[A Few Days Later]
In a Gryffindor dormitory, Harry lay on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
He looked a bit dazed, but Harry was actually enjoying himself very much.
Because he was "daydreaming."
More accurately, he wasn't really dreaming. Harry simply called this state "dreaming."
The reason was simple. Harry had discovered that even when he wasn't asleep, as long as he emptied his mind, he could still hear those murmured words of "I love you."
And because his mind remained relatively clear, the warmth brought by those whispers became several times stronger.
The comfortable feeling, as if he had returned to the womb, made him sink deeper and deeper into it.
Just then, an owl crashed through the small dormitory window. The sound of its flapping wings carried a blast of cold wind into the room.
The sudden cold wind instantly woke Harry.
When he realized the visitor was an owl, he practically sprang off the bed and dove forward, catching the package it dropped.
Excitedly, Harry was about to open it, but after taking a closer look, he discovered that the package wasn't addressed to him.
"Not mine again?"
Harry muttered disappointedly.
Then, like a walking corpse, he shut the window and carried the package to another bed nearby.
The only other occupant of the dormitory was lying there.
At the moment, he was half-reclining on the bed, reading a book.
One glance at the cover was enough for Harry to recognize it as Quotations of Link Flamel.
Ron had given him a copy before.
Unfortunately, because of his dissatisfaction with Link over the French negotiations, Harry had only skimmed through it and never bothered to finish it.
Unlike the one Ron had given him, the copy Dean was reading appeared to be the newest edition. It was said to contain recent quotations collected from Link.
Which made no sense at all.
Link hadn't even come to Hogwarts recently, so where exactly had the author gotten those quotations from?
Harry strongly suspected that a large portion of the flirtatious lines in the book had been made up by the author.
The most ridiculous part was that the fabricated content was selling extremely well. It had even spread outside the school, and there were rumors that it was about to be officially published.
"Dean, your package is here."
As he spoke, Harry poked Dean with the package.
Without taking his eyes off the book, Dean reached out and accepted it. He even habitually said thank you.
But when he realized the person handing him the package was Harry, his eyes suddenly widened.
He glared fiercely at Harry and even took out a handkerchief, repeatedly wiping both the package and his own hands as if they had been contaminated by something dirty.
Only then did he carefully open the package.
Inside was something like a Russian nesting doll toy, except it had been magically modified.
Harry didn't know what spell had been used, but every ceramic doll had moving facial features, could speak, and sounded unmistakably Russian.
Seeing the dolls, Dean looked both happy and disappointed.
It was a very complicated expression.
Harry immediately guessed what was going on and tentatively asked, "Christmas present?"
Dean glanced at Harry as if debating whether he should answer him at all.
After quite a while, he finally said, "Yeah, that's right. A Christmas gift from a pen pal in Russia. The guy lives on a farm in the countryside growing potatoes and wheat."
"Though he's not exactly a good farmer. Apparently the only reason anything grows on his land is because he casts magic on it every day."
"Tsk. I think he got our Christmas dates mixed up. He forgot that we receive gifts on Christmas Day, not Christmas Eve! Well... I can't really blame him."
"Their Christmas is on January 7th, after all. At least these ceramic dolls are pretty cute, don't you think? Look, they're even calling me Dad!"
Harry didn't answer.
His lips merely twitched twice.
His knowledge of Russian wasn't very deep. Most of it came from television shows, and all he still remembered were a few common phrases.
And just now, maybe it was his imagination, but he thought he'd heard several of the dolls say something that sounded like "blyat."
Wasn't that a Russian swear word?
Russian nesting dolls that swore...
At this point, Dean seemed to lose all interest in talking to Harry.
After giving him one last look from head to toe, he walked straight out of the dormitory.
Judging from the direction he went, he was probably heading to another dormitory to share the joy of receiving a Christmas gift early.
His dislike of Harry couldn't have been more obvious.
Harry simply lay back down on his bed.
