Tom's Script, Tom's Defense Broken (4000 words)

"Hey Tom, you said there's one more ingredient missing, what is it?"

Lockhart's question echoed slowly in the Chamber of Secrets.

But Tom gently shook his head, giving an irrelevant answer:

"Tom, I don't like that name. And don't bother with your wand in your pocket, your magic is terrible."

Hearing Tom's merciless attack, Lockhart's face stiffened, and he didn't know what to do for a moment.

But Tom continued talking to himself, stepping over to the crucible, gently fanning himself to inhale the medicinal aroma, his entire body so solid it didn't seem like a spirit.

"Gilderoy, this period has actually been quite pleasant. I'm even occasionally grateful that a wealthy wizard like you obtained the diary and had the ability to purchase highly nourishing items like dragon blood for me, hmm..."

Tom reached out and brushed the flames at the bottom of the crucible, making them burn even more fiercely.

"I'm also quite glad that you're a good-for-nothing, a good-for-nothing with grand ambitions but little talent, yearning for fame, yearning for fame that doesn't belong to you..."

"This gives me the 'trick' to seduce you, hehe. Aren't you curious why you 'trust' me so much and obey me so readily?"

Upon hearing this, Lockhart's expression changed drastically.

Tom chuckled softly, snapped his fingers, and dispelled the spell that had been cast on Lockhart.

Instantly, Lockhart's handsome face was covered with fear and pallor, and he trembled as he backed away.

"You, you..."

Tom, inspecting the potion-making process, didn't seem to care about exposing his back to Lockhart, and continued casually:

"Young wizards might not be able to obtain life-restoring substances for me, and adult wizards might be able to detect my mind-controlling Dark Magic. Gilderoy Lockhart, what a coincidence that someone can avoid both of these possibilities?"

Tom turned around, a mocking smile playing on his handsome face. He walked slowly towards Lockhart with elegant steps.

"Ah, the 'mist' of that Dark Magic should have dissipated by now. Have you noticed anything amiss?"

"For example, why would you so easily believe a diary that seems to be a Dark Magic artifact? For example, is the Basilisk really under your control, and what is it doing in the castle right now? For example, why did I suggest you make Harry Potter your ultimate target? For example..."

Every syllable Tom uttered struck Lockhart's heart like a heavy hammer.

"Whoosh--whoosh--"

Heavy breathing came from Lockhart's mouth and nose, and the old diary slipped limply from his palm.

Suddenly, Tom appeared like a ghost beside Lockhart, a hand resting on his shoulder, radiating an icy chill.

"Aren't you going to run?"

Upon hearing this, Lockhart took off running, completely forgetting about manners and poise.

Just as Lockhart was fleeing in panic, a Obliviate shot out from under his armpit, hurtling towards Tom with incredible speed.

"Call out!!!"

But Tom's figure instantly disintegrated into wisps of black smoke, allowing the Obliviate to pass through the gaps.

A cold, amused voice rang out:

"Your Obliviate is quite good. At least the casting speed of this spell is comparable to that of a dueling master. Tsk tsk, with this much effort, why can't you hone your other spells instead of thinking about stealing and cheating all day?"

Suddenly, Lockhart stopped in his tracks, his wand fell to the ground, and he clutched his chest with his hand.

"Cough cough--cough cough cough--"

A violent coughing fit erupted, and Lockhart collapsed to his knees in agony, as if he were coughing up his lungs.

Tom reformed, squatted down next to Lockhart, and patted him on the back, as affectionately as if they were good friends.

But Tom's words were incredibly cold:

"Didn't you write in your book that using Dark Magic items always comes at a price? I had you collect items containing life force, like dragon blood, so the price for the diary is easy to guess, right? You just have to pay with your life."

"Cough--"

Lockhart's cough weakened, and his lowered gaze fell on the back of his hand, where wrinkles of age had appeared.

Tom reached into Lockhart's pocket and pulled out a wand and a small vial, then stood up and walked toward the cauldron.

"The world will forever remember you, Gilderoy Lockhart, in the winter of 1992, for opening the Chamber of Secrets, releasing the Basilisk, and slaughtering students—your sins are heinous."

"The Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One of the Wizarding World, Harry Potter, has tragically passed away."

"The greatest wizard of this century, Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts Headmaster, has resigned and is imprisoned."

"My friend, do you like the ending of the script I wrote?"

As Tom whispered, murky tears streamed down Lockhart's face, dripping onto his withered, bark-like hands.

