"What do you know about time travel?"
Draco asked solemnly before starting.
Harry knocked on the floor three times and asked in a confused tone: "Not to mention that we are all here, my parents - James and Lily are still asleep in the Gryffindor next door, or in the student dormitory, what do you think?"
"You are a Ravenclaw, give me something to say that is not nonsense." Draco picked up a fresh strawberry with a fork and stuffed it into his mouth, "Eat it and say something useful."
"Actually, if you study this, you will be in trouble by SHIELD..." Harry said this seemingly after swallowing the strawberry, and then held his chin with his hand and thought for a moment. After all, he had been so affected by time travel. After a long time, there are still useful speeches.
"It's terrible." He said the problem he had thought about before, "It's very terrible. I don't even know whether I should do something or what I shouldn't do - I am faced with a situation that I clearly faced at a known time period. There are many unknowns, not only because I am still a person who doesn’t know any past stories, but also because the world is always changing rapidly. Human beings have not explored the world very thoroughly, and time travel is not safe at all. I can’t explain clearly. Whether our travel spans time, space, or both, and the butterfly effect is what I fear most, I think, if I want to go home, it’s best not to tell anyone about the future.”
It took Draco three seconds to get the word 'butterfly effect' out of his head. Fortunately, he had gained a lot of scientific knowledge in the past few months and had not forgotten the meaning of the word.
"Yes, you can't say that." After briefly understanding what Harry meant, Draco opened the document with a straight face, "I don't know how Muggles can achieve time travel, but, in fact, as a wizard, , we can't just say the future - look, there are relevant regulations here. Once you violate the rules, the magic contract will make you suffer a corresponding degree! And this is not even a man-made clause, but the legendary wizards. Laws to obey.”
"But I've never heard of such a thing," Harry was a little confused, "I've never heard of such a statement in Ravenclaw, and why is it a legend?"
"...Time travelers often come and go without a trace, and people from the Department of Mysteries are not bad," Draco looked at him speechlessly, "Where do you expect to hear and confirm? It's like using a time turner. You can never look at it the same as your past self, who cares if it is established or not? When you test it yourself, you might go see Merlin!"
It sounds like something unreasonable. Harry cursed. Although the existence of this law is very reasonable.
"But does this belong to the laws and laws of nature, or did a wizard cast extremely powerful magic from the beginning? I mean, the kind of magic that is like the servility of house elves?" Harry tried to clarify what this kind of law belongs to Which side.
"I don't know." Draco said firmly, tapping his fork on the plate to emphasize, "It's not possible anyway - it is said that you just can't let your past self and future self meet, and you can't clearly tell people in the past what will happen in the future. What happened. At least as wizards, we have to follow these laws, and this thing," he shook the document left by Felton, his expression distorted for half a second, "the above has passed a magical oath, restricting, or prohibiting us from All spoilers during the mission - since we share a contract for time travel, I am the contractor and you are the executor. We all have to pay attention to this. The contract will not care who attempts to violate it. Regulations.”
"Uh, um... Well, it sounds like he, like all of us, also finds spoilers shameful." Harry joked bitterly, "Okay, tell me, Draco, there's something I want to do first. Do you know - where did this contract come from? It has your name on it, was it signed by you? The magic contract should be signed with the consent of the parties involved, right? "
Although there are only files and documents here, I still know that words and laws alone cannot accomplish everything. There must be a magical contract playing a role in it. Otherwise, Harry would not be thrown into such a distant past unprepared. The magic was activated on time, without consulting the user, and somehow confused him with Draco - although Harry was thankful for this.
"It's a pity," Draco's expression became complicated, as if he had eaten something wrong, "Although this thing - essentially, it is almost the same as what I signed - but of course I didn't sign this damn thing. It's what Felton left behind, and he left it to me along with his 'legacy'. Slytherin would never take the initiative to cause himself such uncontrollable trouble, unless the trouble can be exchanged for - huge - and it is own urgently needed interests.”
He vaguely explained the issue of the contract, and when he came to the 'huge benefits', he stared at the document and the cabinet, and became strangely silent, taking a deep breath and sighing.
