Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 121 Battle with the Battle-Damaged Dark Lord
"Caught!"

Vaughn sensed something amiss and immediately broke free of his teleportation state, "squeezing" himself out of thin air. Before him stood Voldemort, who had just apparated.

Before the visible "smoke" could even dissipate, his expression grew even more astonished!
Vaughn, who suddenly appeared in front of Voldemort, flashed his wand and unleashed the sinister Divine Strike, an invisible blade that was unavoidable at close range.

There was a pop.

Blood splattered, and a long wound appeared on Voldemort's side, from which blood flowed uncontrollably.

The Dark Lord was injured as soon as the battle began!
Voldemort's bloodshot eyes grew even more ferocious. His rich combat experience allowed him to instantly understand Vaughn's strategy. Ignoring the wound on his side, as his wand returned to defense, black mist emanated from his body.

The ground was corroded by the black mist, making a hissing sound.

Vaughn, who had originally intended to stay close, suddenly slid away as lightly as a piece of paper.

At the same time, Voldemort swung his wand and unleashed what appeared to be an invisible blade, but the invisible force was swallowed up by a semi-transparent barrier after flying a meter.

Max level Ironclad Spell!
Durable and with excellent magic resistance!
The unknown magic Voldemort cast couldn't even make it tremble. The next second, Vaughn Apparated again, silently appearing behind Voldemort.

A tiny spark ignited the moment he appeared.

boom!
Harry and Hermione stared blankly at the battlefield where the two were fighting. The intensely expanding flames completely engulfed the area, blasting a large crater in the ground. Voldemort, covered in thick smoke, was blasted away by the violent explosion.

Even so, the power of the curse binding him did not diminish. As he was blasted away and rolled, the fire marks remaining on his clothes erupted several more times with flashes of light, creating a barrage of explosions.

"What kind of spell is that?" Harry asked.

Hermione composed herself, "Big Boom! A spell that causes enemies to explode in succession!"

Harry listened intently, mesmerized!
Harry had never realized that Vaughn was so powerful, and he also knew that Vaughn's offensive style was very aggressive.

Once he gains the upper hand, his attacks will be relentless, making it a luxury for his opponent to even catch his breath!
Don't ask how I know, it's all from experience!
Sure enough, before Voldemort, who had just been bombarded, could even land, the smoke of Apparition reappeared beside him.

Through the smoke, Vaughn reached out a hand and grabbed Voldemort's arm!
"hiss--"

Voldemort let out a hoarse hiss, and the clothes on his arm transformed into venomous snakes as he roared, viciously biting at Vaughn's outstretched hand.

But Vaughn's hands didn't stop; he had to keep the rhythm under his control, and it was worth it to make even the slightest sacrifice for it!

The snake bit Vaughn, and the wound immediately turned black, but Vaughn also caught Voldemort.

The two figures contorted—Vaughn forcibly brought Voldemort into Apparition!
The dangerous spatial spell was used to its fullest potential by Vaughn. Harry and Hermione heard a crackling sound, Voldemort remained where he was, while Vaughn appeared about 10 feet away.

But in his hand, which was bitten by a venomous snake, he was clutching a bloody arm with its severed surface revealing the bare white bone!
Voldemort's arm was torn off!
"what--"

A hoarse, painful scream echoed through the hall.

Pain overwhelmed Voldemort's senses; he could hardly remember the last time he had been injured.

Even Harry Potter never experienced such pain – the Killing Curse doesn't hurt, it just kills you!

Of course, the Dark Lord wouldn't lose his mind because of anger; his anger and shame would only make his emotions more vicious.

He no longer hesitated to use Quirrell's body; billowing black smoke emanated from that weak, broken body, engulfing and corroding everything around it.

In the smoke, he forced the body to its limit, pushing it to the brink of collapse, in order to bear more of his magic!

Green light burst forth—

"Avada—Kedavra!"

Avada Kedavra!
A green glow illuminates the black fog!

The thick, corrosive mist vanished under the light, unleashing a magical, electric-like effect.

"what!"

