One had to admit, Trelawney had something.
The prophecy she had made years ago had been buried so deep in Wayne's memories that he paid it no mind, yet fate had travelled along numerous branching paths, ultimately converging at this inevitable juncture.
Although Trelawney was startled awake before she could utter the full prophecy, Wayne could now piece together the remaining content.
The abilities granted by her talent still couldn't allow her to touch the Legend realm; otherwise, she would certainly have died a gruesome death.
Gathering his thoughts, Wayne looked at Tom.
His appearance hadn't changed, but his entire demeanour had undergone a dramatic transformation. The eyes are the windows to the soul, and when Wayne met his gaze, it felt like staring into an unfathomable, placid abyss.
"What a surprise, Mr Slytherin. I never thought I'd see one of the school's founders a millennium later."
Wayne glanced down at the snakewood wand in his hand, green as jade. "Have you been hiding inside the wand all this time?"
Slytherin didn't answer, instead showing interest in Wayne's identity. "Oh? You're a Hogwarts student? Which pure-blood family produced such talent?"
"Sorry to disappoint you." Wayne shook his head gently. "I'm a little wizard born to Muggles. In your words, that would be a Mudblood."
"As for pure-blood families? There aren't many left in Britain. I just killed one not long ago."
Tom—no, it should be Slytherin—lost most of his smile. "It seems Godric and Helga's ideals were implemented after all. Are you a Gryffindor student?"
"Are you really Salazar Slytherin?" Wayne looked at him strangely. "Can't you tell I'm such a textbook Hufflepuff?"
Slytherin was left speechless.
How the hell should I know you're that cook's student from Hufflepuff?
He'd just woken up to see this kid blasting away hundreds of wizards. What Hufflepuff would be so fierce?
In the first verbal exchange, Slytherin had lost to this unscrupulous teenager.
He turned to look at the stunned Russian wizards behind him, frowned slightly, then soared into the sky, heading towards a snowy mountain.
"Follow me if you want to know more."
Without the slightest hesitation, Wayne closely followed Slytherin. He truly had many questions in his heart.
Two streaks of light flew one after another. Slytherin seemed to be testing Wayne's capabilities, constantly accelerating, but Wayne maintained the same distance behind him, neither hurried nor slow.
Finally, the two landed atop a snowy mountain dozens of miles away.
"Quite impressive." Slytherin looked at Wayne with appreciation. "Even in my time, you would be among the most exceptionally talented wizards. Neither Gryffindor nor I had such strength at your age."
"What about Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff?" Wayne asked.
"I didn't meet them until after I was thirty." Slytherin was taken aback but answered truthfully. "Helga wasn't widely known. Only after becoming close friends would you recognise her brilliance."
"But Rowena..." A trace of nostalgia surfaced in those profound eyes. "She became famous from a young age, possessing an astonishing intellect. They say that by age twelve, her family could no longer find suitable tutors for her. Two years later, she began travelling the world, and her reputation spread far and wide."
Slytherin collected his thoughts and gazed calmly at Wayne. "Youngster, though you're a Muggle-born wizard, we are ultimately the same kind of person."
"As long as you promise not to trouble my heir anymore and sign a contract, you may leave."
Wayne detected something in his words. "So you haven't resurrected by possessing Tom's body?"
Disdain flashed in Slytherin's eyes. "Reconstructed flesh, inferior Dark Magic - how could I possibly settle for such a vessel?"
"No need to probe further. I'm merely a wisp of spiritual power sealed within this wand, not the true Slytherin. This is enough for me to return."
"Either agree to my terms, or I shall honour our agreement and remove this obstacle for my heir."
"Spiritual power?" Wayne let out a long sigh of relief, his expression abruptly shifting. "Then why are you putting on such airs? You're not even a proper fragment of soul, yet you dare posture before me!"
"Youth, does having some ability make you forget your place?" Slytherin's face darkened as he casually flicked his hand, transforming the snow on the ground into overwhelming waves of long blades that shot towards Wayne.
This wasn't a simple transfiguration - each blade was imbued with unknown magic, emitting a faint glow.
Wayne raised his hand and pulled, several ice dragons materialising to intercept the countless blades. The crisp clashing continued for a long time, ice shards flying everywhere as a fierce wind swept through. The ice dragons emerged battered and broken.
The long blades had vanished without a trace.
Wayne's expression grew considerably more serious. As expected of one of Hogwarts' founders, even the most ordinary magic became extraordinary in his hands.
After a moment's consideration, Wayne drew a sword.
Slytherin's eyes changed.
"This is..."
"Gryffindor's sword. You should be quite familiar with it." Wayne held the sword in one hand, his wand in the other. "A thousand years ago, you were driven from the castle after duelling with Gryffindor. A millennium later, let me, Gryffindor's heir, teach you another lesson."
"Nonsense!" Slytherin lost his composure. He could tolerate Wayne's disrespect, but he would never allow anyone to claim he was inferior to Gryffindor. "I left the school of my own accord! That hothead could never have defeated me. I was merely disillusioned! I didn't want to remain at Hogwarts!"
"Didn't you claim to be a Hufflepuff student? How have you become Gryffindor's heir now?"
"Such narrow-minded house prejudice." Wayne snorted coldly. "With my kindness and outstanding qualities, Gryffindor naturally acknowledged me. The Sorting Hat itself presented me with this sword."
"And also..."
