[AN: Guys, the latter half of Chapter 194: The Duel was missing. I have added the missing part but thanks for pointing that out.]
The green light of the Killing Curse struck Dawn squarely.
A freezing chill spread through his soul, as if dragging him toward the icy heights of the Antarctic plateau.
But Dawn only stiffened for a moment.
Then he ignored it completely.
He bent down, picked up the Sorting Hat once more, and continued prying at the Elder Wand in Dumbledore's hand.
To avoid interference from Fawkes, he did not use the Disarming Charm.
"You really have no patience, Tom."
Dawn spoke softly with his back to the Great Hall.
"If you act without understanding the situation, anything you do will be useless."
Aral's smile froze.
Confusion filled his eyes. His face twisted as his expression shifted rapidly.
"Again! Dawn Richter—why won't you just die obediently?"
He remembered the cursed toad from their last encounter. Raising his wand again, he aimed directly at Dawn's unprotected head.
°Avada Kedavra°
The deadly green glow reflected off the snow.
Dawn frowned.
Feeling warmth spreading through his body as it expelled the lingering cold, he chose not to take another hit.
He Apparated away.
The ground exploded with flying dirt.
Fawkes, still featherless, glanced around nervously while guarding the increasingly bee-like Headmaster, ready to intercept another spell.
Professor McGonagall stared at the crazed Aral.
Recalling the discussions the professors had held earlier, she suddenly understood.
"You are Voldemort!"
Her face changed instantly.
Remembering that he had stepped out of the Great Hall, she hurriedly glanced behind her.
Relief washed over her when she saw that the students inside were unharmed.
The situation had grown impossibly complicated. With no better solution, she simply stood her ground, shielding the students.
Seizing the opportunity, she used a levitation spell to move Dumbledore and Snape closer to her side.
Fawkes waddled after them on tiny legs.
Meanwhile, the duel by the Black Lake continued.
Today's events had truly become a series of twists and turns. With Dumbledore incapacitated, Voldemort had taken his place.
He and Dawn exchanged spells, but within a few rounds he already looked miserable.
Damn it.
Rolling across the snow to dodge a spell, Voldemort clenched his teeth.
Snow clung to his robes as fury burned within him.
If he were not limited to the pitiful magic of Aral's body, he would never look this pathetic.
Originally he had intended a simple ambush to kill Dawn instantly. Now he had been dragged into a disadvantageous direct duel.
Voldemort poured killing intent into his magic and roared hoarsely.
°Avada Kedavra°
The green curse shot forward.
But this time Dawn did not dodge.
Bang.
His Disarming Charm collided with the Killing Curse. There was barely any resistance before the green spell was deflected aside.
Dawn stopped walking and looked toward Voldemort. "Give up, Tom. You cannot kill me."
The chill in his body finally disappeared.
Under the power of phoenix rebirth, a phantom flame seemed to ignite around him. His severed arm began regenerating at a visible speed.
Bone grew first.
Then flesh spread across it.
Veins formed, muscles knit together. Within moments, the arm was completely restored.
Voldemort narrowed his eyes.
Severed limbs could be healed by magic, but normally that required long-term potions.
This kind of rapid regeneration was something he had never seen.
Combined with Dawn's ability to Apparate freely inside Hogwarts and the strange magical beasts he had created earlier, Voldemort had to admit that Dawn had become a serious threat.
"Tom," Dawn suddenly said, raising his hand.
"Look at this."
Resting on his palm was an ancient crown.
The Ravenclaw diadem.
Voldemort frowned.
He knew immediately that retrieving the Horcrux under these circumstances was impossible.
He had already prepared himself to lose it.
Dawn lowered his head, studying the magical patterns and swirling mist within the crown.
Then he smiled.
°Reducto°
"Fool," Voldemort scoffed. "A Blasting Curse cannot destroy a Horcrux."
The next second—
Click.
A small stone dropped out of the crown.
Dawn caught it in his fingers. "So it works."
His eyes lit up.
The theory he had formed last year had been correct.
