Illusion in the Dungeon (II)

Blaise Zabini stepped out from the crowd.

Su Yu looked at him. He had noticed him on the train—a boy with delicate features, wearing an impeccably tailored robe, chin slightly raised, with an innate arrogance in his gaze that made everyone look like mud beneath his feet. He stopped before Su Yu, a contemptuous curve on his lips.

"Blood traitor," Blaise said quietly, but every word sounded carefully polished. "A guy who hangs around with Mudbloods. You don't deserve Slytherin robes. You don't deserve—"

He did not finish, because Cedrian stepped forward and stood beside Blaise.

"I," Cedrian said, his voice calm and firm.

Another upper-year student stepped out.

"I."

Then another.

"I."

One after another. Su Yu counted—every seventh-year stepped out. Several sixth-years did too, as did several fifth-years, three fourth-years, and a few third-years who hesitated before following suit. More than forty people formed a circle around Su Yu.

"Don't say we're bullying you. Today, we're just going to make you suffer a little so you know who really calls the shots in Slytherin!"

Malfoy stood outside the crowd, the smugness on his face changing into subtle confusion. His lips parted slightly, his gray eyes wide as though he were watching a performance he had never expected. Crabbe and Goyle stood behind him; the expressions on their two faces combined still could not produce a complete thought.

Su Yu looked at the forty-odd people, the curve of his lips unchanged.

He raised a hand.

Sand poured from his sleeve. It streamed from his fingertips, silently covering the corridor floor like a yellow snake winding around everyone's feet before sealing every exit.

Sand Coffin.

Su Yu's voice was soft, like a sigh.

The sand erupted in an instant. The nearest upper-year—a sixth-year boy—had not even managed a cry before the sand engulfed him. Yellow grains climbed from his feet to his knees, waist, chest, and neck. His mouth opened wide as he tried to call for help.

Su Yu clenched his fist.

The upper-year screamed—then, before everyone's eyes, his body turned into fine bloody sand. It mixed with the yellow sand, staining it crimson as it whirled through the air and scattered like a silent red rain.

The corridor fell silent for around two seconds.

Then the screaming erupted.

Every trace of arrogance and contempt was torn from the upper-years' faces in an instant, replaced by raw, naked terror. Their eyes bulged as if about to split apart, their mouths stretched wide, and shrill screams squeezed from their throats like mice with their tails stepped on.

"Ahhhhhh—"

"He—he—"

"He killed someone—he killed someone—"

"Run—run!"

They turned and desperately tried to flee down the corridor. Some slammed into the walls, some tripped over their own robes, and some shoved those ahead of them in an effort to squeeze through. But Su Yu gave them no way out.

The sand rolled through the air like yellow venomous snakes, catching every fleeing student. One—wrapped up, shattered, blood rain. Another—wrapped up, shattered, blood rain. Another—wrapped up, shattered, blood rain.

Cedrian ran at the front. He was a prefect; he knew every turn and every door in this corridor. He was incredibly fast, but every door here was blocked by sand.

The sand caught him.

It coiled around his right arm and tightened. Cedrian felt tremendous force seize his arm, as though an invisible hand had gripped it. Then—agonizing pain—his right arm shattered. It turned into fine bloody sand and drifted through the air alongside the yellow grains.

Cedrian fell to the ground. His face was deathly pale and cold sweat covered his forehead, but he did not scream. He merely stared wide-eyed at his right arm. There was nothing there anymore.

He regretted it.

Fine grains of sand slowly crawled over his entire body. He wanted to scream, but the sand plugged his throat.

He regretted stepping forward. He regretted saying those things. He regretted provoking this—

"Enough!"

A voice exploded in everyone's mind.

"Wake up!"

Then everything changed in an instant.

The corridor was still the same corridor. The walls were still the same walls. Cedrian stood in front of Su Yu, his right arm hanging intact at his side. The upper-years stood in the corridor; no one had fled, no one was bleeding, and no one had become bloody sand.

They stood there, gulping for air, their faces caught between terror and confusion.

"This—this was an illusion?"

"We—we weren't—"

"My arm—my arm is still here—"

Cedrian lowered his head and looked at his right arm. It was still there. He moved his fingers; every one of them worked. His face remained pale, and his forehead was still covered in cold sweat, but his arm had not shattered.

He raised his head and looked at Su Yu.

Su Yu stood where he had been, but his eyes were now red, the spinning in his pupils gradually slowing. He looked no different from before—still languid, still as though nothing mattered to him.

Then everyone noticed that someone was standing beside Su Yu.

Albus Dumbledore.

He wore a dark purple robe, his silver beard faintly gleaming in the dim corridor. One hand rested on Su Yu's shoulder, and his blue eyes were calm and profound behind half-moon spectacles.

