paranoianovel Chapter 224 Just kidding!
Chapter 224 Just kidding!
Chapter 224 Just kidding!
The room was deathly silent.
Only the frozen basilisk occasionally let out unconscious whimpers, and the runes on the dome continued to flicker in vain, as if shrouded in an invisible yet incredibly resilient network, no longer able to truly unleash that world-destroying power.
The light from Riddle's wand dimmed, and his handsome, translucent face was a mixture of disbelief and fury at the failure of his plans.
His last trump card, his supposedly suicidal scheme to turn the tide, was revealed in the other party's calm narration to be a completely ridiculous and worthless card.
Lynch said nothing more. He stepped forward, reached out, and easily snatched Lockhart's wand from Riddle's spirit, which had lost its power. The movement was natural and casual, as if he were simply picking up something that belonged to him from the table.
As the wand slipped from Riddle's control, the last glimmer of light at its tip went out, leaving it lifeless, like a withered branch.
Then, Lin Qi took out a neatly folded, seemingly ordinary white handkerchief from the inside pocket of his chest.
He unfolded the handkerchief in his left palm and gently beckoned with his right hand to the black diary on the ground not far away.
The diary seemed to be pulled by invisible threads, rising steadily and landing precisely in the center of the handkerchief.
He began to wrap the diary, carefully covering the dark leather with the soft fabric, layer after layer.
The edges of the handkerchief were cleverly folded and tucked in, gradually wrapping the diary. Throughout the process, the only sound in the secret room was the subtle rustling of the linen fabric.
Just as Lynch was taking the final step, his right thumb and forefinger pinching the last corner of the handkerchief, hovering only a millimeter away from completing the seal, he stopped.
"Oh, by the way, there's something I should let you know," Lynch said casually, as if adding a trivial note, "about Dumbledore having taken precautions against all possibilities of the Chamber of Secrets self-destructing—"
Riddle's spirit body suddenly tensed, and an extremely ominous premonition permeated him like ice water.
Lin Qi's fingers held the last corner of the handkerchief, hovering at the point where the seal was about to be completed, and he continued, "—I lied to you."
"!!!"
Riddle's spirit was struck as if by a silent thunderbolt, and he jerked backward. The cold light that formed his form flickered and tore apart wildly like a faulty light bulb.
In those eyes that were always full of calculation and arrogance, a pure, unmanageable Fan Ran flashed first, as if the very logic upon which he relied for existence had been completely hollowed out.
Immediately, this bewilderment was overwhelmed by a destructive wave—not simple anger, but the humiliation and fury that arose when all his plans, pride, and sense of purpose were crushed to dust in the face of the truth, enough to tear his very soul apart.
His spirit was violently twisted and boiled by this extreme emotion, its edges becoming blurred as if evaporating, as if it would completely disintegrate in the next second.
"—You—" His voice was no longer a haughty declaration or a seductive whisper, but a venomous hoarseness squeezed from a crack in his soul, "—You dare—to fool me like this?!"
"Dumbledore did indeed reinforce the castle's overall defenses," Lynch said, his voice still steady, which made the sarcasm in his words even more pronounced, "but he was mainly targeting external, conventional threats."
"Like you, as the heir of Slytherin, you are forced to personally detonate the wedge left by your ancestors." —
This kind of internally driven, self-destructive madness, even with his intelligence, might not be something he could fully anticipate, or something he could effectively and thoroughly prevent in a targeted manner.
He tilted his head slightly, as if listening to the lament of Riddle's soul.
"So, if you had really recklessly launched the self-destruction attack just now, it might have caused the castle quite a bit of trouble."
Lynch delivered the final blow: "You gave up a possibility—the only option that could truly threaten me."
"All's fair in war, Mr. Riddle," Lynch said calmly. At the same time, his hovering fingers finally fell, tucking the last corner of the handkerchief tightly, completing the final seal on the diary.
"ah!!!!!"
As the package was finally formed and the seal was completed, Riddle's spirit let out a silent roar filled with extreme resentment and unwillingness. He fluctuated and twisted violently, like a punctured phantom, and finally completely dissipated into the air without leaving a trace.
Lynch weighed the diary wrapped in a handkerchief in his hand, calmly assessing the situation: While this fragment of soul was insane, the memories it contained, especially its knowledge of Voldemort's youthful thoughts, fears, and the specific process of creating Horcruxes, possessed irreplaceable value. Perhaps—Dumbledore could try to perform Legilimency to see if he could extract more crucial information about the locations of other Horcruxes or Voldemort's weaknesses.
He carefully put the wrapped diary back into his pocket.
Then, he walked toward Harry, who was still protected by the dark barrier.
Lynch stretched out his finger and gently touched the smooth, mirror-like surface of the barrier.
The barrier melted and shrank rapidly like the receding tide, transforming back into the black coat, which slid down and was caught by him casually.
He shook off non-existent dust and calmly put his coat back on.
Harry remained slumped beside the statue's pedestal, completely lost and oblivious to everything happening around him.
Lin Qi took one last look around the gloomy and empty secret room, his gaze lingering briefly on the shimmering runes and the frozen serpent monster.
"Wait a little longer, I'll come find you later."
He raised his hand and casually waved it towards the open door of the secret room, which led to the outside pipes.
An extremely cold magical power surged out and swept along the passage.
A series of rapid cracking sounds came from afar, and thick, solid ice, visible to the naked eye, suddenly formed, like a giant gate, completely blocking and freezing the exit of the secret room, isolating it from the outside.
After doing all this, Lynch bent down and easily picked up Harry.
Immediately afterwards, a soft "bang" sound, like space being torn apart, was heard in the air.
The two figures instantly twisted and blurred, and then completely disappeared from the spot in the next moment.
Hogwarts Castle, the school infirmary.
The space rippled, and Lynch, carrying Harry, appeared out of thin air, standing steadily on the clean floor.
He placed the still unconscious Harry on an empty hospital bed.
Startled, Madam Pomfrey hurried out from the inner room and saw Harry and Lynch, her face showing surprise and concern.
However, an unexpected figure followed Madam Pomfrey out of the inner room—it was Dumbledore.