What puzzled Harry, though, was that the magical fluctuation coming off the Philosopher's Stone felt strange—spiking high and dipping low. Had it… short-circuited?
With the situation this urgent, Harry didn't have time to think it through. He snapped his wand up, and in an instant, a glossy green beam shot from the tip and streaked toward Voldemort at breakneck speed!
Whether the Philosopher's Stone had a problem or not, the priority was dealing with Voldemort.
As long as Voldemort died, every problem in front of him would be solved in one stroke!
Voldemort's expression changed sharply. From the earlier fight, he already knew how terrifying Disintegrate was.
Now that he saw Disintegrate flying at him, of course he didn't dare take it head-on—or rather, even he had very few spells that could directly defend against it.
Aside from repeatedly casting Transfiguration to conjure solid metal walls as shields, most defensive magic—even something as powerful as Protego Maxima—couldn't stop Disintegrate. After a few seconds, it would be broken down and dissolved anyway.
Left with no choice, he had to loosen his grip on the Philosopher's Stone for the moment, yank his arm back out of the mirror's surface, and flash sideways to evade.
Seeing his spell work and force Voldemort back, Harry's eyes lit up. He quickened his steps and rushed to the Mirror of Erised.
In the next moment, a powerful electric current surged over his whole body. Relying purely on his incredible physical strength, he forcibly yanked the Philosopher's Stone out of the mirror!
Then he Transfigured the broken stones underfoot into several sparrows, using them to intercept Voldemort's Killing Curse, and retreated to the side, facing Voldemort once more.
But the instant he tightened his grip on the Philosopher's Stone and gave it a quick look, his expression turned odd.
Staring at it more closely, Harry suddenly realized something was… not right.
His magical perception had always been sharp—especially with chaos magic, which shared the same origin as his own power.
With only a brief probe, he discovered the "Philosopher's Stone" in his hand was nothing but a counterfeit that looked impressive on the surface!
Only the outermost layer was constructed with a high-density chaos magic structure, convincing enough at a glance to pass for real. But beneath that, the inside was just an extremely ordinary red gemstone.
And for a wizard skilled in Transfiguration, a gemstone like that was practically free—cast Transfiguration, and you could make as many as you wanted.
Harry understood immediately.
The real Philosopher's Stone had long since been hidden away by Dumbledore. The one placed here was deliberately set out as bait—a fake meant to lure Voldemort in.
Even these chambers were nothing but a trap.
Voldemort might be an elderly man himself, but compared to Dumbledore—over a hundred years old—he was still a step short.
After all the scheming, the pitiful Voldemort had been played by Dumbledore like a toy in the palm of his hand.
And very quickly, Harry thought of a way to end this fight fast.
Voldemort's eyes were bloodshot, fixed on Harry. The muscles in his face twisted with fury, making him look even more grotesque.
He forced each word out through clenched teeth. "Damn you. Hand over the Philosopher's Stone!"
After brutally squeezing out magic and life force, and with the unicorn curse continuously eating away at him, Quirrell's body was already fragile to the extreme—he couldn't hold on much longer.
If he didn't get the Philosopher's Stone now, he would truly die.
Rage and violent emotion boosted his spells yet again. Even a Killing Curse striking a wall would blow it apart, leaving a circular crater several meters wide.
In an instant, debris blasted across the chamber and dust choked the air.
Facing a Voldemort in berserk desperation, even Harry struggled to handle it, gradually falling into a disadvantage.
Finally, Voldemort seized an opening. A flash of ruthlessness crossed his eyes as he fired a spell—precise, instantaneous—striking Harry cleanly.
The impact threw Harry off balance, forcing him to stumble back several steps.
Voldemort's face split into wild delight at the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To make absolutely sure, he stopped casting silently like before and shouted out loud:
"Expelliarmus!"
A dazzling beam shot at Harry, landing directly on the hand holding the Philosopher's Stone.
Even Harry couldn't resist it—couldn't shrug it off.
He felt an irresistible force slam into him. His fingers released against his will, and the Philosopher's Stone instantly slipped free of his control.
Voldemort immediately cast the Levitation Charm. The Philosopher's Stone arced through the air and settled neatly into his palm.
At that moment, Voldemort's ecstasy nearly overflowed. He threw his head back and laughed, unrestrained and manic.
"Hahahaha! In the end, I still won!
Potter—now you'll see why I was able to become the Dark Lord that terrified the entire wizarding world!"
Before the words even finished, Voldemort clenched the Philosopher's Stone eagerly and poured magic into it.
Harry's face went deathly pale, panic flashing across it. He lunged forward without caring about anything else, trying to stop him.
But Voldemort was prepared. With his defenses fully focused, Harry couldn't break through the protective magic at all.