In Lockhart's blurred vision, a flash of golden light disappeared.

Tom returned to the crucible, unscrewed the cap of the vial, and remembered Lockhart's initial question.

"Finally, I'll tell you. The one ingredient you missed is dragon's blood. Once you add it, the potion used to stimulate magic will..."

Da da da--

A steady footstep suddenly rang out in the Chamber of Secrets, Tom instinctively stopped what he was doing.

A gentle voice picked up where Tom left off:

"Adding dragon's blood transforms magic-stimulating potions into sculpting elixirs."

After a pause, the voice, which sounded like it was instructing a student, rang out again:

"It's best to add 16 ml of dragon blood; too much or too little will affect the effect."

Tom slowly turned around, his gaze falling on the source of the voice.

It was a boy who looked quite young.

The once desolate and quiet Chamber of Secrets seemed to come alive with the sudden appearance of the boy.

Tom's eyes narrowed. The tone of the other person, which sounded like he was instructing a student, made him very uncomfortable, and he inexplicably felt a sense of déjà vu when he faced Dumbledore back then.

He glanced at the glasses perched on the boy's nose and immediately made a guess; his dark eyes narrowed slightly.

"Harry Potter, it's impressive that you found this place so quickly. You are indeed worthy of being my opponent."

Tom's words caused the Chamber of Secrets to fall silent.

This is an awkward silence.

"Lucian, Lucien..."

A weak, aged voice came from Lockhart's mouth. He struggled to lift his head and looked at Lucien with his cloudy eyes.

"I was wrong, I was wrong! Let's go, tell the principal..."

Previously, when Tom hid Lucien in his diary, he seemed uninterested in him, only asking a few questions about Harry but not inquiring about his appearance.

Lockhart didn't care about Tom's mix-up; whoever it was, he just wanted to get the information out and tell the principal and professor!

After glancing at Lockhart, Lucien roughly guessed why Tom had mistaken someone for someone else.

Without replying to Lockhart, Lucien simply gazed at Tom, his tone calm:

"Why have you stopped making potions?"

I had seen the potion recipe in Lockhart's office before, and after some experimentation, Lucien also discovered the potion's secrets.

Adding just one more ingredient can transform a potion into something entirely different.

It must be said, Tom is indeed a genius.

It seems Tom learned a lot from his Potions Professor, Slughorn, back in the day.

Tom smiled slightly.

"There's no rush, Lucien. It's truly a pleasant surprise to encounter someone as outstanding as you."

At this moment, Tom's expression and tone showed no trace of the embarrassment he had felt earlier for mistaking someone else.

"I'm really curious, how did you manage to find this place while dodging the Basilisk's attacks?"

As he spoke, Tom tried to sense his connection with the Basilisk.

However, nothing was found.

Tom couldn't help but suspect that the Basilisk had gone too far, and that communication had been disrupted by the castle.

Thump!!!

The sound of a heavy object hitting the ground echoed in the Chamber of Secrets.

An object rolled to Tom's side, its green scales covered in charred black, its eyes bright yellow, its crested feathers...

The head of the Basilisk!

Lucien shook his left hand.

Looking for the Basilisk?

In an instant, Tom's eyes flashed with shock and anger as he looked at Lucien, with a hint of fear hidden beneath.

Lucien throws out the Basilisk's head!

A young wizard who looked even younger than him killed the Basilisk?

How is that possible?!

The Basilisk's death-perception eyes, its powerful physique, its corrosive venom...

Which one could a young wizard easily resist?

But Lucien had already severed the Basilisk's head?

How long had the Basilisk been moving before it died?

Even the professors might not be able to defeat the Basilisk in such a short time; only Dumbledore could... But Tom specifically targeted Dumbledore when he was leaving Hogwarts!

Is Dumbledore still at school?

One question after another bombarded Tom's soul like cannonballs.

Wisps of black smoke rose and fell from Tom's body, reflecting his turbulent and chaotic state of mind.

Lucien took a few steps forward and said calmly:

"Keep refining it. What, are you afraid I'm an Animagus who infiltrated Lockhart's office in animal form and tampered with that bottle of dragon blood or other potion ingredients?"

Upon hearing this statement...

The atmosphere turned cold again.

Tom thought Lucien's theory was too outlandish, but...

Animagus of this age?

No, if he really killed the Basilisk, then it's not impossible for Animagus to do so.

