Chapter 137: Be Strong
Ginny Weasley's mind was completely blank.
She did not understand what Tamara meant by "masterpiece," nor did she understand what she meant by "homesick."
In her eyes, Senior Tamara, the one who had crossed the distance between different House common rooms to comfort her during her most painful moments, was now examining her with a gaze she had never seen before.
The pressure emanating from the depths of Tamara's soul made Ginny instinctively want to kneel and beg for mercy.
"I... I didn't..."
Ginny trembled violently, tears falling like broken pearls. Her body shrank back involuntarily, as if she wanted to press herself into the cold tiled wall.
"Please... don't hate me..."
Looking at the little girl before her, who looked as though she might vomit from fear, Tamara furrowed her brows impatiently.
The remnant soul residing within Ginny's body was still playing dead.
Clearly, that cunning thing knew that once it showed itself, what awaited it would definitely be a thunderous strike from its original self.
So it chose the most shameless tactic.
Hiding in the cracks of its host's soul, clinging on like a parasite and refusing to leave.
"What are you crying for?"
Tamara snorted coldly.
The hand pressing against Ginny's cheek did not let go. Instead, she increased the pressure, forcing the girl to look directly into her eyes.
With her other hand, she pulled the crudely made wooden plaque from her robe pocket.
"This is a return gift."
Tamara's voice was stiff. It lacked any warmth a gift giver should have. Instead, it sounded as though she were reading out a verdict.
"Since you gave me an... unforgettable gift, as your senior, I cannot be impolite."
After saying this, without caring whether Ginny was willing or not, she roughly hung the wooden plaque around Ginny's neck.
"Wear it."
"This is... an order."
Ginny froze.
The cold wooden plaque pressed against her skin, but the expected sting or curse did not come.
On the contrary, a surge of magic with a faint cooling sensation instantly flooded into her body.
The cold, gloomy aura that had been lingering in her mind, leaving her dazed and terrified, was instantly suppressed like a flame doused by a bucket of cold water.
The feeling was like a drowning person finally breaking the surface and drawing their first breath of fresh air.
Her previously muddled mind began to clear.
"This... what is this?"
Ginny touched the wooden plaque in disbelief. Her pupils, which had been unfocused from fear, slowly regained clarity.
"An amulet."
Tamara let go, dismissively brushing away nonexistent dust as she took a step back.
"It can help you... dispel some unclean things."
"Like those noises screaming inside your head."
Ginny stared blankly at Tamara.
She had not expected this.
After realising that Ginny was abnormal, not only did Tamara not despise her, she had even given her such a precious item to protect her.
An unprecedented surge of emotion and grievance welled up in Ginny's heart.
For the past year, she had been tormented by that diary until she was afraid to sleep and dared not tell anyone. Even Ron did not know what she had been through.
She had struggled alone in the darkness, feeling as though she was going mad.
And now, finally, someone had seen her pain and reached out.
"Waaah!"
Ginny could no longer control herself. Like a child who had finally found a parent, she threw herself straight into Tamara's arms and wailed loudly.
"?!"
Tamara instantly froze.
She felt as if a slug bomb had exploded against her chest.
The little red headed girl was clutching her waist tightly, rubbing tears and snot all over her robes.
"Get off!"
Tamara instinctively wanted to fling this human attachment away, and a Knockback Jinx had already begun gathering at her fingertips.
However...
[Ding! Detected that Ginny Weasley has developed a great deal of affection for you!]
[This is the power of mutual aid in times of trouble!]
[System Reward: Love +1!]
[Current Love: 30.]
[Congratulations on unlocking a new spell: Incarcerous!]
[Task Hint: Please maintain this posture and give your junior the warmest embrace until she stops crying. If she is forced away, the newly acquired Love point will be deducted, and the spell will be revoked.]
"..."
Tamara's hand hung in midair, her fingers twitching several times, but in the end, she could not bring it down.
For the sake of the spell.
She would endure it.
