Just like how Muggle children love to claim their schools were built on graveyards—and spin all kinds of horror stories from it—wizarding children are no different.
Wandering shadows.
Rooms that eat people.
Paintings that pull you inside.
Even Nearly Headless Nick has a story about borrowing heads from students.
Rumors spread easily.
And if those rumors are shaped into reality by collective consciousness, the harm they cause could be no less than Voldemort's return.
So what was so special about the rumor of Voldemort's resurrection?
Dawn couldn't understand it.
It felt like a game of three people—but both Dumbledore and Voldemort had excluded him from it.
At that moment—
Dumbledore clapped his hands, drawing the students' attention back.
"I'm sorry for taking up your rest time. That is all I wished to say."
He instructed the prefects to organize their houses and leave, then raised the bottle in his hand again.
"As for this potion, it will be available at dinner every day. You may take it as you wish."
The students responded and began filing out of the Great Hall. Only then did Dawn finally snap out of his thoughts.
He walked along the wall, intending to find the Weasley twins first.
But—
They were already gone.
Dawn slapped his forehead in frustration.
Damn it.
He had been too absorbed in listening. He'd lost track of them again.
His thoughts felt increasingly tangled.
Just as he was wondering where the twins might have gone, he suddenly remembered something long neglected— The Marauder's Map.
Of course! How did I forget that? Dawn's eyes lit up.
He finally remembered the long-forgotten treasure that could display the names and locations of everyone inside the castle.
He left the Great Hall, slipped into the Forbidden Forest, transformed into an owl, and flew out of the castle.
Then he Apparated back to the Vatican.
The Marauder's Map was stored there.
He took it from his wallet, then immediately returned to Hogsmeade, transformed into an owl again, and flew back toward Hogwarts.
After hiding temporarily in the Forbidden Forest, he pointed his wand at the map and spoke:
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
In an instant—
Names flooded across the parchment.
Dawn first looked toward Gryffindor Tower. He didn't find the twins, but he did see the name Lee Jordan.
"So it shows Lee Jordan, not Avery?" Dawn muttered, slightly disappointed.
He had briefly wondered if he could use the map to identify all those resurrected like Avery.
He continued searching.
But then—
He noticed something strange. Beside many names, an additional name had appeared.
Tom Riddle.
Dawn narrowed his eyes.
He guessed these were students whose souls had been split and shared by Voldemort.
But that was odd.
Hadn't Voldemort enchanted his own name? Was this a side effect of soul splitting?
And—
Tom Riddle's name appeared, but Avery's did not. What was the difference between the two?
Dawn's gaze gradually lost focus.
Voldemort had distributed fragments of his soul among the students.
Avery, on the other hand... was a restoration of consciousness? Was that it?
Did the difference between soul and mind cause the difference in how the map displayed them?
Dawn fell into silent thought.
Then suddenly, he realized— Over the past half year, he had been... drifting.
Compared to last year, his spellcasting had improved significantly.
But his theoretical knowledge had barely progressed since his transformation research.
Even his earlier curiosity about how the Marauder's Map was created—he had forgotten to continue investigating it.
Dawn reflected on his own stagnation.
But he quickly shook his head. Focus on the present.
His eyes swept rapidly across the parchment. Name after name passed by— Until they finally landed on the Weasley twins.
But...
"Why are they in the Headmaster's office?" Dawn muttered.
Another dead end.
How many times had this happened now? The twins were like slippery eels, constantly slipping through his grasp.
Yes, he had lost focus in the Great Hall— But their behavior... It was almost as if they knew every decision he was going to make.
...Wait.
Dawn froze.
That thought triggered something.
A vague idea began forming in his mind. He leaned against a tree and began organizing his thoughts.
The Weasley twins had a problem.
That was certain. But what exactly was the problem?
From the Marauder's Map, he could rule out Polyjuice Potion or Transfiguration. No one was impersonating them.
Then... was it the Imperius Curse? Was someone controlling their actions?
But if that were the case— And they were currently in the Headmaster's office— Dumbledore wouldn't have failed to notice.
On that front, Dawn trusted Dumbledore completely.
So, there was only one possibility left... Someone else was inside them. Just like what had been happening all year.
Dawn lowered his gaze to the map.
Yes, the twins also had "Tom Riddle" next to their names.
But judging from their actions—bringing Avery to him and helping him— There was no way Voldemort would have done that.
Which left only one possibility.
Like Avery— They were influenced by the dead, returning through dreams connected by the Resurrection Stone powder.
But then—
Which dead person would help him... And also know every decision he would make?
Dawn's grip on the map tightened.
His thoughts raced—
Until suddenly, like a flash of lightning, he remembered something.
Himself.
The version of himself lying beyond the Veil.
He instinctively shook his head. It was absurd...Completely absurd...
And yet— The image rooted itself in his mind, surfacing again and again.
Yes.
Who else could understand his actions so perfectly...Who else could avoid every attempt to intercept them...
Except a future version of himself who had already lived through everything?
Damn it... could it really be this? Dawn clutched his head, hissing softly, unable to fully accept the conclusion.
It was too bizarre.
How could his future self appear inside the twins' bodies?
Even if, like Lee Jordan, the Resurrection Stone powder connected them to Avery's consciousness—
The Resurrection Stone was supposed to connect only to the dead.
And he was very much alive.
Even a phoenix could survive beyond the Veil of Death. A future version of himself certainly could.
Especially with time reversal as proof.
So how could the twins connect to his consciousness?
And yet—
If this theory were true— It explained everything.
Why he could never catch them. Why they deliberately avoided him.
Because accessing the memories of a future self... Was obviously dangerous in terms of time reversal.
Dawn felt a growing sense of unease.
Thinking back on all the strange events of recent days, everything felt tangled.
Could it be—
The Veil of Death itself? Did it make the version of him within it...
Equivalent to being dead?
___________
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