Immortality

As the flames continued to rise, Riddle's body grew increasingly ethereal.

When his body was nearly transparent and barely able to maintain a human shape, Cyberlina once again made a small wave of her wand—and the flames went out.

Riddle endured the excruciating pain and floated upright, only then realizing that there were other people in the room—Harry and the Potions professor were seated beside Cyberlina, while Dumbledore stood behind and to the side of Cyberlina's chair, watching him with a complicated look in his eyes.

In an instant, Riddle understood everything.

The diary had not been discarded or lost by Ginny as he had imagined. It had been deliberately taken away. Cyberlina's conversation with him had not been a chance occurrence brought about by Harry finding the diary. This had all been a premeditated operation!

"Tom..." Seeing the drastic change in Riddle's expression, Dumbledore knew that he had understood, so he continued explaining. "Sekerei had me keep an eye on Miss Weasley from the start-of-term feast."

Riddle: "!"

Cyberlina added, "I chose today because I discovered that your soul had almost fully recovered."

Recovered enough for you to burn it?

—Harry thought silently.

The long-missed pain stimulated Riddle's soul, making him calmer than before, but also more deranged. He knew that he was already a prisoner in a cage, facing certain death. Moreover, Cyberlina could currently read his thoughts, so putting on an act was impossible. In that case—rather than uselessly begging for mercy, he might as well go all out and try to drive a wedge between this pair of teacher and student who appeared to be on the same side before he was destroyed.

He was not afraid of Cyberlina catching this thought, either. After all, Cyberlina was the only one who could know what he was thinking; Dumbledore could not. He knew all too well how hypocritical and suspicious this seemingly kind man was, and he clearly remembered the wariness in Dumbledore's eyes when he had discovered Riddle asking a portrait about Cyberlina's past.

Riddle straightened his body in midair, gathering the last of his strength to make his upper body clearer. Only then did he realize that the strange white flames had burned not only the life force Cyberlina had given him, but also the small amount of soul he had possessed to begin with.

What a powerful person.

She could see through people's hearts, master magic, understand souls, and even—control life and transcend death.

Riddle once again carefully examined Cyberlina's face, which looked younger than he remembered, and said with a gloomy, slightly manic smile, "Cyberlina... Sekerei—Madam Sekerei! Your student, Dumbledore, once warned me that immortality did not exist and death could not be escaped... So how do you explain yourself, when you were reported dead long ago? Don't tell me it's some age-reversing potion or a spell that changed your appearance! It clearly isn't! You—ha! Those studies—"

Riddle's expression twisted, but at the same time, unmistakable delight appeared on his face.

"So it's because of you—because of your studies, your studies of the soul! So my path was correct, and I—"

Dumbledore frowned. He glanced at Harry, who was sitting upright, and raised a hand to tap the air behind Harry's head. Harry suddenly yawned, his eyes growing unfocused as his body swayed from side to side. Finally, when the chair beneath him turned into a small sofa, he lay down on it. Snape looked at Dumbledore questioningly. Dumbledore shook his head, indicating that Harry could continue listening.

"—through your studies and those books, I successfully preserved myself as well—you succeeded, so someone like me, who went even further than you, must have succeeded too!"

"No, Albus was right, child. Death cannot be escaped." Cyberlina looked at Riddle's slightly twisted face and stared at the stench spilling from the depths of his soul, smiling gently. "You have seen me before. Where?"

"More precisely, your photograph." Riddle thought of the photograph hanging on the wall, repeatedly destroyed, repaired, and destroyed again. He sneered. "Your photograph, the one of you being hacked to pieces."

"Oh, Marvolo..." Cyberlina nodded in understanding.

Riddle froze, then immediately looked away. In disbelief, he thought, Could my vaunted Occlumency have failed? Even Dumbledore back then couldn't... Perhaps it's because Cyberlina is controlling my soul now, so—

"No, it's because my Legilimency is many times stronger than Albus's was decades ago." Cyberlina glanced at Dumbledore, then at the sleeping Harry, before turning her head back. "I am not like this because of immortality, Mr. Riddle. You know that I have studied the soul in depth... I can tell you clearly that splitting your soul is only hastening your own destruction."

Dumbledore: So, Sekerei has rudely interrupted Tom several times now. It seems she dislikes him far more than Lockhart.

