Chapter 130: Destroying the Diary (Patreon)

The Basilisk opened its jaws and lunged at Harry.

He hurriedly dodged, but before he could catch his breath, the Basilisk attacked again.

This time, it missed its bite, but its enormous body still slammed into Harry and sent him flying.

Hiss!

The Basilisk flicked its tongue, following Harry’s scent until it quickly located him.

By then, Harry had gotten back to his feet. He gripped the Sword of Gryffindor tightly, determination filling his eyes as though he had made up his mind.

When the Basilisk opened its jaws and lunged at him, Harry put all his strength into a thrusting attack.

Thud!

The silver sword pierced through the Basilisk’s upper jaw, forcibly interrupting its attack.

The Basilisk let out a heart-wrenching roar and violently twisted its massive body.

Harry yanked the sword free, but a sharp fang was now embedded in his arm.

The venomous tooth had pierced deep into his flesh, and bright red blood poured from the wound.

Worse still was the Basilisk’s venom.

Besides intensifying the pain, it rapidly drained Harry’s strength, and his vision gradually began to blur.

Boom!

The Basilisk collapsed to the ground and completely stopped breathing.

“Harry!”

Ron hurried over and helped him to his feet.

“Are you alright?”

“Probably not.”

Riddle spoke indifferently.

“His blood is already turning black. The Basilisk’s venom has spread through his body so quickly that I’d say you have about a minute left.”

“You’ll be seeing your Mudblood mother very soon.”

“What do we do? Can you save him?”

Ron looked toward Vader.

“I didn’t bring an antidote, but…”

Vader paused and turned toward the phoenix.

“I’ve heard that a phoenix’s tears can heal wounds.”

“And there happens to be a phoenix here.”

The moment he finished speaking, Fawkes flew over to Harry.

Pearl-like tears fell onto Harry’s arm, and the wound pierced by the Basilisk’s fang miraculously began healing before their very eyes.

“It doesn’t… hurt anymore.”

“Get away from me, you damn bird!”

Riddle cursed furiously.

He was about to do something when he saw Vader standing in front of Harry with his staff raised.

“A wager is a wager.”

“The descendant of Salazar Slytherin should at least have some dignity.”

Riddle glared viciously at him.

“So what if you defeated the Basilisk?”

“Ginny will die in a few minutes, and Voldemort will return.”

“And when he does, he’ll be stronger than ever.”

“You probably won’t get the chance.”

Vader looked at him with pity before taking the Sword of Gryffindor from Harry.

“I wonder if you’ve noticed something.”

“Where’s your diary?”

Riddle’s expression changed dramatically.

He immediately began searching the floor for the diary.

“Don’t bother looking.”

“It’s here.”

Vader pulled out the black-bound diary and smiled meaningfully.

“Surprised?”

“No! Give it back to me!”

Riddle frantically lunged forward to snatch it.

Vader immediately raised his staff and used a spell to force him back several steps.

“As I thought.”

“So my guess was correct.”

“What do you mean?”

Harry asked curiously.

“I could never understand how he could separate himself from the diary using nothing but the memories of his younger self, yet show no concern about the consequences of resurrection.”

“But his behavior just now gave me an idea.”

“There’s more than just his memories hidden inside this diary.”

“There’s probably a fragment of his soul as well.”

“A soul?”

“You can think of the diary as a vessel that contains a soul.”

“That’s actually rather complicated to explain. Your headmaster can explain it to you later.”

Vader waved the matter aside impatiently.

“Anyway, this diary is Tom Riddle’s true body.”

“So if we destroy the diary, we can save Ginny?”

Harry asked excitedly.

“Exactly.”

“Just the two of you?”

Riddle sneered.

“There are indeed ways to destroy a soul.”

“But do you know any of them?”

Harry and Ron froze for a moment before simultaneously looking toward Vader.

Neither of them had learned any magic capable of destroying a soul.

Enzo was their last hope.

“Why are you looking at me?”

“I don’t know either.”

“Think about it.”

“If my diary were that easy to destroy, why would Ginny have thrown it into the girls’ bathroom?”

“She tried all kinds of ways to get rid of it.”

“She threw it into a fireplace, tried cutting it with a knife, and even attempted to destroy it with magic.”

“But none of it caused the diary the slightest damage.”

Riddle laughed triumphantly.

“Perhaps Dumbledore could destroy it.”

“But you won’t have the chance to find him.”

With that, Riddle opened his mouth and spat a mass of violent, skull-shaped flames into his palm.

The flames radiated an aura of pure destruction and savagery, making everyone’s backs prickle with fear.

“Fiendfyre is extremely difficult to control.”

“Even in my current state, I’m not confident I could control it over a large area.”

Riddle’s tone became meaningful.

“It will burn everything.”

“None of you will escape.”

Thud!

Suddenly, a beam of brilliant light pierced straight through Riddle’s chest.

He let out a horrific scream.

Only then did he realize that the Sword of Gryffindor had pierced the diary.

In that instant, Riddle understood.

He was finished.

That sword could destroy a Horcrux.

Riddle’s expression twisted as he desperately tried to throw the mass of Fiendfyre from his hand.

Once it lost his control, the Fiendfyre would indiscriminately consume everyone in the Chamber.

At least he could still serve one final purpose—

Clearing Harry Potter from the path of his true self.

“Not a chance.”

Vader tightened his grip on the sword and twisted the hilt forcefully.

A huge amount of black ink erupted from the diary.

The hole in Riddle’s chest instantly expanded several times over.

His body disappeared, along with the unfinished Fiendfyre, both vanishing completely.

“As expected.”

Vader looked at the destroyed diary.

“The Sword of Gryffindor really can destroy the diary.”

He then returned the sword to Harry.

“This sword is extremely useful. Make sure you take good care of it in the future.”

“Uh…”

Harry awkwardly accepted it.

“This sword isn’t actually mine.”

“It’s technically the property of Hogwarts.”

“Then you should be even more careful with it.”

Harry was left speechless.

Suddenly—

Gasp!

Ginny sharply inhaled and opened her eyes.

She sat up from the floor and looked around in confusion.

“Ginny!”

Ron was so excited that he nearly burst into tears.

“You scared us half to death!”

“Harry… Ron…”

“It was me.”

“I want to tell you everything, but…”

“I swear, I didn’t mean to do it.”

“We know.”

Harry quickly reassured her.

“You were being controlled by Riddle.”

“It’s over now. Riddle and the Basilisk are both gone.”

“Thankfully, nobody died.”

Ron added gently.

“Don’t put too much of a burden on yourself, Ginny.”

Ginny nodded weakly.

“How did you kill that man?”

“And… who was he?”

“He’s Enzo.”

“He isn’t a Hogwarts student.”

“But thanks to him, we might all have died here today.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Vader smiled.

“I was only carrying out Dean Griffin’s orders.”

He then walked over to the Basilisk and took out a bottle, carefully collecting its venom.

Another supplementary ingredient for Sequence 4.

Today’s mission could finally be considered a complete success.

“What are you doing?”

Ron asked.

“Collecting magical materials.”

Vader casually explained.

“I think we can leave now.”