Chapter 145: Maria Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 【End】
A dull thud came from beside me as I looked up at the skull piercing the dark clouds. Draco had grabbed the collar of Theodore, whom he had knocked down, and was forcing him to his feet. It was a rare, violent movement for someone who usually put on an air of elegance, but Theodore still wore a faint smile, convinced of his victory.
"What did you do? What do you mean Dumbledore isn't here?"
"Exactly what I said. I lured him outside. Using the name of the Augurey."
"As if Dumbledore would be fooled by something like that!"
"Something like that? —You're the one who made it more than just 'something like that,' aren't you?"
As I became enraged by his reply, which carried a hint of an insult toward Dumbledore, Theodore's eyes slowly turned to look at me.
"I'm grateful to you, Maria Potter. Thanks to you, I was able to fool Dumbledore."
"What?"
"There was a 'real-life example'—you. Because of that, the old man has gone senile."
You are the one who turned an uncertain entity like the Augurey into a "possible existence." Theodore continued.
"If you hadn't been here, that old man would surely still be stubbornly sitting in the Headmaster's office. He wouldn't have neglected his surveillance of me, dismissing the idea of the Augurey bringing a threat from the future as nothing more than a delusion I concocted. But, he thought to himself: 'If Maria Potter can exist, then the Augurey might exist too.'"
A mysterious girl who received a prophecy concerning the hero, acting as if she were following it. The child of prophecy who repeatedly acted and spoke as if she could see the future, rewriting the trials with her inexplicable knowledge. Maria Potter made Dumbledore harbor 'possibilities.'
"Your existence clouded Dumbledore's judgment."
It’s all your fault—Theodore sneered.
"─Even so, the castle still has the protections he left behind. Ancient magic remains rooted here. There is no opening for the Death Eaters to intervene. Your usual bluffs won't work anymore."
As Draco threatened him while keeping him restrained, the boy let out a suppressed chuckle and grabbed Draco's hand in return.
"Ah, that's exactly right. You don't think we Slytherins would be stupid enough to take a straightforward approach, do you? ─Through the sewer pipes."
"The sewer pipes?"
At that completely unexpected word, I unconsciously exchanged a glance with Draco. Theodore brushed Draco's hand away and stood up.
"My future self told me. That a strangely-acting Scorpion King was found in the lake. This very lake you two use for your secret rendezvous. Because of that, Mr. Malfoy─meaning the future you─had no choice but to summon the Scorpion King... his own son, Scorpius. I hear my future self used that opening to travel to the past."
"─!"
In other words, the Theodore who had contacted him was the very Theodore right in the middle of "that incident." And the strangely-acting Scorpius was the Scorpius from our timeline. Having escaped from the hands of the adults trying to catch them, what did the two boys use to get out of the castle─?
"I was curious. What was the deranged young Scorpius doing here? And then I found it────there is a sewer pipe in the lake that connects to the castle."
With his back to the lake, which had lost even the moonlight and transformed into something resembling a deep, bottomless pit, Theodore was cloaked in darkness. A storm was approaching. A storm was about to swallow the castle.
"The pipes here lead to Myrtle's bathroom inside the castle."
That's it. The children used a Time-Turner and Myrtle's help to sabotage the Second Task. ─That was why Theodore had frequently appeared near the Forbidden Forest. So he could accurately and flawlessly guide the Death Eaters on their journey from the lake through the pipes.
"Now go. You foolish, would-be heroes. ────Everyone is going to die."
"Maria!"
I started running. I didn't care about Theodore anymore. The children we left behind in the castle────Harry!
"Maria, wait!"
"I'm heading to the Astronomy Tower. You go get Snape."
"Maria!"
"I'll hold them off until Dumbledore gets back. ─I will!"
I dashed through the school building as if pushing Draco away. There were no students in sight. It was long past curfew. Right, if only those kids were safely in their beds—
"Expelli─"
"─Impedimenta!"
"Whoa!"
It was a boy's voice. A familiar voice—Anthony!
"Anthony."
