Jon rose to his feet and sprinted for the door at top speed.
Stepping out of the Room of Requirement, he emerged into the eighth-floor corridor of Hogwarts Castle.
Even though it was early morning and the corridors should have been full of students, Jon strode through the castle without the slightest hesitation, with no need for stealth at all… and he didn't encounter a single person. That didn't surprise him in the least.
The effects of Felix Felicis hadn't worn off yet. At this moment, he was the luckiest person in all of Hogwarts.
The voice in his mind told him to head in the direction of Gryffindor Tower, also on the eighth floor… the location of the Gryffindor common room.
Why he felt so certain he should go there, he didn't really know. Felix Felicis only ever illuminated one step at a time. He couldn't see where the path would ultimately lead, nor could he see any way to revive the already lifeless Albus Dumbledore.
But he knew that hope awaited him there.
Jon continued forward at a brisk pace, drawing closer and closer to Gryffindor Tower…
The stately portrait of the Fat Lady was less than ten yards away, yet Jon still didn't slow down.
With a dull thump, just three yards from the Fat Lady's portrait, Jon seemed to collide with something—
Something invisible.
...
Harry Potter pulled off his Invisibility Cloak and rubbed his head.
He felt a little dizzy.
The reason he had gone out so early this morning was to follow Draco Malfoy while wearing the Invisibility Cloak.
Ever since the start of term, Draco Malfoy had been acting strangely, as though he were carrying out some terrifying plan.
Not long ago, during their first trip to Hogsmeade this term, Gryffindor seventh-year Katie Bell had somehow obtained an opal necklace… one imbued with a horrifying dark magic that had nearly taken her life.
And that necklace had originally been meant for Headmaster Dumbledore…
Harry suspected Draco Malfoy was behind it, that Draco had taken his father's place and become a Death Eater.
But no one believed Harry's suspicions—not Tonks, not Lupin, not even Ron…
"Malfoy's barely sixteen. How could Voldemort possibly let a sixteen-year-old become a Death Eater?" That was their shared view.
Unable to produce any evidence, Harry decided to gather it himself. Over the past few days, whenever he had free time, he would put on the Invisibility Cloak and trail Draco Malfoy.
Unexpectedly, today, just as he stepped out of the Gryffindor common room and lowered his head to check Draco Malfoy's position on the Marauder's Map, he suddenly crashed into someone—
When Harry Potter looked up, he froze on the spot.
The face in front of him was one he knew far too well…
"Jon… Jon…" Harry stammered, panic creeping into his voice.
...
It really was Jon—the poor boy who had been personally killed by Voldemort on that dreadful night in Little Hangleton.
Harry would never forget the look on Jon's face at the moment of his death.
"How is this possible…" Harry muttered in disbelief. "Are you alive… or a ghost…"
To be honest, the Jon Hart standing before Harry Potter looked nothing like a living person.
His hair was a mess, his face deathly pale, as though he hadn't slept all night. Bloodstains covered his face and clothes, and the air was thick with the sharp scent of blood.
"Is this… a nightmare…" Harry murmured.
A year earlier, after escaping Little Hangleton and Voldemort's grasp, Harry had suffered from nightmares like this again and again. He would scream, begging Voldemort not to kill Jon, only to watch Jon die before his eyes time after time. And in those nightmares, Jon always looked like this—covered in blood—accusing Harry of dragging him into the Goblet of Fire, accusing Harry of causing his death…
Harry Potter felt his entire body shaking.
Watching the blood-soaked Jon Hart draw closer and closer—
"Ah—!" Harry screamed, then turned and fled back toward the Gryffindor common room without looking back.
What Harry thought was Jon Hart's ghost stood there, stunned for a few seconds, then bent down.
He picked up the cloak Harry Potter had dropped on the floor—
The "Invisibility Cloak"!
...
Jon understood. Everything suddenly fell into place.
The reason Felix Felicis had led him here was entirely because of the smooth, incredibly comfortable "Invisibility Cloak" now in his hands—
The third "Deathly Hallow"!
And by sheer coincidence, the other two Deathly Hallows were also in his possession at this very moment.
The "Resurrection Stone" had originally been hidden within Tom Riddle's Horcrux, "Peverell's Ring." After Jon destroyed that Horcrux, the Deathly Hallow became his.
The "Elder Wand," the wand Albus Dumbledore had always carried with him, was currently lying in the Room of Requirement, still clutched in the hand of the deceased Albus Dumbledore.
As for the "Invisibility Cloak," it had come into Jon's hands through a rather bizarre turn of events.
According to Dumbledore, these three objects had once belonged to the Peverell brothers—powerful and dangerous wizards who had successfully created these immensely potent artifacts.
And from these creations arose the legend of the Deathly Hallows.
In that legend… if all three items—the three Deathly Hallows—were to fall into the hands of a single person, their owner would be able to command death itself.
Without the slightest hesitation, Jon draped the Invisibility Cloak over himself and sprinted back toward the Room of Requirement at full speed.
No matter what, he had to try…
...
Bursting into the Room of Requirement, Jon removed the Invisibility Cloak and laid it beside Dumbledore's "corpse."
Next, he carefully took the "Resurrection Stone" from his pocket and placed it atop the cloak.
Then he forcefully pulled the wand from Albus Dumbledore's hand…
He set the three Deathly Hallows together—
He frowned and waited…
Waiting for the voice in his mind to tell him what to do next.
...
In truth, he didn't really understand the Deathly Hallows, nor did he know how to use them.
But there was one person who understood the Deathly Hallows extremely well.
Listening to the voice in his mind, Jon made his decision.
He took a moment, then rummaged through his suitcase and pulled out a pair of slightly worn leather boots… they looked as though they had been sitting in the corner for quite some time.
Then Jon raised his wand toward them and said softly,
"Portus!"
…