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 refined features, dressed in a finely tailored robe, his chin slightly raised and his gaze carrying an innate arrogance, as though everyone else were mud beneath his feet. He stopped in front of Su Yu, a contemptuous curve on his lips.

"Blood traitor," Blaise said quietly, each word seeming carefully polished. "A person who hangs around 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 resolute.

Another older student stepped out.

"I."

Then another.

"I."

One after another. Su Yu counted—every seventh-year stepped forward, along with several sixth-years, several fifth-years, three fourth-years, and a few hesitant third-years who followed suit. More than forty people formed a circle around Su Yu.

"Don't say we're bullying you. Today, we're just teaching you a lesson so you'll know who really calls the shots in Slytherin!"

Malfoy stood outside the crowd, the smugness on his face turning into subtle confusion. His lips parted slightly, and his gray eyes widened as though he were watching a performance he had never anticipated. Crabbe and Goyle stood behind him, and even their combined expressions could not form one complete thought.

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

He raised a hand.

Sand poured from his sleeves. It flowed from his fingertips, silently covering the corridor floor like a yellow serpent winding around everyone's feet before blocking every exit.

Sand Coffin.

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

The sand erupted in an instant. The older student at the front—a sixth-year boy—had not even managed to cry out before the sand wrapped around him. Yellow sand climbed from his feet to his knees, waist, chest, and neck. He opened his mouth, trying to call for help.

Su Yu clenched his fist.

The older student screamed—and before everyone's eyes, his body turned into fine blood sand. It mixed with the yellow sand, becoming crimson as it spun through the air and drifted away like a silent red rain.

The corridor fell silent for about two seconds.

Then screams erupted.

Every trace of arrogance and contempt was ripped from the older students' faces in an instant, replaced by primitive, naked terror. Their eyes bulged as if they might burst, their mouths stretched wide, and shrill screams squeezed from their throats like mice whose tails had been stepped on.

"AAAAAHHHH—"

"He—he—"

"He killed someone—he killed someone—"

"Run—run—"

They turned and desperately tried to flee down the corridor. Some crashed into the walls, some tripped over their own robes, and some shoved the people in front of them in an attempt to force their way out. But Su Yu did not open the way for them.

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. As a prefect, he knew every turn and every door in the 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 enormous force wrenching through his arm, as if an invisible hand had seized it. Then—searing pain—his right arm shattered. It broke into fine blood sand and drifted through the air with the yellow grains.

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

He regretted it.

Fine sand slowly crawled over his entire body. He wanted to scream, but sand clogged his throat.

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

"Enough!"

A voice exploded inside everyone's minds.

"Wake up!"

Then everything changed in an instant.

The corridor was still the same corridor. The walls were still the same walls. Cedrian stood before Su Yu, his right arm hanging intact from his shoulder. The older students remained in the corridor; no one had fled, no one was bleeding, and no one had turned into blood sand.

They stood there, gasping for breath, their faces caught between terror and confusion.

"This—this was an illusion?"

"We—we weren't—"

"My arm—my arm is still here—"

Cedrian looked down at his right arm. It was still there. He flexed his fingers. Every one of them worked. His face was still pale and his forehead still slick with sweat, but his arm had not shattered.

He looked up at Su Yu.

Su Yu stood where he was, but his eyes were now red, and the spinning pattern in his pupils was slowly coming to a stop. He looked no different from before—still lazy, still as though nothing in the world concerned him.

Then everyone noticed that someone was standing beside Su Yu.

Albus Dumbledore.

He wore deep purple robes, 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 Invigoration Charm and a Reviving Charm," Dumbledore said, his voice gentle and calm as it echoed through the corridor. "I had to use two spells to pull you out of the illusion." He paused, his gaze sweeping over the older students' faces.

No one spoke. Those who had just awakened from the illusion were still struggling between fear and confusion. They looked at Su Yu and unconsciously backed away several steps. Their feet retreated, 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 within 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 intertwined overhead into an impenetrable canopy, with only occasional strands of moonlight slipping through the leaves to cast mottled silver light across the ground.

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

"Professor Dumbledore," Su Yu's voice rang especially clear in the silence of the Forbidden Forest, "you wanted to test me, didn't you? You put me in Slytherin because you were waiting for them to cause trouble. You knew I would fight back. Then you could use the chance to step in and see what I was really capable of."

Dumbledore stood opposite him with his hands behind his back, his silver beard faintly shining in the moonlight. He neither denied nor admitted it. He merely watched Su Yu, an unreadable and complicated 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 cleaving the silence.

Golden chakra surged from his body, wrapping him in a layer of burning armor. Then—it began to swell, to warp, to solidify into an immense, distinct, living silhouette.

