Ch. 921Side story: Daphne's trip to Australia (12)

Daphne fought the Australia Wizards, turning their spells and a hidden lightning trap against them. After she killed six of the Thirteen Starbursts and crippled seven, the surviving white-robed wizards closed in, and two began transforming as Daphne prepared to face them.

  • Daphne seized control of the blonde witch’s black chains and suspended her, then blocked the other wizards’ spells and sent a Killing Curse back at its caster.
  • An old wizard intercepted the returning curse with the bundle he carried, knocking the caster down, while Daphne summoned a whirlwind to stop the incoming attacks.
  • Daphne used the whirlwind to gather and combine the room’s Yin-Yang Thunder Powder around the eighteen Australia Wizards, unleashing a massive lightning strike.
  • The blast killed six of the thirteen black-robed wizards and left seven incapacitated, while the five white-robed wizards survived unharmed behind a protective spell.
  • The old wizard threatened Daphne, and the surviving white-robed wizards surrounded her as one grew into a giant and another sprouted membranous wings.

Ch. 922Side story: Daphne's journey to Australia (13)

Daphne faced Nagudinnaf’s five core wizards and discovered how deeply they had altered themselves with an Evil God’s power. After their divine abilities failed to affect her, the Australian wizards attacked, and Daphne prepared to fight back.

  • Two of the five wizards transformed into a towering, scaled giant and a creature with writhing wings, while another revealed a greatsword coated in dark red filth.
  • God's Eye wondered why Daphne, who had no deity power, was unaffected by their divine abilities, and secretly coordinated an attack meant to contaminate her soul.
  • God's Vessel charged Daphne and swung at her head, but she dodged with an Illusory Avatar and formed a Black Sword.
  • God's Sword rushed in with his corrupted greatsword, but Daphne evaded his strike and found herself surrounded by four wizards, with God's Eye still at a distance.
  • Daphne mocked the wizards’ transformations and said she would put them out of their misery as black flames formed a gigantic raven behind her.

Ch. 923Side story: Daphne's trip to Australia (14)

Daphne fought Mathias Payne and the other members of the group, using Golden Runes and defensive magic to survive their attacks. As the four kept pressing her, she began dodging with growing ease, leaving the Eye of God unable to explain how she anticipated their moves.

  • Mathias Payne blocked Daphne's Fiendfyre with his sword, while a witch's spatial-collapse magic was bound and erased by Daphne's Golden Runes.
  • God's Vessel, God's Wings, God's Sword, and God's Hands attacked Daphne in succession, but she evaded or blocked their strikes with spells and a silver shield.
  • The four attackers renewed their assault, and Daphne kept moving while tracing Golden Runes that appeared and vanished without visible effect.
  • The Eye of God warned that something was wrong as he noticed Daphne had become calmer and seemed to predict the attacks.
  • God's Sword complained that Daphne was getting faster, while the Eye of God realized her judgment of their attacks had become more accurate.

Ch. 924Side story: Daphne's trip to Australia (15)

Daphne used the Tower Chapters’ sealing power to immobilize the Australia Wizards and reached the deity’s item beneath the school. After safely retrieving it, she found the wizards had died or gone mad from the backlash of using the Evil God’s power, and left Australia to enjoy the rest of her trip.

  • Daphne used the Spatial Binding Spell to freeze four Australia Wizards and sealed the Eye of God when she realized he was too weak to resist.
  • Daphne descended into the transparent pillar and found an enormous sea anemone surrounding a sculpture of a finger that overwhelmed her senses.
  • Daphne protected herself from the deity item’s influence, confirmed she had not been corrupted, and figured out how to retrieve the sculpture without destroying the island.
  • Daphne returned to find the four Australia Wizards dead and the Eye of God rotting and unable to speak after the binding forced them to bear the cost of their deity power.
  • Daphne left the underground space with the deity item and decided to enjoy the rest of her stay in Australia, possibly visiting Las Vegas.

Ch. 925What are you doing here?

Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered a scorching desert where they could not sense or use magic, and struggled toward a distant Pyramid. Ginny followed with emergency supplies and water, reaching them on her broom as they asked why she had come.

  • Harry, Ron, and Hermione discovered that their magic and the Dream Realm Gate did not work in the desert, so they set off on foot toward the Pyramid.
  • Ginny saw their plight through a Light Gate, packed Hermione’s emergency supplies, and stepped into the desert despite Black Ginny’s warning.
  • Ginny realized the Pyramid seemed to distort distances, then used her stored Flying Broomstick to fly toward Harry and the others.
  • Ginny caught up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione and gave them water from her bag.
  • After drinking, Harry asked Ginny what she was doing there.