He didn't care much about Dean's attitude. What bothered him more was that he'd now have to spend a long time emptying his mind all over again.
Ever since he'd beaten up Ron in the Gryffindor common room and publicly said those things, everyone had miraculously refrained from reporting his words to the professors out of respect for their past friendship.
As a result, the professors hadn't started targeting him.
But the student body had still begun excluding him on their own.
It would be a lie to say it didn't hurt. Harry had simply gotten used to it little by little.
Fortunately, Christmas break had already started. As large numbers of professors and students returned home to spend time with their families, Harry received far fewer dirty looks.
That was enough for him.
His standards in this regard weren't very high.
After all, being looked down on and excluded was something he'd already gotten used to while living with the Dursleys.
At that moment, another sound of flapping wings came from outside the window.
This time, however, Harry didn't move.
Earlier, he'd thrown the owl back out the window rather roughly and hadn't fed it either.
It was probably back with a friend to protest.
For owls, that was easy enough. Gryffindor Tower wasn't far from the Owlery.
Harry had plenty of experience dealing with this sort of thing. If he ignored them, they'd leave eventually. If he opened the window instead, the owls would probably poop on his head.
It was disgusting.
After a while, the flapping sounds did indeed disappear.
But contrary to Harry's expectations, a crisp tapping sound against the glass soon followed.
And unlike the random pecking of ordinary birds, this owl's tapping had a pattern to it.
It sounded almost like... Morse code?
Frowning, Harry finally got out of bed.
The strange noise was preventing him from entering his mind-emptying state.
Then he froze.
Because standing outside the window wasn't an owl at all.
It was a bald eagle.
The eagle stood nearly half a man's height. Perched on the windowsill, its enormous body blocked almost all the sunlight.
Not only that, it carried a messenger pouch and various pieces of equipment, including a pilot's leather cap and protective gear.
Harry even noticed ancient runic arrays painted on its body using cinnabar and mithril powder. A strong magical aura radiated from them. They appeared to be used for bypassing barriers and concealment.
And the eagle was clearly very intelligent.
The moment it saw Harry, it stopped pecking on the glass.
Instead, it skillfully opened its messenger pouch with its beak and pulled out a package.
"F-for me?"
Harry pointed at himself in disbelief.
The bald eagle nodded impatiently.
It was incredibly strange.
An impatient human expression had actually appeared on a bald eagle's face.
Nervously, Harry opened the window.
The eagle immediately jumped into the dormitory. It shook the snow off itself like a dog before tossing the package to Harry.
Harry became excited.
He hurriedly opened it.
But instead of a letter, he found a cylindrical silver-white metal tube.
Its surface was smooth. The whole thing was about ten centimeters tall and five to seven centimeters in diameter.
Harry stared at the metal cylinder in his hand, then at the bald eagle opposite him.
Finally, he shook his head.
He thought someone was playing a prank on him.
That was entirely possible.
There were plenty of students outside who disliked him. Sending him prank items for fun wasn't unusual.
And if that was the case, then this metal cylinder needed to be thrown away immediately.
Who knew what kind of prank it might trigger if he kept it?
It might even explode.
Thinking this, Harry opened the window again, preparing to throw it out.
But then a man's voice sounded behind him.
"What are you doing?"
Harry jumped in fright.
He spun around toward the source of the voice.
The bald eagle was staring directly at him.
"Y-you... you can talk?"
Harry stammered.
The bald eagle shook its head and said, "What's so strange about that? This is the magical world. Anything can happen."
Harry didn't respond.
Instead, he slowly edged toward his bedside table.
His wand was there.
The bald eagle before him was too strange. Based on his experience, it was very likely an adult wizard transformed through Animagus magic.
The first thing he needed to do was ensure his own safety.
That was what he'd learned in the D.A.
The bald eagle saw all of his actions.
It sighed and shook its head.
Spreading one giant wing, it gave Harry a gentleman's bow.
"Mr. Harry Potter, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Gerard René Abel de Maupassant. You may simply call me Gerard. I come from the French United Resistance Organization, and I am here specifically for you."
