Chapter 44: Torches in the Forbidden Forest
Summer was slowly creeping over the grounds around the Castle. The sky and the lake both turned a periwinkle blue. Flowers the size of cabbages burst into bloom in the greenhouses, crowding in clusters behind the glass windows as if peeking at the world outside.
As the petrification incidents of the Chamber of Secretsescalated and rumors spread wider, the whispers in the corridors grew louder day by day.
On this day, the trio finally erupted into a fierce argument in the Great Hall.
At the Gryffindor table, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat facing each other.
Harry suspected Hagrid. He said Hagrid had kept spiders, dragons, and a Cerberus before—he had raised all kinds of dangerous monsters. Maybe the monster in the Chamber of Secrets had been released by Hagrid, and he just didn't know it himself.
Hermione and Ron, on the other hand, blamed Harry for not bringing up the diary so they could study it together.
Harry yelled at them, "Listen! I didn't know I was a Parselmouth! I did have that diary! You ask me what else I don't know? Maybe it's possible you did things... even terrible things, and didn't know anything about it! I just, I... I just saw Hagrid in there! That's why I suspect him!"
Su Yu couldn't listen to this any longer. He stood up and walked over to the Gryffindor table.
Su Yu walked up to Harry, grabbed him by the collar of his robes, lifted him out of his chair, and slapped him across the face.
The slap wasn't hard, but the area around the Gryffindortable fell dead silent. Harry's head was knocked to the side, his glasses askew, as a red handprint slowly bloomed on his face. Ron stood up, and Hermione stood up too, but neither of them moved.
Su Yu had been putting up with Harry for a long time.
"Tell me, what do you mean you suspect Hagrid?" Su Yusaid coldly. "What a fine Gryffindor. Suspecting your own, spreading rumors about your own, stabbing your own in the back. Look at you useless trash, targeting your own like this and lying to yourselves that this is what bravery means?"
All the Gryffindor students stood up. Dozens of them glared at Su Yu; some clenched their fists, some gripped their wands, and some had already opened their mouths to curse back.
But the Slytherins stood up even faster.
Nearly a hundred people rose in unison, wands already in hand. None of them spoke, none of them shouted; they simply and quietly pinned all the Gryffindor students to their tables, pointing the tips of their wands at their heads, green light flickering at the tips.
Su Yu mocked the Gryffindor little lions who were still glaring at him with a laugh, "What, with just this bunch of pathetic losers? Even if you drag the other two houses and all the Professors over, do you think we Slytherins would be afraid? Truly ignorant and laughable."
The students of the other two houses quickly backed away, terrified of being caught in the crossfire.
Su Yu cast a disdainful glance at the other two houses, then looked down at Harry.
"Do you know what your biggest mistake is?"
"What are you talking about?" Harry was still being stubborn. His face flushed even redder, and his eyes burned with anger, but he couldn't move under Su Yu's grip.
"You don't know yourself well enough. You don't have the brains or the ability to solve this. Yet you think you're smart, you think you're strong, and you keep showing off, making things worse and worse. If you had told Dumbledore or me about the diary earlier, or even told Hermione, this would have been solved long ago. But you didn't. You wanted to investigate it yourself, and you found absolutely nothing. And at this point, you're still suspecting Hagrid..."
Su Yu's voice grew louder and louder, each word driving into Harry's ears like a nail.
"Just like your classmates suspect you. They keep spreading rumors and suspecting you, and you keep spreading rumors and suspecting Hagrid. You are already miserable yourself, yet you insist on forcing this onto Hagrid to make him miserable too. You don't even show a shred of loyalty. Think about who first introduced you to the wizarding world, who has always kept an eye on you, and who cares about you every single day. Ask your own conscience—has it been eaten by dogs?"
The Great Hall was so quiet that the wind blowing against the windows could be heard. The Gryffindor students hung their heads, while those from Hufflepuff and Ravenclawdidn't even dare to breathe loudly.
Su Yu turned his head and called out, "Malfoy!"
"I'm here, Chief," Malfoy said, pinning Ron down with his wand. The tip of his wand pressed against Ron's head; Ron's face was pale and his lips trembled, but he didn't move.
"If one day, your father was suspected by others of being a murderer, even if you knew it was the truth, what would you do? Tell Harry!"
Malfoy let out a cruel smile, carrying a bloody scent that seemed to come from his very bones.
"I would snap the neck of whoever spread the rumors, and then stop my father. Even if I had to imprison him, I wouldn't let others spread rumors or suspect him. A member of the Malfoy family can only be judged by a Malfoy! To hell with the Ministry of Magic, at worst it's just death!"
Someone in the Slytherin crowd let out a low cheer.
"Did you hear that, Harry? Did you hear that, Gryffindor?" Su Yu's voice returned to its lazy tone, but every word sounded as if it had been fished out of an ice cellar. "This is where Malfoy is better than you. When you start to suspect and spread rumors, you only dare to whisper behind people's backs. You only know how to play isolation games. You secretly play the petty schemes you claim to look down on, then turn around and say Slytherin is evil and full of deceit. Even if the little snakes of Slytherin lose 500 points today, as long as they feel they are in the right, no one else will say a bad word about them! But what about yourselves? A bunch of trash standing here feeling righteous? Thinking you should isolate Harry?"
"My apologies, everyone, but does Harry even deserve to be a Slytherin? We Slytherins would never produce a brainless, solitary, stupid lion!"
With that, Su Yu let go of Harry.
"Think about it yourself. Think hard about why your house is called the house of lions!"
Su Yu led the Slytherins out of the Great Hall. Nearly a hundred people followed behind him, their robes billowing, their footsteps as orderly as an army.
Kurama walked by Su Yu's feet, her tail held high, never once looking back.
Harry caught his breath and coughed, while Hermione and Ron comforted him by his side. Hermione placed her hand on Harry's shoulder, and Ron straightened his glasses.
The other Gryffindor students said nothing either, slowly packing their things and leaving the Great Hall. However, as they left, they all looked at Harry with complicated expressions, but in the end, no one spoke, and they simply left quietly.
Grindelwald stood on the third-floor balcony, silently watching the farce below. His hands were tucked into his trouser pockets, his silver hair gleaming in the candlelight.
His eyes remained fixed on Su Yu, the smile on his face growing wider and wider. It was as if he were looking at his younger self.
This successor, Grindelwald was absolutely certain of him.
Fortunately, over the next few days, more and more little lions began to apologize to Harry.
As the numbers grew, students from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw gradually began to join in as well.
A Hufflepuff girl gave Harry a box of homemade cookies as an "apology." A Ravenclaw boy stopped Harry in the corridor and said, "I spoke ill of you behind your back before, I'm sorry." Holding the cookies, Harry stood there with a bewildered expression that seemed to say, "What is wrong with this world?"
In Herbology, Professor Sprout had them all prune Abyssinian shrivelfigs.
As Harry climbed onto a compost heap to dump some hazardous withered twigs, he ran right into Ernie. Erniewas standing on the other side of the heap, holding a pair of large shears.
Ernie took a deep breath and said very formally, "I just want to say, Harry, that I'm sorry I suspected you. I apologize for what I said. We're in the same boat now, so let's make up—" He held out a pudgy hand.
Harry shook it. Ernie's palm was sweaty, but his grip was tight.
"Do you think it's Malfoy, Harry?" Ernie asked in a very low voice, as if afraid of being overheard.
"No," Harry answered so firmly that both Ernie and Ronwere taken aback for a moment.
At the end of the class, Professor Sprout escorted them to Defense Against the Dark Arts Class.
Lockhart bounced into the classroom, and the entire class stared at him. The other teachers here were quieter and more serious than usual, but Lockhart was not lacking in optimism at all.
"Let's begin," he cried, smiling around at them. "Why such long faces?"
People exchanged annoyed glances, but no one spoke.
"Don't you realize," Lockhart said very slowly, as if they were all a bit thick, "the danger has passed! The culprit has been taken away."
"Who?" Dean Thomas said loudly.
