My partner at Hogwarts is Tom

A complex light flashed in Dumbledore's deep blue eyes—a reflection on the past and a decision on what had to be done.

He slowly turned around and pointed the Elder Wand at Tom's body on the ground, which was tightly bound and resembled a strange "cocoon".

The tip of the Elder Wand did not emit a dazzling light, but rather a deep, concentrated magical energy that quietly emanated from it.

"Safeguarding the town."

Dumbledore's voice was deep and clear, as if ancient incantations were echoing directly through the space.

With a light tap of the staff, a spherical shield, as thin as a cicada's wing yet shimmering with a pale golden luster, appeared out of thin air.

Like a delicate bubble, it gently enveloped Tom's body completely.

Once the shield was formed, it carried Tom's body, which was bound tightly inside, and floated steadily in the air about half a meter above the ground.

Immediately afterwards, Dumbledore steadily raised his wrist, and the Elder Wand traced an enigmatic path.

"Soul stripping".

There was no earth-shattering noise, but an invisible, overwhelming force instantly acted upon Tom's body.

"Ugh—!"

A sharp, distorted roar, filled with pain and endless resentment, seemed to tear the boundary between reality and soul, bursting forth from the seven orifices of Tom's body!

The voice did not belong to Tom, but was the final struggle and roar of the remnant soul of the Crowned Voldemort as he was forced to leave the "nest".

With this roar, a thick, inky black mist, constantly churning and twisting, was "pulled" out from the top of Tom's head by a gentle yet irresistible golden light!

The black mist struggled and roared, conjuring countless faces of pain or grotesque horror, but none could resist the pull of the powerful magic emanating from the Elder Wand and Dumbledore.

It was completely pulled out of Tom's body, gathering and coalescing in mid-air.

Ultimately, the black mist took the form of a semi-transparent young wizard wearing old Hogwarts robes.

He was almost uncannyly handsome, with neatly trimmed black hair, and his face resembled that of Tom Riddle when he was sixteen or seventeen.

But those eyes burned with a madness, malice, and violence beyond their years, the very soul manifested by the remnant soul of the Crowned Voldemort!

The moment the remnant soul was completely stripped away, Tom's physical body, which was inside the pale golden shield, seemed to lose all support, his eyes became completely empty, and he fell softly downwards.

Viktor, who had been completely focused, waved his wand almost simultaneously.

An invisible force caught Tom's falling body just in time and gently placed him on the ground.

At the same time, as if receiving a silent command, Tom was subjected to all sorts of "suppression packages".

Unicorn ropes, yellow talismans, magic-suppressing chains, crosses, scarab amulets, voodoo dolls, vajras, peach wood plugs... all seemed to have received a command.

They deftly untied and fell off automatically, then lined up in an orderly little squad, whizzing back to the inconspicuous suitcase entrance that Victor always kept at his feet, and disappeared.

"Meow!"

Beside him, Tom, who had been waiting impatiently, let out an excited cheer.

He saw his body lying stiffly on the ground, and then he saw that annoying black mist monster being pulled out, and immediately he had no more doubts.

Tom's soul performed a standard diving take-off.

With a kick of its hind legs, the cat transformed into a smooth arc of pearly white light, and with a "poof," it precisely re-entered its own flesh and mouth.

Tom the cat on the ground shuddered violently, and then his sapphire-like cat eyes opened again!

She blinked a little confusedly, shook her head, and then quickly regained her usual liveliness.

He rolled over and stood up, and the first thing he did was to quickly check his body.

It stretched out its paws and touched its forehead and belly, and only after confirming that there was nothing strange or missing any parts did it breathe a long sigh of relief.

Immediately afterwards, his gaze "whooshed" to the young version of Voldemort's soul, which was imprisoned in mid-air by a pale gold spherical barrier and was frantically charging around.

Tom's cat's face immediately revealed a look of exhilaration at getting revenge and undisguised contempt.

You dared to steal my things! You dared to take advantage of me! You deserved it!

Trapped within the barrier, Voldemort, after the initial excruciating pain and dizziness from being forcibly removed, immediately descended into hysterical rage.

His handsome face was twisted like a demon, and his hands gathered dark magic as he frantically pounded on the pale gold shield.

His mouth opened and closed, emitting silent yet seemingly soul-piercing curses and roars.

However, Dumbledore's magic remained as solid as a mountain.

The seemingly thin, pale golden barrier only rippled slightly under his frenzied attacks, completely isolating and eliminating all impacts and those filthy thoughts.

