The Lure from the Depths of the Soul Is Impossible to Resist / Voldemort Is Certain of His Ideals

With a little thought, Harry quickly realized this.

Hermione was once a loyal fan of Lockhart and knew his deeds like the back of her hand, so she naturally knew that Lockhart had a special shampoo that had never been released to the market.

When it comes to hair care products, this academically gifted girl always pays close attention.

"Well..."

Well, judging from his stammering manner, the matter is already irrefutable.

"Hermione, you've been a bit too anxious lately," Harry said softly, shaking his head slightly, his tone tinged with concern.

"I... no..." Hermione instinctively wanted to deny it, but when she saw the seriousness in Harry's eyes, she suddenly couldn't say anything.

"You act like a lady in front of me, wear light makeup, and even secretly use shampoo with dangerous ingredients in an attempt to improve your hair quality. Can you still say you're not insecure and anxious?"

Harry gripped Hermione's hand tightly, as if trying to convey his feelings. "I don't know where you heard all this nonsense about dating, but what I want to say is that our relationship developed from a foundation of family. I don't need you to change yourself for me. Just be yourself in front of me."

"I... I'm like this because of you!" Hermione, who had just been a little nervous, suddenly turned into a shrew, shoving Harry on the forehead. "If it weren't for you, my brat, always busy doing nothing, why would I need to style my own hair?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's all my fault~" Harry quickly put on a smile when he saw this. "Where did you put Lockhart's shampoo? Let me look into it and then I can use it to wash your hair, okay?"

"Hmph, that's more like it. I've left it here, come with me to find it~" With a cheerful hum, Hermione got up and hurried to a pile of clutter to begin searching for the treasure she had hidden.

Harry, seeing this, couldn't help but chuckle slightly.

That's right, this kind of harmless backstabbing and unreasonable arrogance is Hermione's true nature.

Harry doesn't object to Hermione making changes, but only if it's something she's happy and willing to do. It absolutely cannot be for silly reasons like "being a good girlfriend" that force her to compromise herself...

Come here...

"Huh?" As Harry chased after Hermione to get the shampoo, Harry thought he suddenly heard something.

'I'm right here... come find me!'

After listening carefully, Harry realized he hadn't misheard.

Inside this Room of Requirement, something is indeed calling to me!

Chapter 199 The allure of the soul is irresistible.

Although there had been many precedents before, and hearing a sound suddenly like this was definitely not a good thing, Harry still couldn't help but go and search.

He seemed to be driven by some vague idea, feeling that he absolutely had to find the source of that sound!

So when Hermione rushed back excitedly with the Occamy Egg Yolk Shampoo, she found Harry strangely deep inside the room's rubbish heap, rummaging through a pile of broken bottles, jars, tattered books, and rotten papers.

"Strange... this should be the place~"

Harry frowned and kicked away the broken broom in front of him. The sound was right next to him, but he couldn't find it no matter what he did, which made him quite annoyed.

"Harry, what's wrong with you?"

Hermione looked at Harry with some concern outside the rubbish heap, wondering what he was looking for and why he had suddenly become like this.

"Ha! Found it!"

However, upon hearing Hermione's call, Harry turned around and was immediately drawn to something.

Not far from Hermione, there was a dilapidated cabinet almost buried in all sorts of garbage. On the cabinet was a half-length stone statue, which looked worthless in both its shape and material.

The stone statue wears an ancient-style crown, which is covered in Scabbers and has even faded in many places...

But it was this very thing that captivated Harry's attention, making him unable to look away, and even causing Hermione to subconsciously ignore her!

"You're looking for this?" Hermione asked curiously, reaching her hand towards the tiara. "What is this...?"

"Don't move!!" To everyone's surprise, Harry suddenly shouted to stop her.

He darted back in a flash, blocking Hermione's view with his body, and held the crown in his hands.

At that moment, from Hermione's perspective, she even felt that Harry's profile looked somewhat greedy.

"Yes...this is it!" Harry turned the tiara over and over in his hands, muttering to himself in a way that made Hermione extremely worried, "Finally found it, thank goodness!"

It was just a worn-out iron ring, yet Harry held it tightly in his arms, completely convinced Hermione something was wrong with the Harry in front of him!

"Harry, put that thing down!"

She urgently reminded Harry, and even tried to snatch it away in a hurry, but Harry cautiously took a step back and held the crown up with both hands to put it on his own head!

"Hermione, you don't understand, I have to protect this thing..."

Speaking in a language Hermione couldn't understand, Harry finally put on the crown, and then, with a satisfied smile, he fainted right in front of Hermione!

