Chapter 257: The Tenth Courtroom

"Ah, let me read it," the Minister said earnestly. "I leave to Harry James Potter the Golden Snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match at Hogwarts, as a reminder that both skill and strength are indispensable."

He took out a small pouch and placed it in Harry's hand.

"We all know that a Golden Snitch remembers the first person to touch it, so you can check it when you go back," the Minister said. "However, judging by the weight, it appears to be empty; there is nothing hidden inside."

Harry carefully tucked the pouch away, keeping it close to his person.

"The matters between Deng Buliduo and you have been resolved. Next, Harry, you need to go to the Department of Mysteries, and your friends may leave," the Minister said. "I still have a mountain of files to review... what is going on?"

Ivy stuck out her tongue and pressed the Deluminator again, causing the Minister's desk lamp to light up once more.

"Let's go, don't disturb him," Harry said softly, and the children filed out.

"I really can't imagine, I mean," Luo En said, looking confused as he flipped through the book of fairy tales, "I wasn't even close with Deng Buliduo. We barely spoke a few words to each other."

"I don't think this was necessarily meant for you," Neville said. "He reminded Harry that skill and strength are both indispensable; perhaps he sees you as the 'strength' that Harry lacks."

"Me?" Luo En's eyes widened in surprise, and then his ears turned bright red. He scratched his head, feeling somewhat embarrassed. "But, what does strength have to do with this book?"

"I suspect Deng Buliduo is pointing us in a direction," Neville said. "Although the 'Hyper-Ascension' failed, for some reason, the original Ascension Charm is now even more effective and easier to cast. So, perhaps the answers you are looking for are in this book as well."

"So, my path to becoming stronger is turning lights on and off?" Ivy asked, fiddling with the Deluminator in dissatisfaction.

"Perhaps Deng Buliduo sees you as the 'skill' that Harry lacks," Neville said tactfully.

"Then what are you?" Ivy retorted.

"I am responsible for the reminders," Neville shrugged.

Two men strode toward them, and one of them placed a hand directly on Harry's shoulder. The children fell silent at once.

"I need to take Harry to the Department of Mysteries," John said. "Bole, you see them out."

"Alright, see you later, Harry," Luo En said. "What are you planning to do this year?"

"We'll keep in touch by phone," Harry said, making a gesture as if holding a receiver, before following John toward the elevators.

Contrary to the Minister's office, the Department of Mysteries was located on Level Ten, the lowest button on the lift. As John pressed it, they had to stop at every floor, exchanging greetings with the wizards coming and going, and listening to them offer praise to Harry.

Finally, the elevator reached the bottom floor. There was only a deserted corridor and a simple black door. Just as Harry thought they were going inside, John pulled him to the left, where an opening led to a flight of stairs.

"We're going down," he whispered. "The lift doesn't go this deep. Lestrange has sealed everything else, so we can only hide the last of these things here, where no one will find them—or rather, where no one would think to look."

They descended to the bottom of the stairs and followed the corridor inward. It looked as though no one had been here for a long time; the rough stone walls spoke of their ancient age. The torches had long since burned dry, providing only a dim, faint light through magical support. The doors they passed were heavy wooden ones fitted with iron bolts. Harry read the labels on the doors: these were courtrooms.

At the very end, there was a rusted, grime-covered iron door. John cast a wary glance around before turning the handle.

It was a deep, dark chamber with rows of benches rising gradually. In the center of the room sat a chair, and on it sat a figure—Ollivander.

"Oh, Harry," the old man said, his eyes filled with desolation. His leather jacket looked tattered. "I really didn't want things to turn out this way, or, to use the Tenth's words, we had no choice."

Harry wanted to say that they might have been deceived by Barty Jr., but since the dead are to be respected, he remained silent.

"You are not just here to receive his legacy; you are here to receive the inheritance of the entire Doctor Project." Ollivander stood up and gently stroked something. Harry's eyes widened as he discovered an invisible wall in the air, which shimmered into view as Ollivander moved: it was the TARDIS.

"Didn't the TARDIS explode?" Harry asked.

"The TARDIS has paradox capabilities, so as long as the Doctors promise to return her after use, multiple TARDISes can appear in the same space-time; they are essentially from different timelines," Ollivander said. "This is the only one left, and I intend to give it to you."

