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Chapter 926: Harry is Discovered
Chapter 926: Harry is Discovered
When Snape mentioned the name Grindelwald, not only did Voldemort fall silent, but Kyle, who was eavesdropping outside, was also stunned.
What was going on? Why would Snape suddenly bring up Grindelwald, who had been out of the wizarding world for nearly seventy years and had been confined to Nurmengard? This accusation seemed rather unreasonable.
However, Lucius seemed to have grasped at a lifeline, and after a brief moment of silence, he frantically agreed with Snape's words.
"Yes, Master, Severus is right, it must be him!"
"Draco... he couldn't possibly possess the Elder Wand."
"Master, Draco..."
"Silence, Lucius," Voldemort said softly but with undeniable authority.
Lucius Malfoy immediately fell silent, and Kyle could only hear the dull sound of footsteps coming from the room.
"Give me an explanation, Severus," Voldemort demanded. "Why should I believe you, a defeated and imprisoned failure? What right does he have to control the Elder Wand? Or is it that you don't want Draco to help me control it?"
"If I'm not mistaken, you are still Draco's godfather, aren't you?"
Kyle suddenly felt a chill blow from the room across the hall, as if knives were slicing through his skin.
Voldemort's voice was devoid of emotion and carried an unconcealed intent to kill. Kyle could sense that if Snape said the wrong thing... or if Voldemort perceived it as wrong, he would not hesitate to kill him.
The rustling sound of something crawling returned, this time accompanied by frequent hissing, as if several snakes were spitting venom.
It seemed to be the Erumpent Snake that Harry had mentioned, one of Voldemort's Horcruxes that he kept by his side.
In fact, this Erumpent Snake was also connected to Kyle.
Originally, the Horcrux was supposed to be Nagini, the Blood Curse Beast... a pure-blood wizard transformed into a snake, and also Voldemort's most favored perfect vessel.
Voldemort was extremely particular about choosing his Horcruxes, one might even say he was a perfectionist.
Aside from his first practice Horcrux, the diary, his remaining Horcruxes—the Crown, the Cup, the Pendant Box, and the Resurrection Stone—were all legendary treasures with special significance.
Therefore, as his final Horcrux, it couldn't be chosen lightly.
Blood Curse Beasts were already rare, and snake-type Blood Curse Beasts were even more so. Although Nagini was a snake, she was essentially a pure-blood wizard, and even after being turned into a Horcrux, she would not taint Voldemort's soul.
What a perfect vessel, Voldemort was extremely satisfied.
Unfortunately, this vessel was taken from him on the very night of his resurrection. Kyle had forcefully snatched it from his side.
There was no scheme or trickery involved; it was a brazen robbery, taking advantage of Dumbledore's presence.
Voldemort had searched for Nagini, but to no avail. She had vanished without a trace, and even the magical traces she had left behind had been thoroughly erased.
With no choice, Voldemort settled for the largest Erumpent Snake in the Albanian forest as his Horcrux.
This was also the reason why he hated Kyle so much.
The hatred between Voldemort and Harry stemmed from fate, a necessity to kill each other. With Kyle, it was a combination of new and old grudges that had built up over time.
The stakes were incredibly high.
...
"Although this is just my speculation, I believe the possibility is quite high," Snape's calm voice echoed through the room, unperturbed by Voldemort's attitude.
"You're very confident, Severus."
"I just thought of it," Snape said. "Master, you must know that the previous owner of the Elder Wand was that Dark Wizard, and Dumbledore defeated him, taking the Elder Wand as a trophy."
"Of course, I am aware of that."
"That's what I wanted to say," Snape continued. "You defeated Dumbledore and took the Elder Wand from him. The situation is almost identical to what happened then."
Even without seeing what was happening inside the room, Kyle could guess that Voldemort was wearing a smug expression.
Although he had used some underhanded methods, it was true that he had defeated Dumbledore and taken his wand. It was a fact and a memorable victory worth celebrating.
"But you didn't gain control of the Elder Wand."
Snape's voice continued.
"Moreover, this happened before Draco killed Dumbledore. It seems that defeating an opponent doesn't earn the Elder Wand's favor; only killing can achieve that."
"Severus, I never knew you liked to speak such useless words."
Voldemort said coldly, "That's why I need Draco's help."
"But Master, Grindelwald is still alive," Snape said.
His words once again plunged the room into silence.
"According to our deduction, if the Elder Wand belongs to the wizard who killed its previous owner, then Dumbledore, who didn't kill Grindelwald, naturally couldn't possess the Elder Wand.
"Perhaps he was just using it temporarily, like you..."
"Boom!"
Something inside the room seemed to have been shattered, and a series of explosions echoed, creating a hole in the door at the entrance of the passage. Something seemed to have brushed past Kyle's hair.
