When Avada saw Voldemort's soul split apart, his heart instantly sank halfway to his stomach.
Only then did he truly understand what had just happened—Voldemort had split his soul by killing Quirrell, escaping like a lizard shedding its tail!
Damn it! How did he even come up with something this insane?!
And this time, what he split off wasn't some insignificant fragment—he had discarded a full half of his soul!
After six prior divisions, his main soul had already been pitifully small. And now he dared to tear away half of what remained in one go… How could he possibly be that reckless?! The tiny remnant left behind would probably be barely larger than an ordinary soul fragment!
Avada could never have imagined that Voldemort would use such a ruthless and absurd method to break free—otherwise, no matter what, he would have had Baron stack at least a dozen Full Body-Bind Curses on Quirrell's body!
"You made me lose half of my soul!!"
A roar filled with boundless hatred thundered above their heads, forcing everyone to look up.
A small mass of grey mist broke free from the crystal ball's pull and floated into the air above the room. Within it, the vague outline of a hideous human face emerged, glaring at Avada with eyes that seemed ready to devour him.
"Just you wait, Ken! Becoming the next Dark Lord by stepping over my corpse won't be so easy!"
"I am immortal! One day, I will return—and when that day comes, you, and everything you care about… none of you will escape!!"
With that, Voldemort shot out of the room without even looking back, as if every obstacle were utterly meaningless.
Avada watched helplessly as that last wisp of Voldemort's remaining soul slipped through the wall and vanished from both sight and Magical Perception. He let out a heavy breath.
"Well… he got away."
"But it wasn't a total waste of effort. At least he lost half his soul. The final Horcrux can't possibly be created now—or perhaps it already was… And his intelligence should drop to a level that's honestly painful to behold."
"I don't know whether this will severely weaken him if he ever revives… or whether he'll even be able to revive at all."
"It's utterly ridiculous—if you add up the sizes of all the soul fragments in his Horcruxes, they already outweigh his main soul!"
Sighing, Avada stepped forward, bent down, and picked up the black crystal ball that held half of Voldemort's soul. He then turned to Baron and Harry, who were still standing there in a daze, and forced a small smile.
"How should I put it… I guess we succeeded halfway."
"He escaped?"
Baron still hadn't lowered his wand as he frowned and asked.
"He did."
Avada sighed. "At the very last moment, he tore his soul apart, leaving part of it—about half—in the crystal ball, while the rest escaped. Survival by self-mutilation."
"As expected of a former Dark Lord. He was never going to be easy to deal with."
Baron looked regretful, but his brow soon relaxed. "Still, at least we dealt him a devastating blow, right? Half his soul… I don't know exactly what that means, but it must've hurt him badly."
"It should have… I think?"
Even Avada wasn't entirely sure. Voldemort's soul had already been shattered beyond recognition, yet it hadn't seemed to affect his combat ability much. How much difference this loss would make was hard to say.
"In any case, our efforts weren't in vain."
Baron plopped down onto the floor without any concern for appearances, leaning back against the wall. Deceiving Voldemort while maintaining Occlumency at the same time—only Merlin knew how tense he'd been!
"But…"
Harry, who had been lying on the ground the whole time and still hadn't gotten up, wore a puzzled expression. "What Voldemort said earlier—that Ken is a natural Dark wizard who wants to dominate everything and become the Dark Lord… What did all that mean?"
"Ahem—don't worry about that."
Avada coughed awkwardly. "That was just part of my cover when I infiltrated Voldemort's side. I guess I played the role a little too well. He still thinks I'm the same kind of person as him. Honestly—can't he think better of me for once? I'm a Hufflepuff, for Merlin's sake."
"You infiltrated Voldemort's side?!"
Harry cried out in shock. "You mean this whole year, you were undercover right next to Voldemort?!"
"You could put it that way…"
Since things had temporarily settled down, and there was nothing else to do, Avada gave Harry a general explanation of his situation.
"Merlin… that's unbelievable…"
After hearing Avada's story, Harry couldn't help but feel deep admiration. "You're the most incredible wizard I've ever met."
"It's nothing special. I just did what I could… and it wasn't even a complete success in the end."
Avada tossed the crystal ball lightly in his hand. "Alright, now that it's over, we should probably head back. Harry, your two friends are still waiting for you, right? You'd better go reassure them. As for me, I need to take this crystal ball to Dumbledore and have him check if we missed anything…"
Only then did Harry and Baron fully realize just how extraordinary this otherwise unremarkable-looking crystal ball was. They gathered around, studying the black sphere in Avada's hand with curiosity.
"It's hard to imagine that this thing contains half of a Dark Lord's soul…"
Baron carefully touched the crystal ball and murmured in awe. But the moment Harry focused his attention on it, a sudden sharp pain stabbed through his forehead, making his cheek twitch.
"Merlin—my scar hurts… This scar definitely still has some connection to Voldemort."
Harry said as he rubbed his forehead in pain.
"It's probably because Voldemort is still alive."
At the mention of that, Avada's mood sank again. "After all, he did escape. So just like he said… one day, he'll return."
"Did you forget something, Ken?"
An aged yet gentle chuckle suddenly sounded, cutting off Avada's sigh. In the next instant, a brilliant burst of fire ignited in the center of the room, and Albus Dumbledore's smiling figure emerged from it.
What shocked Avada and the others most was what Dumbledore held in his hand—a familiar mass of grey mist!
"Could it be—?!"
Joy nearly burst out of Avada's chest. He dashed forward in a single stride, not even bothering with greetings as he stared at the grey mist in Dumbledore's grasp, breathing heavily.
It was Voldemort!
"You caught him?!"
Avada felt as if his heart were leaping out of his throat, his blood racing wildly through his veins like a runaway roller coaster.
"I was fortunate enough to run into him just as he was fleeing,"
Dumbledore said cheerfully, beaming. "Your actions—and the notes left behind by that adventurous gentleman—were a tremendous help. If you hadn't weakened him by stripping away part of his soul, leaving him in an unprecedentedly fragile state, and if that adventurer hadn't provided such detailed data on Voldemort, allowing me to develop several spells specifically for him in advance… I might truly not have been able to catch him."
"You succeeded?!"
Baron and Harry rushed over as well, trembling with excitement as they stared at the familiar grey mist in Dumbledore's hand. "S-so that means… Voldemort has been completely stopped?"
"Yes."
Dumbledore nodded with a warm smile. "What I have here, combined with what's inside the crystal ball, makes up the entirety of Voldemort's wraith. Not a single fragment escaped."
"Then… Voldemort… is he finished?"
"That's right."
Even Dumbledore's voice carried a trace of excitement now, his beard quivering slightly as he restrained his tone and maintained his composure. "We can proudly announce it—Voldemort will never again be able to stir up chaos."
(End of Chapter)