As one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families and a prominent British noble house, the Malfoy family's opulent lifestyle was far beyond what their old rivals, the Weasley family, living in The Burrow, could ever compare to.
The Weasleys also held a significant department within the Ministry of Magic, wielding considerable power, but they still fell short of the Malfoys in terms of prestige.
As the head of such an ancient and powerful family, Lucius Malfoy should have been living a life of carefree joy, squandering wealth, and reveling in the beauty of life every day.
But in reality, things were far from that.
The seemingly powerful Malfoy family had been facing a major crisis all along.
Pure-bloods versus Muggles.
Anyone could see that as the Muggle population grew from less than a billion to several billion over the past few hundred years, the number of Muggle-born wizards would inevitably explode.
The gradual decline of pure-blood families would become an inevitable consequence of overwhelming forces, shattering the old order and ushering in a new one.
Even setting aside matters between wizards, the development of Muggle technology was also a worrying trend.
Faced with this situation, the Malfoy family had struggled... and then, unfortunately, backed the wrong side.
Lucius had nearly been sent to Azkaban along with many other Death Eaters.
After the Voldemort incident, Lucius, having learned his lesson, decided to realign himself. However, his son's return from Christmas brought him bad news: his efforts to mend relations with The Boy Who Lived had failed.
When it rains, it pours, and more bad news followed one after another.
Looking at Dumbledore before him, Lucius felt despair.
...In the end, Dumbledore refused Roger's offer to accompany him; he came alone.
He wouldn't let a child do dirty work that might involve coercion or other unsavory elements, even if the child was willing.
"I..."
Before Dumbledore could utter his first word, Lucius interjected, "Headmaster Dumbledore, I was forced!"
What? Dumbledore was taken aback by Lucius's performance.
"It was my fault, I shouldn't have done it, but I didn't dare resist. You know, it was the mysterious person!" As he spoke, Lucius's face was filled with regret, his voice even cracking slightly.
His once lustrous golden-blond hair now looked somewhat dry and yellowed, and his cold gray eyes, which often held a look of arrogance, were now quite dim. He bore a striking resemblance to his past defense during his trial, where he claimed to have been controlled by Voldemort's Dementor's Kiss, which made him a Death Eater.
Lucius didn't want to be like this, but he had no choice. From the Ministry of Magic's internal records and his son's accounts, he clearly understood how terrifying that young Seer was, and he also knew that Roger had a very good relationship with Dumbledore.
This made him abandon the futile struggle of wasting time and immediately resort to a sob story.
He believed that in front of Dumbledore, as long as he wasn't actively malicious, there would be a glimmer of hope.
This time, he wouldn't back the wrong side again.
"...What did you do?" Dumbledore had a bad feeling about this.
"The Diary, it's not with me anymore," Lucius mumbled.
Just as he suspected!
"When did this happen?!"
"Early January."
Dumbledore fell silent upon receiving the answer.
He had met with Grindelwald and learned about the Diary at the end of December.
If...
.
.
.
"You didn't find it?"
"I was a step too late. The Diary is already in Voldemort's hands now."
"I see." Roger wasn't too concerned about destroying the Diary. After all, whether it was Voldemort or the young Tom Riddle, neither posed a threat in his eyes.
Voldemort would grow stronger, but wouldn't he himself grow stronger? Wouldn't Dumbledore grow stronger? "Should we continue the pursuit?" Although Roger wasn't particularly skilled at prophecy beyond crisis premonition, he now had the Time Cinema spell, making it not difficult to track someone.
Dumbledore shook his head.
Tom Riddle was a formidable opponent, but that was for ordinary people.
Compared to Tom, the young Seer before him, and another Seer in prison, were the more troublesome existences!
After all, the information that 'Voldemort must not get the Diary'...
From the current temporal perspective, the more Dumbledore recalled, the more he felt that something was subtly amiss.
"Instead of chasing Voldemort, I have a more important matter to attend to now."
"I need to go to Austria again!" Dumbledore wanted to clarify some things with Grindelwald!
.
.
Just as Dumbledore was setting off, on the other side of the world.
"To only get back these few things..." Voldemort, now possessing a new host and clad in a black robe, murmured softly. In one hand, he held a diadem, in the other, a notebook, and a ring adorned his finger.
Unlike his original fate, he hadn't suffered a second blow from Love's Magic. Instead, he had actively sacrificed Quirrell to make his escape. Because of this sacrifice, his condition was much better than it would have been. After fleeing Hogwarts, he had quickly found a new host.
