Chapter 186: Animal Trap
"Explain."
Dumbledore's voice was very low.
Such a low voice didn't belong in the Headmaster's office; it belonged on a battlefield.
Inside the Workshop, Harry lay on the ground, the Ethereal Blue Brand on his forehead flickering. Hermione knelt beside him checking the Stabilization Rune Plates, Ronhadn't arrived yet, and Draco stood behind Cassius, his wand still raised.
Snape stared intently at the wisp of Remnant Soul Fragment on Cassius's fingertips.
He recognized that scent.
Decadent, arrogant, cruel. The soul scent left by a young Tom Riddle, no mistake.
Cassius stuffed the fragment into a small vial and sealed it.
"Potter tried to steal the Cold Crow Spare Core. The remnant soul took the bait and had a piece clipped off."
McGonagall clutched her chest.
"Steal? Why would Harry come here?"
Draco said coldly, "Because he wants to become stronger, or the thing in his forehead wants to eat the core. There isn't much difference between the two."
Lupin looked at Harry, his face filled with pain.
"He's just a child."
Cassius didn't even look at him.
"You people always love using that line as a stepping stone for disaster."
Dumbledore walked to Harry's side, crouching to inspect the scar. The Ethereal Blue Brand and dark red mist repelled each other under the skin; Harry's breathing was erratic, as if he were dreaming of being hunted.
Hermione spoke up.
"The core was in contact for less than ten seconds, yet it pulled out a fragment of the remnant soul. This shows the dark presence inside Harry is no longer dormant; it actively hunts, actively expands, and actively lies."
Snape looked up.
"Lies?"
Hermione did not back down.
"That time in the Hospital Wing, he said he was being controlled. After the blood sacrifice in the Forbidden Forest, he said the Dark Lord was invading. But looking at the Traction Reaction, the remnant soul needs Harry's active cooperation to draw this deep. At least a few times, he wasn't dragged away; he opened the door himself."
Lupin closed his eyes.
These words were more hurtful than an accusation.
McGonagall whispered, "Albus?"
Dumbledore didn't answer.
He reached out to touch Harry's forehead but was repelled half an inch by the Ethereal Blue Brand. The tracking mark Cassius left didn't care for the title of Principal; it only recognized the source of power.
Dumbledore looked at Cassius.
"Remove it."
"No."
"Cassius."
"This is the anchor point for the next capture of the remnant soul. If you had a better way, you should have used it long ago."
These words pierced the last layer of decorum.
Snape's fingers trembled.
"You suspected it long ago?"
Dumbledore did not look at him.
Silence was the answer.
Snape took a step forward, his black robes sweeping across the floor.
"You suspected that thing was hidden inside Lily's child all along, yet you let him walk around the school for two years?"
"Severus..."
"Don't use my name to pressure me!"
Snape's voice sounded like it had been cut open by a blade.
He looked at Harry, with hatred, pain, and a madness crushed out by old debts in his eyes.
"He is not a pawn. He is her son."
Cassius spoke from the side.
"He is also Riddle's jar now."
Snape snapped his head around.
Draco thought the Professor would lash out.
But Snape didn't.
He just looked at Cassius and spat out: "Shut up."
Cassius ignored him.
"Dumbledore, you clearly smelled the scent, yet you placed him among the students, waiting for the remnant soul to grow. You're better at raising snakes than Potter."
McGonagall turned pale.
"Mr. Malfoy!"
"He's right."
Hermione looked up, her voice tight but clear.
"If the remnant soul inside Harry can induce him to steal the core, it can also induce him to attack students. It already happened with Luna."
Lupin whispered, "We can watch over him."
Cassius chuckled.
"Finally, someone's talking sense."
Harry suddenly opened his eyes.
Red light surged from his eyes, his mouth twisted open, and a voice that didn't belong to him crawled out.
"Watch over? Albus, are you finally going to lock up your Savior?"
Everyone froze.
The voice was young, elegant, and malicious.
Snape's wand pointed at Harry, but his hand hesitated to cast.
The remnant soul laughed through Harry's mouth.
"You personally sent him to a Muggle home, personally made him crave love, personally weighed him down with fame and sacrifice. Now you find the vessel is half-occupied by me, and you start feeling pity?"
Dumbledore's face aged significantly under the lamplight.
Cassius raised his hand.
Gravity pressed down.
Harry's head was pinned back to the floor, the tiles cracking into spiderweb patterns. The remnant soul's laughter was crushed.
"Shut up."
The remnant soul struggled.
"You don't dare kill him! If you kill him, Dumbledore will..."
Cassius stepped on Harry's wrist.
"You're welcome to try."
The remnant soul went silent.
Hermione gritted her teeth: "Don't press any harder, his mind will break."
Cassius eased the pressure slightly.
Dumbledore stood up.
"From now on, Harry is not to move alone. Professor Lupinand Professor Snape will take turns watching him. Minerva, inform Gryffindor; use Dementor aftereffects as the reason."
McGonagall nodded but glanced at Harry.
"What about Ron?"