"...?"
Harry didn't know where this silence came from, but he knew that Draco's attitude towards Felton had always been complicated; for Harry himself, he taught Harry very carefully, gave him guidance in various aspects, and helped Harry in many things. , it can even be said that he saved his life and never asked for anything in return. But, on the other hand, he had never been gentle and tolerant towards Draco. He had always been pushing him with a whip, giving him cold words and ridicules.
However, now that I think about it, compared to Draco, his attitude towards Harry was often more alienated, less obvious.
Compared to ordinary students, he devoted himself to teaching Harry magic, and even sacrificed his treasure to save Harry's life at a critical moment. But from Cairo, he seemed to have disappeared from the world, and Harry couldn't even find him to say thank you.
Compared to Harry, Draco was the one who approached him. Until now, Harry still knew little about Felton, except for the exchanges that a good student and a qualified teacher should have, and that strange, as if in a dream Malkin's clothing store, there was almost no negotiation between them other than studying.
After a long silence, Draco asked Harry:
"What's your impression of Felton... hmm?"
It was inevitable to say this with a feeling of reluctance, but if this question was not asked, Draco would also feel awkward - he hoped that Harry would only have a normal impression of Felton, or even that he would have no impression at all, as if this person had never appeared. , but he felt it would be too sad if no one remembered what Felton did.
"Professor Felton?" Although the last sentence ended with a hum, Harry understood the intention very well, "Are you asking me about my impression of him?"
"Of course." Draco threw the document away and mentioned his other self in front of Harry, which made him feel irritated, but he tried to endure it, "How was it?"
I was quite unhappy to take the initiative to tell him. Draco mentally pouted to himself. But that doesn't mean I won't tell him. I swore I would tell him.
Harry thought about it carefully.
If he had to give a general impression of Felton, Harry would say that he is very much like Snape, but not very much like Snape.
However, compared to Snape, Felton didn't often use hypocritical words - or in other words, when he criticized someone, he was more reasonable. Even when he reprimanded a student (this person was usually Draco), it was more restrained. But compared to Snape, who was free-spirited in this regard, Felton was too restrained.
He seemed to have consciously hidden his true, detailed self. Except for Draco, he did not let others see his likes and dislikes for other people and other things.
——He rarely even showed his emotions in front of Harry, his 'favorite' student. And for some reason, he knew everything about Harry, including his mutant identity, his abilities, and his family, but Harry just - didn't really understand him. Once the guidance was over, he often let Harry leave and left him alone. Draco stayed behind to practice more.
At first, when Harry watched him embarrass Draco, he would have thought that he would inevitably be like Snape, changeable in mood and indifferent to students he didn't like; and when many students were curious about his true identity and tried hard to talk to him, he would never try to talk to him. No matter what, he locked himself in his room after class. The figure leaving at the end of class and the rolling black cloak were not as terrifying as Snape, but they were indifferent and cold, like a ghost that would never look back. And later, he brought Draco to Cairo. This was considered leading students out of danger, which was not like what a teacher would do. But other than that, everything he did was to help, and It's very powerful, and it makes people confused about his purpose.
Harry instinctively felt that, although he didn't know why, he couldn't quite sense the professor's heart, but it might be like a black lake in winter, with thick and cold ice, and no one except Draco could touch the ice. layer below.
...The strange thing is, if you think about it carefully, this coldness may have been directed at all kinds of people, or even everyone, but its coldness has never hurt Harry.
It might have refused Harry to approach or dive down, but even if Harry tried to reach out, the coldness would become a little...warmer? For example, during the course in the Forbidden Forest, Felton put the furry unicorn cub in his arms, making him the envy of everyone. Later, he held his hand along the way to prevent him from getting any more. A sprained foot or a fall, the tone was extremely gentle compared to scolding Draco.
But thinking about it on the other hand, something seemed wrong about this - now it seemed that Felton was too 'preferential', and that attitude seemed to make Harry's body and mind very fragile in limited contact.
And after all the warmth and light had been exerted, Felton did not leave any grateful time, but immediately left.
