Chapter 188: The Disorienting Illusion and King Cross Station (Edited)

Unexpectedly but logically, Tom realized everything at the last moment. Yes, how was it possible that the way Victoria had behaved after stealing Riddle's diary from him had gone unnoticed by Peggy in the same dormitory?

These things no longer mattered, and Tom felt the darkness rushing in like a tide.

Tom lay on his back, surrounded by absolute silence, without the sound of people, without the crackle of the fire, without the sound of the wind outside the window. It was a suffocating solitude. The sense of hearing was deprived and the ability to judge time was lost.

But Tom did not seem uncomfortable. He was in a strange state, as if he had lost everything but his thoughts, like a program, a line of code. But luckily, little by little, everything that had been lost came back.

It could have been thousands of years, or maybe just a moment, before Tom's senses returned, and he could feel himself lying on the surface of something, and he could feel the loneliness suffocating his heart to the point of exploding.

He rolled onto his back, and the next moment he realized that he was naked, and that the effects of the All-Purpose Potion had worn off. But, as long as no one could see, being naked was no big deal.

Finally remembering that he still had eyes, Tom opened them and found a surprisingly bright fog all around him. Because of the fog, he couldn't see anything. However, there was a difference between a normal fog, which enveloped the landscape and made it impossible to see, and here, where the landscape had not yet been created.

Tom stood up, wanting to put on a shirt. Of course, if he still maintained the appearance when the Multijuice Potion took effect, what he wanted in the first place was a complex matter. As soon as the idea popped into his head, a robe appeared not far away. The robe was warm, as dry as if it had been in the sun for some time, and gave off a sunny scent.

"Where is this place?" After this thought appeared in his mind, the fog gradually cleared: the huge circular glass ceiling, the floor paved with large gray tiles, benches, train tracks....

Tom recognized where he was: it was Platform 9 at King's Cross, or rather it was the platform itself. Little by little he remembered what had happened to him, and soon realized: he was dead, in the middle of a trance.

The trance state is a state between life and death, it is both reality and illusion.

"So that's how the world works after death..." mused Tom, who had received so much information from various sources that he deduced that a magician is not reincarnated immediately after death, but remains in a special realm, i.e. the illusion of trance.

"What valuable knowledge and experience." murmured Tom.

He looked at the ring on his hand and rubbed the phoenix on it, but there was no response, Tom had lost the ability to transform in Trance. Tom was confused, he didn't know what to do next. After all, he had not yet experienced death, everything here was new, and he needed to explore it a bit.

Standing silently on the platform, Tom took in the surrounding scenery: a normal platform, except for the thick white fog at the end of the tracks.

He got his bearings and walked toward where the train had departed from. The station was small and he soon entered the fog. The fog was so thick that it blocked Tom's vision and he could see nothing. After a while, however, the fog lifted and something appeared faintly in front of him.

It was the hole in a bridge, with some rags piled inside.

Tom recognized this as the hole in the bridge he was occupying at the time, and he remembered what Nick had told him, and stopped in his tracks. Looking down, he saw that his legs had become transparent, like those of the ghosts at Hogwarts.

She immediately turned around and walked back to Platform 9.

Fortunately, the "ghost effect" was now reversible, and when Tom returned to the platform, his body returned to normal. With a sigh, he chose a bench and sat down, bored.

He didn't know what to do next!

Clearly, he was dead. If he followed the footprints back, he would become a ghost, and if he followed the footprints, he could guess what would happen: he would be reborn, what else?

It's a direct reincarnation.

He just didn't know if he'll be on Earth in his next life.Would he open his eyes and return to the end of the Northern Song dynasty, an exiled clan member in need of help to save the Song family? Or would he open his eyes and see a scarlet blood moon before his eyes, only to lose control? Or would he open his eyes and find himself high above a battlefield, standing next to a little boy in glasses, a suit and a bow tie, who clapped his hands and a tree sprang up from the ground?

If he had his choice, he hoped that in his next life he would receive a letter from an owl at the age of eleven. At that point, he would probably be holding up his Hogwarts acceptance letter with derision, saying, "Magic? I don't believe in that!"

Then, a tiger-spotted cat would arrive on her doorstep in her next life. After a bit of manipulation, he would have believed in magic and exclaimed, "This is the moment I've been waiting for!".

Tom's mood was a bit out of whack, suddenly, the back of a little brown-haired girl's back appeared in front of his eyes.

What would Hermione do if she found out about his death?

Wouldn't she be devastated?

And then... after a while, could she get over her grief, find her other half... and maybe bring her husband and children to visit her tombstone in the future?

Tom swatted these nagging thoughts away like flies.

He exhaled a long sigh of relief, calmed down and began to study this place where life and death meet yin and yang. He looked down at his robe, which had appeared out of nowhere, and pondered.

"A table would be nice." As soon as the thought occurred to him, a Hogwarts desk appeared in front of Tom.

Tom's eyes flickered slightly.

Soon there were plates of hot food and mugs of drink on the table.

Just as Tom was trying to "visualize" something else, a siren interrupted his thoughts. A train, identical to the Hogwarts Express, pulled up to the platform.

"Platform 9?" Tom looked at the train sign and sighed. He hesitated: should he board the train or should he go back the way he had come, back to Hogwarts in ghost form?

And what was his title? handsome Yodel, incombustible Tom?

Looking at the express train, Tom felt the urge to get in, an urge that grew stronger and stronger and finally made him enter the carriage, which was empty, where he found a seat.

The train departed.

