Ariana and her companions were undoubtedly labeled as part of the Demon Man's faction.
However, they still had doubts about the true nature of the treasure.
"The Prophecy says that the treasure is in the eye of Stormfront and can correct the fate of wizards, making Voldemort realize his mistakes. Does the Sword of Gryffindor truly deserve this title?"
"But according to my investigation, only the Sorting Hat has disappeared." Professor McGonagall frowned. "We'll just have to wait for Dumbledore to return to check."
"The most important thing now."
All the professors turned to look at Harry and his friends.
"You should go back to the lounge. Don't come out without a notice from the Prefect."
Harry and the others nodded repeatedly, and they parted ways at the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room.
("I still don't understand why Mrs. Potter would give up so easily. She could have taken down Professor McGonagall." Hermione frowned as she watched Lily return to Harry's body and Harry return to the common room escorted by Draco.)
At this moment, only Lily and Basil knew the reason behind everything.
First, the real Sorting Hat is not so easy to obtain; it requires actual touch, and it is hidden in a very secret place.
Secondly, Lily hoped that things would go as the Prophecy, with Harry using the Demiguise's [True Form] to act closer to midnight.
As a beneficiary of the Chosen One's Prophecy, Lily firmly believes in the power of Prophecy.
Since there is no the Chosen One Prophecy in this world, and she was unaware that Dumbledore's boyfriend could also Prophecy, she mistakenly believed that Dumbledore in this world would not take Professor Trelawney's Prophecy too seriously.
She was clearly wrong.
There are currently four screens in total.
Harry and Lily have been reunited.
The remaining three are: Krum at Hogwarts; Phoebe and Cedric flying low behind the Heroic Spirits; and Ariana, Riddle, and 'Krum' high in the sky, wary of each other.
They are still looking for a suitable place to hide the Sorting Hat.
Now, the screen has cracked again.
The view shifted to the Headmaster's Office, a flash of light appeared, Dumbledore emerged from within.
Professor McGonagall was already there waiting.
Then came a long conversation, which included Trelawney's Prophecy.
At her request, Dumbledore also inspected the office.
"Just as you said, except it's missing the Sorting Hat."
"That treasure?"
"The important thing isn't the treasure, but whether Tom will really realize his mistake?"
Dumbledore's captivating blue eyes sparkled, radiating an irresistible charm and tenderness.
(Voldemort: If I didn't know what would become of me in this world, I would really believe you cared about me.)
Professor McGonagall was clearly pleased, and her eyes welled up with tears at Dumbledore's attitude. "You are always so great, willing to give others a chance to reform, no matter how evil they are."
"You flatter me, Minerva. I'm just hesitating whether to follow the Prophecy— "
"You mean the treasure still exists?" Professor McGonagall's eyes widened. "And you're going to let the remaining person steal it?"
"I do have that intention. Tom will realize his mistakes and use his and his group's strength in the right direction. The Wizarding World will not decline, so why would I refuse?" Dumbledore said with a smile.
"You--"
"Alright, I should go now. Make room for that person."
After the words were spoken, the number of screens returned to four.
("This is so contradictory!" Hermione frowned. "Is Dumbledore a good guy or a bad guy?")
("She ruined the Demon Man's career, sending him and his men to brothels where they were subjected to humiliation.")
("But now she's allowed the Sorting Hat to be stolen, and it's all because of her Prophecy.")
("Is it possible that she was a good person from the start, just too old-fashioned?" Basil shrugged. "The Demon Man's ideas were too out of touch with the times.")
("In her view, the efforts of the hero Grindelwald have put the world back on track.")
("The Demon Man's actions will only destroy the efforts of the hero Grindelwald, and as Grindelwald's wife, she has every reason to protect the fruits of their revolution.")
("The fact that male wizards can still go to school is also a testament to Dumbledore's hard work behind the scenes.")
Meanwhile, Harry was also talking to his mother.
"You mean you want me to break ties with Krum and the others?"
"That way you'll have a chance to avoid them at night and go to the Headmaster's Office," Lily continued. "It's perfectly normal for you to be upset when you're left behind. They think they've taken the Sorting Hat, and to keep things secret and ensure the mission is accomplished, they'll distance themselves from you."
