Voldemort: Can I Apologize?

Suddenly, Harry realized that everyone around him had vanished.

"Veratia?" he called uncertainly. "Cassandra? Pabbie? Sirius?"

However, he was met with only a long silence.

It was at this moment that the scar on his forehead suddenly began to burn with pain.

The pain was so intense that his vision began to blur.

The surrounding environment grew darker and darker, until even the light was completely swallowed up.

A sudden wave of dizziness washed over me; the feeling was very familiar, like being in the Pensieve.

A moment later, Harry suddenly felt his feet touching solid ground, and the pitch-black surroundings were no longer obscuring his vision.

A crescent moon hung in the distance, and countless stars twinkled and flickered in the sky.

A cold wind blew by, Harry felt a chill unlike any he had experienced when watching other people's memories.

Logically speaking, one should not be able to feel the temperature of the environment in someone else's memory.

Could this not be a memory?

Just then, Harry saw a figure wearing a black cloak.

The person shrouded in the cloak couldn't see their face, but Harry could vaguely make out a pair of scarlet eyes.

Those were not eyes that a human could possess; they looked as sinister and terrifying as those of a bloodthirsty beast.

It was Voldemort; Harry would never forget that figure until his death.

Suddenly, Voldemort moved. His cloak swept across the frosty grass, and his pale knuckles rubbed against his Yew Wand.

Yew wood, Phoenix Feather, 13.5 inches long.

Harry remembered the design of Voldemort's wand, something Mr. Ollivander had mentioned to him unintentionally.

In front of Voldemort stood a three-story villa.

Memories suddenly flooded back, and Harry was absolutely certain that this three-story house was his parents' home.

Could it be—

Is this October 31, 1981?

On this very day, Voldemort stormed into Godric's Hollow and murdered Harry's parents, James Potter and Lily Potter.

Harry instinctively extended his finger, and a ghastly green light shot out, piercing through Voldemort's body.

There was no reaction; the body was like an illusion.

Could it be... a memory?

But the cold surrounding them seemed genuine. Harry was somewhat confused, but he still kept a close eye on Voldemort's figure.

Voldemort walked steadily, step by step, to the front door.

He extended his wand and tapped it on the door lock.

The door lock crumbled into pieces amidst the hissing whispers of the Parseltongue, and the protective copper bell hanging in the entryway didn't even have time to sound an alarm before being melted into a dark green liquid by Voldemort's Charms.

As Harry followed Voldemort to the top of the stairs, he happened to see his father, James Potter, rushing to the top of the stairs. Even though he wasn't holding a wand, he still managed to knock Voldemort Stunning Spell.

Without the aid of a wand, the Charms's accuracy wasn't great, and Voldemort simply chuckled as he deflected James's Charms.

He seemed to enjoy the feeling and hoped to see others look desperate.

To his disappointment, James showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, like a warrior ready to die, he cast another Stunning Spell on him.

"Run! Lily! Take Harry and run!"

"Dad?"

Harry looked at his father in surprise. He had tried to cast several spells at Voldemort, but to no avail.

"Heh heh—" Voldemort hissed with a sinister laugh, "What a touching love story, but today it comes to an end..."

With that, he snapped his fingers, and a black gust of wind rushed toward James.

James, as expected of a key member of the Order of the Phoenix, was not entirely without power to resist even without a wand.

Transparent ripples flickered before him; they were the Protego, Shield Charm.

"I'll enjoy this irony—."

Voldemort's staff glowed with a ghastly green light, and in the instant the green light burst forth, James's final expression froze between shock and resentment.

He fell backward to the ground with a thud.

"Dad!"

Harry roared angrily, but there was nothing he could do but watch helplessly as Voldemort stormed into his nursery.

As he passed by James's body, he took one last look at his father, whom he had only seen in other people's memories.

Just as Sirius said, everyone's image is a circle, not simply black and white.

His father was a hero who fought against Voldemort.

In the nursery, Lily had just put Harry in the cradle.

She bit her index finger and drew several symbols representing Ancient Magic on the ground.

Just as he finished the Ancient Charm, a hissing, eerie laugh echoed from the doorway.

Just hearing that sound is enough to send chills down your spine.

After all, the owner of this Parseltongue is the infamous Dark Lord.

As Lily turned to face the skull-like figure emerging from the shadows, the roses on the dressing table suddenly withered, their petals turning to charred ash before falling to the ground.

"Lily Potter— " Voldemort hissed, "Let me guess—you're probably begging me to forgive your son, aren't you?"

Harry could see that there was not a trace of fear in Lily's green eyes, but only determination. "Let's have Wizard's Duel, Voldemort," she said, enunciating each word clearly.

"What touching maternal love," Voldemort hissed coldly, "but I have other things to attend to, get out of my way—" I never expected the Dark Lord to be such a cowardly wimp."Lily suddenly laughed, her gentle face revealing disgusted contempt. "You're afraid of death, aren't you? Voldemort? Or rather, Tom Marvolo Riddle?"

"Damn it!" Voldemort cursed angrily, his true name suddenly revealed. "Mudblood, you're challenging my authority!"

"All I know is that your mother doesn't love you." Lily narrowed her green eyes, and just as Harry had mocked Voldemort, she used the same words to ridicule Voldemort. "You want to kill Harry, not because of that Prophecy, right? I know Wormtail betrayed us, we knew it back when the Secret Keeper was changed, but I also know that the real reason you want to kill Harry is because he has a mother who loves him, and even more so, a father who loves him. This is different from some poor wretch who was thrown into an orphanage by his mother at birth—"

"Quiet!"

Voldemort growled in a low voice.

With his roar, all the glass in the room suddenly shattered.

