Chapter 113: I'm a Life Thief!
Tom no longer paid attention to Lockhart. In his eyes, such magic masters, engrossed in academics, were the most harmless.
He looked up at the Basilisk, raising his hand to caress the Basilisk's approaching cheek. He then lowered his head and chanted an ancient Runic spell, "Parseltongue will forever gain help from snakes!"
The Basilisk abruptly twisted its head, revealing sharp venomous fangs, and opened and closed them, piercing Tom's palm. A sickly sweet venom, accompanied by powerful vitality, swiftly injected into Tom's body.
Gradually, the humility and obedience in Tom's eyes completely vanished, replaced only by serpent eyes with a crimson hue, filled with the cold aura of a predator.
This injection caused the Basilisk to visibly weaken, while Tom became increasingly solid.
"Thank you~!"
He gently rested his head against the Basilisk's weakly drooping head, caressing it with his hand, softly comforting it.
Tom also possessed tenderness, but he reserved it solely for the serpentine creatures that would never betray him. This was his grace bestowed upon these loyal animals.
"Go back and recover," he murmured to the Basilisk, hissing. "The power of the Patronus Charm might hurt you. Don't come too close to me right now."
The Basilisk nodded, twisting its body and slithering up towards the Slytherin statue. Midway, it looked at Lockhart, who was intently flipping through experimental notes inside, with some confusion. Finally, it burrowed into the hole in the statue's mouth, wary of potential surprises and ready to rush out again at any moment.
Or rather, its return to the cave was to guard the only unstable factor present—Professor Gilderoy Lockhart.
Tom could never completely trust anyone.
He watched everything with satisfaction, then closed his eyes, recalling all the content Lockhart had taught him about the Patronus Charm, and the arguments that "the bonds of love bring sociality, shaping our reality."
He was an exceptionally intelligent wizard. At 16 years old, the magical knowledge in his head already surpassed that of many professors in magical schools, and he had his own judgments on much of it.
He knew Lockhart wasn't talking nonsense; this was a profoundly deep understanding of love and the power of the Patronus Charm.
He also believed it was feasible.
Then...
Mother...
You will protect me, won't you?
He gently waved his wand, his gaze unusually soft. This was the most vulnerable part of his heart, and the only vulnerable part. As he embarked on his own unique magical path, he became increasingly afraid to touch this softness.
Silver light surged, a dazzling and vibrant glow erupting from the wand tip, like dreamy mist swirling around him, gently swaying, like a mother's embrace.
Tom's magical path had always been focused on the direction of life. In an instant, he saw through the essence of this magic.
The scene before him was one of life's genesis.
This was when a person felt most secure in their entire life, and also most perfectly protected—inside their mother's womb.
Therefore, the silver light before him was still not the most complete state of the Patronus Charm.
One could even say it was merely the womb nurturing the Patronus.
Within the womb, life was flourishing, and a powerful force was emerging from his soul.
Oh~
So that's how it is.
The Patronus is constructed by nurturing one's own spirit with "love as the essence of life," "life's joy as the color of life," and "innate spiritual talent resisting the erosion of evil forces in the environment."
Yes, Professor Lockhart was right.
The Patronus Charm could indeed bring him the reality of life, but this was merely an incidental effect. Tom carefully felt the power of this magic, and the pleasant expression on his face gradually turned into a cold sneer—self-protection, self-life's joy, and spirituality; this was the true power of this life-giving spell.
It simply happened to simultaneously touch upon the domain of the magical power of love, incidentally allowing the power of "willingness to love oneself, and allowing others to love in return" to participate.
If no one else sees you, then love yourself; it's that simple.
He subtly flicked his wand, and a silver figure quickly emerged from the mist, rapidly becoming real and condensed, finally transforming into a coiled serpent's shadow.
Just then, a sigh came from nearby.
"You still evaded it."
Turning his head, it was indeed Professor Lockhart. He observed the serpent's shadow, shaking his head slightly. "I know snakes have always protected Parseltongues, but snakes can never bring you sociality, Tom. You must bravely take this step, otherwise, you will never attain the reality of life."
Tom began to grow impatient. He sneered, about to retort, but saw the professor motioning for him to look. He then realized that the silver Patronus was turning its head, radiating a subtle hostility towards him.
"We often hear that Dark wizards cannot cast the Patronus Charm, and if they try, they suffer terrible backfire." Lockhart's voice was very gentle, guiding him softly. "Believe me, I have also experienced cruel power. It's exhilarating, as if by submitting to it, life becomes filled with joy, free from worries."