As Voldemort fed more and more magic into the Philosopher's Stone, it grew brighter and brighter—yet Voldemort himself grew weaker and weaker, his body even beginning to sway.
Gradually, the power of his spells dropped sharply, turning soft and feeble, and even blocking Harry's attacks became extremely difficult.
Yet despite how dangerous the situation looked, Voldemort remained composed, without the slightest sign of tension.
Everything was unfolding exactly as he had planned—exactly as he had expected.
Soon. It was almost done…
As long as he could activate the Philosopher's Stone and use it to condense a brand-new body, he would completely escape this weak, crumbling shell and return to his former peak!
When that happened, how could Harry Potter possibly be his match?
Unlike those reckless, impulsive villains, the closer Voldemort got to the finish line, the more cautious he became.
While carefully responding to Harry's spells, he split off part of his focus, rapidly reviewing the entire plan in his mind, refusing to miss even the smallest possible flaw.
Once he confirmed everything, his confidence swelled to the extreme.
Victory would belong to him.
The Dark Lord would return. Wizards would rise again. Muggles should live under wizard rule!
So he tried to talk, hoping to distract Harry Potter and buy himself more time.
"Potter, I have to admit—you truly exceeded my expectations. You have extraordinary talent.
But do you still not understand? You cannot stop me!
In this world, only we wizards can cast spells and wield what Muggles call supernatural power. And pure-blood wizards are the elite of the magical world—so we should rule over half-bloods and Muggles!
Survival of the fittest. The strong thrive and the weak fall. That is the most fundamental law of nature. This rotten wizarding world should have changed long ago. The decayed system should be overthrown, and a new one must be built!"
Harry neither agreed nor disagreed. He was perfectly happy to stall for time too, replying coolly, "Voldemort, what you're doing is not right."
Voldemort wasn't surprised by Harry's rejection. As the Chosen One, Harry was his enemy—how could he possibly share the same beliefs?
But what Harry said next left Voldemort staring, stunned.
Harry's expression grew grave, and he spoke seriously:
"However, your last sentence has some truth to it.
This rotten wizarding world does need to change. If it keeps going like this—no progress at all—then the wizarding world is doomed to destruction."
Voldemort froze, then burst into joy.
Harry Potter actually had a similar ideology!
Harry Potter's ability was plain for all to see. If he could bring Harry into the Death Eaters and restrict him, use him—then even Dumbledore wouldn't be able to stop him!
Voldemort's mouth curled into a faint, eerie smile. In that rasping voice, he tempted him word by word:
"Then join us, Harry. You will become the Death Eaters' second-in-command. When I unify the wizarding world, you will be second only to me—above tens of thousands—its supreme ruler!"
Facing Voldemort's temptation, Harry rejected it without hesitation.
"No. Our ideas overlap in a few places, but we differ far more.
The wizarding world's system does need reform, but the change I mean is that clinging to the old ways is unacceptable. Wizards need to find a way to integrate with Muggles—or accept technology.
And 'rule' is even more unacceptable. Old fossils like you are still stuck in the past.
Do you know about the two suns that exploded over an island nation? Do you know what an armored steel tide looks like today? Do you know the population ratio between Muggles and wizards?
If the wizarding world goes to war with Muggles, even if wizards attempt decapitation strikes, there's still a massive risk of failure.
And if it fails, the entire wizarding world will shatter, and countless wizards will die.
But you don't care about any of that at all. Your goal and your speech don't match—you're only chasing your own desires.
You want to rule the world, and on that road, you don't care how many people you sacrifice—even if those people are Death Eaters who worship you!
What's more… isn't your ambition far too shortsighted? Limiting yourself to a single world—there's no way that can tempt me."
Voldemort's face twisted. What Harry said was, in fact, true—wizards really could lose.
He didn't care about anyone else's casualties, only his own benefit, which was why he could start wars without hesitation.
But what did Harry mean by "one world can't tempt me"? Could he go to other worlds?
Still, that didn't matter. Buying time was what mattered now.
Voldemort quickly thought of something and sneered, "Potter, your wish is just as hard to realize. If you want to change the system, you'll have to stand against the entire wizarding world. When that happens, what will you do?"
Harry replied calmly, "Reform requires sacrifice. Rather than sacrifice the entire wizarding world, it's better to sacrifice the rotten Ministry of Magic. When that time comes, the Avada Lightning Chain will finally be useful."
"Hahahaha! Potter, so we really are the same kind of person. Even if I fail, you'll inherit the title of Dark Lord and become the next Dark Lord!
Dumbledore would never imagine what kind of monster he's been nurturing!"
Voldemort shouted in delight—but suddenly, as if he'd thought of something, he choked on his own words.
He froze, then coughed twice, staring at Harry in utter disbelief as he demanded:
"Wait. What did you just say? Avada Lightning Chain?
Potter, you're too extreme!"
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