[HP]Timepiece Countdown

The next day, London, Piccadilly Circus.

This is not the first time for Harry to come here. After all, it is also located in the city center, Piccadilly Circus is not far from King's Cross Station.But it was the first time he had stepped onto the rooftop of a bustling shopping mall at an intersection, and watched as a true penthouse he had never seen emerged from thin air.

"What's this place?" He stared straight at the symmetrical, carved marble door knocker of the eighteenth century.

"Safe house." Dumbledore obviously noticed the shock on Harry's face, because he continued to explain when he pushed the door open: "Temporary, I used some personal connections."

Although Harry was vague on the definition of a safe house, in his opinion, a house used for this purpose would not stand tall in the most lively neighborhoods, nor would it be decorated with classic oil paintings in the corridors. "Could it be..." He with difficulty withdrew his gaze from a protruding knight statue in front of the door, allowing himself to barely keep up with Dumbledore's footsteps, "I'm going to stay here for the next three days ?”

"To be precise, it's you and him." Dumbledore did not slow down. "I have reason to think that we need a house in a prosperous area. You are not yet of age, Harry, so that you will not be touched when you use magic." Zongsi, and then summon the Ministry of Magic."

Of course Harry remembered being sued for fighting a dementor that had suddenly appeared on Privet Drive, because he was the only wizard around. "This..." He tried to organize his words, "I mean, he actually agreed?" How could Voldemort, who preaches the supremacy of pure blood, like a place full of Muggles?Moreover, if he needed magic to deal with a possible conflict, who would guarantee the safety of the Muggles?

Dumbledore seemed to guess what Harry meant. "Given that he rejected Tefalaga Plaza and couldn't offer a better venue, I think he has no choice. And, when he agrees to the offer, he agrees to an addendum to the offer - it's a magical contract constraints on the

Extras?Does it mean that there is no spying and no harm to Muggles besides him?

Harry calmed down a bit, and then remembered one more thing—Tefalaga Square should not be much different from here. "Why isn't he there?"

"Are you serious, Harry?" Dumbledore seemed amused by the question, "You must know that there are four huge bronze lion sculptures in that square?"

Uh……

Harry recalled it, and had to admit that Dumbledore was right. "Okay," he decided to focus on his own affairs at the moment, "besides trying to keep calm, is there anything else I should pay attention to?"

At this time, the two had passed through the short porch and entered the living room. "There is enough food in the kitchen," said Dumbledore. "There are many bedrooms. You can choose any one you like. You can go out if you want to, just be careful when you go in and out. But you can't go beyond the balcony or three feet outside the window. Muggles will see a severed hand or something floating in the air."

Sounds easy to follow, Harry nodded.

"That's it at the end." Dumbledore pointed to a few boxes on the ground, with a rare tone of uncertainty, "I asked someone to buy some Christmas items. If everything goes well, I think it should be useful."

Although Harry felt that the atmosphere between him and Voldemort would be enough if they didn't fight, Dumbledore meant well after all. "I see."

This answer was probably not very energetic, because Dumbledore immediately lowered his eyes and looked him carefully. "Are you all right, Harry?"

To be honest, Harry didn't even know it himself.In order to eliminate the side effect of the long-term separation of soul mates, he must be here; especially after he needs this result to lay the foundation for learning Occlumency.Since it's inevitable, it doesn't matter if it feels good or not. "It's okay," he replied reluctantly, "I know what to do."

For a moment, Dumbledore said nothing.Then he finally said, "I admit it's difficult." A hand rested lightly on Harry's shoulder, "Such a request, even for an adult, is too much."

Harry assumed Dumbledore was talking about having to be alone with the dreaded Dark Lord. "That can't be helped," he replied, carefully hiding his disgust. "Who made me his soul mate?"

But Dumbledore probably found out.When he spoke again, his voice softened: "Even now, you can change your mind—anytime, in fact. I don't want to..."

"I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do." Harry raised his voice slightly, "No one can replace me, can there?" After he finished speaking, he realized that he was almost rude.

This time the silence lasted longer than last time. "I'm sorry, Harry. That's too much responsibility at your age."

Dumbledore's voice was still low, but Harry swore he heard a slump inside, or remorse. "It's none of your business," he explained without thinking, and began to regret the excitement before, "I'm just...unlucky? Anyway, no one should put up with my inexplicable temper." If so, it's only possible It's Voldemort!

He tried to make it sound like self-deprecating, but Dumbledore didn't feel relieved. "It's still too early," he said, his voice was so tense that it could almost be described as painful, "You... this is my mistake..."

"No, you're just doing me a favor!" Harry had to raise his voice to interrupt his dear Headmaster, "None of us want to face this, but it happened; then we have to face it." Difficulties with it!" Then again he realized he was too aggressive, and had to hold back, "I swear I'll fix it, sir."

Dumbledore's slight gasp was his answer. "Thanks, Harry," he said, sounding stabilized, "I trust you."

Another moment of silence.Then, Dumbledore said goodbye to Harry and turned to the door.Harry couldn't help but follow the tall and thin figure——

None of them wanted to see what happened today, but it couldn't escape, it couldn't hide.Dumbledore's self-blame probably felt that he was still underage and needed protection, and it may be true, but what he should bear would not be transferred, reduced or disappeared because of his age.If the only way to make him better against Voldemort was to get in touch with Voldemort, he would do it.

Then again, why would Voldemort agree?Because he can't stand the side effects too?

Death Eaters shouldn't have the guts to dislike their Master for being bad-tempered, Harry thought gloomily.Moreover, as Hermione saw in the book, the degree of side effects caused by long-term separation of soul mates has a lot to do with personal characteristics: in addition to connection strength, mental strength cannot be ignored.As the most dangerous dark wizard ever, Voldemort's endurance must be far stronger than him——

The Dark Lord nodded at this, was it just to see him embarrassing?