"……Um."
Harry held his chin like this and pondered for a long time, feeling complicated. He had no choice but to express his feelings bit by bit in order: "This... he is on our side, a good man, and has helped us with a lot of things. This is absolutely true. And then, he is a very good professor, and the church He taught us a lot of extracurricular knowledge, let us start small sessions, and train overtime... But I don’t know his purpose at all, Draco, he disappeared for a long time, and only you knew when he left, and he didn’t even let me say thank you.”
"I think... he wants us to be well together." Harry spread his hands, "But what I can't figure out is, Draco, why? Why does he value the two of us so much? Instead of others?"
Dad loves him because they are father and child; Sirius and Remus love him because their father is their best friend and Sirius is their godfather; Peter, Wanda and Nina love him because they are Brothers and sisters who have a good relationship.
None of these people were related to Harry by blood, but when emotions were deeper than blood ties, it all made sense.
"...Also, it may be my misunderstanding, but his attitude towards me," Harry said, saying that he was a little unsure, "Um, does Professor Felton think that I... need more protection? Or is it very... Easily hurt? He seemed careful not to hurt me with a bad attitude."
When Draco heard this statement, he was shocked by Harry's rapid improvement in emotional intelligence.
"——You actually feel it!" he shouted, "I thought you just thought everyone was a good person!"
Harry twitched the corners of his mouth speechlessly.
"Listen, of course he recognizes us." Draco held his chin and let out a long sigh. He stared seriously, but looked at the opposite side with a tense expression, as if there was a Felton standing opposite him. , "He - I - he -" He couldn't find the beginning of a sentence for a while, and frowned, "He - knows the other you."
After saying that, he immediately shut up and waited with bated breath for Harry's reaction.
"…………another me?"
Harry spent several seconds trying to understand what this meant. At first, what he thought was 'someone is pretending to be me', but think about it, Draco wouldn't call such a fake Harry, that is to say, that 'I' is the real 'I'.
He was not obtuse, and when he related their situation and those documents, this sentence immediately became easier to understand. That may seem unbelievable, but when you yourself are not normal, this unbelievability is completely understandable. And that possibility makes a lot of sense.
"You mean...just like I know two of my dads now?"
Harry murmured, feeling that he didn't know what expression to put on, "Then I-I-he-"
Like Draco, he also had a sudden language imbalance. My tongue felt like the stiffest thing at this moment, and I couldn't move it up to pronounce it.
"...Yes." Having said this, Draco found that his impetuous mentality had calmed down strangely, "He has been wearing a cloak because he can't take off the hood...Although time will change people's appearance, He had a look that would instantly make others recognize his face."
"…You mean," Harry blinked with a dull expression, "I-we know him now."
You know him and I know myself. Draco sneered inwardly, and couldn't tell whether the sneer was directed at himself or Felton.
"Anyway, he knows you, me, and many people." Draco tried to speak as concisely as possible. "Now you know why he can meddle in other people's affairs wherever he goes - including your family's affairs. He also knows some things, although I I don’t know how much he knows.”
Harry fell silent of course. He held Draco's hand tightly and crossed his legs on the sofa, saying nothing, obviously shocked.
"Listen, I don't want to come out as someone who speaks ill of people, so I have to tell you first - he doesn't know much about you, I mean, about mutants, he is a wizard, before something happens He doesn't understand you at all," Draco gritted his teeth, breathing, breathing out, breathing out, breathing out. For him, speaking ill of people was common, but it was extremely difficult to defend an annoying person, "So! What the hell happened in Cairo? I don’t know - he can’t make any useful preparations in advance, so he can only make blind preparations and try again to test me. Anyway, he has been planning for you from the beginning to the end. "
After he came to this conclusion, he let out a heavy breath, as if cutting a piece of rotten flesh from his thigh.
Look what I'm doing, I'm speaking for Felton! Draco screamed loudly in his mind, feeling disgusted that he had done such a thing, and feeling uncomfortable because he didn't explain it clearly.
