"An Obscurial—that is, a wizard possessed by an Obscurus," Tom said, seated near the clock tower. He reached into his silver snake ring, retrieved a sweet, and popped it into his mouth. "Their magic is deliberately suppressed, or they suffer long-term emotional trauma… either can give rise to an Obscurus within them. And their power… is considerable."
Nagini watched the tempestuous clouds in the sky, where a gaping hole tens of meters wide had been blasted, its dimensions unknown. She detected a flicker of apprehension. This Obscurial surpassed even Credence in sheer power. Clearly, the female corpse was no ordinary witch, and the Obscurus born from her was a significant threat. Alone, Nagini had no confidence in facing it; she would need at least two more professors at her side. The strange thing was that this Obscurial seemed fixated on the sky. Had it instead wreaked havoc on the town below, it would have been almost completely annihilated in the short time they had been talking.
...
Jim stared blankly at the terrifying spectacle. It was the most destructive force he had ever witnessed since entering the magical world. He suddenly turned to Lockhart, his voice laced with excitement. "Mr. Lockhart, were you planning to deal with that thing all by yourself?!"
"…"
What's with this kid? Trying to dig my grave before I'm even in it? Lockhart's face darkened. He was no longer the naive Lockhart of two years ago, who knew nothing but the Obliviate charm. Still, he couldn't claim to be capable of handling something like this. He spluttered, "I only knew there were demons here, but I had no idea it was that!"
Malfoy sneered at Lockhart, who was essentially admitting defeat, which irked Lockhart. "What? Think you can do better, Draco?"
"No!" Malfoy's self-righteousness silenced everyone.
...
Ignoring the surrounding commotion, Tom calmly observed the sulking dark cloud in the sky. He popped another sweet into his mouth with his left hand and stretched his right hand toward the Obscurus.
Tom simply clenched his fist. Instantly, the raging Obscurus, poised to soar into the heavens, froze in place. The Obscurus's magic was saturated with pain and repression, and Tom could control pain. Before him, the Obscurus was as helpless as Wolverine facing Magneto—a mere toy to be manipulated at will.
...
Tom beckoned once more. The Obscurus in the sky dissolved into wisps of black smoke and drifted toward them, while the female corpse returned to its original inert state and plummeted from the sky.
However, just before impact, her descent slowed until she gently touched the ground.
"At least she kept the Silent Serpent alive for me until now." After all, the Silent Serpent would dissipate upon its host's death. It was precisely the female corpse's half-dead state that had allowed the Serpent to survive. "Then I shall grant her some measure of dignity."
Tom withdrew his gaze from the corpse and glanced at the Obscurus in his right hand, now shrunk to the size of a thumb. Logically, an Obscurus separated from its host should dissipate.
But Tom was not bound by logic. He needed no complicated methods; he simply nourished the Obscurus with magic imbued with fear, ensuring it would not dissipate, and might even grow stronger!
"Quite an interesting thing. Even I've never seen one in person before." Tom produced a small purple bottle from his silver snake ring and held it in his left palm. "It's a pity it's too weak; its magical essence isn't potent enough, and the mixed negative emotions are too chaotic… Useless to me."
Tom opened the small purple bottle. "It's different for this little thing, however."
An Obscurus… such a miscellaneous entity was perfect for feeding snakes!
At Tom's signal, the small black spirit snake that emerged from the purple bottle swallowed the Obscurus in Tom's right palm in one gulp. Then, it began to expand erratically, as if about to burst.
But several wisps of blackish-red magic power extended from Tom's fingertip, inscribing complex magical runes on the snake's body. This instantly transformed the irregularly expanding snake back to its normal form.
"Perhaps you have even greater potential." The snake's illusory soul form became increasingly solid, even faintly emitting black smoke like that of the Obscurus. According to Tom's calculations, once the snake fully merged with the Obscurus, it would likely complete the transformation from a soul form to an energy form. This would allow it to evolve from merely harming souls to becoming a mobile calamity like the Obscurus.
"If I replenish your remnant soul, saturate you with the power of the Socket Spirit, and use a special soul as a spirit…" Tom watched the snake shrink back into the purple bottle. "Maybe we can actually create something interesting."
...
The group descended from the clock tower. Except for Jim, everyone considered Tom's recapture of the Obscurus perfectly natural. As for the snake Tom raised, apart from Nagini being a little jealous, everyone else merely remarked on its unusual nature. But in Tom's case, these unusual traits seemed perfectly reasonable.
"But… is it really okay to put that body back in the clock tower?" Hagrid asked worriedly. "Tom, didn't you say she wasn't dead yet? The top floor was destroyed by the Obscurus. Even with a coffin there, she'd be exposed to the elements, wouldn't she?"
"She's not dead, but she's practically dead. Her body is rotting, her soul is broken. No one in this world can save her…"
Except for me. But Tom had no interest in wasting his energy saving someone he didn't know—even if he had just stolen the Obscurus from her. Besides, the Obscurus would only inflict more suffering on the woman's already shattered soul.
"As for the clock tower without a roof, let's leave her there," Tom looked up at the cloudless sky, obscured by the silent, still figure. "A girl who once struggled to survive in a place of utter darkness… let her get closer to the sky and the freedom she craved. Consider it my small compensation for helping me raise the Obscurus."
"…" Tom's words startled Nagini, causing her to fall two steps behind him. She didn't doubt Tom's words; discerning the woman's life was definitely not difficult for him.
It was precisely because she didn't doubt Tom's words… Nagini's gaze toward the tall, slender figure before her softened even more. Tom, though arrogant, is indeed the best person in the world.
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