Even if it wasn't Animagus, he infiltrated Lockhart's office in some other way...

Tom glanced cautiously at the small vial of dragon's blood in his hand, then at the cauldron.

"Hmph, why try to fool me? There's nothing wrong with these materials; I can tell."

Lucien nodded, then took a few more steps toward Tom.

"Okay, then you can continue."

This, ironically, made Tom hesitant to make any rash moves.

After a brief moment of excitement, he has now calmed down. Regardless of whether there is a problem with the medicinal materials, the process of reshaping the physical body is very unstable and cannot be disturbed by other factors.

No matter what, Tom couldn't possibly concoct and consume the medicine in front of Lucien.

Never mind, kill Lucien first!

With this thought in mind, Tom channeled magic into Lockhart's wand in his hand.

The Eye of Magic Sight was constantly locked onto Tom. Lucien sensed the unusual magical activity within Tom's soul, gripped his wand tightly in his right hand, and simultaneously produced something else in his left.

"Ah!!!"

A piercing, painful wail came from Tom's direction. Strangely, his mouth didn't open, and large plumes of black smoke rose from his body, with ripples of varying sizes swirling within the smoke.

Lucien had already walked to the diary, the Sword of Gryffindor in his left hand hanging at an angle, drops of Basilisk venom sliding from the blade and dripping onto the diary.

This caused Tom excruciating pain; his body was shrouded in black smoke, and he could feel the life force preserved in his soul rapidly dissipating!

The intense pain nearly caused Tom to lose his grip on the wand, and he staggered.

"Wait, wait a minute, we, we can cooperate..."

"You're so amazing, I... ah!!!"

Lucien lightly flicked the Sword of Gryffindor, causing more venom to drip onto the surface of the diary, releasing rising white smoke.

"Your current soul form cannot touch the diary itself?"

Tom covered one of his dim eyes, his handsome features contorted in pain.

He was stunned by Lucien's actions and words, and for a moment he even forgot that Lucien was approaching the diary on the ground!

Before he had a complete physical body, Tom was unable to touch the diary, which was the Horcrux itself, with his soul.

Although Tom appeared to be in pain and weak, Lucien did not let his guard down.

I never intended to go head-to-head with Tom from the beginning. Tom, who has absorbed too much life force, is in a very good condition. If we really fought, it would probably take a long time and a lot of effort.

The Purifying Fire from the Liuguang player above temporarily blocked my view; I'll have to go back after I've dealt with things here.

So the sooner the better.

As long as Tom doesn't gain a physical body, the Horcrux containing the soul fragments will always be a weakness; controlling the diary means controlling Tom.

"I have, I have the Slytherin legacy, I can share, share knowledge with you..."

A hoarse voice squeezed out from between Tom's lips, attempting to slow Lucien's actions.

"The knowledge Slytherin..."

Lucien's face showed a look of excitement.

Seeing this, Tom was delighted and prepared to speak again to appease Lucien first.

"Ah!!!!!"

The most heart-wrenching screams of pain to date rang out, Tom knelt on one knee, and a large plume of black smoke rose up, quickly dissipating as it moved away from Tom.

"You damned Mudblood!"

Tom raised his head and stared at Lucien with venomous eyes, a streak of light passing through his face.

Lucien slowly slashed a gash in the cover of the diary with his silver longsword, while at the same time, the streaks of light on Tom's face extended, severing the soul shrouded in black smoke.

This won't actually destroy the Horcrux; Lucien's goal is to weaken Tom to the limit, rendering him temporarily unable to cause trouble.

If you're looking for Voldemort's other Horcrux, having a intact Horcrux as a guide will save you a lot of trouble.

Lucien hadn't figured out how to utilize the connections between those soul fragments yet, but that didn't matter; he could consult Dumbledore and his teacher, Nicolas.

Sizzle--

A chilling magical power suddenly erupted from Tom's body!

Temporarily suppressing the pain of his wounded soul, Tom frantically burned the life force he had accumulated to this day, transforming it into temporary magic.

Reconstructing the physical body can wait; the most urgent task is to deal with Lucien!

Buzz--

A surge of immense magic coursed through Lucien's body!

Thunder Pattern flashed, and a faint pressure accompanied by surging magic instantly filled the Chamber of Secrets!

The two sides' deadly moves will collide in the next second!

"You've arrived, Heir of Slytherin..."

A distant, ancient voice, seemingly transcending time and space, echoed in the Chamber of Secrets.