Chapter 423: The Anchor of Fate

Hermione had been saying that when Alan left, she would hold a small farewell party for him. She invited Harry, Ron, Cui Ge, and Lu Na, as a group of friends who didn't know each other without fighting. Harry was in favor of this proposal. First, their chat would be very helpful for Hermione to control OOO, and second, he himself was quite willing to learn more about Alan. Such an excellent young man would not be unknown, and they might meet again in politics in the future.

However, in the end, this farewell party was not held. Alan didn't reveal any news to them. He just picked up his box and went out on a calm afternoon, and then never came back.

Originally, this was just a faint regret. Hermione didn't complain or be dissatisfied; she just revealed a relieved smile. But at this very moment, the weekend after Alan had just left, Snape called Harry to his office and told him the news of the diadem being stolen with a serious face. His thoughts were suddenly pulled away from these things, and he began to suspect Alan.

"Alan Harris... you mean, that Ravenclaw exchange student?" Snape spent some time recalling. "With his strength alone, is it really enough to break through my protective magic?"

"Your protective magic, does it work on Masked Riders?"

"Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't," Snape narrowed his eyes. "But does this mean that there is a Knight from another school among the transfer students, and you guys never thought of reporting it to me?"

"Uh, I thought he was just, a kind of fighting among children..." Harry scratched his head embarrassedly. "And, he has a good relationship with Hermione, we all feel he doesn't look like a bad person."

"Clearly, you have other things you are hiding from me," Snape chuckled. "Although I don't mind this, I hope you understand a principle: many things, although independent and unrelated, don't mean they are mutually exclusive. When you think you know someone's identity well enough, you also have to consider that he might not necessarily have only one identity."

"Thank you," Harry felt that Snape's meaningful words were teaching him. "Then if we assume Alan has other identities, what is he stealing the diadem for? If it's to this point and someone still can't let go of Voldemort, then I think this is too stupid. Perhaps it is more likely that he stole it because of the diadem's original meaning, trying to obtain wisdom from it, or sell it to others as an antique?"

"You have to understand one thing, Harry," Snape shook his head. "There are very few wizards in the world today who are qualified to come into contact with Knight power, and these people are the top layer of the wizarding world. In the eyes of the top layer, the significance of the diadem is not as important as Voldemort."

"Why?" Harry couldn't help but ask back. "Do you think Voldemort is more worth paying attention to than Ravenclaw?"

"No, to be precise, if the diadem is a diadem, then it's just a tool made by Ravenclaw at will, and it's even more dispensable after the inspiration spell spread; but if the diadem is Voldemort's Horcrux, then first of all, it houses the remnant soul of a top dark wizard, and secondly, as the only person in the world who has painstakingly studied Horcrux technology, the Horcruxes made by Voldemort actually have great research value. You should be able to guess that another project under Lucius is to study magic related to the soul through Nagini—you might not know yet, although Nagini's life as a snake has passed, its body still faithfully performs the duties of a Horcrux. If this characteristic can be studied thoroughly by us, the foreseeable application prospects are quite large."

"Your implication is, Alan might be working for the Magical Congress, and stealing the diadem is for research?"

"No, the Magical Congress has no need to steal the diadem, because the cup is already with them," Snape shook his head. "What I am worried about is that Alan is secretly working for the Kremlin, causing the diadem to fall into Yanayev's hands."

"But he must be working for Tang Tang Nade... oh right, this is what you wanted to say just now, he might be a double agent."

"This is the most likely, sure enough Yanayev is also making multiple preparations, but I still feel it's strange. If Alan is a double agent, he can gain the trust of the Magical Congress, to the point that Tang Tang Nade is willing to give him Knight power. Such a trump card, does Yanayev really only want to steal a diadem?"

"Perhaps..."

"No, Harry, I know better than you what a cunning person Yanayev is," Snape was thinking fast, and he pressed Harry's speech without thinking. "The reason he did this... yes, the diadem is the only Horcrux he has a chance to take away. Many people know it is hidden in the Room of Requirement, and the reason he doesn't care about the cost to obtain the diadem is—Horcruxes, or soul magic, are spells that can truly threaten Masked Riders. Unfortunately, I should have put down my prejudice earlier and studied the Killing Curse properly..."

