"End of the School Year"

"End of the School Year"

"Poppy, I brought in a fainted one!" Stephen shouted as he entered.

"Shut up, this is an infirmary! Are you pulling pranks again? How many have you brought this month already?" the nurse scolded Stephen, as he was a frequent visitor—not for himself, but for those he brought in.

"This time, it wasn't me. He got exhausted after an adventure," Stephen quickly responded, earning himself a swift expulsion from the infirmary after the nurse took Harry.

Outside, Hermione was helping Ron get there, and Professor McGonagall was rushing towards them at full speed, something that made Stephen want to run away.

But since this time it wasn't his fault, he stayed to see what would happen.

"Mr. Flamel, would you care to explain what happened?!" McGonagall quickly demanded. Other professors arrived behind her.

"Me? I have nothing to do with this, Professor. It's your beloved trio of adventurers," Stephen said, making all the professors turn to the small Hermione.

While she gave a brief summary, Stephen got bored since nothing interesting was happening, so he went to sleep because it was quite late.

When he reached the dormitory, he was surrounded by several Gryffindors and the twins, who he had no idea how they found out. So, he easily told them what had happened—of course, without mentioning Voldemort, to avoid scaring his classmates.

With the Gryffindors having heard the story, it was obvious that the news would spread quickly.

And so it did. Two days later, when Harry finally woke up, the entire school already knew about his excursion. By the way, in Stephen's version of the story, Harry had defeated Quirrell while he himself destroyed the Philosopher's Stone with all his might to ensure it could never be stolen. The story also spread that the Philosopher's Stone no longer existed.

When he arrived at the infirmary, he saw the Headmaster talking to Harry. So, he entered silently without them noticing and started eating some snacks.

"... It's love, Harry. The most powerful magic in the world," was what Stephen heard Dumbledore say as he crunched on a chip.

"That's so cheesy… crunch crunch," he muttered, drawing both their attention.

"What? I'm right, it sounds cheesy," Stephen said.

"Hehe, you might be right, Stephen, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a very strong magic," the Headmaster said as he stood up. Looking toward the snacks, he added, "Oh, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. In my youth, I had the misfortune of finding a vomit-flavored one, but I might give it another try," he said, picking one up.

"Oh, curious taste… earwax," he said as he started to leave.

"You're just gonna let him steal your snacks, Harry? crunch," Stephen said, still eating Harry's treats.

Harry simply rolled his eyes and ignored him.

"So boring. And here I had a plan to get you out of your aunt's house. Well, goodbye," Stephen said without giving Harry a chance to respond and walked off.

"Wa—… he's gone," Harry was left alone in the infirmary, unable to stop Stephen.

As Stephen left the infirmary, he ran into the Headmaster, who had just stepped out but had stopped to the side of the door when he heard what Stephen had said to Harry. And Stephen knew he had said it loud enough for the Headmaster to hear, since he needed his permission anyway.

"It's rude to eavesdrop, old man," Stephen teased.

"It's alright, Stephen, I know you said it for me to hear. And I know your intentions are good, but for Harry's safety, it would be best if he didn't leave his aunt's house, especially after what you saw the other day," Dumbledore said, trying to make Stephen reconsider.

"Yeah, old man. Since the day I first saw Harry, I noticed his blood protection. Don't worry, I've got that covered. With a little bit of his aunt's blood, I can create an amulet that will make it seem like he never left her side," Stephen said quickly.

"So, you saw his protection," Dumbledore said, gazing at Stephen while thinking for a few seconds. "Alright. Create the amulet and show it to me. If it works, I'll allow Harry to leave his aunt's house, but he must return from time to time." Dumbledore agreed under that condition.

"I've always wondered, old man—why them?" Stephen asked Dumbledore.

After thinking for a moment, Dumbledore explained to Stephen.

