Now that the line of thought had been sorted out.
The answer was about to reveal itself.
Voldemort's legendary trait was perhaps—
"You guessed it, didn't you?" Young Tom spoke with a smile, as though he had seen through Grindelwald's thoughts. "Yes, thanks to that gift from... 'higher above,' when my dear 'original' broke through to the legendary realm, the trait he obtained was 'Soul Projection.'" He stepped forward, pride and madness gleaming in his scarlet eyes.
"Every Horcrux he created, every being deeply connected to his soul—whether it be a book, a snake, or some unfortunate diary holder—would have the potential to be 'activated' after he reached the legendary realm, becoming an independent clone of his with complete consciousness and power."
"We share his memories, his magic, and his desire for power, yet we each possess our own... freedom." He spread his hands, presenting himself.
As though displaying a perfect work of art.
"And I am one of his earliest and most powerful Horcruxes—a fragment of soul sealed within the diary at the age of sixteen. After that foolish girl opened the diary and laid bare her soul and Hogwarts' secrets to me, I was able to draw strength and gradually take shape. And the moment the original broke through to the legendary realm, his vast magic, bearing the trait of chaos, opened the dormant 'seeds' within every Horcrux like a key. We... all awakened."
Grindelwald's heart skipped a beat.
All of them had awakened?
That meant there was more than one?!
As if answering his suspicion, several silhouettes faintly shifted within the darkness behind Tom. They had not fully emerged, but the barely perceptible fluctuations of magic were already enough to prove their existence.
"Of course, we are not entirely independent from the original," Tom added, a trace