Looking at his former students struggling in vain and their faces contorted in agony within the barrier, Dumbledore felt no pleasure, only a deep sigh and a calm acceptance that all of this had to end.

He spoke softly, his voice not loud, yet it clearly pierced through the barrier, as if resounding directly into the depths of Voldemort's soul.

"Well then, goodbye, Tom."

This sentence was like lighting the fuse of the final powder keg.

Voldemort, encased in the barrier, froze abruptly, then erupted in even more frenzied rage and a deep-seated sense of humiliation at being called "Tom," a name he had long since rejected as "mediocre."

He rammed even more violently, his soul and form becoming somewhat unstable due to extreme rage, and wisps of black smoke drifted from the edges of the school robe he conjured.

"Tom?"

Tom, who was watching the show with a smug look on his face, keenly caught the word.

He tilted his head in confusion, looking at the guy inside the barrier, then at Dumbledore.

When Tom realized that Dumbledore was indeed speaking to the black mist monster, his eyes widened instantly!

He turned to look at his master, Victor, incredulously, his eyes screaming, "This bastard is also called Tom??"

Viktor looked at his cat's "Are you kidding me?" expression, suppressed a laugh, and nodded firmly.

"!!!"

Upon confirming this "bad news," Tom was instantly enraged!

What kind of class is this! They dare call themselves Tom?!

They stole my crown! And now they want to steal my body! It's disgusting and disgusting! And now they even dare to use the same name as me?!

This is an absolute disgrace to a cat's life! It tarnishes the great and resounding name of "Tom"!

Tom grew angrier the more he thought about it, and all the fur on his body stood on end.

He rolled up his sleeves and looked around, seemingly searching for a suitable "weapon".

The next second, Tom reached behind him with his paw.

A heavy-looking iron hammer, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen, was pulled out of thin air by him!

The hammerhead was twice the size of his cat's head!

"Meow!"

Tom used his hind legs to propel himself forward, his body spinning, and with all his might, he swung the giant iron hammer fiercely toward the crowned Voldemort hidden in the pale gold barrier in mid-air!

Surprisingly, the pale gold barrier did not hinder the physical hammer that was purely "manifested" by Tom at all!

The hammer whizzed through the barrier—

"Thump!!!"

A dull, teeth-grinding thud.

The hammerhead of the giant iron sledgehammer landed squarely and without any hesitation right in the center of Voldemort's handsome yet twisted face!

Although it wasn't a physical attack, the extreme anger and pure disdain for "the name being tainted" contained in this hammer blow seemed to have a special impact on the soul.

The illusory soul of the Crowned Voldemort was struck and thrown backward, his face caved in and blurred for a moment, letting out an even more shrill, silent scream, and even the black mist around him dissipated considerably.

This blow may not cause much physical damage, but its humiliation is off the charts!

"Well done, Tom," Victor chuckled softly, ruffling the head of the cat that had jumped back to his feet, its whiskers trembling with rage.

As Dumbledore watched this unexpected yet inexplicably "satisfying" scene, a faint smile flickered in his blue eyes behind his crescent-shaped spectacles, but it was quickly replaced by solemnity.

it's time.

Without further hesitation, he steadily raised the Elder Wand, pointing it at the pale golden barrier, and chanted an ancient and powerful incantation:

"Fiendfyre".

There was no prelude of the usual violent, scorching, and destructive aura when casting the Fiendfire spell.

Emerging from the tip of the staff was a wisp of flame, condensed to its fullest extent, displaying a magnificent crimson-gold hue.

This wisp of flame, as if possessing life and supreme spirituality, floated lightly into the pale golden barrier.

The moment it entered the barrier, the crimson flames suddenly expanded and stretched!

Instead of burning wildly, it quickly transformed into a lifelike, exquisitely detailed, majestic and beautiful phoenix of fire!

The phoenix spread its wings, which were made entirely of pure flames, raised its head and let out a clear cry, full of longing for magic.

Faced with the fiery phoenix, the remnant soul of the Crowned Voldemort revealed an unprecedented, instinctive fear.

He shrieked, transforming all his remaining dark magic into shields and spikes in an attempt to resist.

However, all these struggles were in vain before Dumbledore's precisely controlled Fiend Phoenix.

The fiery phoenix gracefully swooped down, opening its flaming beak that seemed capable of swallowing stars, and in one gulp completely devoured the struggling, wailing black mist soul into its "belly"!

"Aaaaaahh ...

The final roar, filled with endless resentment and pain, came to an abrupt end.