"Is that so? But how do I get in there?"
"I left behind a coordinate, a coordinate that the wizards of this world could not possibly discover with their level of magic."
("Remarkable," Basil thought to himself.)
(The magic of the Magic Immortal World is actually the combination of wizards' magic and Light Power, Evil Power, and the power of the human heart, which was brought to its extreme and led to the creation of fairies.)
(But only Lily wielded this mixed magic skillfully and masterfully.)
(She managed to use a tiny amount of magic power, which should at most be used for the Lumos, in a surprisingly ingenious way.)
(Being able to teleport as Door Key is like a magical, effortless version of the Flying Thunder God Technique.)
(This shows how exceptionally gifted she was and how keenly she sensed magic.)
(If Lily hadn't been so young, only 21 years old when she encountered the 55-year-old Voldemort, who bullied her with his staff and used it against her, she might have become a wizard of Dumbledore's caliber in a few years.)
Apart from Basil, who could hear the conversation, to the other spectators, Harry simply returned to his tent in silence, dragged it away from the golden forest, and headed towards a stream.
The only thing worth seeing is the scenery as you pass by.
They were paying more attention to another screen.
At this moment, Phoebe, Cedric, and their Heroic Spirits have reunited with 'Krum'.
They were on a Muggle farm next to the train tracks.
In a dusty basement that looked as if it hadn't been opened for a hundred years, they stuffed the Sorting Hat into a box locked with Scabbers padlock.
They then chanted obscure incantations, imbuing the room and the box with one profound and unfathomable spell after another.
For some viewers who can understand it, this is undoubtedly a feast of knowledge.
Of these, Phoebe and Riddle are undoubtedly the best.
("Is Phoebe really that amazing?" Although Ron didn't understand, he could tell she was extraordinary from the sound effects and the attitudes of the people around her.)
(For the first time, he vividly felt the intensity of Dumbledore and his team's cultivation of Phoebe.)
(The previous mission was unremarkable because everything in the Magic Immortal World was too profound, making Phoebe seem mediocre.)
(Keep in mind that she managed to block Voldemort's chain attack of Avada in the Magic Immortal World without even unleashing the Magic Immortal Artifact, thanks to the amplification provided by the Magic Immortal Artifact.)
(While Krum was possessed by an elite Order of the Phoenix, Harry and Cedric were freed by Magic Immortal Artifact.)
(Only Phoebe relied on herself.)
But the best moments are always fleeting.
The five quickly ceased their attack. Ariana and Riddle swayed and disappeared into Phoebe and Cedric's bodies.
Only three people remained, and they returned along the train tracks.
To others, Harry and Krum appeared to be simply spacing out.
It's so boring.
Just as the audience was preparing to relax and take a break, another screen appeared in their minds.
It was a dimly lit room with high ceilings, and Slytherin silver and green were everywhere, covering the bed, walls and windows.
A strange coat of arms and a French phrase were meticulously depicted on the headboard, below which were many yellowed newspaper clippings, pasted together in an irregular collage.
(Blake glanced at it with disgust, but the next second his eyes welled up with tears.)
(He recognized whose room it was.)
(Only his brother Regulus Black had the Black Family crest painted on the headboard, along with the motto 'Always Pure,' and plastered with newspapers.)
However, the room's decor was only briefly mentioned.
Soon they arrived at the fireplace.
A figure stood to one side, and from the green flames came a disguised voice.
"Is this what leaders are like? Are those two people today one of us?"
"Immortal beings," the man, whose charisma shone even with his back to the audience, spoke, "Horcrux? No, they are not among us."
The audience immediately recognized the voice – Tom Riddle, the Demon Man.
(Voldemort frowns. Leader? What are you pretending for!)
"That?"
"Are you sure the Prophecy is complete and without any omissions?"
"I asked many sixth-grade witches, without missing a single word."
("Witches?" Dumbledore guessed. "Could the Demon Man's hidden connections at Hogwarts be his descendants?")
