HP/LOTM: Visionary - 424

Chapter 424: A Shaped Dream — The Saviour Star

At Riddle Manor, a young Severus Snape burst in, stumbling to his knees at Tom Riddle’s feet.

"Well, well. Our future Potions master, in such a state?" Tom said, flicking his robe out to hide the alchemical array behind him.

"Master, I heard a prophecy. From the heir of an ancient Seer family. It foretells that you will meet inevitable ruin," Snape blurted, relaying what he had overheard.

But he had fled too fast to catch the latter half of the prophecy, and in the future, the prophecy orb would be destroyed. In both timelines, Voldemort never truly knew it in full.

Crack.

Tom crushed the guard on his arm to dust. The black magic he had nurtured through years of Dark experiments surged out in waves.

He already knew from his older, female self that he would one day be defeated, but hearing it again still made his blood pound.

"Inform the others. Seal this news. Find the child in the prophecy. Once I have dealt with certain other matters, I will hunt down the remaining rebels," Tom said coldly, flicking his hand to dismiss him.

When Snape had gone, Tom turned back to his interrupted ritual. Armed with knowledge of the future, he now meant to leverage even more of Chaos’s power into his hands to meet the prophecy head-on.

"What about the Prewetts?" a girl’s voice said behind him.

"Go with the Death Eaters. Find them. When I finish here, I will bring reinforcements," Tom said, attention already sinking back into the circle. He ignored Tom from the future after that.

……

Elsewhere, the two Manipulators who had also heard the prophecy began to move.

"Life is so much harder without the errand-runners," Lada grumbled, sprawled on a table in a Muggle café.

Coming back to the past had stripped away the great net of magical creatures Aiden had woven for her. If Lada wanted information in this era, she had to run across Britain on her own four paws. For a little cat who had grown used to flopping on the floor and having goblins bring her messages, it was torture.

"Bear with it. You are just slower this way. If it comes to it, use a Mind Storm and blow the news around," Arthursi said calmly, lifting her coffee. Asking for tea in a Muggle café like this would have been a bit odd.

"That only works once the rumours have already spread," Lada said, rolling over so the rare British sun could warm her belly.

"Exactly. Which is why we are counting on you, dear Lada," Arthursi said, patting her head.

Lada: "…"

In the end, it all fell on the little cat.

In the days that followed, in every place British witches and wizards gathered, they began to hear the same thing: hushed talk of a mysterious prophecy, a prophecy of a Saviour Star.

Whenever they tried to track down the whisperers, all they found were empty alleys. It could not possibly be the alley cats talking… could it?

The rumour spread like an urban legend. More and more people became curious. They started combing those alleys on their own, hunting for the source of the prophecy.

Most of them found nothing at all, but they kept at it, almost happily.

In this way, the prophecy’s message slipped easily through the wizarding world. At the same time, the two Manipulators stirred up storms in the Sea of Collective Subconscious, until half the prophecy had become common knowledge.

Under the pressure of the fear Voldemort had sown, wizards began to pin enormous hope on this unknown saviour. By the time Voldemort truly fell to the Saviour Star, the dream the two Manipulators were weaving around this age would be complete.

The Death Eaters sent to stamp out the rumour were utterly at a loss. Their mission had failed before they even started. They raged a bit, but anger did nothing to help.

Thinking of what awaited them if they went back to face the Dark Lord’s displeasure, they made another choice: defection. Their leader was a Death Eater named Karkaroff.

By the time word of all this reached Voldemort, wizarding opinion was blazing like a forest fire. More terror attacks did nothing. He could not kill every witch and wizard in Britain.

At the regular gathering five days later, many Death Eaters looked at him with barely hidden worry.

"Master," Lucius Malfoy said at last, speaking as the representative of the pure-blood faction that had thrown in with Tom.

"Ah, Lucius, my sly friend. I see you have heard a few unpleasant things. Do not fret. All of it is fake news," Tom said, letting his magic roll out to remind them how strong he was.

"But the child born in July, the prophecy speaks of. Have you found them?" he asked.

"Yes, Master. According to our information, there are only two children born in July to families who have thrice defied you: the Potters’ child and the Longbottoms’ child," said Bellatrix.

As the one who held most of the British wizarding media in her grasp, she could obtain such intelligence with ease.

At the far end of the table, Snape went white.

"Well done, Bella," Tom said, smiling at her.

The black magic had twisted his features into something almost monstrous, but Bellatrix gazed at him with adoration all the same.

“There’s definitely something wrong with her,” Arthursi and Lada muttered from their hiding place in the blind spot of his mind.

When the meeting ended and the Death Eaters dispersed, Snape came forward again and sank to his knees.

"My Lord, I beg you. Spare her," he whispered.

"Hm?" Tom, a master of Legilimency, skimmed his memories in an instant.

“How dare you lust after a Muggle-born witch? You disgrace your noble blood,” Tom said.

He had always felt a certain fondness for the younger wizard, whose background mirrored his own; in the years to come, Snape’s proven loyalty would only cement that favour.

"Very well. For the sake of your devotion, I will consider leaving her alive," Tom said lightly.

It was that offhand tone that froze Snape’s heart solid.

He knew this man too well. Tom was cold, contemptuous of life. To cut away any threat to himself, he would kill even his most faithful servant without blinking. What chance did a family who had defied him three times have?

"Thank you, my Lord," Snape said, bowing his head and backing away.

The moment he left Riddle Manor, Severus Snape headed straight for Hogwarts.

As soon as he crossed the boundary of the castle’s protections, Dumbledore, in his office, felt the presence of an uninvited guest. He Apparated at once, appearing directly in front of Snape.