The moment he saw the green light, Harry felt a sharp pain in his forehead and fell to the ground with a scream.

Beside him, Hermione, who had been watching the battlefield intently, was drenched in cold sweat and her limbs were stiff.

As a spell that directly "kills" a soul, even though the Killing Curse wasn't aimed at her, even though she wasn't close by, even though she had indirectly encountered the Killing Curse last Halloween.

But back then, Vaughn stood in front of her, and now, she finally saw what the Killing Curse really looked like!
When that green light spread out in her eyes, shooting out like a giant serpent tearing through the mist.

The mere glimpse of her aura was enough to completely paralyze Hermione—

What a despairing magic it was! Death, destruction, withering... it seemed that all concepts related to death were contained in that magical light. Just one glance was enough to make one tremble and fear, cowering in its terror!

Time slowed down.

This is not an illusion, but Hermione's genuine feeling!
She saw Vaughn, facing the Killing Curse, gently turn the hourglass-shaped pendant in his hand—he had removed the Time-Turner from the dragon's neck at some point.

The sound of the pendant turning was incredibly clear in the suddenly silent space; it was like the click of a clock.

Tick ​​tock!

Tick ​​tock!

With each rotation, time stretched out a little longer, the ticking sound slowed down, and with each pause, the sound was like an echo reverberating in an empty room, hollow and lingering!

Then, freeze!
What would the world be like if time stopped?

This was a rather grand and complex question, one that Hermione couldn't quite grasp at the moment, but at that moment, she clearly saw the scene created by time stopping in this space—

Everything was frozen in time, like a realistic painting, including light—the light of fire, the light of the Killing Curse, and the light of this space from who-knows-where… These photons, which had lost their motion, were like colorful amber, solidified in the air, making everything in sight hazy and dazzling.

Only the mind remains active, but very, very slowly, as if the original linear path has suddenly been stretched many times over.

Hermione saw Vaughn moving very slowly.

"He can still move..."

Hermione's sluggish thoughts raced with delight.

Yes, although it's slow, Vaughn is indeed still able to move freely.

"time……"

Vaughn stared at the large patches of solidified light in his field of vision, and at the Killing Curse that had been about three feet away from him before time stopped.

As one of the most powerful dark spells in the magical world, the Killing Curse is both ruthless and fast, almost as fast as the Disarming Curse. If it were easy to dodge, it wouldn't have made such a name for itself!
What's more troublesome than the disarming spell is that there are almost no ways to defend against it.

In his battle against Voldemort, Vaughn would naturally be wary of the Unforgivable Curse. The Time Stop was his attempt to put his previous experiments on time into practice after they had yielded results.

So far, the results seem good.

Looking at the Killing Curse that seemed within reach, Vaughn suppressed the curiosity in his eyes.

The slowly moving vision scanned the frozen space.

"Unfortunately, such methods cannot be used in reality."

Time is not some independent substance, nor is it some objective reality (although it objectively exists), but rather the movement and continuity of things.

To control time, you must first control everything!

This is, of course, impossible in reality.

With a regretful thought, Vaughn turned back the Time-Turner with one hand, and with the other, his wand trembled slightly in the slowed flow of time.

A silent levitation spell spread along the cracks in the ground caused by the explosion moments before.

The stillness of time infinitely prolongs the transmission of sound.

Without a sound, many pebbles floated up, like attracted celestial bodies, gathering around Vaughn.

The next moment, time resumed!
Boom!

The roar that had been restrained by the stop of time resounded, and amidst the deafening sound, Vaughn swiftly tapped the rubble gathered around him with his wand as the Killing Curse struck again.

Under the influence of magic, they quickly twisted and deformed.

They transformed into lifelike animals, filling the area in front of Vaughn in the blink of an eye.

The green light crashed into us!

Vaughn's memories from his past life made him realize that there were actually ways to defend against the Killing Curse. Dumbledore would use Transfiguration in the "future" to show people why he could make Voldemort so fearsome!

Before enrolling, Vaughn didn't understand why Transfiguration could counter the Killing Curse.

