By the time Dumbledore arrived beneath Gringotts, the battle had already ended.
Aurors lay scattered all across the underground tunnel.
Some were frozen stiff under the Full Body-Bind Curse. Others had been knocked unconscious by Stunning Spells. A few sat groaning against the walls while trying to recover.
And standing calmly in the middle of them all—
Was Lucas Summers.
He wasn't even breathing heavily.
Lucas turned his head and immediately spotted Dumbledore alongside Minister Fudge. More Aurors continued Apparating into the tunnel every few seconds, wands raised nervously.
"Stand down! STAND DOWN!" Fudge shouted frantically the moment he recognised Lucas.
Several Aurors froze in confusion.
Fudge nearly exploded.
Did these idiots know who this child was?
A prophet.
A terrifying genius.
Potentially another Dumbledore in the making.
And they wanted to point wands at him?
Dumbledore calmly surveyed the battlefield.
Most of the defeated Aurors had clearly been taken down with non-lethal magic. Petrificus Totalus. Stupefy. Shield-breaking counterspells.
Very clean.
Very controlled.
That alone shocked him slightly.
He stepped towards Lucas.
"What happened here?" Dumbledore asked calmly.
Lucas shrugged.
"While retrieving your package, I was attacked by a Dark wizard wearing black robes. I fought him off. Then the Aurors arrived and immediately attacked me instead."
He gestured casually around the tunnel.
"So I dealt with them too."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Every nearby wizard stared at him in disbelief.
An eleven-year-old child had just calmly announced that he defeated both a Dark wizard and an Auror squad in the same afternoon.
Several people genuinely thought they misheard him.
Then suddenly, one ugly middle-aged Auror stepped forward furiously.
"Boy!" he snapped angrily. "This isn't the place for jokes. Aurors are elite Ministry wizards. There's no way you defeated an entire squad by yourself!"
Lucas slowly turned his head towards him.
Then he smiled faintly.
"In that case," he said politely, "why don't you wake your elite squad up and ask them personally?"
The Auror's face twitched.
"Perhaps," Lucas continued thoughtfully, "they all tripped over rocks and knocked themselves unconscious. Considering their performance today, that seems entirely possible."
The surrounding crowd nearly choked.
The man's face immediately turned bright red with rage.
Lucas, meanwhile, remained perfectly calm.
After spending enough time around Cassandra, his talent for poisonous sarcasm had evolved considerably.
Nearby, several healers and Ministry staff finally began reviving the fallen Aurors one after another.
Then came the questioning.
And after hearing the full story—
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Shock spread across every face present.
Lucas hadn't lied.
He genuinely had defeated the entire Auror squad alone.
Even the angry middle-aged Auror suddenly looked too embarrassed to speak.
Fudge hurried over awkwardly.
"They said they attacked because they saw you conjure a shield with Transfiguration," he explained nervously. "They assumed you intended to resist arrest."
Lucas immediately raised the large transformed shield still floating nearby.
"This shield blocked a Killing Curse."
The tunnel fell silent again.
Lucas pointed directly at the enormous dent burned into the metal surface.
"I reacted because someone attacked me first," he said calmly. "Unfortunately, your Aurors somehow failed to notice the giant green beam of death flying through the tunnel."
Several Aurors immediately lowered their heads in shame.
"The real attacker escaped during the confusion," Lucas finished coldly.
Naturally, he had deliberately preserved the shield as evidence.
After all, during the later fight, he stopped using it entirely. Keeping this first damaged shield intact perfectly proved that he hadn't attacked the Aurors without reason.
Dumbledore stepped closer and carefully examined the scorched impact mark.
After several moments, he nodded slowly.
"This is indeed damage caused by the Killing Curse."
Then his eyes flicked briefly towards Lucas.
"And exceptionally elegant Transfiguration, I might add."
Lucas smiled modestly.
Fudge immediately panicked.
He spun around and began furiously screaming at the Auror squad.
"What were you idiots thinking?!"
The Minister looked moments away from suffering a heart attack.
Offending ordinary students was one thing.
Offending Lucas Summers?
That was political suicide.
Fudge desperately wanted this terrifyingly talented young prophet on good terms with the Ministry. The last thing he needed was for some incompetent Aurors to accidentally create a future Dark Lord out of pure stupidity.
Meanwhile, Lucas turned towards Dumbledore.
"How's Harry?"
Dumbledore smiled reassuringly.
"He's perfectly safe. Thanks to your quick reaction, Hagrid managed to meet him upstairs without incident."
Then Dumbledore added warmly, "Hagrid is Hogwarts' Keeper of Keys and Grounds. Very trustworthy."
Lucas nodded.
"That's good. If something happened to Harry because of me, I'd feel guilty forever."
Technically true.
Losing Harry would also ruin several future plans and quest rewards.
Under Lucas's perfect Occlumency control, Dumbledore sensed nothing but complete sincerity.
The old wizard visibly relaxed.
"Thankfully, both of you are unharmed," Dumbledore said gently. "The Ministry can handle things here now."
Then a faint smile appeared beneath his beard.
"Besides, Harry seems rather attached to you already."
"Of course," Lucas replied casually. "We're friends now."
At the word friend, a brief flicker of happiness crossed Dumbledore's eyes.
Harry Potter desperately needed real friends.
Especially trustworthy ones.
Lucas suddenly reached into his ring and removed the dirty paper package from Vault 713.
"By the way," he said, handing it over, "this is what you asked me to collect. I suspect the Dark wizard came specifically for it."
Dumbledore accepted the package slowly.
For the first time since arriving, guilt appeared on his face.
"I owe you an apology, Lucas."
Lucas blinked.
"If I hadn't asked you to retrieve this item," Dumbledore continued quietly, "neither you nor Harry would've been placed in danger."
Lucas shook his head immediately.
"It was an accident. Nobody wanted this to happen."
Then he grinned suddenly.
"Though if you really feel guilty, you could always buy Harry and me ice cream."
Dumbledore froze for half a second.
Then his eyes lit up like fireworks.
"Oh! Excellent idea!"
His mood visibly improved instantly.
"I know a wonderful ice cream shop nearby. Their strawberry caramel special is exceptional!"
Fudge stared blankly at the suddenly excited Headmaster.
Honestly, only Dumbledore could shift emotionally from attempted murder to dessert recommendations within ten seconds.
Still, Lucas understood the situation perfectly.
This truly had been an accident.
Back in the original timeline, Hagrid retrieved the Philosopher's Stone without incident.
The only reason things changed today was simple—
Quirrell thought Lucas looked easier to bully than Hagrid.
Unfortunately for Quirrell, reality disagreed.
Meanwhile, upstairs in Gringotts' lobby, Harry finally relaxed after spotting Lucas emerge unharmed.
"You're okay!" Harry said immediately. "I saw you fighting that guy underground! I was seriously worried!"
"I'm fine."
Lucas casually brushed dust off his sleeves before gesturing towards Dumbledore.
"Harry, this is Professor Albus Dumbledore. Headmaster of Hogwarts."
Harry nodded quickly.
Clearly, he already recognised the name from last night's conversation.
Dumbledore smiled warmly at him.
Before either of them could continue speaking, Lucas suddenly clapped Harry on the shoulder.
"Good news," he announced cheerfully. "Professor Dumbledore is buying us ice cream."
....
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