But just after Voldemort roared that, he suddenly calmed down.

"You're deliberately provoking me, aren't you?" Voldemort retorted with a sneer. "You want me to kill you."

"So you're trying to complete some wicked plan—or are you stalling for time, hoping Dumbledore will come to your rescue?"

Lily didn't speak, but instead took a wand from under Harry's bare chest.

Voldemort suddenly felt his heart leap into his throat.

He didn't know how long it had been since he had felt this way. The last time he felt this way was when Dumbledore used magic to set his cabinet on fire in the orphanage.

That was the first time he truly felt his own weakness.

He, who thought himself powerful, realized that in front of Dumbledore, he was still just a lump of dough that could be kneaded at will.

However, ever since he pursued the power of immortality, he has never felt that sensation again.

Even when facing Dumbledore directly, Voldemort still believed he could go toe-to-toe with him.

But this time, when facing this Mudblood witch, Voldemort suddenly sensed a dangerous signal.

"What evil preparations have you made?" Voldemort hissed.

A bolt of lightning suddenly flashed and struck the spot where Voldemort had been standing.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Voldemort instinctively retaliated; this habit of fighting back was ingrained in his blood.

The Charms struck Lily, but to Voldemort's annoyance, there was no resentment or bitterness on Lily's face, but rather a relieved smile.

"Mother!"

Harry gripped the doorframe tightly. If the person standing in front of him were the real Voldemort, Voldemort would probably have been struck by his spells hundreds of times over.

Nothing is more painful than witnessing one's parents die in front of one's eyes. What is even more painful is that one can only watch and cannot do anything about it.

Just then, Voldemort walked up to Harry's crib.

"Avada Kedavra!"

A pale green Charms was cast and hit Harry squarely.

To Voldemort's surprise, a dazzling golden light shot out from Harry's body. The golden light coalesced into the shape of a deer, which leaped joyfully and crashed into Voldemort's chest.

Voldemort opened his crimson eyes wide, opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

In Harry's eyes, Voldemort was like someone Implosion in Ancient Magic implosion, exploding into dust with a bang.

Just then, Harry's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

He suddenly dodged, and a dark green spell struck the spot where he had been standing.

"Truly worthy of being called the legendary wizard of yesteryear, Mr. Potter." Voldemort's voice seemed to come from all directions, "Even in this situation, you were still able to evade my Charms— "

"But you're still a piece of trash who got beaten by a one-year-old," Harry retorted, while secretly preparing himself.

Upon hearing Harry's words, Voldemort was not angry at all; instead, he laughed with relief.

"You know what? Potter? If you had said that in the basement two years ago, I would have been furious. But I've come to terms with it now. Losing to a legendary wizard from a hundred years ago isn't shameful."

Harry hadn't expected Voldemort to be so philosophical about it now.

He thought this joke would keep Voldemort on his toes forever.

"Don't rush into action," Voldemort said. "This time, I'm not planning to oppose you, Mr. Potter, but rather to make a deal with you."

"A deal?" Harry laughed. "What kind of deal can I make with you? Unless you show yourself and let me taste the sweetness of revenge—"

"Revenge is a cold dish, Mr. Potter, I hope you understand what that means." Voldemort hissed and said, "You don't need to go to great lengths to find me, I've already hidden in a safe Fang Yi's truly unexpected that Regulus Black, whom I considered a loyal servant, would betray me, hahaha, but this just suits me perfectly, I've already hidden in a safe place."

"This time I just want to make a deal with you, or rather, not a deal, but to give you some information for free," Voldemort said again. "Help me find that Diary Horcrux, and destroy it."

"Why?" Harry asked back.

"Isn't he Voldemort himself?" Voldemort sneered. "Compared to me, who is barely surviving in Britain, Tom, who summoned Lucifer, is your greatest threat—let's cooperate, and I will provide you with information until you kill him."

By carefully analyzing Voldemort's words, Harry quickly grasped the key to a problem.

That was that young boy-girl Tom; he must have betrayed his main soul.

Or perhaps, that little boy Tom must have found a way to replace Voldemort's main soul, posing a serious threat to him as the main soul.

Otherwise, it simply doesn't make sense why Voldemort would be in such a hurry to eliminate that Horcrux.

Without a second thought, Harry sneered and retorted, "So you showed me a memory of how you killed my parents, and now you want me to help you get rid of that treacherous Horcrux?"

To Harry's surprise, Voldemort suddenly conjured a phantom image in front of him.

Without a second thought, Harry applied several bright green Charms to his face, making it look incredibly eco-friendly.

In fact, the Charms had no effect whatsoever, just like it had been cast on the phantom before.

"It was indeed my fault, and I apologize to you, esteemed Mr. Potter."

Voldemort bowed slightly to Harry, appearing to be offering a sincere apology.

"If apologies were enough, what would be the point of having Azkaban?" Harry said coldly.

"I await your reply, Mr. Potter." Voldemort's figure vanished from the spot, his voice fading into the distance. "Once you, your friends, and that old fogey Dumbledore have discussed it, you will surely accept my proposal."

Foolish!

Harry thought to himself, "Can't I just give you two red bean paste?"

The dizzying sensation returned, and when Harry opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in bed.

Friends and two elders gathered around the bed, and Veratia sat beside him, looking at him with concern.

"What's wrong with me?" Harry asked, rubbing his forehead.

"Your situation is not good right now," Veratia said softly. "We've just found Kritcher."

He was lying in the fireplace in the Kitchen, his whole body blackened, looking like he'd been struck by some kind of Imperius Curse— "How are you? Do you feel unwell? You suddenly fainted, it really scared us..."

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