"Ha, impossible! Your research definitely contains information on separating souls—"

"You needn't waste your breath trying to drive a wedge between us, Mr. Riddle. Albus knows what I have done. He even personally witnessed me extracting a soul from a human body." Cyberlina tilted her head slightly, looking at Riddle's eyes as he avoided her gaze with polite mockery. "You are a clever child. You saw that Albus suspected and guarded against you. But why did you think he should not do so? And why did you think his wariness toward you was based on my 'precedent'?"

Before Cyberlina had even finished her first sentence, Dumbledore was already staring at her speechlessly. Is revealing things she learned by reading my mind really something to be proud of?

After hearing Cyberlina's final question, Dumbledore immediately turned toward Riddle's phantom, astonished. When did I ever give the impression that I suspected he was a bad child because of Cyberlina?

Riddle remained silent. He did not understand why Cyberlina had suddenly shifted the subject to this. What did it have to do with immortality?

"Tom—oh, I hope you don't mind me calling you that. I'm not speaking on Albus's behalf. I simply know that he is not someone who acts without reason, so he must have suspected you because of something you did." Cyberlina lightly patted the diary in her hands. "And look, his suspicions were not wrong, were they?"

"But if it weren't for him, I—"

"Don't say such things, Tom. Nothing is an excuse for you to do evil. Look into your own heart, and don't make excuses for your fall."

Dumbledore froze for a moment and pressed his lips tightly together.

"Look at this, Tom." Cyberlina raised a hand and sent the diary floating through the air until it drifted in front of Riddle. "Did you open the Chamber of Secrets and kill your classmates, then create this—create the person you are now to bewitch your juniors, because Albus treated you poorly?"

Riddle was speechless. He stared at the diary floating before him, feeling that something was wrong. What did any of this have to do with Dumbledore? Shouldn't they be discussing—wait. It had nothing to do with Dumbledore?

Cyberlina imperceptibly raised one eyebrow and continued asking, "If Albus had treated you gently, would you not have searched for Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets?"

Cyberlina slowly rose to her feet, clasping the wand's handle in both hands and resting them against her abdomen as she lifted her chin slightly.

"If Albus had never questioned you, would you not have sought to discover where your blood came from?"

Cyberlina took a step forward. The diary between them drifted to the side, and Riddle once again looked directly into those eyes that had never lost their smile.

"If Albus had believed you were a good child, would the good-child facade you put on have become real?"

Cyberlina took another step forward. Under the gaze of those pale golden-brown eyes, Riddle, whose upper body alone was clear, instinctively drifted backward. At the same time, he realized something—Cyberlina had definitely seen all of his memories!

Then why had she... deliberately asked him where he had seen her?

"If it weren't for Albus's wariness—" Cyberlina chuckled softly and took another step forward. "Would you not have named yourself Voldemort?"

Riddle was rendered speechless.

Under the bright lights, in what was a fairly spacious room, his vision was filled with a blur of brightness. The only thing he could see clearly was Cyberlina, backlit before him. The only thing he could focus on was her eyes—and there was nothing in them but a smile. The chill brought by that unknown emptiness once again rose from the depths of his soul. Her pale eyes, almost nonexistent when viewed against the light, were terrifyingly strange. An invisible pressure made his soul tremble uncontrollably, and he unconsciously said—

"No."

"You see." Cyberlina smiled. "Nothing Albus did had any influence on you. His suspicions were correct and justified. You were a bad child from beginning to end."

Riddle's lips trembled. Though he had no physical body, he inexplicably felt as though his back were covered in cold sweat.

The Imperius Curse?

No, it wasn't. If it had been the Imperius Curse, he could not have failed to sense it—but no, the point now was—none of this made sense!

Why was she asking him these things? Did she truly only want him to see his own heart, or whatever that nonsense was? But why keep dragging Dumbledore into it—

Riddle abruptly looked toward Dumbledore and found him watching Cyberlina with a complicated expression. Cyberlina turned and smiled at Dumbledore. "This testimony from the person himself is enough to clear that tall fellow's name, isn't it, Albus? Do you want my memories, or should I accompany you to the Ministry of Magic?"

Dumbledore lowered his head slightly. After taking a deep breath, he raised it again and looked at Cyberlina helplessly. "It is more than enough. If you want to see what the Ministry of Magic is like now, then come along."