"But that's wrong. You'll find that your inner self is resisting such a you. This is why the Patronus Charm backfires; it's a simple principle."
He looked at Tom meaningfully. "We can wear masks in life, live hypocritically, but we cannot treat our own souls that way. We must clearly feel our own truth, otherwise, life will lose its reality."
"Tom, do you not even have the courage to touch your own good?
"Or is it—" his gaze was distant—"you've never believed, nor dared to admit, that you can actually achieve goodness and happiness? Are you afraid of happiness appearing in yourself, feeling that you don't deserve it? Feeling that happiness is a sin?"
"If you truly think that way, then you're being too cruel to yourself. Happiness is every living being's right, provided you don't resist—" Before he could finish, Tom suddenly roared, "Stop talking!"
Powerful magic surged, transforming into black smoke that instantly shredded the Patronus intending to attack him. Suppressed power swelled, and faint red lightning flashed within the smoke.
"Suppressing one's magic becomes an Obscurus. What does suppressing one's happiness become?" Lockhart's voice still came through unaffected. He directly raised his hand. "Give me my wand back. If you continue like this, you'll never feel the reality of life."
The wand waved.
An incredibly strange force sent Lockhart flying backward. He felt as if he was squeezed into a narrow, twisted space, and when he was ejected again, he was standing in the corner of the Chamber of Secrets.
This magic...
Lockhart had felt it before. The first time he met Snape, old Snape had used it on him.
Now, feeling Tom cast it again, he finally knew what this magic was—the Flying Charm.
So miraculous.
Tom was simply a treasure. He wondered how much powerful magical wisdom was hidden within his memories.
"I'm sorry, Professor." Tom apologized dryly, gripping the wand in his hand, and closed his eyes again. "Let me try again!"
He stood there in silence for a long, long time.
The wand gently waved.
"Expecto Patronum!"
Silver mist surged, light shone brightly. Within the mist, a blurred figure was rapidly condensing, but it was no longer in the shape of a snake.
"Haha~" Lockhart laughed, excitedly waving his arms. "Yes, that's it!"
But just then, Tom suddenly opened his eyes in horror. "No!"
He struggled to let go of the wand in his hand, but couldn't. It was as if the wand was glued to his palm. The swirling silver light around him intertwined and clashed with some omnipresent, unique force.
Sixteen-year-old Tom, of course, wouldn't know that at 41, he had cast a powerful curse on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the power of this curse was so special that it subtly began to work against him.
His only source of information was Ginny, but Ginny, affected by Lockhart's Memory Charm, had long been stripped of this information, not to mention Ginny herself didn't know much, only having heard a rumour or two.
Now, this powerful force seemed to sense the power of the Patronus Charm he had cast, intensely and stimulatingly affecting the silver light he had released.
"What is this?" he cried out in horror.
"The reconstruction of balance." Professor Lockhart calmly answered his question. "The curse is becoming active. I can feel it; it's compensating for past deficiencies."
Tom's gaze turned cold. At this moment, how could he not know he had been tricked? He secretly called for the Basilisk to come down and help, then feigned panic again to mislead the professor and buy time. "What deficiencies? Professor, what are you talking about?"
Lockhart smiled, glancing at the Basilisk slithering down from the statue, ignoring it. He merely looked up at the increasingly surging silver sea of light with interest, marveling, "The three great elements constructing Bloodline Magic—'Me, Protection, Loneliness.' It didn't lack 'Me'; the 'Me' here is Voldemort. But it lacked 'Protection,' Tom. You have provided its protection."
Tom's mind rapidly analyzed the professor's words. He was so intelligent, so talented in magic, that he should quickly find a solution. But he couldn't help but despairingly realize that his thoughts were becoming increasingly sluggish, hazy, and disoriented.
"What's happening to me?" He was truly panicking, hoping to get a hint from Lockhart.
"You know about Obscurus, right? Suppressing one's magic eventually leads to the self being consumed by magic." Professor Lockhart truly answered him. "Dumbledore said that he was not keen on accepting the erosion of Dark Arts, nor the erosion of magic that brings positive emotional power. He was just himself."
The Basilisk finally reached the ground. Lockhart regrettably had to end the lesson. "Simply put, Tom, you're about to be overjoyed!"
Overjoyed?
What an absurd description.
Tom soon felt it. Endless goodness and joy were rapidly washing over his mind. Emotions emanating from the mind could change the nature of magic, and conversely, the nature of magic could also influence the emotions of the mind.
He...
...was truly about to be filled with happiness!
He couldn't help but look desperately into the distance, only to find that a red cloak had somehow obscured the space above, and the Basilisk seemed unable to find him because of it!
