Chapter 254: The Benefits of Completeness
At the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the biting early spring wind swirled a handful of withered leaves around their ankles.
Harry, completely off guard, picked up the cup of hot tea heavily laced with the Soul Separation Potion. The bitter, herbaceous steam was already brushing against the tip of his nose, fogging the lenses of his glasses.
Standing slightly to the side, Tamara watched him with a perfectly crafted mask of polite indifference, though her dark eyes remained cold and calculating.
She had only added a single, highly concentrated drop. Drinking it wouldn't immediately rip the foreign soul from his body—that would be far too messy and suspicious. But as long as the boy continued to ingest it, day by day, the stubborn fragment of her own soul residing behind his lightning-bolt scar would be completely dissolved and reclaimed by her.
Everything was progressing with the steady, inevitable precision of a well-played chess match.
However, just as the chipped rim of the teacup was about to touch his lips...
A sharp, ear-piercing screech suddenly rang out across the pumpkin patch.
Startled by the abrupt noise, Harry flinched. His hand jerked violently. The cup of carefully drugged tea slipped from his fingers, tumbling through the air before shattering into a dozen jagged porcelain shards against the rough, protruding tree roots. The dark liquid seeped uselessly into the dirt.
Tamara's breath hitched.
Her polite, indifferent facade cracked. The moment she watched her precious, painstakingly brewed potion soak into the mud, a bone-chilling fury flooded her veins. Her jaw locked, a dangerous twitch pulling at the corner of her mouth.
Her perfect assassination plan had been disrupted. Again.
Tamara whipped her head toward the commotion.
In the nearby clearing, Buckbeak, along with several other Hippogriffs that had been perfectly docile moments before, had collectively fallen into a violent frenzy without a shred of warning.
Their massive, amber eyes were now entirely bloodshot, rolling wildly in their sockets. Their razor-sharp wings snapped open, stirring up a chaotic gale of dust and loose feathers. Thick, muscular hind legs kicked the ground fiercely, tearing up chunks of earth as the beasts let out chilling, metallic roars.
"Merlin's beard! What's wrong with them?!"
Hagrid's panicked shouts were nearly drowned out by the deafening bellows of the magical creatures. The half-giant stood nearby, waving his massive arms helplessly in the air, desperately trying to stabilize the spiraling situation.
The other three students were already forced to draw their wands, stumbling backward under the sheer pressure of the Hippogriffs' sudden onslaught.
Tamara remained rooted beneath the towering oak tree, watching the chaos unfold with icy detachment. Her brilliant mind raced, piecing the puzzle together in fractions of a second.
This was no coincidence.
The screech from the detection mirror earlier hadn't been warning her, the poisoner. It had been alerting the rat hiding in the shadows.
In that fleeting moment, Tamara fully grasped the mechanics of the ambush.
No matter how powerful a soul fragment might be, spellcasting would always be severely limited by its physical vessel. Peter Pettigrew's magical circuits were utterly mediocre to begin with, and his current rat body lacked the wand necessary for proper channeling. If the fragment forcibly attempted high-level Dark Arts like the Killing Curse, the power would be pitifully diminished, and the magical signature would immediately expose his location.
Conversely, hiding in the murky underbrush to cast a subtle, wandless Stinging Jinx or a low-level Confundus Charm to provoke these already lethal creatures... that was the lowest cost, hardest-to-track assassination method available.
For the soul of the Diadem possessing that pathetic rodent, it was an undeniably ingenious and malicious scheme.
"Get back! Children! Get behind me!"
Hagrid's anxious bellow interrupted Tamara's dark musings.
As the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, Hagrid immediately attempted to demonstrate his professional competence in the face of the emergency. Instead of rushing forward blindly and escalating their aggression, he quickly let out a deep, rhythmic, soothing whistle.
Simultaneously, he dug into his massive moleskin overcoat, grabbed a handful of dead ferrets, and hurled them toward the far side of the clearing. He was trying to use food and familiar auditory cues to divert their bloodlust.
Not only that, but the half-giant strode forward, completely disregarding the danger. He stared intently into the unblinking eyes of the leading Hippogriff, attempting to force the traditional taming ritual of bowing.
However, this soothing method, which usually worked without fail, was entirely useless against magically induced madness.
The beasts, secretly afflicted by the dark jinx, ignored the bloody ferrets completely. Instead, they were further enraged by Hagrid's towering presence and sudden movements. Their violence multiplied.
Several Hippogriffs charged in unison. The sheer kinetic impact of their armored bodies sent Hagrid stumbling backward. He crashed heavily into the massive pile of orange pumpkins, splintering them into a pulpy mess.
The scene spiraled out of control instantly. Several beasts snapped their razor-sharp beaks and lunged directly toward Harry and Tamara.
Facing the fatal threat tearing toward him, Harry did not back down.
Relying on the honed instincts forged from facing mortal danger time and time again, he gripped his holly wand, stepped forward, and planted himself at the very front of the group without a second of hesitation.
"Impedimenta!" Harry roared.
A burst of silver light erupted from the tip of his wand, accurately striking the broad chest of the leading Hippogriff.
The spell briefly delayed the beast's muscular movements, but it wasn't enough. Driven by sheer inertia and rage, its massive body continued to barrel forward with unstoppable momentum, its steel-like front claws carving a chilling, deadly arc through the crisp air.
Meanwhile, Tamara made absolutely no move to help. She merely stood beneath the shade of the tree, her arms crossed elegantly over her chest, watching the impending slaughter with a blank expression.
She was waiting.
