408 The final duel
In fact, this is the truth.
Linfred's memory is a lie, at least in part.Until the end, he didn't know that his memory had been tampered with by Antioch and was used as a test subject in a trance.
As for Cadmus, there are the Forbidden Ones…
Karan thought of the Taboo on Dumbledore - that was the original Taboo in the Jumping Cauldron. It was extracted by Antioch with unknown magic and became his own weapon.
But Cadmus, Antioch's younger brother, was turned into another taboo by him, replacing the original taboo on the jumping cauldron.
After these two studies, Antioch finally understood -
"This is not eternal life."
There was silence in the principal's office for a short while. The sounds of fighting in the Forbidden Forest were heard in the distance. Karan heard James shouting loudly, but this completely made him unable to muster any energy. He only felt a little heavy in his heart. .
Everything about Antioch before was just speculation, and Karan did not really know Antioch's purpose and means.
But in the last memory just now, Karan saw Antioch mercilessly killing his blood relatives, and even used the soul of Cadmus as experimental material.
Such people don't care about their descendants.
Antioch's behavior was even more terrifying than having learned the Emotional Occlumency Technique. Karan couldn't help but wonder if he had ever felt sorry for the shortcomings of the Emotional Occlumency Technique. This unnatural magic was not as good as Antioch's. Oak himself - he has no obsessional flaws and will not lose control for any reason.
At this time, after Steve was confused for a while, he looked at the two of them and asked: "What on earth did we just...see?"
Apart from feeling fear for Callan's ancestors, Steve didn't understand Antioch's real intention of deliberately leaving these memories.
These memories seemed to have been specially processed, leaving no secrets of Antioch's magic, only showing the results of the final failure.
Gespard also looked at Karan, but Karan didn't understand this either.
There is no mention of late bloomers, emotional Occlumency, or even the ability to control time that Antioch displayed at Ilvermorny School of Magic. There is also no mention of Antioch's research on the materials of many wands. Including his forbidden magic realm and the reason why he cannot control the elder tree.
"But at least you didn't lose control."
Seeing Karan silent and saying nothing, Gaspard had no choice but to comfort him in his own way: "I don't need to shoot you anymore."
"No, not entirely..." Karan suddenly murmured: "This memory is not completely useless, I just need time to think about it-"
However, what Karan lacks most now is time.
Before he could finish all his words, he suddenly heard an extremely strong sound and a distinctive roar coming from the Forbidden Forest.
The three of them quickly walked to the window and looked into the distance.
The battle in the Forbidden Forest is going on fiercely. The patron saints are fighting with the dementors floating in the air. The giants have strode into the edge of the forbidden forest. At their feet are teachers and students in the school, and On the other side were the Death Eaters, werewolves, and the dark dementors.
The professors and students were completely unable to resist such a large number of enemies. Although the villagers of Hogsmeade were constantly coming from the secret passage in the castle, they still could not distract themselves from dealing with the giants who threatened the most. They could only Engage with enemies of similar size.
The power guarding the castle gradually declined. James and Regulus looked desperately at the giant above them. They had heard the shouts of Sirius and Remus who had just arrived from behind, but it was too late. They could not If you continue to block these giants for too long, they will soon enter Hogwarts Castle, but there are still students there who have not been completely evacuated.
"Where are you looking?!"
Fenrir Greyback rushed over with a ferocious smile. James dodged and avoided the opponent's claws. He was almost caught by Fenrir and bit off a piece of flesh.
"Greyback!"
After seeing this from a distance, Remus, who had always been good-tempered, was even more angry than Sirius. He would never allow his friend to become another werewolf.
But just as Greyback was on guard, he noticed that Remus' eyes moved from him to the sky above his head.
"Another guy who is not attentive enough." Greyback laughed ferociously again: "Maybe I should leave you with a more profound lesson, little Lupin -"
"Roar--"
A sudden roar interrupted Greyback's taunting, and he turned his head in surprise - not far from the battlefield, near the depression where they had just been hiding, a huge male inexplicably jumped out of the lake. The lion, its movements are so flexible that it doesn't look like a statue at all. Instead, it seems to be completely alive.