"My dear boy, the Minister of Magic would not have taken Hagrid away if he weren't one hundred percent sure of his guilt," Lockhart said in a tone as if explaining that one plus one equals two, giving a wink.
"Oh, yes, he would," Ron said in a voice much louder than Dean's.
"I think I know a bit more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Mr. Weasley," Lockhart said smugly.
Ron wanted to say he didn't think so, but he swallowed his words when Harry kicked him hard under the table.
But Lockhart's disgusting enthusiasm, his persistent view that Hagrid was bad, and his confidence that the whole affair was over annoyed Harry so much that he wished he could smash Gadding with Ghouls right into his stupid face.
In the end, he just scribbled a note to Ron to comfort himself: "Let's do it tonight, but we'll need some help this time."
Ron read the note, swallowed hard, and passed it to Hermione. The three of them exchanged a look, a look that solidified their resolve.
At night, as soon as Harry and Ron heard the doors of the two dormitories close, they grabbed the cloak, covered themselves, came to the common room, met up with Hermione, and climbed out through the portrait hole of the Fat Lady.
The journey through the Castle was just as before; they avoided all the teachers. Finally, they reached the Great Hall, quietly slid back the latch of the oak front doors, slipped out through the gap, trying not to let the doors make a sound, and stepped onto the moonlit grounds.
"The path," Ron said suddenly as they strode across the dark lawn. "Once we get to the Forbidden Forest, we might find there's no trail to follow at all. Those spiders might not even be going in there, even though they seemed to be heading in that general direction. But... where are the teammates we agreed on?"
Just then, a voice they detested rang out.
"Woohoo! Look here!"
In the Forbidden Forest, one, two, three... a full twenty torches suddenly appeared. The firelight reflected on their faces, flushing Malfoy's pale face red.
Malfoy stood at the very front, with twenty Slytherinstudents standing behind him.
"Two special Slytherin squads, all present and accounted for." Malfoy and the people behind him gracefully waved their wands, bowing to Hermione. "Theodore once promised you that Slytherin would be of assistance to you, Miss Granger. Everything tonight is under your command. Don't worry, we will charge ahead of you; just do what you feel is right."
Harry and Ron stared wide-eyed at Hermione, their expressions seemingly saying, "Didn't we agree that you'd ask Su Yu? What is this? And how can so many of them come out? Isn't there a curfew?"
As if joining their private chat channel, Malfoy said disdainfully, "A place like this isn't worthy of Chief Su Yu's presence. Any one of us Slytherins can treat this place like home. How utterly ignorant. As for the curfew, do you think Filch would dare say a word if he saw us?"
Hermione didn't dwell on it. She knew how terrifying these upper-year Slytherins could be, especially after activating the Kurama Cloak. Without saying much, she led everyone deep into the Forbidden Forest, bringing along Hagrid's dog, Fang, to lead the way.
Chapter 45: The Spider Nest Valley
Just like that, Hermione, holding onto Fang who was bouncing around them non-stop, entered the forest along with the Slytherins.
With the help of the Slytherins' torches, they followed closely behind the spiders crawling slowly along the path. Fang's paws made soft rustling sounds on the fallen leaves, his tail tucked tightly between his legs. From time to time, he would look back at the Slytherin students holding torches behind them, then turn back, sniffing the ground with his nose.
They walked in silence for about twenty minutes. The trees grew thicker and thicker until the stars overhead vanished, leaving only the light of the torches flickering in the sea of darkness. Just then, they saw their spider guides leave the path, climbing up the trunk of an old oak tree and disappearing into the shadows of the canopy.
Although Fang was still leading the way, they weren't walking very fast now. The path was constantly obstructed by tree roots and stumps that were hard to see in the dark. Harry could feel Fang's warm breath puffing against his hand. They stopped more than once, and Harry would crouch down, using the light from his wand to search for the spiders.
After walking for at least another half hour, their robes were snagged and torn by low-hanging branches and brambles. After a while, they noticed that the ground seemed to be sloping downward, even though the trees remained dense.
Suddenly, Fang let out a loud, echoing howl, startling both Harry and Ron.
The Slytherin students quickly dispersed to scout the surroundings, their torchlights flaring up in all directions like a scattering ring of sparks.
'What is it?' Ron said loudly. Scanning the boundless darkness, he gripped Harry's arm so tightly that Harry's arm went numb.
This made Malfoy, who was standing nearby, shake with laughter.
Hermione told everyone to stay alert, and the Slytherinstudents activated their Kurama Cloaks one after another. Golden Chakra surged from the badges on their chests, and the light burst into the darkness, illuminating the surroundings as bright as day.
Just then, a sudden light flared up to their right. It was so white and blinding that Harry and Ron had to shield their eyes with their hands. Fang let out a yelp and tried to turn and run, but because he was caught in a briar patch, he whimpered even louder, his four legs kicking wildly in the thorns, unable to break free.
'Harry!' Ron yelled, his voice trembling with relief. 'Harry, it's our flying car!'
'What?'
'Come on!'
Harry stumbled after Ron toward the light, and in a moment they ran into a clearing.
Mr. Weasley's car was empty, parked in the middle of a dense circle of trees. Its headlights were on, casting two straight beams of light deep into the darkness. As Ronapproached it with his mouth wide open, it slowly moved toward him, like a large turquoise dog welcoming its master, its front end wiggling slightly as if wagging its tail.
'It's been here the whole time,' Ron said happily, walking around the car, his voice filled with the excitement of recovering something lost. 'Look at it. The forest has turned it wild...' He reached out to touch the car door.
The car's mudguards were caked with mud; it had clearly been roaming the forest on its own. Fang didn't like it at all. He pressed as close to Harry as possible, his entire body leaning against Harry's shins. Harry could feel him trembling. Gradually, Harry's breathing slowed, and he tucked his wand back into his robes.
'What a piece of junk, truly worthy of the Weasley family,' Malfoy sneered, still laughing.
'And we actually thought it was going to attack us,' Ronsaid, leaning against the car. The excitement of finding it again made him ignore Malfoy's mockery as he patted the door like an old friend. 'I wonder where it's been!'
Harry squinted, searching the brightly illuminated ground for any sign of the spiders, but they had all been frightened away by the glaring headlights, scattering into the surrounding grass and beneath tree roots until not a single one was visible.
'We've lost the trail,' he said. 'Come on, let's go find them.'
'On guard!' a Slytherin upperclassman suddenly ordered.
The rest of the young Slytherin Wizards immediately took their positions, raising their wands and forming a back-to-back circle, shielding Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the middle.
Ron neither spoke nor moved. His eyes were fixed on a spot about ten feet above the forest floor behind Harry. His face had turned a sickly, pale gray with terror, his lips trembled, and he pointed a finger in that direction, unable to utter a single word.
Then, the battle began.
The wand in Malfoy's hand was the first to flash with a pale green light. Diffindo spells, like green serpents, repeatedly struck the hairy things ahead. Upon impact, their bodies exploded, splashing green ichor onto the tree trunks with a sizzling sound.
The rest of the Slytherins also continuously used Confringoto clear out the giant beasts around them. Red flames flickered in the darkness, and explosions echoed one after another.
'Look, the valley! That valley!' Hermione cried out anxiously, pointing toward a gap illuminated by the moonlight. 'Those are Acromantulas! They're all coming from that valley over there!'
Malfoy and the others watched the spiders swarming densely toward them from the valley. Their eight legs scurried rapidly across the ground, making a thick rustling sound like thousands of feet treading on dry leaves at once. They poured out of the valley entrance like a black tide, spreading overwhelmingly toward them.
'Finally found your nest,' Malfoy said excitedly. 'Then let's fight our way in! Harry! Weren't you guys looking for them too? Now that they've shown up, don't be such a coward like Fang!'
With that, the Slytherins began using wide-range Dark Shockwaves, continuously attacking their surroundings in a fan-shaped pattern. Black ripples spread outward from the tips of their wands; wherever they passed, the surrounding Acromantulas exploded one after another, splashing fluids everywhere, filling the air with a pungent, foul stench.