It wasn't until after he enrolled and was taught by Professor McGonagall that his Transfiguration skills began to deepen, progressing from "inanimate objects becoming active" to "living objects becoming inanimate objects."

Until he obtained Barty Crouch Jr., an excellent research subject.

The secrets of the Unforgivable Curse began to be revealed to him, such as the Black Magic's tendency toward life—even if it was just illusory life!

what--

The moment the green light touched the shapeshifting creature, the wailing of the dead rang in their ears. The sound was hollow and distant, seemingly echoing in the air, yet also appearing to come from a more illusory realm.

Silently, the "life" of the transformed animals vanished, and they reverted to their original stone nature, collapsing like sand and dust.

But their mission is complete.

The killing curse was neutralized, the green light disappeared, leaving only a faint trace of light in the retina, telling the story of what had just happened!
This result was within Vaughn's expectations. Although Voldemort, who was experienced in combat, was surprised, he was not too bothered by it.

The brief exchange had given him a rough idea of ​​Vaughn's fighting style.

They advocate offense, ferocity, and dominance!

If we can't completely suppress him with magic, he will definitely launch a counterattack quickly in order to continue to seize the initiative and control the rhythm!
Sure enough, the next second, Voldemort saw Vaughn's body twisting and turning more than ten feet away, like a rapidly swirling cloud of smoke disappearing into the air.

Crack!

A faint sound of spatial teleportation came from behind. Voldemort, who was prepared, retaliated with a spell behind him, and at the same time, he began to Apparate.

Voldemort didn't pay attention to whether his spell had hit Vaughn Weasley; he didn't even glance at him, because he sensed that the injured and forced use of the Killing Curse was taking its toll on this useless body.

The field of vision shifted rapidly due to the distortion of space, and in an instant, we entered a strange spatial state.

He looked at the hazy smoke around him, and watched the scenery rush past him as if it were pasted onto a curved mirror.

Then, he saw his goal.

Harry Potter!

Voldemort already understood.

Given his current condition, it's virtually impossible for him to defeat Vaughn Weasley quickly; the failure of the Killing Curse not long ago sealed this fate.

If this drags on any longer, Quirrell's body could collapse at any moment, and he would once again become a lonely shadow, drifting aimlessly between heaven and earth.

I don't know when it will see the light of day again!
So even when he was furious and angry, Voldemort remained sane.

He knew clearly that his most important goal at present was resurrection.

Now that the Philosopher's Stone is in his hands, as long as he can escape this space, the Dark Lord can make a comeback!
Vaughn is undoubtedly the biggest obstacle to his escape from this space, but at the same time, Harry is also his greatest guarantee.

If only he can catch Harry!

The Dark Lord is patient and wise. For the past 11 years, he has been able to hide in the jungle like a rat, so he certainly has no shame for his retreat now.

When he spotted Harry, he didn't hesitate to Apparate, preparing to exit his warp state.

Then, he suddenly opened his eyes wide—in that distorted, mirrored passageway where countless scenes glided by, a pair of hands grabbed him!

Those hands were fair and slender, just as vivid and powerful as when they had gripped Voldemort's arm not long ago.

Voldemort suddenly felt a chill run down his spine!
Vaughn Weasley is forcibly invading his Apparition!

And the invasion was extremely fast!

In an instant, Vaughn Weasley was stretched into a long, thin shape and squeezed in from outside the "mirror." He saw the other person's calm eyes and felt those slender, white hands gripping his neck.

Voldemort could sense that some strange force was interfering with Apparition, just like the feeling when his arm was ripped off not long ago!
The exact same methods, arrogant and presumptuous!
Damn redheads!

Their eyes met. Voldemort's expression was ferocious, and a vicious emotion surged within him—his anger, the very raw material for dark magic.

Grayish-white magic emanated from him, and the spatial tunnels that had been distorted by Apparition rapidly collapsed under its influence.

He is forcibly manifesting his phantom form.

This was undoubtedly a very dangerous thing. Voldemort felt a sudden, sharp pain in his back, and a large amount of blood swirled and gushed out.

On the other side, Vaughn also had huge gashes on his chest and shoulders.

It split! But it was all too late.