Ch. 926Was the secret about to come out?

Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione crossed the desert to reach the Pyramid, where they realized they were trapped in an abnormal realm that prevented most magic from working. Hermione discovered that her Animagus transformation still worked, and she hinted that Jean had told her something about Harry as they planned to climb the Pyramid.

  • Ginny told Harry that she had learned a little Dream Realm magic, while Harry silently questioned her explanation.
  • Harry and Ron arranged three slow Nimbus 3000 trips to carry all four friends across the desert to the Pyramid.
  • Hermione noticed that the sun had not moved and concluded they were outside the real world, where most of their magic could not work.
  • Harry found that only his Mind Magic remained usable, and he concealed a thought after his other abilities failed.
  • The group searched the Pyramid’s base without finding anything, then decided to climb it.
  • Hermione said her Animagus transformation worked and hinted that Jean had told her something about Harry.

Ch. 927Seeing

Harry revealed that he was an Animagus whose form was a vulture, while Hermione showed that she became a large cat. Searching for a way out of the pyramid, Harry discovered that his vulture form could see a recurring black vapor emerging from a stone block, which Hermione suspected might be connected to souls and sky burial.

  • Hermione, Ron, and Ginny learned that Harry had become an Animagus during the summer after his second year, and Hermione transformed into a large cat.
  • Harry revealed his vulture Animagus form, and the group laughed at his bald-headed appearance before flying around the pyramid to search for an exit.
  • Harry spotted faint black vapor appearing on the pyramid's shadowed side, but the others could not see it when they gathered at the location.
  • Ginny suggested that Harry's vulture form might be able to see something the others could not, so Harry transformed again and saw the vapor emerge from a stone block.
  • Hermione recalled that some people in the East practiced sky burial and regarded vultures as divine birds that guided souls to Heaven.

Ch. 928Ancient Runes

Harry discovered hidden ancient Egyptian writing on a stone block and, with Hermione’s help, translated it as a prayer to Osiris. Their attempts to activate it by speaking the prayer failed, and Ginny suggested the writer might have intended it to be read in runes.

  • Harry used Magic Perception to see two lines of blood-red writing on the stone block and copied them down for Hermione.
  • Hermione identified the writing as ancient Egyptian, then used a dictionary from her bag to translate it as a prayer praising Osiris.
  • Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Ginny each tried reciting the prayer, but the stone block did not react.
  • Ginny suggested trying the prayer in runes because the person who left the writing might not have been an Egyptian wizard.

Ch. 929Disdain

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny opened a hidden passage by reciting an ancient Egyptian prayer translated into runes seven times, then descended into a strange place where magic did not work. Harry suspected Voldemort had created the dreamlike world to hide a Horcrux, and the chapter ended with the group still descending while Hermione scorned Harry and Ron’s confusion about the earth’s depth.

  • Ginny suggested that the runic clue might have been left by someone who was not an Egyptian wizard, and Harry translated the prayer into runes.
  • Harry recited the prayer seven times, causing a small doorway to appear in the stone, and the four entered it.
  • Black Ginny recognized the writing as soul-powered and suspected Voldemort had left it while hiding a new Horcrux.
  • Hermione used two flashlights to light the tunnel as the group descended and discussed whether the strange place combined the Dream Realm with reality.
  • Harry proposed that Voldemort had hidden a Horcrux there, and the others continued down the passage despite their fatigue.
  • Ron wondered whether they had reached the earth’s center, and Hermione disdainfully corrected him while Harry struggled to explain.

Ch. 930Underground palace

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville descended into a hidden place where magic worked but Harry could not reach the Dream Realm. They passed through a chamber and corridor filled with unnerving wax figures, then emerged in an underground palace centered on a huge stone sarcophagus.

  • Hermione discovered that magic worked again, but Harry could neither summon the McGonagall Bird nor open the Dream Realm Gate.
  • Harry and the others entered a vast domed chamber filled with thousands of lifelike wax figures bearing identical smiles.
  • The group found a golden door leading to a corridor lined with more wax figures, then followed it to an old wooden staircase.
  • Harry opened a door at the bottom of the stairs, and it vanished after the five entered and the mist cleared.
  • Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville found themselves in an enormous underground palace with a stone sarcophagus at its center.

Ch. 931Downward all the way

Harry and his friends searched an underground burial chamber and found a passage beneath its empty sarcophagus. They descended to a vast pool with no visible exit, and Harry entered the water to investigate.

