"What is that? It's terrifying..." Seeing the face on the back of Quirrell's head, Hermione shuddered involuntarily.
It was a hideously grotesque face, pallid in color, with two blood-red pits where its eyes should have been and nostrils as long and narrow as a snake's.
"Voldemort..."
Harry's expression darkened. He knew that Voldemort had completely taken control of Quirrell's body!
And he had just lost the chance to ambush Voldemort—a chance Professor Quirinus Quirrell had paid for with his life!
"Quirrell fancied himself clever, but in my eyes, he was nothing but a complete and utter fool!" Voldemort drawled, his voice dripping with mockery.
"Even under my influence, he clung to that laughable notion that Ravenclaw House was something to be proud of. When he learned that Harry Potter had been sorted into Ravenclaw, he actually had the nerve to believe in that boy! He even went to great lengths to leave clues about the traps, thinking he could save you some effort and help you find an opening to defeat me!"
So that was it...
As he worked his way through the challenges, Harry had more or less guessed as much. Now Voldemort's words had confirmed it completely.
Professor Quirrell, who had been in Ravenclaw, had placed his hopes in Harry, who had also been sorted into the house. That was why he had left those clues, hoping Harry would be prepared.
Though Harry thought that, more than believing in him, Quirrell had believed in Ravenclaw—and in the intelligence of a Ravenclaw!
Unfortunately, Voldemort had been monitoring his every move...
"So how could ignorant mortals ever escape the Dark Lord's control?" Voldemort's hoarse voice brimmed with smugness. "How could he possibly know that not a single thought of his could escape my notice? He never imagined that the clues he thought he had cleverly left behind would help me carry out my plan, too! Because I was even more eager than he was for you to come here—and die!!"
"Are you done...?"
"Hm?" A flicker of puzzlement crossed Voldemort's red eyes. He sensed that something about Harry had changed.
Clear Mirror Still Water!
Harry clutched his Space Ring tightly, silently repeating the spell Scamander had taught him!
After learning Professor Quirrell's true intentions, he had found it harder and harder to resist the urge to fight Voldemort to the death. But he kept reminding himself... he had to stay calm!
Only by staying calm could he find a chance to defeat his opponent!
"Voldemort... for a villain, you sure talk too much!!"
Harry struck without warning, whipping up his hand. A black brick shot through the air!
"Harry Potter, do you think a wizard's duel is child's play? Avada Kedavra!!"
Voldemort didn't even try to dodge. He swung Quirrell's wand and sent a sickly green Killing Curse streaking toward Harry!
His goal today was to kill Harry, so he went straight for the killing blow!
But as the Killing Curse hurtled toward him, Harry suddenly unfurled his Invisibility Cloak, hiding both himself and Hermione beneath it.
The spell exploded, scattering sickly green sparks. But beneath the cloak lay only a piece of rotten wood, blown apart by the blast. Harry and Hermione had vanished!
"Stupefy!"
"Useless!"
At the same time, Hermione's spell shot from her wand. As Voldemort sneered, it hit the brick Harry had thrown with perfect accuracy!
Boom!!
A small but incredibly powerful explosion erupted beside Voldemort. Flames spread instantly, wrapping around his body, while flying brick fragments shredded his trouser legs and shoes!
"What on earth...?"
"That's an Erumpent Horn. I prepared it especially for you!"
Harry's voice suddenly came from beside Voldemort. He had used the explosion to get close, and now both hands were clamped around Voldemort's exposed lower leg!!
The Erumpent Horn was one of the potion ingredients Snape had given Harry. Harry had strapped it to the brick he had thrown.
The black horn was filled with a substance called Explosive Fluid. Inject it into an opponent or attack it with a spell, and it would detonate violently!
Harry knew Voldemort wanted him dead. From the start, he had hidden a wooden stake in his Space Ring to block the Killing Curse, and prepared the Erumpent Horn as a weapon capable of inflicting explosive damage!
"Do you really think... the power left behind by your Mudblood mother can still protect you?!"
Voldemort kicked Harry away in disgust.
"See? The truth is, I should have killed you. What happened back then was nothing but a fluke!" Voldemort gloated. "The power your Mudblood mother left behind can do no more than make this body feel a slight sting. It can't..."