When he found out who Felton was, it was like a thunderbolt hit his head. He was greatly shocked and his head was confused. Felton didn't care about him. But now it was Harry who had a taste of this, but he still had to spend a lot of time for Felton, and he had to pay attention to whether Harry was also confused.
Damn it. Draco glanced at the hand Harry had been holding with his during the conversation, and his annoyance subsided slightly again.
Who made him Harry? Do I want him to be as confused as I was before, not knowing whether to scream, accuse or do whatever he wants?
"Draco, how could I blame Professor Felton for this?"
If he were drinking water right now, Harry would definitely squirt it out.
He ended the silence dumbfounded and spoke: "Don't worry, even I believe that the future must not be revealed at will, and Professor Felton also," he thought for a while, and firmly characterized the matter, "-there is no such thing Obligation. If he helps, I thank him. If he doesn’t help, I will never think it’s his fault! You don’t have to worry about what I will think of him. It’s not the first day you’ve met me. I don’t have this kind of logic! "
But I'm afraid he is. After Draco heard this, his heart suddenly felt heavy. Felton felt that it was his fault that his 'you' died.
"I'm just talking." He casually skipped the topic, and silence spread again, because neither of them was in a relaxed state of mind.
"——Since Professor Felton knows us," Harry thought, "do we know him? Draco? Or another him? Are we both friends or relatives?"
This is actually a bit hard to imagine, because apart from Snape, Felton doesn't look like anyone Harry knows, and when I think of Snape, I feel weird: the biggest difference between Snape and Felton is that Snape will never think that Harry is easy. Damn it, he was often happy to hurt Harry, psychologically and verbally, and Snape didn't seem to be the type to grab a unicorn cub and stuff it as a gift to him.
He shuddered when he thought about this possibility.
"Is Professor Felton...Professor Snape?" Harry struggled with this terrifying idea.
"...No," Draco twitched the corners of his mouth and said expressionlessly, "Felton is not our elder, not yours, and not mine!"
Harry glanced at him.
"So have you seen his face?" Harry asked softly, "Who is he, Draco?"
Draco looked down at his knees, his expression once again became like a plaster statue, pale, a little cold, but not without a sense of humanity. There was prudence and a little bit of compassion in it, but he quickly put this aside. Pity withered in Harry's presence.
"He is different from us. As time travelers, we are here to complete the things in the contract."
Draco bluntly avoided the question, remaining motionless in his previous posture, and instead started talking about something else: "He did those things in order to become a time traveler. He left a copy of the document, His mission is written on it - to ensure victory in the Battle of Cairo. I guess it is because, if your father, your Uncle Erik, and others fail in Cairo, it will have serious consequences for the wizarding world. , the Department of Mysteries does not interfere in the historical process without authorization, but they want to ensure the survival of the wizard lineage, so this is their deal, and it is also part of the price Felton pays. By the way, in our files, the task requires us to prevent 'Project Sentinel' - we'll talk about that later."
Harry noticed his stiffness and did not continue to dwell on the issue.
Compared with my gratitude, Professor Felton must have a special presence in Draco's heart, and he is more than grateful. He thought silently, but the more he thought about it, the heavier it became.
This kind of feeling is very strange - you realize before your eyes that there is another person who has had a huge impact on your most important friend, but you actually don't know much about it. Everything seems to happen only in the world of those two people. , which is a bit far away for you.
It was obvious that they were sitting very close to each other.
Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere suddenly became as cold as ice.
"What is 'part of the price'?" After a while, Harry chose another question as an answer, "What is the other price paid?"
Draco maintained his statuesque expression and posture and hesitated for quite a while before he was willing to answer - if the lesson of concealment hadn't been too painful, he would have sworn to take the secret to his grave.
"I don't know how many things the hell Felton has done," Draco said, "but Gryffindor said that he must have tried many secret methods to go back to the past, or change what has happened or something else, mysterious affairs This must have been the last thing he tried. Both Gryffindor and I suspected that he had lost the essence of 'himself' - if he was himself before, he wasn't anymore. His hair also changed color, and his eyes The color also faded, and if he were still himself, his other self would naturally go crazy when he saw him."