"You see, Stephen, on the night Harry became the Boy Who Lived, there was turmoil in the wizarding world. There were still many Death Eaters loyal to the Dark Lord who would hunt Harry relentlessly. And his godfather, who should have taken care of Harry, wouldn't be able to. Harry's godmother, Mrs. Longbottom, was in hiding from the Death Eaters who had attacked her family, so the only option left was his aunt. Besides, his mother's blood gave him a powerful protection that would keep him safe from Voldemort's followers."

"Just like the Potters, and four days later, they were attacked," Dumbledore explained softly as he recalled the events.

"I suppose the magical families that could have taken him in would only have done so to use him as cannon fodder. And it's hard to ask someone to take care of a baby who might bring Death Eaters to their home, isn't it?" Stephen said, understanding why Dumbledore didn't want Harry to be in the magical world.

"And I suppose trusting the Ministry was even worse. Even now, there are still a few hidden spies," Stephen added, quickly dismissing the Ministry of Magic, recalling how the pure-bloods had many supporters within its ranks.

"The best place was with his maternal family in the Muggle world, where no one knew him. After all, what better place than with your blood relatives? You see, Stephen, during the war, it was common for both magical and Muggle orphanages to be overwhelmed. And the truth is that, although Harry's uncles were not the best choice, they still raised him, fed him, and let him go to school. He had a tough childhood, but he grew up to be a good boy," Dumbledore said with a hint of regret, yet pleased that Harry had turned out well.

"Well, from that perspective, it doesn't sound so bad. Alright, old man, you win. I'll make sure he visits his family from time to time. I don't really see the need for it, though," Stephen said as he turned to leave.

"Family..." Dumbledore muttered softly, as if recalling something distant, and if someone paid attention, they would see a deep sadness in his eyes.

After a few days of doing basically nothing, whenever people saw Stephen, they found him lying on the grass, resting with a cowboy hat—whose origin no one knew—over his face. Though, if they thought logically, they would realize he had created it using Transfiguration.

Having carried out his 'liberation' plan, he could now be even more reckless. But after the battle with Quirremort, he felt like he was doing the same as Stephen Strange—watching everything unfold as it was supposed to while making minimal contributions.

And Stephen didn't know what to think. Was it good or bad? In any case, at least now he was having more fun without so many responsibilities.

"What should I do? What do I hope to achieve in the future? Just continue with my business? Change the magical world? Dominate it?... Haha, no, no. I'm not interested in world domination. Or am I?" As Stephen had this terrifying monologue, the Golden Trio, who had approached, overheard him and felt a shiver run down their spines at his thoughts.

"Don't worry, it's a joke. I knew you were there," Stephen said, looking at the frightened trio. "Conquering the world is too much work, and then you have to be constantly managing it to keep it under control. A job full of responsibilities isn't for me," he added, and the trio, knowing his personality, quickly accepted his reasoning.

"So, what do you want? It's the last day of school. Training is on hold while we're not at Hogwarts. But I recommend you train at home, since next year will be even more intense. After what I saw in the trials for the Stone," Stephen said with a slightly malicious smile.

That made the trio blush in embarrassment, realizing they had forgotten everything they had learned due to their anxiety at the time.

"You said in the infirmary that you could help me get out of the Dursleys' house," Harry said, trying to hide his embarrassment, though not very successfully.

"Oh, that, huh? Yeah, I talked to the old man and got his permission. I'll give you an amulet before you leave. Now go be with your friends. I'll keep resting," Stephen said as he turned over to continue lounging.

As the trio walked away, they heard Stephen's final words.

"Another year has passed, and the next one will be worse," he muttered.

Hearing that, they felt even more anxious about their future.

"What did he mean by that?" Ron asked Harry and Hermione, but neither could answer.

"Another year ended... and the next will be worse," the three of them repeated as they left.

After dinner, Gryffindor won again, but this time they reached 500 points thanks to Stephen. The Golden Trio + Neville had earned enough points to break a record, which sent the Gryffindors into a frenzy.

And so, the school year ended as everyone boarded the Hogwarts Express.

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