Rita Skeeter naturally failed to get an interview with Harry Potter. However, news that Harry had awoken had already been passed to Dumbledore.
Inside the headmaster's office, Harry Potter stood there like a child who had done something wrong. In truth, he was still just a child, but the mistake was not his—it was the monster inside his body.
"Headmaster, this is my analysis of Harry Potter's current condition. I believe such a direct demonstration will make things clearer."
A mass of silver, mercury-like substance was bound on a pedestal. The pedestal consisted of three fine circular rings. When not in use, the rings slowly rotated, holding the mercury-like mass in the center. When needed, the rings stopped, descended to the base, and projected three layers of light screens upward.
"This object uses a bit of Mr. Potter's blood, which was drawn earlier just in case. It has all been used for this. It can truly reflect Mr. Potter's current mental—or rather, spiritual—state."
As he spoke, Regulus Black placed the pedestal on Dumbledore's desk. The mercury mass seemed to be freed and immediately surged upward, only to collapse back down, drained of strength.
The reaction startled everyone, then made them relax. Clearly, this substance possessed some kind of awareness.
"This thing itself is conscious. You can regard it as a tool similar to a Horcrux. It can move, but it has no attack or defense capability. For now, I call it the Mercury Slime."
Regulus Black had long anticipated this reaction and remained calm. The triple-ring light screen was more than enough to contain the Mercury Slime.
In truth, this was Peter Pettigrew's severed right hand. After he had cut it off to use as an ingredient for Voldemort's resurrection potion, Voldemort had magically reshaped a new right hand for him—a piece of pure magical craftsmanship with its own consciousness, one that ultimately strangled Pettigrew himself in the original tale.
During the chaotic battle in the Department of Mysteries, Regulus, mingling among the Order of the Phoenix, seized the opportunity to cut off Pettigrew's entire arm and took it away. He then fashioned it into this device specifically designed to sense Harry Potter's current state.
A false hand formed from Voldemort's magic, used to sense the fused condition of Voldemort and Harry's soul—it could not have been more fitting, especially with Harry's blood added to it.
The Mercury Slime began to change. Soon it took on Harry Potter's current form, and then a terrifying transformation appeared.
Another figure surfaced behind him, like a backpack clinging to his back. Looking closely, one could see it was the figure of a baby. It was as if Harry carried a baby on his back, a scene that might have resembled an older brother carrying a younger one, but instead looked revolting and horrifying.
"This is Harry Potter's present condition. His soul and Voldemort's soul have merged."
As Regulus Black spoke, he glanced at Harry. The professors present also turned their eyes to him, and Professor McGonagall even revealed an expression of sorrow.
"Let us review the previous days. This Mercury Slime does more than sense the present—it can also record the past."
The Mercury Slime began trembling violently, its form becoming ragged and frenzied. Harry's image and Voldemort's flashed alternately, showing the grotesque sight of them devouring each other. Finally, a monstrous two-headed ogre-like image appeared, its skeletal heads still recognizable as Harry Potter and Voldemort.
The figure roared, venting its fury and destructive will, tearing its own body apart until it was tattered, even clawing at its own two faces. The sheer madness terrified Harry.
"Professor Black! Was that me before?"
Harry could hardly believe his soul state had once become such a monstrosity.
"That was only an accidental byproduct. What came before it was the real you."
Regulus Black shifted the Mercury Slime's time further back, revealing another version.
The "King of Lonely Dogs," Voldemort, stroked his bald head as he rose. Harry's lower body was fused to his, leaving Harry bent ninety degrees at the waist, his body shrinking and withering.
It was as though Voldemort had grown an enormous appendage. But no one could laugh—this image represented Voldemort's control over Harry.
When Harry stood and tried to take dominance, Voldemort's form did not shrink away. Instead, his head appeared at Harry's ear, whispering.
"This is why you had those strange dreams. Even when Voldemort did not seize control of your body, he constantly influenced your consciousness."
At Regulus Black's gesture, the Mercury Slime continued to shift.
A pure, innocent Harry appeared, with no trace of evil upon him. Only a lightning-shaped wound marred his right forehead, from which a faint skull-shaped phantom occasionally emerged. This was the mildest form of Voldemort's corruption.
"This is what your scar looks like. How do you think it came to be?"
Regulus Black continued altering the Mercury Slime. Harry's image regressed into a child, then an infant, until he was just learning to walk. The scar was gone.
This was the original Harry Potter—untouched by Voldemort's attack—when James and Lily were still alive.
The three of them, unable to go outside, nonetheless lived a happy life together.
"This only shows your soul. It cannot display the people around you."
With another wave, Regulus made the Mercury Slime shift again. From regression it now showed growth, a child maturing step by step toward Harry's present form.
As it passed the most corrupted state, the oppressive madness could almost be felt. Soon, the Mercury Slime became the Harry of today: a boy carrying a baby on his back.
"That is all I can do. Beyond this, I am powerless."
Leaving the Mercury Slime behind, Regulus Black turned and walked out of the headmaster's office.
Harry still had so many questions to ask! But Professor McGonagall held him back.
"Don't trouble Regulus. The fact that he can even speak to you normally shows great restraint—and consideration for your feelings."
Though she did not state it outright, Harry understood what she meant. From the reports and commentary in the papers, Harry pieced together what must have happened that day—Sirius Black's death was connected to him.
Though he could not recall the details, Harry realized, through his own deductions, that after committing such a mistake he had chosen selective amnesia.
Dumbledore, imitating Regulus Black, manipulated the Mercury Slime to replicate the form Harry had taken that night in battle: a state of frenzied evil that had completely scrambled both souls.
If it could ever be stabilized, it would become a brand-new soul. The price, however, would be the complete disappearance of both Harry Potter and Voldemort.
That might even be a blessing for Harry. A new Harry Potter would be an entirely new person. The protective charm his parents had placed on him would vanish, but Voldemort too would be gone.
If the new Harry turned out good, everyone could still treat him as the original Harry.
If the new Harry was evil, then without the protection of the charm, a single Avada Kedavra could deal with him.
But looking at the current Harry, burdened with Voldemort clinging to his back, even Dumbledore did not know how to steer events. It seemed he could only let fate take its course.
With a touch, Dumbledore activated the rings. The three rings rose, enclosing the Mercury Slime into a rolling sphere, preventing its escape.
Just like Harry Potter himself—carrying sin, yet unable to break free.
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