Chapter 41: The Beast Unchained
"However, I must admit, your speculation is entirely correct. This is indeed a Horcrux. And based on my understanding of Tom Riddle, he is indeed someone who would do this. You may not know, but Voldemort is actually of mixed blood. He had a Muggle father and a mother from an ancient wizarding family—the Gaunts. He despised the Muggle blood from his father in his veins and was obsessed with the glory of pure blood."
"So, Voldemort's other Horcruxes are very likely the magical items left by the other three founders of Hogwarts, right?"
"The possibility is very high. I believe it is possible that Tom would do this. When I saw Ravenclaw's Diadem, I became even more certain of this speculation." Dumbledore nodded slowly. He felt that chatting with Ezio was very easy. The other party could always follow his thoughts instantly and arrive at the same answer from the clues he provided, as if there was some kind of tacit understanding. It was a very strange feeling.
However, Ezio was a Slytherin through and through: goal-oriented, decisive, and unscrupulous, all for the sake of final success. But he was different from Voldemort. Ezio gave Dumbledore the feeling that he was wielding dark power, not indulging in it. Whether it was Dark Magic or something else, in his hands, it was just a tool to be used.
This made him relax his guard against Ezio a little. But at the same time, Dumbledore also worried that Ezio would become something a hundred times more terrifying than Voldemort... something beyond a Dark Lord. He didn't care about, and even despised, what Voldemort pursued. This might indicate that he had a grander ambition, just that there were no signs of it yet.
"So now, should we destroy it?" Ezio stared at the diadem with great interest. "It was trying to entice me to wear it all the way here, but now, it's silent. Perhaps it's scared of you, Headmaster Dumbledore."
"I don't think I'm that scary," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "But we do need to dispose of it properly. Destroying it is a must. As long as the Horcruxes exist, Voldemort will not truly die. He will live on hideously, and grow more and more insane. Only after we have destroyed all the Horcruxes can we truly kill him." Dumbledore's voice carried a hint of warning, intentionally spoken for Ezio to hear.
"Since you brought it to me, you must have thought about how to destroy it, right?"
"Yes, Headmaster. A Horcrux is a very difficult container to destroy. Ordinary spells are ineffective against it because the person who created it leaves a part of their soul in it. This also means that the container is protected by the magic contained in the soul. Only a very few things can break through the magical protection and truly harm it, as well as the soul fragment within."
"And of the spells I know, the only one that can definitely destroy it is Fiendfyre. But Fiendfyre would completely destroy this diadem, which is not what I want to see. Fiendfyre has the power to destroy most substances. It is not a simple flame, but the power of a curse of destruction and annihilation made manifest through fire. The burning is just the outer appearance."
"I can now be certain that you have a very serious study of Ancient Runes," Dumbledore nodded. What Ezio said was correct; Fiendfyre was not a simple flame.
"I have analyzed the composition of many spells. This is of great help to me in researching my own spells." Ezio would not slack off on anything he had set his mind to. To do so would be to waste time, to waste his own life.
"But I have a few theories I'd like to confirm using the Horcrux. I wonder if you would permit me to conduct such an experiment, Professor Dumbledore?"
"What do you intend to do?" Dumbledore was not surprised by this. For Ezio, this was a very reasonable request.
"I want to test whether the Unforgivable Curses are, as described by the outside world, magic that targets the soul."
"You should know why the Unforgivable Curses are not allowed to be used," Dumbledore said seriously.
"Dark Magic can make one lose themselves. But what I want to say is, that is simply because those people's strength is not enough, their will is not firm. Whether it's Dark Magic or White Magic, to a wizard, it can only be a tool. It is not your lover, so you should not be infatuated with it, should not be influenced by it."
"But who can guarantee that they will not be influenced by the power of darkness? The erosion of darkness is always completed in silence." Dumbledore did not trust such rhetoric. He had seen people more talented than Ezio, but that person, in the end, had also come to a bad end.
"That is indeed a difficult thing to prove," Ezio said with some frustration. There were some things he was sure of that he couldn't explain to others. "If all else fails, how about we have a fight, Professor Dumbledore?"
Dumbledore's eyes widened. He had never expected Ezio to say such a thing. The old man who had always been so calm was a little flustered at this moment.
"Be reasonable, Ezio," Dumbledore said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "I just don't want you to go down the wrong path."
"But who can be sure that the path they believe to be correct is really correct for others?"
"I am not like any other student at Hogwarts."
Ezio closed his eyes, undoing the chains that bound a certain beast.
"I promised you that I would not lay a hand on any student at Hogwarts. I keep my word. But I also hope that you can understand my... conviction... to accomplish something."
Ezio opened his eyes. A cold current, as if from Siberia, seemed to flow into the Headmaster's office. The beast that had bathed in a pool of blood opened its eyes. A bone-chilling killing intent shattered the sturdy dam that had bound it, crashing down with the force of a collapsing sky!
Dumbledore seemed to see a phantom of himself dying on the spot in the next second. He finally understood the terrifying power contained in the eyes that Severus Snape had seen. Compared to Snape's fleeting glimpse, Dumbledore experienced the full force of it.
Fawkes, who had been dozing on his golden perch, fluffed up his feathers and flew to the top of the high cabinet where the Sorting Hat was, huddling together with the old hat, trembling.
This also snapped Dumbledore out of his brief stupor. For the first time, he finally realized what kind of monster the person who had been maintaining such a composed demeanor in front of him truly was.
Would spells affect him? Even Avada Kedavra would have to kneel and kowtow a few times before leaving.
But Dumbledore had not lost his mind enough to think that Ezio was truly a demon who had killed countless people. He was just an eleven-year-old child. He couldn't have been wielding a dagger and going on a rampage through crowds of people from birth.
This exaggerated, almost surreal display of ability could only be interpreted by Dumbledore as something innate, not something Ezio himself could decide.
The wizarding world was full of strange things; anything was possible.
"There is a rumor at Hogwarts about Harry, that only a darker presence can consume the dark. I believe I was born with the ability to consume that darkness."
Ezio returned to his former calm and collected state. He spoke softly, stating a fact.
"I hope you will always maintain your integrity." Dumbledore, after his initial shock, regained his original calm.
"I only act against my targets, unless someone deliberately causes trouble."
"That's very reasonable."
Realizing that Ezio had been constantly restraining this beast within him and had no intention of releasing it, Dumbledore chose to be accommodating. Because he knew very well that Ezio's current state was his most stable state. If this fragile balance were to be broken, it would be the worst state that no one wanted to see.
'A naturally evil little Slytherin brat, I'll just...' The thought suddenly flashed through Dumbledore's mind, but he immediately kicked it to a corner and killed it. He didn't think that expelling Ezio from Hogwarts would be a good choice. That could lead to the worst possible outcome.
"See, I told you. This one has talent. It's so merciful of him not to commit genocide," the Sorting Hat grumbled from the top of the cabinet, earning a harsh glare from Dumbledore.
"Shut up!" he snapped, a rare display of anger directed at an old hat.
*****
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