Chapter 72: The End of the Fifth Year

"Say it again, Severus. It seems my ears have gone bad. Leonard Taylor is alive... Why would you say such a thing?"

In a room in the loyal servant's Lestrange house. The report from Severus Snape, who is spying on Albus Dumbledore, was something he could hardly believe. But even when he peered into his heart, he was not lying. It seemed that even Severus himself had not accepted it as reality.

"Indeed, my lord. Leonard Taylor is indeed alive. Moreover, he has resurrected with even greater power."

"Tell me in detail. Tell me everything, no matter how trivial."

The words of Snape that followed were like a foreign language. His head refused to recognize it. But still, that was the truth.

"So... Leonard Taylor is alive. And he has become immortal and gained a powerful body? And he used me for that!!"

In his anger, he almost killed Snape. But this guy is necessary for spying on Hogwarts.

"Go back to Hogwarts. Get information about Leonard Taylor. I don't care how trivial it is."

"As you wish."

Snape left the room.

(My plan is going well at this stage. I've buried many of the Order and the Aurors. I've also eliminated the troublemakers among my minions. The fall of the Ministry of Magic is imminent. Many dark creatures are gathering around me.

...But even if Leonard Taylor is alive, everything will be in vain.)

The Dark Lord spent the night thinking about how to kill Leonard Taylor.

～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～

Hogwarts, Leonard Taylor's research room, experimental space

Only Leo, Hermione, and Ku are here now. What they are about to do is a performance test of Leo's new body.

"Well, theoretically, we can predict how much is possible, but there are things we don't know until we actually try. Let's try various things."

Since it's a body performance test, all the rings are off. He plans to readjust the rings to fit his current body.

"Ku. Attack me. I'll focus on defense and figure it out. Don't hold back, go all out, as if you're trying to kill me. I won't die anyway."

"Understood. I'll go all out!"

With that, Ku instantly transformed into a combat form. His long hair turned into blades that could cut through anything, and he attacked Leo. Normally, it would be impossible to follow his movements with the naked eye, but Leo, who had become a non-human, was able to accurately capture his movements. However, Leo did not dodge the blade. As a result, Leo should have been cut in half...

"!? This is..."

Even though Ku was confused, he increased the number of blades to double digits and tried to cut Leo into pieces. But Leo was standing there as if nothing had happened.

(I'm not defending. It's not an illusion. There's definitely a sensation of my body being torn apart. What on earth...?)

"I'm surprised. It's a bit more than I expected. Ku's blade definitely cut me. But the moment the blade passed through, my body regenerated and stuck together in a time close to zero. It's the synergistic effect of the healing power of many magical creatures, the water of life brought by the Philosopher's Stone, and the tears of the phoenix. I didn't expect it to go this far."

"I see. Then this is next!"

Tentacles extend from Ku's body. The tips swell and form the face of a dragon. More than ten dragon jaws emit breath. Leo takes it without dodging. The surface of his body is slightly carbonized, but it also regenerates immediately. When the flame stops, only Leo, who doesn't have a single burn, is there.

"Alright, let's keep going."

After that, no matter what means were used, it was impossible to inflict a fatal wound on Leo. No magic, physical attack, or potion was effective. The next step was to investigate the impact on Leo's magic use. With a large amount of magical power such as a dragon and a furnace core that converts the water of life into magical power inside his body, he can use magic almost indefinitely, and his magic has become very powerful due to the same principle as his father, Erskine. The difference from Erskine is that Leo can control it more precisely, so he can use magic as he used to.

"Hmm... I'll have to make the rings very durable."

Unlike before, all the rings are directly connected to Leo, and by integrating them with the body, they have been remade into something that can withstand Leo's current magical power. In addition, each of them has been further enhanced while maintaining their basic functions. Until now, there was not enough magical power to master these abilities to this extent, but now that he has almost bottomless magical power, there is no need to worry about that. 

"Reflection" bounces back even Voldemort's spell of death. 

"Absorption" absorbs not only magic but also attacks with magical power derived from magical creatures. "Cut-off" cuts off from all magical phenomena. 

"Guardian" is more solid. 

"Healing" increases the regeneration speed of the current body beyond its limit. 

"Storage" has an increased upper limit and stores almost all magic inexhaustibly. 

"Enhancement" breaks through the limit of physical functions. 

"Wisdom" removes the limiter of thought acceleration. There is no problem with the effect on the brain with the current body. 

"Control" controls not only magic and rings but also every single cell of the complex body. "Resurrection" is no longer needed and is planned to be remade.

"All that's left is to prepare for Hermione. It takes time, so prepare your mind until then."

"I'm fine. I wouldn't mind being killed by Leo."

"Even If I fail and die, I'll bring you back to life."

While chatting and laughing at each other, the content was extremely dangerous. But for the two of them, that was normal.

After that, they lived a life of researching until the end of the year as usual.

