Bab 114: Neal receives Harry's letter
Neal stopped reading newspapers from the moment he received notice from Wizengamot as he could imagine how toxic Daily Prophet articles will be. That is why he was unaware of Harry's situation.
Now, after reading his letter, Neal understood the gist of the problem. He then learned the full story from his grandfather and thought for a while about how to help Harry.
Of course, this help isn't out of kindness or anything. Neal wants Harry to owe him a favor that cannot be forgotten that easily. So far, he had only taught Harry a couple of spells and that clearly isn't enough.
With the fact that the ministry of magic is simply his enemy, he might increase the pressure using Harry's situation too. A dementor attacking an underage wizard in a muggle town and that too, the famous Harry Potter, this opportunity is just too good to pass by, for Neal.
He wanted to write a reply and send it back but seeing that the trial is on the next day, Neal knew that it is impossible for Harry's owl to get to its master so quickly.
So, there was only one way to get there quickly. It is to apparate directly to Privet Drive as there was no portkey fixed to that location.
Since he hasn't learned apparition yet and only mastered the way of moving from one side of the wall to another side of the wall, he would have to depend on his grandfather once again.
However, Oakley wasn't fond of the idea that two pureblood wizards of ancient ancestry would personally visit a half-blood wizard who was neither a friend nor a relative.
How would that make any sense?
As if that wasn't crazy enough, Harry didn't even ask for help and just asked for tips for the trial regarding the laws he can use to defend himself or counterattack. In such a situation, if they make a visit and went out of their way to solve his issue, what would they look like?
On the other hand, Neal had a different way of thinking. This isn't about some bullsh*t pride of a pureblood noble or anything. It is all about doing some light work to reap exponential rewards in the future.
According to Salazar Slytherin, Harry Potter somehow would be able to collect the Deathly Hallows. As the lord of Avery House, Oakley obviously had the knowledge of the story of the Peverell brothers.
However, Neal was skeptical about whether the story is really genuine. In his opinion, it was just a fairy tale.
He was under the impression that they must be created by some wizard, considering the fact that he had heard that there are multiple invisibility cloaks scattered across the world. If Death really created the invisibility cloak that Harry possessed, then, there should be only one, not several.
Not to mention, if Death couldn't see the Peverell brother under the invisibility cloak, how come Isle sense harry's presence so easily?
This is why Neal believed that if Harry could really collect the three of them, he might be able to research them to create his own Death Hallows in the future.
Of course, these are all some bonus ideas that came into Neal's head when he was alone. They weren't the main reason he was helping Harry anyways.
In order to meet Harry, Neal went out of his way to ask his grandfather for help. Oakley turned it down but didn't completely disappoint him. He assigned Patricia to go with Neal.
One cannot apparate to a place they have never been before. Hence, Patricia was only able to apparate herself alongside Neal outside of some pub in London before they used muggle transportation to go to surrey.
Within a couple of hours, Neal was already standing before the house of Dursleys only to realize that it is filled with nothing but furniture and someone forgot to lock the door…
Neal quickly summoned his phoenix and sent a letter to Dumbledore, thinking that Harry might have been abducted by some death eater. Of course, he didn't forget to mention acquiring the Horcrux.
Since he doesn't know whether Dumbledore is presented in Hogwarts or not, Neal decided to check in a hotel.
But, to his surprise, within just a couple of minutes, Dumbledore himself apparated before him alongside Fawkes on his head and Blaze on his shoulder.
As the blue phoenix returned to its owner, Dumbledore took a glance at the surprised Patricia for a moment, and then looked at Neal and asked, "Where is it?" He asked in a hushed tone. His body was slightly shivering and his face also looked quite pale as if he fell sick.
Seeing that this old headmaster asked about the Horcrux instead of Harry, Neal assumed that the latter was probably safe and replied as if he was making a demand, "I need to meet Potter."
Dumbledore then said in a hurried tone, "He is being protected by a few wizards in a secure location. No need to worry about him. The Horcruxes are more important. We need to destroy them as soon as possible."
Why would Neal give something that precious when his work wasn't done yet? Neal calmly replied, "It was kept in a secure vault at our home. We are making a few experiments on the object to see if we can track other Horcruxes using it. After all, those objects have something in common, the fragment of the same soul."
"Huh?" At once, Dumbledore was stunned for a moment and quickly fell into thoughts. He then mumbled in realization, "that's right. How did I miss this?"
After staring at Neal for a few seconds, he spoke while putting up a serious look on his face, "Neal, I need you to speak you something important regarding Voldemort. Perhaps, if we had enough time, I would ask your help after you became a full-fledged wizard but unfortunately, I cannot afford such luxury."
Sometime later, outskirts of Little Whinging town;
There was a strange silence between Neal and Dumbledore as they were standing next to each other while staring down at the town from the top of a hill.
"So, a Horcrux might contain curses too, huh," said Neal in a loud whisper.
Dumbledore revealed to him how their discussion about Horcruxes at the end of the semester led to actively searching for the locations that are precious for Tom Riddle Junior.
As a result, he was able to find a ring in the ruins of Gaunt Hovel in Little Hangleton.
He didn't reveal anything about the resurrection stone or the fact that he only has one year left to live. Instead, he only informed Neal that the Horcrux he found had a powerful curse.
And it affected him as soon as he touched it. If not for the fact that he acted in a timely manner, he would have died instantly. And hadn't Snape helped him further, he would probably be in the worst situation. Fortunately, for now, only his right middle finger and ring finger stopped functioning permanently.
Being one of the greatest wizards ever, Dumbledore would be fine even without his two fingers, thought Neal, and focused more on how to deal with the Horcruxes.
Seeing that even Dumbledore couldn't escape unharmed, Neal grew a bit wary of them and decided to not deal with them alone and at the same time, not in a place with a lot of people fearing the accidents. His best bet is to just work together with this old headmaster.
In the end, he made a promise to Dumbledore that he will try his best to help him in finding the Horcruxes.
Dumbledore let out a satisfactory smile and nodded, "good. Now, before we go to the place where Harry is, I need you to keep in mind that you should never speak of Horcruxes or very important things in presence of Harry. I fear that he might have been affected by that night when the dark lord was resurrected."
Neal nodded in understanding. "Don't worry about it."
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