There was a crackling sound.

The distorted space completely collapsed, and two bloodied figures staggered out. Voldemort's bloodshot eyes were fixed on Vaughn, looking at the wounds on his chest and shoulders, and at his eyes, which had remained as calm as a deep pool from beginning to end.

And behind Vaughn, there's that thin body wrapped in a black robe, but without a head!

Voldemort knew it well; it once belonged to Quirrell, but a second ago, it belonged to him!
Now, it's like someone who has suddenly gone blind, raising its hands aimlessly, stumbling a few steps, and then collapsing with a thud.

Ding-ding-ding-ding!

A scarlet ruby ​​fell from the headless corpse, reflecting a brilliant light, and rolled to Vaughn's feet.

Vaughn raised his hands and then released them.

Voldemort's head fell, bounced a few times, and came to rest in front of the scarlet Philosopher's Stone.

“Vaughn…Weasley…”

Voldemort's lips moved, his voice barely audible as he lost his body, but he still tried to make a sound. His bloodshot eyes also turned bloodshot as he turned toward Vaughn, not even paying attention to the Philosopher's Stone that he had been longing for.

"I...will remember you..."

"It is my honor, Dark Lord."

Vaughn's voice was as calm as his eyes. The wounds on his chest and shoulder seemed to have no effect on his emotions. Only his slightly trembling hands as he bent down to pick up the Philosopher's Stone showed his pain.

And inner joy!
Voldemort saw the pleasure in his eyes: "You...you think you've defeated...me?"

“Of course not.” Vaughn picked up the Philosopher’s Stone, examined it against the light, and a smile appeared on his pale face: “Right now you are just a dying soul clinging to life. There’s nothing to be proud of in defeating you. I’m just glad I did it. You can’t take the Philosopher’s Stone with you!”

Voldemort stared at Vaughn for a moment, then smirked, "Heh—well, I look forward to seeing you again..."

As soon as the words were spoken, thick black smoke billowed from the head, coalescing into a distorted, ugly face. It howled as if being pulled or rejected by something, tumbling and flying away, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Vaughn did not try to stop him.

In this state, Voldemort is unstoppable; he is neither a living person nor a ghost, and no magic or physical means can affect him.

Just like no one can hurt a shadow.

Otherwise, even if Dumbledore wanted to nurture Harry, he wouldn't have allowed Voldemort to exist until now.

Just as Vaughn thought of Dumbledore, he heard that annoying voice: "Darling, superb magic, brilliant tactics, you have just defeated the Dark Lord!"

Turning around, Vaughn saw that Harry and Hermione had both fainted, and Dumbledore was standing behind them, his hands clasped in front of his abdomen, smiling at him with a cheerful expression.

He rolled his eyes: "I'm injured, I don't want to talk to you."

"What kind of injury is this? It's just a split body!"

"Would you like me to split you up and see if I could?"

"I'm over a hundred years old, I can't afford this... cough, can you give me back the Philosopher's Stone?"

"We'll talk about the Philosopher's Stone later, Albus, I'm injured!"

"...Didn't I give you three drops of Fox's Tears before? It's just a matter of different parts; one drop of tears is enough to cure it."

"That's for Hermione, Harry, and Ron."

"...So, you want another drop?"

"I've lost so much blood, and now I'm on the verge of death. I don't think a single tear can heal me. What do you think?"

"..."

……

Harry was awakened by a nightmare. When he opened his eyes, he was met with a blurry ceiling.

There was another hoarse voice, seemingly familiar yet different: "Harry, how are you feeling right now?"

Looking up at the sound, Harry could only see a blurry outline. He instinctively asked, "Where are my glasses?"

He saw the blurry figure slowly take something from the side and hand it to him, saying, "I was so worried, but Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore both said you're fine, just a little affected and have fallen into a deep sleep."

Harry fumbled around, putting on his glasses as he pondered.

Where is he?
Were all those previous experiences just a dream?

Why did the person in front of him seem so familiar? The voice did sound somewhat familiar, but it was as if the other person had a carrot in their mouth. In his memory, no one he knew would talk like that.

