Chapter 197: Tom, You Love Me
Dementors floated all around. The sky was low and heavy, with clouds rumbling with thunder and lightning bolts streaking from heaven to earth.
The dark wizards on their flying brooms chased after the Pegasus, waving their wands. Streaks of curses, some invisible and others with dazzling colors, tore through the clouds.
A gigantic, twisted vortex swirled in the sky. Inside, it was a chaotic kaleidoscope of color, as if hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of oil paintings had been churned into a messy blur. All sorts of images flashed by, but no one could make out what they were.
The massive Pegasus moved its great wings, dodging and weaving, constantly approaching the vortex.
"Gilderoy Lockhart!"
A sharp roar came from far away, its speed so fast that the sound was stretched and overlapped, causing an uncomfortable sensation.
Top-tier magical masters were almost entirely different creatures from ordinary wizards.
Lockhart's deep exploration into the art of the Memory Charm, using memory as an anchor, allowed him to discard the concepts of time and space. Instead, he grounded his magic in adventure, which resulted in the bizarrely effective Patronus Charm and Apparition.
Meanwhile, Voldemort's deep exploration into the nature of life, using the soul as an anchor, had him discard concepts like the body and physical matter. The Flying Charm he cast went far beyond any ordinary person's concept of 'speed.' The distance between heaven and earth could be crossed in an instant.
He was so fast that in a moment, he appeared in front of Lockhart on the giant Pegasus, leaving a moving trail of inky black afterimage in everyone's eyes.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Voldemort was cruel. He didn't even think or hesitate, immediately casting the most vicious Killing Curse.
The emerald green curse tore through the sky, extending towards Lockhart.
Amidst the screams of the young wizards and the malicious glare in Voldemort's eyes, Lockhart simply curled his lips into a small smile.
The curse struck Lockhart instantly, and a terrifying magical aura of wilting life and bone-chilling silence bled outwards.
However!
Lockhart was completely unharmed.
He smiled at Voldemort and even flirtatiously raised an eyebrow. "Tom, did you skip breakfast? With that kind of force, you couldn't kill a fly!"
"That's impossible!" Voldemort waved his wand again.
An emerald green magical light, like a burst of plasma, spewed from the tip of his wand. It was like a whip that lashed through the air as he moved his wand, finally striking Lockhart.
The terrifying green plasma wrapped around Lockhart like a rope, ensuring he had no way of escaping the attack.
But it was still ineffective!
It was ridiculous!
There was no magic in the world that could defend against the Killing Curse. This was a cruel fact verified by the lives of countless top-tier and powerful wizards over thousands of years.
Yet, Lockhart was completely fine.
"How is this possible!" Voldemort couldn't help but exclaim again in shock.
"I already told you the answer," Lockhart said gently. "A curse with no force behind it can't kill anyone, Tom."
He wasn't lying.
The Killing Curse wasn't an instant kill. If the wizard casting it didn't have true malicious intent, and their desire to kill wasn't strong enough, it would at most only cause a stomachache. This was something many Defense Against the Dark Arts professors would mention when teaching about the three Unforgivable Curses.
This was the truth: in his subconscious, Tom didn't want to kill Lockhart at all. His subconscious wasn't just lacking in malice; his hatred wasn't even pure enough.
Because—
This was love.
Lockhart had stolen the love hidden within Voldemort's curse on Hogwarts, occupying that vacant seat of love. And it wasn't just any love—it was the love of a family, the love for a mother.
So yes, Tom, you love me.
Tom, please call me—the life thief!
"I suppose this is where we part ways," Lockhart said with a smile, looking at Voldemort.
"???" Voldemort looked at him with suspicion and then, with a jolt, looked around. He realized that they had somehow already entered the furiously spinning vortex.
POP!
With a crack of Apparition, his vision seemed to stretch out. He saw the Pegasus leap out, arriving above the Hogwarts castle grounds. Then, this entire image shattered, and he was surrounded by a white, howling expanse of snow.
