On the way back, Hagrid was with Harry and the others, and Harry was already eagerly telling him everything they had seen.
"Hagrid, I'm sure I heard him correctly. Victor definitely said that man was Voldemort."
"Hermione heard it, too!"
Hermione nodded in agreement. "That's right, it was Voldemort! And when we ran into him, he seemed to be drinking unicorn blood."
Hagrid looked at the two young wizards with a complicated expression. He knew they weren't lying. But what they were saying—that Victor Dreyar had single-handedly driven off Voldemort and created a huge, lava-filled crater in the Forbidden Forest, was too fantastic to believe.
But wait, what did Hermione say Voldemort was doing?
Hagrid fiddled with the crossbow in his hand. He decided to believe what the two of them said for now, and then asked, "Hermione, you just said… he was drinking unicorn blood?"
Hermione nodded with certainty. "That's right. His mouth was all covered in the same silvery liquid as the unicorn blood you showed us. Do you know why he would do that?"
"Yes, I do…" Hagrid's face immediately showed sadness and regret. "The unicorn is an extremely pure and noble magical creature. Drinking its blood can save a person who is on the brink of death."
"So, you're saying Voldemort is dying?!" Harry asked, a little excitedly.
"I'm not sure, but his situation is certainly not good," Hagrid shook his head, then his face became filled with indignation. "If I could, I would truly wish he was dead instead of continuing to bring harm to the world. Harry, you must remember that killing such a pure creature like a unicorn is a very serious crime. The moment he let the unicorn's blood touch his lips, he became cursed for all eternity."
.....
Meanwhile, in the headmaster's office at Hogwarts, Dumbledore had just finished giving Professor McGonagall a quick summary of what had happened in the Forbidden Forest tonight.
"So, Tom really is alive, but he has to rely on unicorn blood to stay that way?"
Professor McGonagall was now filled with dread, as she hadn't expected Harry and the others to run into Voldemort tonight. Although Dumbledore had told her before that Voldemort was alive, she had been skeptical, since no one had ever survived the Killing Curse.
"I told you, Minerva. He is indeed alive, just too weak to cause any trouble," Dumbledore said, his deep gaze fixed on the bright flames in the fireplace.
"So, what's his condition now?"
"Victor badly wounded him, and he escaped by releasing Fiendfyre," Dumbledore shook his head. "But you don't need to worry, Quirrell's body is certainly unusable now."
"Quirrell?" Professor McGonagall frowned. "What does Professor Quirrell have to do with this?"
"…" Dumbledore instantly realized he had said too much. The fact that Voldemort was possessing Quirrell was a secret known only to him and Victor. He had never told his old colleague, or she would have pulled out his beard for the students' safety.
"Albus, don't just stay quiet. Tell me what happened…" Professor McGonagall was starting to realize what was going on, and her face was getting darker and darker.
No, I absolutely cannot tell her!
Otherwise, not only will I lose my beard, but all the candy in my cabinet will be confiscated too!!!
.....
On the other side, in the Gryffindor common room, the three had been sent back by Hagrid. Although it was late at night, they had no intention of sleeping. They were gathered around the fireplace, discussing what had happened that night.
"You're telling me the Dark Lord was in the Forbidden Forest?" Ron asked in a terrified voice. He had gradually recovered from the shock of the spectacular lava pool and had just listened to Harry's account of what he and Hermione had experienced.
"That's right, we really did run into him!" Harry paced back and forth in front of the fireplace. "And he's very weak right now; he can only use unicorn blood to prolong his life!"
"And I think we were all wrong before. Snape might not be trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone for himself, but for Voldemort!"
"The Philosopher's Stone can make the Elixir of Life. Snape must want to use the power of the stone to help Voldemort regain his strength so he can make a comeback!"
Harry, thinking he had figured everything out, flopped down on the sofa, looking worried.
"If what you're saying is true, and he really comes back, will he… will he come to kill you?" Ron asked, worriedly pursing his lips.