'Are they always this violent?' Ron asked, a bit dumbstruck, his mouth agape and his eyes wide.
Harry nodded beside him. 'After you passed out back in first year, the slaughter they carried out in the Inner Worldwas even more brutal than this. I just didn't dare mention it.' His voice was very low, as if he was afraid of being overheard by the Slytherins.
Ron stared wide-eyed at Harry, then looked at Hermione. Hermione shrugged. 'I'm not too sure either; after all, I didn't go in. But they were already incredibly brutal when they came to rescue us. If you hadn't fainted, I could have gone in to take a look too.'
Ron fell silent for a moment, then muttered softly, 'I really ought to thank Malfoy for sparing my life after I provoked him before.'
Under the continuous clearing by the group, Harry, Ron, and Hermione finally arrived at the valley. All the trees in the entire valley had been cleared away. Under the bright moonlight, they beheld an utterly repulsive sight—Acromantulas were everywhere, huddled together in all sizes, too numerous to count, with white spider silk draped over rocks, branches, and the ground.
Suddenly, on the cliffs on both sides, another twenty-odd people abruptly appeared using Apparition.
Beside Hermione, Cassandra also suddenly appeared. She reached out and patted Hermione's head, gently running her fingers through Hermione's bushy, curly hair.
'No wonder Su Yu pats your hair every time he sees you. It really does feel nice,' Cassandra said with a lazy smile.
Hermione rolled her eyes at Cassandra. 'What are you all doing here?' She noticed that the newcomers were all sixth and seventh-year Slytherins.
'To wipe them out, of course. We've been looking for them for a long time too. Ever since we started hunting them down, they've been hiding,' Cassandra said as she walked ahead, the golden glow of the Kurama Cloak illuminating her like a golden statue. She raised her wand, not even looking back, her voice crisp and powerful. 'Everyone, prepare—the Fiendfyre Curse!'
Over twenty streams of black-gold Fiendfyre, laced with dark purple veins, erupted from the tips of their wands. The ink-black waves of fire surged and rolled, the gilded flames at the core flickering violently as phantom shapes of twisted fire beasts roared and lunged forward. These fire beasts seemed alive—some like wolves, some like serpents, some like eagles. They lunged at the spider swarm with wide-open jaws, instantly charring, shattering, and turning the spiderwebs to ash wherever they passed. Scorching heat waves blasted in all directions, baking their faces hot.
The fleeing Acromantulas were engulfed by the waves of fire, their agonizing shrieks rising one after another. The dark fire multiplied and spread continuously, expanding along the rock walls and spider nests like black serpents crawling over every inch of the ground.
The entire nest was swallowed by the rolling tide of fire. The rocks grew scorching hot under the flames, glowing a dull red, and the webbed nests collapsed layer by layer. The entire Acromantula Nest Valley was completely lost to the rampaging, destructive black fire. Giant spiders were burned until they curled into tight balls, their legs tucked beneath their bodies like black lumps of coal, before exploding and turning to ash.
'Enough! I said enough!' Suddenly, from the midst of the black flames, a spider the size of a small elephant slowly emerged. Its black body and legs were mottled with gray markings, and every single eye on its ugly, pincer-like head was white—he was blind. His mouth clicked and snapped continuously, making a clicking, hissing sound.
'What do you want? Do you mean to wipe us out completely?' Aragog said angrily, his voice thick and raspy.
'Why should we keep you around? To eat humans in the Forbidden Forest?' Cassandra dispersed the flames, leaped down beside Aragog, and pinned his head to the ground with a stomp. Her boot pressed down on his ugly head; Aragog's legs flailed wildly against the ground, but he couldn't break free. 'Don't you think there are too many of you? When your numbers keep growing and food starts running short, what will you do? Slaughter every animal and human you can?'
'But I have never harmed a human!' Aragog said furiously, his pincers clicking several times in the air, but unable to reach Cassandra.
'But which of your descendants hasn't? Don't forget, it is the nature of Acromantulas to crave human flesh!' Cassandra said disdainfully, putting more weight into her foot. 'Only you are allowed to kill humans, but we aren't allowed to kill you? Ridiculous logic. From the moment you let them slaughter humans, extinction became your only path.'
'However, for the training of future young SlytherinWizards, rest assured, we won't wipe you out completely.' With that, Cassandra turned her head and said to Hermione, 'If you have anything to ask, ask it now. Our mission is complete, and we are heading back. I'll leave this place to Malfoy.'
After saying this, she departed with the upperclassmen via Apparition, leaving behind only the torches held by Malfoyand his group, and the golden glow of their Kurama Cloaks.
Aragog struggled up from the ground, a small dent left where his head had been stepped on, with gray fluid oozing from the wound. He stood there, panting heavily, his white eyes staring into the empty air, not knowing where to look.
Hermione took a deep breath, took two steps forward, and stood before Aragog.
'Hagrid is innocent,' she said, her voice firm. 'We know he didn't open the Chamber of Secrets. Do you know what the monster in the Chamber of Secrets is? Who is controlling it?'
Aragog remained silent for a long time. His pincers lightly touched the ground, then raised again.
'We do not speak of it,' he finally said, his voice much quieter than before. 'We do not speak of that name. In that Castle, there is a creature—older and more terrible than any of us spiders. When it moves, we can all feel it. Our kind fled from there, escaping into the Forbidden Forest, but it was still not far enough.'
'What is that creature?' Harry asked urgently.
Aragog's head turned toward Harry, though he could not see. 'We do not speak its name. But it is beneath the Castle, deep, deep down. It has been waiting, waiting for its master to return.'
'Who is its master?'
Aragog did not answer. He turned around and slowly crawled back into his still-smoking nest. Black ash billowed up beneath his feet, settling on his back. His legs made soft thudding sounds on the scorched earth until he disappeared into the dark cavern.
Hermione stood where she was, staring in the direction he had disappeared, her lips pursed.
Ron stood behind her, looking at the spider corpses littering the ground and the still-smoking webs, his face still pale. Harry patted him on the shoulder.
'Let's go,' Harry said. 'Let's head back.'
Chapter 46: Calm Before the Decisive Battle
At breakfast the next day, at the Gryffindor table, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were excitedly chattering away, their three heads huddled close together as they spoke in turns.
Not far away at the Slytherin table, Su Yu dined quietly with Daphne, occasionally responding to the conversations of the little snakes around him. He held a fork in one hand while holding Daphne's hand under the table with the other, tracing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb.
Kurama squatted on the table, a small piece of cheesecake placed before her, nibbling on it in tiny bites.
The atmosphere at the two tables was completely different. The Gryffindor side was as lively as a festival, while the Slytherin side was as quiet as a library.
At this moment, the showboating Malfoy finished his food and sat sideways in his chair, clutching Crabbe's arm tightly with one hand. His eyes were wide and round, his head turning rapidly left and right in a neurotic manner, as he repeatedly squeaked in a high-pitched voice, 'What's wrong? What's wrong?', deliberately and exaggeratedly mimicking Ron's panicked look from last night.
That exaggerated display drew bursts of laughter from several nearby Slytherin students.
Ron's face flushed red with anger. He whipped his head around and stared intently at the cup of pumpkin juice in front of him, as if some treasure were hidden inside, deliberately avoiding looking in Malfoy's direction.
Hermione glanced at Ron, then at Malfoy, sighed, and went back to eating her fried egg.
During the first Transfiguration Class, things changed.
Ten minutes into the class, Professor McGonagall suddenly announced that exams would begin on June 1st, only a week away.
The classroom instantly erupted. Seamus Finnigan leaned forward from his seat and shouted in utter disbelief, 'Exams? Why are we still having exams now?'
Just as the words left his mouth, Neville's wand slipped to the floor with a clatter. A flash of red light shot from the tip, and one of the legs of the desk in front of him suddenly vanished. The desktop collapsed lopsidedly, sending textbooks and quills clattering to the floor. Neville's face went white instantly. He bent down to retrieve his wand, nearly bumping his head against the collapsed desk.
