Large drops of rain fell heavily.
John appeared at Ariana's funeral and beat up both brothers.
What was he doing?
He was dealing with the aftermath, and incidentally bullying a future great wizard.
As for that final punch…
Well, Future Dumbledore's nose is crooked, isn't it?
"Sleep well, Ariana."
John leaned against the gravestone and murmured softly.
His wand glowed with white light, erasing the memories of both Dumbledores and removing all evidence of John's existence.
"You ran pretty fast, Gael."
Looking up at the sky, John had originally planned to find Gael and settle things.
But Gael had already fled overnight.
There was no way for John to find a wizard who had hidden himself away.
Feeling somewhat annoyed, he waved his wand with a loud crack.
By the time Al came back to his senses, blood was still flowing from his nose. When he looked up again, he saw Aberforth, fists raised and furious.
Al silently endured it all. This was what he deserved.
When had his younger brother's strength become so great?
One punch had actually broken his nose?
He touched his crooked nose, feeling somewhat puzzled.
...
The year 1899 stood at the threshold of a new century.
Nations during this time were in a period of rapid development.
Carriages, noble ladies, and gentlemen were the symbols of the era.
John popped a hard candy into his mouth as he sat in the rather unsanitary Leaky Cauldron.
For once, John discovered that it was actually cleaner than it would be in the future. The black stains on the tables really were years of accumulated grime.
Unfortunately, the current owner of the pub was also someone who didn't care much about cleanliness.
"Hopefully, when Hannah Abbott becomes the owner, she'll clean this place up."
This place was property of the Abbott family, and unless something unexpected happened, Hannah Abbott would eventually become the owner.
John walked to the back alley and tapped the bricks in sequence with his wand.
In the past, he either Apparated directly to Knockturn Alley or used the Floo Network.
Entering through the Leaky Cauldron like this was something he hadn't done in a long time.
The wall in the alley shifted and transformed, revealing the entrance to Diagon Alley.
John stepped inside. It looked just the same as ever.
But that kid selling dragon liver by the roadside… could he be the old man from the future?
Does your family make a living by hunting dragons, selling it for a hundred years?
It really is a genuine century-old stall.
Passing the dragon liver stand, John headed toward Gringotts.
At this time, Knockturn Alley had not yet gained its "king." Chaos and disorder were its normal state.
John cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself.
His body vanished on the street behind Gringotts.
Everywhere he looked, there were dark wizards.
This place was a refuge where those who could not stand in the light hid themselves.
A witch gnawing on her nails, a merchant selling voodoo dolls, a wizard who offered curses as a service.
It was a ghostly domain hidden within the human world.
John had come here to look for materials.
For his future self, the ingredients for a soul potion would be nothing special. But for the current John, who was penniless, they were a huge problem.
Unicorn horn was a rare item. Diagon Alley might not have it, but Knockturn Alley certainly had no shortage of hunters.
Finally, in a dimly lit room, John found unicorn horn.
It was an exquisite bracelet, made from unicorn horn.
It might have been stolen from some unlucky witch, or stripped from a witch's corpse.
John removed two pieces from it. Just as he turned to leave, footsteps sounded outside.
He stopped moving and hid himself in the shadows.
The door to the room was pushed open, and a rough voice with a thick Nordic accent spoke.
"What a tiring job."
"Stop complaining. This haul is worth a fortune."
"How many men did we lose just to get these things?"
"We need to sell them for a really good price this time."
Two tall wizards entered the room, carefully carrying in three boxes.
John stared at the boxes and heard the man with the brush-like mustache say, "Egypt really is a treasure land. Even forbidden things like time magic can be found there."
The other man, bald, replied, "If it weren't for that strange sand, we wouldn't have lost so many people."
"If the two of us hadn't run fast enough, we wouldn't have made it out either."
The bald wizard complained. They were poachers.
By chance, they had entered a pyramid. Their greed had driven them to grave robbing.
Unfortunately, their strength wasn't enough. In the end, they could only take three items from the pyramid before leaving.
The mustached wizard opened one of the boxes.
Inside was an hourglass.
"This should be the oldest Time-Turner," the mustached wizard said greedily. "Those collectors will pay a good price for it."
The bald wizard nodded in agreement. "Even though it's damaged, those collectors only care about the history behind it. It makes them look prestigious."