But Kyle stood there, motionless.
Although he had been thinking about how to make the crack in the door bigger so he could see the situation inside, he didn't intend to make it this large.
He could even clearly see Voldemort's face, that pale, snake-like visage.
Snape stood opposite him, his expression calm, while Lucius knelt on the ground, tightly holding Draco, who was terrified and pale as marble. If one were to judge by appearance alone, it was hard to imagine that Lucius was a living person.
Kyle was tense, unsure if Voldemort could see through his disguise, and could only hope that he wouldn't.
Fortunately, Voldemort's mind was occupied with something else, and he didn't turn around or notice the entrance to the secret passage in the room.
Kyle breathed a silent sigh of relief and, as a precaution, he quietly took two steps back, hiding himself around a corner, further away from the door.
In the room, Voldemort was deep in thought. Suddenly, he felt that Snape's words made sense.
Indeed, if Dumbledore couldn't defeat Grindelwald, how could he possibly possess the Elder Wand?
But if that was the case, wouldn't his carefully planned move to snatch the Elder Wand from him become a joke? Voldemort's face turned from pale to red, and a sense of humiliation for being played with suddenly overwhelmed him, causing him to lose control of his emotions. His wand flicked fiercely.
"Crucio!"
Lucius and Draco fell to the ground simultaneously, their bodies curling up, clutching their necks, and making terrible wheezing sounds from their throats.
For Voldemort, casting the Cruciatus Curse on two targets at once was as easy as eating.
Snape stood by, his expression indifferent, as if the ones suffering were not his friend and protege, but two common insects.
Narcissa, who had fainted earlier, escaped this time.
Kyle heard heavy breathing from the front, likely one of Harry's companions reacting unconsciously to Voldemort's Cruciatus Curse.
This made Kyle's heart race, and he watched the side of Voldemort's face in the room with tension.
Thankfully...
The Malfoys' painful whimpers echoed in the room, but Voldemort didn't notice the commotion on this side.
"Do you think I should go to Nurmengard, Severus?"
After an unknown amount of time, Voldemort finally calmed down and lifted the Cruciatus Curse from Lucius and Draco.
However, they remained on the ground, their mouths moving as if pleading for mercy.
"Master, we have witnessed your extraordinary magic with this wand many times. I don't believe anyone can match you."
"But Harry Potter is still alive," Voldemort said, twirling the Elder Wand with his fingers.
"My yew wand obeyed me perfectly, but it couldn't kill Harry Potter. Once it failed, and once I felt its resistance."
"Can you believe it, Severus? Harry Potter actually blocked an attack from the Dark Lord with a ridiculous Disarming Charm. My wand didn't want to attack him."
Snape kept his head down, silent.
Kyle, on the other hand, was trying to recall when Harry and Voldemort had met.
The failure was understandable; it was over a decade ago when Voldemort was killed by his own Killing Curse.
But what about the resistance?
To be honest, Kyle couldn't remember any face-to-face encounters between Harry and Voldemort... except for the Triwizard Tournament.
He remembered being transformed into a door key and transported to an unknown hill by the Triwizard Cup, where Voldemort had already completed his resurrection ritual and controlled Harry.
Perhaps they had briefly fought before Kyle arrived.
The outcome, of course, was obvious; Harry was thoroughly defeated, which was why he was controlled.
"I don't want that to happen a third time," Voldemort said as he walked to the Erumpent. His fingers traced the middle head.
"Ollivander, under torture, told me about the brother wands. He suggested I use someone else's wand."
"I am willing to serve you," Snape said without hesitation, taking out his wand and offering it respectfully.
But Voldemort didn't move.
"Can you guarantee that your wand doesn't have a so-called 'brother'?" Voldemort asked, pinching the wand between two fingers, examining it for a while before putting it down.
Snape shook his head.
He didn't understand wands very well and didn't even know what a brother wand was. Surely it couldn't be that the wand cores came from the same magical creature?
A dragon's heartstring could make at least five wands, and a unicorn hair was even more impressive, as a single tail hair could make three wand cores, and it wasn't a one-time use; three to five wand cores could be taken annually.
Could it be that these wands couldn't attack each other?
If so, the wizarding world would be in chaos, given the limited number of unicorns in Britain.
Or perhaps it was a unique characteristic of phoenix tail feathers; as far as he knew, both Voldemort's and Harry's wands had phoenix tail feather cores.
Unaware of the secrets behind this, Kyle wisely remained silent.
"None of us know if the wand in our hands has a close brother," Voldemort said softly. "So I need a very special wand... like the Elder Wand, which shows no mercy and only respects strength. Destiny's wand..."
"Do you understand, Severus?"
