Breathing heavily, Harry's forehead and hair were drenched in cold sweat, his pupils slightly dilated as if he had just run a marathon. He was still reeling from the intensity of the experience.
Roger hadn't seen the later films, but he'd watched plenty of short clips featuring Snape. In his past life, Snape had been a popular figure, and Roger had come across those clips now and then. Taking what he'd seen, he used his mental techniques to amplify the death scenes, enhancing them with detail and realism. When Harry experienced it, it felt as though he had lived through it himself.
"Just now…" Harry began after a long silence, still trying to shake the lingering fear, but his words faltered. He didn't know where to start.
"That was a possible future… one that could've happened if I hadn't been here," Roger explained calmly. "Voldemort would have returned in full force, and everyone at Hogwarts would have fought and died one by one."
Harry's face twisted into an expression of shock and confusion, but Roger raised a hand, trying to ease the tension. "Don't make that face. Since I'm here, the future won't go that way."
But Roger misunderstood the reason for Harry's grimace. The real cause of his unease wasn't what Roger thought.
"Voldemort is really still alive?!" Harry blurted, his heart hammering in his chest.
Before coming to school, he'd asked Hagrid about Voldemort, but Hagrid's answer had been vague: "Some people think he's dead, others say different things. But I think he's still alive." Now, all that uncertainty was suddenly shattered by Roger's words.
"Of course, he's still alive. And he's in Hogwarts right now."
Harry stood frozen, unable to process everything. Voldemort… here? It was too much. His world had just shifted into something unrecognizable.
"But don't worry," Roger continued, sensing Harry's panic. "With Dumbledore, the professors, and me, Voldemort—who hasn't regained his full power—won't be able to cause trouble. Just go on with your studies and don't think about it."
Harry's mind swirled with the weight of what he had just learned. He realized that everything he'd known about his life was a carefully constructed illusion, and the true world was far more dangerous and complex than he'd ever imagined. All this time, it was people like Roger, Dumbledore, and others who had shielded him from the chaos. Only now was the reality starting to reveal itself.
"Alright, I think you've rested enough," Roger said, snapping Harry out of his thoughts. "Now, let's move on. We're going to visit the other professors."
"Fortunately for you, your parents were both well-known figures at the school. We should be able to quickly gather some memories about their time here, and their lives after graduation."
Roger gave a small smile as he led Harry down the hall toward the next professor's office.
"Not going to struggle anymore?" Roger asked, his tone light and playful as Harry finally seemed to settle into the flow of things.
While Harry immersed himself in the memories of his parents, which Roger had borrowed from various professors, Roger wasn't idle. Along with his usual magical research, he had another pressing task at hand.
As part of his agreement with Voldemort, Roger had continued sparring with him remotely through Quirrell. At first, Voldemort had used Quirrell to teach him magic, testing if Roger's predictions were truly flawless. But once Voldemort confirmed that Roger's insights had no apparent flaws to exploit, he stopped teaching Quirrell. Continuing the lessons would only make the young seer more familiar with his methods, which seemed pointless.
"Let's talk again next time," Voldemort's voice echoed through Quirrell's body, cutting off Roger's invitation to continue.
Voldemort's resolve wasn't entirely broken. He still had one last card to play.
The Dark Lord was well-versed in dark arts, including rituals that could sacrifice life to squeeze out a wizard's potential. It might offer a slim chance of breaking the stalemate between him and Roger. However, the "live and die together" approach had two major issues: First, according to their agreement, Voldemort couldn't directly intervene, meaning Quirrell would have to set up the ritual himself, and also volunteer to die. Second, after being bested by Roger so many times, Voldemort had been forced to confront his own feelings of powerlessness.
Suddenly, the realization struck him. Maybe there was room for improvement in certain areas. I've been so focused on this battle, I've missed something important.
Looking back at the Hogwarts library, Voldemort realized he had barely scratched the surface of some crucial aspects of magic. The more he knew, the more he felt his own inadequacy.
For now, though, Voldemort was unwilling to abandon Quirrell as a useful identity. He couldn't let go of his plans just yet.
Roger didn't press further when Voldemort didn't engage. A slight disappointment lingered in his thoughts, but he let it go. Sparring with Quirrell had been an invaluable learning experience for him, expanding his magical knowledge and allowing him to test new spells. If he could, he would've liked to continue.
As the door to the Room of Requirement opened, they stepped back into the hallway of Hogwarts, walking in the direction they usually took after their battles. The library was their usual destination, but today, Roger felt the urge to ask Voldemort something.
"Voldemort," Roger began, snapping his fingers to activate a small soundproofing spell.
Quirrell, as usual, gave no outward sign of noticing, but Roger knew he was listening.
"I remember your goal is to achieve infinite life and supreme power, right?"
"What is it?" Voldemort responded through Quirrell's voice, his tone tinged with curiosity. It was odd for Roger to bring this up, but he was intrigued by what the seer was getting at.
"Do you really think Horcruxes can make you immortal? And that a ragtag army like the Death Eaters can give you the supreme power you seek?"
Voldemort gave little reaction to Roger's comments about the Horcruxes or his dismissive mention of the Death Eaters. After all, Roger was a seer, and it was to be expected that he would possess such knowledge. The Death Eaters were indeed lacking in purity compared to Grindelwald's Acolytes, who were seen as the true followers of the great seer in the wizarding world.
"The physical body is secondary for wizards. Willpower is the true source of our greatness," Voldemort said, his voice cold and deliberate.
"The true power of the Horcruxes lies not just in granting me multiple chances at resurrection. It also allows me to engrave my will, making it permanent through different stages of time."
Voldemort didn't shy away from the topic. Had anyone less qualified broached it, he would have been offended and likely disposed of them. But Roger, this peculiar seer, had earned the right to engage him on such matters. There was even a slight curiosity in Voldemort's mind as to how Roger, a fellow seeker of immortality, would view his Horcruxes.
Roger nodded thoughtfully. If he measured it according to his own incomplete theories of longevity, agelessness, immortality, and indestructibility, then Voldemort had already reached the 'immortality' stage, albeit in a primitive form.
His physical body was dispensable; his soul could endure forever. He had learned to engrave his will, to prevent his mind from aging. By fragmenting his soul, he could regenerate even in death. It was impressive, but…
"And then?" Roger asked, his tone firm and inquisitive.
Voldemort blinked, momentarily confused. "What do you mean, 'And then'?"
Roger's eyes sharpened, his voice growing serious. "Horcruxes, at this stage, are far from true immortality."
Voldemort remained silent, but Roger pressed on.
"Do you know that the Department of Mysteries is studying time itself? If someone were willing to sacrifice their life to go back decades and prevent your parents from meeting, would you simply vanish? No amount of Horcruxes could save you from that fate."
Roger's gaze was steady as he locked eyes with Voldemort, a trace of genuine concern hidden beneath his words. "Your goal is immortality, yes, and to rule the world. But countless wizards will eventually become your enemies. Any one of them could land a fatal blow, and one of those attacks might be your end."
He paused, allowing his words to sink in before continuing. "Time, fate, and other even more terrifying forces exist in this world. Your path to immortality is riddled with weaknesses. You've created your Horcruxes, but why stop there? Why settle for this incomplete state and hastily thrust yourself onto the world stage?"
Voldemort was silent for a long moment, the weight of Roger's words pressing down on him.
Patreon Seasay