Chapter 36

An undisclosed location.

- Did it work?!

- Did the magic work?!

Stunned gasps and gasps were the first sounds my hearing picked up. I slowly opened my eyes and saw that I was in some parody of a basement, and a rather remarkable crowd in front of me.

A red-haired woman who was looking at me with a certain sense of uncertainty. A middle-aged brunette who had his mouth wide open. Another black-haired man with a stone face and wearing clothes that made him look like Batman. A woman in her forties wearing a cartoon witch style hat with her mouth wide open. Another curly-haired man, frozen like a statue. And ahead of them stood a brunette girl of about fifteen with green eyes and round glasses.

But most notable were the two old men standing in front of them. One of them had a beard, he was also dressed in turquoise clothes and had small glasses on his face. His eyes were studying me with genuine interest, as if I were some kind of guinea pig or something. But the other one...

- Would you be so kind as to explain to me where I am, why I'm here, and why your extremely cheerful grin makes me want to punch you in the face, dear Zelretch? - I said with twitching eyes.

- Oh? No manners. What a bunch of young people... So rude and uncivilized..." he said with a pained look on his face, but my eyes could see the very annoying smirk that never left his face.

- Answer the question, you bloody bloodsucker. - I said as calmly as possible.

But suddenly a red-haired woman intervened in the conversation.

- Are you the version of Valerie from the other world? - she asked in an uncertain voice.

- Valerie? - I didn't understand.

- That's me," a girl of about fifteen now spoke up, to whom I shifted my gaze, "It's nice to meet another version of me. My name is Valerie Potter, what's yours?

I froze and slowly turned towards the interdimensional troll, whose shoulders were twitching with giggles.

Potter?

Bloody Potter!

That old man threw me into the world of bloody Harry Potter?! And not the canonical one, but a parallel to the female version of the main character?!

I took another look around the crowd and realized why it seemed so familiar. "Dumb as a Door," McGonagall, Sirius, Snape, and... Potter's bloody living parents! And judging by age, current events are somewhere within the Goblet of Fire. But... shouldn't "Valerie" have a lightning bolt scar? Welllllll...

- Hehehe... - Zelretch's giggle volume got higher, which made everyone present could hear it, and me even more so.

"Gae bolg Alternative" appeared behind my shoulder and flew at lightning speed at the troll's head... which he stopped by catching the blade with his index and middle fingers.

- What is that?!

- Where did that spear come from?!

- Why does it give off such a terrifying aura?!

Of course, both the vampire and I ignored the crowd's cries of surprise. He let go of the spear, and it shattered into blue-colored dust particles.

- Ouch? Did you really think it could hurt me? - With a toothy smile on his face, he asked.

- I'd use Noble Phantasm, but I'm afraid that if I did, the Alaya of this world would be furious at me.

He didn't say anything in response and looked at me cheerfully.

Why is he looking at me like that? Isn't... Stop.

With True Magic, I touched the Texture of the world and realized something that made my eyes widen.

There is no Alaya here. Which means there are no limitations. Which means I can act in any way at all.

- Not all worlds obey a rule like your last one," he said, as if reading my thoughts, "And you haven't introduced yourself yet, colleague.

- You already know me, don't you?

- Introduce yourself not to me, but to them. - he pointed to the crowd.

I tilted my head to the side and looked at the gawkers. Each one of them looked at me with either shock, surprise, or suspicion. But all of them were clearly expecting my introduction, judging by the expression in their eyes.

- Romani Archaman, Magician. - I said and bowed.

- I assume that word has a different meaning in your homeworld? - Dumbledore asked with genuine interest.

- Who knows. - I shrugged my shoulders.

- You don't trust me, and I can understand that," he nodded, "In that case, I'll wait until you're ready to share that knowledge.

Oya? Is he just playing around or is he really that understanding? Somehow I'm too lazy to explore his soul.

