Surprise

Harry had fainted, knocked down by the black mist formed by Voldemort.

As the world blurred around him, a pair of familiar green eyes appeared in his vision.

"Mom... Eli?"

Other than Quirrell, whose ashes had been scattered to the wind, Eli was the only one still standing.

"Harry, Harry?"

"Draco, wake up."

Eli let out a long sigh toward the ceiling. "You two idiots are both out cold. How are we supposed to get back up there? Forget it, I'm lying down too."

Eli simply lay down as well. Since they would not be getting out anytime soon, he might as well rest right there.

Wherever I fall, that's where I lie down.

This had been genuinely dangerous. He had not expected to have a direct magical showdown with Old Voldy.

As he remembered it from the movies, Old Voldy had only shown his face before Quirrell handled the close combat himself, without even using a wand.

He had no idea why, in his case, Voldemort had directly taken over the body and grabbed a wand to kill them.

Fortunately, Voldemort had yet to recover, and Quirrell's magic had not been enough to one-shot Eli.

As long as he could not kill Eli in one blow, Eli had a way to kill him!

After all, Harry was not the only one protected by the Blood Protection Charm. Eli had it too.

The original plan had been for Eli to step in if Harry could not touch Quirrell.

But in the end, Quirrell had still died beneath Harry's merciless slaps, while Voldemort had lost his vessel and could not stir up much trouble for now.

And Eli's identity had not been exposed.

He did not want to reveal his identity too early, especially not to Harry.

There was no particular reason. He simply was not prepared for a sudden burst of brotherly affection.

But he did not mind revealing his talent. Sooner or later, he would have to face Voldemort anyway. Besides, Voldemort could not even resurrect himself now, so what was there to fear?

If you had talent, you needed courage too. What kind of hero lacked the spirit to draw a sword against the strong?

Eli did not want to be a hero, but he did not want to beg for food on his knees either.

Still, lying here like this felt pretty good.

In this room, one was dead, two were unconscious, and another idiot was snoring.

When the professors hurried over, even Madam Pomfrey remarked on how remarkably well Eli slept.

Another close call, and once again, it was these unlucky children. This time, Draco had joined them too.

But who knew whether this had all been a carefully arranged trial?

Eli did not care about any of that. He was unhappy right now—extremely unhappy—as he looked at the red decorations symbolizing Gryffindor in the Great Hall.

Just moments ago, they had been green. Then Old Dumbledore had gone up there, babbled for a while, and changed them.

"Facing powerful enemies requires not only sufficient strength and courage, but also sufficient wisdom."

"Hermione Granger showed remarkable intelligence in the face of danger. Fifty points to Gryffindor."

"Ron Weasley displayed exceptional skill at chess. Fifty points to Gryffindor."

"Harry Potter, Eli Hall, and Draco Malfoy faced a terrifying enemy and dared to resist, displaying extraordinary courage. Sixty points each to Gryffindor."

"And Neville Longbottom, who showed great courage in standing up to his friends. Ten points to Gryffindor."

"So, taking all these factors into account, I believe the decorations here should change."

With a wave of Dumbledore's hand, the decorations turned red.

Gryffindor erupted into thunderous cheers.

Slytherin, having experienced the highs and lows of life in such a short time, sank into despair, everyone muttering curses under their breath.

The joy and the House Cup belonged to someone else. Laozi got nothing.

The end-of-term feast, which had not been pleasant for Slytherin, came to an end. The young wizards left in an orderly fashion. Holidays began tomorrow, so they were still quite happy.

"Eli, Eli."

Someone suddenly called out to Eli. It was Professor McGonagall.

"Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office. The password is iced lemon tea. Have a pleasant holiday."

Professor McGonagall left after delivering the message.

Eli began wondering what Old Dumbledore wanted with him at a time like this.

Was stealing the House Cup not enough? Did he have to twist the knife too?

How terrifying!

Still thinking about it, Eli had already arrived outside the office.

Old Dumbledore's passwords were truly bizarre. Iced lemon tea? Eli was practically turning into a lemon himself.

After he gave the password, the winged statue spiraled upward, revealing a staircase.

He went up and knocked on the door.

Old Dumbledore surprisingly did not play his usual game of leaving the door open and saying he had known Eli would come.

"Oh, please come in. Would you like something to drink?"

Dumbledore was as warm and welcoming as an auntie soliciting customers at a market.

"No, Professor. The food at the feast was quite good, and I ate plenty."

Eli declined politely. What he meant was that they had not celebrated winning the House Cup; they had just been busy eating.

Dumbledore took out some sweets. "You can try these. They're candies from Honeydukes. Their flavor has always suited my taste."

Eli looked at the pile of cockroaches that crawled about like living bugs and nearly threw up everything he had just eaten.

Why was Old Dumbledore into this stuff?

"No, no, I'm really full."

Dumbledore casually ate several, making Eli's stomach churn.

Now Eli felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. Old Dumbledore had not called him here just to eat sweets and drink tea.

Yet this riddler would not say what he wanted. He just kept Eli hanging, and Eli could not do a thing about it.

"I have considered this matter for a long time. Perhaps it is immoral. Perhaps it may cause some harm."

Dumbledore spoke.

Then don't say it. Immoral and harmful? Are you trying to hurt me?

"Then... can I choose not to hear it?" Eli asked timidly.

Dumbledore froze at once, even the hand holding the candy pausing midair. He had not expected Eli to say that.

Eli's heart pounded as well. This old man would not fly into a rage and attack him, would he?

Dumbledore quickly recovered. "In truth, I considered many possibilities, but I still wanted to tell you."

Fine, then. You're amazing. You're the big shot. Say whatever you want. I'll just listen and won't dare make a sound.

"Billy. Or perhaps I may call you Billy Potter."

Eli's hair stood on end. Dumbledore knew!

But what did he want? Eli struggled to keep his expression steady. He did not sense any Legilimency from Dumbledore either.

He put on a confused expression. "Professor, I... don't understand."

Dumbledore nodded, his expression growing more solemn, as though he had begun recalling the past.

"Eleven years ago, Voldemort was defeated by an infant only a few months old. That child later became known as the Boy Who Lived. You know him—Harry Potter. But many people do not know that the Potter Family had another, younger son: Harry's biological brother, Billy Potter, who vanished that night."

The look of reminiscence on Dumbledore's face deepened. "We all investigated. There were only faint traces of Apparition left behind. Billy was only an infant and could not possibly have mastered Apparition, so we guessed that he might have been abducted."

His profound eyes seemed capable of seeing through everything. Eli felt as if he had already been seen through completely. If he had not sensed no mental intrusion, he would have thought Old Dumbledore was using Legilimency.

"Until you appeared, Eli. You are that lost child—the younger son of the Potter Family, Harry's biological brother, Billy Potter. We learned earlier that your parents, the Halls, never hid from you the fact that you were adopted."

Eli pretended not to believe it. "B-but they're just Muggles, they..."

"I know, I know, child. They were not the ones who took you. In fact, even now, we do not know how you disappeared."

"But... how can you prove that I am... that I'm Billy?"

A trace of mystery appeared on Dumbledore's face as he took out a quill.

It looked extremely ancient, nothing like something from this era.

"This quill has existed since Hogwarts was founded. It is an exceptionally powerful alchemical creation. Whenever a qualified young wizard is born in Britain, it writes down their name."

"Eleven years ago, the name Billy Potter that it had written disappeared."

Dumbledore looked at Eli.

"And became Eli Hall."