Hogwarts: Oh no, I've become Voldemort!

Cyrus couldn't stand the smell, so he simply returned his body to Ginny and went back to studying alchemy and spells in his diary.

"Well--"

"Hello, Mr. Riddle—is the Quidditch match over?" Ginny asked sleepily.

Upon hearing Ginny's question, Cyrus realized that he hadn't returned his body to Ginny these past few days. Fortunately, he had memorized all the scenes from the Quidditch match. Although his mind had wandered for a while, his eyes hadn't missed any details.

“It’s been two days since it ended, Ginny. Today is Monday,” Cyrus said seriously.

"It's Monday already?" Ginny was taken aback, not expecting Mr. Riddle to use her body for so long this time. "Has something happened, Mr. Riddle?"

“Colin Crevy has been attacked—” Cyrus tried to make his expression more serious.

"Colin?" Ginny's eyes widened, looking extremely uneasy. She sat next to Colin Creevey in Charms class, and the two were fairly good friends who could talk to each other. But now, Colin had been attacked!

“Yes, it’s all my fault! When the cat was killed before, I thought it was a prank and didn’t pay much attention. Besides, it was my suggestion that he sneak off to see Harry at night. If it weren’t for that, he probably wouldn’t have been killed.” Cyrus said in a tone of utter responsibility. “The Chamber of Secrets has been opened again. I want to find out who the murderer is, so I plan to infiltrate Slytherin with Harry and the others to see if we can find any clues.”

“This isn’t your fault, Mr. Riddle!” Ginny exclaimed forcefully. “Who knows how insane that Slytherin heir is? Even if it’s not Colin, it will be someone else. His goal is to eliminate Muggles!”

He also told Ginny about the compound drug to prevent the truth from being revealed.

"I'm sorry, Ginny, I might have to borrow your body quite often during this period."

“It’s alright, Mr. Riddle. I just wish we could find a successor to Slytherin sooner,” Ginny said, shaking her head.

Ginny completely understood Mr. Riddle's remorse at that moment, so she agreed to Cyrus's request without hesitation. Besides, she had almost forgotten about Quidditch.

As a result, Ginny's conscious time decreased even further during the following period.

In December, it began to snow heavily at Hogwarts.

Professor McGonagall brought over a large stack of forms for those who planned to stay on campus to fill out applications.

"Malfoy is planning to stay at school for Christmas!" Harry exclaimed in surprise.

"This is highly suspicious."

“But the Polyjuice Potion isn’t ready yet,” Hermione said urgently. “We have to steal it during Potions class this Thursday, or we’ll be too late. We’d better use a feint!”

Harry and Ron both looked grim. Instead of stealing potions, Harry preferred to confront Voldemort.

“I’ll steal it,” Cyrus volunteered. “You guys create some chaos in class, and I’ll sneak in.”

"What? No! I can't let you get fired!" Ron said defiantly. "I'll go instead!"

Hermione quickly refused: "I can go, because I have no criminal record."

“It would be hard for Snape not to notice that there’s one less student in the class, wouldn’t it?” Cyrus countered.

"But Snape's office is right at the back of the classroom. How could you possibly sneak in during class?"

“There’s a way…” Cyrus looked at Harry, who was determined to go to Snape’s office, “…to borrow your Invisibility Cloak.”

"I'd completely forgotten I had the Invisibility Cloak," Harry said with a start.

He would just leave the invisibility cloak lying around after using it, as if it were a tattered trench coat rather than some Deathly Hallows artifact.

That night, Cyrus obtained Harry's invisibility cloak, and he wandered around the castle wearing it.

What makes the legendary Deathly Hallows so special?

In his view, the magic of this invisibility cloak was no more powerful than a perfect illusion spell, and it was indeed rather unremarkable compared to the invincible Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone that could revive the dead.

"If you can't escape Moody's demonic eye, how can you escape the eyes of Death?"

"Or perhaps, the legend is just a legend, just as Dumbledore said, the three Peverell brothers were simply very powerful and dangerous wizards who successfully created these incredibly powerful artifacts. The story of the Deathly Hallows is just a kind of legend surrounding these inventions."

This possibility is indeed more likely. Since Nicolas Flamel could create the Philosopher's Stone, which could turn stones into gold and grant immortality, it wouldn't be so hard to accept that the three brothers could create the Resurrection Stone, which could bring people back to life.

The Elder Wand's power and its curse seem to be closely related.

But regardless of whether the legend of the Deathly Hallows is true or false, the three artifacts do indeed have their own unique characteristics.

Cyrus rubbed his cold cloak and slowly made his way to the eighth floor.

"I need a room where I can study magical artifacts."

"I need a room where I can study magical artifacts."

"I need a room where I can study magical artifacts."

As he murmured those words to himself and turned around for the third time beneath the monstrous image, a door appeared on the blank wall.

Cyrus removed his cloak, pushed open the door, and went inside. The door vanished instantly.

This is a room somewhat similar to, but not exactly the same as, a potions classroom. Besides various cauldrons, there are many mechanical objects, or rather, objects that look like machines. In reality, they are all products of alchemy.

In the magical world, alchemy and potions are not completely independent, but rather intersecting.

Chapter 28 Refining failed

The initial goal of alchemy was to transform base metals into precious metals, especially gold. Later, different researches were developed, such as creating panaceas, finding the Philosopher's Stone, and creating homunculus.