- "Archaman"? Now I see why you don't have Lily's or James' eyes or hair color," Sirius remarked, "White hair and golden eyes are rare.

- But he didn't deny being an alternate version of my daughter. If the head of the Clock Tower is to be believed, all worlds are different," Valerie's father interjected and looked at me, "Can I ask how old you are, and who your parents are?

- Clock Tower? - I interjected and my face twisted.

I don't want to see the haughty and arrogant faces of the Clock Tower Lords in any world. Though the Queen is pretty interesting... for jokes. Well, and Marisbury isn't bad, I guess...

- One of the most secretive factions of wizards," Dumbledore obligingly replied, "By the way, we haven't introduced ourselves. Valerie you already know. The man and woman standing behind her are her parents, James Potter and Lily Potter, née Evans. The man with straight hair is Severus Snape and the one with curly hair is Sirius Black. The lady next to me is Minerva McGonagall. I can be called Albus Dumbledore, as my full name is quite long. And can we hear the answers to James' questions?

- Thirty years old. I don't remember my parents. - I shrugged.

- You really don't trust us..." said Lily sadly, "In that case, what do you think about becoming part of our family?

I raised an eyebrow.

- Well... Since you are an alternate version of our daughter, why not?

- That's all well and good, but I still don't understand why I'm here. - I said, rubbing my temples and ignoring her words.

- The explanation... will take some time..." McGonagall said tiredly.

- Voldemort is back," Valerie said confidently, to which she received stares from the others, I raised an eyebrow once more, and Zelretch was still smirking, "He's back and he's got some kind of artifact that can steal magic.

Steal magic? Interesting.

- Well, since my goddaughter started... - Sirius began - There was a competition recently called the Tournament of Three Wizards. And in the final round, Valerie was transported to a place where, according to her, a powerful dark wizard was reborn, and there he stole her magic with the help of some artifact.

- Then I turned to Lord Zelretch for help," Dumbledore continued, at which Zelretch smiled smugly, "And he suggested using his family's ancient magic, which can work miracles.

- Miracles? - I asked, realizing exactly what the troll had suggested.

- To summon someone who would be able to deal with one of the strongest dark wizards and prevent a catastrophe related to him. - James finished.

- I still don't understand what this has to do with me. - I rolled my eyes.

- Lord Zelretch offered to summon an alternate version of Ms. Potter capable of doing all of this.

- And you just took his word for it?

- He's never been wrong before. – James said, as if not believing him was completely stupid.

I turned toward the vampire and stared at him dumbfounded.

- Oh? What did I do to deserve that look? - He asked cheerfully.

- Considering you're one of the most, if not the most, annoying bastards in the universe?

- Well, you're one of the most annoying bastards in the universe! - he smirked, and then his face suddenly turned serious and the smirk disappeared. And in a whisper that only I could hear, said - Besides, if I hadn't intervened, you would have vanished from existence like that version of the world you were in.

- Hmm?!

- When you started experimenting on your soul, you didn't consider all the intricacies and details of the effects of your actions on the world. Had I not intervened, the Textures of the world would have collapsed one on top of the other," he said seriously, "I don't think I need to tell you where this is leading? Though I've already mentioned it.

I stared at him dazedly, and my hands trembled.

Testing my theories could be worth the destruction of an entire world? I suppose I should thank him in that case.

- For a Magician, you're still young and inexperienced. Even for the likes of us, there are rules not to be broken. 2nd magic gives me the ability to travel between dimensions, whether they are within Akasha's jurisdiction or not. After all, if the rules didn't exist, do you think there would be anything I could NOT do?

Fuck. This whole situation smells like shit, defined.

- 'Now that you're done whispering,' Dumbledore intervened, 'We can change to a more favorable environment. Over a cup of tea, say. How would you feel about that?

I nodded briefly and headed with the crowd towards the exit of the room.

I guess I have a lot of things to think about, if even Zelretch was dead serious about revealing this information to me.

Yes, it's something to think about... Think hard....

-0-

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