By cutting the black lines on the surface of the soul fragment, natural magic forced the soul into a solid form and expelled it from the crown.
This destroyed the Horcrux while preserving the priceless enchanted artifact.
Voldemort was no longer calm.
He had expected to lose the Horcrux eventually. But not like this.
For a moment, he froze.
Dawn seized the opportunity.
A steel cord burst from the ground and wrapped around Voldemort's limbs. "Though it's only temporary, I suppose this is goodbye."
Dawn grinned.
°Avada Kedavra°
The green curse shot forward.
Voldemort struggled uselessly.
Yet he showed little fear. After all, the death of this body meant little to him.
But neither he nor Dawn expected what happened next.
The spell never reached Aral.
Halfway through its path, it was intercepted by a conjured object from Professor McGonagall's transfiguration.
Dawn frowned.
"Professor, that is Tom Riddle."
"But the body belongs to Aral," McGonagall replied firmly.
Dawn snorted, preparing to attack again.
Suddenly—
A massive surge of magic erupted nearby.
Dawn turned in surprise.
The half-bee Dumbledore lying near the Great Hall entrance was overflowing with magical mist.
With the last remaining human hand, Dumbledore raised the Elder Wand and pointed it at himself.
°Reparo°
Something changed instantly.
Dawn stared in disbelief.
After casting the Repair Charm on himself, the broken black lines within Dumbledore's magical pattern reconnected.
Impossible.
Dawn's pupils shrank.
He stepped forward instinctively to look more closely.
He had experimented with this before.
The Repair Charm could indeed reconnect broken black lines. But only when the blood curse was inactive and natural magic had stopped flooding in.
Otherwise, the overwhelming natural magic would suppress the repair. Yet Dumbledore had restored the lines while the blood curse was still active.
How?
Dawn's gaze flickered.
There was only one explanation.
The Elder Wand.
Like the other Deathly Hallows, perhaps the Elder Wand allowed the caster's magic to temporarily override natural magic.
The thought made Dawn's eyes burn with interest.
Dumbledore exhaled slowly.
His body shifted back into human form.
"Dawn," he said solemnly. "You continue to surprise me."
Dawn only smiled.
Though he wanted the Elder Wand badly, he looked around at Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Voldemort.
It was time to leave.
In his current condition, he could not endure another battle with Dumbledore.
Just as a phoenix must grow again after rebirth, Dawn also needed time to recover after surviving death.
Otherwise he would not have spent so long fighting Voldemort earlier.
Flames suddenly surrounded him.
Once he decided to retreat, he wasted no time. He intended to Apparate directly back to his hideout in the Vatican.
But something unexpected stopped him.
The Sorting Hat in his hand was not enveloped by the flames.
Dawn had a strange feeling. If he left now, the hat would remain behind.
"The Sorting Hat is part of Hogwarts," Dumbledore explained calmly. "Unless the Headmaster permits it, or the hat itself accepts you, no one can take it away."
"Fine."
Dawn clicked his tongue and tossed the hat onto the ground.
The hat immediately began shouting insults.
Dawn ignored it.
After all, this trip had already yielded more than enough. He had obtained the Invisibility Cloak, the Ravenclaw diadem, and his old wand.
The hat could stay.
He had no intention of destroying it either. Such a unique artifact would be far too valuable to waste.
With a sharp crack, Dawn vanished.
Dumbledore closed his eyes briefly.
Seeing Fawkes still a chick, he chose not to pursue.
He picked up the phoenix, the bracelet Dawn had ignored, and the loudly complaining Sorting Hat.
Meanwhile, Voldemort collapsed as the steel cords turned back into snow.
When Aral opened his eyes again, confusion filled his face. "Headmaster... why am I here?"
He clearly remembered staying inside the Great Hall.
Dumbledore sighed and rubbed his temple.
Today had been exhausting.
Dawn had left. But the aftermath remained.
Hogwarts had been devastated by the battle. And the first issue to resolve was Aral.
The boy stood trembling.
Dumbledore felt unusually helpless. Sending him to Azkaban was unacceptable.