"Don't tell him everything for now."
Hermione stood up.
"He has the right to know part of it. Harry has pushed him away too many times already; keeping him in the dark will only let the remnant soul use Ron."
Dumbledore looked at her.
"Miss Granger, you have changed a lot."
Hermione put away the rune plates.
"I've just been forced to learn not to pin my hopes on a simple 'trust me'."
This sentence left Dumbledore with no reply.
The Workshop door was opened.
Ron was brought in by Filch, his hair messy, wearing a robe over his pajamas.
"What happened to Harry? What did you do to him?"
No one answered.
Ron saw Harry on the floor, saw Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, and then saw the small vial in Cassius's hand.
"What is that?"
Hermione walked up to him.
"There is a remnant soul of Lord Voldemort inside Harry."
At first, Ron didn't understand.
Once he did, he took a step back, bumping into the doorframe.
"What did you say?"
Snape closed his eyes.
Hermione repeated.
"A part of Lord Voldemort's soul is hidden in his scar. It's eroding him and inducing him."
Ron looked at Harry.
Harry's eyes regained a bit of green, but they were filled with resentment.
"Don't listen to her, Ron."
Ron's lips trembled.
"Is it true you stole something?"
Harry did not answer.
"Those spiders in the Forbidden Forest, did you kill them?"
Harry still didn't answer.
Ron's face slowly crumpled.
He wasn't afraid of his friend being weak or making mistakes, but he couldn't stand Harry treating everyone like fools.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Harry struggled to lift his head.
"Because you couldn't help me!"
Those words were like a slap.
Ron stood there, eyes turning red, but he didn't step forward again.
The remnant soul seized the moment when everyone was distracted.
Dark red power surged from the scar, slamming violently into the side wall of the Workshop. That wall was supposed to be sealed by the Room of Requirement, but a temporary rift appeared due to the core's traction and the mixture of multiple people's magic.
Harry dragged his heavily injured body up and crashed into the rift.
Hermione reached out: "Harry!"
Cassius did not give chase.
Before the rift closed, Harry looked back.
In that glance, there was fear, hatred, and the madness of someone driven to a dead end.
He disappeared into the Leyline Secret Passages of the Castle.
Dumbledore raised his wand, silver light chasing into the wall, but it was dispersed by the complex leylines.
Snape cursed under his breath and turned to leave.
Cassius pressed the Jackdaw core back into its storage slot.
"Good."
Hermione turned around.
"He escaped, and you say 'good'?"
Cassius looked at the wall.
"The prey has finally admitted it's a prey."
Chapter 187: Escape into the Leylines
"Why aren't you chasing him?"
Hermione's anger was suppressed in her throat, yet it still flared out.
Dumbledore and Snape had already split up to take action. McGonagall went to blockade the stairs, and Lupin went to notify the portraits. Ron stood at the door, two buttons of his dressing gown misaligned, his hand constantly rubbing the patch on his sleeve. Draco leaned against the storage cabinet, his thumb pressing against the serpent crest on his cufflink, waiting for Cassius to give him a convincing reason.
Cassius closed the storage cabinet.
"Chase him into the secret leyline tunnels, and wait for him to use that remnant soul to pollute the entire magic network?"
Hermione froze.
Her hand was still clutching the rune slips, their edges pressing into her palm. She recounted the slips—one, two, three—ensuring the order wasn't scrambled before she finally looked up.
Cassius raised his hand.
A faint blue underground map emerged on the wall. The network at the bottom of the Castle spread out: pipes, old classrooms, abandoned stairs, and the residual paths of the Chamber of Secrets, lines interlacing. The position where Harry had escaped was marked by a dark red dot, moving slowly along an old pipe.
"The tracking is still active."
Hermione took two steps closer.
"You intentionally let him run with the brand?"
"If he stayed here, Dumbledore would just carry him back to a hospital bed, give him a cup of hot cocoa, and talk about love and choices." Cassius watched the dark red dot. "By letting him run, everyone will finally admit that the thing has learned how to bite."
Ron looked up, his expression grim.
"So you're using Harry as bait?"
Cassius turned toward him.
"You could interpret it that way."
Ron rushed forward.
Draco stepped in front to block him, his wand tip pressed against Ron's chest. That face lacked its usual excitement for mockery; it was only tense.
"Weasley, don't be stupid. You can't beat me right now, and you certainly can't touch him."
Ron glared at him.
"He's my friend!"
"Then think about how your friend just treated you." Dracolowered his voice. "He's not the Potter who just takes you on night strolls, plays Quidditch, and gets into trouble anymore."
Ron's hand stopped on the sleeve patch.
That patch had been sewn by Molly. The stitching was a bit crooked; usually, he found it embarrassing, but today he gripped it tightly. He wanted to rush forward, to curse everyone, to snatch Harry back from these people. But Harry's words, 'You can't help me,' still weighed heavily in his ears.
He opened his mouth but couldn't bring himself to shout.
Hermione didn't speak up for him.
She stared at the dark red dot.
"He's heading toward the old pipes. Where does that path lead?"
