Dumbledore smiled and nodded.
The reason he brought Link along this time, aside from Link volunteering, was that he also wanted to test Link's exact abilities and teach him a few things.
And so far, Link's performance had left Dumbledore very satisfied.
"Then let's go," Dumbledore said. "To be honest, there is indeed a Horcrux nearby. I've already sensed its exact location."
Link curled his lips but said nothing.
In truth, he had already guessed as much.
What surprised him, however, was that instead of immediately taking him to search for the Horcrux, Dumbledore first covered the entire Riddle House with layers upon layers of magical traps, built similar to Fiendfyre, before leaving.
The traps filled every corner of the manor so densely that the ambient magical energy inside even rose a little.
Dumbledore explained that it was to protect the crime scene, preventing others from tampering with it.
But no matter how Link looked at it, this seemed more like Dumbledore getting back at Voldemort for setting traps for him earlier.
Dumbledore kept busy like this until the moon hung high in the sky. Only then did he lead Link out of the old house, past the back gate, and along the path behind the hill until they stopped before an open wasteland.
"This is… a graveyard?"
Looking at the crooked, half-toppled gravestones lying amid dry weeds and scattered stones, Link asked with some uncertainty.
"That's right. This is a graveyard, the Gaunt family graveyard."
Dumbledore spoke with no expression, and as he did, he dug out from the dirt at his feet a corroded remnant of an iron fence gate.
Most of its details had been worn away by time, but the S-shaped crest formed by a winding iron serpent at the top still kept its rough shape.
"This is Slytherin's emblem," Link said mockingly. "A bunch of Gaunts using Slytherin's symbol as their family crest… how laughable."
Dumbledore seemed amused by Link's words, and he smiled, "It is laughable. But the name 'Slytherin's heir' could earn them enough respect and benefits, after all."
"Besides, it became something of a Gaunt family tradition."
"Take Tom, for example. He too refused to acknowledge the Riddle name and renamed himself Voldemort. I dare say, if you called him Tom Riddle to his face right now, he'd be absolutely furious."
With that, Dumbledore seemed to picture the scene and laughed even harder.
Link laughed as well, not because Dumbledore's joke was so funny, but because the fact that someone like Dumbledore was actually joking with him was funny in itself.
Unfortunately, Link's lighthearted mood didn't last long.
Because soon Dumbledore drew his wand and fired a red beam, seemingly a Disarming Charm, into the barren ground ahead.
Bang!
Dumbledore clearly hadn't used much power. His spell only left a small pit in the earth before dissipating.
But this action was like flipping a switch.
A series of rustling sounds rose all around the wasteland, like something clawing its way up from underground.
"Link, this is the final barrier Tom left behind to guard his Horcrux," Dumbledore said, patting Link on the shoulder.
"I hope you can handle it alone. Good luck!"
"Wait! Dumbledore, are you saying..." Link's heart jumped, and he turned quickly to ask.
But before he could finish, Dumbledore completely vanished.
And at the same time, the source of the rustling finally appeared before Link.
They were corpses.
Their clothes were tattered, in styles from all eras. Link even saw one wearing a tailcoat and top hat, with a golden tooth in his mouth.
Time had left pale corpses mottled with rot and bruises, yet here they were, climbing out of their graves and stumbling toward Link.
The sight of dozens, even hundreds, of corpses swarming forward was enough to make any ordinary person collapse in terror, like a zombie apocalypse had broken out.
But when Link clearly saw their faces, he let out a huge sigh of relief.
The reason was simple, he recognized what they were, living dead.
The living dead were creations of dark magic.
They were made by repairing corpses with spells and alchemy, refining them into puppets that only obeyed their creator.
Link had read about them before, both in the original books and in Secrets of Advanced Dark Magic.
Unfortunately, the detailed crafting method had long since been erased by Madam Pince, leaving only a brief description.
The process was very old, dating back to the Middle Ages, when wizards often slaughtered Muggles en masse and turned them into living dead for use in wizard wars.
But in truth, their combat power wasn't all that great.
They generally moved slowly, attacked in simple ways, and weren't very strong, similar to zombies in films, but without any infectious bite.
Now that Link understood what he was facing, he immediately raised his wand. A surge of cursed power formed blades of force that shot from his wand, slashing into the advancing horde.
After all, the living dead were still corpses, their bodies not particularly durable. So Link thought his curses would cut through them easily.
And at first, things went just as he expected.
The invisible blades tore into the horde like knives through butter, severed limbs flying everywhere. The living dead were as fragile as butter under a hot knife.
But soon, things turned out very differently.
Those sliced apart did not stop moving.
They seemed to sense their missing limbs and quickly gathered whatever body parts they could find, not caring if they were their own or even the right body part, simply attaching them anywhere so they could keep attacking.