～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～

If it's the end-of-year party, the somewhat dark atmosphere has calmed down. Still, it's much darker compared to the usual years. There's nothing else to say about that. The Ministry of Magic is almost non-functional, and the Daily Prophet newspaper reports every day that there are dead or missing people. Many of the students' relatives were also included. Even the Slytherin students who have Death Eaters in their family are not happy. They were afraid that the monster Leonard Taylor, who was close to them, would attack them at any time. Leo had no such intention, but the Slytherin students who didn't know that had no choice but to be afraid. Even non-Slytherin students were quite afraid of Leo. He died and then came back to life. Moreover, he is no longer human. Even Hermione, who accepted it as a matter of course, looked strange. By now, the two of them seemed like residents of another world. Even Dumbledore and the teachers seemed unsure of how to deal with Leo. In the end, only Leo, Hermione, and Ku were enjoying the party food as usual.

At the end of the year, the students are heading to King's Cross Station on a steam locomotive. The Weasley brothers, except Ron, visited the compartment of just Leo, Hermione, and Ku.

"Hey Leo. Can I talk to you for a bit?" 

"There's a lot I want to ask."

"That's fine.

Fred, George, and Ginny came in and sat down. They were silent for a while, but Fred asked.

"Hey... What was Papa like in the end? Everyone won't tell us. But we want to know."

All three of them were looking at Leo with serious faces.

"Well... Arthur was fighting the Death Eaters until the end. He died from the trap like everyone else, but he was on the front lines until the end."

"...I see. That's right. Papa is a member of the Order, and he's the father we're all proud of. Yeah, I've decided. Well, I've decided before, but I've made up my mind again." 

"We're going to start a prank shop in Diagon Alley."

 "Mama says to stop. But we want to make everyone laugh." 

"Hogwarts is pretty dark now, right? That's why they need laughter now." 

"Papa would hate it if the world he risked his life to protect was dark." 

"Leo, come by when you come to Diagon Alley."

The twins seemed to have made up their minds. If they do, they will probably be able to make the dark world smile. Next, Ginny started talking.

"Leo, please train me. I want to become an Auror. I want to protect everyone, the world, instead of Papa and those who died. I want power for that."

"I've been asked to continue teaching next year, so I'll teach you if that's okay."

"That's not enough. I want to be stronger."

"Hmm... In that case, I'll try to hold a special class by recruiting applicants. When the members gather, you can come to the lab."

"Thank you! Oh, keep it a secret from Mama! She'll definitely oppose it."

Afterwards, they talked about various things until they arrived at King's Cross Station. The three of them seemed the same as always, not caring that Leo had become a non-human.

King's Cross Station, Platform Nine and Three-Quarters

Leo and the others were greeted by Erskine and Ferris. As soon as they reunited, Erskine's fist hit Leo's head. Of course, there was no holding back. Leo was prepared, so he didn't defend himself.

"Don't make us worry! When I saw in the letter that you were going to die, I thought something had happened. It was also tough when Scrimgeour came later. When I told him that you were alive, he worried about me for a while and told me to take a break."

Ferris hugged Leo. She touched his entire body to make sure he was okay.

"Leo, are you really okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

"Dad, Mom, I'm sorry to have worried you. But I'm fine."

"Well, that's good. But I'm sorry, Hermione. You must have been worried, right?"

"No, I'm fine. I fell in love with him, including his action like this. More importantly, my parents couldn't leave the house after all, could they?"

"Ah, the Granger couple is waiting at our house. Considering the recent situation, it would be tough to go outside. Scrimgeour thinks that just being a relative of Leo's girlfriend would make them a target. I agree. Well, I'm protecting them, and they also have the protection that Leo has put on them, so they won't attack so easily."

"You must want to see Hermione soon, so let's go home quickly."

As they talked about what they wanted for dinner and other things, Leo and the others returned to the Taylor mansion. The atmosphere was filled with a happiness that was unrelated to the darkness of the world.

This is how Leonard Taylor's fifth year at Hogwarts ended.

---

The Voldemort was able to maintain her composure because Snape was there, but he was incredibly anxious on the inside.

Yet, it's amazing that he hasn't given up yet.

Leo's body is at a dangerous level.

He's circulating the tears of the phoenix in his body to enhance his healing power.

The image of instant recovery from the cut is like Burning Godzilla.

The rings have also leveled up. But the basic performance hasn't changed, it's just that the upper limit has been raised.

"Resurrection" is no longer needed, so a new ring is being considered.

In the public eye, the forces of darkness are perceived to be dominant.

In fact, it's not wrong, as most of the Aurors and the Order of the Phoenix have been killed in action.

The twins' prank specialty store is small because there's no prize money for the competition.

However, thanks to Leo, they had enough money to open a store.

By the way, unlike the original, they graduated from Hogwarts properly.

Leo had also contacted his parents and Hermione in the same way, telling them that he would die and come back to life.

But he still made them worry, so he got a punch.

Next chapter preview!

The world is enveloped in darkness.

The hand of the Dark Lord is spreading day by day.

The Ministry of Magic, the Aurors, and the Order of the Phoenix no longer have the power to dispel that darkness.

Will the world be covered in darkness as it is!?

What will Leonard Taylor do!?

Leo: "I'm just going to continue my research."