Cassius traced his finger across the map.
"Beneath the abandoned lavatory, the residual paths of the Chamber of Secrets, the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and several old networks sealed off by the Castle."
Hermione's face paled.
"He's looking for a hiding place."
"No," Cassius said. "He's looking for something to feed the remnant soul."
Draco frowned.
"What's left in Hogwarts that could feed the Dark Lord?"
Cassius looked out the window.
"Dementors."
Ron's hand let go of his sleeve.
"Those things outside?"
"The Ministry of Magic placed Dementors around the perimeter of Hogwarts. The remnant soul inside Potter has tasted their despair, and now it's hungry."
Hermione cursed under her breath.
Draco glanced at her.
"Granger, you're looking less and less like a model Gryffindor these days."
"Shut up."
Ron grasped the main point, his throat tightening.
"If Harry runs to the Dementors, what will happen?"
Cassius put away the map.
"He'll either be sucked dry, or conversely, let the remnant soul have a feast."
The color drained from Ron's face.
Hermione turned to grab the diagrams and rune slips. She rolled the parchment into a tube and then unfurled it, verifying every runic line. She used to believe the Professors would handle everything; after tonight, she only trusted what she had personally checked.
"I need to take the Stability Ring. The Cold Crow prototypecan't be used directly, and the spare core shouldn't leave the storage cabinet, but we need a tethering device."
Cassius stopped her hand.
"No core."
Hermione looked up.
"Without a core, how do we separate the remnant soul?"
"Let him hit a wall first."
"You want to beat him until he's incapacitated?"
"If the remnant soul takes over the body, we break his limbs," Cassius said. "As long as his head is still there, your Stability Ring will be useful."
Ron roared: "You're talking about Harry!"
Cassius looked back.
"I am talking about a body being seized by the Dark Lord's remnant soul. If you still can't tell the difference, then stay here and cry."
Ron wanted to argue.
But then he remembered the way Harry had looked at him just now, remembered that Harry didn't even offer a single word of explanation, and remembered standing at the door, not even qualified to approach.
He lowered his head, his fists clenched tight.
Hermione stuffed the Stability Ring into her bag.
"I'm going with you."
Draco also spoke up.
"Me too."
Cassius looked at him.
"You can't handle the remnant soul."
"I can handle Potter's legs."
Ron looked up, anger flaring again.
Draco didn't flinch. He pressed his cufflink, the serpent pattern digging into his thumb.
"Don't look at me like that, Weasley. I don't want to see the Dark Lord's things strutting through Hogwarts using The Savior's name ever again. Malfoy Family has knelt once; that's enough."
This sentence left Ron stunned.
Draco moved his wand away and added a final remark.
"It's better than letting him run off to feed the Dementors."
Cassius nodded.
"Keep up."
The three left the workshop.
Ron stood in place for two seconds before chasing after them.
"I'm going too."
Cassius didn't look back.
"If you hold us back, that's on you."
Ron grit his teeth.
"I'll keep an eye on him."
"You can't even keep an eye on yourself."
Ron didn't talk back again.
In the corridors, portraits were poking their heads out one after another.
"Potter has run off?"
"The Principal ordered all portraits to watch the leyline entrances!"
"Professor Snape went to the dungeons!"
News traveled faster than footsteps.
Lower-year students peeked through the cracks of their dormitory doors. Someone heard 'Voldemort's remnant soul,' someone heard 'Potter out of control,' and someone else heard 'Malfoy is also in pursuit.' They immediately retracted into their beds, pulling the curtains tight.
In the Hufflepuff common room, a second-year held a cup of hot milk, the cup shaking violently.
"Can The Savior turn into a Dark Wizard too?"
No one dared to answer.
The prefect stoked the fireplace, the firelight illuminating a circle of pale faces. He originally wanted to say 'No,' but when the words reached his lips, they became:
"No one leave the common room tonight."
In the Ravenclaw tower, several upper-year students surrounded Nora Holt.
Nora closed her sketchbook. In the corner of her sketchbook was a drawing of an eagle with broken wings, the ink not yet dry.
"The smell beneath the Castle isn't right tonight," she said. "Even an injured dragon falling into stagnant water wouldn't smell this foul."
Luna sat by the window, the cork necklace spinning between her fingers.
"It's not a dragon. It's two Fwoopers fighting over an old nest."
She looked up toward the corridor.
"The Blue Fire is going to pluck some feathers."
No one understood her.
But no one laughed.
In the Slytherin dungeons, Zabini did not go out after receiving the news.
He dipped his quill in ink and wrote only one line in the letter to his mother.
Cassius Malfoy has begun hunting the Dark Lord's remnant within The Savior; the power order of Hogwarts is being rewritten tonight.
He stopped writing and glanced at the dungeon door.
Pansy wanted to go out and scout, but he pressed down on her wrist.
"Don't go."
Pansy frowned.
"Since when did you become so cowardly?"
Zabini released her and redipped his quill.
"This isn't cowardice; it's about not standing in the path of the hunt."