Professor McGonagall quickly raised her wand, gave a gentle tap, and the desk leg reappeared, leveling the desktop once more. She turned around, casting a sharp gaze at Seamus, her expression showing clear displeasure.
'The purpose of classes is for you to continue your education,' she said sternly. 'Therefore, examinations will proceed as scheduled. Furthermore, I trust you have all been studying hard.'
'Studying hard?' Harry could hardly believe his ears. The Castle was in such chaos, yet they still had to take exams. His mind was entirely filled with the Chamber of Secrets, monsters, and attacks; how could it hold Transfigurationspells and Potion Class recipes?
A chorus of disgruntled complaints immediately filled the classroom.
'Headmaster Dumbledore's instructions are to keep the school functioning normally,' Professor McGonagall said, her voice carrying an unquestionable cold firmness. 'And without me having to spell it out, now is precisely the time for you to show what you are truly capable of, to see just how much you have learned over the course of this year.'
Harry looked down at the pair of white rabbits that were supposed to be turned into slippers. What had he learned?
Ron looked even more despairing than Harry, his expression as if he had just been told he had to move into the deepest part of the Forbidden Forest, his face entirely written with resistance and dread. A wisp of black smoke billowed from the tip of his wand, making a whistling 'toot-toot' sound.
'Can you imagine me taking exams with this?' Ron asked Harry, holding up his wand, which had just started whistling loudly, with wisps of black smoke occasionally spurting from the tip.
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Three days before the first exam, Professor McGonagallmade another announcement at breakfast. The entire Great Hall fell silent instantly, with everyone's eyes focused on her.
'Good news,' said Professor McGonagall.
As soon as she spoke, several students couldn't help but whisper among themselves. The originally quiet atmosphere in the Great Hall suddenly grew somewhat noisy, with some whispering guesses, others murmuring to each other, and some unable to sit still in their chairs.
'Hooray! Is Headmaster Dumbledore coming back?' several students shouted happily.
'He must have caught the Heir of Slytherin!' a girl sitting at the Ravenclaw table shrieked.
'Has Quidditch started up again?' Wood bellowed excitedly.
Once the clamor died down, Professor McGonagallcontinued. 'Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are finally mature enough to be used. Tonight, we will be able to revive the petrified victims.' She paused, her eyes sweeping over the students' faces. 'Needless to say, as you all know, one of them might be able to tell us who—or what—attacked them. I do hope this dreadful year will end with the culprit being caught.'
A cheer erupted from the crowd. Ron looked much happier than he had in previous days. Then, the trio began discussing among themselves again, their three heads huddled close together once more.
Su Yu actually had never taken the exams seriously. Daphne had even wondered in surprise if Su Yu had just given up.
Because he knew that there wouldn't be any exams at the end of the second year after all. However, he couldn't say it aloud right now, so he just quietly watched the students in the Great Hall cheering and celebrating.
After noon, Professor Graves led the Slytherin students to the History of Magic classroom and waited there for their class to end.
Su Yu noticed that among the Gryffindors who came to class today, the trio of Hermione and the others were nowhere to be seen. Since Hermione had the Kurama Cloak, he naturally wasn't worried. He was also waiting for the person holding the Diary to finally slip up and reveal their identity.
But the bell to end class did not ring.
Instead, Professor McGonagall's voice echoed through the corridors, magically magnified.
'All students return to your dormitories immediately! All teachers return to the Staff Room! At once!'
Su Yu knew that the decisive battle was about to begin.
The students in the corridors began to stir in commotion. Professor Graves stood at the classroom door, watching the surging crowd.
Then he walked over, putting his arm around Su Yu's shoulder and snatching him away from Daphne.
'Oh, you terrible brat,' Professor Graves said with a teasing chuckle. 'You shouldn't be lounging around women at such a young age. That is the thing I am least satisfied with about you, you know?'
Su Yu didn't want to deal with this old queer. He quickly broke free, stood up straight, smoothed the rumpled collar of his robes, and looked at Professor Gravesexpressionlessly.
'Is there something, Professor Graves?'
Professor Graves spoke in a whisper that only the two of them could hear, keeping his voice very low. 'Want to go take a look at the Chamber of Secrets? I wager you must be quite interested.'
Su Yu rolled his eyes. He had long known what this old fellow was plotting.
'Isn't it just Myrtle's girls' bathroom? Did you think I didn't know?' Su Yu's voice was also very low. 'Mr. Gel-lert Grind-el-wald?'
Professor Graves's shoulders couldn't help but tremble slightly, his grin growing increasingly wild and revealing a sharp edge of absolute confidence. He looked at Su Yu in front of him, getting more and more excited the longer he stared, his heterochromatic eyes gleaming in the candlelight.
'You truly interest me more and more,' he said, with an irrepressible excitement in his voice. 'You surprise me every single time, little guy. So, together?'
Su Yu stared into Grindelwald's eyes, then suddenly shrugged.
Su Yu turned to tell Daphne and the others, asking her to take everyone in the class back to the Slytherin Common Room while he went to take care of some business. Daphne looked at him, her lips parting as if to say something, but in the end, she merely nodded. She reached out to adjust his collar and said, 'Be careful.'
Daphne watched anxiously as Su Yu and Professor Graveswalked away, and then she ushered everyone back to the Slytherin Common Room.
When they arrived at Myrtle's girls' bathroom, Su Yu was in no hurry to go down.
He was waiting for someone—someone he wasn't entirely sure of.
The bathroom was filled with a damp, musty smell, and a faucet was dripping, splash by splash, onto the tiled floor.
Grindelwald didn't disturb Su Yu either, standing quietly to the side to wait as well.
Time ticked away, second by second.
Chapter 47: Opening the Chamber of Secrets
In the second-floor girls' bathroom, four sets of footsteps drew closer.
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were escorting Professor Lockhart, with Hermione Granger following behind.
They walked along the dark corridor until they reached the door of Myrtle's girls' bathroom.
Professor Lockhart's legs were trembling; every step felt like walking on cotton. Ron Weasley gave him a shove, and he staggered forward a few paces.
They made Professor Lockhart go in first. Harry Potter was pleased to see him shivering. Ron Weasley pushed him again from behind, and Professor Lockhart nearly fell to the ground, only steadying himself by gripping the doorframe.
Su Yu stood before the circular sink, gazing at the small snake engraved on the side of a copper tap. He had been waiting for them for a long time, his hands in his pockets, with Kurama perched on his shoulder, her tail swaying back and forth.
Grindelwald was leaning against the cold, mottled marble sink. He held a cigarette between his fingertips with slow, steady movements. His long finger bones gently cupped the cigarette, and with a slight flick of his fingertips, a faint orange spark lit up in the dim bathroom. Smoke curled up from between his fingers, slowly dissipating into the air.
"You're finally here?" Su Yu turned to look at the four of them.
The sudden sound of Su Yu's voice gave the four of them a great fright. Ron Weasley clutched his chest, nearly gasping for air, and recoiled, bumping into Harry Potter behind him. Harry Potter's glasses went crooked, and he quickly adjusted them.
Hermione Granger's eyes went wide, and she rushed excitedly into Su Yu's arms, asking, "Why are you here?" Her face was buried in Su Yu's chest, her fingers clutching the lapels of his robe.
Su Yu patted her back without too much explanation. "I came with Professor Graves. Something felt wrong here; this should be the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets."
Grindelwald muttered to the side, "Have I really lost my charm? Such a big person, and they didn't even see me..." He looked down at himself, then at Su Yu, shook his head, and stubbed out the cigarette on the marble countertop.
Hearing the voice nearby, Hermione Granger finally noticed him. She hurriedly pulled away from Su Yu's arms, straightened her robes, and greeted Grindelwald, "Hello, Professor Graves." Her voice sounded a bit embarrassed.
Grindelwald nodded at her without saying much.
"Harry, look here," Su Yu called out to Harry Potter. "Use your Parseltongue; you should be able to open it."