At the same time, as the lion ran and collided, Dumbledore, who stood firmly above its head, read in a rich voice: "Stone Dun is out!"
There were sudden bursts of strange noises in the castle, and all the statues and armors along the corridor jumped off their bases and rushed towards the Forbidden Forest.
"Thanks to Gryffindor, he gave this school the most precious legacy - the guardianship of statues and armor, and the lion at my feet."
Dumbledore looked at this shocking scene and said, and finally he added: "And there haven't been any problems, unlike Slytherin..."
The situation on the entire battlefield suddenly reversed. The lion statue in the Forbidden Lake ruins was no smaller than the giants, and as a beast, it was much more flexible than the giants. It quickly stopped them all, and there were many giants. He was also knocked to the ground, crushing a large forest.
"Wow."
James looked at Gryffindor's symbol animal, and he thought it looked familiar.
"Is this the secret of another statue? Can the whole statue come to life?"
He said proudly to Regulus as if to relieve his anger: "It seems that Gryffindor House is still very reliable, and our vision is also good, no worse than that boy Callan."
Greyback, who was directing the werewolves to attack, suddenly laughed cruelly. He looked at the two people confronting him with disdain, suddenly turned around and ran behind him.
Not just him, but almost all the Death Eaters, werewolves, Acromantulas, Dementors, and even the giants who just got up from the ground - they all changed directions in unison, as if they had planned their actions in advance. Same.
At the same time, a chilling sneer suddenly came from the other direction.
"What a blessing..."
Voldemort easily broke through Credence's siege, as if the fight just now was just an illusion - he did not use all his strength.
Looking at each other from afar.
Voldemort's red eyes met Dumbledore's calm gaze above the lion's head.
"I thought I would have to wait for a while, but I didn't expect you to come to my door in person..."
"catch him!"
Voldemort roared his last words loudly, and his cold voice spread throughout the Forbidden Forest and reached the ears of every one of his servants.
"Get Dumbledore!"
The situation on the battlefield changed again. The students and professors suddenly found that the enemies in front of them all ran away at once, and all rushed towards the mighty lion!
"You are delusional!"
Credence shouted angrily, and his incarnation of Obscurus once again surrounded Voldemort.
But this time, patches of transparent objects emerged inexplicably from Voldemort's dark witch robe - they were countless soul snakes, nearly a thousand in number, all of which were symbols of life that Voldemort had killed with his own hands.
The soul snakes tore into the black mist with big mouths, and Mogu Ran was swallowed by them all into their stomachs, and then they swelled and exploded one by one, turning into silver glitter all over the sky.
The most powerful Obscurus in history was devoured bit by bit by the soul snakes. In just a few seconds, Credence feebly transformed back into human form. His body was covered with scars from poisonous snake bites, and his eyes He closed his eyes tightly and passed out completely after suffering fatal injuries.
Voldemort did not look at the half-dead Credence again. Ever since Dumbledore appeared with the lion statue, he had kept his eyes on him and never moved away.
"The wrong path must end early."
Voldemort murmured coldly, his witch robe spread out behind him, and he slowly flew towards the Forbidden Forest like a bat.
"I will destroy all the Horcruxes with my own hands, and the threat of Haierbo will no longer exist."
"More powerful power is waiting for me to get it myself."
"This time, it will be true eternal life."
On the other side, everyone else was looking at the sudden change in confusion. Only Professor Slughorn, an old friend, reacted in time. He shouted anxiously: "No matter what it is, we must not let it happen." Voldemort's plan succeeded!"
"Quick! Go and protect Dumbledore!"
Unlike Slughorn, who was so anxious that he was sweating profusely, Albus Dumbledore just looked at the dark enemies around him calmly. The silver Phoenix Patronus appeared beside him and blocked the surrounding spirits. They all ran away, dispelling the chill around them.