Thinking of this, Harry raised his hand subconsciously.The wide sleeves of the robe slipped off gently, revealing the long and thin skeleton inside.In the past six months, his stature has grown rapidly, but he has lost a lot of weight, which cannot be covered by thick winter sweaters; not to mention his skin has become bloodless, and the dark circles under his eyes have never disappeared.

Even Harry himself suspected that he might die of weakness, no wonder Dumbledore made today's decision.

Harry sighed heavily.He walked to the window, trying to divert his attention.But outside, a bronze statue of Eros fluttering its wings, was the last thing he needed to see.He could only turn back to the living room, and the cardboard boxes on the ground came into his eyes again.Staring at the pattern on the red and green wrapping paper outside, he pinched the bridge of his nose as if giving up——

Forget about the Christmas tree; Dumbledore didn't really think he could play confetti crackers with Voldemort, did he?

**

It was evening when Voldemort arrived in Piccadilly Circus.He didn't mean to be late, after all he had other things to do.After entering the door, he thought he was going to face Harry's anger, but what he saw was a boy who had fallen asleep on his side on the sofa.

Instinctively, Voldemort stepped lightly.There were wrapping papers strewn across the carpet, a man-tall pine tree by the fireplace, and a TV that had clearly been recently mounted to the wall.His eyes wandered between the tree and the boy for a while, he pulled out his wand decisively, and silently cast the flashback spell——

The boy clumsily hangs the last star on the top of the tree;

Small gold and red charms exploded out of the box and got everywhere;

Dumbledore turned away;

The boy seemed to be arguing with Dumbledore...

Voldemort waved his wand again to make the illusion disappear. After all, he could guess with his toes what the two were arguing about-it was nothing more than the old formula of love and responsibility.He looked around again, and after making sure that there were no traps, he walked slowly towards the sofa.

Harry wasn't awake yet.Lowering his eyes, Voldemort realized at once that the boy's condition was worse than he had imagined: his face was pale, his cheeks were thin, his protruding cheekbones and chin were so sharp that they could be used as paper knives; Together, the blue veins on the back of the hands and the overly obvious joints are no exaggeration to describe as morbid.

For a moment, Voldemort felt a little annoyed, at Harry.Dumbledore had come to him for help when he was desperate, and he knew it all too well, and had no illusions about it; but couldn't Harry himself see that his body was going to overwhelm?Even if there is still a piece of his soul in him, technically he will not die...

Voldemort gasped slowly.He realized that Dumbledore probably hadn't told Harry about the Horcruxes, and that annoyed him even more—

It meant that his soul mate was determined to stand against him, even if it cost her life.

Oh, it's not that Voldemort changed his mind about soul mates.Interconnecting minds was still a liability; but given that they were using wands of the same core and more than doubled the power of spells when used together, Voldemort couldn't resist the prospect.

At the same time, to be fair, it was normal for Harry to resist him, after all Lily and James died at his hands...

It bothered Voldemort at the thought that removing Dumbledore might not have Harry on his side either.He let out another breath, determined not to think about it for the time being.He squatted down slowly near the sofa, and stretched out his hand to undo the boy's bandages—if he couldn't solve the big problems yet, the small ones could always be dealt with—there was a row of blood-red writing under the bandages, which read——

"I can't lie."

"……What are you doing?"

These two voices sounded almost simultaneously.Startled, Harry jerked back.However, behind him is the back of the sofa, and there is no way to retreat.

Voldemort twitched his lips emotionlessly.He raised his left hand and turned the back of it to Harry. "As you can see."

Harry managed to regain his composure, only to realize that the wound on the opponent's hand was exactly the same as his own. "Why?" He was shocked, "Why don't you..."

"If you really told that toad|toad everything, you probably wouldn't have been writing this sentence all semester," said Voldemort icily.

Harry stared at Voldemort.Is this a taunt?Taunting him is not telling the truth, in terms of being soul mates? "That's not a lie, it's just that I... didn't mention it!" He argued strongly, not willing to lose the wind in front of the other party.

Voldemort's reply was a snort. "Anyway, I don't want to waste any more energy trying to cover up nonsense." He shook his left hand again at Harry. "So, be honest, huh?"

Harry was still trying to figure out what it meant to be honest when his hand was grabbed.The opponent's hand felt as cold as ever, and he instinctively wanted to break away; but of course, he failed, the man's strength was much stronger than his.

"Tell you to be honest." Voldemort repeated impatiently, making the backs of their hands close together, and then pointed with his wand.

Although Harry's mind screamed that it was not a good thing to have that famous death wand close to him, he did feel an instant warmth on their skin next to each other.That feeling replaced the long-standing tingling, and he was so comfortable that he almost snorted, but he closed his mouth tightly in time.

Voldemort let him go quickly and stood up. "You can cook, right?"

"I... what?" Harry's eyes widened in disbelief.Isn't this topic jumping too far?

"I'm hungry." Voldemort smiled slyly. "A verbal thank you is fine; I want meals for the next few days in return. Isn't that too much to ask?"

It's really not too much to change a left hand that no longer hurts, but... "I didn't ask you to treat it!" Harry was stunned by the other party's shamelessness.

Voldemort, however, just smiled more broadly. "Oh, dear Harry, I don't think you should forget what you said so quickly," he said pointedly, his scarlet eyes flicking vaguely over Harry's left hand. "By the way, I would like to remind you that even without Legilimency, I know what you are thinking."

So Voldemort knew he really didn't think the exchange was too much...

Harry scratched his hair violently, almost out of temper. "Just do it!"