The Death of Tom

Tom stood in the valley, holding the Slytherin's Wand in his left hand and rubbing the Resurrection Stone on his thumb with his right.

Horcrux... also called Horcrux, are a type of evil Dark Magic that grants immortality.

As a former Horcrux, Tom is naturally familiar with this, and even understands it more deeply than anyone else.

But few people know that the inventor of Horcrux was the Herpo the Foul.

He was a black wizard of ancient Greece, not only Parseltongue, but also the first being to create Basilisk.

Calling him the Dark Lord of that era is no exaggeration.

As the first Horcrux, is he truly immortal?

In a sense... yes.

Greece, beginning around 800 BC.

In 146 BC, Rome annexed Macedonia and Greece, turning them into provinces, and eventually incorporated the entire Mediterranean Sea into its inland sea.

Thus ended the 650-year-long era of ancient Greece.

According to Slytherin's Notes's notes: The Four Founders encountered Herpo the Foul.

From ancient Greece to the era of the Four Founders, there was a span of over a thousand years.

This is far older than Nicolas Flamel's legendary love story spanning six hundred years; isn't that considered immortality?

Of course it counts!

However, Herpo the Foul was unlucky; he ran into the Four Founders.

That great war raged to the very edge of the Wizarding World, plunging the heavens and earth into darkness, even obliterating the Great Dao...

Four against one, the Four Founders had a slight advantage, but they were unable to completely kill Herpo the Foul.

After all, Horcrux possesses Herpo the Foul, granting him immortality; even if his physical body dies, he can quickly revive.

For a thousand years, the Four Founders have been unable to ascertain the number of his Horcrux or their locations.

So Slytherin invented a spell to sever Herpo the Foul's connection to the Horcrux Horcrux.

Then... the Four Founders killed Herpo the Foul, and he was completely unable to revive!

Slytherin was also the first wizard to create a way to counter Horcrux magic.

Slytherin wrote about this incident and the magic in his notebook.

When Tom found the notebook, he already knew how to sever the connection to the Horcrux.

But he was only a sixteen-year-old soul, and his magic was frozen at that age.

He couldn't possibly cast magic of that level. But Slytherin left the magic in his wand.

By using the wand, the connection can be severed.

Tom had been preparing for this night for four years. He grabbed his wand and hissed.

The Basilisk pattern on the wand slithered out and wrapped around his arm, a truly bizarre scene.

Tom's magic surged like a tide, and after he finished chanting the spell, the snake had already slithered over his body.

The Basilisk's immense magical power surged forth instantly, filling the entire cave.

Immediately afterwards, the Basilisk let out a scream that was completely unlike that of a snake, and its enormous figure was projected into the cave.

Under Tom's watchful eye, the Basilisk gradually transformed into a wizard, his mouth filled with a magic wand and his entire body shrouded in black robes.

The wizard stretched out his hand—a hand with only four bony fingers—and with a slight bend, he pulled Tom's soul out.

Within his soul, seven white threads cascaded out from his body, like seven small, writhing snakes.

Two of the threads had broken off at some point, but there was still a thread connecting to the Slytherin Ring on Tom's hand.

Tom knelt on one knee, his head bowed, his arm holding the cane trembling uncontrollably, and he slid it down hard.

The black-robed wizard pulled his wand from his mouth and slid it downwards.

All the threads snapped instantly.

Hogwarts

Gryffindor dormitory

After attending the Easter dinner, Harry lay in bed, idly flipping through Snape's textbooks.

Since Christmas, he has gained a different understanding of Snape and has grown to like the book more and more.

Harry turned the textbook to the side and carefully studied the spell written in messy handwriting.

It seems that Snape, in his youth, put a lot of thought into this spell.

After countless revisions, these few words were finally crammed together in the corner of that page:

Levicorpus (silent)

Harry stared at the two words in parentheses: Silent... It must refer to the Nonverbal Spell.

Harry didn't know if he could master this special spell. He still wasn't quite comfortable with the Nonverbal Spell.

But he still wanted to learn it so he could show off in front of Snape later.

There's nothing we can do about it.

In a recent Defence Against Dark Magic class, Harry surprisingly started raising his hand to answer questions.

But Snape used to call his name proactively; now, when he raises his hand, he's completely ignored.

Harry didn't realize that he was now behaving exactly like a "love-starved child" who felt neglected by his father but still craved praise.

Harry pointed his wand randomly at a spot, flicked it upwards, and silently chanted, "Levicorpus!"

"Aaaaaaah!"

A blinding flash of light erupted, and chaos ensued in the room. Ron let out a scream, waking Neville and the others.

Ron was sleeping naked, but now he was hanging upside down in the air, as if an invisible hook had caught his penis and was holding him upside down.

Harry's attention was drawn to something by Ron; he paused for several seconds before exclaiming, "Sorry!"

Harry reached for the Potions book, frantically flipping through the page he had just been looking for, trying to find a way to break the spell.

Just then, he let out a scream even more agonizing than Ron's.