A fox.

A gigantic golden fox with nine tails behind her.

She stood in the heart of the Forbidden Forest, her nine tails whipping wildly behind her. Each was as thick as the trunk of an ancient tree, and every sweep raised gales that sent leaves spiraling through the air. Her vertical pupils gleamed coldly beneath the moonlight, while her lips curled slightly to reveal two rows of sharp teeth that looked as though they had been scorched by flame.

Kurama lowered her head to look at Dumbledore, releasing a deep growl from her throat like distant thunder.

Su Yu stood inside Kurama's head with his arms crossed. His eyes had changed—not the simple red from before, but something more intricate and ancient. Black tomoe spun within his crimson pupils, three black commas joining into a circle before transforming into a new pattern.

Mangekyō Sharingan.

Su Yu took a deep breath. Then he brought his hands together.

Susanoo.

Chakra poured from Kurama's body and condensed into armor over her form. The Nine-Tailed Fox's nine tails extended through gaps in the armor, each one swaying with enough power to split mountains.

Kurama wearing Susanoo.

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

The gigantic Nine-Tailed Fox made of chakra stood in the heart of the Forbidden Forest, clad in crimson armor. Her size—no, height could no longer describe it. Her head nearly touched the clouds above the forest, while every tail behind her could sweep across half the Forbidden Forest.

Everyone in Hogwarts Castle saw it.

The windows of the Great Hall 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—the students who had just escaped from the Slytherin Common Room stood at the windows, staring toward the Forbidden Forest at the enormous fox burning with golden flames. Several of their legs had already started shaking.

A few especially timid ones—or rather, those with especially small bladders—already felt an uncontrollable liquid running down their trouser legs.

Su Yu stood inside Kurama's head and looked down at Dumbledore. Dumbledore stood on the ground, gazing up at a creature larger than anything he had ever seen. His blue eyes flickered behind his spectacles—not with fear, but with a complicated, helpless look that seemed to say, So I was right after all.

"Old man," Su Yu's voice boomed down from above, magnified by chakra into deafening thunder, "I call you Professor Dumbledore out of respect. But you pissed me off—so things are about to get really ugly."

Kurama gave a low, approving roar above him. Her tails swung even more violently, and the gusts they created bent the trees at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Dumbledore's lips twitched.

He really had wanted to test Su Yu. He knew the Slytherin students would not accept an Eastern half-blood—and would actively provoke him. He knew Su Yu would fight back. He wanted to see exactly how capable this boy, who held ancient power sealed within him, truly was.

But he had definitely messed up.

Dumbledore looked up at the Nine-Tailed Fox in crimson armor, at the boy inside her head with his arms folded, and at the thing forming in the fox's mouth—

A sphere.

A sphere of red and blue chakra interwoven together, constantly spinning, expanding, and compressing. It floated in Kurama's open mouth, pulling the surrounding air toward it. Leaves were sucked into the sky, gravel 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 spectacles, and at last, a slight change appeared on his face. This brought back the old days! How was he supposed to block that? With his head? What even was that thing?

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

Kurama's tails snapped sharply—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 move. He simply stood there, looking up.

Boom! Kurama fired the Tailed Beast Bomb.

The black sphere shot from her mouth with a roar that promised utter destruction, hurtling toward Dumbledore. The air split open before it, the ground beneath it scorched black, and trees on either side were blown over—the entire Forbidden Forest prostrated itself before it, awaiting the arrival of destruction.

Dumbledore still did not move.

In 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 an unreadable gleam. Professor Flitwick raised his wand and began chanting an immensely powerful Armor Protection Charm. Professor Sprout stood at the greenhouse entrance, her face full of worry.

Then—

A figure appeared in front of Dumbledore.

A middle-aged man wearing robes in the style of the Eastern Continent, 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 light—though his expression was one of helpless resignation.

He reached behind his back and drew a sword.

He held it in one hand, then—

He slashed upward.

The instant the blade collided with the Tailed Beast Bomb, the entire Forbidden Forest shook. Golden light exploded from the impact's center, illuminating half the sky. The middle-aged man's robes snapped wildly in the shockwave, but his body did not budge. His hand held the hilt steady as the blade cut deep into the Tailed Beast Bomb's core—

The Tailed Beast Bomb was split apart.

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

Above the castle, another graceful figure appeared atop a tower.

She stood on the castle's highest tower, her long hair flowing in the night wind as moonlight cast soft silver over her face. Her features were delicate and beautiful, carrying a girlish liveliness that did not belong to someone her age.

She extended a hand and gave a gentle wave.