A crown floated out and settled upon Wayne's head.
"I'm also Ravenclaw's heir. As for you? The Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk you left behind at the school have both been destroyed by me. Even your heir was driven like a dog into this frozen wasteland by me."
Slytherin stared at the diadem on Wayne's head, his expression full of confusion.
"Why... why..."
Had the world changed so much, or had Hufflepuff absorbed the other houses?
How did all the legendary treasures they left behind end up in this youngster's hands?
"It seems you are the source of all anomalies." Slytherin raised his wand once more, the wind and snow howled, yet his voice still reached Wayne's ears clearly:
"Today I shall rectify Godric and Helga's mistakes, restoring the wizarding world to its pure state."
How many times are you going to mention Gryffindor?
Wayne felt there was definitely something abnormal about their relationship, wondering whether it was like Grindelwald and Dumbledore.
While mentally complaining, his movements didn't slow in the slightest. With one step, he appeared mid-air.
The next second, the ground violently collapsed, triggering a massive avalanche from above.
Slytherin chanted various strange magical runes, surrounded by swirling symbols that similarly vanished from sight.
The two had become too fast to track; only multicoloured lights flickered and collided in the night sky.
A golden thread sliced through, cleaving a mountain peak in two. Then more and more scattered runes appeared, soon levelling this thousand-metre-high snow-capped mountain and continuing to spread outwards.
During Slytherin's era, the modern spell system hadn't yet formed—it was just emerging. What they mastered was complex yet immensely powerful ancient magic.
Many wizards might spend their entire lives learning just a few, but for a legendary wizard like him, all sorts of bizarre and unpredictable abilities came effortlessly.
With not particularly abundant magical power, he achieved things modern wizards couldn't accomplish.
Wayne had already sheathed the sword - he'd only drawn it earlier for psychological impact. He wasn't foolish enough to play around with an enemy whose capabilities remained unclear.
Thunderous power erupted, crimson lightning descended from the heavens like a deluge of thunder.
Earthfire surged, and the Qimen technique manipulated the four plates, controlling heaven and earth. Firefly lights flickered, leaving Slytherin not a single foothold.
Deafening explosions echoed incessantly, mountain peaks were blasted apart one after another, and the entire area became devastated.
Anything can undergo qualitative change through quantitative accumulation. Slytherin could block one or two attacks, but he couldn't withstand the will of heaven and earth turning against him.
Layers of magical power protected him completely, shields shattering and reforming, but he could only barely preserve himself, let alone pose any threat to Wayne.
By now, Slytherin was utterly astonished.
'There's no wizard like this!'
Since ancient times, wizards used their own magical power to achieve their desires, manipulating nature being part of it.
But Wayne wasn't just manipulating natural forces - he was practically the child of heaven and earth, capable of commanding all elements.
Ice dragons roared, seas of fire scorched the sky, thunder threatened annihilation, leaving no time to respond.
Bang!
The protective shield shattered again, but this time, Slytherin had no magical power left to reform it. He quietly lowered his arm, Tom's body covered in cracks like glass that would shatter at a touch.
Wind and thunder gradually calmed, and the sea of fire slowly dissipated. Wayne also ceased his attacks, appearing before Slytherin, hundreds of metres between them.
"I underestimated you, junior." Slytherin rasped, "Tell me your name."
"Wayne Lawrence, current Headmaster of Hogwarts." Wayne calmly introduced himself.
"Headmaster?" Slytherin was momentarily stunned, "Young Master Lawrence... hmm? You've formed a contract with him, too?"
Wayne's expression turned peculiar. Hearing Slytherin address him as 'young master' was indeed far more comfortable than hearing Tom do so.
"Never mind..." Slytherin seemed about to say something, but ultimately shook his head, his voice growing progressively softer.
"This time... you've won."
As he spoke, those abyssal black eyes gradually faded, replaced by a complex gaze of another kind.
"You've won, Young Master Lawrence."
"Yes, I've won." Wayne nodded, releasing the unconscious Voldemort and waking him.
"Any last words? I can grant you the opportunity for final statements."
"Lawrence." Voldemort lay upon the scorching earth, yet his heart was frozen solid. "Will you rule the wizarding world?"
Wayne tilted his head. "No, but I will control it."
Voldemort laughed. "Same meaning. That's enough."
"If you were hypocritical like Dumbledore, I'd probably resent my defeat more bitterly. The strong must possess the conviction to dominate the weak."
Wayne offered no comment, instead turning his gaze to Tom. "What about you? Senior Tom."
"From the moment I was born, was my death predetermined?" Tom clenched his fists.
"I've told you." Wayne shook his head gently. "Your very existence was a mistake, though mistakes can bring me benefits as well."
"Allowing you to live until now was the greatest mercy I could grant you - and your reward."
"Don't get complacent." Tom suddenly revealed a brilliant smile. "You can't win forever. He will come for you."
"Thank you for the warning. I'll prepare accordingly." Wayne nodded seriously as the Dragon King's phantom materialised behind him.
A Disarming Charm snatched Tom's snakewood wand away, and the Dragon King breathed starlight that reduced him to ashes.
After confirming he was thoroughly dead, the Dragon King turned and delivered the same treatment to Voldemort.
Thus, there remained no more Voldemort, no more Tom Riddle in the world.
After toying with the snakewood wand for a moment, Wayne placed it in a specially crafted box and Apparated back to Hogwarts.