allendalepharm Chapter 175 The Treasure Hunt Plan and the School's Founding Years
Chapter 175 The Treasure Hunt Plan and the School's Founding Years
Chapter 176 (4.8k long chapter) The Treasure Hunt and the Millennium-Old School Building Miracle
Picking up where we left off, Tom realized he had misspoke, his face darkening so much it looked like it could be wrung out, his eyes fixed on the cloud in the sky.
But this mirage, with its scales and armor, spewing forth smoke and mist, was clearly no ordinary creature.
Tom gritted his teeth, suddenly drew his wand, and shouted:
"Avada Kedavra!"
In an instant, a beam of emerald-green curse light shot through the air, like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, striking the mirage scales directly.
Unexpectedly, the green light disappeared into the scales and vanished without a trace, without causing the slightest ripple.
Tom's heart sank when he saw this.
Damn it! What kind of magical creature is this?!
Why can it even block the Killing Curse?
The mirage, having taken the blow, raised its head and let out a dragon's roar and a tiger's howl, causing the clouds to churn.
Suddenly, it was seen falling straight down from the highest heavens. When it landed on its four paws, there was a loud "boom," as if Gonggong had knocked down Buzhou Mountain, which stirred up yellow dust that covered the sun and caused the earth to shake within a hundred feet.
Tom stood amidst this turmoil, like a candle flickering in the wind, nearly tumbling head over heels.
As I focused my mind and looked, the clam had already begun to stride forward. With each step it took, the ground trembled and rocks cracked.
This Dark Lord was indeed a ruthless character. He steeled himself and brandished his wand like a windmill.
Red and green lights flashed and flew, and all sorts of evil curses, such as those that pierce the heart and rip out bones, and cause decay and disaster, rained down on the scene.
Unfortunately, the mirage paid no attention. When the cursed light touched its body, it vanished as if it had disappeared into the sea, leaving not a trace.
"Avada Kedavra!"
"The soul leaves the body!"
"Ultimate - Soul Emerges—"
Before the incantation was finished, the mirage was already in front of him, and in an instant, it stretched out its claws and grabbed Tom's throat.
Two streams of white vapor shot from its nostrils, like snow being swept by a north wind, and a deep, rumbling sound came from its throat:
"You idiot! Tell me the truth about the whereabouts of the Ravenclaw tiara and the Hufflepuff Cup, and I'll spare your life!"
Tom felt the iron claws around his throat tightening, making him see stars and his breath come out barely a whisper.
This fellow was cunning after all. He ran his hand haphazardly over the ground for a moment, then gripped his wand tightly and chuckled:
"...Dispel illusion...Ho...Reveal the truth!"
Suddenly, a burst of light shot out from the tip of the staff, and the illusion before his eyes instantly shattered.
Upon closer inspection, what ominous mirage was pressing down on them?
They still stood on the desolate highlands, not far away Ron leaning on his cane and sneering, while the mirage in mid-air looked down coldly.
Tom looked shaken, touched his neck, and looked around for a moment.
Is all of this real?
Or is it just another illusion?
Just as they were filled with doubt and fear, the mirage suddenly leaped down from the clouds, rolled on the ground, and revealed its true human form.
Harry strode forward and said, "You've got good eyesight, buddy, but how did you see through my tricks?"
Tom smirked. "Ha, I'm just a soul, how could I possibly feel pain?"
Harry nodded. "I see. I was mistaken."
Seeing the two of them chatting away, Ron couldn't contain himself any longer and shouted:
"Harry, why waste your breath on him? Just kill him!"
Harry shook his head twice, a half-smile on his face, and said:
"I have a heart that values life, so I'll do you a favor today. If you do me one thing, I'll spare your life, how about it?"
Upon hearing this, Tom's lips curled into a mocking smile. He threw his wand to the ground, plopped down, and sneered:
"I refuse."
"You really seem to think I'm an idiot, Potter."
"You think I'd believe your nonsense? I bet the moment I turn away, you'll conjure up a whole new illusion to deceive me."
"Kill me, and my soul will return to the other Horcruxes with this hatred. I will remember your Animagus forever..."