"Yes, Master," Snape said, quickly putting away his wand.
"But Master, if you go to Nurmengard, what about the battle here? Our offensive is being constantly dismantled by them."
"That's disappointing news," Voldemort said softly. "My elite force, the noble Death Eaters, defeated by a group of teachers, half-bloods, and Mudbloods.
"Severus, do I still need such useless followers?"
"This is because... we were betrayed." Snape stammered, "The rogue wizards turned against us, not only leaking our battle plans but also launching a surprise attack from behind."
"Borealis..." Voldemort's hand paused on the Erumpent's head, his scarlet eyes filled with fury, "He will know the price of betraying the Dark Lord is steep."
"Well, even useless things have their value. It would be a shame to discard them all."
"It's time to end this farce." Voldemort stood up and looked at the prone Draco Malfoy on the ground, his wand tip moving slightly.
After a moment's hesitation, he chose not to kill his opponent.
Not out of mercy, but because they were still useful.
Of course, if the trip to Nurmengard didn't yield the desired results, he would not hesitate to kill Draco.
"Let me go find the boy, Master," Snape continued, "I'll bring you Potter. I know he's in the castle."
"There's no need, Severus. Harry Potter is not important. The real problem is the other boy," Voldemort said indifferently, "I hope you can bring him to me. You know who I'm talking about."
"But Master, Harry Potter..."
"I said he's not important." Voldemort interrupted, "It's interesting, do you remember what we just said?
I said that none of you understand Potter like I do. He will come to me, I know his weakness. He can't bear to see others fall around him, and he will do everything in his power to stop it.
"I gave him the chance to kill me, exposing my weakness, and look, he came."
"Boom!"
Without warning, the secret passage entrance exploded, shattering the door.
Harry and Ron were knocked down by the blast, their Invisibility Cloak falling off, followed by Hermione, who was also exposed.
Only Kyle, who had changed his position in advance, was spared from the explosion due to the stone wall at the corner shielding him.
The expressions of those in the room varied upon seeing the sudden appearance of the three. Lucius and Draco were stunned.
Of course, they had been like this ever since Harry arrived, or perhaps this was the expression of anyone who had been tortured by Voldemort with the Cruciatus Curse.
Narcissa remained unconscious, and even the explosion couldn't wake her.
Snape's expression, however, was fascinating. He seemed completely taken aback by Harry's presence, his mouth agape and eyes wide, instinctively drawing his wand.
Coincidentally or not, while he was looking at Harry, his wand tip was subtly aimed at Voldemort's back.
But he quickly adjusted his wand's position, unnoticed by anyone in the room, including Voldemort himself.
At that moment, Voldemort was observing the disheveled Harry with interest.
"I've been wondering why you didn't come, Potter," Voldemort turned his head, "I thought I didn't understand you enough. I thought you were afraid, but you found another path I didn't know about."
He surveyed the secret passage.
"It seems I do understand you, don't I..."
"Run!"
Without hesitation, Harry, Ron, and Hermione began to scramble and crawl towards the direction behind them.
Because they knew that staying there would mean certain death at Voldemort's hands.
Harry felt guilty; he had been fooled again.
He had seen the Erumpent and rushed over, not expecting Voldemort to be there too.
Even after discovering him, he didn't flee immediately but hid and eavesdropped on their conversation.
"I'm sorry..."
Ron apologized as he ran, "It's all my fault. If I hadn't made a noise, the Dark Lord wouldn't have found us."
"Don't talk about it now!" Hermione had a gash on her leg from a sharp stone, but she ran swiftly towards the exit as if she didn't feel any pain.
She had a plan in mind, bold and potentially devastating to Voldemort.
It was the Whomping Willow at the passage entrance.
She knew about this unique and powerful plant.
Any wizard struck by its branches, even Hogwarts professors, would be injured.
Only Professor Sprout, an expert in Herbology, could tend to it.
From Voldemort's words, it was clear he didn't know about the secret passage from Hogwarts to the Shrieking Shack, nor what was at the entrance.
This was their chance.
If they could reach the exit first and provoke the Whomping Willow, they might catch Voldemort off guard.
Being struck by branches thicker than arms would surely hurt even Voldemort... Hermione thought.
Of course, this plan relied on them escaping the passage before Voldemort caught them.
"Merlin above..." Hermione prayed silently, quickening her pace.
For the first time, she was grateful for the passage's narrowness, at least slowing Voldemort's pursuit.
The trio ran, but if any of them had turned back, they would have noticed no one was chasing them.
Well, not exactly. Voldemort and Snape were indeed following, but the scene differed from their imagination.
Voldemort strolled leisurely through the passage, as if taking a walk, with no urgency to capture them. It was like a hunter toying with his prey.
...
(End of Chapter)
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