Harry Potter looked at Su Yu in surprise but still walked over to the sink beside Su Yu. He stared intently at the miniature snake carving, trying to imagine it was a real snake. Then his throat tightened, his mouth opened, and what came out was a strange hissing sound: "Open."
In an instant, the tap was enveloped in a brilliant white light and began to spin. The copper tap spun faster and faster, emitting a harsh, grating sound. Immediately after, the sink began to move, and the entire marble countertop sank, revealing a pipe. The mouth of the pipe was pitch black, wide enough only for one person to slide into. A damp, musty smell gushed out from the pipe, mixed with the scent of soil and rot.
Ron Weasley leaned over to take a look, then shrank back. "This... we have to slide down this?"
"You can stay here," Harry Potter said.
Ron Weasley looked around the dark bathroom, then at the pipe opening, and swallowed hard. "I'd better come with you."
"A wise choice," Grindelwald said, his tone carrying a hint of mockery.
Grindelwald looked at the entrance and turned to look at Professor Lockhart.
"Professor Lockhart, would you mind leading the way this time?" His voice carried an icy tone that brooked no refusal.
"Er, you don't seem to need me," Professor Lockhart said, but as he looked at Grindelwald's increasingly dangerous gaze, his voice grew smaller. "Can't we discuss this properly? If I go down, what... what good will it do?"
"I really think—" Before Professor Lockhart could finish, he was shoved directly by Grindelwald. Professor Lockhartscreamed as he slid into the pipe, his robes fluttering at the opening before he vanished without a trace. The screaming echoed up from the pipe, growing fainter and more muffled until it could no longer be heard.
Su Yu then slowly climbed into the pipe and slid all the way down.
Ron Weasley took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and jumped in. Harry Potter followed closely behind. Before jumping, he looked back at Hermione Granger, and Hermione Granger nodded at him.
Hermione Granger looked at Professor Graves, and Gravessmiled and said, "Go ahead, I'm right behind you." Hermione Granger jumped in as well.
The pipe was filthy, pitch black, and seemed endless. Su Yuhad his Kurama Cloak active, and the golden light illuminated the inner walls of the pipe in the darkness. Many other pipes branched off, but none were as large as theirs. He could hear Ron Weasley thumping as he tumbled around a bend behind him, along with HarryPotter's exclamation and Hermione Granger's scream.
Near the end, the pipe leveled out. Su Yu shot out of the pipe and stood steadily on the wet floor of a stone tunnel. The tunnel was tall enough for a person to stand and walk in, and everything around was pitch black. Professor Lockhart stood up not far away, covered in slime, with unknown goo hanging from his hair. His expression looked as if he had just crawled out of hell, and he was still trembling all over.
Ron Weasley and Harry Potter also whooshed out of the pipe, landing on the floor one after the other. When RonWeasley got up, he stepped on his own robe and fell again.
When Hermione Granger flew out, Su Yu caught her. Her face was buried in Su Yu's chest, and she didn't let go for a good while.
Grindelwald came out last. His clothes were not stained at all, and his manner was as composed as if he were taking a stroll. He looked around and said, "This pipe must have been dug by Salazar Slytherin himself."
"How do you know?" Ron Weasley asked.
"A guess," Grindelwald said.
"We must be miles away from the school," Harry Potter's voice echoed in the dark tunnel.
"Maybe we're under the lake," Ron Weasley said, examining the dark, slimy walls around them. He reached out to touch the moss on the wall, pulled his hand back, and wiped it on his robe. "Slimy, absolutely disgusting."
The six of them turned to stare into the darkness ahead.
"Lumos!" Hermione Granger muttered at her wand, and the tip lit up again. "Let's go."
The group started moving, walking through the wet ground. Their footsteps were exceptionally loud, each step accompanied by a splashing sound, echoing in the empty tunnel. The underground pipe was so long that they could only see a short distance ahead. In the glow of the wands, their shadows were cast on the walls, stretched long and distorted, deforming with the flickering light, looking exceptionally terrifying.
"Do you guys feel like it's getting colder?" Ron Weasley shrank his neck.
"You're just scaring yourself," Hermione Granger said without turning her head.
"I'm not."
"You are."
Harry Potter didn't join in their bickering; he walked in front with his wand raised, his eyes fixed ahead.
The underground pipe was as silent as a grave, and the first unexpected sound they heard was the crunch of RonWeasley stepping on a rat skull—a crisp, piercing crack.
Ron Weasley looked down, his face turning pale. "What is this?"
Harry Potter lowered his wand to check the floor, only to see the scattered skeletons of small animals. The white bones gleamed coldly in the wand's light; some had crumbled into dust, while others still maintained complete skeletons.
"This must be what the Basilisk left over," Grindelwaldsaid indifferently.
"Harry, there's something ahead..." Ron Weasley shouted in a hoarse voice, grabbing Harry Potter's shoulder. His fingers dug into Harry Potter's shoulder, with enough force to make Harry Potter sway to the side.
Hermione Granger was so startled by Ron Weasley's sudden outburst that she also hid tightly in Su Yu's arms. Although she also had the Kurama Cloak active, she was frightened by Ron Weasley.
The terrified Ron Weasley and Harry Potter observed what was ahead. Harry Potter could only see the massive, curved outline of the object lying at the corner of the tunnel, motionless.
"Maybe it's asleep," Harry Potter took a breath and turned to look at the others. Professor Lockhart had his hands tightly covering his eyes, shrinking at the very back of the group, wishing he could stuff himself into a crack in the wall.
Harry Potter turned back to observe the object again. His heart pounded painfully. He narrowed his eyes as much as possible, moving forward slowly with his wand held high.
The light swept over a giant snakeskin. It was a disgusting, bright green, curled up and lying empty on the tunnel floor. The giant snake that shed this skin must have been at least twenty feet long. The texture of the snakeskin was clearly visible, and the scales shimmered with an oily sheen in the wand's light.
"This is a good find," Grindelwald said, reaching out to touch it. His fingers slid gently over the snakeskin. "Basiliskskin, one of the rarest Potion ingredients."
"Ah!" Ron Weasley exclaimed loudly at the sight of the snakeskin.
Hermione Granger poked her head out from Su Yu's arms and glared at Ron Weasley. Ron Weasley shrank his neck.
"Can you stop being so jumpy all the time?" HermioneGranger said angrily.
"I was just startled," Ron Weasley muttered softly.
"Are you taking it back?" Su Yu asked.
"Of course," Grindelwald said, and then he actually rolled up the huge snakeskin and stuffed it into his robe pocket. It was unknown what spell he used, but that huge snakeskin actually fit inside.
The group continued walking, turning corner after corner along the underground passage.
Harry Potter, who was walking at the front, suddenly stopped. "Listen."
Everyone stopped. A faint, hissing sound came from the distance, as if something was sliding over stone.
"Is it the Basilisk?" Ron Weasley's voice was trembling.
"Doesn't sound like it," Grindelwald listened intently. "It should be the sound of flowing water."
After walking for a few more minutes, a subterranean river indeed appeared ahead. Water seeped from the cracks in the walls, gathering into a small stream on the ground and flowing into the deeper darkness.
"This way." Harry Potter pointed in the direction of the river, and the group followed him as they continued to walk forward.
As they turned the last corner, a solid wall stood abruptly before them. Carved on the wall were two intertwined snakes, their eyes inlaid with sparkling, huge green gemstones. The gemstones shone with a gloomy green light in the wand's glow.
Harry Potter walked forward, his throat feeling dry. He imagined these stone snakes were real; their eyes were lifelike, as if they could slither down from the wall at any moment. He guessed what he should do next; he cleared his throat, and the emerald eyes seemed to flicker.
"Open." Harry Potter said in a low, faint hiss.
The wall split down the middle, and the two snakes separated as well. The two halves of the wall slid open evenly and vanished without a trace. A gust of cold air rushed out from the cracked wall, carrying an ancient, long-dusty scent.
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were trembling from head to toe. They let Professor Lockhart go in first. Professor Lockhart's legs were as soft as noodles, and he nearly fell after taking two steps.