With all these doubts in mind, the first thing he did after putting on his glasses was to look over there.

Suddenly he was shocked.

What a huge... head!

A head that was swollen several times its normal size stood in front of him. Harry leaned back to see the body "hidden" under the head.

Then, he finally found a familiar feeling in those clothes, his eyes widened, and his voice trembled:

"Ron?"

"...Of course I didn't die. Although when I rushed up there, I thought I was going to die for sure. After all, the traps were designed to guard against dark wizards!"

"I don't know what happened, I just passed out, and when I woke up I found myself still alive, but it didn't feel good at all, because there was a huge fire dragon lying in front of me..."

Ron kept telling Harry about his "resurrection" experience, his big head and big sausage lips trembling, making Harry very uncomfortable.

Finally, I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Ron was annoyed: "What are you laughing at? I'm telling you something really exciting!"

"I'm sorry, Ron, I just... puh... cough, I just can't quite believe it..." Harry finished his apology with difficulty. To avoid bursting out laughing and hurting Ron's pride, he quickly changed the subject: "So, you saw the dragon before we did?"

Speaking of this, Ron's swollen head seemed to glow: "Of course, I think I probably triggered some hidden conditions in Chessboard Town, such as self-sacrifice or demonstrating noble virtues, which is why I was directly teleported to the Dragon's Nest."

He automatically ignored the fact that he had always been on the Fire Dragon's side, after all, the Fire Dragon was evil, and what he did was so righteous!
"Haven't many stories told this story? Heroes pass hidden trials and clear the game directly, but unfortunately, the design of Chessboard Town didn't capture the essence. They just threw me into the dragon's lair and that was it. After that, we just watched you and Hermione fight Voldemort..."

As he spoke, Ron smacked his lips regretfully, and his two fat sausages began to tremble again.

Harry almost laughed again and had to look away, but he also keenly caught the message Ron was getting: "You can see us?"

“Yes, there are a lot of Muggle televisions in the dragon’s nest. They must have been magically modified. I saw you chasing Quirrell and storming the dragon’s castle.”

Harry looked at him nervously: "Then... are there other people in the dragon's nest?"

“No.” Ron shook his head, but before Harry could breathe a sigh of relief, he added, “You want to ask about Vaughn and Dumbledore, right?”

Harry nodded quickly.

Ron sighed: "I think they've always been there... at least when I left that painted world, I was brought out by Dumbledore, and Vaughn was there too, he was injured!"

Upon hearing this, Harry, who was overjoyed to wake up and find Ron still alive, finally remembered what had happened before he fell into a coma.

He sat up immediately: "Vaughn is injured? How is he?"

Before Ron could answer, a voice spoke first: "Vaughn is fine, Harry. How about you? How are you feeling?"

It's Dumbledore.

The principal, dressed in a white robe, looked both solemn and kind, and walked in with a smile from outside the door.

He nodded to Ron: "Mr. Weasley, now that Harry is awake, you should go back to your bed and rest. If Madam Pomfrey sees you wandering around, she'll be furious. Dragon dung is very toxic, and you've been in contact with it quite a bit, so you need to rest properly."

This passage contains a lot of information. Ron seemed to want to refute it, but in the end he just ran to another bed and buried his big head in the blanket.

Harry ignored Ron's embarrassment and looked at Dumbledore with a hesitant expression.

After a moment, he still asked in a low voice, "Dumbledore, were you and Vaughn really always here? Watching Hermione and me, watching us fight Quirrell and Voldemort?"

Hermione has already said that Voldemort deliberately exposed this matter in order to sow discord and make him suspicious.

But undeniably, this question is a thorn in Harry's side, and if he doesn't get an answer, it will remain stuck there forever.

He hoped to hear an answer that differed from Voldemort's.

However, under his expectant and anxious gaze, Dumbledore, sitting by his bedside, nodded calmly: "Yes, Harry, Vaughn and I have always been here."

"……when?"

Harry's voice was dry.

Dumbledore answered honestly, "After Quirinus and you went in, Vaughn and I returned from the Ministry of Magic, within five minutes of each other."

