A Strange Giant Serpent, Left Behind Alone / Blood-Cursed Orcs, a Curious Connection?

Harry, expressionless, cast a spell behind him, instantly shattering the body of one of the dark wizards into pieces.

"Harry, what are you doing? Stop right now!" Sirius, who had been punching and kicking the tree, rushed over and grabbed Harry's wrist.

"If one isn't enough, then continue." Harry broke free from his godfather's grasp, and then another spell took a life.

"Granger?" Snape stared in disbelief.

He stared at Harry for a long time before slowly reaching out his hand, trying to stop Harry from continuing to kill.

"Never mind..."

In that instant, Snape's already not-so-straight body became even more hunched, and he seemed to have aged considerably all at once.

"Severus Snape, I think I can understand your feelings, and the Godfather's too... We share the same regret for not being able to avenge those important people." Harry sighed softly. "But there are some things I don't want you to bear. I don't want your once whole souls to be damaged because of a few insignificant bastards!"

Intentionally murdering someone will wound and tear your soul apart.

Every time someone is murdered, a fragment of the soul is added; and if these fragments are extracted from the body and placed in other things, they are made into Horcrux.

Therefore, Voldemort had to kill people when creating Horcrux, and it had to be murder!

The situation is the same now. During the previous battle, these dark wizards were all controlled. Even if they were killed, it would only be considered a simple killing.

But after the battle, they all collapsed to the ground, and to continue the killing under these circumstances would be outright murder.

Harry didn't know if Snape had ever killed anyone before, but even if he had, he had turned over a new leaf so long ago, and in the long process of repentance, the cracks in his soul should have gradually been mended.

Therefore, Harry really didn't want Snape to fail because of these insignificant lackeys...

"Sigh... kid, I've noticed you're quite something. Since you knew all this, why did you do it yourself while trying to stop him?" Moody sighed helplessly. "Actually, at your age, you're the last person who should be involved in killing."

"But I have double standards, and I've been involved in killing for a long time... I've even attempted murder several times."

Harry looked at Moody calmly until the other man's eyes gradually turned to astonishment, but he remained expressionless.

"I truly don't want the people around me to get involved in these things, but I myself don't care if my soul is cracked or not, and I have absolutely no desire to repent for it, because... they deserve to die!!"

Chapter 544 The Strange Giant Serpent, Left Alone

Harry only learned later that premeditated murder can shatter the soul.

He actually understood why Dumbledore was so determined to stop him from killing Lucius Malfoy.

Besides not wanting Harry's hands to be stained with blood, they also didn't want him to ruin his soul.

But Harry did it anyway, and even after he found out, he never regretted it.

Killing Lucius Malfoy, who deserved to die anyway, would ensure the safety of those around him, turn the situation around, and even cure Lupin's Feral Wolf Syndrome... Harry just wanted to ask, what did he have to repent for?

Honestly, for a long time Harry couldn't understand why murder could cause the soul to split open, regardless of the victim.

Why is it that murdering an innocent person and murdering a heinous scoundrel both require repentance?!

Later, it was Rowena who helped him clear up his doubts.

'Wise people never see only the surface. Verbal curses bring misfortune because they are tainted with malevolent magic; murder causes the soul to break apart not because of the right or wrong of the act itself, but because you crossed the line.'

Harry, who had seen Death several times, wholeheartedly agreed with this explanation.

Let's take the laws of our past lives as an example. Why was the act of "evil shall be punished by death" often judged as illegal?

Ultimately, it's because you did something you shouldn't have done.

In a society where the law is the authority, the only authority to decide the life and death of others is the law, not any individual.

In a fantasy world, besides the law, perhaps Death himself has the power to decide the life and death of others.

Therefore, there is nothing wrong with murdering a villain, but the act of murder is tantamount to deciding someone else's life on behalf of Death, which is why Death will strike the soul as punishment.

Therefore, it seems that true repentance is less about repenting for killing someone and more about repenting for offending an authority figure.

In short, Sirius and the Severus Snape should stay out of things like this, which are designed to wreck a god's territory.