He added one more thing.
Don't pick the wrong side.
In the secret underground tunnels.
Harry leaned against the damp walls as he moved forward, his steps stumbling. The faint blue brand on his scar was burning, pinning his flesh and drawing out pain with every step.
The remnant soul roared in his mind, but it had lost its previous composure.
Must go outside.
Dementors.
Devour them, and we can still win.
Harry panted, his palm pressed against the wall, feeling old moss and rubble.
"You said the core could help me."
The remnant soul's echo split into two layers.
That was a trap, but the Dementors themselves are not. Their despair can fill the parts of me that were torn away, and it can make you no longer fear him.
Harry closed his eyes.
He saw the floor of the workshop, saw the tips of Cassius's shoes, saw Ron standing at the door, and saw Hermioneholding the rune slips without helping him first.
"I don't want to be stepped on by him anymore."
Then go.
Don't look back.
They all want to lock you back in a cage.
Harry raised his head.
A cold wind blew from the old pipe opening ahead. That was an abandoned drainage channel leading to the perimeter of the Castle, its end close to the Dementorpatrol lines. As long as he got out, as long as he devoured the despair of those monsters, he would never have to kneel before anyone again.
Just as he took a step, the stone slab beneath his feet sank.
Ten times the gravity pressed down on his knees.
Harry fell to his knees, his palms bracing against the rubble, his wrists trembling.
Footsteps came from behind.
Cassius stood at the end of the secret passage, faint blue light swirling around his fingers. Hermione followed behind, her hand gripping the Stability Ring. Draco's wand pointed at the back of Harry's knees, and Ron trailed last, his face pale, but he didn't retreat.
The damp walls were illuminated by the blue light.
Cassius looked at Harry.
"Where are you going?"
Harry looked up, red light filling his pupils.
"To take back the power that belongs to me."
Ron took a step forward.
"Harry, don't listen to it."
Harry turned toward him, his face filled with hatred.
"Now you can help me?"
Ron stopped.
This time, he didn't lower his head.
"I can't help you beat him." Ron gripped his wand. "But I can stop you from going to your death."
Harry laughed.
The remnant soul was laughing too.
"You've all stood on his side."
Hermione raised the Stability Ring.
"We are standing on the side of the part of you that hasn't been completely devoured yet."
Harry braced against the wall, trying to stand.
Cassius raised his hand.
"Then I'll take your legs first."
Chapter 188: Ley Line Hunt
"Don't break his legs!"
Ron shouted until his voice cracked.
Cassius did not stop.
The gravity field pinned Harry against the mouth of the old pipe, causing the stone bricks to crack and shatter. Harry's knees were already bleeding, but he continued to crawl forward, his fingers digging into the moss and muddy water as if being dragged by the cold outside.
Hermione rushed to the side and threw out a stabilizing talisman.
The talisman stuck to the back of Harry's neck, glowing with a faint golden light.
The dark red mist was pushed back half an inch into the scar.
Harry let out a short gasp, a hint of green surfacing in his eyes.
"Hermione..."
A look of hope appeared on Ron's face.
"Harry! Wake up!"
The remnant soul roared within the scar.
Harry slapped his hand back, and a dark red shockwave shattered the stabilizing talisman. Hermione was pushed back by the aftershock, but Draco reached out and grabbed her sleeve to prevent her from hitting the pipe wall.
"Thanks."
"Save it."
Draco let go of her and raised his hand to condense water droplets.
He didn't attack Harry's body, but instead sliced toward the ground in front of him. A line of water swept across, cutting a half-foot wide trench into the stone bricks, forcing Harryto stop.
Cassius glanced over.
"You've learned to choose your targets."
Draco's eyes brightened for a moment before he suppressed the feeling.
Harry looked up at Draco.
"Even you're stopping me?"
Draco clenched his fist.
"You look even worse than Lockhart right now, Potter."
"You!"
"At least Lockhart is completely insane. You're still pretending you have some tragic excuse."
Ron froze.
He hadn't expected Draco to insult someone in this way.
Harry's face twitched.
The remnant soul seized upon his anger, and the dark red mist condensed into a thin blade along his arm, which he hurled toward Draco.
Cassius raised his hand, and a magic field pressed down horizontally.
The blood blade shattered into mist.
"The things you steal... you can't even sharpen the blade."
Harry stood up with a roar.
Gravity pressed down on him, making his bones creak, but the remnant soul poured cold power into his limbs, forcing him into a half-kneeling position.
Hermione's expression worsened at the sight.
"The remnant soul is supporting his body for him. This will deepen the erosion."
"Then break the connection."
Cassius spread his fingers.
Ethereal blue magic threads extended from his fingertips, shooting toward Harry's scar.
Having suffered before, the remnant soul immediately made Harry shield his forehead with his hand. The threads wrapped around his wrist, scorching the skin until it smoked; Harry screamed but forced his head aside.
Ron rushed forward, wanting to help him.
Hermione pulled Ron back.
"Don't touch him! You'll be dragged in too!"
Ron struggled.
"He's in pain!"