Harry covered the scar on his forehead and roared.

At that moment, he felt as if something had been cut off from his body.

Neville and Dean, seeing Harry banging his head against the ground, rushed out to call for help from the other students.

Ron was stunned.

A moment later, he realized... No, Harry, get up!

I'm hanging naked in mid-air, what if the other students...? They're practically trying to kill me?!

William stood outside the valley, sensing a powerful surge of magical energy.

The fluctuation appeared quickly and disappeared just as quickly.

He was genuinely curious about what kind of magic could sever the connection between Horcrux.

Unfortunately... I wonder where he hid that Slytherin's Notes.

It's not hard to understand why Tom would agree to return the wand to stop the volcano from erupting.

Like Voldemort, Tom's greatest desire has always been to rule the world... forever.

To achieve this goal, he was willing to sacrifice his handsome appearance, abandon his humanity, and give up his emotions.

He would also agree to temporarily relinquish the Slytherin's Wand.

Tom would definitely be willing to take it back later in exchange for control of Ilvermorny.

He once wanted to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, and after failing the job application, he even cursed the position.

It's easy to imagine how deep that obsession went!

This is human nature, the greedy nature of humanity.

Hermione's analysis in this regard was spot on, and it was thanks to her insight that we had the opportunity to save Ilvermorny.

Footsteps sounded, and William looked up to see Tom emerging from the valley.

"Let's go, we're going to Ilvermorny now."

His demeanor has completely changed; he has become much more confident.

Or rather, they were complacent and self-satisfied.

Of course, he was very pleased with himself. In just four years, he had completely shed his identity as Horcrux and become a high-ranking member of the Scourers. He was about to take control of Ilvermorny.

Voldemort, that foolish true form, failed to conquer United Kingdom for decades, instead turning himself into that inhuman, snake-like creature!

"Let's go... The volcano is about to erupt, and we still need to save Ilvermorny's students."

Tom smirked, "I love being the Chosen One..."

Suddenly, pain struck.

A stinging sensation.

A tearing pain.

A sharp, stabbing pain.

The sharp sword sliced through soft flesh—chest, heart. Tom's body tensed instantly, resisting the pain.

When the pain yanked Tom out of his daze, he cried out in agony, covered in blood.

Tom turned his head with difficulty and saw Targaryen smiling, holding a Goblin sword in his hand, which he plunged into Tom's back.

To ensure Tom's certain death, William gripped his wand, and the spell emanated from his body, revealing a section of exceptionally dazzling, bright light.

At this moment, the world seemed to fall into complete silence.

Tom stared wide-eyed, breathing heavily... He lay alone on the ground, looking at Targaryen with confusion.

He was utterly confused...

"Why?!"

Why!!

William said in a hoarse voice, "Because I'm a good man, Tom!"

In a daze, it seemed as if there were two faces, one Targaryen and one Stark, constantly overlapping and separating.

The double image finally disappeared, Tom could see the face clearly. He murmured:

"You're not Targaryen, you're William Stark?"

William nodded slightly.

Tom forced a smile, his breathing growing weaker as he watched helplessly as the other person took the wand and ring.

"When... did you capture the Targaryen?!"

"Wrong." William wiped the blood from his sword, a slightly mocking smile playing on his lips.

"There was never Targaryen. He is me, and I am him. You were... deceived from the very beginning."

You idiot!

William smiled at him and, with clear mouthing, slowly said, "Thank you, Tom. Enjoy your death."

I will send Voldemort to see you.

Tom heard nothing; William's voice seemed to fade into the distance, and his gaze was unfocused.

Tom couldn't believe this was the end of his life.

But he could only struggle helplessly, gasp for breath, and face that final end... He... or his past self... or his future self... will all come to an end.

He wanted William to say a few more words, but all he could see was a dazzling light and a buzzing sound in his ears.

Then came darkness.

Tom Riddle is gone.

William stood aside and, after confirming that Tom was truly dead, searched the body again.

But the Slytherin notebook was not found.

William was a little disappointed, but having the Resurrection Stone and the wand was enough.

He glanced at the time; it was almost time for the train to completely erupt. He transformed into a sea eagle and flew towards Ilvermorny.

Tom's body lay in the weeds, slowly growing cold, his face still bearing the resentment of his death.

A cold wind howled, and a crow appeared on the old, crooked tree in front of the cave, seemingly ready to enjoy its meal.

An old man appeared out of nowhere, as if he had always been there.

At least the crow wasn't awakened, because it didn't see the old man at all.

The old man was dressed very strangely, resembling neither a shaman, nor a Daoist, nor a monk...

Priest, Imam, Buddha... the adornments of many religious sects can be found on him.

The old man stared at Tom's corpse, his lifeless eyes seeming to see right through him, gazing directly into nothingness.

Tom's frozen expression betrayed his pain and regret.

A gust of wind blew by, and Tom and the old man disappeared.

The crow cawed in confusion, flapped its wings, and flew away, searching in vain for its vanished dinner.