Not only that!
A witch with a rabbit head sang on a burning stake, summoning earthly vines that bound the Basilisk. The Basilisk struggled, but a grotesquely muscular giant in a blood-stained burlap sack forcibly pressed its head against the ground, grinding it.
A furry golden monkey leaped onto the Basilisk's head, opening three hands and forcefully gouging out a huge eyeball from the Basilisk's eye socket.
No hope!
The Basilisk had completely lost its ability to resist, Tom could see that.
"Who are you?" He felt his mind collapsing in despair, even feeling his body rapidly disintegrating. The silver misty light of the ocean washed over his body, transforming it, and making his body emit more silver mist.
Obscurus?
It was indeed a very apt description.
He felt like he was becoming a surging mass of magical power.
"Me?"
Lockhart flipped his hand, gripping a wand, and elegantly pointed it at him. "I'm a Life Thief~"
What?
Tom couldn't hear clearly. His mind had completely disintegrated. His entire being exploded, turning into bizarre silver plasma. This plasma, like a living thing, rapidly spun in mid-air, at times converging, at times breaking apart.
"Obliviate!"
A black werewolf shadow appeared, attempting to tear at the silver plasma ball. It eagerly extended its claws but then fearfully recoiled, as if looking at appetizing fried crispy meat, drooling but afraid of the heat.
A silver horse also appeared, neighing excitedly at the silver plasma ball, and quickly rushed towards it.
Seeing the horse so excited, the werewolf also couldn't resist, vying to take the first bite.
However, before they could even touch this wonderful memory, a pair of gigantic pale hands slapped them away. The enormous ghost looked down at the memory, scooped it up, and stuffed it into its chest.
"Howl~~~" The werewolf was so furious.
"Hiss~~~" The horse also looked resentful at the scene.
But they were both quickly grabbed by large hands, one in each, and shoved into the chest, completely disappearing.
Done!
Lockhart narrowed his eyes, carefully feeling the powerful, incomparably strong power he suddenly possessed, and immediately felt delighted.
Of course, he dared not touch this power now, nor did he know how to use it.
He did know one powerful wizard who understood how to use this power—Gellert Grindelwald.
This grandmaster had instructed Dumbledore's nephew, Credence, on how to better master the power of an Obscurus. Perhaps he could seek guidance someday.
But this was merely an extra bonus. If he truly couldn't control it, he would directly pull this powerful magical force out and discard it again, though that would be a bit wasteful.
This time, he had three major gains.
The first was how easily he had digested Tom's memories.
Dumbledore was right; he wasn't keen on changing his own mental state to accommodate the arrival of magic. This hint was clearly very useful. Lockhart, in turn, used "fairy tale romantic adventure" to make Tom change his own mental and magical state, then transformed him into a form he could easily digest.
The second gain was that he was finally freed from the curse of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professorship, and instead received the protection of this magic.
The third was Slytherin's research notes and materials on cultivating Basilisks. This was undoubtedly extremely valuable, and now, along with all the experimental equipment, it had been stuffed into his ring.
Full of gains.
Nice!
Lockhart sighed contentedly, watching as the remnants of Tom's soul, stripped by the Memory Charm, turned back into black smoke and shrank back into the diary Horcrux. He couldn't help but sigh.
"My apologies, Tom~"
"Your uncle, you know, I'm a bad guy~"
He felt no psychological burden doing this. Old Voldemort currently wanted him dead and had even sent a troublesome Death Eater like Corban Yaxley to deal with him. Lockhart had to quickly master more powerful forces.
Voldemort's debt, Tom would pay.
This was quite reasonable.
He picked up the diary Horcrux from the ground, signaled his companions to return to the red cloak, and motioned for the little golden pup to put the Basilisk's eye back.
He had other plans for the Basilisk.
Next up was the plan against Voldemort.
He smiled, looking at the diary in his hand, humming softly, and left Slytherin's Chamber with light steps, leaving behind the bewildered Basilisk.
"Back to the beginning again—"
The next day.
The fairy tale book.
Hogwarts scene, Gryffindor girls' dormitory.
Ginny reached for a pink quill with a girlish heart on her desk, dipped it in ink, and carefully wrote in the diary.
"Professor Lockhart made us sort through his book manuscripts again. It's so annoying. I just want to spend more time with Harry, not do such troublesome things."
The handwriting quickly vanished from the diary page. After a while, a string of letters reappeared.
"About the book where he taught you the Patronus Charm? Is that right? He's clearly eager to show off about things like that!"
....
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