After confirming that every Death Eater who had infiltrated the student body had been identified, Dumbledore instructed the Heads of House to escort their students back to their respective common rooms. The crisis had been contained for now, but nobody could say with certainty that the danger had passed completely.
Liam Hale, meanwhile, returned to his enchanted suitcase. Inside the workshop section, he selected several rare magical materials and spent the entire night crafting a new defensive artifact. By dawn, he had successfully refined a magical necklace capable of completely shielding its wearer from all three Unforgivable Curses.
The precaution was necessary.
If Death Eaters had managed to infiltrate Hogwarts once, they could do it again.
More importantly, Voldemort was still alive somewhere in the shadows. After the collapse of his scheme at the Ministry of Magic, he undoubtedly hated Liam more than ever. Sending assassins after him would be the most predictable response imaginable.
Liam had no intention of giving his enemies an opportunity.
After placing the newly forged necklace around his neck, he left the workshop and returned to the living quarters within the suitcase. Exhaustion finally caught up with him. Climbing into bed, he quickly drifted into a peaceful sleep.
The suitcase itself was protected by layers of powerful defensive enchantments in addition to the Undetectable Extension Charm placed upon it. Compared to the Slytherin dormitories, it was infinitely safer. Since the Ministry had already returned the suitcase to him, Liam saw no reason to spend another night sleeping outside.
Two days later, Kingsley Shacklebolt arrived at Hogwarts and met with Dumbledore before escorting him to the Ministry of Magic for official questioning and investigation regarding the recent incident.
Far from Hogwarts, beneath an abandoned building on the outskirts of London, a dimly lit basement lay hidden in darkness.
A gaunt wizard with a fanatical expression stood respectfully before a fireplace. Resting upon the mantle was a sinister black skull.
"Lord Voldemort, Anthony Dolohov successfully stole the device Dumbledore used to conceal the Philosopher's Stone. It's some sort of magical mirror, but we haven't been able to figure out how to retrieve the stone from inside."
The speaker lowered his head even further.
"Wilkes, you've done well. Take me to see this mirror."
A weak, raspy voice emerged from the skull.
The voice belonged to Voldemort.
The black skull serving as his vessel was an exceptionally dark magical artifact purchased at tremendous cost by the Death Eaters. Creating such an object required the slaughter of numerous victims. Their souls were imprisoned within the skull before being stripped of all consciousness through powerful Dark Magic, leaving behind only pure spiritual energy.
By residing within the artifact, Voldemort could sustain himself using the trapped souls instead of constantly draining his own weakened spirit. Once those reserves were exhausted, however, his own soul would begin deteriorating again.
Because of its horrifying nature, the artifact sold for as much as five thousand Galleons on the black market.
The Death Eaters had spared no expense in keeping their master alive.
To them, it was an investment.
Once Voldemort obtained the Philosopher's Stone and forged a new body, they believed the entire wizarding world would eventually belong to them.
Wilkes carefully picked up the skull and carried it deeper into the basement.
In another chamber stood Anthony Dolohov.
The thin middle-aged wizard, with his yellow toad-like eyes, was staring into the Mirror of Erised with obvious fascination.
"Ahem, Anthony."
Wilkes cleared his throat loudly.
The mirror's effects were difficult to resist. Both men had already experienced its seductive power. Anyone who gazed into it saw their deepest desires reflected back at them.
For Wilkes and Dolohov, those desires were remarkably similar.
They saw themselves standing at Voldemort's side as his most trusted lieutenants. They saw mountains of gold stacked inside Gringotts vaults. They saw themselves feared and respected throughout the wizarding world.
Under such temptation, it was easy to lose track of time.
Dolohov reluctantly tore his eyes away from the mirror. Seeing Voldemort's vessel in Wilkes' hands, he immediately straightened and bowed deeply.
"Lord Voldemort. Forgive me. Your servant is incompetent. No matter what I try, I can't decipher the magic protecting this mirror."
"Hmph."
Green soul-fire flickered inside the skull's eye sockets.
"Dumbledore is a cunning old fox. The enchantment protecting it is an advanced spatial mirror spell. Failure to understand it is hardly surprising."
The eerie flames brightened briefly before fading again.
Even simple magical examinations consumed precious soul energy, and Voldemort could not afford to waste what little strength he possessed.
Dolohov swallowed nervously.
"Then... how do we break it?"
Voldemort answered immediately.
"Prepare six ounces of dragon liver, seven scoops of beetle eyes, three bottles of horned beast venom, one vial of Kramerdor lizard saliva, and three troll fingernails. Brew them into a potion capable of temporarily nullifying enchantments. Pour it over the mirror and retrieve the Philosopher's Stone."
"Yes, my Lord."
Dolohov bowed once more before hurrying out of the basement.
"Wilkes, both of you have served me well."
Voldemort's voice carried rare satisfaction.
"When I reclaim my body, I will reward your loyalty with limitless wealth."
Notably absent from his praise were Mulciber and Evan Rosier, neither of whom would ever return.
"It is our greatest honor to serve you, my Lord."
Wilkes sounded almost breathless with excitement.
He carefully placed the skull back atop the fireplace.
Several hours later, Dolohov returned with every ingredient Voldemort had requested.
Following Voldemort's instructions step by step, he brewed the specialized potion. The concoction emitted a sickly silver glow and released clouds of acrid vapor as it simmered.
When the final ingredient dissolved, the potion was complete.
Dolohov approached the Mirror of Erised and slowly poured the liquid across its surface.
The moment the potion touched the glass, shimmering enchantments began unraveling.
The protective magic weakened.
Then it shattered.
Reaching into the mirror, Dolohov grasped a crimson stone and pulled it free.
His eyes widened.
"Master! I did it! I got it out! I got the Philosopher's Stone!"
Excitement overwhelmed him.
Even Voldemort's voice trembled slightly.
"Excellent. Begin preparing the ritual to restore my body."
At last.
After months of weakness and humiliation, his resurrection was within reach.
Soon he would possess a powerful body once more.
Soon he would return to the wizarding world.
And then he would find Liam Hale.
The boy who had ruined everything.
The boy responsible for the deaths of his followers.
The boy who had repeatedly humiliated him.
Voldemort's hatred surged violently.
When the time came, death would be a mercy Liam would not receive.
He would suffer under dozens of torture curses until he begged for release.
Only then would Voldemort consider ending his life.
Meanwhile, Dolohov examined the crimson stone in his hand with admiration.
"Mr. Borgin's forgery really is incredible. It looks exactly like the real Philosopher's Stone."
Before infiltrating Hogwarts, the Death Eaters had commissioned Borgin to create a counterfeit stone. Their original plan had been simple: steal the genuine Philosopher's Stone and replace it with the fake before escaping.
Unfortunately, events had spiraled out of control.
Once they realized a clean substitution was impossible, they altered their strategy.
Mulciber had been tasked with creating chaos by attacking students.
Dolohov had focused entirely on stealing the Mirror of Erised.
Rosier had remained hidden within Hogwarts to continue gathering intelligence for Voldemort.
Looking at the stone now, Dolohov couldn't find a single flaw.
The forgery created by Borgin's craftsman was nearly perfect.
In fact, the fake Philosopher's Stone and the stone he had just extracted from the mirror appeared completely identical.
After all, both stones had been produced by the very same forger.
....
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