All That Mattered Was That I Was Happy
"Muggle ... disgusting, ha—" He looked at his hands with disgust and made a sound of dissatisfaction.
"Corin, where are you going in the middle of the night?" A neighbor who heard the scream came out, saw him, and asked.
Lately, his neighbor Corin seemed like a completely different person. Although he was usually stern and rarely smiled, Corin had become unusually gloomy lately.
' Corin ' turned his head and put a finger to his lips: 'Shh.'
"Hey buddy?"
The neighbor was horrified to discover that Corin had simply waved his hand, and his fence had suddenly come to life, coiling around him like a python.
"Ugh! Ugh..." His weak cries quickly subsided, and his struggling limbs stopped moving.
Corin, no, now it should be Riddle, a look of pain flashed across his face, and the five fingers of the hand he had just waved trembled and twisted.
"Ha—" He made a sound like a bellows leaking air from his throat, and then black mist rose from Riddle's body again, but if Sean were there, he would have noticed that the black mist was no longer so dense, and the edges of the mist had been diluted.
After standing there for a while, Riddle drew the black mist back into his body, and then Nagini, who had not appeared until now, appeared at his feet.
"Nagini— " Riddle stroked the python's head. "Go on, it's time for dinner."
Nagini slowly crawled toward the corpse on the ground.
Just as it opened its mouth to swallow the person whole, several transparent chains suddenly shot out from the air and bound it firmly to the ground.
"Hiss—" Nagini hissed, but couldn't even struggle.
Riddle paused, looking into the air somewhere.
The air trembled slightly, and a figure emerged from it.
"Look, look at our poor Tom, how long have I been standing here and you haven't even noticed?" The newcomer smiled.
Riddle's voice came almost through his teeth, as if he wanted to chew the name up.
"Grind, De, Wol—"
Grindelwald, wearing a turtleneck coat, stood with his hands behind his back and gave Riddle a mocking smile, "Tom, you've disappointed me greatly."
Riddle didn't speak or run away; he just stared intently at his opponent.
"I thought you'd be a bit smarter," Grindelwald said, walking up to Nagini with his hands behind his back, without even glancing at Riddle. "Let me see... oh, not yet Horcrux."
He straightened up and walked toward Riddle. Grindelwald seemed to want to reach out and pat Riddle's face, but in the end, he gave up on the idea.
He waved his hand dismissively at the air in front of him. "Your taste is getting worse and worse."
"Grindelwald," Riddle's voice sounded as if he'd just been pulled from an icebox, "You've teamed up with Dumbledore?"
Grindelwald gave him a strange look. "Even a first-year wizard at Hogwarts can see that, but you can't?"
He ignored Riddle's distorted expression and continued, "Of course, it's not exactly a complete alliance. I just didn't expect your shell to be so weak. I was hoping to show Sean more things, what a pity."
"Sean?" Riddle sneered. "The first Dark Lord wants to train an Obscurus?"
Grindelwald smiled, not intending to correct the other man at all. He stroked his short beard and continued, "However, Tom, Albus. In terms of Dark Arts, you are the most talented person I have ever met. I never thought that Horcrux could have such a use."
Riddle didn't speak, but stared intently at him.
"To be honest, I don't really like Horcrux. Empty life maps have length but no meaning," he said, making no attempt to hide his contempt. "Only you would be willing to go through all that trouble to pursue this kind of garbage."
Grindelwald seemed pleased with Riddle's increasingly distorted and crazed face. He stretched his neck and casually said, "Come on, Tom, tell me what you've learned. How did you manage to merge Quirrell's soul into it? Soul coexistence, and it can even withstand one death. Interesting."
"Grindelwald, I can trade this secret for you." Riddle still possessed some reason.
"Exchange?" Grindelwald suddenly laughed. "Ha— Tom, I love your humor."
He burst into laughter as if he had heard a hilarious joke, almost unable to stop. "Hahaha, Tom, you're so funny."
"Tom, I'm almost suppressing the urge to kill you," he finally stopped laughing and looked at Riddle. "A mere attempt to stop death, and you dare call it a secret before me?"
"Grindelwald," Riddle's voice was hoarse, "What good would it do you to kill me?"
"Benefits?" Grindelwald frowned, resting his chin on his hand as if pondering some difficult problem. Finally, he gave a look of sudden realization. "As long as I'm happy, that's all that matters."
"Grindelwald!"
Deep blue flames began to erupt from Riddle's seven orifices, and black mist surged out wildly, but was trapped in a transparent area.
"Ah—" The screams gradually faded until Riddle's body was completely burned to ashes.
Grindelwald reached out, and the still-struggling Nagini floated to his side before collapsing unconscious in a flash of red light.
"I still have to go and deliver this..." he sighed, but a look of pleasure appeared on his face.
The ashes on the ground were scattered by the gale whipped up by Grindelwald, and the last wisp of black mist also dissipated into the world.
Grindelwald stood there for a while, thinking, and finally muttered to himself, "Never mind, let's just consider it a gift for Sean."
He disappeared with Nagini.
After a long while, a gentle breeze swept across the empty ground, as if something was gathering together.
In mid-air, the fine black ash seemed to be gathering together, but after a very faint, painful howl, the ash disappeared completely.
Sean, of course, had no idea what was happening outside. He stayed in the Stone Chamber the Mirror of Erised was placed for a while, and finally stood up and looked at the mirror.
He was curious about what he really wanted. He had desires, but they had never been strong. Sean wanted to see how the Mirror of Erised would show them.
He stood before the magic mirror and was surprised to find that no other image appeared; in the mirror was a tall and handsome wizard.
That's me as an adult.