Armand

This time, Draco was stunned. The red light in his pupils gradually faded, and a bitter expression appeared on his face. He pursed his lips and said in a hoarse voice, "So you finally found out?"

"Draco..." Skylar sighed, "Sometimes you're childish, a troublesome older brother... sometimes you're impatient, doing foolish things in anger... sometimes you're stubborn, clinging to unnecessary, illusory pride..." Skylar straightened his tone and expression, "But the Draco I know, he has the same blood as me, he's never been a—"

"A man who would abandon his pride, sell his soul, and betray his family—he's just like me—" Skylar raised his head and said loudly, his eyes Winky, "A perfectly qualified Malfoy!"

"Skylar..." Draco's eyes welled up with tears, "I'm sorry... really, I'm sorry..." Then his face changed drastically, "No! You have to go! Now! There's no time! Hurry--ah!!!" Draco let out a painful howl, clutching his platinum blonde hair tightly, his whole body trembling violently.

"Draco!" Skylar drew his wand, pointing it at Draco; the tip of the wand glowed with four different colored lights. "Are you alright?"

Time seemed to pass in a second, yet it also felt like an eternity.

Suddenly, Draco's trembling stopped. He raised his head, a strange smile on his face. A sharp glint, like lightning in the night, flashed in his pupils, and then his entire black eyeballs suddenly turned a terrifying crimson. Dense black energy suddenly emanated from his body, the densest it had ever seen Skylar in a long time!

"Hehehe..." Draco's voice seemed to have transformed into that of a different person, low and hoarse, extremely unpleasant, yet his aura grew stronger with each passing moment. At this moment, Skylar's expression became extremely grave. His Magic Eye clearly saw that Draco's magical power had surpassed the level of an elite Auror, and he was only half a step away from becoming Grand Sorcerer! (Note: Here, he could be referred to as a "quasi-Archmage")

Skylar cautiously took a few steps back towards the door. The aura emanating from Draco was too oppressive; the sheer force of that aura was enough to make it hard to breathe.

"What a touching display of brotherly love!" Draco —no, he should be called Armand here—looked at Skylar with the eyes of someone eyeing prey, and said with amusement, "Before we begin, I have a question: how did you guess my existence?"

Skylar did not answer, but instead activated all the defensive spells on the Supreme Robe and the Night Star Cloak. Suddenly, an ancient-looking ring appeared from the void on the index finger of his right hand. The ring band was made of dull black wood, and it was Merlin's "Guardian Ring"!

At the same time, an ivory-white skull ring suddenly appeared out of thin air on the middle finger of his right hand—it was Grindelwald's Element Ring!

At the same time, Ravenclaw's Diadem appeared above Skylar's head, and a Black Shadow faintly emerged behind him, with a strangely shaped pendant box hanging from Black Shadow!

The Supreme Robe, the Night Star Cloak, the two rings, the Diadem of Wisdom, and the Slytherin's Locket all seemed to come alive at this moment, emitting their own distinct magical fluctuations. Draco's bedroom was instantly filled with a dazzling array of colors and light, a bizarre and wondrous sight within sight.

Even with all his equipment and trump cards up his sleeve, Skylar could only barely match Armand's momentum, and could even be said to be slightly outmatched. However, the suffocating sense of oppression he had before was gone.

Armand's eyes were full of disdain and contempt. He shrugged indifferently, letting Skylar unleash wave after wave of power. He didn't even bother to take back his wand.

Skylar spoke slowly.

"I first noticed something was off with Draco during the opening ceremony. He suddenly displayed a cunning he hadn't shown before..." Although Skylar had noticed something was wrong on the train, he had no intention of telling the whole truth.

Armand clicked his tongue twice and said, "What an dishonest child." His eyes suddenly sharpened, and a hissing tearing sound faintly echoed in the air. The surroundings suddenly brightened, as if electricity had been injected into the empty room. With just that one look, Skylar felt a faint stinging sensation on his face. Skylar could only take another step back to reduce the pressure that Armand was exerting on him.

Armand said, "I'm afraid you... noticed something was off about this kid on the train, didn't you? But it's alright, go on, and I'll forgive your dishonesty this time..."

Skylar felt a chill run down his spine. It seemed the other party knew quite a bit about his trump cards. He continued, "Although Draco occasionally showed some cunning, most of the time he maintained his usual somewhat willful, arrogant, and even childish personality, so I didn't think much of it, just kept a close eye on him secretly..."

"It wasn't until we joined forces to fight the old madman Moody that Draco suddenly displayed unprecedented power... Personality and mindset might undergo subtle changes for some reason, but power is something unusual... At that time, I was almost certain that he had somehow obtained a channel to begin studying Dark Arts, and my biggest suspicion at the time was my father..."

Armand waved his hand dismissively, "You guessed part of it correctly, but you're not far from the truth. And then what?"

