Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 623 Harry Potter's Troubles

The heavy snow began to swirl on the icy windows again, and Christmas was drawing ever closer.

As in previous years, Hagrid carried the twelve Christmas trees to the hall by hand.

Holly wreaths and shimmering flakes adorned the stair railings.

A persistent candle cast a warm glow from the helmet of the armor, and mistletoe was hung intermittently in the corridor.

What excites and focuses students even more than Christmas is—

It's Tom Riddle's past.

Tierra revealed to the students Voldemort's fascinating, mysterious, and cruel past.

The fear caused by this past, coupled with its immense attraction, drove all who witnessed it, and even those who had only heard of Voldemort's past, to investigate, to dig, and to obtain more information and intelligence about Voldemort.

“As expected, a person’s name reflects the tree’s shadow.” Tierra laughed and complained to Dumbledore, who had taken time out to come back for Christmas. “I was clearly the youngest champion in the Triwizard Tournament, and I clearly drew a lot of hatred during the tournament, but their enthusiasm for me back then was not even a tenth of what they are for Voldemort now.”

“Even if they had been half as enthusiastic about me back then as they are about Voldemort now, I wouldn’t be in a hurry to trouble you to officiate another funeral for me,” Tierra said with a smile.

"So what is your purpose now?" Dumbledore countered. "To push Voldemort onto the path to godhood... Are you truly prepared to help him become a god, or are you preparing to hold a funeral for him?"

“Of course it’s a funeral,” Tierra answered without hesitation. “Do I look like the kind of saintly, overly kind person?”

"Aren't you afraid of things getting out of control?" Dumbledore put down his teacup, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Are you that confident?"

“Yes, I’m that confident,” Tierra said with a smile. “This game is gradually becoming boring and tedious. I don’t even need to pay attention to Voldemort, I don’t even need to check his progress. I just need to follow my plan step by step, and he will… he will also have to embark on the path to godhood at the time I need him to, in the place I need him to, and in the way I need him to.”

"It's good that you have that kind of confidence..." Dumbledore nodded and said.

……

This excessive excitement and focus on Voldemort's past led to another behavior—

The excessive focus on Harry. Of course, most of his former Hogwarts classmates, especially former members of Dumbledore's Army and their friends and family, already regarded Harry Potter as the prophesied child, the student leader, and the uncrowned king of Gryffindor.

—As for Tyella, who is more famous and more capable than Harry…

They no longer considered Tiera as one of their own, at least not as a classmate or student.

After all, Tiera was too strong, ridiculously strong, so ridiculously strong that they didn't even have any interest in guessing why Tiera was so strong.

But Harry is different.

Harry's story still retains a legendary quality, and Harry is only moderately strong, even quite weak in some aspects.

At first, some people approached Harry with the intention of digging into Voldemort's past, but gradually...

After delving into Harry's background, many girls became fascinated by Harry and his legendary past—

This resulted in large numbers of girls gathering under the mistletoe whenever Harry walked down the corridor, causing severe traffic congestion.

Fortunately, Harry's frequent nighttime wanderings gave him an extraordinary knowledge of the secret passages within the castle, so he could always easily find his way to class, study, or Quidditch practice without any mistletoe.

Ron finally realized the necessity of taking this detour—not to avoid the hustle and bustle, but to avoid his own jealousy.

While Harry enjoyed teasing Ron about his displeasure, the provocations he had endured over the past few weeks had only added to Ron's troubles—

Harry and Hermione had to deal with Lavender Brown's frequent appearances, as she seemed to think that any time not spent kissing Ron was a huge waste.

Even Tyrell, who always seemed nonchalant about everything, began to find the interactions between Lavender and Ron to the point of being somewhat annoying.

Tyrell, however, was quite relaxed… or rather, much more relaxed. He'd been incredibly busy lately, rarely spending time with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. And even when they were together, the moment Tyrell saw Lavender Brown near Ron, he'd turn and leave to help Horace Lugghorn in his laboratory forging his Philosopher's Stone—

Hermione followed suit, leaving Harry alone to endure Ron and Lavender's constant displays of affection.

(End of this chapter)