Philosopher's Stone

In the end, Tierra chose the first wand he had tried: twelve inches, walnut, Dragon Heart Wand.

It cost him eight Galleons and five Sickles.

He did not even try the replica of the Elder Wand.

At Tierra's current stage, there was no danger he absolutely had to rely on violence to overcome. Caution, vigilance, and staying away from The Trio would be enough to keep him alive until the start of his seventh year.

So this replica of a Deathly Hallow was not that important to him.

If he picked up that wand and nothing happened, fine. But if it caused even the slightest anomaly, would that not be like writing the words "I have a problem" across his face?

At Tierra's current stage, the most important thing was to hide—to enroll as an utterly ordinary student and be utterly ordinary.

After all, Tierra did not know how much the most powerful wizards in this world knew about Merlin, the Outer Gods, or the Great Race of Yith.

Leaving aside everyone else, this world at least had Dumbledore, the strongest wizard in the world, who could see through time itself in the third book, as well as Nicolas Flamel, an alchemical master who had lived for over six hundred years. Tierra did not believe they knew nothing whatsoever about the Outer Gods.

At the very least, as far as he knew, Nicolas Flamel had encountered Merlin. Though Merlin's Diary did not state it explicitly and only mentioned that Merlin had met a highly gifted young wizard during his travels, Merlin was the first wizard in history to create the Philosopher's Stone. Over the following centuries, Nicolas Flamel was the only one who had managed the same feat. Furthermore, the period before Merlin's departure happened to overlap with the time Nicolas Flamel was active. From this, it was practically certain that Nicolas Flamel was the "young wizard" Merlin had mentioned.

Faced with such powerful and mysterious wizards, Tierra did not dare act too flamboyantly. Especially since this world had things like prophecies—even Merlin had foretold his arrival. Perhaps other wizards possessed similar means.

Even if Dumbledore knew Tierra possessed such a library, he probably would not do anything.

But how could Tierra possibly entrust his life and safety entirely to someone else?

No matter how selfless or kind Dumbledore was in the books.

It was not that Tierra was paranoid. It was simply that, as a normal person, he instinctively feared unfamiliar, unknown existences more powerful than himself.

Especially when he had already offended them. That fear and unease only grew stronger.

If he had known choosing a wand would involve so many twists and turns, Tierra would never have let Hagrid and Harry come along. He believed that once Hagrid returned to Hogwarts tonight, Dumbledore would know that, besides the savior Harry Potter, there was another young wizard enrolling this year with strange innate magic.

"These are your tickets to Hogwarts." Hagrid pulled two letters from his pocket. "September first, King's Cross Station. It's all in the letters. Remember, you must board before eleven in the morning."

Since picking out pets and wands had taken some time, and Harry did not want to return to the Dursleys' house so soon, Hagrid decided to have dinner at the Leaky Cauldron before taking Harry and Tierra back.

Before dinner, Hagrid took Harry and Tierra around the candy shops and toy stores, where they ran into the smug Draco Malfoy at Flourish and Blotts.

Draco was quite cute, with chubby cheeks and platinum-blond hair combed into an adult style.

And regardless of Draco Malfoy's character, he truly loved studying.

He had sneaked off to the bookstore to read while his father was in Knockturn Alley...

Such a diligent and adorable little boy. What a pity he was not mute...

The moment he opened his mouth, it was obvious he was a master of sarcastic snark.

Neither Tierra nor Harry was dressed particularly well. Their clothes were clean, but still frayed and worn in places, and their style clearly reflected Muggle tastes half a century ahead of wizarding fashion.

In Draco's own words, it was "ridiculously tasteless fashion."

And Hagrid was "a Half-giant who had just returned from a date with a Troll."

Who knew where someone so young had learned so much trash talk?

Still, it was only a minor interlude, though it left the previously cheerful Harry a little unhappy.

Only a little.

What truly upset Harry was parting from Tierra at the station.

The Draco Malfoy incident had instead brought Harry and Tierra's friendship closer.

Children's friendships were just that strange.

Which made Harry and Tierra's parting especially reluctant.

"See you in a month!" Harry knelt on the seat of the train back to the Dursleys', his nose pressed tightly against the window. In the blink of an eye, Hagrid and Tierra became two receding dots, eventually vanishing from sight.

After seeing Harry onto the train, Hagrid also escorted Tierra back to his small attic in the old district. Then, because of "Dumbledore's mission," Hagrid hurried back to Hogwarts.

I hope the fake Philosopher's Stone fools them. Tierra prayed silently.

After Hagrid left, Tierra packed up, bathed, and went to sleep like an ordinary child.

To guard against Peering eyes that might not even exist, Tierra did not suddenly vanish from beneath his blanket until an hour after getting into bed, appearing in the library tens of thousands of light-years from Earth.

Only after arriving at the library did Tierra take a translucent, nearly dark-red irregular gemstone from a pocket he had sewn into his underwear.

The Philosopher's Stone!

The real Philosopher's Stone, one that could be used to make the Elixir of Life!

When Hagrid and Harry had stood before him, Tierra had rapidly devised this plan in his mind.

He would use the unfinished Philosopher's Stone Merlin had left in the library to swap out the real Philosopher's Stone temporarily stored in Hagrid's coat pocket.

This was the closest the Philosopher's Stone had ever been to him—the most easily obtainable it would ever be.

Though his main goal right now was to stay hidden.

That did not mean he would give up such immense benefits within reach.

Having successfully obtained the Philosopher's Stone, even if he did not attend Hogwarts now and immediately fled far away, it would all be worth it.

This was the Elixir of Life!

Few people in the world could resist the temptation of immortality.

Though the Philosopher's Stone was an irregular gemstone, its creation required a series of rigorous, almost perversely strict mathematical calculations and chemical reactions. Thus, the overall angles and edges of every Philosopher's Stone were the same.

From the fourth step of the process onward, its color became that near-blood-red crimson.

Therefore, unless it was used to make the Elixir of Life or Nicolas Flamel himself came to inspect it, there was a high chance even Dumbledore would be fooled.

Having confirmed this, Tierra began using the resources at hand to arrange his plan.

As his magical abilities steadily improved, so too did his grasp of the skill he had acquired from the stars—the Curse Worm.

At first, the curse could only leave his body in the form of a strand of hair. With Tierra's continued practice over the years and his observations of nematodes in his previous life, he could now make the curse survive outside his body in the form of a nematode, with no time limit on its return.

Only then could he be said to have truly mastered the magic of the Curse Worm.

However, if he wanted it to remain alive outside his body indefinitely, Tierra needed to periodically inject it with fresh curses.

This was also one of Tierra's methods of self-preservation. He had not been idle these past years, spending his free time wandering through clinics of all sizes and areas where homeless people gathered.

He had created five HIV Worms, two Plague Worms, five Lung Cancer Worms, three Liver Cancer Worms, and three Brain Tumor Worms.

He was very curious: if the hand Peter Pettigrew used to resurrect Voldemort contained cancer, tumors, plague, and AIDS all at once, what kind of Voldemort would be resurrected?