Since the situation had escalated to this point, according to the predictable, nauseating habits of that damn Virtue System, it should have immediately generated an emergency mission. Something sickeningly heroic like, 'Suppress the magical creatures, save your precious classmates.'
One second passed. Two seconds...
Nothing. The damn system didn't even produce a single notification chime.
A surge of deep irritation at being toyed with completely ignited the Great Dark Lord's fury. Her careful plans had been repeatedly disrupted, her rare poison utterly wasted on the dirt, and now she had to deal with these filthy, frenzied brutes while her supposed helper played dead.
Losing the last shred of her patience, Tamara dropped her helpless facade. She stepped forward, her face a mask of glacial fury, her yew wand sliding smoothly from her sleeve and into her waiting palm.
"Oppugno!"
The incantation hissed from between her teeth, laced with cold, murderous intent.
Driven by her overwhelming magical reserves, the heavy paving stones scattered across the ground and the dry, rough branches littering the forest floor mobilized in unison. Everything in the immediate vicinity that could serve as a projectile levitated violently into the air.
In a terrifying spectacle of telekinetic control, the makeshift weapons launched forward, smashing accurately and ruthlessly into the lunging Hippogriffs.
Dull, sickening thuds echoed across the clearing, accompanied by the beasts' pained shrieks. The charging creatures had their momentum brutally shattered, stumbling backward under the relentless barrage of stone and wood.
"Incarcerous!"
Several thick, black ropes materialized out of thin air, lashing out like striking pythons. They coiled tightly around the beasts' necks and limbs, constricting with bone-crushing force and dragging them down.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
As the final, overpowered curse landed, the wildly struggling creatures instantly locked up. They turned into rigid, feathered statues, crashing heavily into the damp soil. Aside from their amber eyes rolling wildly in absolute terror, they could no longer move a single inch.
The edge of the Forbidden Forest instantly fell into a deathly, suffocating silence.
Harry, the Weasley twins, and Hagrid—who had just managed to scramble out of the smashed pumpkins—all stared dumbfounded at Tamara.
The young girl stood calmly beneath the large oak tree, not a single fold of her dark robes out of place. The overwhelming magical pressure required to suppress an entire pack of rampaging Class III beasts with a mere wave of her hand left the onlookers forgetting how to breathe.
Only Luna Lovegood broke the silence. She began to clap lightly.
The blonde Ravenclaw blinked her large, protuberant eyes, seemingly completely oblivious to the chilling killing intent still lingering heavily in the air. She offered her praise with absolute sincerity.
"You're really amazing, Tamara." Luna's ethereal, dreamy voice drifted across the ruined pumpkin patch, filled with pure wonder. "The way those stones and branches flew up just now was just like a swarm of black-hearted Wrackspurts dancing. It was a truly wonderful piece of spellcasting."
Standing in the shadows, Tamara narrowed her eyes slightly, studying the blonde girl's serene smile. She let out a derisive snort in her mind, entirely unwilling to dignify such a bizarre, nonsensical comment with a verbal response.
Just as Tamara turned on her heel to leave the mess behind, a long-awaited, overly cheerful voice finally chimed in her mind.
[Ding! System reboot complete.]
[Oh my, Host, that was so intense! You have no idea, the dark aura from that Soul Separation Potion was so foul it actually caused my core processors to crash!]
Tamara sneered inwardly. She didn't bother wasting a single thought on the useless parasite, knowing full well it had merely played dead to shirk its responsibilities.
[However, Host, you are simply amazing! To resolve such a massive crisis without shedding a single drop of blood! Heroic behavior detected. Calculating rewards...]
[Congratulations, Host! Life +3 (Current Life: 50)!]
[Spell unlocked: Appare Vestigium! This spell can be used to reveal traces of recent magical activity in a specific area!]
Hearing the description of the newly unlocked spell, Tamara's eyes flickered with genuine interest.
A tracking spell. That was exactly what she needed most right now to hunt down that treacherous rat. With Appare Vestigium at her disposal, she wouldn't have to go through the tedious trouble of trying to steal broom fragments from Professor Flitwick's office anymore.
The system seemed to sense her sudden shift in mood and immediately added in a sickeningly considerate tone.
'Considerate?'Tamara echoed coldly in the confines of her mind.'You seem even more eager than I am to see me complete my soul. Why is that? Does a complete soul offer you some sort of special benefit?'
The system fell silent for a long moment. When the lively, mechanical voice finally rang out again, it lacked its usual bouncy cadence.
[Only a complete soul can perceive the full spectrum of emotions in this world.]
[We believe that only an individual with a complete, untorn soul possesses the necessary foundation to truly turn toward the path of goodness. Host, this is highly beneficial for your journey to becoming a good person.]
Tamara narrowed her eyes, a dangerous, glacial light dancing in her irises. 'Oh? So... will you attempt to tamper with my thoughts to achieve that lofty goal?'
[No, Host. Never.] The system's voice carried a rare, absolute seriousness. [The soul is yours, the body is yours, and your free will is supreme. You will always retain the absolute right to choose whether to become a good person or to continue being a villain.]
[However...]
The system's tone abruptly snapped back to its annoying, patronizing lightness.
[As a Virtue System, I still hope from the very bottom of my digital heart that you choose to be a good person!]
Tamara unilaterally severed the mental connection, shutting the useless entity out of her head.
She tilted her head slightly, glancing at the Gryffindors who were now rushing over breathlessly from the ruined pumpkin patch to check on her. A flash of undisguised, aristocratic contempt flickered in her eyes before she buried it behind a sweet, gentle smile.
'Boring.'
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