Resisting Temptation, Winning a Small Victory / The Loving Black Family...

To a man of sound mind, death is but another great adventure... This is what Dumbledore said at the end of Sorcerer's Stone.

Of course, Harry doubted whether his Albus Dumbledore could say the same thing, because the guy was clearly not very sober right now.

But one thing is certain: Harry is not afraid of death.

Death is just a simple biological concept. The bizarre causes of death and the various shapes of corpses after death are commonplace for Harry, and hardly stir any emotion in him.

Death is certainly a painful thing; it is like a storm that sweeps through life, and the closer one gets to the center, the more one has to endure.

But without a doubt, when life truly passes through the storm and finds itself in the eye of the storm, it will no longer suffer, and will instead find its eternal resting place... just like the world behind the Veil, calm and serene.

Harry didn't mind that the people around him could find peace after a great journey... at least that's what he thought for now.

There is probably only one kind of death he truly fears.

Every time he stood on the dissection table, he couldn't help but pray... that this kind of thing would never happen to the people around him.

Unnatural death...

Harry's fears are the pain of losing a loved one, the anxiety of not knowing whether tomorrow or an accident will come first, and the sudden disappearance of the person he cares about when they should be shining brightly, leaving him alone to continue struggling in loneliness!

"They keep saying they're not afraid of death, but in the end, they still can't accept sudden separation..." A sinister grin suddenly appeared on the Grim Reaper's skeletal face. "So, if you could truly master the power to bring the dead back to life, wouldn't you be able to completely stop worrying about their... unnatural deaths?"

"What did you say?!"

Death seemed to have a complete understanding of Harry's thoughts, and his words were like the devil's temptation to him.

"Just imagine how wonderful that would be?" Death tempted him even more fiercely. "You can make mistakes as you please, because all regrets can be made up for; from now on, neither injury, illness, nor even old age can take the lives of the two people beside you; if you wish, you can even transcend the constraints of time with them and achieve true eternity!"

"This kind of thing..."

Harry had to admit that he had indeed fallen for her, much to his chagrin.

Although he knew it was all sweet talk, a malicious attempt to lure him in, the scene described by Death was simply too wonderful.

You can spend endless time with your loved one...

Seeing the confusion on Harry's face, and Death behind the Veil, the ghostly fire in his eyes flickered with pleasure.

If he's even interested, that's good; at least it means there's still a chance he might take the bait...

BOOM!!

However, whether it was a coincidence or even Death himself could slip up, a loud crash suddenly came from outside the door, startling Harry awake as he struggled against temptation!

The sound echoed throughout the entire Death Chamber, and the powerful magical fluctuations that extended along the walls seemed to instantly dispel the fog before Harry's eyes, allowing him to regain the senses that had been deceived by Death!

That's right, the girls were always by his side; they never disappeared.

Hermione and Luna Lovegood seem to be bound by some special force; they cannot see Death, nor can they hear their conversations with Death, but it doesn't matter.

Because he had seen them again, and truly touched them!

At the same time, he also clearly heard Dumbledore's voice coming from outside.

"Sirius, get Harry and the others behind me!"

That voice completely snapped Harry out of his daze, pulling him back from the temptation of death!

It wasn't because the sentence was particularly important, but rather because Harry had just been contemplating the question of death, and through Dumbledore, he immediately thought of his teacher, Nicolas Flamel.

If the eternity that Death speaks of is nothing more than a forceful confinement of the soul to an increasingly decaying body, just like the Sorcerer's Stone, then such 'wonderful' is best avoided!

"Death, it seems you didn't succeed..." After letting out a long sigh, Harry's face regained its resolute expression. "I admit, eternal life would tempt anyone, and I'm no exception. But as you said, I'm just a mortal. Mortal life is very short, and it is precisely because it is short that people should savor all the pain and joy in life, and that the process of moving towards death is so precious."

"And for me... it is my responsibility... and my current wish, to be able to set off again with my hopes for those I love and who love me deeply after they have all gone to the eye of the storm!"

"..." Death made no response to what Harry said after regaining consciousness. The ghostly fire in its eyes flickered silently. After staring intently at Harry for a while, it suddenly disappeared behind the Veil.

At the same time, Harry heard Hermione's soft call.