"I-is that so? Then you've received the letter I sent?"
"Of course. I must express our highest respect and gratitude. Your letter has been of enormous help to us. It boosted our morale and allowed us to see hope again. That's why I've come to invite you to join our United Resistance Organization."
"It would be my honor!"
"Oh, you're too kind. The honor is ours! In fact, we already have a complete plan. With your help, we can begin immediately and directly defeat Link Flamel, that demon of war!"
As soon as Gerard said that, the excitement on Harry's face vanished.
In its place was disappointment.
Back on the day he beat up Ron, he had written to the French wizards living in Britain who were dissatisfied with the British Ministry of Magic's actions against the French magical community.
That hadn't been difficult.
The Daily Prophet had thoughtfully printed the protest group's address in its article about the matter.
At first, Harry hadn't expected to actually join the resistance group.
After all, he was Harry Potter, the Savior of British wizardkind who had defeated Voldemort more than ten years ago.
Why would a group of French wizards trust Britain's Savior?
It would have been good enough if they didn't curse him out.
So in that letter, he'd merely expressed his willingness to financially support the resistance.
After all, he had plenty of Galleons.
Even ignoring the vault of gold his parents had left him, the Galleons Sirius gave him as spending money were already an astonishing amount.
After sending the letter, he'd spent his days waiting nervously.
Part of him hoped for a reply.
Another part feared that the reply would be filled with insults.
Because of that anticipation, he'd even given up the chance to spend Christmas with Sirius.
Now the reply had finally come.
And in such a strange way.
But Harry had never expected this Gerard to immediately ask him to help defeat Link, while confidently claiming the plan would succeed at once.
Who did he think Link was?
Some useless drifter on a street corner?
Harry felt that Gerard and the people in his resistance group probably had something seriously wrong with their heads.
Even someone like Harry, who hadn't spent much time beside Link through major battles, knew that Link's personal combat strength was now nearly equal to Dumbledore's.
Combined with his immense power and influence, that made Link practically unbeatable.
That was why Harry had chosen to support the resistance with money rather than any other form of assistance.
Because Harry himself knew that he and those people stood almost no chance of defeating Link in the short term.
Yet Gerard was confidently claiming they could defeat Link immediately.
Where did he get that confidence from?
For a moment, Harry no longer felt like continuing the conversation.
But seeing Harry's expression, Gerard, still in eagle form, curled his beak into a strange smile.
"You may think I'm exaggerating, but in reality, it's entirely possible. Because we aren't fighting alone. The French magical community and Beauxbatons Academy have already noticed us and begun supporting us."
He pointed a wing at the metal cylinder in Harry's hand.
"What you're holding right now is part of that support. One of Nicolas Flamel's relics... the spatial anchor of the Wall-Breaking Device."
Harry's eyes immediately lit up when he heard Nicolas Flamel's name.
But a moment later, confusion covered his face.
"The Wall-Breaking Device? What's that? Why does it sound like some kind of kitchen appliance?"
"A kitchen appliance? How dare you compare such things to the Wall-Breaking Device? That's an insult! The Wall-Breaking Device is the ultimate masterpiece of alchemy and spatial magic! It's an important treasure stored in the Department of Mysteries of the French Ministry of Magic!"
"Sorry, I didn't mean it. But... what does it do?"
"It's called the Wall-Breaking Device. Isn't that obvious? Its purpose is to break through space and teleport things."
"So your plan is to teleport people into Hogwarts?"
"Exactly. You're very clever to have figured out my plan."
Harry curled his lips.
He felt Gerard was mocking him.
Unwilling to back down, he argued, "Let's not even talk about whether sending people into Hogwarts could actually hurt Link. If you want to teleport people, why not use Portkeys or house-elf transportation?"
"Those methods should cost much less than this so-called Wall-Breaking Device. They can bypass Hogwarts' anti-Apparition enchantments too."
"Do you think we haven't tried those methods?"