"An Awakening Charm and a Revival Charm," Dumbledore's gentle, calm voice echoed through the corridor. "I had to use two spells to pull you out of that illusion." He paused, his gaze sweeping over the upper-years' faces.

No one spoke. Those who had just awoken from the illusion still wore expressions wavering between fear and confusion. Looking at Su Yu, they unconsciously retreated several steps. Their feet moved backward, but their eyes never left his face.

Su Yu looked at Dumbledore.

"Professor Dumbledore," he said softly, delivering the classic line, "do you want to dance too?"

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

Then, before anyone could react, the hand on Su Yu's shoulder suddenly tightened. Su Yu felt the world spin. The corridor vanished, the common room vanished, and the castle's stone walls vanished—

They were standing deep in the Forbidden Forest.

Ancient trees towered around them, their trunks so thick that five or six people would be needed to encircle one. Their crowns interwove overhead into an impenetrable canopy, with only occasional strands of moonlight slipping through the leaves and casting mottled silver-white spots across the ground.

Su Yu steadied himself. His eyes gleamed red under the moonlight, and the spinning in his pupils began to accelerate again.

"Professor Dumbledore," Su Yu's voice rang clearly through the Forbidden Forest's silence, "you wanted to test me, didn't you? You sorted me into Slytherin because you were waiting for them to cause me trouble. You knew I would strike back. Then you could take the chance to make your move and see what I was really capable of."

Dumbledore stood opposite him with his hands behind his back, his silver beard glimmering faintly in the moonlight. He neither denied nor admitted it. He merely watched Su Yu, a complicated and unreadable light in his blue eyes.

"My child," Dumbledore said softly, "I only wanted to—"

"Kurama!"

Su Yu's voice exploded through the Forbidden Forest like thunder tearing apart the silence.

Golden chakra surged from his body. It wrapped around Su Yu like burning armor, then began to expand, shift, and condense into a massive, distinct, living outline.

A fox.

An enormous golden fox with nine tails behind her.

She stood in the center of the Forbidden Forest, her nine tails lashing wildly behind her. Each was as thick as the trunk of an ancient tree, and every sweep stirred a gale that sent leaves flying through the air. Her vertical pupils gleamed coldly in the moonlight, while her lips curled back to reveal two rows of sharp teeth that looked fire-scorched.

Kurama lowered her head toward Dumbledore and released a deep growl, like distant thunder rolling across the horizon.

Su Yu stood inside Kurama's head, arms folded across his chest. His eyes had changed—they were no longer merely red, but a more complex, ancient color. Black tomoe spun in his red pupils, three black commas forming a circle before changing into a new pattern.

Mangekyō Sharingan.

Su Yu took a deep breath. Then he pressed his palms together.

Susanoo.

Chakra surged from Kurama's body and condensed into a suit of armor around her. The Nine-Tails' nine tails extended through gaps in the armor, each one swaying with enough strength to cleave mountains apart.

Kurama wearing Susanoo.

Su Yu had wanted to try this for a long time!

The enormous Nine-Tailed Demon Fox formed from chakra stood in the center of the Forbidden Forest, clad in red armor. Her size—no, height could no longer measure her. Her head nearly touched the clouds above the forest, while each of her tails swept behind her, capable of crossing half the Forbidden Forest.

Everyone in Hogwarts Castle saw it.

The Great Hall's windows hummed from the vibrations. In Gryffindor Tower, students rushed to the windows with wide eyes. In the Ravenclaw common room, every book on the shelves trembled. In the Hufflepuff basement, several younger students clung to one another in terror. And in the hall—those students who had just escaped the Slytherin common room stood before the windows, staring toward the Forbidden Forest at the enormous fox burning with golden flames. Several of their legs had already begun to shake.

A few of the more timid ones—or rather, those with smaller bladders—could already feel some uncontrollable liquid running down their trouser legs.

Su Yu stood inside Kurama's head and looked down at Dumbledore. Dumbledore stood on the ground, craning his neck toward a being larger than anything he had ever seen. His blue eyes flickered behind his glasses—not with fear, but with a complicated resignation, as if saying, So I was right after all.

"Old man," Su Yu's voice boomed down from above, amplified by chakra into deafening thunder, "I call you Professor Dumbledore out of respect. But you pissed me off—and that means you're in for a miserable time."

Kurama released a low, approving growl above him. Her tails swung even more fiercely, and the wind they whipped up bent the trees on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Dumbledore's lips twitched.

He had indeed wanted to test Su Yu. He knew the Slytherin students would not accept an Eastern mixed-blood—and would take the initiative to provoke him. He knew Su Yu would retaliate. He wanted to see just how capable this boy, who carried ancient power sealed within him, really was.