Harry can handle it; it's not like it's the first time he's smashed something.

"I think we need to get back immediately." After quickly cleaning up the scene, Moody suggested urgently, "The You-Know-Who escaped! We must let the Ministry of Magic and Albus this right away!"

"That's your own business, but... telling the headmaster is fine, but it probably won't make much difference to the Ministry of Magic." Harry shook his head noncommittally. "With the Quidditch World Cup final just around the corner, the Ministry of Magic's biggest concern is maintaining stability. Voldemort's return is indeed a very serious matter, but your three testimonies alone are insufficient; we need concrete evidence."

"Bertha Jorkins, isn't she a definite witness?" Moody frowned and retorted, "Bringing her back will prove that the You-Know-Who has indeed returned!"

"You can try it when you get back. I hope you succeed."

Harry had already noticed the extent to which the witch was under the influence of the Imperius Curse when he fought with her, so he didn't think she would have any useful information left in her mind.

Especially that stranger from before—given his meticulousness, the fact that he dared to leave Jorkins here without killing him shows that he wasn't worried at all that the witch would leak the information!

"Also... Mr. Moody, I think it would be appropriate to capture these dark wizards as well? They should all have bounties on their heads, right?"

Looking down at the corpses of the dark wizard prisoners, Harry's eyes had completely turned the color of Galleon.

Please, a Peter Pettigrew is worth ten thousand! Even if these people are only worth one-tenth of Peter Pettigrew, together they could still make more than one, right?

I also have to complain about the cloaked man in the tavern earlier... Pshaw, if he's carrying a bounty, selling information is nowhere near as lucrative as selling himself!

"Many of them aren't Britain wizards, but if they communicate with the Ministry of Magic of the country that issued the arrest warrant, they should be able to receive the bounty," Moody said after thinking for a moment.

"That's great! We can divide it by headcount. There are four of us here, plus Zouwu, so each of us gets 20%... Hmm?"

Just as Harry was figuring out how to trick Moody about the bounty, he suddenly noticed that the giant snake he had just severely injured was now crawling up to his feet, relying on its tenacious vitality!

"This guy is still alive?" Sirius immediately raised his wand upon seeing this.

"Wait a minute," Harry raised his hand to stop them, "It was released by the Zouwu."

While the group was talking, Zouwu had been keeping watch for Harry, so there was no reason why it wouldn't have seen such a large thing.

So there must have been a reason why it let the snake pass by Harry.

"Hiss~ Hiss~"

A strange thing happened: the large snake seemed completely unconcerned about Harry's recent serious injury. Instead, it kept gently rubbing its head against Harry's calf, and even its snake eyes showed a look of grievance and longing...

"What's going on? Zouwu, do you know?"

Harry looked at his big, fluffy child with a puzzled expression, but the latter gave him a helpless, human-like look.

Upon seeing this, Harry suddenly understood.

Zouwu knew this, but he couldn't say it.

So... is it really such a coincidence?

"Let's treat it first."

Sensing the unusual nature of the giant snake, Harry took out the Dittany Ointment he always carried and began to use medical magic to heal the snake.

At the same time, he looked apologetically at Moody and the other two, explaining his next plan, "Godfather, Severus Snape, you should go back with Mr. Moody for now."

"Huh? Harry, aren't you coming with us?" Sirius asked in surprise.

"I'm going to stay here and explore a few things, but I'm not sure how long it will take, so you don't need to come with me," Harry explained, nodding. "However, I'll definitely be back before the Quidditch World Cup ends."

The image of Rowena in his mind kept urging him to stay, but after thinking about it, Harry decided that exploring the area might be a good idea.

Perhaps, just as Rowena predicted, he really will find some additional gains.

Besides, I shouldn't need to worry too much about things back home.

Although Voldemort has been rescued, he is certainly severely weakened and will not make any moves in the near future.

Once the Quidditch World Cup ends and my parents successfully travel to China, I won't care whether Voldemort is a scoundrel or an open jerk. I'll have no worries about the future and can fight him to the death!

