Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 625 Voldemort's Ambition
“Oh, right.” Harry scratched his head. “Your observation skills are really sharp.”

After saying that, Harry paused for a moment, then looked at Hermione and burst into laughter.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry Harry." Hermione laughed until tears streamed down her face, and she bent down to wipe them away. "We're so familiar with each other that sometimes I even forget you're a boy."

“Sometimes I forget you’re a girl,” Harry laughed as well.

"You want to invite me to Horace's Christmas dinner? That's brilliant! Those girls are thinking of drugging you, aren't they?" Hermione asked.

“Yes,” Harry said, scratching his head. “Those girls…are a bit annoying.”

"So, hurry up and invite a girl to go with you to Horace Slughorn's Christmas dinner," Hermione urged. "And you can't just invite any girl; they're all watching you. Everyone thinks you're their savior!"

Harry and Hermione reveled in the joy of speaking normally again as they walked down the empty, brightly lit corridor toward the common room.

“But I am the savior,” Harry said cheerfully.

"Whoosh—" Hermione slapped the draft paper in her hand mercilessly onto Harry's head.

"Okay, I'll find one," Harry chuckled sheepishly. "I'll find a cool girl."

“The Clown’s Cane.” Finally, they reached the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. Harry said to the Fat Lady, “This is the latest holiday password.”

“You too,” the plump lady said, flashing a mischievous grin as the portrait slid forward to let them pass.

“Hi, Harry,” Romirda said as soon as Harry came in through the portrait hole, “Want to try some Jasmine Boba? It’s delicious.”

As she spoke, Romirda handed Harry a glass of frothy pink drink. Hermione gave him a look over his shoulder that seemed to ask, "What did I tell you?"

“No, thanks,” Harry replied quickly. “I don’t really like it.”

“Take these anyway.” She shoved a box into Harry’s hand. “Chocolate candies with some spicier whiskey inside. My grandfather sent them to me, but I don’t like them.”

“Oh, okay, thank you very much,” Harry said, unable to think of anything else to say. “Uh—I—came with—”

Before he could finish speaking, Harry quickly ran behind Hermione.

Then, following Hermione's cover, she returned to her bedroom via the spiral staircase.

Harry felt extremely tired, and almost immediately fell asleep as soon as he collapsed in his dormitory. In his dream, Harry seemed to have arrived in a strange place.
Following the internal files of the newly established Department of Mysteries of the Magical Union, Voldemort found the dark entrance to the Dreamlands in the New Kush Mountains of Afghanistan.

It was a narrow, rocky cave, barely wide enough for one person to pass through. Gusts of cold wind blew out from an unknown place deep inside the cave, causing Voldemort's duffel-like wizard robes to ripple like water.

Voldemort chuckled coldly, then stepped into the dark, deep cave entrance.

Since forging a new Horcrux and using it to create the staircase, the pressure on Voldemort suddenly eased—

"Hmph, a brat is still a brat, all he knows is how to coerce others with violence," Voldemort said contemptuously. "He has no idea that I have infiltrated the entire European Ministry of Magic, including the British Ministry of Magic, into a sieve."

(End of this chapter)