That low growl, carrying a sob, struck the stone walls of the Hospital Wing, its echo crashing into the depths of Lia's heart.
She didn't dodge.
Instead, she buried herself deeper into Hermione's embrace, greedily absorbing the scent that put her at ease. Her cat ears pressed limply against her scalp, the tip of her tail swept weakly across the sheets, and a satisfied yet aggrieved purr rolled from her throat.
"But it hurt you."
This unreasonable, total reliance blocked all of Hermione's anger and lingering fear in her throat, making her eyes burn. Tears rolled down, hitting Lia's cold skin and quickly losing their warmth.
Just then, the doors of the Hospital Wing were burst open by brute force.
Dumbledore strode in, his expression rarely stern. Professor McGonagall followed closely behind, gasping and covering her mouth when she saw the bloodied Lia on the bed.
Snape walked last, his black robes billowing. His gaze immediately locked onto the hideous, bloody hole on Lia's shoulder, and his breathing hitched for a moment.
"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry panted as he followed them in, "Lia, she..."
Before he could finish, a magnificent, high-pitched cry tore through the tense air.
The gold and red Phoenix Fawkes swept past Dumbledore's shoulder and circled down to land at the head of Lia's bed. Its noble head tilted, its black bead-like eyes full of sorrow.
Fawkes let out a mournful cry and lowered its head.
A crystal-clear tear, burning with golden light, dripped down with precision.
Sizzle—!
Golden light exploded. The scorching purification power, like the sun, instantly swept through the wound.
But healing did not occur.
The Basilisk venom at the wound was violently detonated by this most holy power! Instead of healing, the wound, deep enough to show bone, burst with even more terrifying black-purple poisonous blood. Under the collision of two absolute powers, the newly grown flesh instantly disintegrated, necrotized, regenerated, and disintegrated again!
"Pfft!"
Lia suddenly arched her back and spat out a mouthful of scalding black blood, letting out a subhuman whimper suppressed deep in her throat.
The pain was magnified tenfold.
"What's happening?!" Hermione's voice instantly pierced the air. She felt the girl in her arms' body temperature skyrocketing; it was a heat that could burn through the soul.
"Basilisk venom... Phoenix tears..."
Snape's breathing suddenly quickened. He roughly pushed aside the Ron who was in his way and rushed to the bedside, his black robes trailing like wind. He stared fixedly at the wound that was oscillating wildly between destruction and rebirth, his voice a mix of dryness and fervor.
"The most poisonous and the most holy... two absolute powers forced to merge within her... this is catalysis... an interesting creature..."
He pulled out his magic wand, complex incantations almost spilling from his lips.
"Don't touch her!"
Hermione looked up sharply, like a lioness whose den had been invaded, shielding Lia with her body, baring her fangs at the Professor for the first time.
Snape's spell was interrupted. He stared gloomily at Hermione, but more of his attention was drawn to the strange transformation erupting on Lia.
Inky black lines exploded from between her eyebrows, snaking across her cheeks.
"Wuw—!"
Lia let out a shriek, her body as hot as a branding iron, then suddenly as cold as an abyss.
Her soul became a battlefield.
Riddle's cold and malicious soul fragment attempted to seize control, while the more ancient, greedy instinct in her bloodline was devouring it frantically.
Black magic aura moved under her skin, draining the life from everywhere it passed.
But immediately after, circles of golden halos rippled out from her heart, forcibly suppressing and absorbing those black lines.
"Lia!" Hermione screamed in terror, holding the convulsing girl tightly in her arms, yet she could do nothing. "Professor Dumbledore! Save her!"
"This is a war on the soul level, Miss Granger." Dumbledore gripped the elder wand tightly but made no move.
His voice was very low, yet it made the air in the entire Hospital Wing freeze. "Any external intervention will cause her soul to collapse on the spot. This is a war she must win herself."
Snape was completely captivated by the sight before him. He watched the flickering black aura and golden light on Lia, his lips moving soundlessly.
"A dark creation parasitic on another's soul..." Dumbledore whispered to Snape and McGonagall beside him, "It is being devoured in reverse."
Time crawled by, minute by minute.
Lia's struggling grew weaker, but the ring of ghostly green light in her eyes grew brighter.
That soul fragment from Tom Riddle, containing his sixteen-year-old arrogance and talent for the Dark Arts, fought back frantically, only to be bit by bit eroded and digested by that older, more domineering power.
"Lia... Lia, look at me..." Hermione called Lia's name over and over with a hoarse voice, trying to use her voice as a boat to carry her across this sea of death.
Finally, at another of Hermione's anxious calls, Lia shuddered and stopped convulsing.
All the black lines under her skin receded to her brow like an ebbing tide and vanished.
The ghostly green ring in her eyes, after reaching its peak brightness, slowly turned inward, settling into a deep, bottomless dark green in the depths of her pupils.
She had "eaten" another Horcrux.
Lia opened her eyes tiredly, looked at Hermione's face full of worry, rubbed against her weakly, and fell into a deep sleep in her arms.
The Hospital Wing was deathly silent.
Dumbledore slowly lowered his magic wand. He looked at Lia, sleeping peacefully in Hermione's arms, then at Hermione's inseparable posture, and remained silent for a long time.
"Miss Granger," he spoke, with unprecedented seriousness. "You have called her back from the abyss time and again. But from now on, you are also her only anchor."
He paused, every word ringing with weight.
"Watch over her. This is not only for her, but also for the entire magic world."
Hermione was stunned. She looked down at the sleeping Cat-girl in her arms, feeling her steady breathing, and nodded vigorously, locking this heavy responsibility along with the girl in her arms into her own life.
Late at night. Hermione hadn't slept all night, leaning against the headboard, holding the sleeping Lia tightly in her arms.
In her sleep, Lia's brow suddenly furrowed, and she let out a pained whimper.
Deep within the sea of light in her soul, a sharp-edged black crystal had appeared; with every pulse, a trace of cold, violent, and dark emotions seeped out.
Hermione noticed immediately. She tightened her arms, gently pressed her cheek against Lia's cold forehead, and began to hum softly. It was a lullaby Mrs. Granger had taught her, the tune simple and warm.
Lia's tense spirit was soothed, and the magic power that had surged after devouring the Horcrux was unconsciously released.
At the same time, a wisp of the purest genius magic belonging to the sixteen-year-old Riddle passed through Lia's body and, along the link, flowed back into Hermione's body.
Hermione's whole body shook.
A cool torrent of energy flooded in, instantly dispelling the exhaustion of her sleepless night.
She opened her eyes wide.
She saw it.
The colorful points of magical light floating in the air were now arranged before her eyes into orderly, flashing symbols, like an open ancient book!
Lia's furrowed brow slowly smoothed out, and she unconsciously rubbed against the crook of Hermione's neck, that "purr" representing ultimate peace of mind sounding again from deep in her throat.
Hermione looked down at Lia, who was sleeping peacefully again, thinking the crisis had passed.
At that moment.
Lia's eyes, half-closed, let out a mumble in her sleep.
"...Hermione... S so warm S"
After speaking, she moved, found a more comfortable position, and continued to sleep.
Leaving Hermione alone, listening to the tone of a Parselmouth in the dead of night, her blood freezing inch by inch.
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