"Well... okay, I'll tell Hermione for you later." Sirius shrugged helplessly. "Take care of yourself here."

Harry's ideas are always sound, and since he has already made his decision, Sirius can't say much more.

Besides, even Voldemort was driven away by him, so there shouldn't be any other dangers in Albania.

Just look at the big cat next to him, and you'll know. Harry is lucky if he doesn't become the natural enemy of the creatures in the Dark Forest; how could anyone else be allowed to threaten him?

"Come back soon," Snape simply said expressionlessly.

"Yes, I will." Harry nodded gently. He knew that Severus Snape would not be able to let it go for a while.

Perhaps, only after I completely defeat Voldemort will all of this truly come to an end...

Chapter 545 Maledictus, a Possible Connection?

"Nagini... it's definitely not an ordinary snake."

Although the giant snake had tried to be friendly, just to be on the safe side, Harry used Legilimency on it after healing it to check its memories.

However, this investigation led Harry to discover some very strange things.

The name Nagini wasn't given by Voldemort; it was the snake's original name!

This is absolutely absurd, because normally, only a very few exceptionally intelligent animals—such as dolphins and killer whales—are born with a clear understanding and distinction of the term 'name'.

Even Fantastic Beasts, whose intelligence is slightly more advanced than that of ordinary animals, initially only had the awareness of 'what I am,' but not the awareness of 'who I am.'

For example, only after Harry explicitly names the female Dragon 'Norberta' will it truly realize that 'Norwegian Ridgeback' and 'Norberta' are both names used to refer to it.

Before being named, animals would likely be referred to as "that person" or "that so-and-so," and would never have a name like Nagini with a complete meaning!

Thinking of this, Harry couldn't help but picture a scene: Voldemort's remnant soul escaped to Albania, where it encountered the giant snake. When it tried to use Parseltongue to bewitch the snake, the snake instead spoke in perfect, clear voice...

"My name is Nagini."

Weird.

In addition, while examining the snake's memories, Harry discovered something else strange... Nagini had actually met the Obscurus!

Deep within Nagini's memory, there seemed to be a shifting black mist, its constant turmoil giving off a sense of extreme rage.

Moreover, within the black mist, Harry could vaguely make out the outline of a human figure, though he couldn't make out its features at all.

"Could it be... that Obscurial besides myself have recently appeared in the Dark Forest?!"

After some thought, Harry came to a conclusion that would make his pupils dilate.

"Ugh..." Zouwu shook his big head helplessly at Harry's completely off-topic guess.

Your thinking is so wildly divergent and nonsensical!

Of course, it's not really Harry's fault for overthinking. After all, among reptiles, only crocodiles have a relatively reliable brain; the intelligence and memory of the other creatures—especially snakes—can only be described as low.

Nagini can only retain memories from the past month at most; anything beyond that is a blank. Therefore, Harry would naturally assume that it saw an Obscurial recently.

But in reality, it was a scene locked away in the deepest recesses of my memory.

"Oh... I guessed wrong?" Harry fell silent upon seeing Zouwu's disdainful expression.

So I was just scaring myself?

So what exactly was the Obscurial it saw?

'It must have been a human before.'

"What did you say?!"

In order to figure out what was wrong with Nagini, Harry finally decided to ask Rowena for help, but what Rowena wrote almost made him throw his notebook away.

Rowena actually said... this giant snake, it... no, she used to be a human?!

Please, isn't this even more absurd than the conclusion that 'the Obscurial appeared in the Albanian Forest a month ago'?

'If I'm not mistaken, she should be a Maledictus. She carries a Blood Malediction, most likely inherited from her mother.'

This Blood Malediction allows her to switch between human and animal forms, but over time, the Maledictus will eventually transform completely into an animal and lose all memories of her human form.

"How could such a thing happen..."

Harry, leaning against the tree, frowned as he looked at Nagini in front of him. The giant snake, over three meters long, was casually coiled on the ground, but it had its head resting on Harry's lap, and he was even holding his neck with one hand...

That was exactly where Harry had previously slashed with his wings.