One Move to Settle It

After Voldemort revealed his true face, all the professors drew their wands, watching the man who had stirred up the British Wizard World with wary vigilance, ready to strike.

Of course, they could see that he was extremely weak now, but no one dared underestimate him. He was too dangerous, too terrifying. His dark magic was even more destructive than what was described in textbooks, and his Unforgivable Curses seemed to have been created solely for killing.

Professor McGonagall and the other three hurried down from the professors' table and ran to their respective Houses to protect the students. The students were all filled with fear and unease. Aside from those born to Muggles, the others had grown up listening to terrifying stories about Voldemort. They had known from childhood just how utterly insane he was!

Naturally, although many on the Slytherin side were also panicking, they performed far better than students from the other Houses. The main reason was probably that they were pure-bloods to begin with, and Voldemort's targets had only ever been non-pure-bloods, those who stood in his way, and wizards from the Muggle world.

"Very impressive magic. Truly impressive." Voldemort took a deep breath, then praised Josh. "Although I don't know how you did it, perhaps it was some sort of magical artifact? Amazing. Truly amazing."

Then he turned to Dumbledore. "It has been a long time, Professor Dumbledore. I never expected our next meeting to be like this. I truly apologize."

He turned to look at the students below the head table, his gaze especially fixed on Harry Potter, and sighed. "We meet again, Harry Potter."

"Voldemort!"

Harry Potter looked at him with terror, but he was also furious. He knew that this man had killed his parents! Though he had been so young at the time that he barely remembered anything, fear and rage erupted within him almost simultaneously, and images from that night inexplicably surfaced in his mind.

"Yes, look what you have turned me into! Look at how I have struggled to survive! Living inside another person's body, as a parasite! Without a body of my own, without enough strength! This is all because of you and your parents!"

"Are you done?"

Josh had naturally noticed Harry Potter's abnormal reaction. He guessed Voldemort's appearance had somehow stirred the other soul within Harry's scar, causing that strange fluctuation. But he did not care. The fluctuation had only appeared briefly before vanishing, so it seemed that it had not fully awakened yet.

And even if it had awakened, so what? The only difficult part would be destroying that soul while preserving Harry Potter, but Josh thought Dumbledore should be able to manage that, right?

"Of course, child." Professor Quirrell turned around, allowing Voldemort's face to face Josh.

"Some necessary venting is still required, isn't it? Actually, I am very curious about who you are, child. Forgive my presumption and ignorance, but I do not seem to recall a family called Augustus. Or rather, I have never heard that family name in the United Kingdom."

"If you haven't heard of it, does that mean it doesn't exist? What an interesting logic you have."

Josh rolled his eyes. He was sick of people constantly asking about his family. Even if they did manage to uncover something, they would probably have nightmares—he was only from the new generation of the family. The previous generations, and even more ancient ones, were still alive. Any somewhat capable guard could deal with the entire world.

"So please forgive me." Voldemort remained impeccably polite. "To be honest, child, you have considerable potential. Becoming a Hogwarts Head of House at such a young age—even I was not as outstanding as you at your age. Would you like to join me? Together, we can cleanse this world and create a pure Wizard World."

"Are you an idiot?"

Josh sighed and shook his head. He truly could not understand how this man's brain worked. Cleanse the world and create a pure Wizard World? It was about as ridiculous as watching a certain president from the Lighthouse Country make a fool of himself in Josh's previous life, and the methods were much the same—everyone coming from our neighboring country is a criminal, so we must cleanse them away.

"Don't you know that as long as someone possesses a Magic Seed and it erupts, they are a qualified mage! Nothing in this world is pure, because the purer something is, the faster it will likely perish. Only by constantly absorbing and purifying, while discarding what is harmful to oneself, can one endure in this world."

As he spoke, Josh drew his wand. This time, it was cooperative enough not to wail.

"Mages are the same. There are no pure-blood mages in this world. Their ancestors may well have been ordinary people whose Magic Seeds erupted because they were lucky enough or for some other reason, allowing them to become mages. In my opinion, mages and ordinary people are no different."

Josh pointed his wand directly at Voldemort, his expression still calm.

"Of course, there is one difference. The power they wield is different. The greater the power, the greater the responsibility one must bear. Although few people act that way, those who do become heroes. And you, in my eyes, are nothing but someone fighting against the entire mage population for your own unrealistic ideas and interests!"

Threads of silver light emerged from the tip of Josh's wand, quickly forming an arrow-shaped mass of magical energy!