But he had truly overplayed his hand.

Dumbledore looked up at the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox clad in red armor, at the boy standing with folded arms inside her head, and at the thing gathering inside the fox's mouth—

A sphere.

A sphere woven from red and blue chakra, constantly spinning, expanding, and compressing. It floated within Kurama's open jaws. The air around it was dragged inward, leaves were sucked into the sky, loose stones on the ground began to tremble, and the entire Forbidden Forest seemed to bow before it.

Tailed Beast Bomb.

Su Yu looked down at Dumbledore. Dumbledore's blue eyes narrowed behind his lenses, and at last his expression changed slightly. Damn, this brings back the good old days! How was anyone supposed to block that? With their head? What the hell was that thing?

"Today," Su Yu's voice descended from above, "if I don't blast you, old bastard, to pieces, then my surname isn't Su. Mark my words."

Kurama's tails lashed once—the Tailed Beast Bomb compressed to its limit, then—

Dumbledore did not move.

He did not draw his wand, cast a spell, or make any defensive gesture. He merely stood there, looking up.

"Boom!" Kurama spat out the Tailed Beast Bomb.

The black sphere flew from her mouth with a roar that promised to destroy everything, smashing toward Dumbledore. It tore a rift through the air before it, scorched the ground beneath it, and blew down trees on either side—the entire Forbidden Forest lay prostrate before it, awaiting destruction.

Dumbledore still did not move.

Inside the castle, Professor McGonagall stood at a window, her face showing a shock she rarely displayed. Snape stood beside her, his black eyes reflecting the Tailed Beast Bomb's light with something complex and unreadable. Professor Flitwick raised his wand and chanted the Super Strong Armor-Protecting Charm. Professor Sprout stood at the greenhouse door, her face filled with worry.

Then—

A figure appeared in front of Dumbledore.

A middle-aged man in an Eastern Continent-style robe, his long black hair lifted by the night wind.

He stepped out of the void, his figure exceptionally clear in the Tailed Beast Bomb's glow—while his face held utter helplessness.

His hand reached behind his back and drew a sword.

He held the sword in one hand, then—

Slashed upward.

The moment the blade collided with the Tailed Beast Bomb, the entire Forbidden Forest shook. Golden light exploded from the point of impact, illuminating half the sky. The middle-aged man's robe snapped violently in the shockwave, yet his body did not budge. His hand gripped the hilt steadily, and the blade cut deep into the Tailed Beast Bomb's core—

The Tailed Beast Bomb was split apart.

It was sliced cleanly into two. The halves shot into the sky and exploded above Hogwarts Castle.

And above the castle, another graceful figure appeared atop a tower.

She stood upon the castle's highest tower, her long hair flowing in the night breeze while moonlight cast a gentle silver glow over her face. Her features were exquisite and beautiful, carrying the lively charm of a young girl that did not belong to her age.

She stretched out a hand and gave it a light wave.

A huge barrier unfolded from her palm, spreading into a translucent dome faintly glowing blue over the castle. The two halves of the Tailed Beast Bomb exploded in the sky with an earth-shaking roar—

Boom—

A mushroom cloud rose above the castle, golden flames intertwined with black smoke like an enormous burning flower. The barrier shuddered violently beneath the impact, cracks spreading from its center in every direction like a spiderweb struck by a stone—then, with one final boom, it shattered.

Fragments drifted down from the sky like blue, transparent snow.

The aftershock burst through the shattered barrier and struck the castle's stone walls.

Everyone inside the castle screamed. Students in the hall were knocked to the floor by the shockwave, Gryffindor tables were sent tumbling in every direction, and Hufflepuff pumpkin juice spilled all over the ground. Those Slytherin students—who had only just escaped Su Yu's illusion—stood in a corner of the hall, pale as paper. Several were too weak in the legs to remain standing.

Malfoy stood among the crowd, the confusion on his face having become pure, untainted terror. His lips trembled, and his gray eyes reflected the mushroom cloud outside and the glass fragments filling the sky.

The explosion continued for nearly two minutes.

The golden flames slowly dispersed from the sky, the night wind scattered the smoke, and moonlight fell over the castle once more.

In the Forbidden Forest, the middle-aged man sheathed his sword. He looked up at Su Yu standing inside Kurama's head, his expression changing from helplessness into pure, undisguised fury.

"You little brat!" his voice rose from the ground. "I've only been gone for a few years, and you're already pulling something this huge?"

Su Yu stood inside Kurama's head and looked down at the man. Suddenly, his expression changed.

"Huh?" Su Yu's voice came down from above. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

He blinked.

"I knew that old bastard couldn't possibly catch my ultimate move. So it was you."

"Get down here right now!"

