What's-Lies-Ahead (I) [Chapter 292]

~~Malfoy Manor~~

“I will be honest, I wasn’t expecting you here” Harry spoke out, breaking the tense atmosphere in the dining hall. Narcissa and Andi glanced toward him looking surprised from the corner of their eyes since they didn’t want to look away from the extremely suspicious-looking figure lounging in the living room like they owned the place.

“You don’t visit me anymore… I was worried that you might have forgotten about me” The figure spoke casually and once again, Narcissa and Andi turned to look at him.

Now, it was obvious that both of them knew each other, but they couldn’t fathom how Harry knew the weird woman sitting on the couch while munching on potato chips. Who even ate potato chips like that in the morning? Harry simply rolled his eyes at her blatant attempt to rile up the women by saying something that could be easily misunderstood.

“I haven’t… You should already know that I am really busy nowadays” Harry explained calmly before he walked up to one of the empty couches and plopped down. “The two of you can lower your Wands now” Harry spoke to Narcissa and Andi, who looked at each other for a moment before they finally lowered their Wands, but they remained wary of the woman.

“Tea?” The woman offered pleasantly after Narcissa and Andi sat down beside Harry. The two of them glanced toward Harry, wanting to see what he was going to do, but when he accepted her offer, the two of them also decided to go along. The woman waved her hand and three teacups appeared on the table out of thin air.

Narcissa and Andi would have been surprised at such a display of Magic if they had not seen Harry perform similar feats of Magic…

“So, what brings you here? From what I remember, you wanted to stay as far as possible from the Wixen kind” Harry asked as he took a small sip.

“...That was true” The woman admitted after a moment of silence. “However, with how fast the things are changing, I can’t help but become excited” The woman gushed out looking a bit excited. Instead of saying anything, Harry simply raised his brows at her… He always imagined her to be someone who liked to be in control.

“Hmm… Then I am glad that I can be your source of entertainment” Harry bit out sarcastically as he stole a potato chip from the woman, earning a glare from her.

“Don’t do that!” The woman snapped but decided not to complain anymore. After that, none of them said anything and continued enjoying the tea. Narcissa and Andi were becoming pretty restless with the ensuing silence. The silence was starting to grate on their nerves as their minds were reeling with several questions.

“...Harry, who is she?” Andi ended up asking, unable to hold back her curiosity any longer.

“She is the Ancient One” Harry answered casually, making both Narcissa and Andi frown in confusion. Harry noticed their looks and decided to speak up before they could reach any weird conclusions on their own. “Yes, that is what she calls herself, literally” Harry assured them once again making them frown before they turned toward the said woman to get confirmation.

“It is more of a title than a name, but that is what I go by” The Ancient One confirmed.

“...By the way, how did you find this place?” Harry asked, wanting to know how she managed to get past the Fidelius Charm since he was certain that Jacklyn never gave her the secret.

“The Fidelius Charm might seem impenetrable, but it does have some weaknesses a person can exploit as long as they know where to look” The Ancient One explained with a smile on her face. Harry stared at her before nodding his head in understanding. “The Fidelius Charm hides the Secret, but that doesn’t mean that the Secret stops existing” She added.

“How?” Harry asked. Right now, Voldemort was hiding under the Fidelius Charm, and even though he could read all of his memories, he wasn’t able to learn the secret from inside his mind. Harry knew a way to break Fidelius, but the whole ordeal was really troublesome. First, he would need to kill the Secret Keeper and then he would kill everyone who knew the Secret before they could reveal the Secret to anyone else.

There was a reason why Fidelius Charm was considered one of the most powerful Spells in existence…

The Ancient One seemed to ponder for a bit before she finally started to speak. “I have already told you about the planes of existence and Fidelius Charm only works on the physical plane of existence” The Ancient One answered and Harry seemed to frown at her words. That didn’t sound right. He knew that it couldn’t be that simple.

“And, you need to know where to look” The Ancient One added when she noticed the suspicious look on his face. In reality, she simply used the Eye of Agamotto to peer into the Secret, but she couldn’t tell him that. She wasn’t sure if Harry could replicate the power of one of the Infinity Stones, but she didn’t want to risk it.

To have the ability to control Time was not something the Ancient One wanted Harry to have, ever, if possible, but she knew that as soon as he learned about the Infinity Stones, he would start to seek them out… That was how he rolled! Harry craved power over anything else and with his association with Hela, it wasn’t going to get any better.

“I see…” Harry muttered. He still believed that the Ancient One was keeping something from him, but he decided to drop the matter since he still respected the woman. “By the way, how are Kaecilius and Mordo?” Harry asked, deciding to change the topic.

“Mordo is being his usual self” The Ancient One shrugged. “However, Kaecilius is not doing good. He always wanted to reunite with his family and that desire is leading him to some very dangerous places” The Ancient One answered. Right now, both Narcissa and Andi were so confused that they simply decided to ignore the conversation altogether.

“You know you could simply kill him and be done with it before he could cause too much damage” Harry pointed out, only for the Ancient One to smile before shaking her head.

“That may be true, and I might have to, with how things are changing” The Ancient One answered. Originally, she would have died at his hands and her successor, Stephen Strange, the greatest Sorcerer Supreme to ever exist, was destined to defeat him, but with everything changing, the future was no longer clear.

Everything was nothing but a blur and the Ancient One couldn’t help but grow excited at the prospect of an ever changing future… After all, life was boring without a bit of adventure…