He was in the middle of an Antarctic glacier!
Voldemort vigilantly observed his surroundings, quickly waving his wand to release various detection and protective spells. It was a full ten minutes before he was certain that no one was lying in ambush for him.
He had been 'exiled' to the Antarctic by Lockhart!
"How dare you!"
He roared in fury, and then a terrible thought occurred to him.
The followers he had just managed to assemble were still at the location of the attack on the Hogwarts Express!
The wind howled. He was so fast that glaciers, oceans, and islands seemed to fly by in his vision like phantoms.
The Flying Charm was a terrifying thing indeed!
However, after flying for a while, he suddenly stopped, his eyes flickering.
He remembered Lockhart's earlier comment, "Dumbledore and the others will be here soon." If he went back now, he would surely be in a completely defensive position.
If he had his full, revived body, it might be different. But now, possessing the body of the werewolf Fenrir Greyback, he was already at his limit. He was no match for Dumbledore, who possessed the Elder Wand.
His selfish nature quickly made up his mind.
Those people were doomed. Faced with the Ministry of Magic's Dementor forces, and with the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore nearby, there would probably be Aurors involved as well. The situation was clear.
He let out a furious roar and turned to fly in a different direction, decisively abandoning the people he had brought with him.
If they were no longer a benefit to him, why would he go back to save them?
Voldemort's guess was apparently correct.
Dumbledore was once again disappointed to discover that the Tom he had been waiting for had fled! He had simply abandoned his followers and run away with his tail between his legs!
"Lockhart let him go," Gellert speculated maliciously from nearby.
Dumbledore pursed his lips and didn't say a word.
"He's not exactly loyal to you. I can see that he is deliberately trying to avoid a more violent war. He wants to deal with Voldemort in a more gentle way," Gellert continued, "I'm guessing he might not even want to see Voldemort die, at least not yet."
"Of course, we could make an even bolder guess: he doesn't want Voldemort to die now because you're still alive?"
Dumbledore turned around, his gaze deep as he looked at Gellert, and simply said, "No one can truly see through another person."
Gellert suddenly felt choked up, and after a moment of stunned reaction, he gasped, "I feel like you have a hidden meaning behind that!"
Dumbledore rolled his eyes, too lazy to bother with this master of manipulation, and turned to find the school professors and members of the Auror Office.
He had not brought the members of the Order of the Phoenix in their official capacity. The Weasleys and others were not called; only the school's professors.
Remus Lupin, who was to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for the coming year, had also been given the important task of finding Sirius Black. He was discreetly hidden among the group of professors.
The battle was soon settled. When the news of Dumbledore's arrival spread, and the uniformed Aurors, with the help of the Dementor jailers, surrounded everyone and collectively cast a spell to restrict Apparition, the people Voldemort had brought with him had no choice but to give up resisting.
They would be sent to the Wizengamot for trial and then to Azkaban.
Attacking a train full of students was unacceptable in any societal context. They would likely be locked up for life.
"Dumbledore." Lupin walked over quickly. He glanced at Grindelwald and shook his head at Dumbledore. "He wasn't here."
Dumbledore's expression was grim. "He will surely go after Harry. I need you to keep a close eye on things for me."
Lupin nodded. "Don't worry, I— I also want to find him, Dumbledore. I don't believe he would truly betray the Potters. There must be a hidden story we don't know about."
"Don't think too highly of people!" Grindelwald sneered from the side. "No one can truly see through another person!"
"!!!" Dumbledore whipped his head around, his eyes piercing as he looked at him.
"I can't help it. When you get to our age, you've seen too, too many betrayals—" Grindelwald spread his hands, his eyes distant. "Even from the people closest to you!"
Lupin blinked, unsure if he should still be standing there.
He pretended to be vigilantly looking around, and then suddenly yelled, "Look out!" He gripped his wand and quickly rushed over, even though it was only a young Auror witch with clumsy pink hair who had fallen to the ground.
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