With the whistle blowing, the train pulled into the thick white fog. But as it did so, Tom heard a subtle singing, and looked around for the source of it, but could not find it. As the song grew louder, Tom realized it was coming from his own chest.

With the song, Tom's nose elongated and red feathers sprouted from his body, and all at once, Tom became a golden red phoenix. He lifted his wings and flew out the window, straight into the sky.

This time, as he flew through the white mist, he did not become a ghost.

...

"I can't believe it," Riddle said, removing his hand from Tom's neck, convinced that the man who called himself Tom Yodel was dead. The fact that a first year student could use a Killing Curse on someone surprised even him.

It was a Curse he had taught Peggy.

Riddle thought back to his own life and wondered if he couldn't have done what Peggy had done in his first year. Of course, he also believed it was because he had not been exposed to the Killing Curse in first year.

Tom Riddle found and opened the Chamber of Secrets in fifth year, following a trail of clues. In his search for information, he also came into contact with an object of dark magic called a Horcrux, and learned how to make it. He took control of the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets and ordered it to attack a student, ultimately killing the Muggle-born girl, Myrtle Warren. Her murder allowed him to split his own soul and create his first Horcrux: Riddle's Diary.

In the summer of that same year, he went to the village of Little Hageddon, where he met his uncle Morfin Gunter in the crumbling old Gunter house. He first knocked Morfin unconscious, took his grandfather Marvolo Gunter's ring and his Uncle Morfin's wand, then went to Riddle House, used the wand to kill his father, Old Tom, and turned the Gaunt ring into a second Horcrux. Having mastered the Obliviate Charm by then, he altered Morfin's memories and framed him for the murder.

Voldemort himself first used the Killing Curse to kill someone in fifth year. So Peggy was a bit of a "newbie".

It's just that Riddle is a bit confused: does Peggy have enough magical power?

"A great talent." Voldemort praised Peggy as well, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and he gave her an appreciative look, "Among the little wizards I've seen, your talent is the highest."

As if sensing his younger self's confusion, Voldemort struggled to explain to Riddle.

"It is not enough to have magic to do black magic, you must understand that, unlike ordinary spells, in order to use Unforgivable spells with ease, you need to give them evil power, you need to really cause pain, you need to be cold and evil enough - magic is not the most important factor. Of course, I can't deny that Miss Grossman's talent is truly exceptional, that she knows how to develop her potential better than the mediocre ones. I have discovered, after a long and painstaking search, that 'extremes' are a very important factor for magicians, and that by choosing a certain direction and going to the extreme, one can reach the top, the more extreme the better..."

After Voldemort finished his views on magic, magical power and spells, he turned to Peggy.

"I hear I have to teach you a type of magic..." Riddle's promise, naturally, was the same as Voldemort's.

"As you promised, you should teach me how to make Horcruxes." Peggy felt no trace of guilt for her murder; in her mind, she had done nothing wrong. She was desperate to cut out her own soul, to seal the severed piece of it into a so-called Horcrux.

"To rid myself of that burden." This was Peggy's deepest wish.

The creation of the Horcruxes required cutting out souls, and the amount of souls cut out could be controlled naturally. If divided equally each time, Voldemort had made seven Horcruxes: Riddle's Diaries, Ravenclaw's Crown, Hufflepuff's Golden Cup, Slytherin's Locket, the Resurrection Stone Ring, Nagini, and Harry Potter. If it is divided equally each time, and souls are not like leeks that grow back when cut, Voldemort will end up with only 8 out of every 1,000 souls in his body. ...

This is outrageous.

So it's only natural that when making a Horcrux, you can master the degree of soul splitting, which is exactly what Peggy needs. She happens to have a piece of her soul that is "extra", a piece that just gets in her way, and the object that gets in the way must be removed, even if it is her own soul.

Voldemort froze for a moment upon hearing that Peggy wanted to make a Horcrux, then let out a cold laugh.

"A first year, a first year wants to make a Horcrux! Today is really challenging my understanding of the magical world all over again! First, an Animagus that can turn into a basilisk, then a student who wants to make Horcruxes in first year..." He finally stopped laughing and gently stroked his wand in his hand.

"Dumbledore would be thrilled, wouldn't he? His current students are much more 'exciting' and 'lively' than they were in my time. Lord Voldemort has made a promise, and he won't break it. Tell me, what would you like to use as a vehicle for your Horcruxes?"

Without thinking, Peggy pointed to the [Sister] in the corner, whom Voldemort had tied up with black ropes

"I want to use it as a Horcrux."

"Good choice. Do it with me..." Voldemort began to teach Peggy how to make a Horcrux.

To make a Horcrux, the first step was to split a wizard's soul through a guiltless murder. Peggy had already done this, she had killed her superior without guilt and now her soul met the conditions for splitting. She then learns a special spell from Voldemort that separates the divided soul and transfers it to an object of her choice to make a Horcrux.

Peggy learned the spell.

"You can leave this school with me, I can teach you the magic I have learned, and all you have to do is offer me your talents." Voldemort intended to leave Hogwarts when the Horcruxes had regained their power. He did not want to face Dumbledore just yet, something he had avoided when he was in his prime, something he would not do now that he was in an incomplete state. But before he left, he invited Peggy, a girl he sincerely hoped would become one of his Death Eaters.

After a moment's reflection, Peggy agreed with Voldemort and set to work on her Horcrux.

She was in the final stages of making the Horcrux, and all she needed to do was inject her divided soul into the [Sister] and she would be ready. She concentrated on stripping her torn soul from her body, which was already very unstable and had a tendency to fall apart....

At that moment, Tom, who was lying on the side and being ignored by the others, suddenly experienced a change.