"Me?" Harry said, surprised. "But I'm not the Doctor, and what would I do with it?"

"We want you to secretly restart the Doctor Project," John interjected. "Ollivander and I are both under the Ministry's watch, and we have our own affairs to attend to, but we both agree on one thing: this project should not be terminated."

"She only has space-travel capabilities now, no different from Apparition," Ollivander said, placing his hand on the blue shell. "But the Doctor was never about time travel; it was about the fact that when you need him, he always appears."

"Please fly her away and hide her," John said. "There is an operation manual on the console, along with a small magical item Barty left behind: Psychic Paper. It can display anything you want it to."

"I hope you can become the first Doctor," John patted his shoulder. "Don't be the last."

"We must go now. She is yours," Ollivander sighed, then pushed open the heavy iron door, which groaned with a creaking sound.

Harry walked into the TARDIS in a daze. The interior was slightly different from what he remembered in his third year, but it was largely the same. He walked to the console and saw the manual and the Psychic Paper John had mentioned. In truth, the basic operation of the TARDIS was not difficult; one only needed to set the time and space coordinates and pull the lever.

Now, the time coordinates were locked, and the space coordinates were calculated by latitude and longitude, which was very straightforward. It was no wonder Ollivander thought he could leave a boy not yet fifteen alone here. As long as Harry wasn't too slow, he could figure out how it worked within half an hour and then, like any other wizard Apparating, travel freely to anywhere he wished.

Harry quickly found the location of Tang Dun on the map and began adjusting the knobs to set the approximate spatial coordinates. But just before he pulled the lever, Harry suddenly remembered something and pulled his hand back.

There were Soviet eyes among the Tang Dun servants, or perhaps the butler, Carson, had been bought off. If it were before, Harry wouldn't have cared much; it was easy for the Soviets to buy off low-paid servants to pass on information, and he hadn't felt that anything at Tang Dun was worth keeping secret.

But now, he had to consider: if Yanayev learned of the restart of the Doctor Project, would he scoff at it, try to obstruct it, or be intimidated by it? Harry thought that if Yanayev learned Deng Buliduo had secretly restarted the project, he would certainly lose sleep; but if he found out that Harry, who was about to enter his fifth year, was preparing to restart it, he might just laugh out loud.

Having thought this through, Harry found a suitable destination. He opened the map of Southern Europe, found Albania, and noticed that the Doctors had marked a red dot at a location in Gjirokastër, noting down a set of coordinates.

When Harry truly began to operate the TARDIS, he understood why the Doctors said its positioning accuracy was poor. He found that the numbers on the spatial display were constantly jumping around the target figures and wouldn't stabilize even after waiting for a while. Harry felt there was no point in waiting any longer, so he stepped on the brake.

With a sense of trepidation, Harry pulled open the TARDIS door. What met his eyes was a sun-drenched lawn and a low white building in the distance. Lupin, Sirius, and Tonks were holding their wands, looking toward the TARDIS with vigilance, while a large picnic blanket covered in various foods was spread out before them.

"Oh, hello," Harry said. "As you can see, the Doctors left the last TARDIS to me."

"But why did you come here?" Lupin lowered his wand, though he still looked puzzled.

"Isn't it obvious? I'd bet that the first place Harry would come to after learning to Apparate would be here," Sirius laughed heartily. "Your new toy is quite something; you gave us quite a scare."

"This isn't a toy," Harry said seriously. "Ollivander wants me to restart the Doctor Project."

"Ah, that's a good idea," Sirius nodded. "Ollivander or John must be under close surveillance, so they had to place their hopes in you."

"But, given the current situation, what help can a machine used to replace Apparition provide?" Tonks asked, confused.

"Archives," Lupin said for Harry. "It contains many theoretical books, experimental records, and so on. The fruits of the Doctor's life's work are all inside. Am I right?"

"Yes," Harry nodded firmly. "If I am to restart that project, the first thing I think of is to seek your help."

"Well, we aren't exactly having an easy time either," Sirius shrugged. "Lupin has to deal with a mountain of official business here, and I have to attend Death Eater meetings from time to time—oh, speaking of meetings, do you want to come?"

Under Harry's puzzled gaze, Sirius flashed a mischievous, wicked grin, while Lupin helplessly covered his forehead with his hand.