The fierce gust of wind blew up his witch robe. This time, the enemies the lion had to deal with were no longer just stupid giants, but also countless dark wizards. This made the lion have to struggle to avoid the spells shot from the dark. , to avoid being tied down.
But Dumbledore still stood firmly on top of the lion's head, his figure not wavering at all.
He was also looking at the dark figure approaching in the sky from a distance - Voldemort.
"Is this your plan?"
Dumbledore gradually figured out why Voldemort would target him.
This made him think clearly about why Voldemort was not a snake face in Callan's account, but a handsome middle-aged man.
"Because of Haierbo's threat, I destroyed all the Horcruxes with my own hands, and was willing to give up hundreds of opportunities to come back to life, just to pursue a stronger and more powerful power from the source."
"No wonder you have the ability to kill all the rebels and even have the opportunity to return to normal human form without the need for painful repentance."
"The God of Death is right. We really shouldn't underestimate you. The darkness has already completely eroded you, and we will never let your plan succeed."
At this moment, Ron, who was holding back his nausea and chasing a large group of Acromantulas, turned around and asked, "What is the mysterious man's plan? Why did he suddenly change his purpose? I thought he was planning to kill Harry." of!"
Neville, who had appeared next to Ron at some point, was also looking at Hermione curiously.
Hermione thought about it carefully, and suddenly said in a solemn tone: "The mysterious man took away the snakewood. No matter how he suppressed the influence of the Horcrux, he must have become an Obscurial."
"But You-Know-Who did not target Credence, even though he, like Dumbledore, had returned to normal."
"What is there that Credence doesn't have that only Dumbledore has?"
Ron blinked, and there was an inexplicable deep fear in his heart, which even overwhelmed the resistance to the Acromantula.
"Forbidden One!"
He widened his eyes and said, "It's the Forbidden One that Antioch left on Dumbledore. The mysterious man has seen that scene with his own eyes, and his target is the Forbidden One!"
Hermione didn't speak anymore, but nodded solemnly.
Unlike Neville, they had more or less heard the rumors in the ruins of the Forbidden Lake - Voldemort did not have a snake face, but looked like a normal person.
This must be related to Voldemort's success in getting the Forbidden One!
They must also prevent Voldemort's plan from succeeding, otherwise everyone will die!
"Damn it!" Neville almost tripped over the branches scattered under his feet. He cursed in a low voice, then frowned and murmured: "Harry... Where the hell is Harry?"
The change in Voldemort's plan reduced the number of injured teachers and students, but it put unparalleled pressure on the Lion Statue. Although everyone was helping, they could not stop all the enemies before, let alone these enemies now Desperate to attack Dumbledore.
"I'm sorry for making things so difficult for you."
Dumbledore apologized to the lion, but what he received in exchange was a hoarse shout, full of unyielding will.
Voldemort had already arrived at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He slowly flew over the heads of the teachers and students outside, and easily neutralized all the attacks.
Finally, standing a dozen trees away, Voldemort appeared in front of Dumbledore.
At the same time, everyone put down what they were doing, with scarred faces on their faces, quietly waiting for the final war to break out.
The two of them slowly floated to the ground at the same time.
Voldemort was surrounded by a circle of his most loyal servants, and Abraxas Malfoy also appeared. As the second in command and the leader of the infiltration plan, he was surrounded by the closest position to Voldemort.
"well done."
Voldemort said casually: "You will be rewarded."
Amid the envious and fanatical gazes around him, Abraxas immediately lowered his head to express his loyalty.
Except for the lion and the patron saint phoenix, Dumbledore had no helpers around him, and everyone else was blocked outside and unable to get through.
He also saw his younger brother, Aberforth, from a distance, but he showed a sense of despair all the time during the heroic battle. Once again, a relative was about to die in front of his eyes, even though he was alienated from him. brother.
"It looks like I'm at a disadvantage."
Dumbledore said in a joking tone, not like he was being surrounded at all.
"Yes, you are."
Voldemort replied coldly: "Don't think that I don't know what you are thinking, Dumbledore. In fact, I know better than you."