Harry Potter and the Obscurus

Chapter 38 He is the Savior

Whether during Tom Riddle's school years or after he became Voldemort, the Shadowstep Spell was something he had never seen in books or ancient texts.

Perhaps Snape used it during his time as a Death Eater. But someone as proud and arrogant as Voldemort would almost never stoop to studying the magic created by a wizard whose magic was inferior to his own.

Whizzing!

The invisible blade wasn't Harry's way of defeating the Fiery Serpent; he was aiming for Tom Riddle, who was hidden inside Lockhart's body.

Faced with the oncoming attack, Tom Riddle could have easily ducked and escaped unscathed. But how could the most powerful dark wizard of his time possibly stoop to dodging an attack from a second-year student?

A metallic scraping sound came from the transparent shield formed by the Ironclad Charm. The ball of light emitted from the tip of Harry's wand exploded the instant it touched the Ironclad Charm, then transformed into sharp blades that flew outwards.

Looking at the deep scratches embedded in the wall and the wisp of blond hair falling from the corner of his eye, even Tom Riddle, with all his confidence, could no longer underestimate the twelve-year-old boy in front of him.

"What kind of magic is this? Did I really have his strength when I was twelve? The magical flames he used could so easily withstand the Fiery Blaze, could it be the Ancient Blaze? Isn't that something that only those with extremely special family bloodlines can master? This level of magical power far beyond his age, his inspiration for combining and using magic, and his control over the rhythm of battle... If he continues to grow like this..."

Thinking of this, Tom Riddle, who already had a deep belief in mysterious destiny, seemed to recall once again the prophecy that Snape had revealed to him.

A boy born at the end of July will become the savior who has the ability to defeat Voldemort.

……

A surge of magic flowed through Lockhart's body and into his wand. Perhaps due to a mismatch in their souls, or perhaps because Voldemort was too powerful, Lockhart's wand began to crack with a sound.

"Geminio!" (Copy in pairs)

The simple copying spell, under Tom Riddle's precise manipulation, achieved a truly miraculous effect.

As the giant serpent's neck exploded, spewing forth a torrent of crimson flames, nine enormous heads roared and emerged one after another. Judging from its classic, terrifying appearance, it's easy to guess that this thing is undoubtedly the Hydra, the creature that "grows two heads for every one cut off."

The sudden increase in the difficulty of the battle prompted Harry to draw the Sword of Gryffindor once more. At that moment, he was unaware that if it weren't for the Felix Felicis helping him inadvertently confine the battle to the eighth floor, Tom Riddle's Fiendfire would have already grown to an incredible size thanks to the various decorations in Hogwarts.

bass!

The sharp blade pierced the air, and the falling snake head vanished instantly.

That was a scene that neither side had anticipated.

The cuts made by the silver sword on the hydra's body did not grow new heads; instead, they emitted plumes of black smoke!

Tom Riddle and Harry both looked at the Sword of Gryffindor. Given their current level of magical power, they instinctively denied the possibility that "there was something wrong with the Fiendfire magic itself."

……

Meteors fly like jade bullets, and precious swords fall like autumn frost.

The sword, possessing the ability to self-cleanse and absorb substances that enhance its own power, had completely digested the basilisk's venom. Apart from a very small amount of remaining blood, it left almost no trace of having killed the basilisk.

How did you get it?

Tom Riddle controlled Fiendfire to step back a distance and asked.

"I?"

Harry weighed the silver sword in his hand and said as if he had heard a joke:

"This sword was summoned by a Muggle-born witch whom you look down upon, through courage and faith."

"Isn't it ironic? All the people and things you despise the most keep defeating you time and time again. You lost to my mother more than a decade ago, and you can't win today either!"

Having said that, Mo Ran understood Harry's intentions without him needing to spell it out. The moment the host made the gesture of swinging his sword, the black mist, which had been preparing to launch a surprise attack, also teleported simultaneously.

It is generally considered impossible to Apparate within Hogwarts Castle, but in order to kill Voldemort in one blow, Harry hid this trump card when Voldemort was at his most emotionally unstable.

The blade swept past Tom Riddle's wand-wielding arm, heading straight for the diary hidden in his robes. At that critical moment, a gleaming silver shield, similar in texture to the Gryffindor sword, blocked his path to the chest.

hum!

No one saw how Tom Riddle cast the spell, but the fact is that the Gryffindor sword, which was invincible against the basilisk and Fiendfyre, did not cause any damage to the silver shield.

After a deep, chilling vibration, the blade in his hand could no longer move forward an inch.

"You know you can't kill me, but you don't seem to care about sacrificing your teacher for it?"

Tom Riddle, who had already retreated some distance under the cover of the Silver Shield, said this.

He glanced at Lockhart's wound, which had been reduced to a mere sliver of skin and flesh, and with a casual wave of his hand, summoned a mass of liquid metal, like melting moonlight, to replace the perfume-scented arm that he found rather repulsive.

"Ha, as if you'd let him off the hook. But then again, sometimes I really doubt your judgment. Don't you think Lockhart is even more of a fool than Quirrell? With a physique like that, do you really think you have a chance of winning?"