Hermione grew frantic.
"He'll use you as a shield, too!"
These words made Ron stop.
Harry heard it, and a flash of pain crossed his eyes.
The remnant soul took the opportunity to turn that pain into hate.
"See? They're all afraid of you. Only I can give you power."
Harry whispered, "Shut up."
The remnant soul laughed.
"Who are you talking to? Me, or them?"
Cassius suddenly withdrew the gravity.
Harry's body felt light, and he lunged forward.
Ron cried out.
Harry thought he saw an opportunity and rushed toward the mouth of the pipe.
In the next breath, Cassius was already standing in front of him.
No incantations.
No wand.
A knee strike slammed into Harry's abdomen.
Harry doubled over, stomach acid spraying out as the dark red mist was knocked apart. Cassius grabbed him by the back of the neck and slammed him back onto the ground.
The floor tiles shattered.
Ron's teeth chattered.
Draco's throat went dry.
Hermione, however, immediately rushed up and pressed a second Stability Ring against Harry's forehead.
The remnant soul shrieked, the dark red mist transforming into a slender snake that bit toward Hermione's wrist.
Cassius caught the mist-snake between two fingers.
And crushed it.
Hermione took the chance to snap the Stability Ring into place.
The golden ring pressed against the edge of Harry's scar, working with the Ethereal Blue Brand to suppress the dark red. Most of the red light faded from Harry's eyes, and his whole body convulsed.
"Harry, listen to me," Hermione said, holding his shoulders. "There's something inside you lying to you. You want to be strong, you want to stop being suppressed—I understand that. But it's not giving you power; it's using your body to be reborn."
Harry panted, tears and sweat mingling together.
"What do you know? You have Cassius giving you goblin steel, a workshop, and research. He's willing to look at you. But what about me? I only have myself to rely on."
Hermione's hands paused for a moment.
Draco sneered.
"Rely on yourself? You were just stealing our core."
Harry looked at Draco, hatred threatening to surge again.
Cassius stepped on his shoulder.
"Had enough?"
Hermione looked up.
"Give him ten seconds. He's Harry right now."
Cassius looked at the remaining green in Harry's eyes.
"Then let him say something worth hearing."
Harry gritted his teeth.
"I don't want to die. And I don't want it to win."
Ron's tears fell.
"Then why didn't you tell us?"
Harry closed his eyes.
"Because I was afraid you'd look at me the way you are now."
No one spoke.
But the remnant soul stirred deep within the scar.
Is being afraid useful? They've already seen. You're finished. Only I can make them shut up.
The Stability Ring began to turn black.
Hermione's expression changed.
"It's contaminating the Stability Ring!"
Cassius raised his hand.
"Back off."
Just as Hermione took half a step back, the dark red magic inside Harry exploded, shattering the golden ring. Harry's back arched, and two overlapping voices issued from his throat.
"Everyone, get away!"
The secret passage shook.
The Dementors outside sensed the aura of the remnant soul and began to gather toward the drainage outlet. A chill swept through the pipe, and grey frost formed on the ground.
Cassius looked out of the pipe.
"Just in time."
Hermione was incredulous.
"You want to lure the Dementors in too?"
"They are both bait and a blade."
Draco understood half of it.
"Let the remnant soul bite the Dementors, then use the Jackdaw to catch it?"
"More or less."
Ron said angrily, "You're still using Harry as an experiment!"
Cassius looked at him.
"This is the most effective way to save him. You can choose to hold him and cry while you wait for Lord Voldemort to crawl out of his head."
Ron was silenced.
Outside the pipe, three Dementors floated closer.
They were drawn to Harry but feared Cassius's life-heat, so they lingered outside the drainage outlet. The black holes beneath their hoods opened and closed as if tasting the dark red scent in the air.
Cassius took out a Cold Crow shell without a core.
Hermione understood as soon as she saw it.
"An empty shell can only divert flow; it can't pull anything in."
"I'll be the core."
Hermione's pupils constricted.
Cassius poured his own life-heat into the Cold Crow shell, and the goblin steel patterns lit up. It no longer released despair, but rather a vibrant vitality—the opposite of despair—like dropping a red-hot iron into stagnant water.
The Dementors became restless.
The remnant soul inside Harry also grew restless.
Both sides wanted to devour it, yet both feared being burned.
Cassius drove the Cold Crow shell into the ground.
"Potter, if you want power, crawl over."
Harry looked up.
The Jackdaw hummed on the ground; the Dementors outside coveted it, and the remnant soul within urged him forward. Ahead was the bait; behind was Cassius.
He finally understood.
This secret passage had been turned into a colosseum by Cassius from the very beginning.
And he was the beast in the cage.
Chapter 189: The First Cry of the Jackdaw
"You're crazy!"
Hermione growled at Cassius.
She understood the trapping logic and accepted high-risk experiments, but letting Cassius use his own life heat flowas the core of the Jackdaw exceeded the safety boundaries she had designed.