Although he is somewhat reckless, Harry is not stupid; on the contrary, he is quite intelligent.

From the time difference mentioned by Dumbledore, he perceived the information contained within it and even figured out part of the "truth." Some questions that he couldn't understand before were all answered at this moment.

Why has the school failed to track down the man in the black robe?

Why was Snape able to transfer Dumbledore and Vaughn away?

It was all a carefully orchestrated scheme. Snape, Dumbledore, Vaughn... they had everything planned out long ago. Only he, Harry Potter, foolishly believed he was saving the world!

Thinking about his anxiety at learning that Quirrell was planning to steal the Philosopher's Stone but couldn't find Dumbledore and Vaughn, Harry's expression turned slightly self-deprecating: "Thinking about it carefully, there are actually quite a few suspicious points. The most obvious one is Snape... a professor, how could I have overheard his conversation with Quirrell?"

“When I was at my most confused, I overheard him and Quirrell ‘conspiring’ and obtained crucial information… There can’t be that many coincidences…”

He muttered to himself, shrinking into the covers, not wanting to see Dumbledore again, much less speak.

Dumbledore looked at his thin back with a complicated expression. After a moment of silence, he sighed and said, "I'm sorry, Harry, but I still want to tell you that Vaughn has always been against me letting you meet Voldemort. It was I who insisted. I'm sorry, child."

Harry shrugged, and after a long pause, his deep voice came through:
"I want to be alone for a while."

Dumbledore's lips twitched a few times, but he ultimately said nothing more, leaving behind the words, "I'll come see you again later," before leaving the school hospital.

He understood Harry's temper; anyone would feel emotional when they discovered that their thrilling experience was orchestrated by the person they trusted most.

He just hoped Harry could figure it out as soon as possible.

However, Harry's current refusal to communicate is making him feel somewhat depressed.

However, this dejected mood vanished abruptly when he returned to the principal's office—

The weather is lovely today; it seems even the heavens are celebrating the end of the Savior's trials. The bright morning sun shines down gently, neither too intense nor too cold.

The office window was open, and a gentle breeze blew in, stirring the curtains, behind which lay a clear, blue sky.

Beneath the curtains, Vaughn, who was wrapped up tightly, was leisurely lying on the bay window sill.

"Vaughn, is this angle okay for the book?"

"A little further...yes, this distance."

“Come, try Dumbledore’s coffee. An old headmaster in the portrait told me about it, and he said it tastes very good.”

"Yes, it's really good. You should try it too."

"hey-hey."

Looking at the boy and girl basking in the sun under the curtains, laughing and snuggling together, Dumbledore suddenly felt that the sunlight shining on them was so bright that he could hardly open his eyes...

Hermione stayed with Vaughn in the headmaster's office for the entire day.

The girl was very popular with the portraits, especially the several witches whose portraits had been hanging on the walls for hundreds and thousands of years and had seen enough of the old faces of past headmasters. They were delighted to see a young witch who was studying and affectionately called Hermione "the studious Granger".

As it turns out, Hermione's personality may not be liked by her peers, but she is highly favored by her teachers.

Hermione also enjoys chatting with the portraits. She is curious about everything and has an insatiable thirst for knowledge, while the portraits are happy to answer her various questions to pass the time.

So much so that when Hermione had to return to Gryffindor House in the evening, the witches were still reluctant to part with her.

“Young lady, you can come and visit us more often when you have free time. Life here is too boring. We can only face Dumbledore’s face, which looks like a desert, every day. It’s utterly dull.”

“Yes, kid, I’ve been with six principals. You know, these guys were all old men and women when they became principals. I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to be young and energetic.”

"Then why don't you go and look around at the other portraits in the castle?" Hermione asked, as far as she knew, the other portraits in the castle could visit each other.

The portraits sighed: "We cannot leave without permission. We were all headmasters, and we hold the secrets of Hogwarts. Only the current headmaster has the right to know those secrets. To avoid being misled, most of us swore an oath when we donated our portraits that we would not leave this room without the headmaster's permission."

(End of this chapter)