Gerard the bald eagle said angrily.
"After losing three companions, we've already confirmed that none of them work!"
"Hogwarts isn't what it used to be. Ever since Link Flamel restructured Hogwarts, he's been repairing and upgrading its barriers and defensive systems."
"So far, the protective magic covering Hogwarts Castle has increased from ninety-eight spells to three hundred and twenty-seven!"
"Among them are wards specifically designed to counter spatial intrusion methods. Every loophole you mentioned has already been sealed."
"And that's not all. Everyone and everything entering Hogwarts, including mail, undergoes intensive scanning and inspection. Why do you think I came personally in this form? To bypass those restrictions, of course."
As he spoke, Gerard displayed the runes engraved on his body again.
Harry fell silent.
He genuinely hadn't known any of that.
For the first time, he truly felt his own ignorance and insignificance.
Could someone like him, who didn't even understand basic intelligence information, really achieve his goal and wake Link up?
"Well, now you understand how bad the situation is. But don't worry. With the Wall-Breaking Device, spatial blockades won't be a problem."
Gerard continued, "What we need you to do is place the spatial anchor inside Hogwarts' Headmaster's Office. That's the core of Hogwarts' protective system."
"Once the anchor enters, the Wall-Breaking Device can activate and forcibly open a breach from the inside, allowing people to enter Hogwarts."
"And when that happens, we... and even wizards from France itself... will be able to invade Hogwarts and attack Link Flamel."
"Don't worry about whether we'll succeed. Link Flamel and Dumbledore are indeed powerful."
"But the people we're bringing over are all experts as well. You don't need to worry about their strength."
"And since Hogwarts will be the main battlefield, Dumbledore and Link Flamel won't be able to use their full power. Even if we won't harm the students, they'll still have to worry about the castle and the students."
"Ha! It'll be exactly like what happened to Headmistress Maxime at Beauxbatons!"
Gerard laughed again.
The laugh was unpleasant to hear.
It carried sorrow and anger, sounding more like crying than laughter.
Harry frowned.
Instinctively, he rejected the plan.
Because it would place the teachers and students of Hogwarts in danger.
Once the battle began, would Gerard's group really keep their promise not to harm students and professors?
What a joke.
In a battle of that intensity, weak students and teachers would always be the first to suffer.
That had already been proven during the incident when Link and Dumbledore attacked Beauxbatons.
And Harry didn't believe in the strength of the French wizards either.
Invading Hogwarts meant fighting both Dumbledore and Link at the same time.
Maybe they could defeat Link alone through numbers.
But both of them together?
They'd only win if a miracle happened.
So Harry instinctively wanted to refuse.
However, the moment he opened his mouth, the familiar warmth spread from the top of his head throughout his body once more.
The gentle whispers echoed beside his ears.
Under those twin influences, Harry suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to agree immediately.
The words of refusal could no longer leave his mouth.
Holding his head, Harry said painfully, "I... I might not be able to do it. I can't enter the Headmaster's Office without a legitimate reason. And I can't place the spatial anchor right in front of Dumbledore or Link. They'll definitely notice."
Watching him, Gerard raised an anthropomorphic eyebrow.
In a rather pleased tone, he said, "The problem you mentioned is actually easy to solve. If you ask me, why not try seeking help from Severus Snape? I think he'll help you. After all, you're special to him."
Harry shook his head, struggling against the urge to agree.
He wanted to say that it was impossible.
Snape had indeed stopped making things difficult for him recently.
But asking Snape to help him betray Hogwarts?
That was simply absurd.
Yet Gerard suddenly hopped onto the windowsill and used his beak to open the window.
"You don't need to give me an answer right now. You have plenty of time to think about it. The spatial anchor is already in your hands. If you decide to do it, just choose a time when Link Flamel is staying at Hogwarts."
With that, he flew out the window with a strange laugh, leaving Harry alone in the dormitory holding his head.
A gust of cold wind mixed with snowflakes swept into the room, making Harry shiver.