"After the first Defense Against the Dark Arts, Draco asked me if I knew the Unforgivable Curses. I tried to enlighten Draco about the dangers of Dark Arts, but because I wasn't clear on the whole situation, I didn't dare say much... After that, Draco exhibited more and more strange behaviors. He suddenly knew many obscure and rare spells, some of which I hadn't even mastered... Perhaps saying this sounds a bit arrogant, but I don't believe any 14-year-old wizard in the world could do that..."

Skylar was not boasting. He had been reading his family's books since he was four years old, and after obtaining the Time-Turner at the age of five, he embarked on a crazy learning journey. He mastered the secret spells of four families, the knowledge treasures of Ravenclaw, and the vast collection of books in the Hogwarts Library.

He was confident that in terms of knowledge reserves, only a few old guys in the world could surpass him, and even then, the difference was probably limited, not an insurmountable gap.

"The change in his mindset can be somewhat explained by the pressure of being burdened with family responsibilities and missions, forcing him to grow stronger; the change in his strength can also be attributed to his exposure to certain secret Dark Arts; but the change in his knowledge is inexplicable... A person's mental strength is limited, and even if he had Time-Turner, he couldn't acquire such a vast amount of knowledge in such a short time!"

"At this point, I began to believe that Draco was no longer the Draco I knew. The most likely explanation was that he had been possessed by the remnant soul of some dark wizard... But I still have a question I can't figure out, which is--"

"As far as I know, there are quite a few Dark Arts that involve possession, but most can only temporarily attach themselves to a vessel because the incompatibility between the vessel and the soul easily leads to rejection. You know Voldemort, right?"

Seeing that Armand remained silent, Skylar assumed he already knew about Voldemort from Draco and continued, "He is the most powerful dark wizard of this century. He possessed our Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor when I was a first-year student. But even he couldn't completely hide his presence. So, the poor professor had to wear a ridiculous turban all day long and keep his body perpetually covered in the smell of garlic to conceal the possessed Voldemort."

"And Draco showed no abnormalities whatsoever, not even the slightest odor, which clearly does not match the description of possession."

"A brilliant deduction." Armand clapped lightly. "You might just be the most outstanding genius in the history of the House of Malfoy. I must say, even I, at your age, didn't know as much as you."

"And then?" Armand asked.

"By chance, I learned of a magic that can perfectly possess a body. This magic can perfectly fuse the host's magic and soul, but the prerequisite is that the two must be related by blood, that is, Bloodline Fusion."

A glint of light flashed in Armand's eyes, and he couldn't help but praise, "Impressive! You even know that. Then why were you so indifferent when you knew Draco might have been possessed? So, it seems you don't value your brother that much!"

"No," Skylar said decisively, "Because there's something that doesn't make sense. The principle of Bloodline Fusion is that the possessed spirit devours the host's soul, so why is Draco still able to maintain his original personality for most of his daily life? If he was Bloodline Fusion, then his soul shouldn't exist anymore, right?"

"It's precisely because I haven't figured out this key point that I've remained inactive, choosing to observe the situation from the sidelines. Anyway—" Skylar sneered, "Hmph, no matter what Draco is up to, I can easily predict his next move just by looking at his motives—"

"His motives aren't hard to guess. Ultimately, it's about maintaining the family's honor in his own way, allowing the family to continue upholding the belief in Pure-blood Supremacy. Reputation is an indispensable key for him," Skylar said in a deep voice. "And the reputation I've cultivated over the past three semesters has become an insurmountable obstacle for him."

"To think that he could damage my reputation with just a few outstanding performances in class and some scattered words is nothing short of a pipe dream. Therefore, he only has one chance left, a chance for him to easily turn the tables—"

"The Triwizard Tournament".

"All the answers were revealed on the day of the Goblet of Fire ceremony..." Skylar's voice gradually lowered, "The moment I was chosen as Champion, Draco's incredulous expression told me everything. At that moment, I realized that he truly believed from the bottom of his heart that he was stronger than me."

"This is very interesting..." Skylar suddenly tightened his grip on the wand, which had been absorbing the colorful light emanating from the various divine artifacts since the beginning. The patterns on the wand were now faintly glowing. "He actually believes he's stronger than me; there's only one explanation: he's truly possessed..."

Armand revealed an intrigued expression. "Didn't you just say that Draco didn't show any signs of possession and still retained his own personality most of the time, so even Bloodline Fusion didn't fit the theory of possession?"

"That's because—" Skylar grinned mischievously, "I happen to know of another spell that can do this—"

Horcrux.

"Lord Armand II," Skylar's gaze blazed with unprecedented confidence, his aura slowly intensifying. An invisible wave emanated from Skylar, spreading outwards. The two rings, the Diadem, and the pendant box began to vibrate silently, radiating an even stronger, more dreamlike aura. Skylar spoke slowly, "You are not some remnant soul from an ancient era, but a Horcrux!"