146: Dumbledore is alive again!

Tony shrugged. "Thanks to Sir Mordo here and his golden portals, I already went back to New York and took care of everything. Agent K will keep an eye on J.A.R.V.I.S. So—bingo! Let's get this multiversal trip started!"

Wong and Mordo nodded as well.

Compared to earlier, they now carried a few additional magical artifacts.

"Mordo and I thought about it and decided that since this is our first visit, we should bring some gifts. It's a matter of representing Kamar-Taj properly." Wong held up an enchanted hat.

Lyon gave him a thumbs-up in approval.

No surprise there—Wong had worked in Kamar-Taj's 'magical convenience store' for nine years. He knew all about proper etiquette.

"Since we're all set, let's go!"

Lyon cleared his throat. "The journey might get a little bumpy. Brace yourselves."

With that, he activated his dimensional ability, locking onto the four of them—and together, they vanished from the Marvel universe.

…

The sky was covered in thick, oppressive clouds, leaving not a single ray of light to pierce through.

Hogwarts, Central Courtyard.

All students and professors had gathered.

In the crowd, Dumbledore's bloodstained corpse had been magically cleaned.

He lay on his back upon the grass, hands folded over his chest, his face as peaceful as it had always been in life.

But everyone knew—he was dead.

His hands were cold as ice, never to open his eyes again, never to cheerfully ask students if they wanted to try cockroach clusters.

A heavy shroud of sorrow hung over the gathered students and faculty.

From McGonagall and Flitwick to Ron and Luna, grief clouded every gaze.

No one could bring themselves to wear any other expression.

Harry Potter staggered forward, dropping to his knees before Dumbledore.

He collapsed onto the headmaster's now-lifeless arm, sobbing uncontrollably.

The weight of losing a great wizard forever pressed down upon everyone.

The sorrow was overwhelming.

Then—five figures suddenly appeared in midair.

They arrived without any warning, as if they had been caught in an invisible net—

And the net had ripped open, sending them all tumbling unceremoniously to the ground.

Among them, the most athletically built individual remained suspended in midair the moment he appeared.

He drifted gently to the ground, as if he were nothing more than a fluttering autumn leaf.

But the other four were far less graceful.

They crashed onto the grass like a bunch of groggy, half-asleep louts who had just rolled out of bed.

One of them landed face-first, producing a loud thud as his face planted into the ground, his rear end sticking comically in the air—yet he remained completely unresponsive.

Two others rolled into each other, their shoes somehow ending up pressed against each other's faces.

The sudden, utterly ridiculous entrance took everyone off guard.

The gathered students and faculty stiffened in alarm, yet no one immediately reached for their wands or demanded an explanation.

They had just endured an attack by the Death Eaters, witnessed the death of their greatest headmaster, Dumbledore—everybody had been on edge, ready to react at the slightest sign of danger.

But looking at these five unexpected guests, suspicion was the last thing to arise in their minds.

After all—villains wouldn't normally make their grand entrance by landing face-first with their butts in the air... right?

The students and professors stared in stunned silence, and for the first time, the all-consuming sorrow that had hung over them was momentarily disrupted.

They all watched as the only conscious one suddenly smacked the raised backside of one of his companions.

"Pfft, Tony, could you be any more seductive with that pose?"

As he spoke, he pulled out a small square device and started pressing buttons rapidly, seemingly recording the embarrassing state of the person he had just called Tony.

At this scene, every wizard present couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.

Who on earth were these people?

"You—you!?"

At that moment, Harry Potter suddenly exclaimed.

His eyes were still red, filled with utter shock.

"Potter, you know these... gentlemen?"

Minerva McGonagall struggled to use a term of respect for the five bizarre individuals before her.

"You're the guy from the Astronomy Tower! The one who got hit by Snape's Unforgivable Curse and walked away like nothing happened!"

Harry was still in disbelief.

"W-What? He's that person? I thought you were just talking nonsense earlier…"

Professor McGonagall's eyes widened in astonishment.

When Dumbledore died, Harry had been the only one there—he was the one who had described what had happened.

Professor McGonagall swallowed hard.

A moment ago, she had thought these five were a bunch of lunatics.

But now?

They suddenly looked like some of the most powerful wizards she had ever seen.

And powerful wizards, more often than not, tended to have some level of eccentricity.

Just like how Dumbledore enjoyed eating sweet candies and even keeping passwords on their names.

Looking at it that way, these five didn't seem so strange anymore.

"Um, gentlemen, you are…"

McGonagall attempted to start a conversation with Lyon.

But Lyon simply smiled and raised a hand.

"Please hold on, my companions will be awake very soon."

As soon as he finished speaking, the man who had been sticking his butt in the air, Tony, let out a groggy groan and slowly opened his confused eyes.

