Think of Lily's eyes! Snape walked back to his office in a daze, with these words still echoing in his mind.

Compared to nostalgia, he felt more anger.

It was obvious that when Cyrus said this, he was no different from Dumbledore. It was simply a spell to control him. As soon as it was spoken, the man named Severus Snape was immediately controlled!

But what could he do?

He could only do it willingly.

Moreover, now he could only look for Lily's shadow in Harry's eyes. Thinking of this, Snape felt that teaching Harry to learn the brain block technique was not such a difficult thing to accept, except that he had to face the face that was at least 80% similar to James Potter.

This inevitably made Snape feel that it was a reminder to him that Lily and James ended up together. Although they died, they were even buried together.

Of course, Snape was not the only one who felt the pain and suffering. Harry was also very uncomfortable.

He couldn't understand why Cyrus asked Snape for help. He believed that there were a lot of wizards in the world who knew the art of Occlumency, especially Cyrus himself or Dumbledore. There was no magic that they didn't know.

"But it had to be Snape!" He stuffed a large piece of pumpkin pie into his mouth angrily. Hermione and Ron, who were sitting next to him, couldn't help but feel sympathy for him when they heard him talk.

If Hagrid was good to Harry, then Snape was bad to Harry.

Gryffindor lost more points because of Harry alone than in all the previous years combined!

"Did he ever explain why?" Ron asked, shaking his shoulders as he ate, his mouth so full that it took Harry a moment to make out what he was saying.

Why? Maybe he didn't want to live his last days so comfortably! Harry complained in his heart.

He still felt that he would eventually have to die in order to destroy Voldemort. Thinking of this, he became sad again. The happier he was at Hogwarts, the more he feared death.

Sometimes he would think, it would be better to let him die now, at least he still has the courage to face death, but what if it's two years later? He couldn't guarantee that he would not be greedy for the happiness in this world, and would not be reluctant to leave Ron and Hermione. Of course, he and Ginny are also good friends now.

"What's wrong with you, Harry?" Hermione noticed Harry's low mood.

"Nothing..." Harry pursed his lips tightly, closed his eyes, and blinked away the tears beside his eyes.

He couldn't tell anyone about these things, because he knew that if they knew, Ron, Hermione and Ginny would definitely question Cyrus.

They would ask Cyrus to think of another way, and Harry also hoped that there was another way, but if there really was one, Dumbledore might have destroyed Voldemort more than a decade ago.

"Okay, so when are you going to see Snape?"

"Twice a week, Wednesday night and weekends," Harry answered.

Perhaps because of Cyrus's order, Snape deliberately increased Harry's course load to ensure that he learned the brain block before the third task.

"But I don't understand why you're in such a hurry. Don't you have to participate in the competition anymore?" Ron asked.

"Who knows, maybe he wants me to kill Voldemort in the third task." Harry joked, but Ron shuddered at her words.

"Don't say that name, okay? He's too scary!" Ron almost dropped the food in his hand.

Normally, Harry would have stressed that they should not be afraid of the name itself, but after the battle in the Department of Mysteries, he stopped correcting them forcefully.

Everyone was terrified at the time.

Although Ron was not at the scene, he was scared to death just by listening to Harry and the others' story.

If Cyrus and Dumbledore had not arrived in time, he would have lost his sister and his two best friends at the same time.

Hermione and Ginny also turned pale. When they were in front of Voldemort, they seemed to be frozen and dared not move, but every inch of their skin felt as if it was burned by flames and was in great pain.

Especially when he saw Voldemort insert his wand into Harry's brain alive, the fear almost reached its peak! "Well, although it's a bit late to ask now, but... Harry, is your scar okay?" Hermione asked.

She knew that Harry's scar would hurt sometimes. They didn't understand why before, but after Voldemort explained it himself, they knew the secret.

This scar is connected to Voldemort's soul.

"It's fine now." Harry subconsciously touched his lightning-like scar.

He thought about when he first came to the wizarding world, so many wizards looked at his scar and marveled at it. They probably never dreamed that the scar contained the soul of Voldemort, the person they feared the most.

Harry was still feeling sad, and the somewhat slow-witted Ron suddenly raised his head, as if he had thought of something.

"By the way Harry, now that you are no longer taking part in the competition, are you still going to take the final exams?"

Ron really spoke out the issue that he cared about most.

In response, Hermione rolled her eyes without hesitation.

"Is there any need to explain that?! Since he is no longer a warrior, he shouldn't avoid the exam."

"Come on," Ron said dismissively, "The rules don't say that a warrior who quits midway is not a warrior. Harry risked his life to compete, isn't it worth exempting from an exam?"

He really couldn't understand why Hermione took exams so seriously.

"In fact, I think Harry has gained a lot this semester even without the exams," Ginny also said.

Throughout this year, Harry has mastered at least several difficult spells under Dumbledore's guidance, such as the Disillusionment Charm. This is why Harry feels that he no longer needs a cloak.

Harry listened to their conversation and suddenly felt like he was dreaming.

All he could think about was his own death, but Ron and the others were talking about the exam.

How ridiculous! The two are as disconnected as the Dursleys' closet and Hogwarts castle.

So much so that Harry suddenly began to doubt that perhaps there was no Hogwarts in this world, no magic, not to mention Voldemort. When he woke up tomorrow and opened his eyes, he would still be in that small space where he couldn't even stretch his legs straight, and it would still be that pitiful summer vacation...

He was just knocked unconscious by Dudley's fist, so he had such a bizarre dream.

If that were the case, then I wouldn't have to die.

Harry thought.

But for some reason, he would rather die than have Hogwarts be just a dream.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered that in the second year, Cyrus led their thoughts to the diary, where they saw Tom Riddle's past.