The group arrived at the end of a stone chamber. The chamber was quite large and dimly lit, with only the faint green light seeping in from the wall cracks. More giant stone snakes were coiled around the towering stone pillars, casting long, black shadows in the strange, pale green, eerie light that filled the room. They rose along the pillars, disappearing into the dark ceiling, with no top in sight.
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley took out their wands and followed behind Professor Lockhart, moving slowly between the pillars carved with pythons. Every footstep echoed against the walls.
Hermione Granger poked her head out of Su Yu's arms curiously. She felt that Su Yu and Professor Graves were just out for an excursion.
"Aren't you nervous?" Hermione Granger asked Su Yu in a whisper.
"What's there to be nervous about?" Su Yu said, pulling Hermione Granger even tighter. What he didn't say was that, compared to snakes, he was more afraid of bugs. That was the reason he didn't go to the Forbidden Forest that night—he was just like Ron Weasley, afraid of spiders. This had nothing to do with whether he could win a fight; if you're scared, you're scared. He would rather fight Lord Voldemort than face a group of spiders.
Those stone snakes' hollow eye sockets seemed to be constantly scouting their every move.
"Professor Lockhart, hurry up," Ron Weasley urged from behind.
Professor Lockhart's legs were trembling, but he picked up his pace.
When they walked parallel to the last pair of stone pillars, a statue as tall as the room itself appeared before them, pressed against the pitch-black wall behind it. The statue was of a huge, ape-like old man, with a beard that hung down to the hem of his stone coat. His face was hideous, and his two huge stone feet were planted on the floor, with the lines of his toes carved very clearly.
Su Yu stopped and looked at the statue.
"Alright, since everyone has arrived here," Su Yu turned to look at Professor Lockhart and said word by word, "then Pro—fes—sor—Lock—hart, you've been pretending for a whole year, aren't you tired?"
Chapter 48: The Abyss Descends (Part I)
The trio was stunned by Su Yu's words. Hermione raised her head from Su Yu's arms, her innocent eyes flickering with confusion. Ron's mouth hung open, Harry's hand froze in mid-air holding his wand; the three of them stood there as if hit by Petrificus Totalus.
Lockhart, whose legs had been shaking uncontrollably from fear, now returned to normal. He straightened his posture, brushed the dust off his robes, and looked at Su Yu with interest. "Oh? How did you discover me?"
The trio's eyes widened even further. He was actually admitting it? You really are the culprit? Ron's wand nearly slipped from his hand, and Harry stepped forward, shielding Hermione and Su Yu behind him.
"Eliminate all that is impossible, and what remains," Su Yusaid, staring at Lockhart, "must be the truth!"
Lockhart tilted his head, a half-smile playing on his lips, waiting for him to continue.
"Your disguise is too deliberate, Lockhart. Given your cowardly nature, you would never have come here under any circumstances." Su Yu said with a hint of disgust. "You disgust me. At first, I thought it was just your personality, but now that we've reached this point, I understand—it's the scent of Lord Voldemort on you that I hate."
Harry's mouth went dry, and his voice turned raspy. "Su Yu, do you mean—"
"Haven't you guessed it yet, Harry?" Hermione poked her head out from Su Yu's arms. "It was Lockhart who opened the Chamber of Secrets, it was him who strangled the school's roosters and wrote the threatening messages on the wall. He was the one who lured the Slytherin serpent to those four people, and the cat as well."
Ron's brain wasn't working anymore. He stood there, smoke seemingly rising from his head, muttering to himself: "Why does every Defense Against the Dark Arts Class Professor eventually turn into a lackey of Lord Voldemort?"
Grindelwald almost kicked him in the head upon hearing this. Ron, if you can't speak properly, just shut up...
At this moment, a tall, dark-haired boy slowly walked out from the darkness, wearing a gentle smile that made people instinctively want to trust him.
Lockhart bowed to him, his posture as respectful as if he were bowing to a king.
Harry exclaimed in surprise from the side: "Tom MarvoloRiddle? Why are you here?"
Tom nodded at the group, but his eyes remained fixed on Harry's face.
Harry stared at him. Tom had already left Hogwarts fifty years ago, yet here he stood, looking no older than sixteen.
"Are you a ghost?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"It is a memory," Tom said calmly, his voice gentle. "It has existed in the diary for fifty years."
"Oh, Merlin's beard, is there anything more terrifying than this? Memories can even be resurrected..." Ron's mouth was truly good at complaining; he shivered after finishing his sentence.
"Are you here to help us?" Harry asked, his gaze sincere.
Lockhart was so angry he laughed. "Haven't you seen the situation clearly yet, Harry?"
"What?" Harry squeezed out the word, clenching his fists.
Hermione felt like Harry was acting incredibly dense.
At this, Su Yu interrupted them. "Tom Marvolo Riddle is Lord Voldemort. As for the rest, ask Hermione after you get out, you blockhead."
Harry's face turned pale instantly.
Su Yu then turned to look at Grindelwald. "Shall we go together?"
Grindelwald reached up and took off his hat, revealing his silver-white hair, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. "With pleasure."
"Then you must be careful, old man," Su Yu said. "I can feel him constantly condensing the power of the abyss. It seems another Lord Voldemort has defected to the abyss, though I don't know which Lord of the Abyss it is." After saying this, he didn't forget to look at Hermione. "Hermione! Leave Lockhart to you. Be careful!"
"I know! I'm no damsel in distress!" Hermione flicked her wand, straightened up from Su Yu's arms, and stood in front of Ron and Harry.
Su Yu's body erupted with a blazing golden-red Chakraflame. The Kurama Cloak instantly covered his entire body, and the violent Chakra air currents swept around, blowing away the rubble at his feet. He opened his eyes wide; his left eye swirled with the intricate patterns of the Mangekyo Sharingan, the tomoe spinning rapidly; his right eye held the light purple ripples of the Rinnegan, with the power of the Six Paths faintly surging. The two ocular powers intertwined, allowing him to see the flow of hellish energy around Riddle clearly. Golden Chakra condensed into tangible claws around him, ready to strike.
Beside him, Grindelwald stood tall, his silver hair fluttering slightly in the cold air. His hands were empty, yet he exuded the composure and dominance of a master of the Dark Arts. He merely lifted his gaze slightly, his eyes indifferent yet carrying unquestionable control. The invisible magic fluctuations around him confronted Riddlefrom afar, causing the air to tremble slightly.
Three extreme powers collided, the air emitting a piercing tearing sound, and the space rippled slightly.
The battle was imminent.
Riddle attacked first. Without the restriction of a wand, terrifying hellish energy poured out following his will. The black-purple energy transformed into hideous hellish giant claws, carrying high temperatures and corrosive power that could burn everything. They charged straight at the two, and wherever they passed, the ground was instantly corroded into pitch-black pits, the stones sizzling and emitting black smoke.
Su Yu's eyes tightened. He instantly activated the Mangekyo Sharingan, and a genjutsu enveloped Riddle in an instant, attempting to interfere with his energy control. At the same time, he activated Shinra Tensei; an invisible gravitational force pulled wildly at the hellish giant claws, trying to deflect their trajectory. The Chakra under the Kurama Cloak surged, his hands glowing with a dazzling golden-red light as he met the attack head-on.
Just as Su Yu restrained the hellish giant claws, Grindelwald's spell was suddenly unleashed. Several scorching blue flames transformed into fire snakes, winding towards the hellish giant claws from the side. The moment the three powers collided, a deafening explosion occurred. The shockwave completely collapsed the surrounding broken walls, dust filled the air, and debris fell from the ceiling with a rustling sound.
Riddle snorted coldly, and the hellish energy surged again. Several black-purple energy blades appeared around him, moving at extreme speed, cutting through the dust and slashing at the two indiscriminately.
Su Yu activated Shinra Tensei with his Rinnegan; an invisible repulsive force erupted instantly, deflecting all the incoming energy blades. The energy blades hit the walls, exploding into large craters. At the same time, the Mangekyo Sharingan released the first form of the Susanoo, a light red skeletal frame protecting his body. The Kurama Chakra fused with the Susanoo, and he leaped up, slashing fiercely at Riddle with the Chakra claws.