  • Harry and his friends found themselves in a sealed burial chamber and searched for a way out.
  • Neville suggested checking the stone sarcophagus, and Harry opened it to reveal a passage leading downward.
  • Harry and his friends descended through the passage and reached a large expanse of still, black water.
  • After circling the pool and finding only stone walls, Harry concluded they would have to go underwater.
  • Harry cast a Bubble-Head Charm and entered the water while his friends waited.

Ch. 932Inferi Fish

Harry and his friends discovered that the piranhas guarding the water were Inferi created by Bellatrix, and Harry’s Ball Lightning failed to destroy them. As they searched for a way past the shoal, Ron remembered a spell that could make holy water, and Hermione asked Harry whether he knew it.

  • Harry escaped the water as Inferi piranhas tore through his Protego Totalum, and Hermione identified them as magically altered fish.
  • Neville suggested the fish were Inferi, and Harry and the others concluded that Voldemort was responsible, though Bellatrix had actually created them without knowing they guarded a Horcrux.
  • Harry used Ball Lightning to electrocute the water, but Hermione explained that the lightning had not destroyed the undead fish.
  • Ron recalled that protective magic could counter Inferi and that a spell could turn ordinary water into holy water.
  • Hermione asked Harry whether he knew the spell for making holy water.

Ch. 933The golden snake

Harry and his friends defeated the Inferi piranhas with Holy Water and found a trapped Golden Basilisk in the next chamber. Harry’s Killing Curse bounced off a thin, waxlike coating on the creature, leaving the group to wonder what protected it.

  • Harry enchanted the water with vitality magic, dissolving the Inferi piranhas and making the underwater passage safe.
  • Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville found another passage beneath the water and entered a small room containing a trapped golden snake.
  • Harry spoke to the snake in Parseltongue and learned that it hated humans and was furious at being immobilized.
  • Hermione recognized the snake as a Golden Basilisk and pulled Harry back when it used its petrifying magic.
  • Harry cast the Killing Curse at the basilisk, but the spell bounced off a transparent coating covering its body.
  • Ron and Hermione questioned what kind of protection could stop the Killing Curse, while Harry considered that the coating might not be wizard magic.

Ch. 934An evil genius

Harry identified the golden basilisk’s protection as soul-burning body and explained how Voldemort had combined necromancy and Horcrux methods to preserve its soul and abilities. Unable to connect to the Dream Realm, Harry exposed the apparent Neville beside them as an unknown follower and asked for help.

  • Harry recognized the basilisk’s protection as soul-burning body, an ancient sorcery that burned its victim’s soul while protecting it from magic.
  • Hermione questioned how the basilisk had survived for a month, and Harry explained that Voldemort had made it an Inferius and used Horcrux methods to keep its soul trapped and burning.
  • Harry said ordinary magic would struggle to harm the basilisk and that he could not connect to the Dream Realm, while Ron urged him not to use deity power.
  • Harry addressed the figure beside them as a follower rather than Neville, pointing out that Neville had gone home with Mr. Frank and the others.
  • Hermione and Ron realized they had overlooked Neville’s absence, while Black Ginny reacted with amusement.

Ch. 935Choose one

Harry exposed a powerful being disguised as Neville and learned that breaking the magic trapping them required the destruction of a soul. He chose the hidden second soul inside Ginny, and the being drew it out as black mist.

  • Harry realized Neville was an impostor after the Left Hand of Chaos and Calamity warned him, and confronted the being.
  • The being revealed that he had watched Ron for years and influenced Ron’s growth and talents.
  • The being explained that adding a soul to the Golden Basilisk’s soul-imprisoning magic would break it, but destroy that soul in the process.
  • Harry restrained Ron and Hermione, chose the hidden soul within Ginny, and asked the being to use it to break the magic.
  • The being pulled a black shadow from Ginny, and Ron checked on her after Harry released his restraints.

Ch. 936Breaking the spell

Harry and the others learned that Ginny had unknowingly shared her soul world with a fragment of Voldemort, formerly known as Tom Riddle. After the being in Neville’s form removed the fragment, it destroyed the Golden Basilisk, leaving behind a Lestrange necklace as it disappeared.

