry, Aunt Molly,” Aiden said softly, wrapping his arms around her from behind. “I’m late.”

“Aiden? Is that you?” Molly could hardly believe her ears. For a moment, she froze, heart pounding, then spun around and pulled him into a fierce hug. Tears welled in her eyes, spilling over as years of worry and longing poured out in that single embrace.

Then her expression shifted—her face darkened with a mix of relief, anger, and unspoken reproach. She grabbed him, flipping him over as if she was about to give him the spanking of his life.

“Aunt Molly, no!” Aiden yelped, half-laughing, half-pleading. As a Sequence 1 Author, how could he possibly get his backside smacked by Aunt Molly?

Aiden instantly turned into a wisp of grey fog and slipped away, but the warmth and the weight of that reunion lingered in the air.