Even though he was reluctant to admit it in his heart, Harry knew that he was actually very similar to Voldemort, not only in appearance, but also in their experiences - they both regarded Hogwarts as their real home.

He whispered these words softly, and felt that the resurrection stone that Cyrus left for him in his pocket was getting hot!

"Turn it three times and you will see what you want to see..."

Cyrus' words were now echoing in Harry's mind, growing more and more violent like the waves on a lake.

He stood up from the table.

Hermione and Ron were still arguing about whether or not to take the exam, and Harry's sudden move startled them.

"Are you full?"

"I remembered I have something to do..." Harry put one hand into his pocket and clenched his fist tightly. The edges of the Resurrection Stone stung his palm, and he lied.

In fact, Harry felt that it would be okay to tell them the truth about the Resurrection Stone.

He couldn't think of anyone he could trust if he couldn't trust Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, but now, he wanted to give himself a little time and give it to the people the Resurrection Stone might bring him.

"What can you do - ah, why did you hit me!"

Hermione was about to ask for details, but Ron hit her hard on the back of the head, and she immediately looked at him angrily.

But Ron ignored her and looked at Harry: "Go ahead, Harry. I will take your textbook directly to the classroom before the afternoon class."

Ron winked at Harry, and Harry immediately realized that Ron definitely didn't mean to bring him textbooks.

In fact, the afternoon class was History of Magic, which meant that no one would care even if they didn't go. Professor Binns, who taught History of Magic, never called the roll and only read the text dryly.

If Hermione hadn't asked him about the Chamber of Secrets in their second year, Harry would probably have thought that Professor Binns was just a heartless machine reading texts.

So he left the Gryffindor table, and when he was halfway there, Cedric, who was sitting in Hufflepuff, followed him with his head down.

"Harry, are you all right?"

Cedric greeted Harry with concern.

When he was in the Department of Mysteries, he also heard what Voldemort said. Although he didn't know what a Horcrux was, he couldn't help but worry about Harry.

Because of Zhang Qiu, Harry had complicated emotions towards Cedric, but no matter how he said it, he couldn't hate this person.

This kid is very loyal. Even when facing Voldemort, he did not back down and planned to save him.

What more could Harry ask of him?

"I'm fine."

Hearing this, Cedric nodded, and then he said, "I plan to give up the third game."

"Give up?" Harry was a little surprised.

He felt that he, the warrior, was just a bonus, but Cedric was different. He deserved the title! If there weren't so many conspiracies and intrigues in this competition, Cedric would have a great chance of becoming the winner.

When he thought of this, he felt sorry for Cedric.

"I've thought about it. With my strength, there's no point in continuing to participate in the competition." Cedric said, "Fleur and Cassandra have the same plan."

"Wait, you mean, Fleur also abstained?" Harry was stunned.

If Beauxbatons lost its last contestant, wouldn't that mean Voldemort had given up the Triwizard Tournament? "Yeah, I just heard about it this morning..." Cedric was a little absent-minded, and it was obvious that he wasn't looking for Harry to chat.

"Listen to me, Harry." Cedric looked around and confirmed that no one was approaching them. Then he pulled Harry to a more secluded place and whispered, "I checked the entire library, but I only know a few words about Horcruxes."

"V...what the mysterious man says may not be true, Harry. I hope you won't be influenced by him. I am willing to believe Professor Dumbledore." Cedric said sincerely.

In response, Harry smiled and said something that he didn't know whether it was from his heart or not: "I want to believe it too!"

"Great, don't give up, okay?" Cedric patted his shoulder hard and separated from him.

Harry then walked around the castle, trying to find a suitable place where he would not be disturbed by anyone.

At first he thought of the room where Dumbledore used to keep the Mirror of Erised, but he happened to run into Filch hanging around there, so he somehow walked to the bathroom on the third floor, and Myrtle, who hadn't seen him for a long time, greeted him warmly.

"Hi, Harry Potter!" said Myrtle shyly. "Visiting the ladies' room again?"

"Yeah." Harry responded to her as he walked to the faucet that was not working and recited the snake language.

——Of course he has a good place where he will never be disturbed, the secret room! Anyway, the afternoon is long and he has a lot of time.

He slid all the way through the muddy tunnel and came to the secret room. Then he took out the resurrection stone from his pocket.

This was a treasure that could reverse life and death, but Harry remembered Cyrus's instructions and knew he couldn't do it. Moreover, resurrecting the dead was no longer important, because he was about to become one of them. In fact, it wasn't him who called them here, but they were calling him away.

At this moment, Harry felt as if he was not so afraid of death anymore, because there were people he loved on both sides of life and death.

Harry took it in his palm and turned it three times.

He knew there was a result because he heard slight movements around him, like some weak bodies moving on the wet ground, making splashing sounds.

Harry looked around and saw two sweet figures coming out of the damp darkness. They were neither ghosts nor living people of flesh and blood. They walked towards him, both with such loving smiles on their faces.

James Potter looked to be a little taller than Harry. He was still wearing the clothes he had died in. His hair was messy and his glasses were a little crooked, which made him look a bit like Mr. Weasley.

Lily brushed her long hair behind her head, smiling happily, and walked closer to Harry. Her green eyes, which were exactly the same as Harry's, looked at Harry's face hungrily, as if she could never see enough.

Harry recognised them immediately, for he had seen them in the mirror during his first year.

“You are so brave.”

Lily tried to touch Harry's face and wipe away the tears that wouldn't stop flowing from his eyes.

They have been dead for many years, but they seem to know everything that is happening now.

(End of this chapter)