"I'm not coming down," Su Yu said with the stubbornness of a sulking child. "That old man deliberately disgusted me, so I have to disgust him too. I still have an even bigger move I haven't used yet—let me use it and beat him up first."

Then—a hand grabbed Su Yu's ear.

The hand extended from the void, pale and slender, with long fingers and nails painted a faint pink. With precise, unquestionable force that said, I've put up with you long enough, it pinched Su Yu's right earlobe and then—twisted.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow—" Su Yu's voice rang down from above. The cold, murderous seriousness from moments ago was shredded in an instant. "Mom—Mom, I was wrong—stop pulling my ear all the time—ow, ow, ow—"

Kurama stood frozen, her nine tails stiff in midair. She did not stop the woman. She did not dare.

The woman stepped out of the void and stood inside Kurama's head as well, one hand firmly gripping Su Yu's ear.

"You know it hurts?" Her voice was soft and gentle, like a spring breeze. "Then do you know that your father's slash just now nearly failed to split it?"

Nearly failed? He held a sword in one hand, swung it upward once, and the Tailed Beast Bomb became two halves. Right, right, that's what nearly failing looks like... Of course, Su Yu did not dare say it aloud.

"Fine, fine, I know. I was wrong—I really was wrong—let go—"

The woman did not let go. She twisted Su Yu's ear and flew out from Kurama's head, descending toward the ground. The moment she left, Kurama's form dissipated, fading slowly from the sky and returning to the depths of Su Yu's soul.

Kurama lay down in the soul space, curling her nine tails into a soft cushion and burying her face in it. Her expression carried a subtle hint of grievance and helplessness, as if she were saying, There was nothing I could do. That woman's glare was too terrifying.

Su Yu, still dragged by his ear by his mother, flew before the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man—Su Yu's father—stood there with his arms folded. Watching Su Yu descend while being dragged by the ear, the corner of his mouth twitched.

Then he stepped forward and flicked Su Yu hard on the forehead.

"You brat, what were you trying to do? Destroy Hogwarts?"

Su Yu covered his forehead. His ear was still being pulled, and now his forehead had been flicked too. His face took on the aggrieved look of a child who felt wrongfully accused.

"That old man attacked first!" Su Yu protested with complete righteousness. "He sorted me into Slytherin because he was waiting for those people to cause me trouble! He wanted to test me! He wanted to see how capable I was! He—"

"So you fired a Tailed Beast Bomb at him?" His father's voice carried a trace of exasperated amusement.

"..."

Su Yu fell silent. At last, his ear was released—his mother had let go.

Su Yu's mother raised her head and looked at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore stood not far away, his silver beard glimmering faintly in the moonlight, his blue eyes calmly watching the family of three from behind his spectacles. His expression was subtle and complicated, carrying a hint of awkwardness, as if to say, "Well, all right, I really am partly responsible."

"Professor Dumbledore," Su Yu's mother began. Her voice was soft and gentle, exactly the same as when she had been tugging Su Yu's ear just now, but for some reason, Dumbledore's eyes narrowed slightly. "If you don't give us an explanation this time—"

She paused. A gentle smile hung on her lips, but anyone could see that there was absolutely no room for negotiation.

"Then, like my son, I also think Hogwarts has no reason to exist."

The Forbidden Forest fell silent for about three seconds.

Then Su Yu's father—the man who had just split a Tailed Beast Bomb apart with a single sword strike—suddenly turned to face Dumbledore. His expression changed in an instant. Following his wife's lead was always the right choice!

"Ah, yes, yes!" His voice was filled with the eagerness of someone saying, "That's right, that's right, we're on the same side." "Dumbledore! You'd better give the two of us an explanation!"

So I was just a free gift? What about my explanation? How did it suddenly become the two of you? Su Yu raged helplessly in his heart...

Su Yu's father shifted slightly closer and leaned toward Su Yu's mother's ear.

"Um—" he lowered his voice so much that only Su Yu's mother could hear him, "weren't we here to beat this little brat up? Why did we suddenly change targets?"

Su Yu's mother shot him a glare. The meaning of that glare was perfectly clear—"Who are you calling a little brat?"

She turned back toward Dumbledore, the gentle yet unquestionable smile returning to her face.

"This is my precious son," she said softly, as though stating the simplest fact in the world. "He just likes causing trouble sometimes. What's the big deal?"

Su Yu's father nodded fiercely beside her.

"Yes, yes, exactly!" His voice carried the fervor of someone declaring, "My wife is right."

Su Yu's mother shot him another glare.

Dumbledore stood opposite them, looking at the family of three. His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. He wanted to say something—he really wanted to say something—but this family's words surged over him like a tide, leaving him unable to squeeze in even a single punctuation mark.

He suddenly felt that talking to this family was truly exhausting.