This created grotesque figures, arms attached where legs should be, feet stuck on torsos, and other bizarre mismatches.
As for those who couldn't find parts, they just crawled forward with whatever remained, even dragging themselves with their teeth.
Worse still, Link's attacks only seemed to enrage them.
Instead of slowing down, the horde began moving faster.
Link frowned.
Thinking back to what he knew of zombies, he tried blasting their heads.
But it made no difference.
Even headless, they still staggered toward him, guided by some strange magic.
Looking at the misshapen, chaotic horde of mutilated corpses, Link finally began to feel some pressure.
Without hesitation, he unleashed an overwhelming surge of magic, flames, invisible blades, red flashes, all crashing into the horde.
If cutting off body parts didn't work, then he would destroy every last scrap of flesh.
For someone of Link's current strength, this was not too difficult.
In moments, fire and blades engulfed the entire graveyard.
Many living dead were instantly reduced to ash.
But many more clung together.
They hugged one another tightly, like ants forming a ball to survive a fire.
Seeing this, Link didn't hesitate, driving his flames straight into the corpse-ball.
The result was that the ball began to shrink visibly, like ice cream melting in the sun.
Yet at its core, something hard seemed to remain.
No matter how Link attacked, when the corpse-ball shrank to one-tenth its size, it stopped shrinking altogether.
And then, to his shock, the remaining mass moved.
It unfolded itself and rushed out of the flames on five limbs in a grotesque, inhuman gait.
"Hissss!"
When Link finally saw its true form, he sucked in a sharp breath.
He didn't even know how to describe it. The monster was grotesque and enormous, yet still bore twisted traces of human bodies, so terrifying that even Link, hardened by battle, was stunned.
"Is… this still a living dead?"
He muttered as his hand kept casting spell after spell.
But the powerful curses that had shredded the horde earlier now only slowed this creature's charge.
"Yes and no," Dumbledore's voice suddenly whispered in his ear. "Your methods, Severing, Fiendfyre, they're not wrong. The problem is, these living dead are Tom's creation."
"He clearly improved their crafting and strengthened their bodies. Your flames and attacks didn't destroy them completely. Instead, you forged them, like hammering iron, into a stronger creature immune to your magic."
"It's the same old problem, Link. Your control of curse power is exquisite, but your attacks are too weak."
"Not because your magic isn't strong enough, but because you chose the wrong focus."
"The reason curse power is so feared is its eerie, irreversible nature."
"And what have you done with it?"
"Turned it into blades, spikes, hammers, always just physical attacks. You've only skimmed the surface."
"I want you to shift your focus. Study the nature of curse power itself, not just the forms it can take."
"This is your first lesson with me. Remember it well."
"Of course, this isn't something you'll achieve overnight. So for now, leave this to me."
As he spoke, Dumbledore's form slowly reappeared at Link's side, smiling as he drew his wand.
But Link fell into deep thought.
His work on refining spells like Evaporation, Thunder Method, and various prank spells had always centered on altering spell form and function.
He even reread many Muggle books on chemistry and physics, hoping for inspiration.
But the results were meager.
In truth, his growth had long hit a bottleneck.
His current improvements came mainly from his body's natural growth and meditation strengthening his magic and spirit, not from spell research.
Yet Dumbledore's words had opened a new door for him.
'Maybe… the real path forward isn't in changing form, but in purification.'
As he thought this, his eyes shone brighter and brighter.
Meanwhile, Dumbledore raised his wand, ready to destroy the abomination.
But before he could act, Link's voice froze him.
"Wait, Headmaster Dumbledore. Maybe I can…"
Link paused, then began chanting, "Burn it all away!"
A surge of curse power gathered at his wand tip again.
But this time, it did not turn into blades.
Instead, like morning mist, it gently spread around the monster.
Then, with a sharp flick of Link's wand, the curse energy trembled violently and turned into endless dark-red fire.
"Fiendfyre?"
Dumbledore muttered as he watched, his gaze at Link turning strangely complex.
But Link had no time to notice.
Every ounce of his focus was on controlling the devil-fire born from his curse power.
Under his control, the Fiendfyre showed a power far beyond what it had in the manor earlier.
The black flames condensed instantly into the shape of a massive serpent, which lunged viciously at the monster.
Even with its newfound speed, the abomination could not evade, it was bitten head-on.
"Eaaaghhh!!"
Horrifying screams echoed from the fire.
From Link's perspective, all he could see was the fiery serpent thrashing violently.
Then, slowly, the screams faded, and the serpent grew still.
But Link's expression only grew more serious.
Casting Fiendfyre was not hard.
The true challenge of the spell was… how to extinguish it.
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