"Harry?!" Hermione was shocked and rushed forward to support Harry, but no matter how she called out to him, Harry showed no signs of waking up.

The crown that Harry originally wore had also been quietly changed.

It is no longer a worthless piece of scrap metal; it has regained its original luster. The main body of the crown, which is made of pure silver or platinum, resembles a soaring eagle, with a lifelike eagle head carved on the top.

The rust that used to be on the crown has now turned into glittering jade beads, and in the very center of the crown is a dazzling and large cyan gemstone!

"This is... Ravenclaw's... Ravenclaw's Diadem?"

Upon seeing such a familiar design, the academically gifted girl immediately recognized what it was!

This thing is exactly the same as the headdress in the common room of Eagle House, on Rowena, and on the Ravenclaw statue, and Hermione even saw Ravenclaw's most famous motto on the bottom edge of the crown!

'Exceptional wisdom is humanity's greatest treasure.'

"But... why is the Ravenclaw's Diadem in the Room of Requirement? And why is Harry so obsessed with getting it?"

Hermione couldn't figure these questions out right now, so she could only use Shrinking Charm to take the two cats, who were already done with their business, and then, with a bit of difficulty, help Harry along, stumbling and staggering, towards the Hospital Wing.

At the same time, Harry's consciousness had also fallen into the depths of his soul, once again surrounded by boundless pure white.

There, he saw again the person he never wanted to see...

In 1943, Tom, the Heir of Slytherin, was still a tall and handsome young man. After years of research, he finally opened the Chamber of Secrets built by Salazar Slytherin.

He began to gleefully manipulate the monsters in the Chamber to wreak havoc, attempting to wipe out all the ordinary wizards in the entire school.

But with the death of just one Myrtle, the weak-willed headmaster Armando Dippet was so frightened that he wanted to close the school. Tom had no choice but to stop his attack and blame Hagrid for it.

However, this trip to the Chamber of Secrets also brought him his most important gain. With the help of Slytherin and some guidance from the Restricted Section, Tom successfully turned his diary into his first Horcrux, taking what he believed to be the first step toward immortality.

Myrtle's sacrifice was clearly used as a offering to create Horcrux.

As time passed and summer vacation quietly arrived, Tom followed some clues and came to a village called Little Hangleton, where he found his uncle, Morfin Gaunt.

The Gaunt family are the only remaining direct descendants of Salazar Slytherin in Britain. Tom thought that this reunion would allow him to regain his ancient and noble status, but he never expected that Morfin Gaunt had no affection for him whatsoever.

So, after learning that his biological father was just an ordinary person and that he had given birth to the child with the help of Amortentia, Tom was furious.

He found his biological father's house, killed his father, grandfather, and grandmother with his own hands, then altered his uncle Morfin Gaunt's memories, making him take his place and be imprisoned in Azkaban...

After this mad and bloody family reunion, Tom, carrying the family ring preserved by Morfin, returned to Hogwarts like a triumphant victor...

Having witnessed the entire event, Harry felt a tightness in his chest, both from Morfin Gaunt's obsession and Voldemort's ruthlessness.

Harry knew that this memory was Voldemort's past, because he was familiar with many of the scenes before, but not as clearly as he was now.

What alarmed Harry even more was that this memory was actively enticing him to delve deeper into understanding Voldemort!

In Harry's ear, it seemed as if a voice was constantly tempting him, telling him that... Voldemort's actions were justifiable, and that he should open his heart and accept and acknowledge Voldemort's deeds.

Harry knew perfectly well that this was the influence of Salazar Slytherin, the old madman's final scheme in the Chamber, which was to have Voldemort take everything from him!

However, Harry is now powerless to stop this voice that keeps echoing deep within his soul.

But at that moment, the scene before him began to change once again...

Chapter 200 Voldemort was very certain of his ideals.

When the scene shifts again, Harry sees the Hogwarts campus once more.

Tom Riddle donned the Gaunt family's heirloom black gemstone gold ring, and a group of followers, also teenagers, had gathered around him.

He has gathered a small circle of supporters and has begun using the name 'Voldemort' on a small scale.

'A noble wizard cannot associate with a lowly Muggle, so he abandoned his name; and you'd better not continue to be so stubborn, you should quickly follow his example and give up your filthy surname!'

"Shut up!!"

The seductive voice persisted relentlessly. Harry cursed inwardly, but his eyes involuntarily turned to Voldemort, who seemed shrouded in mystery.