"Not anytime soon!" Hermione suddenly said with certainty. "You saw it. Victor half-killed him tonight, so he definitely won't have the strength to bother you for a while!"
"But that's only for a little while, isn't it?" Ron swallowed, looking worried. "Before I went to the Forbidden Forest tonight, I was worried about failing my Potions final. Could that be worse than meeting Voldemort?"
"I think it could be!" Harry nodded matter-of-factly.
Dare to fail Snape's Potions class?
At least until Voldemort comes, to the students of Hogwarts, Snape is the most terrifying Dark Lord!
.....
In the Ravenclaw common room, Victor had absorbed the memories of the last two days after retrieving his Thought Projection.
That old coot! He schemed against me!
Victor grumbled in his mind. It turned out that the person who had been talking to Harry in the Great Hall yesterday was the Thought Projection that Victor had left at the school.
But this was no time to dwell on that! Victor was lying in bed, thinking about Fiendfyre. Through the power of Origin, he had learned that Fiendfyre was actually a summoning spell.
Based on the limited records in the books he had read:
First, the inventor of Fiendfyre is unknown, the specific incantation is unknown, and even the time of its first appearance is unknown. Where did it come from?
In the world of Harry Potter, with the exception of a few lost spells, almost all spells have records of their inventors and the corresponding invention process. This is especially true for powerful spells that have a significant impact on wizarding society, such as the Repello Muggletum and Fiendfyre.
This is because the invention of a spell involves a process of trial and error, and documenting the successes and failures of this process is an indispensable part of creating a new spell. This not only provides valuable experience for future inventors of new spells but also helps them avoid many detours.
However, there are no historical records for Fiendfyre. This made Victor very curious. So, on the second day, Victor first went through all the books in the Ravenclaw common room and then went to the library to look for more information. After a full day of research, he came up with two theories.
The first theory is that Fiendfyre, or the appearance of Fiendfyre, was very likely accidentally summoned by a wizard or a Curse-Breaker in the past. The reason why the historical records for this spell are severely lacking could be that when Fiendfyre first appeared, its immense power incinerated all the surrounding matter and life, including the wizard who summoned it.
The most likely time for this disaster would be the Great Fire of London in 1666. According to historical records, the fire lasted for four days, destroying 87 churches, 44 companies, and more than 13,000 houses, and incinerating almost a sixth of the city.
It's highly possible that during this fire, wizards who came to put it out sensed the source of the Fiendfyre and thus accidentally stumbled upon the modern Fiendfyre curse.
Later, perhaps because Fiendfyre was too powerful and only a few wizards could use it, or for some other reason, the history of the Fiendfyre curse was only passed down orally, which is why there are no related historical records.
The second theory is that the world from which Fiendfyre originates is very likely what is known as hell.
In the spell Fiendfyre, the word "Fiend" refers to a "demon from hell, demonic," which, when combined with the word "fire," means a fire from a hellish demon. In addition, the way Fiendfyre indiscriminately pursues everything that can burn and its cursed nature could indeed be linked to hell.
Furthermore, Victor also found a goblin's journal in the Restricted Section of the library, which contained some history about Fiendfyre.
The owner of the journal was named Kabeer Burnett, a survivor of the last goblin rebellion in the 18th century. Flipping open the ancient black cover, the journal was filled with goblin text, and many of the words were blurred and the records were fragmented.
However, the journal did contain this thought-provoking passage: "Just as we were about to win, the humans betrayed themselves, summoning the flames from hell to drive us away…"
When Victor saw this sentence, he concluded that this so-called "flame from hell" was exactly Fiendfyre. Since ordinary fire would not have harmed the goblins, and considering the religious background and the unique history and magical powers of the goblins outside of human wizards, it is possible that Kabeer Burnett sensed the unique nature of Fiendfyre and was prompted to write this.
So, if these two theories are true, then things could get interesting!
Victor could use the power of Origin to extract the magical lines from the Fiendfyre's magical structure that could create a passage to hell, and then form a new Spatial Magic. That way, he could travel to what is known as hell.
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