Chapter 1

Prologue

In 1999, somewhere outside Moscow.

Twelve robed figures formed a circle, pointing their wands upward together; in their midst stood an old man, his elder wand also directed at the sky.

“This ritual lacks only one final step: [love] and [sacrifice]. You all understand the stakes—no need for me to elaborate, do you?”

“For the Soviet Union!”

Magical energy coalesced into a powerful vortex, and one by one, the twelve wizards collapsed.

A blinding white light engulfed everyone present; the old man closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the year was 1980. That year, his magical power had long stagnated, but his political career was about to reach its peak.

This moment was the ritual’s absolute limit—he must act swiftly. A chaotic, fractured Europe was a necessary condition to save the Soviet Union.

From Britain, a perfect opportunity was gradually taking shape.

Gennady Ivanovich Yanayev unrolled a parchment and slowly wrote a name: Harry Potter.

In 1980, Ge Xuan slowly opened his eyes.

Time had been altered—likely in 1999—someone had forcibly pierced time and sent a memory from the future back to the present, but failed to mend the rift left behind.

If he could intercept the calamitous fate from this altered disaster and combine it with the accumulated national destiny of the Celestial Dynasty, perhaps he could seal the rift. Another gift of time—a fellow traveler on the path to immortality…

Ge Xuan hesitated, then finally whispered softly: “Zhang Sheng, the girl in your family named Qiu is destined to be mine—I wish to take her as my disciple.”

Or, if this calamitous fate could be repurposed… then he would have to shift his thinking slightly.

In 1980, a soul from another world slipped through the brief gap.

Ten-year-old Donald Fontroy died of a high fever; when he awoke again, his body was inhabited by a soul from the twenty-first century.

Donald’s uncle was media tycoon Scrooge Fontroy, but cable television was poised to dominate the media market—he knew his family’s enterprise must transform.

Yet a letter of acceptance from Ilvermorny filled him with astonishment and wild joy.

In 1980, Donald enrolled at Thunderbird Academy, and under his guidance, Scrooge decided to reach for the fledgling Microsoft.

First-year Donald whispered to himself: “If only I could go to Hogwarts—Hermione is waiting for me.”

“Though it’s a pity—she was probably just born this year?”

In this utterly transformed 1980, Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, was being delivered to Number Four, Privet Drive, to his aunt’s home, just as it had unfolded in countless parallel worlds.

(Once again:

This story is told from Harry’s perspective. Throughout his growth, he will encounter many individuals who approach him with ill intent and hidden agendas. Harry often cannot see through their disguises; for the reader’s clarity, non-canonical names and settings will be used, but these figures are all native to the magical world—no other time-travelers exist.

Hint:

Characters from other film or television works represent agents dispatched by Yanayev, seeking to amplify Harry and Voldemort’s influence and plunge the European wizarding world into chaos, thereby destabilizing the Muggle world.

Characters from other fan works represent agents sent by the White House, aiming to preserve stability in the European Muggle world and court the eventual victor—thus they maintain a degree of hedging.

Civil servants and the Doctor are native wizards who have allied with the Soviet Union, each with their own private motives. While expanding the war, the Civil Servant strives to uphold the Statute of Secrecy, while the Department of Mysteries (the Doctors) hopes Harry will achieve ultimate victory.

Characters with Chinese names are tied to Ge Xuan’s scheme; their mission is to participate in and witness the original plotline, and Ge Xuan will subtly remind them of key narrative turning points through divination.

Members of the Fontroy family exist solely to pursue romance; all other stances are deliberately flexible.)