Grindelwald, in the rear, precisely controlled his magic. Silent binding spells attempted to lock Riddle's movements, while Dark Arts and curses silently seeped into the hellish energy, disintegrating its corrosive power. His magic was precise and ruthless, striking at the flaws in Riddle's energy flow with every move, perfectly coordinating with Su Yu's ocular techniques and the Nine-Tails' power to form a perfect pincer attack.
Riddle was suppressed by the two, but he became increasingly violent. The hellish energy erupted completely, forming a massive black-purple energy storm around him, roaring and sweeping through the surroundings, corroding all magic and Chakra. He spread his hands, and the hellish energy condensed into a pitch-black energy longsword. Relying on pure hellish power, he unleashed sword auras capable of tearing through space, clashing continuously with Su Yu's Susanoo claws and Grindelwald's magic. Every strike shook the entire Chamber of Secrets, cracks appeared on the stone pillars, and rubble fell continuously.
Su Yu operated his ocular powers to the limit. The Mangekyo Sharingan's genjutsu constantly interfered with Riddle's consciousness, creating gaps in his energy control, while the Rinnegan continuously cast the Six Paths techniques, sometimes pulling with gravity, sometimes pushing with repulsion. The golden-red light, the black-purple hellish storm, and Grindelwald's pale golden magiclight intertwined. The entire Chamber of Secrets was on the verge of collapse in this epic battle.
Grindelwald's expression remained calm. His spells became faster and faster. Countless magic runes appeared silently in the void, forming complex magic arrays in an attempt to seal Riddle's hellish energy. With a slight movement of his fingertips, a sharp, silent disintegration curse struck Riddle's shoulder during a gap caused by Su Yu's ocular technique. The black-purple hellish energy was instantly torn open, and Riddle's body tilted to the side.
Su Yu seized this fleeting opening. The Rinnegan and Mangekyo Sharingan powers fused, and the KuramaChakra condensed into the strongest attack. A golden-red Chakra beam, carrying the power of the Six Paths, blasted towards Riddle's chest. Grindelwald simultaneously activated a binding spell, locking Riddle's movements tight to prevent him from dodging. The three powers collided again, and the dazzling light illuminated the entire ruin, the roaring sound lingering for a long time.
However, before the bright light and roaring sound had dissipated, the black-robed figure in the center of the ruins, having been struck, did not fall. Instead, a chilling, low snicker emanated from him. There was no longer any forbearance of the young Tom Riddle in the laughter, only the violence and arrogance belonging to a monarch of the abyss.
The dust filling the sky was suddenly dispersed by a violent black-purple hellish air current. The originally handsome yet sinister Riddle was now undergoing a terrifying transformation—the black robe around him shattered inch by inch, burned into fly ash by the hellish energy; his exposed skin gradually took on a pale grey color of death, and his veins bulged wildly like black vines, winding across his entire body, flowing with hellish power as thick as ink.
A pair of huge, pitch-black bone wings slowly grew from his back, the edges of the wings flashing with dark red blood light. Every flap stirred up a chilling wind that could tear skin. A vertical slit cracked open on his forehead, faintly revealing the crimson of hellfire. His lips stretched, revealing sharp fangs. The hellish energy lingering around him was no longer scattered; it was like tangible hellish black mist, and a huge phantom surged within the black mist. The entire person was evolving completely towards the form of a monarch of the abyss, and his aura was more than ten times stronger than before. The space was distorted by this extreme dark power, and even tiny spatial cracks appeared. Even the ground began to sink, turning into scorching scorched earth.
"Lowly ants, dare you block the path of a god?"
Su Yu narrowed his eyes, staring at the pair of pitch-black bone wings and the vertical slit on his forehead, and whispered a sentence: "This is... Lucifer?"
Chapter 49: The Abyss Descends (Part 2)
"Humble ants, you dare to block the path of a god?"
The evolved Lord Voldemort spoke, his voice no longer young and clear, but mixed with the deep, demonic tones of Lucifer, vibrating painfully against one's eardrums, as if one's very soul were about to be torn from the body by this demonic sound.
At this moment, Lord Voldemort himself was the most terrifying vessel of magic and a weapon of hell. Lucifer's power had completely fused with him; every inch of his skin, every breath he took, carried the power to corrode all things and annihilate souls. The ground beneath his feet was melting, stones turning into black magma, bubbling and frothing.
Su Yu's heart sank, and the golden-red Chakra of the Kurama Cloak around him burned even more fiercely. The nine-tailed Chakra almost materialized into a suit of flame armor, with eerie nine-tailed markings spreading to his neck, the Chakra airflow so violent that it ground the rubble beneath his feet into powder.
The tomoe of the Mangekyo Sharingan in his left eye spun at high speed, nearly merging into a solid blood-red, his genjutsu pressure raised to the absolute limit. His pupils were locked onto the evolved Lord Voldemort, yet he could clearly sense that the hellish energy within the opponent had coalesced into an unshakeable barrier, impenetrable even to his power of insight. He clenched his hands, his Chakra claws becoming sharper, gleaming with a golden-red cold light.
"Can you see through what he actually is now?" Grindelwald asked in a deep voice.
"I can't," Su Yu said. "The energy is too dense."
"Then break through him."
Beside him, Grindelwald's silver hair was blown wildly by the hellish demonic wind, and his originally indifferent brows finally took on a hint of gravity. The pale golden magic light around him was no longer gentle but transformed into sharp magical blades, colliding violently with Lord Voldemort's hellish black mist, producing a hissing, corrosive sound. He moved his fingertips slightly, and countless invisible magical threads spread silently, attempting to bind the opponent's evolved body. But the moment the magical threads touched the hellish black mist, they were instantly dissolved, like snow falling into fire.
This master of Dark Arts had eyes as sharp as knives, his magical fluctuations becoming increasingly violent as space magic, disintegration magic, and binding magicintertwined, weaving an invisible web in the void.
The evolved Lord Voldemort gave the two no chance to catch their breath. With a violent flap of his pitch-black bone wings, his figure instantly vanished from the spot, his speed so fast that even Su Yu's pupils could only capture a black-purple afterimage. The next second, he appeared before Su Yu, his black-veined palm bearing the hellish karmic fire that incinerated everything, reaching straight for Su Yu's head. Where the palm wind passed, the air was directly ignited, turning into a corridor of black-purple flames.
Su Yu's pupils constricted, and the Rinnegan instantly activated Shinra Tensei. An invisible repulsive force exploded from him as the center, forcing that palm to be blocked half an inch away. However, the repulsive barrier was rapidly cracking under the corrosion of the hellish energy, the cracks spreading like a spiderweb. He took the opportunity to dodge to the side, his left Mangekyo Sharingan releasing his strongest genjutsu, a blood-red illusion instantly enveloping Lord Voldemort, attempting to trap him within the genjutsu space. At the same time, his Kurama Cloak Chakra surged, and he leaped up, his Chakra claws whistling through the air as he slashed fiercely at Lord Voldemort's bone wings.
Grindelwald seized the opportunity, and a silent incantation suddenly erupted. Dense golden magical runes instantly appeared in the void, forming a giant sealing array that descended from the sky to cover Lord Voldemort. At the same time, several disintegration spells transformed into golden blades of light, striking directly at the opponent's energy core. His wand drew a complex arc in the air, and every rune landed precisely on top of Lord Voldemort's head.
But the evolved Lord Voldemort merely snorted coldly. The hellish black mist around him surged, instantly tearing the genjutsu space apart; Lucifer's power directly crushed the mental interference. With a flap of his bone wings, he shattered the sealing array into pieces, golden rune fragments scattering in the air like a golden snowstorm. He backhanded, his black-purple hellish energy forming a giant demonic claw, grabbing Grindelwald's magical light blades and crushing them directly, with the remaining force continuing to strike towards Grindelwald.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Seeing this, Su Yu exerted his Rinnegan to the fullest, an invisible gravitational force wildly pulling at Lord Voldemort's body, trying to drag him away. His KuramaChakra condensed into a Tailed Beast Ball, its black-red light illuminating the entire ruin as it blasted towards Lord Voldemort's back.