The jackdaw shells was pinned to the ground, its goblin steel casing filled with ghostly blue light, its internal patterns stretched to their limit. It didn't emit a cry, but a sharp screech, like metal scraping against bone.
Cassius looked at the three Dementors outside the drain.
"They're afraid of me and don't dare enter. We need a bait that can drive them mad."
Hermione looked at Harry.
"Harry won't hold out."
"That's why I'm not letting him hold out."
Cassius raised his hand.
Harry was pushed by gravity to within three feet of the jackdaw shells. The remnant soul in his scar was stimulated by the life heat flow, and dark red mist began to pour out uncontrollably.
The Dementors outside finally couldn't resist any longer.
The first one squeezed into the pipe.
As soon as it entered, the patterns on the jackdaw shells lit up in reverse. The ghostly blue heat flow collided with the Dementor's chill, producing an ear-piercing friction. The Dementor tried to retreat but was trapped by the gravity ring Cassius had set up.
The second and third ones squeezed in after it.
Ron pressed against the wall, too terrified to speak.
Draco gritted his teeth and stood in front of Hermione, water droplets suspended at his fingertips, though he knew they were useless against Dementors. He held them up anyway; at least they could block stones, Harry's sudden lunges, or anything else that could be blocked.
Hermione stared at the jackdaw shells, quickly assessing the burden on the patterns.
"The third ring of the outer layer is overheating; it will crack if pressured for another ten seconds!"
"Eight seconds is enough."
Cassius looked at Harry.
Harry's scar split open, and the remnant soul was pulled out half an inch by the Dementors' suction. Dark red threads drifted toward the three Dementors like a snake scenting rotting meat.
The Dementors were also sucking.
Harry's body convulsed, his green eyes and the red light struggling back and forth for control.
"Stop it... Stop it!"
Ron tried to rush over but was stopped by Draco.
"If you go over, you'll just be one more person getting sucked!"
"Get out of the way!"
Draco suppressed his anger.
"Weasley, if you want to save him, don't add to the mess!"
Hermione threw a rune fragment to Ron.
"Stick to the corner, don't let the chill enter your mind!"
Ron caught it, his hands trembling as he pressed it to his chest. Only when the rune fragment lit up did he manage to stand steady.
Cassius began to tighten the gravity ring.
The three Dementors were pressed toward the jackdaw shells. Their suction tangled with the remnant soul's threads, as grayish-black chill, dark red mist, and ghostly blue life heat flow merged into a chaotic mass.
Hermione counted down in a low voice.
"Six seconds. Five seconds. The third ring is cracking."
Cassius raised his hand, magic threads supplementing the crack.
"Continue."
The remnant soul finally sensed something was wrong.
It had thought the Dementors were food, but now it was also being sucked in by them, with the Cold Crow channeling from behind and Cassius's life heat flowblocking the way at the outermost layer.
There were teeth both in front and behind.
"Malfoy!"
Riddle's voice came from Harry's throat.
"You're going to kill him!"
Cassius said coldly, "You'll die faster than he will."
The dark red remnant soul was pulled out even further.
Harry's head struck the ground, his voice hoarse from screaming.
Hermione pressed down on a shard of the Stability Ring, attempting to protect Harry's original soul.
"Cassius, enough! Any more pulling will hurt Harry!"
Cassius did not let go.
"Just a bit more."
Hermione gritted her teeth, rushed to Harry's side, and pressed her wand against his chest.
"Harry, if you want to live, pull back yourself! Don't leave everything to others!"
Harry heard her.
He seized those words amidst the pain.
Pull back himself.
Not relying on the remnant soul, not relying on Dumbledore, not relying on any reputation.
He struggled, pressing his hands against the ground, his fingernails splitting, blood smearing onto the stone tiles.
"Get out of my head..."
The remnant soul screamed.
A small bundle of dark red threads snapped off and was sucked into the jackdaw shells's drainage groove.
Hermione's eyes lit up.
"It's working! His original self is resisting!"
Cassius closed his fingers into a fist.
"Then increase the pressure."
The three Dementors were compressed into a mass. The jackdaw shells, enduring forces from three sides, emitted an overburdened screech. Fine cracks appeared on the goblin steel casing.
Hermione shouted urgently, "It's going to shatter!"
"Let it shatter."
The jackdaw shells split open.
It wasn't an uncontrolled explosion.
It simultaneously locked the absorbed dark red remnant soul fragments and a portion of the three Dementors' despair deposits into the shards, like a dying beast biting off a piece of its prey's flesh.
Cassius stomped his foot down.
All the shards were compressed by gravity into a single flat, crow-feather-shaped fragment.
Having lost part of their deposits, the three Dementors were like creatures being skinned, fleeing outward with miserable wails.
Cassius raised his hand, and a containment ring ensnared two of them, pressing them into temporary crystal bottles. He let the third one go.
Hermione understood immediately.
"You deliberately let one back to report?"
"To make them afraid."
Draco looked at the Dementors in the bottles, his throat dry.
"He even captured two."
Ron knelt beside Harry, not daring to touch him.
"Harry? Are you still there?"
