At that moment, the door sounded.
Bathilda, unusually quick for once, dropped her slow manner and hurried to open it.
When the door opened, a red-haired boy stood outside.
He was older than both John and Gael, yet he was not as tall as either of them.
John had always developed earlier than his peers, though his build was lean muscle.
Gael, however, was different. He had a tall, well-built frame and was even slightly taller than John.
In comparison, the red-haired boy, despite being the oldest, ended up the shortest.
Bathilda was delighted to see him arrive.
"Oh, you're here," she said, ushering him inside.
The red-haired boy immediately noticed the two figures behind the wooden doorframe.
One blond. One white-haired.
Both carried an unusually distinctive presence.
The sight left the red-haired boy momentarily stunned.
Watching his dazed expression, Gael gave a captivating smile and greeted him in English with a German accent. "Hello, my name is Ga…el."
He flicked a glance sideways at John as he subtly adjusted his tone.
John merely shrugged indifferently. "Hello, my name is Yorl."
Gael?
Yorl?
Those sounded like rather strange names.
The red-haired boy's expression turned odd. "Then you can call me… Al."
Clearly, he was no fool. After hearing their names, he realized this was some kind of amusing little game.
"Al?" Gael showed great interest in him, blinking as he extended a hand. "That's a very nice name."
"Likewise," Al replied.
As for the nicknames among young people—
Bathilda was very pleased to see this scene.
Whether as a great-aunt or a neighbor, she did not want the children to end up lonely like herself.
Especially Al. The burden of caring for his sister had drained the vitality from the boy.
Interacting with peers might help them regain some of that energy.
This was the first meeting of the three.
Bathilda left the time to the three boys of similar age.
All three were exceptionally gifted prodigies.
Al was the Head Boy of Hogwarts and had graduated with the most outstanding results.
His talent and intelligence quickly attracted Gael's attention.
Compared to John, Gael and Al interacted on far more equal footing.
When facing John, it felt more like asking questions of a professor rather than speaking with a peer.
In the days that followed, the two equally gifted boys were drawn to each other.
Before long, Al and Gael became friends.
John, meanwhile, continued researching his potions.
"Urg..."
Dropping the black liquid into his eyes, John felt a sharp, uncomfortable sting.
The good news was that, within the darkness, he caught a faint glimpse of light.
"Huff.. Next is the flaw in the soul," John murmured, having gained some understanding of his condition.
The dense magical power clouding his vision would best be dealt with by erasing that energy.
"Magic's punishment." Thinking of this, John sighed. "That Death really doesn't play fair."
They had made a fair trade, yet Death still stabbed him in the back.
John now had a thorough understanding of Death's character.
Just like in the tale of the three brothers— even when Death was forced to hand something over, it would still trip you up afterward.
To put it bluntly, Death was utterly unreasonable and extremely petty.
Standing up and leaving the attic, John's vision recovered slightly, the world before him shifting from pure darkness into a hazy blur.
He came down the stairs. When Bathilda saw him, she could not help but sigh.
"Yorl, I think you should spend time with them."
Among the three of them, only John seemed out of place.
This was not really John's fault—after all, they came from different eras.
John gave a light smile. "Ms. Bathilda, power brings many things. Wealth and authority are merely byproducts. Friends and followers will appear at your side before you even realize it."
Bathilda paused, then said oddly, "Is that what you believe?"
"Power above all," John said with a slight bow and a faint smile. "That has always been my way."
Bathilda fell into a brief daze, because her grandnephew was also someone who pursued power.
After informing Bathilda, John stepped out of her house.
…
He could now accurately navigate to various places in Godric's Hollow without relying on magic.
Gael and Al had gone out together.
So no one noticed that Ariana, left behind at home, had quietly stepped outside.
John reached the stream. After walking for a while, he turned his head.
That gaze clinging to him was still there.
"Hello."
John spoke up with a smile. "Is there something I can help you with?"
The girl who had stepped out of the house clutched a teddy bear. Like a child with autism, she lowered her head without saying a word.
John could only make out a vague silhouette. When the other party did not respond, he continued walking forward.
But after going some distance, John felt a bit of a headache.
Because.. when he turned back, under the summer sunlight, she was still following behind him.
John had no choice but to ask again, "Do you need something?"
