Luck

Kai had no love for being around Harry Potter or being around any Lead Support.

It didn't matter if he were to have a hundred Blacks supporting him. It also didn't matter if he had ample time at his disposal. There were just some things he found utterly pointless and beyond stupidity.

But quite a many things had changed since Kai's reincarnation in this Random World.

Now… he was lucky. And he wasn't just lucky… He was lucky enough to use Jack's Compass.

The things that would have been pointless for him before, were not so pointless now.

As long as Kai remained lucky, while being around Harry Potter and other major Lead Supports, every interaction within the original timeline had a chance to become a Milestone. Every casually bought item mentioned in the original timeline had the chance to become an Item. And every tale, myth, and great achievement had the chance to become a Skill.

So, yes.

Kai had no love for being around Harry Potter.

But he also loved nothing more than Power and the things that contributed toward it… even if those things happened at the cost of diverging the original timeline.

Not to mention, Kai didn't give two thoughts on maintaining the original timeline at all.

By now, he could be considered a true higher-floor Contestant. With all his followers, and the Sun and Moon Organization at his disposal, there weren't many things Kai wasn't privy to.

He knew there were uncountable timelines whose path deviated from the original irreversibly. So what if this timeline also deviated from the original then? Moreover, Chaos itself had assigned a Main Mission which couldn't be completed without toppling the original timeline anyway.

Then there was Darcie Malfoy…

So, as he sat there in the same compartment as Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, Black had only two things in mind.

First, let the Ad Infinitum prepare dialogues and scenarios to subtly diverge the timeline without letting it become an issue.

Second, trust his Luck, and prioritize it over the AI's cold calculations.

Suddenly, the AI beeped. "… It's time."

Black came out of reverie, bringing his gaze back into the compartment.

There were many reasons for him to be here, at this very moment.

First, and foremost, it was to set himself up with the Prime Character, Harry Potter, to keep the options of getting more Items, Skills, and Milestones throughout the Hogwarts term.

Second, it was to get his hands on Scabbers.

Before, Kai couldn't do so. Replacing, or eliminating, Scabbers would have damaged the original timeline beyond repair. Now, with him already coming to terms with Voldemort, he wasn't bound to such restriction. Moreover, the Dark Lord himself had tacitly agreed to it.

Third, it was to obtain a few consumable Items.

Not only there was time and place restrictions on these items, but Harry Potter had to buy them himself for the Contestant, making them not only the most sought-after but also one of the rarest Items.

…

The boys in the compartment had gone quiet, watching the fields and lanes flick past, the train carrying them out of London.

Around half past twelve, there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leaped to his feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Black just smiled wryly and scratched his head. He didn't even mention any lunch.

Harry went out into the corridor.

He had never had any money for candy with the Dursleys, and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry — but the woman didn't have Mars Bars.

What she did have were Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life.

Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.

Ron and Black stared as Harry brought it all back into the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.

Black sat there with calm, eying the potential Items.

It happened then.

Things were going normal. Things were going smoothly. Things were happening as Kai had intended.

He was lucky, goddamn it! Very lucky!!

It happened anyway.

"… Something's wrong," the Ad Infinitum was the first to pick it up.

Black maintained the smile on his face, but his entire being had gone alert, muscles squirming like dragons underneath his uniform. He looked around but found nothing out of place.

Suddenly, Black's dark gaze passed by the compartment's door.

Then his head snapped back to the door and saw her standing there, with her hands on the Honeydukes Express.

Why… Why's she still here?! Black's mind shuddered, seeing the trolley witch just standing there outside the door… looking at him with her old eyes.

The Trolley-Witch!

There wasn't much known about the old witch, but there wasn't something special about her, either. If there was anything abnormal about her, then it was her age. Even for a witch, she was just too old, her age surpassing a century and a half.

No Contestant knew her origins. No Contestant got any Side Mission through her. No Contestant bothered to interact with her.

Even Kai, who had already planned out everything with Item-M, only knew this - The Trolley Witch would sell Harry Potter confectioneries, a few of which would become Items for him.

The presence of the hunched, old woman was already disturbing, but then Black had a feeling that neither Harry nor Ron could pick up on this disturbance.

Then the disturbance erupted, the old, wrinkled mouth finally opening to utter the strange words.

"Don't be greedy," the trolley-witch said, eying Black with a smile. "The children are hungry. Let them eat."

Black's heart thumped, the AI's calculations going haywire as it tried to pinpoint the variables. "… Ask her who she is," the Ad Infinitum suggested.

Out of nowhere, like a sudden avalanche, a feeling bubbled within Black's guts. He had already been through such feelings, so he knew what it meant. His Luck was affecting his thoughts.

This feeling overwhelmed him, becoming an irresistible primal urge.

Black wanted to ask who are you, but, by the time those words reached his lips, they became, "How are you?"

The trolley-witch's brows rose.

The sounds vanished.

Time paused.

As if they existed in some distant dimension, Harry Potter and Ron kept interacting, forgetting Black and the trolley-witch… who had walked into the compartment, coming to a stop between Harry and Black.

She looked down at Black and smiled. "No one ever asked me that…"

Black gulped… his Calm running out.

For the first time, he felt powerless. Nothing would help him now, he knew. Nothing could help him now, he feared. As if that wasn't enough, under the horrified gaze of Black, the trolley-witch lifted her hand and put it on his head, ruffling his hair.

Black couldn't even move.

The trolley-witch chuckled. "I can sense Luck in your eyes," she said, smiling. "It has poisoned you. No wonder you succeeded in entertaining me. Hmm… Very well. I will sell you three items, no more. Let them become Items according to the Great Old Contract. But…"

Black's Ad Infinitum pulsed furiously, trying to contact the original body, but failed.

The trolley witch's smile widened, becoming a demonic grin.

"… Can you afford them, oh, Bringer of Death, Destruction, Madness, and Doom?"

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