Chapter 345: Luna's Ill-Fated Life
Had Dumbledore always intended to resurrect Voldemort?
Draco's words drew a thin, sharp line through Harry's thoughts.
Harry, who still knew nothing about the true nature of Horcruxes, found his reasoning veering in a dangerous—but strangely coherent—direction.
Perhaps Dumbledore had intended to capture Voldemort at first.
But in that hidden room along the fourth-floor corridor, Dumbledore might have discovered something crucial—something that forced him to abandon the plan and deliberately let Voldemort escape.
Back then, Voldemort had been clinging to Quirrell's body, and the entire situation revolved around the strange magic Harry had left behind.
Dumbledore had claimed that Voldemort escaped because Harry's magic inside Quirrell was insufficient.
Even Voldemort himself would likely have believed that explanation.
After all, Harry's spell was a miracle that defied all existing magical theory—something no conventional magic could explain.
Yet as Harry replayed the memory, he realized something unsettling.
From the very beginning, the magic he left in Quirrell had never been capable of trapping Voldemort.
Dumbledore had merely used Harry's magic to create an illusion—a false sense of danger for Voldemort.
And yet…
Dumbledore could have seized that moment to destroy him.
He had the power.
But he didn't.
Which meant he must have discovered something—something that made letting Voldemort go the better choice.
Perhaps Draco was right.
Perhaps Voldemort could only be truly destroyed once he had a physical body.
With that realization, Harry immediately voiced his thoughts to Draco and the others.
Meanwhile, in the Ravenclaw common room, Alexander Smith was absent-mindedly stroking a cat, utterly bewildered.
Is that really how it works? he wondered.
What made it even more absurd was that the guess… was almost correct.
Dumbledore had originally planned to use the Philosopher's Stone as bait to capture Voldemort.
But plans rarely survived reality.
Within a single school year, Dumbledore uncovered several terrifying truths:
Voldemort was hiding on the back of Quirrell's head.
Voldemort didn't know Harry Potter was a Horcrux.
Voldemort possessed multiple Horcruxes.
Everything changed.
Just as Draco suspected, Dumbledore decided that Voldemort had to be resurrected—but in his weakest possible state.
That was why he destroyed the Philosopher's Stone without hesitation.
Because Voldemort, with more Horcruxes than any dark wizard in history, was effectively immortal.
As long as the Horcruxes existed, Voldemort could not truly die.
Harry's assumption—that Voldemort could only be killed in physical form—was, in theory, completely wrong.
All Horcruxes had to be destroyed first.
Normally.
But this worldline was different.
Here, Diary Tom Riddle occupied the position of the dominant soul.
Which meant that if Tom destroyed Voldemort's physical body, Voldemort would truly perish.
In this twisted reality, Harry and Draco's wild guesses were—terrifyingly—correct.
"Am I the protagonist," Alexander muttered inwardly, "or are you?"
He gently pulled Luna Lovegood closer, opening Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and explaining it to her in a calm, patient voice.
"The Erumpent is a massive grey magical beast native to Africa. It resembles a rhinoceros and can weigh over a ton."
"It possesses extremely thick hide, capable of resisting most spells and curses. It has a long horn and a whip-like tail."
"African wizards treat it with both caution and reverence. Its horn can pierce metal and flesh alike, and the explosive fluid it injects causes anything it touches to detonate."
"They're not aggressive by nature," Alexander continued softly, "but you never know what might anger one. Sometimes… even a sneeze is enough."
"Don't doubt it, little Luna. Poor Wilfred Elphick can attest to that."
"He lived in the twelfth century—and was the first wizard on record to be gored by an Erumpent."
Alexander took Luna's small hand.
A warm current flowed through her palm, and a tiny three-dimensional model appeared—an Erumpent, alive and animated, its tail spinning like a propeller.
"This," Alexander whispered near her ear, "is a sign that it's angry."
Luna leaned comfortably against him.
"Its horn looks just like a Crumple-Horned Snorkack's," she said dreamily.
"My father has one. It's displayed in our hall. It's my Christmas present—I'll see it when I go home next month."
"The Crumple-Horned Snorkack is very rare in Sweden. Daddy finally managed to obtain one of its horns."
She spoke with pure excitement.
Alexander froze for a fraction of a second.
Don't move, he almost said. You're pressing on my tail.
He steadied himself, gazing down at the girl in his arms.
That was precisely why he had chosen today to talk to Luna about Erumpents.
In the original timeline, only The Quibbler believed Harry's claim that Voldemort had returned.
That belief made the Lovegoods famous—and wealthy.
When Voldemort rose again, Xenophilius Lovegood urgently purchased an Erumpent horn as a Christmas gift for Luna.
She was nearly killed by it.
Later, Harry and Hermione would visit her home in search of the Deathly Hallows, discover the horn, and accidentally detonate it.
Once again, Luna narrowly escaped death.
Captured at Malfoy Manor. Rescued. Returned home.
And almost killed again—by the same gift.
In this worldline, however, things changed.
Rita Skeeter had once published Ron's fabricated story—the one where Harry, Ron, and Draco supposedly rescued a Phoenix and a Demiguise in Ravenclaw Tower while battling a magical poacher disguised as a senior student.
That article sparked public outrage.
It questioned Hogwarts' education system, accused the school of producing magical creature hunters, and even implicated several Muggle-born students skilled in magical zoology.
The result?
A surge of inspiration—and greed.
With no clear laws prohibiting the import and resale of foreign magical creatures, as long as taxes were paid, no one intervened.
Knockturn Alley became flooded with illegal materials.
That sudden boom in profit was one of the reasons Cornelius Fudge expanded too quickly—and was later crushed by the younger Tom Riddle.
Xenophilius Lovegood profited enormously from the Elder Wand reports.
And so, five years early, he purchased an Erumpent horn.
A Christmas gift.
A delayed execution.
Alexander had realized this and tried—gently, indirectly—to warn Luna of the danger before she returned home in December.
But Luna was still Luna.
She understood nothing.
And yet believed completely.
That the gift she had only seen in photographs was the horn of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack.
Without Alexander's interference, without any third party altering fate—
Ginny Weasley would learn of Luna Lovegood's death shortly after Christmas.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you like the story please give it some power stones and reviews. And if you want to read 40+ advance chapters or just want to support me please join my patreon at [email protected]/Translatingfanfics