Professor McGonagall jogged to Dumbledore's office, clutching a copy of The Daily Prophet.
"Chocolate Frogs."
Professor McGonagall opened the headmaster's office door with the password. "Snape? Lily? What are you doing here?"
"They came to catch up with an old man like me. Is something the matter, Professor McGonagall?" Dumbledore asked.
"I think you should see this." Professor McGonagall spread The Daily Prophet across the desk. "Voldemort has taken Gringotts. Now Hogwarts is the only remaining sanctuary."
The Daily Prophet's headline read: The Great Voldemort Drives the Stubborn Goblins from Gringotts.
"After Voldemort took control of the Ministry of Magic, he has been smearing your name everywhere. Many Wizards have already sided with him. Now that he has Gringotts under his control as well, things do not look promising," Professor McGonagall said.
"There isn't much time left. How are things going with Harry?" Dumbledore turned to Snape.
"He has destroyed Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, and Ravenclaw's diadem. Including the diary Horatio modified, we have destroyed four Horcruxes so far," Snape replied. But at the mention of Horatio, Snape and Dumbledore fell silent.
"Perhaps you really should not have stopped him," Snape said.
"I regret it too. If I had protected it properly, perhaps Horatio would be standing on the same side as us now," Dumbledore said in a low voice.
"Why did you not protect it properly when Harry was in his third year? Stand on the same side as Horatio? If you had not broken with Horatio back then, Harry would not be facing this fate now." Snape comforted the weeping Lily as he shouted at Dumbledore.
"I'm sorry. At the time, I could not openly fall out with Fudge, so I let them take it away." Dumbledore lowered his head and was silent for a while. "How is Ariana?"
"You still have the nerve to mention Ariana? Although you let Horatio lose it forever for the sake of your so-called greater good, he still helped you bring Ariana back to life. But how did you repay him? By stopping him from taking revenge after that bitch broke its wings in fifth year?" Snape screamed hysterically. "I truly feel Horatio was not worth it. He gave so much, yet in the end, the one who destroyed him was the headmaster he trusted most."
The scene shifted to Harry. By then, he had shed his childishness and grown from a boy into a young man.
Holding Tom Riddle's diary, Harry followed its guidance to find the Gaunt Family ring, then destroyed it with the Gryffindor Sword.
"Now only Nagini and I remain." Harry opened the diary and saw that the ring-shaped icon inside had vanished.
"Harry, are you really ready?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"Yeah. I've grown a lot these past few years. Come to think of it, I should thank Horatio." At the mention of Horatio, Harry fell silent.
"Hermione, have you managed to contact Horatio?" Harry finally asked.
Hermione shook her head. "Back then, all of us stood against him."
Whenever Hermione recalled the disappointment and despair in Horatio's eyes the last time she saw him, a bitter taste always rose in her heart.
Suddenly, the sky seemed to have been dyed red with blood. Huge black holes appeared one after another overhead, and terrifying monsters roared as they charged out toward the ground, mercilessly hunting the people below.
A gigantic beetle-like monster descended from one of the black holes. Its body was pitch-black, dotted with glowing yellow organs. It roared, "Zetton!!!" as its claws gathered an enormous fireball and blasted it toward London. In an instant, London was melted by the horrifying heat.
[Congratulations, Host. You have destroyed 100 worlds, raised Hyper Zetton to maturity, and completed the mission. Reward is now being issued...]
Horatio ignored the system's voice in his mind and coldly gazed at the world where his dream had begun—and where he had also found despair.
"I'm back..."
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