  • Ginny recognized the extracted soul fragment as Tom and revealed that it had once been Tom Riddle, prompting Ron and Hermione to identify the name as Voldemort’s.
  • Harry explained that he had sensed something wrong with Ginny’s soul, and Ginny connected the fragment to the diary that had possessed her during her first year.
  • Ginny recalled that she had released the basilisk and attacked Snape while under the diary’s influence, then worried that Snape might be waking up.
  • The being in Neville’s form turned Black Ginny into mist and sent her into the Golden Basilisk, causing the basilisk and its Burning Spirit Body effect to vanish.
  • Harry summoned the McGonagall Bird and the Book of Dreams, while Ron spotted a necklace bearing the Lestrange family crest where the basilisk had stood.
  • Neville’s fading shadow remarked that the exchange had been pleasant and disappeared, leaving Ron with an unexplained sense of loss.

Ch. 937Next time, definitely

Harry and his friends returned from Voldemort’s hidden world with a Horcrux, then learned that their disappearance had frightened the Weasley family and Sirius. The adults scolded them, while Dumbledore comforted Ginny and acknowledged that the adults had failed to notice her possession.

  • After the deity and Golden Basilisk vanished, Harry recognized the pendant as a Horcrux, and the group sealed it in Hermione’s lead box to take to Dumbledore.
  • Harry used the Book of Dreams and the McGonagall Bird to return with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny to their room at Weasley Manor, explaining that they had traveled through a space between the Dream Realm and reality.
  • Sirius found the children after the adults had searched the manor for two hours, and Harry learned that Mrs. Weasley had discovered their rooms empty and called everyone to search.
  • Harry and his friends described their experience, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley scolded them for their recklessness while Mrs. Weasley wept as she hugged Ginny.
  • Dumbledore reassured Mrs. Weasley that Ginny was not to blame and admitted that the adults had failed to notice her possession; Ron’s remark about Ginny’s behavior earned him another smack from his parents.

Ch. 938Refinement

Harry and the Order of the Phoenix discussed the recovered Horcrux and Dumbledore’s estimate that Voldemort was trying to overcome the basilisk body’s weaknesses. In Eastern Mongolia, Voldemort completed his transformation with fire crane blood and prepared to return with his weakness removed.

  • Harry showed the Order of the Phoenix the Lestrange pendant, and Dumbledore advised waiting before destroying it in case Voldemort had placed an alarm spell on it.
  • Dumbledore said Voldemort would likely come to them after finishing research to overcome his basilisk body’s weaknesses, though he was unsure how accurate his estimate was.
  • After the meeting, Dumbledore told Elphias Doge that Voldemort’s repeated creation of Horcruxes might have damaged his ability to develop new magic.
  • In Eastern Mongolia, Voldemort emerged from the ground after his body had adapted to the fire crane blood he had incorporated to eliminate his weakness to cranes.
  • Voldemort declared that no one could stand against him and laughed.

Ch. 939Trouble

After Voldemort attacked Diagon Alley, Harry and the Order of the Phoenix rushed to Hogsmeade, where Dumbledore confronted him in a fierce aerial battle. Sirius revealed that Voldemort had overcome his weakness to roosters, leaving the Order without an easy way to stop him.

  • Hermione woke Harry and Ron with news that Voldemort had attacked Diagon Alley, killing five people and injuring more than thirty.
  • Harry and Ron learned from Sirius that three Aurors had confronted Voldemort and apparently failed to stop him.
  • Dumbledore sent the Order to Hogsmeade and vanished in a burst of fire with Fawkes.
  • Harry traveled with the others to the Hog's Head, where he noticed the pub's standing owner looked strangely familiar.
  • Harry saw Dumbledore and Voldemort fighting as two blazing figures in the sky, and Sirius said the Aurors' roosters had no effect because Voldemort had overcome that weakness.

Ch. 940Brothers

Harry and the others arrived in Hogsmeade, where Jacques Xilieikesi was battling Voldemort in the sky. As Jacques began to falter, Harry discovered that the Hog's Head owner was Aberforth Dumbledore, Albus's younger brother, while Albus stood ready to intervene.

  • Harry and the others found Dumbledore watching Voldemort fight Lord Jacques Xilieikesi above the damaged Hogsmeade.
  • Madam Rosmerta identified Jacques, and Sirius explained that the famed French Flame was a former head of the Xilieikesi family.
  • Harry watched Voldemort overpower Jacques, whose attacks dwindled as he retreated and relied on defensive magic.
  • The Hog's Head owner criticized Jacques's chances, and Dumbledore addressed him as Aberforth.
  • Harry recognized the man as Albus Dumbledore's younger brother, and Aberforth criticized Albus's judgment as Albus prepared to join the fight.
Show
Page 47 of 48