He was still rambling on and on when he suddenly looked up and there was no sign of Harry anywhere.
All I could hear was the sound of wind overhead, and a fishy smell hit my face.
When he looked up quickly, he saw that the mirage had somehow coiled up behind him, its blood-red mouth opening and closing, its scales shimmering and shimmering, appearing and disappearing like the flickering clouds.
Tom paused, then suddenly realized and exclaimed in surprise, "An invisibility cloak?"
"No wonder you turned into this strange and magical creature. I almost forgot that when Animagus transforms, their clothes also become part of them—"
Before he could finish speaking, the mirage extended its sharp claws covered in black stripes, and in a flash, it reached out and grabbed the locket in his arms.
"Aaaaaah!!!"
The snake venom tightened, and Tom let out a heart-wrenching roar. Immediately, blue smoke billowed from the box, hissing and crackling.
In an instant, all sorts of illusions rushed towards me.
"You dare steal?! You lowly mud-blooded brat!"
Inside the Wu family orphanage, Dumbledore, his face contorted in a grotesque grimace, brandished a long whip and lashed it down mercilessly at young Tom, shouting curses:
"Give back what you stole! Hogwarts won't accept a little beast like you!"
Tom saw this and his eyes widened in fury, but the scene before him suddenly changed again.
All that could be seen was his mother, Merop Gunter, grabbing old Tom Riddle and forcing him to drink the aphrodisiac.
"Say it! Aren't you a lowly old Muggle?!"
"I am! I am! Her Majesty Queen Gaunt!"
"You dog! Get your waist moving!"
"Oh! Oh! Yes, ma'am!"
Tom's eyes were bloodshot, and even though his chest was aching as if a thousand arrows were piercing his heart, he still cursed loudly.
"Harry Potter!"
"I will definitely tear you to pieces!!!"
The mirage beast didn't answer, but instead clenched its black claws tightly. A miserable howl was heard, and Tom's body instantly turned to ashes, scattering with the wind and disappearing without a trace.
The truth is:
Hatred and wickedness are the seeds of karma, and illusions reveal past lives.
On the day the sharp claws shattered the soul, the body vanished like smoke and clouds.
The mirage withdrew its supernatural powers and instantly transformed back into Harry's appearance, standing in the same spot.
Once Ron saw that things had calmed down, his tense body went limp, like a skinny bag with its tendons and bones pulled out, and he collapsed to the ground with a "thud".
He stared at the locket in Harry's hand, grinned, and chuckled, panting, "Harry, that was ruthless."
"I dare say Voldemort will curse you for at least a month."
Harry stuffed the locket into his sleeve and laughed loudly, "Brother, you don't know, my trick is just to entice his innermost secrets and magnify his shameful deeds a hundredfold."
"As the saying goes, flies don't land on eggs without cracks. If he hadn't been preoccupied with two shameful secrets all day long, how would he have fallen into my trap?"
Ron lay sprawled on the ground, clicking his tongue and saying, "That's quite surprising."
"The infamous pure-blood advocate Voldemort was actually a half-blood himself."
"No wonder he changed his name; it's exactly the same thing that old woman Umbridge did."
As the two were talking, they suddenly saw thousands of rays of light bursting out from the broken hourglass not far away. In the blink of an eye, Rowena stepped out from the halo of light, her clothes fluttering and spotless.
She first waved her wand to summon Helena, and only after seeing that her goddaughter was safe and sound did she look around.
The Scottish Highlands looked as if they had been struck by lightning and the rocks were cracked and the soil scorched.
"Where's the guy inside that Horcrux?"
"You fought with him?"
Harry rose at the sound, straightened his clothes, clasped his hands in a respectful bow, and said, "Sister, please rest assured, that scoundrel has already been killed by me! He is long gone and his spirit has vanished!"
Upon hearing this, Rowena was secretly taken aback, but then smiled and said, "Not bad, I knew I hadn't made a mistake in taking on the wrong apprentice."
"But now I'm really curious, who taught you two magic before you met me?"
Harry clapped his hands and laughed, "Sister, you've misunderstood! The two spells that taught my brother and me were not taught by one person, but by all the teachers and mentors at Hogwarts."