"What just happened? I felt a little dazed... Why did it suddenly become so noisy outside?"

"Our appearance has returned to normal," Luna Lovegood, now awake, her voice tinged with regret. "I actually wanted to see more of us, when we're old..."

"There will definitely be a chance in the future!" Harry promised with a smile. "As long as we stay together and support each other until that day."

"Is that really possible?" A clear longing appeared in Luna Lovegood's eyes.

"Of course!" Hermione nodded firmly. "Harry's efforts, all our efforts so far, have all been for this... We will always be together, and we will never be apart!"

"Yes, we'll always be together~" Harry gripped both girls' hands tightly, solemnly making a promise.

'Purr~' At that moment, the kitten resting in his pocket also quietly let out a lazy purr.

(We'll always be together, but I can't be in the same kind of relationship as them~)

"Awoo!!" As for the female Dragon in Luna Lovegood's arms, it was a completely different kind of eagerness.

(But I want to do it the same way they do!)

The fighting outside grew increasingly noisy, and it seemed that DA, Sirius, and the others inside were out of danger.

Therefore, Harry and his two companions knew it was time for them to leave.

"Let's go, I'll leave the rest to Dumbledore."

Harry pulled the two girls to his side, then turned back for a long look at the empty archway before slipping away without hesitation.

He knew this was definitely not his last confrontation with death, and he wasn't sure if he could resist similar temptations in the future...

But at least this time, he won!

"Sigh... troublesome. This kid is surrounded by too much love; he's not Dumbledore over there."

However, after Harry left, the figure of Death suddenly reappeared in the lonely archway. The skeleton, devoid of flesh and blood, even let out a rather human-like sigh.

"So... I guess I'll have to resort to force after all~"

Chapter 784 The Loving Black family

Inside the Department of Mysteries, the battle between Harry and Harry Potter had already ended.

However, after leaving the Ministry of Magic, Harry did not immediately activate the Time-Turner to leave, but instead went to another place.

12 Grimmauld Place, London, the old residence of the Black family.

This place is now the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, and naturally the Fidelius Charm has been reapplied to it. However, this charm cannot stop Harry, because he already knew the address.

The Department of Mysteries is probably still cleaning up the mess, and Dumbledore and Voldemort still have a fight to fight, so Harry and his friends took the opportunity to come here.

After successfully infiltrating the area, Hermione silenced Walburga Black's screams with a single Sleeping Charm, while Harry easily subdued Kreacher, the catalyst for the Department of Mysteries incident.

The House-elf's actions were truly astounding to Harry.

The series of events he triggered profoundly illustrates how a powerful wizard can be House-elf betrayed and killed by his own elves!

"Kreacher... why would he betray Sirius?" Luna Lovegood seemed puzzled as she looked at the House-elf lying unconscious on the ground.

"It wouldn't really be called betrayal; it's more like... this is a tragedy shared by Kreacher and Sirius. Putting aside their family ties, in this timeline, they probably both wished the other dead..."

Hermione now feels very regretful. She was particularly heartbroken by Kreacher's experiences and even felt that Sirius had been too harsh on him.

But she never expected that in this timeline, it was Kreacher who killed Sirius.

"Perhaps... but in my opinion, the tragedy of the whole thing is that it was a conspiracy with a very low success rate, yet it still succeeded!" Harry shook his head helplessly, his expression turning somewhat gloomy. "Besides... Narcissa Malfoy really lowered my expectations for what's acceptable~"

What is the procedure for the Sirius death incident?

It all started with his conflict with Kreacher. Sirius couldn't tolerate Kreacher, so on Christmas Day, he ordered Kreacher to "get out."

Kreacher misinterpreted this as meaning he was leaving the house, and went straight to the Malfoy Manor, where he found Narcissa Malfoy, the third daughter of the Black family.

After that, Kreacher began secretly serving both families simultaneously.

Due to his status, he couldn't directly reveal the secrets of the Order of the Phoenix, but he could reveal some seemingly trivial things that Sirius considered insignificant... such as Harry Potter treating Sirius like a father or brother, and even being willing to risk his life for Sirius.

Voldemort then used this information to deceive and entice Harry Potter through his spiritual connection with him.

As a result, Harry Potter, at Dumbledore's insistence, reluctantly began to learn Occlumency from the Severus Snape.