Hearing the question, Ariana shrank her neck like a startled child.
Yet she still did not answer.
John sighed inwardly and continued forward.
He needed to wade across the stream. For an ordinary blind person, that would be dangerous, but for a blind wizard like him, it was not such a serious problem.
John drew his wand and tapped lightly. The Supersensory Charm activated.
Everything around him was drawn clearly into his awareness.
Including the person who had stopped.
After crossing the stream, he turned back and saw the silhouette halted at the water's edge.
A wave of fear, tension, and helplessness spread from her.
She was… afraid?
Afraid of water?
John took two steps forward, and the emotion grew even stronger.
He had no choice but to stop and ask again, "Do you need help?"
There was still no reply.
This time, John did not choose to leave. He sensed fluctuations of magic.
This was magical.
And a very powerful one.
That made him think of something.
An Obscurial…
Crossing the stream again, he returned to the bank.
Seeing John approach, Ariana shrank back in fear, yet she did not retreat too far.
John asked gently, "Want to cross?"
Even at this distance, John could only see an extremely blurred outline, unable to tell whether the figure was male or female.
But he could sense that she did not want to be touched.
So he extended his wand toward her and said, "If you want to cross, hold onto my wand."
One end of the long wand reached toward Ariana.
Ariana hesitated for a long moment before carefully pinching the tip of the wand with two fingers.
John felt the faint force transmitted through the wand and stepped into the water first.
The next second, he felt the wand suddenly released.
Immediately afterward, Ariana turned and ran back the way she had come.
John watched the retreating silhouette grow more distant and could only let it go.
After finding other trees in the woods, John even encountered a Kappa.
This creature was native to Asia; he had no idea how it had ended up in Godric's Hollow.
Unfortunately, no part of a Kappa's body was particularly suitable for use as a wand core or potion ingredient, so John let the thoroughly frightened creature go.
"Kappas drag people into the water to drown them," John muttered, rubbing his chin. "But there aren't many people around here. It shouldn't be a big problem, right?"
Just as he was thinking that, John heard voices coming from the stream.
He tapped his wand, activating the Supersensory Charm.
John "saw" two boys by the water.
The taller one was splashing about in the stream, sending water over the other boy.
Water ran down along the boy's jawline and into his collar, prompting a retaliatory splash.
Quite the scene of boys playing in the water.
Eww... It's good that I'm blind.. John fell silent.
"I'll just pretend I didn't see anything."
He turned and headed back toward Bathilda's house.
It had already been more than two weeks since he arrived here.
John had discovered that Bathilda truly was a homebody spinster—the kind who almost never went out.
If witches did not need to eat, she probably would not leave the house at all.
"I need to find a way to make some money."
John pondered how to earn Galleons while keeping his footprint as small as possible.
Some potion ingredients were not available in Godric's Hollow. The best option would be to go to Diagon Alley to purchase them.
But doing so would inevitably create connections with the people there.
The less contact he had with others, the less likely he was to alter the future.
The dignified Second King of Knockturn Alley, the Johnny Silverhand who controlled the Silverhand commercial empire, was actually worrying about Galleons one day.
John felt deeply troubled.
"If I refine the Philosopher's Stone, the future will change again."
The Philosopher's Stone was something only top-tier alchemists could create. If he dared to make one, the resulting impact would absolutely distort the future beyond recognition.
He could not use the Philosopher's Stone, nor could he cause too much impact by interacting with many wizards.
John was thoroughly restricted.
Passing by the neighbor's house, John was not being watched this time.
He lifted his head slightly in puzzlement. The person who had always been staring at him was no longer there.
He walked on into Bathilda's house and put the matter out of his mind.
…
Ariana curled up in her room in fear, clutching her teddy bear, her expression filled with terror.
An image appeared in her mind—three cruel children forcing her to struggle in the water.
She was badly frightened, and the objects in the room began to tremble.
When her brother Al returned, he sensed something was wrong and rushed inside to comfort his sister, who was on the verge of losing control.
"It's alright, Ariana," Al said, holding her tightly as he soothed her.
The trembling objects around them gradually stilled.
There was a trace of exhaustion in Al's eyes. His sister's condition had greatly dampened the joy he had felt at becoming friends with Gael.
He was a bird with broken wings, unable to soar alongside the other.
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