Though the two months spent being creatively pummeled by Roger's Seer powers were humiliating, they had actually been very beneficial for Voldemort. After being beaten into submission, Voldemort's nearly insane will had been significantly suppressed, allowing him, for the first time in a long while, to engage in some calm reflection.
While at school, he had been analyzing the flaws in his past strategies and considering the new possibilities Roger had presented. Simultaneously, he was contemplating his future path. At this moment, Voldemort was utterly convinced that he was no match for the young Seer. With the Seer's precognitive abilities, he could easily locate all of his hidden Horcruxes, if he so chose... A shiver ran through his very soul.
But Voldemort refused to surrender. Even against an opponent of such terrifying strength, Voldemort's will would absolutely not yield! Voldemort refused to believe that anyone could be invincible, that anyone could remain undefeated forever! No matter how powerful a person was, there had to be a way to defeat them.
Of course, Voldemort wasn't just indulging in wishful thinking. As a man of action, he had already begun formulating a new plan.
The first step: Since his opponent was a Seer, hiding his Horcruxes was pointless. Playing hide-and-seek with a Seer? That was the stupidest game Voldemort had ever heard of. He began to recollect his Horcruxes. Fortunately, their locations hadn't been compromised. Except for a few that were inconvenient to retrieve, Voldemort had recovered all of them.
The second step: How does one play hide-and-seek with a 'hide-and-seek master'? The answer was to not play at all. Voldemort decided to switch to a... race!
"Master." A Muggle, controlled by a spell that had seized his mind, bowed his head to Voldemort. "Your satellite is ready for launch."
Voldemort raised Ravenclaw's diadem. "I understand." He intended to banish this Horcrux to the depths of space. With the boost of second cosmic velocity, it would drift endlessly through the universe. Even Voldemort didn't know where it would end up. Perhaps this Horcrux would be rendered useless, but perhaps... it would become his last glimmer of hope!
Having made arrangements for the diadem, Voldemort turned his attention to the diary and the ring. The diary... Voldemort hesitated. But he had already decided on the fate of the ring. Roger had once discussed the nature of time with him, and Voldemort still hadn't figured out how to defend against a temporal attack. However, he had a different idea. As the saying goes, if you can't solve the problem, you can solve the person who raised it! He would go directly to the Department of Mysteries and destroy all research materials on Time Magic. If anyone tried to study it, he would continue to destroy it... This might be a last resort. Voldemort's plans for the ring were also tied to this action.
"Does Time Magic only allow travel to the past?" he mused. "Is there a possibility it could also serve as a one-way ticket to the future?" Voldemort planned to raid their research materials in the Department of Mysteries when he had the capability. If it worked, he would throw the Resurrection Stone Horcrux into the future, preferably tens of thousands of years from now... Surely that young Seer wouldn't live for tens of thousands of years, would he?
Finally... how could he deal with Roger? After much thought, Voldemort believed there was only one method that might have a chance of success. During their time at Hogwarts, in order to win the Philosopher's Stone game against Roger and break through his prophetic powers, Voldemort had frantically searched the Hogwarts library. In the process, he had come across a book titled "Whispers of Fate."
"But... do I really have to do that?" Recalling the contents of "Whispers of Fate" regarding Seers, the conflicted Voldemort couldn't help but glance down at his old diary.
...What would my younger self choose?
...
...
After more than half a month, Dumbledore arrived at Nurmengard Castle once more, his mood entirely different from his previous visit. As before, even before getting close, he could sense gazes fixed upon him. Looking up, he saw Grindelwald waiting for him as always. His clothes were neat, his hair and beard tidy, clearly indicating he had been expecting him.
"Grindelwald! Are you plotting against me!" Dumbledore didn't bother with pleasantries, cutting straight to the chase with a loud voice. Dumbledore wasn't unaccustomed to being plotted against, and he usually didn't get angry. But if the person plotting against him was Grindelwald... His sharp gaze betrayed his inner turmoil.
"Plotting? That's a rather harsh way to put it," Grindelwald said with a light, unconcerned smile. "I told you, ask the young Seer, and you'll know my answer."
"I believe you have my answer now."
Grindelwald's questions were never directed at the young Seer.
Did Grindelwald not know how Roger would answer, given Roger's undisguised methods?
His question, from the very beginning, was aimed at Dumbledore!
Dumbledore, do you want me to leave?
Your answer dictates mine!
"Of course, this is just my answer, and it doesn't decide anything."
"Albus Dumbledore, you still have a chance to change. Don't lie, don't hide, tell me, a change unseen in a thousand years is coming. Will you continue to imprison me?" Grindelwald asked with a smile, standing tall with his arms spread wide.
Even though he was the prisoner, a terrifying aura surged from him!
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