As he spoke, the bald wizard slowly moved his hand toward his wand.
Greed and malice flickered in his eyes.
Using words to lull his companion, he drew out his wand and asked strangely, "There are three items. How should we divide them?"
"Isn't that obvious?" the mustached wizard said just as greedily. "Naturally, I take them all!"
The moment the words fell, the mustached wizard suddenly spun around, a wand already in his hand.
The two of them acted almost at the same time.
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Bombarda!"
Two flashes of light lit up the dark room.
In the end, there was an explosion—and death.
"Greed."
John stepped out from the darkness, watching the two greedy men kill each other.
He walked past the wizard's corpse and opened the remaining two boxes.
One contained a small copper snake, while the other held a gemstone resembling a serpent's eye.
"An alchemical product?"
John narrowed his eyes. As an alchemist, he could tell at a glance that these two items were extraordinary.
The history behind them exceeded a thousand years. For alchemical products to last this long, their creator must have been a powerful alchemist.
He picked up the damaged Time-Turner.
It was indeed an ancient model, but John deduced that its function did not support time travel.
Instead, it created a specific temporal field within a certain area.
"Interesting."
John glanced at the corpses on the floor. He hadn't interfered at all, yet the two of them had killed each other.
That meant these three items, along with the roomful of materials, would eventually be destroyed by time within this hidden chamber.
"So, taking these probably won't change anything."
John walked to where the materials were stored.
The darkroom was protected by magic, similar to the storage room of Borgin and Burkes. Only someone holding the Hand of Glory could see it.
The dead bald wizard had been carrying the Hand of Glory.
Darkness did not hinder John, so it had no effect on him.
Walking up to a pile of materials, John selected several items that looked like stolen goods.
He clapped his hands together, and an alchemical magic circle appeared.
Several materials were fused together by him into a single bag.
He drew his wand and cast an Extension Charm, turning the bag into a simple tool pouch.
Everything was stuffed inside by John, including the items from the three boxes.
Stepping over the two corpses, he treated it as repayment for their generosity.
John closed the door behind him, leaving them inside to rot and stink.
With enough materials obtained, the next step was to brew the soul potion.
But without souls, the potion's effectiveness would be greatly reduced.
"Looks like a trip to Azkaban needs to be put on the agenda."
For others, going to Azkaban would be difficult, but for John, who knew its location, it wasn't much of a challenge.
John found a house in the outskirts of London whose owner had gone traveling.
Setting up a cauldron, he brewed a weakened version of the soul potion.
"As expected, my soul has also suffered damage."
After drinking the soul potion, the blurriness in John's vision lessened.
He quickly worked out a plan. If he continued using the weakened version of the soul potion, not only would unicorn horn be difficult to obtain in large quantities, but it would also take several months to fully heal.
If it were the complete soul potion, based on its current effectiveness, about ten doses should be enough to restore his vision completely.
"Dementors."
John had already set his sights on the Dementors.
Using the materials he had obtained from the hidden chamber, John crafted tools meant for capturing Dementors.
He took out the copper snake and examined it carefully.
The copper snake was a type of guiding device.
Although he didn't fully understand how it had been constructed, with John's level of alchemy, there was almost nothing he couldn't fix with a simple clap of his hands.
After repairing the copper snake, it raised its body and began swaying its tail like a rattlesnake, pointing in a certain direction.
If John's guess was correct, that direction most likely pointed toward the pyramid.
"A pyramid belonging to an ancient wizard?"
John put the copper snake away. After he finished his trip to Azkaban, he could go take a look.
The next day,
John arrived at the seaside.
The sun had not yet risen. After making sure no one was watching, wings spread from John's back.
Azkaban was protected by anti-Apparition charms, but for John, crossing the sea wasn't the first time he had done something like this.
His wings beat, and he quickly became a tiny speck in the sky.
Heading toward Azkaban, he flew like an arrow released from a bow.
…
Far away in Azkaban, the Dementors were feeding on the happiness of prisoners. One had just driven a wizard mad with torment.
Suddenly, a chill ran through the air.
The Dementor turned to look at another Dementor in the nearby cell and spoke in their strange language.
"Suddenly feel cold?"
"You stupid? We naturally carry cold."
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