The others also started waking up one by one.

Due to their varied physical and mental endurance, the order of awakening was:

Mordo, Banner, and finally, Wong.

"Ugh… what the hell… Banner, your shoe! It nearly flattened my face!"

Mordo grumbled as he shoved Banner's foot away.

Banner got up, a shoe print still visible on his cheek.

"Ah—sorry, sorry! Are we here already? Felt like my brain just buzzed and then I blacked out."

"Look around—all these people staring at us. It's obvious we've arrived."

Tony brushed himself off and then took a good look at their surroundings.

"Gotta say, this place actually looks more like a proper wizard school than Kamar-Taj ever did."

Tony pointed around them, his eyes flickering with curiosity at all the new sights, and casually helped Wong up.

Among them, Wong was actually the weakest in terms of physical endurance.

Even now, his consciousness was still a little fuzzy.

But as the most etiquette-conscious member of Kamar-Taj present, and the librarian responsible for its vast archives, the moment he noticed the hundreds of gazes—some curious, some skeptical—focused on them, it was as if a sharp blade had split through his foggy mind.

In an instant, he became fully alert.

His eyes widened.

"We've arrived!?"

"Yeah, we're here—what's the big deal?" Tony asked, confused by Wong's over-the-top reaction.

Wong's face instantly turned several shades redder—a mix of embarrassment and frustration.

He realized with horror—The first-ever meeting between Kamar-Taj's leadership and another major wizarding community…

Had started with them all landing face-first in the dirt.

An utter disaster.

Wong glanced at Lyon—only to see his Supreme Sorcerer standing there completely unbothered.

At that moment, Wong was filled with helpless frustration—but there was nothing he could do.

After all, Lyon was the Supreme Sorcerer.

And when he turned to check on the others—fuck..

Banner and Mordo were still rubbing their faces.

With that, Wong—still fuming—stretched out his foot and mercilessly stamped his size-forty shoe directly onto their backsides.

"What the hell! Mind your image! We represent Kamar-Taj right now!" Wong warned in a low, scolding voice.

Banner and Mordo, rubbing their sore backsides, finally took a proper look at their surroundings.

Their faces instantly flushed red, and they sprang up straight—looking like perfectly trained diplomatic aides.

—That is, if they didn't still have shoe prints on their faces and backsides.

Lyon watched their interactions, chuckling to himself.

Seeing Wong pull out the ceremonial wizard's hat, clearly desperate to hand over the gift and salvage Kamar-Taj's reputation, Lyon held him back.

"Don't rush. Their big boss, the White Wizard, is still lying over there. If you're giving gifts, at least make sure it's to the right person."

Wong blinked in confusion.

White Wizard?

That sounded ridiculously grand…

Still, Supreme Sorcerer wasn't a weak title either.

Wong immediately started planning his approach.

Once this White Wizard introduced himself, he'd step forward and say—"This is the Supreme Sorcerer. He has played chess with Odin and held conversations with Eternity."

With such high-level credentials, the other side would definitely be impressed.

Yes—this would be how he'd restore Kamar-Taj's reputation!

Lyon had no idea that Wong was preoccupied with diplomatic concerns.

He walked towards Harry Potter—or rather, towards Dumbledore lying behind him.

"What are you doing, sir?"

Harry, wary, stepped in front of Dumbledore, assuming a defensive posture.

"No need to be nervous."

Lyon flipped his wrist, producing a small, exquisite jade-green bottle.

The half-transparent flask contained a clear, colorless liquid—The Divine Spring of Cosmos!

Last time, when he offered it to the Ancient One, he had poured an entire large glass, only for her to refuse it outright.

Later, he had reflected on that mistake.

Even though he owned millions of kilometers' worth of this miraculous spring water, even though he had used it for literal bathwater, it was still an item of immeasurable value.

And high-value things should come with an appearance worthy of their rarity.

Sure enough—the moment he revealed the jade bottle, every single person's gaze locked onto it.

"I had an agreement with Dumbledore."

Lyon used mental energy to immobilize everyone who might try to stop him, including Harry Potter.

"Back at the Astronomy Tower, I told him—'See you later.' And he agreed."

Lyon stepped past Harry,

"Since he agreed, he has to keep his word."

He knelt beside Dumbledore, tilting the jade bottle, allowing the colorless liquid to drip into those pale lips.

"A promise is a promise."

"Even if you've died, you have to come back to life—keep your promise to me, and then you can die again."

"No one can stop it—not even Death."

Lyon casually stuffed the now-empty flask into Dumbledore's cold hands.

A few seconds later—

The ashen complexion on Dumbledore's face flushed with color.

His chest rose and fell once more.

Then, with the gasp of a man waking from a nightmare, his eyes snapped open—he bolted upright!

The entire courtyard fell into stunned silence!

________

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