The-World-Moves-On (II) [Chapter 164]

~~Hel~~

“Fantastic!” Hela exclaimed with an ecstatic look on her face as she clapped her hands before she smoothly stood up. “To be honest, I was expecting you to take a bit more time to make your decision” Hela wondered aloud as she started to approach Harry while swaying her hips exaggeratingly.

“Though you knew that I was going to accept the deal eventually, didn’t you?” Harry asked with a raised brow, making Hela hum in agreement.

“You want to revive your mother before anything else, so I knew that you would have accepted my offer, eventually” Hela revealed with a grin. “By the way, I liked the show last night, but you still have a long way to go. You still need to learn quite a bit” Hela added as she stared at him speculatively.

“I am looking forward to your lessons” Harry said in a respectful tone as he slightly bowed his head to pay his respects.

“You don’t need to bow to me” Hela waved her hand dismissively, but she did seem to appreciate the gesture. ‘At least, he knows manners. Something I can’t say about most people I have met’ Hela mused internally.

“So, how can I bring back my mother?” Harry asked. Since Hela already knew that he wanted to revive his mother before anything else, he didn’t feel it necessary to hide his intentions from her.

“Have patience, my student” Hela chided him softly. “You are strong and your potential is unfathomable, but at the end of the day, you are still a squishy little mortal" Hela added mockingly as she paced in front of him. "Your body isn't strong enough to handle any Divine techniques" Hela added and even though Harry's ego was bruised by her words, he nodded his head in understanding.

Harry hated being looked down upon, but he knew about his limits. Right now, his body was much stronger than an average human body, but his skull still wasn’t thick enough to tank a 5.6 mm or a 7 mm bullet, and a bullet to the head would most certainly kill him.

Hela turned to the side before she smoothly transitioned into a stance. She took a deep breath and punched forward, creating a massive gust of wind. Harry stared at her with wide eyes as his hair and robes started to flutter, thanks to the strong gust of wind. Though the massive gust of wind was nothing compared to the destruction her punch caused to the wasteland.

Harry stared at the small canyon recently created by Hela with wide eyes… With this display of might, he finally started to understand the difference between a mortal and a God… Hela didn’t use even the slightest bit of Magical Power for the punch, it was pure physical power. Hela stared at the canyon with a complicated look on her face before turning back toward Harry.

“I wasn’t born this strong, but my strength wasn’t anything to scoff at even when I was nothing but a babe” Hela slowly explained. “It is usually impossible for humans to achieve such strength, but humans are nothing, if not innovative” Hela added with a grin. “I have been to such worlds to the past where humans have invented techniques they can use to become as strong as a God eventually” Hela finished, revealing the fact that humans could be found on planets besides Earth.

“Now, thanks to me you have all that knowledge at your disposal” Hela revealed smugly. “In some worlds, the residents called these techniques Cultivation, and in some, the residents referred to these techniques as Martial Art Techniques, but at the core, they are basically the same” Hela finished her explanation with a grin.

“I see… So, do you have anything specific in your Mind?” Harry asked curiously and after getting a nod from Hela, Harry decided to ask her the next question. “By the way, do you use any of these Techniques?” Harry asked, wondering if he could learn such Techniques with his Powers.

“No… I never felt any need for such Techniques…” Hela answered before a contemplative look appeared on her face… “But now that I don’t have anything better to do, I might give it a try. That would make it easier for me to teach you too” Hela decided with a thoughtful look on her face.

“Alright! So, when do we start?” Harry asked, making Hela grin as she placed her hand over Harry’s shoulder.

“There is no better time than now” Hela said as she snaked her arm around his shoulder while grinning wickedly…

(A/N: Guys, do you have any suggestions? Even Dual Cultivation Techniques are welcome)

~~Timeskip~~ (One Week Later)

~~Headmaster’s Office, Hogwarts~~

Albus Dumbledore stared at Hogwarts’ ground from his window with a deep frown on his face. Right now, Albus Dumbledore was not a happy man and his whole world was falling apart around him…

Three days ago, the Ministry finally received the clearance from the ICW to bring Harry Potter back to their country according to the wishes of his new guardian, but they didn’t need to send anyone to bring back the boy as Lucius Malfoy arrived at the Ministry only to reveal that Harry Potter was already living under his roof for a couple of days.

That was what made Albus realize why Mundungus and his group failed to find Harry Potter. If Albus was being honest, Albus never expected Lucius to make such a move and from the look on Amelia’s face, neither did she… If so much wasn’t depending on Harry then Albus would have praised Lucius for such a move. Now, there was a good chance that they might lose the War even before it could start.

That wasn’t the only piece of bad news this week. Nymphadora Tonks was no longer posing as Susan Bones, but the situation didn’t turn out as he was expecting it to… First of all, yes, he was able to get her arrested at first, but later, Amelia spun the tale in such a way that the table was turned on him. Amelia revealed that she was worried that something else might happen with such a dangerous Tournament going on.