A massive barrier unfolded from her palm, spreading into a translucent dome glowing faint blue over the castle. The two halves of the Tailed Beast Bomb exploded in the sky with a deafening roar—

Boom—

A mushroom cloud rose over the castle, golden flames entwined with black smoke like an enormous flower set ablaze. The barrier shook violently under the impact, cracks spreading outward from its center like a spiderweb struck by a stone—then, with one final boom, it shattered.

Fragments drifted down from the sky like transparent blue snow.

The shockwave's aftereffects burst through the broken barrier and slammed into the castle's stone walls.

Everyone in the castle screamed. Students in the hall were thrown to the floor by the shockwave, Gryffindor tables were blown askew, and Hufflepuff pumpkin juice spilled everywhere. The Slytherin students—those who had just escaped from Su Yu's illusion—stood in a corner of the hall, their faces as white as paper. Several had legs too weak to support them.

Malfoy stood among the crowd, his expression having changed from confusion into pure, untainted terror. His lips trembled, and his gray eyes reflected the mushroom cloud outside and the glass fragments filling the sky.

The explosion lasted nearly two minutes.

The golden flames gradually faded from the sky, the smoke was carried away by the night wind, and moonlight fell upon the castle once more.

In the Forbidden Forest, the middle-aged man sheathed his sword. He raised his head to look at Su Yu standing inside Kurama's head, and the helplessness on his face turned 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 making this much trouble?"

Standing inside Kurama's head, Su Yu looked down at the man. His expression suddenly changed.

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

He blinked.

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

"Get down here right now!"

"I'm not coming down," Su Yu said stubbornly, like a child throwing a tantrum. "That old man deliberately messed with me, so I have to mess with him too. I've got 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 reached out from the void, pale and slender, with long fingers and nails painted faint pink. It precisely and unquestioningly pinched Su Yu's right earlobe with the force of someone saying, I've put up with you for long enough, then twisted.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow—" Su Yu's voice descended from above, and the icy seriousness and killing intent from moments ago were shredded in an instant. "Mom—Mom, I was wrong—stop pulling my ear all the time—it hurts, it hurts—"

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 your father's sword strike almost failed to split that thing apart?"

That almost failed? He swung his sword upward with one hand and split the Tailed Beast Bomb in half. Sure, sure, it almost failed... Of course, Su Yu did not dare say that aloud.

"All right, all right, I get it. I was wrong—I was really wrong—let go—"

The woman did not let go. Still twisting Su Yu's ear, she flew out of Kurama's head and descended toward the ground. The moment she left, Kurama's figure dissipated, fading 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 was subtly aggrieved and helpless, as if saying, There was nothing I could do. That woman's glare was terrifying.

With his ear twisted by his mother, Su Yu flew down before the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man—Su Yu's father—stood there with his arms crossed. Seeing 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 he had been flicked on the forehead too. His expression became that of a wronged child who had been falsely accused.

"That old man made the first move!" Su Yu protested righteously. "He put me in Slytherin because he was waiting for those people to come cause trouble! He wanted to test me! He wanted to see what I was capable of! He—"

"So you fired a Tailed Beast Bomb at him?" His father's voice carried helpless 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 gleaming faintly beneath the moonlight, his blue eyes calmly watching the family of three through his spectacles. His expression was subtle and complicated, with a trace of embarrassment, as if it said, "All right, I admit I bear some responsibility too."

"Professor Dumbledore," Su Yu's mother said. Her voice was soft and gentle, exactly the same as when she had just twisted Su Yu's ear, yet 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 there was absolutely no room for negotiation.

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

The Forbidden Forest fell silent for roughly three seconds.

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

"Ah, yes, yes!" His voice carried an eager, "That's right, that's right, we're on the same side!" tone. "Dumbledore! You'd better give us husband and wife an explanation!"

So I was just a freebie, then? What about my explanation? How did it suddenly become the two of you? Su Yu raged helplessly inwardly...

Su Yu's father shifted slightly and leaned close to Su Yu's mother's ear.

"Um—" he lowered his voice until only Su Yu's mother could hear him. "Didn't we come here to beat this little brat up? Why did we suddenly change targets?"

Su Yu's mother rolled her eyes at him. The meaning behind that look was perfectly clear—"Who are you calling a little brat?"

She turned back toward Dumbledore, her expression returning to that gentle, unquestionable smile.

"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 vigorously beside her.

"Right, right! Exactly!" His voice was filled with an eager, "My wife is right," enthusiasm.

Su Yu's mother rolled her eyes at him again.

Dumbledore stood across from them, looking at the family of three. His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. He wanted to say something—he really did—but their 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.