More than enough to clear Rubeus's name...

Dumbledore forcibly suppressed his emotions.

He understood that Cyberlina was making him clear his own name—she was the one she had been counseling.

He simply did not know when she had seen through his thoughts again.

"...You went to all this trouble just to clear the name of that filthy half-giant?" Riddle asked incredulously. There was something even more unbelievable that he did not say aloud, because he did not think Dumbledore would feel any psychological burden over—or feel guilty about—his attitude of suspecting him for so many years.

"If you wish, you can also consider this my attempt to counsel you." Cyberlina turned her head and looked at Riddle gently. "But I doubt you will accept my goodwill."

"Goodwill?" Riddle grew irritated. "How could those words of yours be goodwill toward me!?"

"Didn't you just think of the reason yourself? I wanted you to see your own heart."

"I have always known! exactly what I was doing!" Riddle glared at Cyberlina. "I want immortality, I want power, I want to remain undying forever! I see it perfectly clearly! And there is nothing wrong with that!"

Cyberlina continued looking at Riddle calmly and gently, smiling as she said, "'Undying'—what does that mean? Immortality does not exist in this world, but souls cannot be destroyed. If you truly want immortality, you can simply fear death and become a ghost drifting aimlessly through this world. If you merely want power, countless ancient texts welcome you."

Cyberlina reached out and summoned the diary back to her.

"But that isn't you, child."

"...What?"

"You are not pursuing immortality, nor are you pursuing power." Cyberlina lowered her head and opened the diary, lightly touching the name Riddle had left behind. "Tom Marvolo Riddle, you are only afraid that you will fail to gain power, afraid of achieving nothing, afraid of remaining beneath others, afraid of death—and at the same time, you dare not admit that you fear these things, because you consider yourself powerful."

"What nonsense are you talking about!?"

Cyberlina's calmness made Riddle even more irritable, because it made him look like he was throwing an impotent tantrum in front of her.

"Your future is broken and ugly. Others obey you because of your control and methods, but they also fear you. You think you have gained followers, but in reality, most of them are prisoners trying to escape their prison."

Cyberlina raised her head and smiled at Riddle.

"From the moment you chose to split your soul and abandon your past, your future was destined to be filled with failure."

"Cyberlina Sekerei—"

Cyberlina gave her wand a slight wave, and Riddle's mouth was forcibly clamped shut, though he continued cursing viciously in his mind.

"Don't be so irritable. Be civilized... Think it over carefully, Tom. You are so clever that you will surely understand."

As she spoke, Cyberlina tapped the diary with her wand. Riddle's phantom twisted and spun in the air before finally being sucked into the diary.

"Snap!"

Cyberlina closed the diary once more.

Silence returned to the room.

"Don't worry, Severus. He had not yet found the trick when he split this soul, so this little Mr. Tom is not connected with his main soul." Cyberlina looked at Snape and blinked. "Besides, isn't it interesting to know a few little secrets about a former employer?"

Snape, who had debated whether to cast a Silencing Charm on himself but ultimately listened to the entire exchange: "..."

To be honest, it really was interesting.

But the problem was that the former employer might very well become his future employer.

She knew that, didn't she?

Snape had also glanced at Dumbledore many times during the exchange, finding that Dumbledore was completely letting him do as he pleased. Amid his confusion, he made a guess—had Dumbledore formed a different plan from before?

"Severus, take Harry back to his dormitory."

"What?" Snape stared wide-eyed at Dumbledore and pointed at Harry, who was lying on the small sofa. "Me? Take him? A Gryffindor—to the Gryffindor dormitory? Dumbledore, has your brain finally been clogged with sweets?"

Dumbledore paused, and Cyberlina burst out laughing.

Cyberlina stepped forward and slipped the diary in her hand into the pocket of Harry's school robes.

"Severus, take Harry outside, then have Minerva come get him. She should still be worried. Personally escorting Harry back to his dormitory will let her rest easy."

Snape curled his lips and looked disdainfully at the soundly sleeping Harry. Then he raised his wand and used the Levitation Charm to float Harry out of the Room of Requirement.

When they reached the door, Snape took another look at the metallic ring-shaped object he had noticed there before, then paused—the marks of scorching on it seemed to be more numerous than before.