[Invisibility Cloak]

"I won't be able to launch another attack for a long time."

"Slytherin's Ring (referring to the Horcrux containing the Resurrection Stone; Voldemort didn't know the ring's true identity) is too far away from me."

"I'm sorry for the trouble, Taiwan Novel Website is super convenient—pick any site you like, and watch the latest chapters as soon as they're updated."

"Moon's Magic is mostly used to maintain my sanity and mend my soul."

In the Defense Against the Dark Arts Office, Voldemort sighed.

How sane are you, exactly?

Quirrell kept his head lowered, but his expression remained respectful.

"Without a physical body, I can't bring my full strength to bear. As things stand, I can't make another Horcrux, either." Voldemort began to miss the power he'd possessed when united with a Horcrux.

Even though a Horcrux became his true body when they united, meaning he couldn't turn to vapor and fly, it was no great inconvenience.

When united with the Diadem, he had the perfect combination of intellect and power.

When united with the Ring, he was connected to that Misty World, gaining senses that transcended the dimension of reality and a far greater range for Apparition.

When united with the Cup, he had an inexhaustible, nearly limitless supply of life force.

The transcendent senses the Ring had given him were what allowed him to successfully transport it to the seabed.

The immortal body the Cup had fashioned for him let him freely sacrifice life force, successfully transporting the Ring into a rocket that was already soaring skyward.

"Back then, I was completely consumed by the panic of the Diadem's destruction."

"I was afraid Dumbledore had many sides I didn't know about."

"I only wanted to hide the remaining Horcruxes somewhere no one could reach."

"I never expected that, after returning to Hogwarts, the version of me in the Cup and the version of me in the Ring would be so powerful—more powerful than I'd been at my full strength."

"Stealing the Philosopher's Stone or killing Harry Potter would have been easy."

At this, Quirrell thought to himself, Are you sure? Ten days ago, you got beaten like a dog, and ever since you came back, you've been complaining that your backside hurts.

"So I need to correct that mistake and take up residence in your mediocre body again."

"Master." Quirrell panicked.

Voldemort sneered. "Why do you think your magic has improved so dramatically these past few days?"

"Our union is no simple matter. Unless I'm resurrected, I can only possess your body until you die. I can't possess any other living being."

"Your soul and body have also been permanently marked by me."

"That's why you can share in Moon Magic."

"Not even Dumbledore could sever this connection."

"You are me, Quirinus."

Quirrell sank to his knees, utterly lost. "I am you?"

He looked at the full-length mirror. A soft moonlight shimmered across his reflection.

"I am Voldemort. I am the true Savior. I am the Dark Lord!"

A frenzied laugh rang through the empty room.

Soon, it became two laughs.

At last, they merged into one.

The turban burst into flames without a spark.

He wouldn't need it anymore.

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

"I'd meant to give this to you as a Christmas present, but I thought... it would be better to give it to you now." Dumbledore gave a gentle flick, and a cloak appeared from thin air.

It shimmered silver, like liquid, and felt as though it had been woven from water.

"James's cloak!" A flicker of nostalgia passed through Sirius's eyes.

Lupin stared in surprise at Harry's invisible hand. "Can it still make you invisible?"

Harry noticed that Dumbledore had been staring intently at him the whole time. At the same time, the wand in his pocket was no longer the Elder Wand.

"Were you watching for a reaction between me and the cloak?"

Dumbledore's smile stiffened. He still wasn't quite used to Harry's blunt way of getting straight to the heart of the matter.

"Yes. It's a very ancient treasure, unlike any Invisibility Cloak on the market. It only works properly for Potter descendants."

"After James and Lily were protected by the Fidelius Charm and no longer needed it, I even borrowed it to study."

"I can turn invisible too, can't I?" Sirius placed his hand beneath the cloak, looking puzzled.

"I'm not talking about invisibility. I'm talking about a secret that perhaps no Potter has ever discovered." Dumbledore shook his head. "It stops aging. When a Potter descendant wears it, they stop aging."

"For the Potter family, that makes it the equivalent of the Philosopher's Stone?" Sirius swallowed.

Dumbledore nodded. "No one wears an invisible garment all the time, so its secret remained just as invisible."

"I saw a world," Harry said as he put on the Invisibility Cloak. "A world filled with bright mist. It seems I exist there at the same time, too."

After mastering Golden Light Spell 9.0, his body and mind had begun to transform even further.

Unlike his counterpart in the original timeline, who hadn't sensed anything unusual about the Invisibility Cloak, he had perceived its true nature.

Unlike a Horcrux, whose soul fell entirely into the Misty Illusion, he existed in both dimensions at once: reality and the Misty Illusion.

That was how he escaped Death's Gaze.

At the same time, he began to sense an obscure magical fluctuation.

Magic from the Peverell family?

In the legend of the three brothers, the youngest, who chose the cloak of Death and lived to a ripe old age, was Ignotus Peverell. His granddaughter, Iolanthe Peverell, married Hardwin Potter.

Harry was descended from that branch. Peverell blood flowed through him, too.

"The Misty World!" Sirius frowned, remembering Voldemort's words.

Wouldn't that mean only Harry could kill Voldemort's true self in the Misty World?

Harry was powerful, but as his godfather, all Sirius wanted was to see him get married and have children as soon as possible.

He quickly asked, "Dumbledore, have you figured anything out? We can't defeat Voldemort without you."

"I'm missing the most important piece of the puzzle." Dumbledore sighed.

He had two of the Deathly Hallows, but the one he wanted most—the Resurrection Stone—was the only one he lacked.

He didn't need the unbeatable Elder Wand, nor the Invisibility Cloak that let him evade death. He only wanted his sister back.

"Bob Ogden once worked for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Later, he grew tired of everything in the Wizarding World and went to live in seclusion in the Muggle World."

"If he's still alive, perhaps his memories..."

"You couldn't find him either?" Sirius asked in surprise.

"There are nearly 5.4 billion Muggles on this planet." Dumbledore sighed. "I'm not even sure he's still in Britain."

He regretted it beyond measure.

He had once been so close to the Resurrection Stone. Tom had worn it openly on his hand while still a student, but by the time he returned after graduating to apply for a job, it had disappeared.

"How did you know he knew where the Resurrection Stone was?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore didn't obtain Ogden's memory until around 1995.

The only information it revealed was that the Resurrection Stone had once been in the hands of the Gaunt family.

Dumbledore then visited Voldemort's uncle, Morfin Gaunt, in Azkaban and obtained his memory.

But that only let Dumbledore confirm that Voldemort had killed the Riddle family, framed his own uncle, and taken Slytherin's Ring, which held the Resurrection Stone.

Neither memory was useful.

In the original timeline, they had only been used for teaching.

He could more or less guess why Dumbledore had never thought to visit Gaunt Shack.

It was the home of Slytherin's last descendants, and that was no secret. To some wizards familiar with its history, it was even a popular tourist destination.

No one could have imagined that the scholarly Voldemort had failed to recognize the Resurrection Stone for the ridiculous reason that he'd never read fairy tales, turned it into a Horcrux, and hidden it there.