("His supporters deliberately lined up at the 'Hunger Platform' to order food, firstly to ensure their idol's lineage continued, and secondly to plant an informant within Hogwarts?")
"Is that so?" Riddle frowned.
Intelligent people think simply; combining this with Prophecy, they deduced everything.
Was it wrong of me to destroy the core of the Mother-Child River?
Why is it wrong?
Will this lead to the decline of wizards?
Who are those four people?
Was the Sorting Hat stolen, or was it all just a scheme to mislead him into believing that the core of the "Mother-Child River" wasn't at Hogwarts?
Thinking of this, he quickly asked, "Has Dumbledore returned?"
"He came back, but left again soon after," the man replied.
"Could it really be..." Riddle didn't finish his sentence, then changed the subject, "The next steps at the school are to be put on hold for now, pending my instructions."
(The screen went black, and then returned to its original four-pane layout.)
(Professor McGonagall asked, "Is he planning to give up?")
("Perhaps," Dumbledore stroked his chin, "As I said before, his actions, except for the destruction of the Mother-Child River, were all correct.")
("The Magic Ring frees male wizards from magical exploitation, and the contraceptive products invented by non-magical groups allow male wizards to have more than just witches as partners. In fact, if these two steps are achieved, the rights of male wizards that Gellert fought for will be restored to the magical world.")
("The destruction of the Mother-Child River was completely superfluous.")
("He's a smart man. He understands that if the Prophecy is true, it means his attempt to decipher the optimized wizard bloodline will fail, meaning the problem of male wizards being scarce and the imbalance between male and female wizards will remain unresolved.")
(Professor McGonagall suddenly realized, "This means that if the Mother-Child River is destroyed, the wizard population will also decrease?")
(These days she's been learning more about the world through live streams.)
(Just as only witches can satisfy wizards, the reverse is also true.)
(For male Muggle who have taken stamina potions, even quantity cannot completely compensate for the lack of quality.)
(This is just pleasure between the sexes.)
(If they were to reproduce, the probability of wizards and Muggle in this world successfully having offspring is very low; it would be considered a miracle.)
(Male wizards can reproduce with other humanoid or Magical Creature of the opposite sex, but female wizards cannot.)
(Without the help of the Mother-Child River, wizards will decline, and male wizards and other humanoid and Fantastic Beasts subspecies will dominate the entire Wizarding World.)
(Suddenly, a commotion broke Professor McGonagall's train of thought.)
(She heard fragments of the conversation, "Why is Harry's group scattered now?" but she quickly realized it was coming from a live stream.)
(She quickly looked at the screen.)
"Harry, you don't need to do this," Cedric said. "Dumbledore is away, and we're just focused on the mission."
"If you'd like, we can take you to where the Sorting Hat is," Krum said.
As one of the first to leave the group, he felt a little guilty towards Harry, who had always trusted him and stayed behind.
("Krum, you're so stupid," Ron slapped his forehead. "Harry is way smarter than you guys. The Sorting Hat is fake.")
"No need," Harry said coldly. "This is your work. But be careful, the Behind-the-Scenes God has not yet determined that you have completed the mission."
"This means that the Sorting Hat may still be discovered, or Riddle may not yet realize his mistake."
"Who will be the final victor is still unknown."
He turned his back to the two of them and resolutely left.
They did not respond to the two men's attempts to persuade them to stay.
("What's wrong with Harry?" Ron asked, puzzled. "He knew the Sorting Hat was fake before, but he didn't do anything about it. Now he's fallen out with Krum and the others.")
(Ginny was speechless. "Isn't it obvious now? The True Sorting Hat must be in a very well-hidden place. Harry's mother didn't find it, or rather, she couldn't get it out anytime soon. Harry's falling out with them was definitely so he could sneak off to get it himself tonight.")
"Mom, did I give anything away?" Harry asked Lily in his mind as soon as he turned around.
Lily replied, "You did very well. Now we just need to wait until midnight. Now I'll emphasize a few points to note."
"First, the coordinates I left require you to go to the entrance of the Headmaster's Office on the Seventh Floor to activate them."
"Secondly, the Sorting Hat is located..."