"The Hogwarts School?" Rowena pondered the name for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "This is the first time I've ever heard of it..."
She pondered for a moment, but couldn't figure it out, so she clapped her hands and said, "Forget it, since the matter has been resolved, come with me."
"I can't wait to introduce you to my three friends."
Upon hearing her words, Ron immediately understood that the friend she was referring to was one of the remaining three of the four leaders of Hogwarts.
He raised his willow wand for support, took two quick steps closer to Harry's ear, and whispered, "Harry, are we really going to meet the Four Lords?"
"Will this have any impact on the timeline?"
After listening for a moment, Harry gently patted Ron's arm and said:
"Brother, don't be impatient. Let me first figure out Sister Rowena's supernatural abilities before we make any plans."
"Besides, when we return, we will inevitably have to go back to the mysterious Affairs Bureau in the nine underground realms."
Ron nodded in agreement and said no more.
The four of them turned around and returned along the same path.
Throughout the journey, Harry was seen working diligently day and night, staying by Rowena's side without leaving her side.
However, when encountering incantations or spells, he would repeatedly ask for guidance; when faced with mysterious and profound changes, he would thoroughly investigate their principles.
In just a month or so, he had learned most of those mysterious magic spells.
When Harry returned to the woods where they had met, he straightened his clothes and bowed to Rowena.
"I am deeply grateful for your kindness in teaching me these skills, sister. I only regret that I have a great deal to attend to and cannot stay by your side to serve you any longer."
Rowena paused, taken aback. "You're leaving?"
Upon seeing this, Harry immediately bowed deeply, as if a mountain of gold had been pushed aside and a jade pillar had been toppled, saying, "I hope my sister will grant my request."
Rowena hesitated for a long time before finally speaking.
"Harry, do you think... I'm a bad teacher?"
"Oh dear! What are you saying, sister? Harry is fortunate to have met such a wise teacher; it's a blessing beyond measure. How could I dare to utter such nonsense as 'the teaching is inadequate'?"
Upon hearing these words, a great weight was lifted from Rowena's heart, and her face instantly brightened with a smile.
"I knew it wasn't my teaching method that was the problem!"
"I taught two students before, but unfortunately they were incredibly slow and eventually dropped out because they couldn't keep up with my pace."
"I was really hurt by this, and I didn't take on any apprentices for a long time. You're the only one who can keep up with me..."
"Ahem, I digress. Since you have more important things to do, then—"
Before she finished speaking, Rowena swiftly stepped forward, bent down, and gently tapped Harry's forehead.
Goodbye, Harry.
"And you, you red-haired brat!"
Harry immediately crossed his arms and bowed, performing a proper and respectful greeting. "Sister, please take your leave now."
Rowena was a straightforward person; after saying goodbye to Harry, she took Helena's hand and turned to leave.
After walking about ten steps, he suddenly turned around and raised his voice:
"If you've finished what you said was important, then go back to the Scottish Highlands!"
"I'll be waiting for you there!"
Harry cupped his hands in a respectful gesture and said solemnly, "Sister, rest assured, I will definitely return here!"
Dust rose lightly as the two groups of people parted ways.
Harry and Ron walked through the dense forest for half a day before finally finding the entrance to the cave they had just arrived at.
Ron chanted an explosion spell and then forcefully stabbed the willow magic stick into the hole.
But with a loud "boom," the cave entrance burst open several feet, becoming much brighter.
Without hesitation, the two of them flipped over and leaped into the cave.
Having returned to his original spot, Ron gripped the willow-shaped magic staff tightly, took a breath, and said:
"Ready, Harry?"
Harry put his hand on Ron's shoulder and laughed loudly, "Brother, just do it! I can't wait any longer; I'm just about to go back and settle things with that old Salazar!"
Upon hearing this, Ron didn't reply and forcefully stabbed the ground with the Willow Demon Staff in his hand.
Suddenly, the time converter wrapped in the seam burst forth with countless silver stars, sparkling like the Milky Way.
A silvery-white halo surged from the staff, completely enveloping the two. The surrounding scenery spun around in an instant, and in just a few breaths, the two landed steadily back in the Mysterious Affairs Department.
