The dorm room smelled like burnt chocolate and ozone. Wednesday stood over the smoking remains of the Book of Shadows, one eyebrow arched in that signature "I told you this was a terrible idea" expression. Enid was fanning the pages with a pink towel, coughing.
Vic, however, was grinning like a lunatic who had just won the lottery.
"See? I told you the time-anchor spell would work! We just... overshot a little." He poked the charred page with a stick. "Instead of peeking at my ten-year-old self eating squirrel, we got... somewhere else."
Venom oozed out of Vic's shoulder, massive white eyes narrowed. "Somewhere with a lot of fear. And... magic? Tastes like old books and lightning. Not chocolate. Disappointing."
Wednesday closed the book with a snap. "The spell was never meant for two hosts and a symbiote. The Book pulled the strongest emotional anchor it could find. Yours. Congratulations, Victor. You broke time."
Vic rubbed his hands together. "Broken time means free vacation! Come on, Venom, let's see what year we—"
The room folded like paper. Darkness swallowed them.
When light returned, they were standing in a quiet English village street lined with thatched cottages. The air was cold, sharp with the scent of woodsmoke and fear. A single jack-o'-lantern glowed on a windowsill nearby.
October 31st, 1981. Godric's Hollow.
A high, cold laugh echoed from the end of the lane.
Voldemort had come for the Potters.
---
Vic's emerald eyes widened. "Holy shit. We're in a movie."
Venom's head snapped toward the dark silhouette gliding toward a modest cottage at the lane's end. "Not a movie. Real fear. Real power. Tastes like... snake and lightning and something broken."
Wednesday's voice cut through the night like a blade, even though she wasn't physically here—only her projected consciousness had come through with them. "Do not interfere. This is a fixed point. The boy must survive with the scar."
Vic grinned wider. "Fixed point? Baby, I break fixed points for breakfast."
He and Venom moved as one, black symbiote already boiling over his skin into full combat form. They sprinted down the lane like a living shadow, silent until the last second.
Inside the cottage, James Potter was already dead. Lily stood in front of the crib, wand raised, green eyes blazing with defiance.
Voldemort raised his wand. "Avada—"
A black tentacle the thickness of a man's thigh whipped out of the darkness and slapped the wand clean out of Voldemort's skeletal hand. The Killing Curse fizzled into the ceiling, scorching a perfect circle.
Voldemort spun. Red eyes met two giant white ones floating in a mass of living tar.
"Evening, snake-face," Vic's voice rasped through Venom's maw. "Heard you were looking for a baby. Wrong house. Try the one with the dragon on the roof."
Voldemort hissed. "What manner of creature—"
Venom lunged.
The fight was not elegant. It was a bar brawl between a Dark Lord and a living nightmare that really wanted to taste wizard.
Voldemort flung curses. Venom ate them. Literally. A jet of green light disappeared into the symbiote's open maw with a wet gulp.
"Needs more garlic," Venom complained, spitting out sparks.
Voldemort tried to Apparate. Venom's tentacles wrapped around his ankles like living chains and yanked him back down.
Meanwhile, Vic's human half had slipped past the chaos, scooped baby Harry out of the crib, and was now holding the infant like a football while backing toward the door.
Lily stared, wand still raised, completely lost.
"Ma'am," Vic said cheerfully, "your husband's down, but the kid's fine. We're borrowing him for five minutes. Don't worry, we'll bring him back with extra plot armor."
He ducked as a red curse from Voldemort sailed overhead.
Lily's voice cracked. "Who are you?"
"Future in-laws, probably. Long story. Tell Dumbledore the snake man is having a very bad day."
Outside, Venom had Voldemort in a headlock. The Dark Lord's robes were shredded, his wand arm bent at a painful angle, and one of his legs was missing below the knee—Venom was chewing on it like a turkey drumstick.
"Regeneration is cheating," Venom grumbled around the mouthful. "Tastes like expired licorice anyway."
Voldemort screamed—a high, terrible sound that shattered every window on the street. His body began to dissolve into black smoke, fleeing the physical form.