To this day, only Nicolas Flamel has achieved the goals of turning lead into gold and achieving immortality in this field.

However, in its development, various magical props have appeared, such as the Pensieve, the Time Converter, and the Vanishing Cabinet.

Although these tools are completely unrelated to the three ultimate goals of alchemy, they still have very magical effects.

Cyrus used a spell to unfold the invisibility cloak.

He had been carefully reading many alchemy books these past few days, so it wasn't difficult to discover the unusual features of this cloak. First of all, the material was completely different from that of ordinary cloaks.

Ordinary invisibility cloaks are made from the fur of invisibility beasts, which are silver and resemble ape-like magical creatures, but the cloak in Cyrus's hand felt much colder to the touch.

"The Invisible Beast is the only magical creature that can become invisible. Its power is represented by 0 in runes. If this cloak is not made of Invisible Beast fur, then what is it made of?"

Cyrus raised his wand, the tip of which emitted a faint glow that shone on the transparent cloak, instantly revealing its texture.

The texture contains countless runes.

Cyrus clearly saw "teiwaz" and "algiz," the former meaning immortality and the latter signifying protection.

In ancient times, runes were commonly used on alchemical artifacts. These runes possessed immense magical power, though it could not be released through incantations. Inscribing them on magical artifacts, however, allowed their power to be unleashed even more effectively.

However, another problem is that runes are obscure and difficult to understand. This cannot be simply summarized as a foreign language. In fact, even if most people understand the meaning of the text, they may not be able to resonate with it or bring out its magic.

Nowadays, runic writing has become a discipline similar to translation, seemingly having no other use besides archaeology.

"There is indeed a powerful illusion spell hidden inside this cloak."

The powerful spell and the immortal material—perhaps it is this combination that makes the magic of this cloak never disappear.

Cyrus guessed that the Elder Wand's effect was similar.

The Elder Wand is made of elderwood and Thestral hair. Elderwood is rare, but it can be found if you really want to. However, despite Gregorovich's constant attempts to imitate the Elder Wand, he has never been able to create a wand that can rival it.

Cyrus speculated that the secret to the Elder Wand's power might lie in its curse itself.

Both Dumbledore and Harry believed that the Elder Wand's power would be destroyed once its original wielder died of natural causes. This was because the curse on the wand would be broken, and thus, the legendary wand would become just like any other ordinary wand.

Then, Cyrus lowered his cloak.

He couldn't possess the cloak for long; it was impossible to fully unravel its mysteries in just a few days. Researching how to create the Philosopher's Stone was far more important.

Opening Nico's handbook, skipping over the dreams and revelations, Cyrus came across this passage.

"The Philosopher's Stone is the oldest, most mysterious, and most unknown of all things. In its nature, it is the most incomprehensible, yet also a blessing and a sacred gift from heaven. It is the mystery within mysteries. It is the power of morality and divinity, the limit and purpose of all things under heaven, the ultimate and inconceivable result of the actions of all sages. It is the perfect essence of all elements, an indestructible object that no element can harm or destroy; it is the fifth element. It is mercury, a dual and living entity possessing its own spirit, capable of handling all imperfect and unstable metals. It is eternal radiance, a panacea for all diseases, the phoenix bestowing glory upon heaven, the most precious treasure of all riches, and a vital asset of all nature."

"The materials for crafting the Philosopher's Stone are mercury, sulfur, salt... It must be crafted using the four elements—heat, cold, dryness, and moisture—to break down the internal and external elements of the substance..."

Cyrus poured mercury into the crucible and then lit a fire.

"Flame represents heat and dryness—water represents cold and dampness—"

As he stirred the crucible, his magic flowed into the mercury. Then he poured in sulfur, salt blocks, and soil.

"Soil is hot and humid..."

The contents of the crucible began to boil, and the color gradually turned crimson.

The magic stone described in the records was indeed crimson, but this lump was difficult to form. The flames burned continuously, the water in the crucible was boiled, and the cold and dampness were driven away, until finally, only a tiny bit of crimson powder remained in the crucible.

Cyrus picked them up with his fingers but couldn't sense any life in them.

"Failed."

He wasn't discouraged and continued to peruse Nicolas Flamel's notes, but even Nicolas Flamel himself didn't understand how he had succeeded.

For centuries, he had tried to replicate that miracle, but he had never succeeded a second time.

"The recipe for the Philosopher's Stone can't be that simple, and Nico's manuscript probably won't be of much help," Cyrus thought.

There must have been some unforeseen accident or coincidence during Nicolas Flamel's creation of the Philosopher's Stone, a coincidence that he himself was unaware of.

In the magical world, sometimes even a breeze or a ray of sunlight can affect the outcome of alchemy or potion making. Sometimes, even sound is a crucial factor.

For example, when practicing Animagus, one needs dew that cannot see the sun, or the first thunderclap in a storm as inspiration.

Cyrus felt a sense of urgency. He could indeed resurrect Ginny without using the Philosopher's Stone, but that would require absorbing all of Ginny's life force, which would inevitably kill her.

However, he had already considered Ginny his friend, and he couldn't bring himself to harm her for his own resurrection.

'If all else fails, I'll have to absorb some life force before leaving.'

If he fails to forge the Philosopher's Stone by the end of the school year, he will have to leave Hogwarts in the same state as in the movies.