Chapter 67 Voldemort
Chapter 69 Voldemort
Inside the hidden spaces of the Ravenclaw Tower.
The star map on the dome slowly rotated. Lucien sat in a high-backed chair, a starry chessboard suspended in mid-air. Stardust, under his will, was reconstructing the absurd and deadly confrontation that had just taken place in the Forbidden Forest.
A red and gold nebula lit up in the center of the chessboard, while opposite it was a black mist radiating death and a ghastly green light.
Lucian looked thoughtfully at the cloud of black mist.
Something's not right—
As a Ravenclaw successor capable of deconstructing magic, he knew all too well what conditions were required for an "Avada Kedavra" spell.
That's not magic that can be activated simply by reciting the incantation correctly; it requires the caster to possess a vast foundation of magical power and pure killing intent.
Quirrell's body should have been riddled with holes long ago due to the corrosive influence of Voldemort's remnant soul.
A body that is breathless even when walking on flat ground and needs to drink unicorn blood to barely keep its flesh from decaying must have a very fragile magical circuit.
How could he possibly squeeze out enough magic power to unleash the Unforgivable Curse in that instant?
"Unless—there is some energy beyond the limits of the physical body, forcibly keeping him alive."
Lucian closed his eyes, and images replayed in his mind.
His thoughts drifted back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class he had taken a few months earlier.
That day, in order to test the Dark Lord and gauge the world's tolerance for plot deviations, he secretly plucked the strings of fate, risking severing several strands of savior's destiny connected to Harry Potter.
And going with the flow, they forcibly grafted that stolen good fortune onto the body on the podium that was plagued by bad luck and whose chalk could even break.
With the help of this good fortune, Quirrell regained some of his strength.
As Lucien looked at the green light on the chessboard, a sense of dread, as if he had played with a taboo, rose in his heart, but more than that, he felt a sense of clarity, as if the clouds had parted and the sun had shone through.
"but----"
Lucian waved his wand, widening the perspective on the chessboard.
The green light in the corner of the Forbidden Forest dissipated. The red chess piece representing Harry, though dimmed, was still tightly protected by the massive white light representing Dumbledore and moved to the location of the school hospital.
The black mist representing Quirrell, though in a sorry state, successfully escaped back to the castle.
Everything seemed to have gone through a turbulent journey that threatened to plunge into the abyss, but in the next second, it was forcibly pulled back onto the right track.
"That's the scariest part, isn't it?" he murmured.
He originally thought that Quirrell's extraordinary strength and Harry's near death in the clash between the prank props and the Killing Curse would be enough to overturn the entire wizarding world, and that the world's will would descend with golden lines, or that Dumbledore would completely break off relations and go to war with the Ministry of Magic.
but.
The great calamity continued to advance undeterred.
With his seasoned skill, Dumbledore managed to turn this deadly accident into a prank involving an accidental discharge.
Unable to obtain evidence, the Ministry of Magic could only continue to probe the edges; Voldemort, having not been exposed, could only continue to lie low and wait for an opportunity.
Harry Potter, despite having faced life and death, still harbors that ridiculous courage to face the challenges ahead after being brainwashed by Dumbledore.
The details of the script were completely altered, but the main storyline remained unbroken.
The world's will doesn't care how absurd the process is.
It doesn't care whether Harry ran away with a glowing sign that read "I'm a fool"; it doesn't care whether he survived because of bravery or because of a flying glass ball.
It only has one outcome: the savior must confront the Dark Lord on the fourth floor at the end of the school year.
As long as this ultimate cause and effect is not destroyed, it can tolerate all distortions and variations in the process.
Since the inertia of the cataclysmic event is so immense, so immense that even Voldemort's sudden increase in power and the premature appearance of the Unforgivable Curse can be forcibly "justified" by it —
"Dumbledore will surely lay a trap on the fourth floor because of tonight's loss of control; Voldemort will also fight to the death because he is cornered."
"Then let these two forces clash head-on."
He stood up, walked to the window of the tower, and looked down at Hogwarts Castle, which was gradually returning to calm after the thunderstorm.
The eastern horizon was already showing a hint of dawn.
The long night is about to end.
"The final act of the script is already set," Lucien said, pressing his hand against the glass. "And all I need to do is quietly take my share of the reward while they fight tooth and nail for that predetermined ending."