"Perhaps we will meet again someday, but it will probably be much the same as this time. By the way, I find the word 'wizard' awkward to say. I prefer calling them mages or magicians!"

The moment Josh drew his wand, Voldemort had gone fully on guard. Though he was extremely weak now, he had once been a wizard on Dumbledore's level. Controlling a Magic Apprentice to cast some defensive spells was no issue at all. But what terrified him was the horrifying magical power Josh unleashed!

That feeling of destruction, of devouring everything, made Voldemort feel that even if he recovered his strength, he still would not be Josh's match!

"How is this possible?!"

Voldemort could not believe it. He controlled Professor Quirrell and set up one defensive spell after another. But as Josh lightly waved his wand and the silver arrow shot toward him, he realized his instincts had been completely right. The defensive spells he had erected were like paper, pierced with ease, and he could only watch as the magic struck him!

"No!"

Wails rang out. This time, they did not come from Josh's wand, but from Voldemort and the Professor Quirrell he possessed! Silver light spread outward, and everyone clearly saw Voldemort—or rather, Professor Quirrell's—body slowly turn to dust and scatter through the air.

Most terrifyingly, they could still scream! Several more timid students, such as the chubby Neville Longbottom, rolled their eyes back and fainted on the spot. The Slytherin students, meanwhile, were eerily silent—or rather, they had been frightened speechless.

Malfoy's mouth hung wide open. He had never imagined that the all-powerful, mighty, and great Voldemort his father spoke of would be destroyed by a single spell from a wizard barely older than himself—and in such a brutal manner!

About ten seconds later, the wails of Professor Quirrell and Voldemort finally stopped. Or perhaps they had been annihilated within the Void. Even the dust on the ground vanished without a trace. Josh was very satisfied with his work. This was an attempt to reshape the Void Orb, though he had mainly relied on Baleful Phantasm for the transformation.

The results were astonishingly good. It had the effects expected after the transformation—fast and concentrated like an arrow. It also had the effects of the Void Orb—silencing everything and crushing all things with Void energy. Very good, and the consumption was not excessive either. It was highly suitable as one of Josh's regular spells.

Josh was in high spirits and felt nothing after killing someone. Back on the Muya Continent, bandits had blocked his path while he was traveling to Constantinople. Though his guards had dealt with them, it was not as though he had never acted himself, so he had experienced such things long ago.

Besides, he had used an extremely merciful method to kill Professor Quirrell—not a drop of blood had been spilled throughout the entire process. At least, that was what he thought. He had overlooked how much more horrifying it was in this magical world to turn someone into dust with a spell while they could still scream.

"Ah!"

Another cry immediately made all the students and several professors shudder. The previous scene was still vivid in their minds. When they turned around, however, they found that it was Josh, who had just displayed such terrifying power and killed Professor Quirrell and Voldemort. He was tugging at his wand with an embarrassed expression.

Josh was indeed embarrassed. He had not expected the wand, which had been so obedient moments ago, to start acting up again. Sure enough, anything unsuitable would develop all kinds of problems. Josh had already decided that once he could cast this world's magic without relying on a wand, he would immediately use this embarrassing thing as firewood!

"What are you all staring at?" Josh quickly composed himself and looked at the students with a stern face. "It is time to enjoy your new term's feast. There was a small disturbance, but it has been resolved, hasn't it?"

That was true, but did he have to make such a huge spectacle of it? The students clearly did not feel relieved. That was Voldemort! The being who had thrown the entire British Wizard World into chaos! Even if he was weak now, he had still possessed a professor, yet Josh had casually killed him with a single spell in such a brutal fashion?

"Looks like you have no appetite for now."

Josh put away his wand and slowly returned to his seat. As he passed Dumbledore, he happened to see Dumbledore looking at him with a pained expression, as if Josh's actions had been overly cruel. Josh found that baffling. There had not even been a drop of blood.

"Since that is the case, I will teach you the second key point of Combat class. Burn it into your minds!"

Too lazy to care what Dumbledore was thinking, Josh looked over the Young Wizards below the stage. Every one of them was staring at him, so Josh could only shift their attention.

"When fighting an enemy, try not to waste time talking. Especially when you have an opportunity—attack immediately. Do not give your enemy a chance to catch their breath. If you have something pointless to say, like I did just now, then talk while attacking. That is fine too."

"Anyway, the most important thing is to bring down the enemy by any means necessary. This is not a duel. This is real combat!"