Harry tried his best to keep his words sharp, but just when he thought his words would further enrage Tom Riddle, the man suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahahahahaha!"

"Do you think I want to use their bodies to resurrect? If that were the case, both Quirrell and Lockhart would have been dead long ago. I spared their lives only to use them to get what I want..."

At this point, Tom Riddle's expression changed again. Seemingly realizing he'd been tricked by Harry into revealing his information, his smile faded, and he said in a solemn tone:

“I once told you that there is no absolute good or evil in the world; the difference lies only in the strong and the weak who cannot distinguish reality. You and that thing inside you will eventually become stumbling blocks on each other's paths. So…”

"Let me demonstrate to you here how to use other people's bodies and souls."

Lockhart, who was being manipulated by Tom Riddle, suddenly rolled his eyes back. Then, wisps of black smoke began to rise from all over his body and eventually formed a pair of hands above his head that seemed to be manipulating a puppet.

Before Harry and Moran could figure out what kind of magic it was, the Killing Curse, glowing green, came hurtling towards them.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The unexpected spell attack slowed Harry and Moran's reactions by a beat, leaving them unsure whether to dodge it and causing them to hesitate for a moment.

boom!

The effects of Felix Felicis, which had already helped Harry several times, returned at this moment, urging him to swing the sword of Gryffindor and strike at the very moment the green light was about to touch his body.

The terrifying force sent Harry flying, and he felt varying degrees of pain and numbness in the tiger's mouth, wrist, and forearm of the hand holding the sword.

"Everyone has their uses at the right time."

A completely emotionless voice came from Lockhart's mouth.

At this moment, the "flamingo" drooped its head, showing no signs of life. If it weren't for a pair of black hands controlling it from above, it probably wouldn't have been able to stand there with its hunched and twisted body.

What did you do?

As Harry spoke, he sized up the monster before him, which was neither Lockhart nor Tom Riddle.

“As I said, this was a proper demonstration, and I think you’ve figured out the secret of this magic to some extent. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been able to raise your sword to block the Killing Curse at the crucial moment.”

Ha glanced out of the corner of his eye at the disintegrating and shrinking Fiend Hydra, and replied:

"But everything has its give and take. If you use this method to control Lockhart, you won't be able to control Fiend's form."

The puppet's body, controlled by the Black Hand, couldn't make any expressions, but Harry could hear the anger in its mechanical voice.

"He is indeed a piece of trash, but he is enough to help Lord Voldemort kill you."

"Avada Kedavra!"

The green light struck again, and Harry quickly dodged it.

The instant the Killing Curse brushed against Harry's hair, he and Mo Ran simultaneously recalled Dumbledore's Transfiguration spell during his battle with Quirrell. But when he actually raised his wand to cast the spell, he inexplicably noticed that the wall, which had been almost melted by the fire, was being repaired at a visible speed.

"Hogwarts will continue to lend a helping hand to those who want to protect the safety of their students."

Could there be a deeper meaning behind the words that the headmaster left in Hagrid's hut?

"Piertotum Lootor!" (The stone blocks are deployed!)

Harry had no idea whether it was an effective spell or not, but when he saw the words arranged in a distorted pattern on the wall under repair, he recited them without hesitation, following the instructions given by Hogwarts.

In the blink of an eye, the stone walls near the ceiling of the entire corridor seemed to have triggered some kind of mechanism. As numerous hidden stone doors opened, the twelve giant armored statues awoke from their slumber. A series of thunderous crashes echoed throughout the eighth-floor corridor.

Lockhart, controlled by Tom Riddle, paused noticeably. It seemed to take him a few seconds to realize that the group of stone statues rushing towards him amidst the crashing sounds and shouts were magical defenses activated by Hogwarts Castle in response to Harry's spell.

These animated statues are over two meters tall, and besides their clanging armor, they wield swords and flailers. In terms of sheer imposing presence, they already surpass Professor McGonagall's giant chessboard challenge.

A thunderous explosion, shattered into pieces, reduced to dust.

Lockhart's wand continued to fire various spells, but even using Voldemort's magic, he could only inflict very limited damage on the stone blocks. It wasn't until the green light flashed again that he regained the dignity befitting the Dark Lord.

"Confringo!" (Thunderous explosion)

“Diffindo!” (Torn to pieces)

"Reducto!" (shattered to pieces)

A spell that doesn't work on the stone blocks doesn't mean it won't work on Tom Riddle. And just because Voldemort is busy dealing with Harry doesn't mean Harry will miss this opportunity to kick him while he's down!

Through the gaps between the stone blocks, Harry, as if to kill someone's spirit, threw back one spell after another that Tom Riddle had just used.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Tom Riddle, who had been forced into a draw by Harry using his home-field advantage several times, became increasingly irrational. The main personality, originally controlled by his sixteen-year-old memories, instinctively evolved into the deranged Voldemort.

Perhaps he should have used Lockhart's puppet body to fight Harry from the beginning, but his pride as the Dark Lord led him to decide to capture Harry alive by sheer force.

But what is the current state of the battle?

Not only was he forced into his second form after his attempt to show off failed, but he was also humiliated by his twelve-year-old nemesis with a barrage of sarcastic remarks and incantations.