Harry opened his eyes.
Green had gained the upper hand, while the red light retreated deep within. His lips moved, his voice broken.
"Ron..."
Ron's tears welled up instantly.
"You bastard."
Harry wanted to smile, but he winced in pain.
Hermione inspected his scar.
"A portion of the remnant soul was torn away, more than during the workshop incident. But it's still there, hiding deeper."
Cassius picked up the crow feather fragment.
Inside the fragment were dark red threads, a grayish-black chill, and a ring of ghostly blue burn marks. It was incomplete, yet fiercer than the original Jackdaw.
"First combat test, qualified."
Hermione looked up, her face covered in sweat.
"The jackdaw shells is shattered, the Stability Ring is scrapped, Harry almost died, and you call this qualified?"
"We obtained the remnant soul's resistance mechanism, Dementor traction data, the Jackdaw's overload limit, and captured two new samples."
Draco couldn't help but say, "From a profit perspective, it is indeed qualified."
Hermione glared at him.
Draco shut his mouth.
Hurried footsteps echoed from a distance.
Snape was the first to arrive. Seeing Harry half-dead on the ground, the two bottles with new Dementors, and the crow feather fragment in Cassius's hand, his entire face darkened as if splashed with ink.
"What have you done now?"
Cassius put away the crow feather fragment.
"Saving someone."
Snape looked at Harry's wretched state.
"What kind of misunderstanding do you have about the word'saving'?"
Holding Harry, Ron actually spoke up for Cassius.
"He just... really pulled Harry back."
Snape looked at Ron.
Ron lowered his head but didn't take back his words.
Dumbledore arrived shortly after.
He saw the fleeing Dementor in the distant sky, the brand on Harry's scar, and the new material in Cassius's hand.
The old Principal did not scold them.
He simply said, "The Dementors on the outskirts of Hogwarts must be removed."
Cassius looked out into the dark night beyond the Castle.
"Too late."
Everyone followed his gaze.
By the distant lake, a swarm of Dementors began to gather.
The Dementor that had fled back brought with it fear, but also the tempting scent of the remnant soul.
They did not retreat.
They were hesitating.
Between fleeing from Cassius or rushing in to devour the darkness inside Harry.
In the dark night, dozens of tattered black shadows hovered at the boundaries of Hogwarts.
Dumbledore gripped the elder wand tightly.
Cassius looked at those deathly shadows that had delivered themselves to him, his tone cold and sharp.
"Tonight's samples are sufficient."
Chapter 190: The Black Tide by the Lake
"All students back to the dormitories!"
McGonagall's voice cut through the corridor, and the portraits screamed to pass on the message.
Hogwarts was jolted awake.
Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin—all four houses were asking the same thing: why were the Dementors approaching the Castle, and why had Harry Potter disappeared from the Hospital Wing and the Professor's supervision?
No one had the full answer.
The less complete it was, the more terrifying it seemed.
By the Black Lake, the Dementors lined up in a floating black tide.
They did not cross the defensive line set by Dumbledore, yet they did not leave either. They were attracted by the scent of the remnant soul inside Harry, and repelled by the heat of life on Cassius. Greed and fear tugged at them, keeping this group of Azkaban guards in the most dangerous position.
Dumbledore stood by the lake, his Elder Wand emitting a silvery light.
McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and Lupin stood on the four sides. The Professors had never assumed a battle formation on the second day of the new school year.
Harry had been taken away by Madam Pomfrey, with Ronfollowing. Hermione stayed by the lake, clutching a broken Stability Ring in her hand. Draco stood to the right of Cassius, struggling to keep himself from stepping back.
The observer sent by Fudge came running from the Castle's entrance hall, panting.
"Principal! These Dementors are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Magic; Hogwarts has no right to attack!"
Snape sneered.
"They are surrounding the school."
The observer bit the bullet: "They are merely attracted by abnormal magic; the Minister will handle it."
Cassius looked at him.
"Tell Fudge to come here now."
The observer's throat constricted.
"The Minister is busy with official business..."
Cassius raised his hand.
A Dementor by the lake was dragged out of the black tide by gravity, screaming as it flew toward the shore. The Professors tensed up simultaneously, but Dumbledore did not stop him.
That Dementor struggled in mid-air, was compressed into a gray-blue ball of light by Cassius, and stuffed into a new crystal bottle.
The whole process took less than three breaths.
The observer took two steps back, nearly falling over.
Cassius threw the bottle at his feet.
"Tell Fudge that no matter how busy he is, his dogs are almost dead."
The observer looked at the Dementor struggling in the bottle, his lips trembling.
McGonagall did not speak for him.
Her student had almost been kissed on the train, and tonight, Dementors had gathered by the lake again. Her patience for the Ministry of Magic had burned out.
Hermione asked in a low voice: "Are you really going to catch them all?"
Cassius looked at the black tide.
"Catch half, release half."
Draco asked: "Why?"
"To give the Ministry of Magic something to bring back for the funeral."
Hearing this, the corner of Snape's eye twitched.
This was Cassius's politics.
