Night Prowl

"Make way, sorry for the trouble..."

They were in Herbology at the moment, and Eli was squeezing his way toward Draco Malfoy.

When Transfiguration had ended earlier, Eli had clearly seen Draco's sour expression.

Of course, he knew why.

They had finally managed to get along last night. They could be considered friends now, right?

After all, Draco had never been so friendly with anyone before.

Yet he had seen his new friend chatting and laughing with Harry Potter, someone he had a grudge against.

And just like that, this tsundere brat had thrown a tantrum.

Eli let out a long sigh. Sigh... are kids these days all like this?

On one side were his own brother and good friend; on the other, his roommate and new friend.

Yet these two sides just happened to hate each other.

Eli could already imagine Draco and Harry, those two lifelong rivals, fighting in the future while he stood beside them, not knowing whom to help.

But how could I possibly argue with a brat?

So Eli decided to clear things up with Draco first.

After pushing past several people, he finally squeezed in beside Draco.

Who knew the guy would glance at him, then pretend not to see him?

Eli leaned closer. "Hey, why did you leave so quickly earlier?"

"Hmph." Draco haughtily turned his head away.

Well, aren't I hot-tempered!

I came to explain myself, and you're playing tsundere with me? Fine, I won't bother with you. Do whatever you want.

"Hmph."

Eli turned his head away too.

Explain? Explain my ass.

Goyle, standing nearby, could not make sense of the situation and secretly glanced at Eli.

Eli glared at him. "What are you looking at? Watch out, or I'll eat you. I can swallow little kids whole!"

"Ah..."

Eli's suddenly ferocious expression gave Goyle such a fright that he cried out.

Professor Sprout at the front looked over in surprise.

I'm teaching perfectly well here. Why are you screaming so loudly?

"Mr. Goyle? This is class time. Please do not make strange noises. Thank you."

The greenhouse immediately erupted in laughter, and Goyle's face turned red with embarrassment.

After class, some of the young wizards went to eat, while others arranged to go play together.

Eli, however, waited until most people had left before heading to the Seventh Floor of the castle.

"Tapestry... tapestry... Found it!"

A huge tapestry hung on the wall along one side of the corridor, depicting a Troll beating foolish Barnabas with a club.

Apparently, a man named Barnabas had once tried to make Trolls dance ballet for him.

Naturally, he had ended up being beaten senseless by one.

But Eli had not come here to look for a tapestry.

His true destination was the Room of Requirement!

It was an extremely mysterious room, rumored to have been personally built by Hogwarts' founders.

It usually vanished, only appearing when someone who truly needed it came along.

"How did you get in again?"

Too much time had passed, and he could not quite remember how to open the Room of Requirement.

After trying for quite a while, the Room of Requirement finally appeared when he walked back and forth three times while repeatedly chanting in his mind, I need a magical laboratory.

On the wall opposite the tapestry, a massive door suddenly emerged from the previously smooth surface.

The door was carved with many exquisite ancient patterns.

It opened on its own.

Eli walked inside and found, sure enough, a spacious laboratory.

It contained all sorts of magical instruments he had never even seen before.

There were also piles of unused parchment.

Eli was extremely satisfied with the laboratory.

"I heard this thing can provide anything you need."

Eli suddenly felt like playing around with it.

He silently said in his mind, I need a bathroom.

The sound of flushing water rang out, and a room indeed appeared in the corner. When he entered, it was a bathroom.

The Room of Requirement truly was miraculous.

Eli did not waste any more time. He had come here for a matter of life and death.

He sat down, calmed himself, and began studying Voldemort's memories.

In fact, as soon as Eli had discovered the hidden danger behind his growing magic, he had begun searching Voldemort's memories for a solution.

When it came to researching souls, if Voldemort claimed second place, no one would dare claim first.

Not even Dumbledore.

And Eli had found a spell.

Voldemort had obtained this spell when he traveled through Egypt and infiltrated a pyramid.

Or rather, this was Voldemort's improved version.

Egypt was also a nation with a highly flourishing magical civilization, though it had a terrible reputation in the Wizarding World.

Because it produced an abundance of Dark wizards!

Many Dark wizards famous around the world came from Egypt.

Dark Magic there had also developed greatly, most of it consisting of extremely vicious curses targeting the soul.

In Egypt, this soul-targeting Dark Magic was called Necromancy.

Making the dead stand again and reviving souls—this was the terrifying aspect of Necromancy.

They excelled at making use of the dead.

And Voldemort's later army of Inferi had been created through Necromancy.

Back then, only pharaohs could learn Necromancy. When they died, the records were naturally buried with them in their tombs.

Voldemort wanted to build an army of the dead, and he also hoped to research souls in order to achieve immortality.

So he entered the pyramid and obtained these Necromancy teachings.

Among them was a spell that could strip a living creature of its soul.

Voldemort had taken a liking to this spell and improved it, turning it into Dark Magic capable of stripping souls away and devouring them for his own use!

The incantation was [Soul Devouring].

According to Eli's understanding, Voldemort had created this spell because of his Horcruxes.

In pursuit of immortality, Voldemort had split his soul apart to create Horcruxes.

As long as the Horcruxes remained intact, he would never die.

Didn't that sound great?

But was immortality really so easy to achieve?

A person's soul was originally a whole. Could it possibly remain fine after being split apart?

And throughout history, everyone who had made a Horcrux had only split their soul once.