One night after lights out, Voldemort approached his Potions Class teacher and, through well-placed compliments and masterful rhetoric, extracted crucial information about Horcrux from him.

The Potions Professor was somewhat overwhelmed by Voldemort's flattery and eventually told him everything he knew... except for the most crucial spell, which could be used to decompose and seal souls.

'Look how skillful his conversation was. He already knew the spell and had even created a Horcrux by then, so what he really wanted to know from that foolish professor was the possibility of continuing to create Horcrux.'

Despite his disgust, Harry had to admit that the young Voldemort did possess many qualities that ordinary people lacked.

At least on certain things, Voldemort possessed an extraordinary level of determination... such as immortality.

The pursuit of perfect and eternal existence was Voldemort's lifelong goal, which is why he tried so hard to obtain the incantation for creating Horcrux from Salazar's Spirit when he met him in the Chamber.

Using the crime of murdering Myrtle to create his first Horcrux, Voldemort immediately began a new killing spree.

Harry suspects that Voldemort had already decided to create more Horcrux when he killed Little Hangleton.!

Subconsciously comparing himself to Voldemort, Harry couldn't help but feel that Dumbledore had really overpraised him before.

If compared at the same age, Harry now is no match for the young Voldemort.

Because Voldemort had one more thing than Harry: he had a lifelong ideal to strive for!

Ideals generate beliefs, and regardless of whether they are righteous or evil, they can bring people powerful motivation to act.

Unfortunately, Harry currently has no ideals.

Whether in the present or in the original books, defeating Voldemort is just a task that Harry must complete. Outside of this task, Harry is interested in many things, but there is nothing that can attract him to devote his full effort.

The only thing he's absolutely certain of right now is what he doesn't want to do.

Harry, who doesn't want to be bound or manipulated, and doesn't want to be anyone's pawn, has always been incredibly assertive in expressing his refusal.

But when it comes to ideals, the first thing Harry thinks of isn't a specific thing, but rather a certain person...

'You could make redeeming him your ideal first,' Harry thought. But just as he was starting to figure things out, that annoying voice came back to him again, 'To think he could split his soul into seven parts? Don't you think that guy is stupid? So... go redeem him, and bring his soul back together!'

"Get lost!!" Harry mentally gave the incessantly seductive voice in his ear the middle finger without hesitation.

What a joke! How could I possibly redeem Voldemort's soul?!

Harry blocked out that annoying voice again, and when he turned around, he found that Voldemort had already graduated.

Before leaving Hogwarts, Voldemort used words to bewitch Lady Grey, the ghost of Ravenclaw, and learned from her the whereabouts of the lost Ravenclaw's Diadem.

Lady Grey's true identity is Helena Ravenclaw, Rowena Ravenclaw's biological daughter. She stole her mother's Ravenclaw's Diadem and ran away.

After his application to stay at the school to teach the Black Defense course was rejected, Voldemort immediately set off for the location indicated by Lady Grey —a primeval forest in Albania.

There, Voldemort found Ravenclaw's lost Ravenclaw's Diadem and, after murdering a local, turned it into his third Horcrux.

After that, Voldemort's memories began to accelerate, and the scenery before Harry's eyes began to fly by.

Voldemort went to work at Borgin Burke in Knockturn Alley, where he once again acquired two artifacts that could be used to create Horcrux through sweet talk and cruel murder.

In the years that followed, he traveled throughout the Wizarding World, associating with some of the most wicked and bizarre wizards; his Dark Magic powers continued to grow, and his face became increasingly distorted and ugly.

Finally, ten years after being rejected by Armando Dippet, Voldemort returned to Hogwarts, wanting to apply once again for the position of professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

But by this time, the headmaster of Hogwarts had become Dumbledore, who had always been extremely wary of him...

The scene before him suddenly changed, and when Harry came to his senses, he found himself sitting in the Headmaster's Office decades in the past!

Pale blue snowflakes drifted across the sky outside the window. Dumbledore, sitting across from the desk, looked a bit younger than he does now. He held a wine glass in his hand and wore a pleasant, expectant smile.

Upon closer inspection, Harry sensed a subtle wariness in Dumbledore's gaze.

He quickly looked down and found that he was wearing a black robe, and his hands, which were exposed from the cuffs, looked gaunt and pale, not at all like a 13-year-old child.

"I'm back," Harry suddenly blurted out, "Maybe a little later than Professor Dippet expected, but I'm back anyway to reapply for the position he said I was too young to hold."

The sudden turn of events startled Harry. He hadn't meant to speak at all, but his mouth seemed to be making sounds uncontrollably!