Though Voldemort could control him, Aral still had his own consciousness. Expelling him from Hogwarts was also dangerous.
If Voldemort took control outside the castle, it would be like releasing a tiger back into the wild.
After careful thought, Dumbledore decided to keep Aral at school under his direct supervision.
He would move the boy from his dormitory to a room near the Headmaster's office.
It might be unfair.
But it was the safest option for everyone.
Then he thought of Thomas, the student who had been expelled earlier. Now that the truth was clearer, perhaps that child should also return under supervision.
Still, these were only temporary solutions.
The true problem remained. How could Voldemort's consciousness be removed from the students entirely?
Dumbledore had no answer.
And there was another major problem.
Dawn Richter.
Why had he returned to Hogwarts?
Surely not just for the Sorting Hat. Even after leaving it behind, he had not seemed disappointed.
Yes, he had taken the Ravenclaw diadem.
But Dumbledore suspected another reason. What else at Hogwarts was valuable?
After a moment of thought, Dumbledore's eyes narrowed.
"The Invisibility Cloak."
Even though Dawn should not know that Harry's cloak was one of the Deathly Hallows, Dumbledore had a strong intuition.
He began walking toward the Great Hall to check on Harry.
But a booming voice interrupted him.
"Merlin's beard! Headmaster, what's going on? Why are all these little beauties here?"
Hagrid had arrived from the Forbidden Forest.
Dumbledore paused.
Hagrid's words reminded him of something.
Before checking the cloak, he needed to move these dangerous magical creatures away from the castle.
He pointed his wand at a thunderbird.
°Finite°
Red light flashed.
But the creature did not revert to anything else. It remained a thunderbird.
Dumbledore touched its feathers.
Electric sparks flickered.
Its heartbeat was warm...These creatures were real.
"Albus," McGonagall said quietly, examining another beast. "How did that child accomplish this? It's unbelievable."
Even now, she still struggled to accept it. As a master of transfiguration, she understood what Dawn had achieved.
It was revolutionary.
Even recalling the thunderbird rising from the blood pool made her shiver.
"I don't know, Minerva. I truly don't know."
Hagrid approached carrying a Nundu cub. "Headmaster, can we keep them in the Forbidden Forest? I promise I'll take good care of them."
Dumbledore hesitated.
These were extremely dangerous creatures. But they were also a unique phenomenon created by Dawn.
After a moment, he nodded.
Hagrid cheered happily and began transporting the creatures into the forest one by one.
Watching his massive figure disappear among the trees, Dumbledore looked at the ruined battlefield.
Then he remembered another looming problem.
The Ministry of Magic.
Too many students had witnessed the battle. The news of Dawn Richter's return would spread everywhere.
And Cornelius Fudge would soon hear of it.
Dumbledore pinched the bridge of his nose.
Fudge would undoubtedly try to suppress or distort the truth to protect the Ministry's reputation.
That alone would become a nightmare.
Meanwhile, in a corridor window overlooking the grounds—
"Come on, we should go," Hermione said impatiently. "Standing here staring is a waste of time."
Ron did not even turn around.
"Don't ruin the moment, Hermione. When will we ever see something like this again? I've never seen a thunderbird before!"
Hermione crossed her arms.
"Have you finished your homework?"
"If you don't hurry, don't expect me to lend you mine."
"Come on, Hermione! After everything that just happened, how can you think about homework?" Ron protested.
Hermione snorted and turned away.
"Fine. Do whatever you want."
Her angry tone finally made Ron look up.
Watching her disappear down the corridor, he asked Harry in confusion. "What's wrong with her?"
Harry shrugged. "Maybe she's feeling challenged."
He was right.
Climbing the stairs, Hermione bit her lip.
Since the first time she met Dawn, she had quietly treated him as someone to catch up to.
But now the gap had only grown wider.
The frustration gnawed at her. Even the shock that Dawn was alive could not suppress it.
She grabbed her messy hair.
That was it. Today she would finish all her homework. Then read an extra book.
If she failed, she would not sleep.
With renewed determination, Hermione hurried toward the library.
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