But this guy was different. He was especially afraid of death and had split his soul seven times.

That had made him moody and extremely irritable.

Of course, he had also realized the danger of his weakened soul.

So he invented this spell in an attempt to strengthen it.

This was exactly what Eli needed!

However, every medicine had its poison.

This spell was not perfect either.

Someone else's soul was still someone else's soul. Even if he absorbed it, hidden dangers would remain.

But there was no better solution now.

The speed of his magic growth had already surpassed the speed of his soul's growth.

If this continued, he would be finished sooner or later!

"There's no other way!"

Eli took out a bottle containing a cockroach.

"Let me see whether this spell actually works!"

Using Dark Magic for the first time—especially Dark Magic that targeted souls—made Eli nervous.

He drew his pale Wand and aimed it at the cockroach, which was still scurrying about.

"Soul Devouring!"

An invisible force of suction burst from the tip of the Wand.

It seemed as though an invisible chain had connected to the cockroach.

The cockroach, which had been moving about energetically, suddenly began struggling violently.

That chain ripped its soul out by the roots, and the cockroach stopped struggling completely.

Eli was extremely nervous now, because the gray soul from the cockroach was about to enter his body directly.

Though this wisp of soul was pitifully weak, he was still deeply worried.

After all, anything involving the soul was a serious matter, no matter how small.

But there was no turning back now.

Eli waited for the soul to enter his body, but suddenly, that gray soul sank into his Wand.

"Huh? Did my Wand steal it?"

This sudden development caught Eli completely off guard.

There had been no such situation in Voldemort's memories.

Wasn't this way beyond the syllabus?

Still a complete beginner in magic, Eli was at a total loss.

But after a while, the tip of the Wand expelled another orb of pure white light.

Although it was even smaller than the already tiny gray orb, its pristine white glow brought a sense of reassurance.

The orb plunged directly into Eli's body.

He could feel a satisfaction coming from his soul.

His soul seemed to have grown a tiny bit stronger—so slightly that he might not have noticed if he had not paid close attention.

"Looks like... it worked?"

The result was obvious. He had succeeded!

Eli had successfully found a way to strengthen his soul!

Eli raised his Wand and gently stroked it.

"This Wand is really something!"

If he had guessed correctly, the Wand had just removed all the impurities from the soul.

Eli checked himself and found none of the distracting thoughts described in the memories after absorbing a soul.

So it was his Wand that had directly turned the soul into pure soul energy.

That meant the only side effect of this method was gone!

"As expected, being the younger brother of the chosen son comes with perks."

After packing his things, Eli returned to the dormitory.

If nothing unexpected happened, Eli's future life would involve not only attending class and studying, but also finding ways to absorb souls.

Murder, then!

He would start with his roommate—kill the tsundere Draco first, then take out Crabbe and Goyle.

Destroy the evidence, frame someone else, and from then on embark upon... Azkaban!

Eli immediately dismissed that dangerous thought. Unless he wanted a one-way trip to the wizard prison of Azkaban, he had better behave himself.

Absorbing animal souls was the safest option.

But where could he find the most animals?

Eli thought of the Forbidden Forest.

"Starting today, I'll become the man who rules the Forbidden Forest!"

What? School rules? I don't know them. Never even heard of them.

Night fell, dark and windy.

Eli quietly slipped out of bed.

"Mm..."

A sound nearly scared Eli into reflexively firing a Killing Curse.

It was Goyle.

Goyle was currently looking for a bathroom in his dream.

Seeing Goyle about to wake up, Eli aimed his Wand at him to avoid being exposed.

"Sorry, brother. Stupefy!"

A red flash struck Goyle, sending him back to sleep. By then, he had already found a toilet in his dream...

In the dark castle, a sneaky figure crept along.

"Next time, I'm definitely learning the Disillusionment Charm first!"

After a nerve-racking journey, Eli finally reached the Forbidden Forest.

"Phew..."

He finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had nearly run into the Weasley Family twins just now.

Those two were princes of nighttime wandering and professionals at pranks.

Now he no longer had to worry about being discovered.

Eli entered the Forbidden Forest. Other than being a little dark, it did not seem particularly dangerous.

Along the way, aside from absorbing a few rabbits, he encountered nothing else.

And so, he ventured deeper and deeper. Like a newborn calf unafraid of tigers, Eli failed to notice that he was approaching the depths of the Forbidden Forest.

Suddenly, Eli heard a clicking sound above his head.

He looked up. "Fuck!"

The horrifying sight made Eli cry out.

A gigantic spider was slowly descending toward him from above.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Intense fear gave rise to intense fury.

Terrified out of his wits, an inexplicable fire burned within Eli.

As he stared at the giant spider, a powerful killing intent surged through him!

A fierce green flash streaked past, and the giant spider fell limply to the ground.

"Phew... phew..."

Eli panted heavily. After experiencing fear and anger in such a short time, then casting such a powerful spell, he was left gasping for breath.

"Damn it, I actually ran into an Acromantula!"

He had not expected to wander so deep inside. He had been far too careless!

If he had not reacted in time just now, he probably would have died here.

This was not a place to linger. Eli pointed his Wand at the giant spider's body, intending to leave once he had absorbed it.

"Soul Devouring."

"Soul Devouring!"

"Hm?" Eli tried several times, but there was no response.

It seemed to be nothing more than an empty shell without a soul.

Just as Eli was feeling puzzled, the sounds of fighting came from the distance.