Unfortunately, he was ultimately not skilled enough, and Voldemort successfully made him see the illusion of Sirius being captured and tortured. So Harry Potter and his friends bravely charged forward, only to fall headlong into the ambush set by the Death Eater.

Sirius, who had been completely unharmed, rushed to the rescue with the Order of the Order of the Phoenix after learning that his godson might be surrounded. Tragically, he fell into the Veil and never emerged...

This series of procedures may seem quite rigorous, but in reality, the success rate of each step is actually quite low.

If Sirius hadn't fallen through the Veil, if Harry Potter had properly learned Occlumency, if his teacher hadn't been a Severus Snape, if he had contacted his godfather immediately after seeing the vision, if Kreacher hadn't tipped off Narcissa Malfoy, if the House-elf hadn't misinterpreted Sirius's meaning...

If any one of these "ifs" had occurred, the entire outcome of the event could have been rewritten, and Sirius would not have died.

But the worst, and equally tragic, thing is that all of these things have turned out in the worst possible way!

Throughout the entire incident, everyone seemed to have lost their minds, single-mindedly trying to ruin themselves and drag others down with them.

However, after Harry learned the details of the incident, the person he hated most was not Kreacher or Bellatrix Lestrange, but Narcissa Malfoy.

He truly hadn't expected that this married-out Black family third princess would disregard all family ties and allow Voldemort to use Sirius to set up a conspiracy!

Harry Potter considered Sirius his most important family member, and Sirius, in turn, loved his godson dearly.

If Harry Potter were to be surrounded by Voldemort, Sirius would surely go berserk and come after Voldemort to fight him to the death!

How could Narcissa Malfoy not know something that even a fool could see?!

So the truth is, she's like her crazy sister... no, they're still different.

Compared to die-hard supporters like Bellatrix Lestrange, Harry despises Narcissa Malfoy, the kind of person who instigates things, even more!

This incident also served as a wake-up call for Harry, because in his own timeline, Kreacher might also be having an affair with Narcissa Malfoy!

It seems I'll have to be even more careful after I get back...

Harry glanced deeply at the unconscious Kreacher, then ignored the House-elf and went to carefully search the glass cabinet in the Black family's living room.

He came to the Black family's old house not simply to see Kreacher, but also to look for something.

For example, the Horcrux pendant that has always been stored here.

Having finally managed to travel through time, Harry would naturally want to plunder the place if given the chance.

The only truly valuable thing in this spacetime, besides the Deathly Hallows that had to be taken away, was the alchemical relic preserved in the locket— the Universal Solvent Azoth!

"Hey, it really is there! I'm so lucky!"

After using Parseltongue to open the locket, Harry could clearly feel the invisible and colorless special energy within, so he immediately and carefully used the locket he had brought to collect it.

Obtaining this Universal Solvent also means that Harry might be able to master the third element.

"Oh right... this thing's pretty useless now, can I borrow the Sword of Gryffindor?" But at that moment, Luna Lovegood stared at the locket for a long time, then suddenly asked Harry for his weapon.

Here, for you...

Harry, bewildered, handed over the sword, but the latter, without a word, cleaved the locket in two!

An indescribable wave of pain emanated from the tattered locket. At that moment, one of Voldemort's Horcrux had been destroyed by Luna Lovegood!

"Wait... what are you doing?" Hermione asked, puzzled. "Didn't we agree that the Horcrux were for them to deal with themselves?"

"I think this would be better." Luna Lovegood's expression was somewhat mysterious. "After all, if it's just two people escaping, this thing is just a burden."

"Two people...?"

Hearing Luna Lovegood's words, Hermione seemed to be deep in thought for a moment.

Chapter 785 The So-Called Dialogue Between Men

To be honest, traveling through time continuously is really tiring, but given the current situation, Harry can only keep his spirits up.

Especially this time, as the penultimate stop of this time-traveling journey, Harry was prepared to travel back to the Triwizard Tournament and, as planned, protect Cedric Diggory.

Hmm... if Cedric Diggory in this timeline could know Harry's thoughts, he'd probably be crying his eyes out in Myrtle's bathroom right now~

His life or death is clearly the key to determining the plot's direction more than twenty years later, yet Harry only remembered this now.