No protest letters, no hearings; he simply dismantled half of the opponent's weapons and let the remaining half bring back the fear.
Professor Flitwick raised his wand, his voice high-pitched but steady.
"Mr. Malfoy, there are too many Dementors. If they charge the defensive line all at once..."
"Then it will save me from having to catch them one by one."
Cassius walked forward.
Dumbledore stepped sideways to block him.
"Cassius, Hogwarts is not a battlefield."
Cassius stopped.
"They are setting up dinner tables at the school gate, and you say it's not a battlefield?"
Dumbledore did not move aside.
"I will negotiate with the Ministry of Magic."
"Negotiations require living people to listen. Fudge doesn't speak human language."
McGonagall closed her eyes.
She actually didn't think this was wrong.
Lupin spoke up: "Dementor groups will mutually induce cold. You are suppressing them with the heat of life; it will consume a lot of energy."
Cassius looked at him.
"Do you think I am you?"
Lupin was choked off.
Draco coughed in a low voice, nearly laughing out loud.
Hermione, however, did not laugh.
She watched the arrangement of the Dementors in the black tide and said quickly: "They are not completely disorganized. The thirty-seven near the lake surface are in the outer circle, and there are six stronger individuals in the center. They are using the weak ones to test the defensive line."
Dumbledore looked at her.
"Miss Granger, how did you count them?"
"The cold ripples are different." Hermione pointed to the lake surface. "Ordinary individuals make the water surface frost over, while strong individuals turn the frost layer gray."
Flitwick exclaimed: "Very keen."
Snape snorted coldly.
"She treats Dementors as experimental materials now, so of course she's keen."
Hermione did not deny it.
After listening, Cassius raised his hand.
"Clear the outer circle first."
He spread his fingers.
A net of ghostly blue gravity appeared above the lake.
No incantations.
No wand light.
A dozen Dementors near the defensive line fell simultaneously, their cloaks hitting the frost layer on the lake, making a muffled cracking sound. They tried to scatter, but were divided by the grid, like black fish falling into a fishing net.
The Professors all looked at Cassius.
Draco's breathing tightened.
This was not single-point suppression.
This was large-scale capture.
Hermione stared at the edge of the gravity net, her eyes fanatical.
"Spatial partitioning, point-locking, no overlap in the outer layer... He is minimizing magic waste."
Snape said in a low voice: "This kid even worries about waste?"
Hermione replied to him: "He optimizes."
Snape was speechless for a moment.
Cassius clenched his palm.
A dozen Dementors were compressed in batches, the crystal bottles lined up beside him, and the bottle caps opened automatically. The gray-blue light balls were stuffed in one after another, the stoppers sealed, and ghostly blue patterns crawled all over them.
Exclamations came from the portraits where students were peeking by the lake.
High up in the Castle, many senior students crowded by the windows.
"He's catching Dementors!"
"Like catching Cornish Pixies."
"Don't insult the pixies; at least pixies bite."
In the Slytherin tower, Pansy covered her mouth.
Zabini stood behind the window, his voice very soft.
"The Ministry of Magic is finished."
Nott asked: "Because the Dementors were caught?"
"No. Because the whole school saw it. The things the Ministry of Magic uses to scare people are just bottled materials in Malfoy's hands."
By the Black Lake.
The Dementor swarm finally collapsed.
The six strong individuals in the center let out low wails and retreated toward the Forbidden Forest with the remaining black tide.
Cassius raised his hand to catch more, but Dumbledore's silvery Patronus blocked the way.
A Phoenix-shaped light shadow spread its wings.
"That's enough."
Cassius looked at him.
There was no gentleness on Dumbledore's face.
"If you keep catching them, the Ministry of Magic will define this as an attack on the Azkaban guard system. We need student safety, but we also need to avoid open war."
Cassius watched the fleeing Dementors and withdrew his hand.
"I'll give you one night."
Dumbledore understood what he meant.
If the Dementors were still there tomorrow, Cassius would clear the field himself.
The observer was already sprawled on the grass, repeatedly muttering "The Minister will handle it."
Draco walked forward, looking at the row of crystal bottles on the ground.
"How many?"
Hermione counted them.
"Twenty-one."
Professor Flitwick gasped.
McGonagall pressed her forehead.
Lupin looked at these bottles, his dignity as a Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor ground down to thin slivers by reality.
Cassius put away the bottles.
"Enough materials to make the first batch of Jackdaws."
Hermione added: "And enough to make Dementorcounter-measures."
Dumbledore looked at the two of them.
"Do you intend to manufacture weapons specifically for dealing with Dementors in the school?"
Cassius retorted.
"Do you intend to rely on the Ministry of Magic to protect the students?"
Dumbledore did not answer.
The frost on the Black Lake began to melt.
The fleeing Dementors in the distance did not look back.
The night wind at Hogwarts carried the news to every tower.
The students turned from fear to excitement, and from excitement to a deeper awe.
They saw a fact.
Dementors were not invincible.
What was invincible was that Malfoy who could put Dementors into bottles.