Boom!!
Another violent explosion erupted. This time, the blast sent Voldemort's body flying high into the air!!
Chapter 92: Unicorn Blessing Is Worthy of Trust
"It worked..."
Harry watched Voldemort, one leg blown off, lying on the ground in a furious heap. He panted heavily, not daring to let his guard down for even a moment.
"Damn you... Harry Potter, damn you!" Voldemort roared, clutching his leg in fury.
"I have you to thank. You made me realize that the power is still there, however weak it may be... But I never intended to rely on it!" Harry glared at Voldemort. "Because... my mother's power may have given me a second chance at life, but it will never be a crutch that lets me take everything for granted!!"
Harry had never entertained a shred of wishful thinking about his battle with Voldemort. When he had grabbed Voldemort's lower leg, he had also slipped three syringes filled with Explosive Fluid between his fingers and injected all of them into Voldemort in that instant!
He had held nothing back in this fight. He was staking everything he had learned in his past life and everything he knew now to make sure one of them died!
"Hermione! Use your spells!!"
"Stupefy!!"
Their urgent shouts rang through the room. Harry's Obscurus became a furious, howling gale that surged toward Voldemort, while Hermione, not far away, swung her wand and unleashed one spell after another, her best spells!
"You two little bastards have really angered me!!"
Voldemort brandished his wand like a specter. Terrifying curses poured in every direction as if they cost nothing, instantly erasing Harry's Obscurus and Hermione's spells!
Then he raised his hand and sent a gust of wind crashing into Hermione, knocking the wand from her hand!
"Ah!"
"Hermione... damn it!"
Hearing Hermione's scream, Harry tried desperately to turn around. But several ropes conjured by Voldemort suddenly wrapped tightly around him, leaving him unable to move!
"Damn you, Harry Potter. I've changed my mind!" Voldemort pointed his wand viciously at Hermione. "Eleven years ago, your mother died before your very eyes, but you don't even remember it! So watch closely now as this Mudblood witch is tortured to death, bit by bit, right in front of you!"
"Harry, I... I can't..."
Hermione was so frightened by Voldemort's lurching, corpse-like gait that she fell to the ground. She desperately wanted to scream, but feared she would distract Harry, so she could only cover her mouth with both hands and tremble uncontrollably.
"This is what happens when you defy the Dark Lord! Cruciatus Curse..."
"You wish!!"
Whoom!!
At the critical moment, Harry released his grip on the ring and let his mind run wild, unleashing the Obscurus he had been suppressing to its fullest!
The ropes Voldemort had conjured could no longer hold Harry. He had already lost his physical form, merged completely with the Obscurus, and become a raging gale!
The black wind swept between Hermione and Voldemort in an instant. Harry's body re-formed just in time to take the spell Voldemort had cast, shielding Hermione completely!
"Ugh!" Harry grunted, beads of sweat instantly appearing on his forehead.
The Cruciatus Curse was one of the Three Unforgivable Curses, explicitly forbidden in the Wizarding World. Anyone struck by it would experience excruciating pain throughout their body, and could even be driven mad by the agony.
Seeing Harry take the spell for her, Voldemort burst into mocking laughter!
"Hahahaha! Harry Potter, I didn't expect you to be just as foolish as your mother... Ugh!!"
Before he could finish, Harry grabbed him by the throat, seemingly unaffected by the Cruciatus Curse!
Seizing the opportunity, Harry's free left hand darted out. He snatched Voldemort's wand and clenched his fist around it, forming a point like a spike in his palm!
"Voldemort... savor this. This is the fury of the Unicorns you slaughtered without cause!"
Harry tightened his arm and drove his left fist, still gripping Quirrell's wand, hard into Voldemort's chest!
"Holy Beast Spiral!!"
In an instant, Harry's fist seemed to transform into the sharp spiral horn of a Unicorn. It drove Quirrell's wand deep into Voldemort's chest, and then... exploded!
Voldemort didn't even have time to utter a final threat. A gaping hole had been blasted through his chest, and his broken body flew straight back before crashing into a corner of the room like a discarded sack.
"Roar!!"