Tamara took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the killing intent churning in her heart. She stood as stiff as a wooden post, allowing Ginny to soak a large patch of her chest with tears.
"Wooo... Senior... I'm so scared..."
Ginny sobbed heart wrenchingly. "I don't know what's wrong with me... I keep having nightmares... I feel like there's something else inside my body..."
Listening to Ginny's lament, Tamara's eyes flickered.
This could not continue.
She could not waste her precious time listening to someone else's complaints.
While quickly calculating a solution in her mind, Tamara frantically called out to the system.
"System."
"If I directly pull out the remnant soul inside her and crush it right now, what would the consequences be?"
[System Reply: Warning! This action is a high risk operation!]
[Considering the host's current magic level and the fragility of Ginny Weasley's soul, forced extraction has a ninety nine point nine percent probability of causing the subject's soul to shatter, turning her into an imbecile or a vegetable.]
[Furthermore, given that this action severely violates the Caring for Fellow Students principle, the system will initiate the highest level of punishment, powerful electric currents, until the host's IQ drops to zero.]
"..."
Tamara rolled her eyes.
She knew it.
As expected, there were no shortcuts.
It seemed brute force would not work.
Since she could not act directly, then she could only...
Tamara looked down at Ginny, who was still sobbing in her arms.
"Are you done crying?"
Only after Ginny had calmed down slightly did Tamara speak coldly.
She had not become tender because of the embrace. On the contrary, her tone was even more indifferent.
Startled, Ginny quickly let go and wiped the tears from her face in a fluster, hanging her head like a young student who had done something wrong.
"S Sorry, Senior..."
"I don't like cowards."
Tamara pulled out her wand and tapped her robes, cleaning off the tears. She looked at Ginny and spoke coldly, one word at a time.
"Tears are the most useless things."
"They can't save you, and they can't change anything."
Tamara reached out and forcefully poked the wooden plaque on Ginny's chest.
"This thing can only help you for a moment. It can't help you for a lifetime."
"If you are a piece of trash who can't even guard your own mind, then don't expect a piece of rotten wood to save your life."
Ginny jerked her head up, a hint of astonishment appearing in her eyes.
"If I were you..."
Tamara leaned down slightly, her pitch black eyes staring intently at Ginny, as if trying to see through her soul.
"No matter what it was, even if it were a devil, if it dared touch my mind, I would fight it to the death."
"Do you understand, Weasley?"
Tamara straightened, regaining her aloof posture.
"If you continue to be such a crybaby, then the next time you encounter trouble..."
"Don't come looking for me."
"Because even I cannot save a piece of trash who is determined to die."
After saying this, Tamara did not give Ginny another glance. She turned, pushed open the door, and strode out of the bathroom.
Ginny was left standing there alone in a daze.
She tightly gripped the wooden plaque on her chest, feeling the faint warmth emanating from it.
"A piece of trash... huh?"
Ginny bit her lip until she tasted a hint of blood.
Although Tamara's words were harsh, and every sentence felt like salt being rubbed into her wounds, strangely enough, as that black figure disappeared, Ginny realised she was not as sad as she had expected.
Instead, there was an unprecedented sense of peace.
The old Senior Tamara, though always wearing a perfect smile and speaking elegantly, had possessed a perfection like a thick layer of glass. It made her feel unreachable, even tinged with a sense of artificial distance.
But today...
Ginny looked down at the ugly wooden plaque in her hand.
Today's Tamara had torn off that gentle mask.
She was cold.
She was cruel.
She called Ginny a piece of trash, and even looked at her as if she were rubbish.
Yet that naked malice made Ginny feel a reality she had never experienced before.
That's right.
What was the use of crying?
If she did not even resist, who else could save her?
Ginny wiped away her last tear.
In those eyes that had always been evasive and cowardly, a faint but steady flame ignited.
It was the flame of the Weasley family, the fire that refused to admit defeat.
Ginny spoke softly to the empty mirror.
"No matter what you are..."
"Don't think you can control me anymore."
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