With Harry Potter’s name coming out of the Goblet, Amelia didn’t need anything else to prove her point… So, not only she managed to use that angle to get Nymphadora out of any trouble, but she also managed to get Aurors posted inside Hogwarts for the span of the rest of the Tournament… It was a massive blow to Albus and this incident finally led him to realize how much influence he had lost within the Ministry and the Wizengamot…

Albus was brought out of his musings when someone knocked on the door… “Come in” Albus called out and moments later, Severus stepped inside his office, looking as indifferent as usual.

“Both Lucius and Narcissa are intentionally avoiding me” Severus drawled out. “I tried to reach them through Draco. I even tried to use Draco to learn something from them, but they aren’t saying anything” Severus revealed, making Albus nod his head in understanding. It wasn’t exactly surprising the way the elder Malfoys were acting. If they were following Tom’s orders, then he could understand why they were keeping their distance from Severus.

Then there was the fact that Harry might be making the Malfoys move… With the power the boy possessed, it wouldn’t be too hard for Harry to make the Malfoys dance to his tune… He had shown Severus the memory of the duel and as expected it was somewhat hard for Severus to accept the memory of the duel.

“What do you think, Severus? Do you think they are following the Dark Lord’s orders?” Albus asked sombrely.

Severus opened his mouth to say something but then all of a sudden, he grabbed his left arm and hissed in pain… Severus pulled back his left sleeve and both Albus and Severus gasped at the sight. The Dark Mark was as dark as it could possibly be… “He is calling us” Severus revealed, looking paler than he usually was and Albus nodded his head in understanding with a grim look on his face.

“Go” Albus said as there wasn’t anything else he could say… He watched Severus hurriedly leave his office and Albus closed his eyes with a pained look on his face… “Either must die at the hand of the other for neither can leave while the other survives…” Albus mumbled grimly before he finally decided to revisit some of his memories…

<Line Break>

~~Graveyard, Little Hangleton~~ (A few minutes ago)

“My Lord, everything is ready” Peter stuttered out fearfully while kneeling in front of Voldemort. It has been a week since Barty disappeared and Voldemort was almost certain that Barty was no longer alive… Barty was one of his most loyal followers, so Voldemort never considered that Barty might have betrayed him, at least, he wouldn’t have betrayed him knowingly.

That was why Voldemort decided to abandon his plans as he could no longer depend on that plan… He didn’t know what happened to Barty so he decided to create himself a body as soon as he could…

“Good! Start the Ritual” Voldemort hissed and Peter frantically nodded his head in understanding before picking up Voldemort within his arms. After that, he made his way toward the cauldron filled with the bubbling Potion and dropped Voldemort inside the cauldron. Peter looked at the Potion for a moment before scurrying toward the massive angel statue.

He arrived in front of the grave right under the angel statue and flicked his Wand, ripping the grave open. Moments later, he used Magic to levitate a bone out of the grave. “Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son…” Peter chanted before dropping the bone inside the cauldron.

After that Peter whimpered before tucking away his Wand. He pulled out a silver knife from his robes and held his arm outward before bringing the knife up to his arm. “Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your Master…” While chanting Peter brought down the knife over his left hand and removed his arm from the wrist before squealing like a pig in pain.

It took him a few seconds to regain his bearings, but he grabbed the stump of his arm and started to move toward their last ingredient… He arrived in front of Sturgis Podmore. The man was gagged and tied, but the man was clearly struggling, but he stopped when Nagini slithered over his body. Peter made a small cut on his arm to collect some blood in a goblet.

“Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe…” Peter chanted in a trembling voice as he was still reeling in the pain of his hand he removed himself. He returned to the cauldron and poured the blood inside the cauldron…

Moments later, the cauldron finally caught fire and Voldemort started to grow from his initial baby like body. While floating in the air, Voldemort continued to grow until his body was finally big as an adult. He landed on his feet and ran a hand over his bald head before finally opening his eyes… His eyes were completely scarlet, but instead of looking like a human’s eyes, his eyes were very similar to a serpent’s eyes.

“My Lord” Peter whimpered and dropped in front of Voldemort while holding his stump.

“My Wand” Voldemort hissed coldly before the cowardly man finally produced the Wand from his robes and handed it over to Voldemort.

Voldemort used his Wand to Conjure a set of dark robes over his body. “Your hand” Voldemort ordered coldly and Peter started to thank Voldemort before offering his stump, only for Voldemort to snap at him. “Your other arm!” Voldemort snapped and Peter immediately offered his other arm. Voldemort placed the tip of his Wand over the Dark Mark and Peter screamed in pain.

Voldemort stood up, ignoring Peter’s begging and whimpering. “...I wonder how many of them will be brave enough to return…” Voldemort muttered with a cruel look on his face…