A ghastly shriek burst from the lifeless body. A terrifying, skeletal shadow spiraled into the air, then howled as it passed straight through Harry and Hermione.
"Ah!" Struck by the violent shock to her mind, Hermione screamed and fainted on the spot.
Harry, however, glared fixedly at Voldemort's incorporeal form, not the slightest bit afraid!
Only after Voldemort's soul tore through the flames at the doorway and fled did Harry's strength finally give out. He staggered and dropped to the floor, panting heavily.
"Finally dealt with him..."
In that final battle, apart from Norbert, who was recovering in Hermione's pocket, Harry had used nearly every card he had!
It was no wonder Voldemort in the original story had been so fixated on the Sorcerer's Stone. Otherwise, how could he have let a naive child get so close, only to be grabbed to death?
Voldemort, who had been intent on killing Harry from the start, was an extraordinarily dangerous enemy.
If Voldemort hadn't thought he had already won and tried to torture Hermione in front of Harry, Harry might not have found a chance to kill him in one blow.
The Cruciatus Curse was indeed an exceptionally powerful curse. What Voldemort hadn't expected, however, was that Harry had received the Unicorn Blessing!
The Unicorn Blessing was a ritual that had been lost for hundreds of years. Its effects naturally couldn't be as simple as brewing a potion with a horn and tail hair, as wizarding apprentices did.
Unicorns were pure and benevolent Magical Creatures. Only when one trusted someone with all its heart would it choose to bless that person, implanting most of its magic deep within the bones of the one it had accepted, without any outward sign!
In other words, after receiving the blessing, the Unicorn's own strength would be greatly diminished, while Harry would gradually gain a considerable degree of Unicorn physiology without even realizing it!
His body would become more resistant to poisons and curses. And besides that... a Unicorn Horn with powerful piercing force would dwell within him!
It was thanks to the Unicorn Blessing that Harry had endured the Cruciatus Curse, which should have left him writhing in agony. Then, after wresting away Voldemort's wand, he had unleashed the Holy Beast Spiral, a move as powerful as a Unicorn's charge!
That spell was powerful, but it came with plenty of restrictions. Humans weren't Fantastic Beasts and couldn't use their powers perfectly.
In fact, if Professor Quirrell's wand hadn't had Unicorn Tail Hair as its core, Harry's final attack might not have been nearly as effective.
In a way, it really did come down to the Unicorn's karma.
Voldemort had cruelly slaughtered a Unicorn, only to fall in the end to the Unicorn's power.
But Harry had no time to marvel at the way karma had come full circle. He didn't even have time to worry over Hermione, who had fainted, before pulling out a vial of Wit-Sharpening Potion and gulping it down.
Defeating Voldemort was only the first stage of the final battle, so he had to get himself back on his feet immediately!
Next, he still had to face Dumbledore!!
Professor Quirrell's wand was made of Alder Wood, with a Unicorn Tail Hair core, and was nine inches long. That tied in perfectly with the Unicorn's karma and the curse. When Sanmiao looked up the details, they were so delighted.
The big showdown between the protagonist and Dumbledore is about to begin, so Sanmiao wants to give everyone a super-high-energy warning in advance.
There will only be one chapter tomorrow, because it will be an 8,000-word chapter. It will be long, contain a lot of discussion, and feature some extremely sharp dialogue! Honestly, the protagonist and Hermione nearly got themselves killed because of old Dumbledore's negligence this time! So Harry has to demand an explanation from him, air all his past grievances and resentment, and hash out both old and new scores with Dumbledore. He also has to make it clear that...
Even if the protagonist never came to Hogwarts, he would still have done just fine!
So please take that into consideration when you read the chapter. That's all~
Chapter 93: An Apology Can Clear the Air (9,000+)
After quickly recovering his strength, briefly gathering up Professor Quirrell's remains, and collecting the scattered odds and ends from the floor, the headmaster finally arrived, having hurried over once he realized something was wrong.
"Harry, are you all right?! You..."
The old man hurried through the black flames still burning in the doorway. But when he saw the cold, resentful look in Harry's eyes, he held back the urge to approach him.
Harry felt extremely dangerous to Dumbledore now. He was like a bird of prey with its sights fixed on its enemy, ready to spring into an attack at any moment.
Before you continue