"Sorry, Professor, you said many people know the diadem is in the Room of Requirement, what is this about?" Harry couldn't help but ask.

"Harry Potter," Snape read Harry's name, but the tone was like a statement. "If I tell you, what will happen?"

"What will happen?"

"Hmph, since Yanayev dares to steal the diadem, then I will tell you about it," Snape revealed a dangerous smile. "No matter how meaningful Horcruxes are, he can't bet the survival of the entire wizarding world on a fluke. Then this actually means—fate is indeed no longer in the world."

"The matter is actually very simple, that is, Xuanjun divined a series of threads of fate, including 'the diadem is hidden in the Room of Requirement,' and Xuanjun once warned us, of course, even without his warning, the Doctors also discovered this risk, that is, fate will become very fragile after time is frozen, and you, as the anchor of fate, if you are rashly told information that you shouldn't know, then the entire real world has the risk of collapsing."

"And now it seems, since Yanayev doesn't care about breaking the divination, then it doesn't matter if you know about the diadem. Perhaps this is his other plan, pushing his luck, and finally breaking the Statute of Secrecy in a grand manner," Snape pondered. "Unfortunately, we know very little about the relationship between fate and death, and Xuanjun doesn't seem to be certain either."

"Uh, so that's how it is," Harry had an impression of this point. "But I don't quite understand, why is it me?"

"If it were Deng Buliduo or Voldemort, would you feel it's reasonable?" Snape smiled. "This question, actually, you go ask Neville, it would be better."

Harry left the Headmaster's office suspiciously. When he returned to the dormitory, Neville wasn't there, and he didn't return until near dinner time.

"Neville," Harry stopped him. "Snape said, I can ask you, about the relationship between us and fate?"

"Ah, yes, actually Snape took me to the Department of Mysteries once during the Christmas holiday, and also saw what Deng Buliduo really wanted to tell me," Neville nodded. "At that time, he instructed me not to tell you. That's probably the time he thinks it can be said now."

"So you have already found the secret behind the beetle pin," Harry continued to ask. "Then what did he want to say?"

"That prophecy, when even Deng Buliduo couldn't do anything about Voldemort, Trelawney made a prophecy for him," Neville said slowly.

"Is it that one?" Harry suddenly felt a bit disappointed. "He went to such great lengths, just to let you listen to that prophecy?"

"Yes, you might have known it long ago, but it's quite meaningful to me," Neville shook his head with a wry smile. "Once, I didn't notice the sentence 'the Dark Lord himself marks him as his equal' in the prophecy, which is to say, I always thought we both possessed the power to defeat the Dark Lord. But in fact, only you, and it can only be you."

Harry was silent. He understood Snape's meaning now. It was Deng Buliduo who heard the prophecy, and then it was Voldemort who took action himself, confirming his status as the Savior—it was these two once-strongest wizards who pressed the destiny of the next few decades onto him.

"Do you think it's a bit ridiculous?" Neville took out the beetle pin again. "I don't understand Deng Buliduo's meaning. What does he want to do by telling me these things at such a time? I don't know. Once I felt he owed me, and fate also owed me, but the prophecy said they actually didn't owe me anything, which made the former me look a bit childish."

"Eh!" Neville sighed heavily. "Snape said this is to let me reconcile with fate, but what qualification do I have to talk about fate? It's just reconciling with myself."

"Or, he went to such great lengths to make this layout, just to let you hear my feelings," Neville shrugged. "Just like I once spent all my strength to solve one mystery after another, but in the end, the Sorcerer's Stone still jumped into your hands without any effort—all this is just scenery on the Savior's growth path."

"You don't have to say that, Neville," Harry shook his head in confusion. "Your courage, wisdom, your fighting skills, clearly you are much stronger than me, why do you deny yourself because of a saying of fate?"

"This is not denial, just acceptance. I just want to live peacefully now, having an ordinary job and an ordinary lover is enough," Neville buried his heart deep in his eyes. "As for fate, I just want to say, since fate decided to entrust this world to you, please don't let down its expectations." ===== CHAPTER 424 =====