Venom lunged after the smoke, mouth wide. "Come back here, you coward! I wasn't done seasoning you!"
The smoke escaped, streaking into the night toward Albania.
Venom spat out the leg. "Rude."
---
Inside the ruined cottage, Vic handed Harry back to a shaking Lily. The baby had stopped crying the moment Venom's tentacles had started fighting Voldemort—he seemed to find the symbiote soothing.
Lily clutched her son, tears streaming. "You saved us."
"Nah," Vic said, wiping blood off his cheek. "You saved him first. We just... added fireworks."
He looked down at the tiny lightning-bolt scar already forming on Harry's forehead. Something in his eyes softened for half a second.
"Little guy," he murmured. "You're gonna be famous. Try not to let it go to your head like me."
A soft green glow appeared at the doorway. Dumbledore had arrived.
Vic straightened, Venom slithering back under his skin until only a small black patch remained on his neck.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled behind half-moon glasses, but there was steel beneath. "I believe I have questions."
Vic grinned. "And I have answers. But first—got any chocolate? Fighting Dark Lords works up an appetite."
---
They didn't stay long. Time travel has rules, even when you're breaking them.
As the three of them (plus Venom) stood in the lane watching Hagrid's motorcycle roar away with baby Harry strapped to his chest, Vic felt the pull of the Book of Shadows trying to yank them back.
Wednesday's projected voice echoed in his mind: "Do not alter the timeline further. The boy must grow up with the Dursleys."
Vic watched the motorcycle disappear into the clouds. "Yeah, yeah. I know. Kid needs his tragic backstory. But..."
He reached into Venom and pulled out a small, perfectly wrapped chocolate bar. It was the last of the limited-edition stash.
He tossed it gently onto the doorstep of the ruined cottage, where Lily would later find it.
"For when you're older, Harry," he whispered. "From one orphan who made it to another. Don't let the scar define you. Let the chocolate do that instead."
The Book of Shadows flared. The world folded again.
---
Back in the Nevermore dorm, the air smelled like ozone and burnt pages.
Wednesday was waiting, arms crossed, one eyebrow raised so high it nearly touched her hairline.
Vic landed on his knees, coughing. Venom flopped out beside him like a deflated balloon.
Enid rushed over. "You guys were gone for six hours! What happened?!"
Vic looked up, eyes still sparkling with leftover madness.
"Met a snake man. Ate part of his leg. Gave a baby chocolate. Broke time a little. Normal Tuesday."
Wednesday's voice was arctic. "You interfered."
"Only a little!" Vic protested. "Gave the kid future emotional support chocolate. That's practically therapy."
Venom groaned from the floor. "I'm never time-traveling again. The 80s tasted like bad hair gel and fear."
Enid helped Vic up, eyes wide. "You actually saw... the night Harry Potter—"
"Shhh." Vic put a finger to her lips. "Spoilers. But yeah. Kid's gonna be fine. Scar and all."
He looked at Wednesday, something softer in his eyes than usual.
"And I brought you something."
He reached into Venom and pulled out a single, perfect lily flower—white, untouched by time or battle.
Wednesday stared at it. For once, she had no sharp retort.
She took the flower. Her fingers brushed his.
"...Thank you."
The dorm fell quiet.
Outside, the moon hung over Nevermore like a watchful eye.
Inside, three broken people and one symbiote sat together—survivors of labs, curses, and time itself—sharing a single chocolate bar split four ways.
Vic grinned around his piece. "Next stop? Maybe we crash the Triwizard Tournament. I hear they have dragons."
Venom perked up. "Dragons taste like barbecue."
Wednesday closed the Book of Shadows with a soft thump.
"Next time," she said quietly, "we go together. All of us."
Enid smiled, small and bright. "Deal."
And somewhere far away, in a cupboard under the stairs, a baby with a lightning scar on his forehead woke from a nightmare and smelled chocolate on the wind.
He smiled in his sleep for the first time.