The fiery phoenix gracefully circled once within the barrier.

Its crimson-gold body seemed to have become brighter and more solidified after devouring a powerful dark soul.

It even cast its eyes, which were made entirely of flames yet seemed to possess a tangible gaze, beyond the barrier, as if it hadn't had enough.

He lingered on Victor and Tom for a moment, revealing a pure energy being's instinctive greed for "high-quality fuel."

Seeing this, Dumbledore frowned slightly and tapped the Elder Wand lightly once more.

The fiery phoenix let out a soft cry tinged with resentment.

Its massive body rapidly collapsed inward, transforming into a single, pure spark, before vanishing completely into the air, leaving not a trace of excess heat behind.

The pale gold barrier also vanished silently.

Inside the barrier, there was nothing.

The remnant soul of the Crowned Voldemort has been completely purified and incinerated by the Fiery Phoenix, leaving not a trace.

Almost at the same moment the remnant soul was destroyed.

Click!

A soft yet distinct cracking sound came from the crystal coffin floating nearby.

Inside the coffin, at the center of the exquisite Ravenclaw crown, was a striking sight.

The sapphire, which was originally just dull, now had a long, thin, and menacing crack that ran through its entire surface!

The last glimmer of light inside the gemstone vanished completely, leaving it as lifeless and gray as glass.

The crown itself seemed to have lost some of the magic that underpinned its "extraordinary" status.

Although still exquisite, it has become a pure antique with historical value, devoid of any eerie fluctuations of black magic.

The Horcrux is broken.

Victor looked away from the shattered crown and stared intently at Dumbledore, his face filled with the awe and thirst for knowledge a researcher has when witnessing the pinnacle of craftsmanship.

"Headmaster, the way you controlled the Fiendish Flame Curse just now..."

He couldn't help but speak up. The effortless and precise purification he achieved completely overturned his understanding of the dangerous dark magic, Fiendfire.

However, he hadn't finished speaking.

"Boom!!"

The entire House of Requirement began to shake violently without warning!

It wasn't the shaking of an earthquake, but rather as if the very "structure" of this magical space itself was undergoing a fundamental collapse!

The solid floor beneath my feet instantly became illusory and transparent.

Then, like a shattered mirror, it vanished piece by piece, revealing a bottomless darkness below that seemed to connect to nothingness!

The walls were piled with clutter, the shelves reached to the ceiling, and the items were hanging...

Everything, like a set of building blocks that had been knocked down, began to collapse, fall, and dissipate into points of light in a way that defied the laws of physics!

"Meow!!!"

Tom was terrified. He screamed and clung to Victor's leg with all four limbs, almost embedding himself in it.

Victor and Dumbledore's expressions changed, and they both waved their wands.

"Protect them all!"

"Armor for protection!"

The two of them tacitly cast a powerful protective spell, enveloping themselves and Tom, who was pressed close to them.

But this collapse was not an attack, but a transformation of space.

The light of the spell was stretched and distorted in the rapidly changing environment.

In just a few breaths, the once crowded, chaotic, yet incredibly real Room of Requirement vanished completely.

All the clutter, walls, ceiling, floor... vanished without a trace.

The two people and the cat found themselves in a strange space.

All around, above, below, left, and right, is an endless, deep starry sky, dotted with countless stars, with the Milky Way stretching as far as the eye can see, as if one were in a vacuum of space.

Beneath their feet lay an absolute, dark void that devoured everything, unfathomable and awe-inspiring.

They stood suspended in mid-air at the boundary between darkness and starry sky.

The only people present were Victor, Tom clinging to his leg, and Dumbledore wielding the Elder Wand.

Only the suspended crystal coffin containing the shattered crown remained, emitting a faint, steady light, serving as the only familiar coordinate in this eerie starry sky.

The Room of Requirement seems to have entered an unprecedented state of "reset" or "exposure" due to the complete destruction of the Horcruxes or some deeper magical chain reaction.

"It seems," Dumbledore said, gazing at the vast and unfamiliar starry sky, his azure eyes reflecting the Milky Way, his voice tinged with inquiry and surprise.

"We've touched upon some of the castle's oldest secrets. This place may be the true foundation of the Room of Requirement, or... a crossroads of Hogwarts' magical network."

Viktor gripped his wand tightly, feeling the unusual flow of magic around him, both awestruck and filled with vigilance and curiosity.

Tom buried his head deep in Victor's robe, leaving only one eye showing as he cautiously peeked at the surrounding starry sky and the darkness beneath his feet, his tail stiff.