Although I was only a few steps away from going crazy. Draco thought numbly.
"..." Harry was silent for a few seconds and said in an extremely soft voice, "He must have experienced something very painful."
Harry considers himself not a pessimistic person, but in this era that does not belong to him, even though he is lucky enough to be cared for by many people, his life is still burdened. There are too many similar and unfamiliar people, and there are too many similar and unfamiliar things. It is like a dream. Your thoughts and your past are all in the future. If you hide these and live alone, it will be easy to lose yourself, let alone... With the temptation and uncertainty of the 'known future', it requires great willpower and courage to calmly plan everything and achieve the goal like Felton did.
He couldn't imagine what Felton had gone through to make him go crazy and want to go back to the past as Draco said. It didn't even sound like what 'that Professor Felton' had done.
"He didn't tell me everything, but I know that he... cares about someone very much." Draco wanted to say 'love', but when the words reached his lips, he swallowed them easily. After he told Harry that he was destined to say Before the three words, he didn't want to say 'love' easily. "He used to be very useless and timid. He would just sit back and do nothing when things happened. When disaster struck, instead of helping, he would stay at home and wait. I heard about that person’s death notice and the legacy left by that person, and I feel like a coward when I say it—oh, they are distant relatives.”
After saying the last sentence, he hesitated a little - is the point of distant relatives superfluous? What if Harry guessed it all at once?
Harry shuddered at the words 'death notice' and 'legacy'. Even if the fortune falling from the sky could touch the hearts of many people, Harry would never want to receive anyone's inheritance, including his deceased parents. And if the people who could give him the inheritance sent him an inheritance notice... Harry would feel so nervous that his chest would feel tight and painful just by thinking about such a scene.
He looked at Draco and thought that they were also distant relatives, but he would never want to receive the inheritance Draco left him one day.
"So, Professor Felton, he lost his loved one," he said quietly, "...then I...I can understand."
Even though changing the past was never a wise thing, he could understand Felton's mood.
"It's hard for me to say whether it's love or not," Draco said in a cold tone, "He never said he loved that person! Sometimes I suspected that he had misunderstood the definition of love. He said that if it happened again, he knew that person would die. , he may still not help the person he cares about."
Harry even remembered what Felton said in that pure white clothing store... He said that Madam Malkin's shop was the place where he regarded it as the starting point. It was so weird that even his godfather saw his joke, but he knew that it was Why, because he met a person there, and his relationship with that person was so bad that he usually didn't write even a letter to the other person.
Thinking about Felton's understatement about how his godfather kicked him, and the tone in which he said, 'Life is not a roll of the dice, you can do it again if you cheat', Harry should have said 'I see' because of the latter, but now he did. Because the former couldn't help but laugh.
In fact, whether you love it or not, even if Felton doesn't admit it, his heart has already admitted it, right?
"True love doesn't need to be spoken, and people don't always know whether they are telling the truth, Draco," Harry squeezed Draco's hand and winked at him, "He said, if you do it again, he will still He won't help - so why would he seek to go back to the past? Just to experience the loss of a loved one again?"
"No one is that stupid, Draco." He said softly but firmly, "He must have wanted to save that person, save the person he lost -"
"——Doesn't this mean that if he had it to do over again, he would definitely save that person at all costs?"
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Point the way to the next chapter!
Thanks to the little angels who voted for me or gave me the nutrient solution~
Thanks to the little angels who threw [landmines]: Qingshan Old Man Yin, a box of loquat candies, and 1 Changning in the Far North;
Thanks to the little angel who irrigates [nutrient solution]:
Bingyu Yingying 35 bottles; Ying 30 bottles; sherry1263 20 bottles; Li Da 18 bottles; Tiger Loves to Eat Mung Bean Cake, Ruoran Ziyan, 3087554, Ai Xu Cao, Dangerous Gao Zai, Eyre, Yu Ze, Yan Ye Er 10 bottles; 5 bottles of Lingxueluoxue; 2 bottles of Bailiminuo; 1 bottle of Squid;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