"Wait, Maria...? Sorry, I totally thought—"
"Never mind the apologies. Tell me the situation."
"Didn't you get the message on your coin? Hermione gathered the members of the D.A. Only a few people showed up, but she told us to each drink from a small vial of potion... Harry wasn't there."
"And then? Where is everyone?"
"I don't know. We scattered immediately."
"Damn it."
I calmed my heartbeat and strained my ears. The Astronomy Tower was quiet. In that case, someone must be fighting somewhere other than the Astronomy Tower. Have the members of the Order of the Phoenix arrived? What about the teachers? —And Harry. Harry is probably using his Invisibility Cloak. He must have been worried when I rushed out of the dormitory after getting Draco's summons, and brought out the Marauder's Map. And then he realized—that a name that shouldn't be in the castle had appeared. Where is Harry right now?
"That's right, Myrtle!"
"Maria?"
Taking Anthony with me, I started running again. Theodore said the sewer pipes connected to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. If his words weren't a lie—Myrtle must have seen them.
"Myrtle!"
"Ugh─hic─it's not my fault. I... I didn't know!"
"Myrtle, it's me. Your friend, Maria. Come on, tell me what happened."
"Oh, Maria! It was awful. Those people─look, see? The sinks are destroyed. Without a word of warning. So I flew away immediately. I went to let them know right away."
"To whom? What did you let them know?"
"I told McGonagall. And then─Snape and Filch too."
"Snape? You told Snape? Are you absolutely sure?"
I leaned in and pressed Myrtle, who was crying with a pale blue face. If it was McGonagall, she would have immediately contacted the Order of the Phoenix. Surely the Ministry of Magic too—and she would do everything in her power to call Dumbledore back. And Snape────it was probably Snape who had cast the Dark Mark into the sky as a beacon, to convey the situation to Dumbledore at a single glance.
"Thank you, Myrtle. You should hide somewhere safe too—even though you're a ghost. Like inside the pipes."
"Yes. I'll come out if I hear your voice... Hey, are you going?"
"Do you think I wouldn't? I'm Harry's older sister, you know."
"Right... I won't stop you, but okay. I'll clean the pipe next to mine for when you die."
"I'm honored."
Smiling just a little at her ghost-style joke, I left the flooded bathroom behind. Anthony was silent on the other side of the door.
"Maria..."
"If you're scared, I won't force you. It's probably safer in your dormitory."
"Probably. Especially since the Ravenclaw common room requires you to solve a riddle to get in... And those guys don't exactly look like they have enough brains to do that."
Suddenly, he took my hand. His hand was larger than mine—a girl's hand—and it was trembling. His voice was trembling, too. Anthony, who hadn't experienced the incident at the Department of Mysteries, knew nothing about life-or-death battles. ...It was only natural that he was terrified.
"Anthony..."
"To be honest, I'm absolutely terrified. I joined the D.A. to protect myself. Not to fight. If I were allowed, I'd leave everything to you guys and stay shivering in my bed."
"You are allowed to do that."
"Thank you. But────I want to act tough in front of the girl I like."
Anthony smiled the best he could with his pale face. —To think I had to make him make a face like that. If only I─had handled things─better─
"If Maria wasn't brave, I probably would have turned tail and run away too. —But, that wouldn't be Maria, and I definitely wouldn't have fallen for a Maria who wasn't like that."
"────"
He placed a hand on my cheek. I gazed back into his gentle eyes. Being a Ravenclaw, he wasn't as reckless as a Gryffindor────he was brave.
"Please stay alive, Maria."
"Anthony... promise me you won't die, no matter what."
I parted ways with Anthony. They have the luck of Felix Felicis on their side. In a way, they're safer than I am. Even so, please─let them weather this storm without losing a single person.
I climbed the spiral staircase to the Astronomy Tower. I heard a loud scream. Then an angry yell. An explosion went off. Whose voice was it? Which side's voice? I can't stop. I can't look back. Move your legs. Run. Run. Don't stop, keep moving────!
"Avada Kedavra."
The flash of light bursting from Snape's wand pierced Dumbledore's chest.
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