Grindelwald also reacted instantly, his figure suddenly teleporting to avoid the demonic claw attack. He vanished from the spot and reappeared ten paces away; the demonic claw struck the position where he had just been standing, blasting a deep crater into the ground. At the same time, fire spells merged with Dark Arts, transforming into golden demonic flames that wrapped around Lord Voldemort's limbs, attempting to restrict his movements.
Lord Voldemort was caught between the two forces but became increasingly manic. His Lucifer-form stabilized completely, and the vertical scar on his forehead opened, transforming into a crimson hellish demonic eye. The demonic eye fired a destructive beam, blasting straight towards Su Yu's Tailed Beast Ball.
The black-red Chakra collided with the black-purple destructive beam, the resulting shockwave flattening the ruins completely. The ground cracked open into a bottomless chasm, gushing out scorching hellish magma. The magma sprayed out, splashing onto the stone pillars, which were scorched red. Su Yu took two steps back before steadying himself.
Lord Voldemort broke free from the gravitational pull and the demonic flames, swinging his sword and tearing through space, a pitch-black sword energy carrying hellish karmic fire heading straight for Su Yu's face.
Su Yu's incomplete Susanoo manifested, a massive pale red samurai figure wrapped in Kurama Chakra, wielding a long Chakra blade, meeting the demonic sword energy head-on. The sword energy and the long blade collided, sparks flying everywhere, the shockwave blowing the surrounding rubble all over the place. He alternated between Shinra Tensei and Shinra Tensei, constantly shifting the trajectory of the sword energy, his Tailed Beast Ball condensing in his mouth, ready to launch a fatal blow at any moment.
————————
On the other side.
Gilderoy Lockhart, originally vain, pretentious, and only capable of fishing for fame, was now completely tainted and corroded by the hellish, turbid aura of Lucifer leaking from Lord Voldemort in the distance. The oil-slicked, feigned elegance of his past had mostly faded, and a faint, black-purple hellish mist coiled in the depths of his eyes.
Lockhart gripped his wand tightly, twisted, weak currents of Dark Arts wrapping around him; he no longer relied on the gimmicks of plagiarism and memory charms to survive. The hellish power had elevated his magical foundation, his magic power surging restlessly, and the darkness hidden in his personality was infinitely magnified—vanity turned into violence, frivolity into ruthlessness. His face no longer wore that exaggerated smile, replaced instead by a twisted, murderous coldness.
Harry gripped his wand, a needle-like stinging pain faintly coming from the scar on his forehead. The majestic hellish power of Lord Voldemort in the distance tugged at the connection within him, his dark green eyes tense, the scar on his forehead throbbing, as if something were struggling inside.
Ron stood to one side, gripping his wand, his expression nervous but holding his position firmly, ready to provide support at any moment. His wand tip was pointed at Lockhart, the tip trembling slightly, but he did not move his feet back a single step.
Hermione stood at the very front, the Kurama Cloakwrapped around her, her curly hair tossed into disarray by the wild wind, her clear brown eyes full of vigilance, her wand held steadily, the tip pointed at Lockhart. Her mind raced, recalling all defensive spells, constantly guarding against the Lockhart who had been alienated by the turbid aura.
"Didn't expect this, did you?" Lockhart curled his lips into a cold, sinister smile, his usually sweet and affected voice now layered with a dark, hoarse quality. "Lord Voldemort's power has finally allowed me to stop pretending to be mediocre—now, you three brats are simply no match for me! When one day I become the greatest Wizard in the world, every Wizard will tremble in fear!"
"You cannot be the greatest Wizard in the world." Harry's breathing accelerated. "Sorry to disappoint you, but the greatest Wizard in the world is Headmaster Dumbledore. This is common knowledge. Even if you have infinite power now, you wouldn't dare to run amok at Hogwarts. Headmaster Dumbledore saw through you long ago, and you are still afraid of him now, which is why you hid until this moment to reveal your true face."
The smile faded from Lockhart's face, replaced by a face full of rage.
"As far as I know, Dumbledore has already been expelled from the Castle!" he hissed.
"But he hasn't left the Castle!" Harry claimed, talking nonsense in the hope of scaring Lockhart away.
Lockhart opened his mouth to speak, but immediately froze.
Because at this moment, strains of music came from the distance. Lockhart turned to look at the empty stone chamber. The music grew louder, eerie, hair-raising, mysterious, and strange. Harry and the others first felt a chill in their limbs, their hair standing on end, and as the pitch reached its peak, they felt as if the music was vibrating within their ribs, and the tops of the nearby stone pillars began to shoot flames.
Just then, a fire-red, swan-sized bird flew in front of them. It sang a marvelous melody, flying up to the dome, its long, metallic, peacock-like tail feathers shimmering with gorgeous, brilliant light, and its golden claws clutching a piece of cloth.
The bird stopped singing and sat close to Harry's cheek, warm and serene. It stared fixedly at Lockhart, its red eyes like two burning gems.
"Fawkes?" Lockhart scrutinized it carefully once more.
"Fawkes?" Harry took a deep breath; he could feel the bird's golden claws gently gripping his shoulder.
"That—" Lockhart was now checking the tattered cloth bundle Fawkes had dropped, "That is the Sorting Hat."
That's right, the dirty, somewhat damaged, and patched Sorting Hat was lying at Harry's feet. Lockhart laughed again, his laughter echoing in the dark stone chamber.
"Are these the talismans Dumbledore gave you? A bird and a broken hat! Do you feel your courage increasing? Do you feel a bit safer?"
Harry did not answer him. Although he was not clear about what use Fawkes and the Sorting Hat had.
He crouched down, put on the Sorting Hat, and with immense courage, waited for Lockhart to stop laughing.
Harry kept thinking in his heart that the Sorting Hat and Fawkes could help him.
Just then, the hat began to tighten, as if an invisible hand were twisting it tightly.
A hard and heavy object fell onto Harry's head, nearly knocking him dizzy and making him pass out. He quickly pulled off the hat—inside the hat was a sword flashing with silver light, the hilt inlaid with a ruby the size of an egg.
However, when Harry pulled out the sword, the bottom of the Sorting Hat revealed a spear shaft, with a silver snake-shaped crest printed on the shaft, the snake's eyes being two small emeralds.
"What is this?" Harry tugged at it, but the spear shaft in the hat didn't budge, as if it were welded shut. He could only look at Hermione, who was already dueling with Lockhart.
Hermione's wand moved rapidly, Expelliarmus, Stupefy, Oppugno, Incarcerous, Depulso constantly shooting from her wand tip, hitting Lockhart's shield and splashing out halos of light. Although Lockhart had been strengthened by the hellish power, his spellcasting method was still that flashy, impractical style; every time he waved his wand, he had to spin it around, his movements exaggerated like a stage performance. Hermione seized the gap between his movements, casting an Expelliarmus spell, and Lockhart's wand nearly flew out of his hand.
Ron came over at this moment, crouched down, examined the crest on the spear shaft carefully, and then looked at the hat. Among the few of them, only Su Yu was from Slytherin.
"We should give the hat to Su Yu, after all, only he is from Slytherin!" Ron said in a low voice.
"But what should we do?"
"Harry, you go help Hermione, I'll take the hat and find Su Yu!"
"But, over at Su Yu's side..." Harry glanced at the god-demon battle on Su Yu's side.
"Don't worry, Harry, we are Gryffindors, aren't we?" Ronpatted Harry on the shoulder, followed by a meaningful silence. "Hermione is in your hands. If... I mean if I don't come back, remember to tell my mom that I'm sorry, I messed everything up, but... I love her very much!"
After saying this, Ron picked up the Sorting Hat and ran towards Su Yu's side.
Harry watched Ron's back disappear into the darkness, took a deep breath, turned around, raised the sword of Gryffindor, and also charged towards Lockhart.