Upon closer inspection, Umbridge was still sprawled on the ground like a rag doll; by the door, Lockhart was bent over, his ear pressed against the door, intently eavesdropping.
Harry looked around and saw that the Time Hall was full of empty shelves, so he laughed and said, "It's time for all these time converters in the Brotherhood to go back to their places."
Ron, upon hearing this, scratched his head and looked around, saying:
"What time converter? I don't know, I don't understand, I've never seen one."
Upon hearing this, Harry laughed loudly three times, "In that case, we must reconsider our strategy."
He then beckoned Lockhart over, and the three heads huddled together, discussing things in secret.
Now, back to a thousand years ago, Rowena and Helena left the dense forest and traveled for another half a day.
Upon arriving at an open plain, they saw three figures waiting there.
In the middle of the plain stood a mound of corpses, piled high with the remains of foreign tribes.
Atop the hill stood a burly man with broad shoulders and a thick waist, his long sword gleaming at his waist, laughing loudly.
"Ha! Salazar, what did I tell you? Rowena isn't that easy to kill!"
"Then she should give us an explanation."
Beneath the pile of corpses stood a bald, long-bearded man in a green robe, who slowly walked forward and spoke in a measured tone:
"You actually took almost a month to deal with a group of aliens invading a Muggle village?"
"And where did this child come from?"
Without turning her head, Rowena said, "I don't talk to bald guys."
After saying this, he walked directly to a kind-faced woman, and the two embraced.
Good afternoon, Helga.
"It's good to see you're safe and sound, Rowena."
After greeting the two women, Rowena suddenly picked up Helena, handed her to the woman, and said with a smile, "How is she? Isn't my daughter adorable?"
Upon hearing this, Godric, who was on the mound of corpses, was so startled that he staggered backward and tumbled off the pile of bodies.
"Your daughter?!"
"I've never heard of a child growing this big in just one month!"
Helga was also taken aback upon hearing this. Unlike Godric, she was not stubborn and had already guessed that this young woman was probably an orphan of a village that had been slaughtered by the elves.
But then he remembered that Rowena would not return for nearly a month, and his heart began to pound again.
She hesitated for a long time before carefully speaking:
"Royna, have you been spending time with any man lately?"
Upon hearing this, Rowena mentioned Harry and laughed, "Yes, a very good little fellow."
Salazar shook his head repeatedly, pulled Godric aside and whispered in his ear, "He was fooled by a widower with a child."
Helga was increasingly confused. "So, this child was given to you by him?"
After a moment's thought, Rowena pulled Helena closer to him. "I guess so, but Helena has nowhere else to go but here with me."
Godric suddenly realized, "So this little girl is homeless."
Salazar smirked. "You actually believe that?"
He immediately raised his voice and asked, "Royna! Did that man say when he'll be back?"
Rowena shrugged. "He only said he would come back; he has important things to do."
Upon hearing this, Godric gasped and exclaimed, "We've been completely fooled from head to toe!"
"Luckily, she never had much money on her, so even if she was swindled out of it all, it wasn't too bad a loss."
"What else? I've seen far too many like him. I'd bet you ten gold coins, Godric, that man is definitely not coming back."
"And I suspect he might be a Muggle, who was that Muggle noblewoman's gigolo..."
The two men whispered to each other, while Rowena, veins bulging on his forehead, whirled around and roared angrily:
"You two! Do you think I'm deaf?!"
Godric shrugged. "Hey, Rowena, we're just concerned about you."
After glaring at the two men for a moment, Rowena suddenly smiled and said:
"By the way, during my time away, I found a place that has no alien races and is secluded enough."
"I think that place is the most suitable place to establish our school of thought."
Salazar was skeptical and asked suspiciously, "Really? How did you find it?"
"Ah~ that was in my dream, I received a revelation in my dream."
Rowena closed her eyes, cupped her hands to her heart, and said with rapture, "You know, I have some of the blood of the prophets."
"And that revelation even mentioned the name of our school of thought, it's called—"
"Hogwarts".
(End of this chapter)