Chapter 79. Soul Fragment
Diadem, Purifying Potion, Fiendfyre.
Having prepared everything, Adrian Wesson drew a deep breath.
It was time to begin.
Oh, right.
Adrian suddenly realised something and took out the Felix Felicis that Dumbledore had just given him.
Use it or not…
After hesitating for a moment, Adrian put the Felix Felicis away again.
A faint intuition told him that now was not the time to use Felix Felicis.
He twisted off the stopper; golden liquid swirled in the bottle.
Just as Adrian was about to pour the Purifying Potion directly onto the diadem, the diadem gave a slight tremor, as if it feared something.
Adrian's hand paused, his brows knitting.
At that moment, a faint black mist began to rise across the diadem's surface, as though resisting something.
That settled it for Adrian; it seemed the Purifying Potion would have an effect on the fragment of Lord Voldemort's soul inside Ravenclaw's diadem.
"Next…" Adrian murmured, then, without hesitation, poured the Purifying Potion over the diadem.
What happened next far exceeded his expectations.
"Hiss—" The moment the golden potion touched the diadem, a piercing, sizzling hiss rang out.
Black smoke rose from within the diadem, coalescing in the air into a twisted human face.
It was a fragment of Lord Voldemort's soul!
Voldemort's scarlet eyes flickered within the smoke, fixed unblinkingly on Adrian.
"!?"
Adrian's heartbeat spiked; cold sweat beaded in his palms.
He had never anticipated this.
The Purifying Potion had not annihilated Voldemort's soul fragment, but had forced it out of Ravenclaw's diadem!
At this moment, a soul fragment of Voldemort, freed from its vessel, had become black mist and was floating before him, radiating an eerie, suffocating aura.
Worse still, the soul fragment appeared to be sentient.
That face condensed from the smoke writhed, scarlet eyes locked on Adrian, and a voice midway between a whisper and a screech rasped out: "What have you done…"
Adrian raised his wand at once.
What spell could affect a bodiless soul?
An Unforgivable? Fiendfyre?
Neither seemed appropriate.
However, Voldemort gave Adrian little time to think.
The black mist swept rapidly towards the window.
Adrian's pupils shrank—if Voldemort's soul fragment escaped, the consequences would be unthinkable!
"Expecto Patronum!"
In his urgency, Adrian cast a Patronus Charm.
A silver-white little hedgehog leapt from the tip of his wand, traced a bright arc through the air, and nimbly sprang onto the windowsill, blocking the black mist's path.
Voldemort's face contorted violently the instant it touched the Patronus, emitting an ear-splitting shriek as it recoiled in panic.
It worked!
Adrian's eyes lit up.
He flicked his wand; a silver barrier sealed the entire window.
Then Adrian's Patronus bristled with spines and, like a shining shooting star, darted after the black mist.
Driven into panicked retreat, the mist fled frantically to every corner of the room, loosing furious hisses.
But Adrian quickly realised a new problem: he could pin Voldemort in, but he could not utterly destroy it.
Just then, the suitcase in the corner of the room sprang open and a vine snaked out.
Devil's Snare!
It must have sensed the sinister aura outside and stuck its head out to see what was happening.
"Damn!"
Alarm jolted through Adrian; he had a bad feeling.
Sure enough, the black mist seemed to sense something; like a drowning man grasping at a straw, it surged headlong toward the open case.
The Devil's Snare's vine tried to retreat in terror, but it was too late.
The black mist plunged entirely into the suitcase; the lid slammed shut with a bang, even trapping one of the Devil's Snare's tendrils.
"Merlin…"
Adrian muttered, and without a second thought, dashed through the portal after it.
Inside Adrian's plantation.
Remus Lupin had just finished a morning's work and was sitting on a patch of grass, sipping tea at his leisure.
"!"
Suddenly, the teacup in Lupin's hand gave a violent shudder and tea sloshed out.
He jerked his head up, his keen senses catching the ominous tang in the air.
As he turned, a bank of black mist appeared out of nowhere and condensed into a contorted face.
Lupin started; his wand slid instantly into his palm as he rose from the grass.
"What… is that…" he murmured.
A heartbeat later, Adrian's figure appeared on the grass as well.
The black mist seemed to have been waiting for Adrian; once he arrived, it drifted to hover before his eyes.
"I'll remember…"
A chilling voice came out of the mist, echoing in Adrian's ears.
Before Adrian could react, the black mist shot upward, eager to flee.
He's going to run!
Adrian cursed inwardly.
And then the unexpected happened.
Just as the black mist sought to escape, the distant Tree of Wisdom suddenly stirred.
Sensing its aura, Adrian quickly looked towards the Tree of Wisdom.
Every branch and leaf of the Tree of Wisdom shivered without wind, rustling.
"What is that…"
Adrian had never seen the Tree of Wisdom react like this and froze for a moment.
Then a shaft of green light lanced skyward from the tree's trunk and, unerring, pierced the black mist in the air.
Voldemort's soul fragment let out a soul-rending scream, writhing and warping in the green light.
Adrian and Lupin had to raise their hands to shield their eyes; the brilliance was blinding.
When at last the light faded, there was no trace of the black mist in the sky.
[Soul absorption complete…]
Only when a message was transmitted into Adrian's mind did he come back to himself.
"Eldra!"
Adrian quickly bade the Tree of Wisdom report its status.
[Name: Eldra (Tree of Wisdom)]
[Species: Oak]
[Level: 3]
[Traits: Analysis of Things, Soul Link]
[Status: Growing (99.9%)]
Ninety-nine point nine per cent?
Adrian had never seen a growth progress with decimal points.
Even so, he had already made sense of the situation: it was the Tree of Wisdom that had resolved the immediate trouble.
Fortunately, Voldemort's soul fragment had not got away.
Otherwise, it would have become a huge hidden danger.
Lupin came striding over in two long steps, wand still clenched in his hand, as though he had not yet recovered from the sudden turn of events.
"What just happened, Adrian?" he asked tensely. "What on earth was that black mist? And this tree—"
"Don't mind it," Adrian shrugged, doing his best to sound at ease. "A little bit of trouble, and it's already sorted."
Although Adrian called it "a little bit of trouble," Lupin thought otherwise; the Dark Magic seeping from that black mist had been anything but simple.
And that tree was anything but simple.
"Really?" he asked, doubtful.
"Relax," Adrian said with a smile, heading for the exit. "I've still got something to do, so I'll go on ahead—ah, and don't forget to feed Torch."
Though Lupin found it rather odd, he did not press further.
A hired hand ought to mind a hired hand's business.
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