He set the Ravenclaw diadem carefully on a flat rock, then wrapped his hand in a thick cloth before reaching for the broken fang.
He wasn't stupid enough to touch it bare-handed.
In basilisk form, the venom was his own—harmless. In human form? One scratch, one slip, and he'd be very impressively dead.
"Right," Victor muttered, tightening the cloth. "Let's not die to my own dental work."
Only then did he carefully lift the venom-soaked fang, keeping it well away from his skin.
He raised the fang, the cloth wrapped tightly around it, and pointed it at the diadem.
The moment the venom-tipped point hovered close, the gem pulsed—and a voice seeped out, low and slick, like something crawling inside his skull.
Wear me.
The whisper slid through his thoughts, coaxing and warm.
You are wasted like this. I can make you more. Stronger. Feared. Respected.
Victor's mouth twitched. "Ah. There it is. The classic temptation speech."
The voice deepened, growing urgent.
Power without limits. No parents controlling you. Only you—above everyone.
Victor tilted his head slightly. "You know," he said flatly, "if this ever worked on me, I'd be very disappointed in myself."
The whisper turned sharp, almost desperate.
You need me—
"Wrong," Victor replied, steadying his grip on the fang. "You need a dentist."
Then he raised the fang higher—and brought it down hard.
The venom-coated point struck the gem at the centre of the diadem with a sharp, cracking sound.
For half a second, nothing happened.
Then the diadem screamed.
A high, tearing shriek split the air—aahhh—thin, furious, and wrong.
Dark smoke burst out of the shattered gem, thick and writhing, forcing Victor to stagger back as another piercing, inhuman scream ripped through the clearing, louder now, layered—aaahhh—no—!
It wasn't a sound meant for ears—it scraped straight across the mind.
Victor gritted his teeth and shoved the fang down again, pressing through the resistance as the metal buckled.
The diadem split.
The smoke surged upward, twisting and swelling until a distorted face tore itself free—features stretched, eyes blazing with hatred, mouth wide in a silent roar that suddenly found its voice.
SCREAM—!
The face lunged.
Victor held his ground.
With one final crack, the diadem snapped apart completely and flew off the rock, skidding into the pond with a sharp splash.
The face convulsed, shrieked once more—short, furious, broken—AA—!—and dissolved into nothing, the smoke tearing itself apart before vanishing into the night.
Silence fell over the forest.
Victor stood there, breathing hard, fang still clenched in his hand.
After a moment, he exhaled slowly.
"…One down," he muttered.
Then a soft chime echoed in his mind.
[Congratulations, you have completed a deed that has increased your fortune.]
[You have received the artifact: Time-Turner.]
Victor blinked.
He didn't know that destroying Horcruxes could also increase his fortune.
A thin golden chain shimmered into existence in front of him, the air rippling slightly as if time itself had hiccupped.
At the end of the chain hung a small, hourglass-shaped pendant, sand glowing faintly as it flowed upward instead of down.
"…You've got to be kidding me," he muttered.
The necklace dropped—and he reacted on instinct, lifting a hand and catching it mid-air. The metal was warm. Too warm.
Victor stared at it, eyes wide.
"A Time-Turner?" he whispered, half stunned, half impressed. "That's… dangerously convenient."
He turned it slowly between his fingers, watching the sand reverse itself again, perfectly calm, perfectly obedient.
A slow grin tugged at his lips.
He slipped it around his neck, fingers gripping the hourglass as it rested against his chest. Victor still couldn't believe it.
This was one of the most powerful artifacts in the wizarding world.
A Time-Turner.
Something even old pure-blood families couldn't freely obtain—strictly regulated by the Ministry of Magic.
Even his father didn't have one.
How did Victor know? Simple. His father had a habit of collecting precious artifacts, antiques, and dark curiosities, and he always showed them off. To Victor. To Draco. Repeatedly. With commentary.
What was the point of a collection if you couldn't show it to someone?
If he had owned a Time-Turner, it would've been displayed proudly among those priceless relics—and Victor would have heard about it at least a hundred times by now.
Victor laughed under his breath, fingers tightening around the chain.
"Hah. Finally, something good."
A normal Time-Turner allowed its user to travel a few hours into the past—usually no more than five. Any further than that risked serious consequences. Time didn't like being messed with.
You had to relive every second you went back. No skipping. No shortcuts.
And there was one rule everyone knew:
Never be seen by your past self.
Break it, and best case scenario—you went mad. Worst case… no one ever really came back to explain.
Victor exhaled slowly, the smile fading just a little.
"I should avoid using this unless it's necessary," he muttered.
Time was fragile.
One wrong step—and even he might not be able to clean up the mess.
Time travel didn't let you change the past.
It only worked if you intervened in events that had already happened. In Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry saving himself wasn't altering history at all—it had already occurred. What he did in the past was what had always happened in the present.
Interfere with something that hadn't occurred yet, though, and the consequences were far worse: temporal loops, fractured timelines, or becoming trapped outside the flow of time entirely.
That was why the Ministry kept such strict control over Time-Turners.
Not to stop people from fixing mistakes—but to prevent them from breaking time beyond repair.
Then he heard a beast growl.
The sound snapped him out of his thoughts—this was not a good place to let his guard down.
"…I should really leave before some hungry beast shows up," he muttered.
He pulled out his wand and cast Lumos, the soft glow pushing back the darkness just enough to reveal far too many shadows.
He turned left.
Then right.
"…Great," Victor sighed. "Now which way did I come from?"
*****
A/N : 🔥 On Patreon, the story has already been updated up to Chapter 52 🔥
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