Jon collapsed to the floor.
After two melees, the library had become a mess, the floor was littered with broken wood chips and dust, and when Jon's lifeless, throbbing body fell, it shook up a cloud of dust.
"Poof!"
Voldemort fell to his knees, blue veins bulging on his forehead, his hands clutching his head, his face red as if blood could seep out of it, and his eyes filled with blood.
He reached out to grab the thing behind him that Jon had stabbed into him before he died, but he couldn't reach it for a while because his arms and legs felt like they were twitching!
Then suddenly, Voldemort's face became one of panic and fear as Draco's soul regained control of the body.
He looked around him in bewilderment, and after seeing Jon's body on the ground right in front of him he finally couldn't help but cry out.
"Mum!"
But just as he cried out, the expression on Draco's face froze anew, once again turning into that cold, ruthless look.
This time there was no trembling in Voldemort's hand as he violently grabbed the long needle stuck in his back and proceeded to pull it out from where it had been in his backside!
There was nothing physical about the needle, and as Voldemort pulled it out of Draco's body, there were no wounds or blood marks left where the needle had been inserted, not even a sign that his clothes had been pierced.
Yet when it was held in the hand, it was tangible to feel that it was a real thing.
"Bloody old thing!"
Voldemort cursed, while continually slamming Draco's head into the wrecked ground, the pain originating from the depths of his soul, more than ten times more painful than the Cruciatus Curse, leaving him unable to think about anything else.
The black fog that had surrounded Voldemort churned as if it were boiling, and the faces of Voldemort himself, but of varying ages, began to appear in the black fog.
Their mouths opened to utter silent howls as if they were uttering the vilest of curses at Voldemort, and one by one they tried to break free from the fog that was on the verge of disintegrating, but in the end, they were unable to leave.
At a certain moment, the black fog scattered all over the library tightened up and then, like a black cloth spread out on the floor, compressed all the split souls that were trying to break free back into Voldemort's body.
Voldemort's forehead was bleeding as he stopped his self-inflicted wounds and stood up from the ground with a pale face, his eyes fixed on Jon's body lying on the ground with such hatred as never before.
"Jon Green! Good death you have died! Well done for dying!"
He stumbled over to Jon's side, the pleasure, the loathing and the relief that passed over his face no longer disguised.
"There are so many geniuses in this world, but what's the point of having a talent? This is what happens when you go against me!"
Voldemort fought back the pain that came from the depths of his soul and let excitement take over his entire mood as he extended his hand at Jon's head.
"Just wait, when I become you, I'll make those around you pay. Sure, they'll have a good time ahead of them, but some of them will always have to suffer my wrath and revenge after that, but alas you won't see it anymore Jon, you won't see it anymore"
Just as his hand was less than a centimetre from touching Jon's body, Voldemort suddenly raised his head warily.
The surrounding temperature seemed to have risen a little.
The temperature change was inconspicuous, perhaps only two or three degrees higher on the scale but Voldemort nevertheless noticed it.
He squinted around and finally returned his gaze to Jon as if he suspected that the source of such an anomaly was Jon's corpse itself.
Voldemort no longer wanted to wait any longer, no matter what else was unusual about the corpse in front of him, Jon was dead after all, the magical world had the means to make people live forever, potions to cure all diseases, spells to kill all life, but no magic could bring the dead back to life.
Not even that resurrection stone.
As the current owner of the Ring of Resurrection, Voldemort knew better than anyone else how ridiculous it was to call it a resurrection, that the ring was more of a cursed murder ring than a treasure that could save people.
So Voldemort had dropped all caution about Jon's corpse and without hesitation he placed his hand on Jon's head, intending to complete his plan and take possession of the body.
However, the moment his hand made contact with Jon's forehead, a golden fire suddenly burnt up around Jon's corpse!
The flames didn't even seem to be warm, but Voldemort's hand, which had just touched Jon's body, retracted as if it had been electrocuted!
And the moment he retracted his hand, the golden flame began to spread like a tidal wave in all directions!
Soon the whole library was consumed by the fire, and Voldemort was isolated from Jon's corpse, the flames surrounding Jon as if they were burning him, and as if they were embracing their king!
The pleasure and fury that had been on Voldemort's face all disappeared as he looked in shock at the golden flames raising up from the ground like it was the only presence in the bright library.
"Why! What have you done to yourself!"
He could not vent his inner rage and could only question it out in a roar!
And at that very second, flames burst out of the library and began to spread throughout the castle.
The students and faculty who had set up countless tents on the field outside the castle, ready to spend the night right there on the Quidditch pitch, all saw the scene.
Each of them watched in disbelief as the golden flames that spread from the ground began to rise around the castle as if they had plunged the entire Hogwarts castle into a sea of fire!
The professors looked at the castle in disbelief as Crouch and Snape found Matthew together.
"You didn't mention to us that something like this could happen to the castle when it was requisitioned for use, Mr Graves!"
Matthew murmured as he looked at the magnificent scene, his eyes just reflecting the golden light.
"As I said, I will discuss a payout plan with the owner of Hogwarts Castle after this tournament for any damage to it afterwards."
And just as every student and faculty member stepped out of the tent to see the strange scene, a mellifluous song suddenly resounded in all directions!
No one could hear what voice was singing, no one could make out the language in which the song was humming, and no one was even sure if it was any kind of spoken expression or not.
But all of them heard an ethereal, sacred and undefiled breath in the song.
In the middle of the flames that spread out, Jon's body had disappeared.
In replacement, there was a bird with golden-red feathers!
The golden flames of Nirvana spread around him as if they were his vassals, and the ethereal song sang of the birth of a sacred creature!
Voldemort was surrounded by a black mist that prevented the nirvana fire from scorching his already broken soul, and he looked at the phoenix poised above the sea of fire with a gaze of unbelief that he had never shown before.
"How did you do that! No one was ever able to do this! No wizard in history has ever turned into a magical creature! How could you possibly achieve that! Why!"
Jon simply looked down with those pale golden eyes at Voldemort who looked more like he was in an impotent rage, without a word, the Nirvana fires that littered the surrounding area spontaneously increased their attack on Voldemort.
The flames that filled the castle did not burn anything, they did not seem to have a temperature of their own, but they were a deadly poison to Voldemort himself!
The black fog surrounding Voldemort had already tightened to the extreme as the golden flames continued to erode, and Voldemort looked reluctantly and resentfully at Jon who was swooping down on him with his wings spread in the sky.
"It's not over yet! Jon Green! Don't think you've won with just this, you and Dumbledore couldn't handle one of me, let alone two of me in this world! Wait for me, wait for him!"
Just as the phoenix's pointed beak was about to strike Draco's skull, the last remaining black mist rose up and Draco fell to the ground, as if dead, completely covered by the golden flames.
But the black mist that was above the sea of fire, trying to escape, was violently scorched by a ball of flame that fell from the ceiling!
The black mist echoed with Voldemort's shrill howl of pain!
Then the black mist disintegrated, mostly engulfed by the golden flames, but a few black shadows managed to squeeze through the gaps and escape from the sea of fire.
Jon didn't go after them, he couldn't, because he was in a half-bewildered state at that moment, and was not fully familiar with the power of the Phoenix itself.
At the moment he was struck by the killing curse, he was certain he was dead.
His consciousness was plunged into infinite darkness, and his soul was about to be absorbed by the wand that had killed him, so that not only would he not be able to walk the path of death, but he would also be bound forever.
But at that very moment, a golden eye lit up in his mind.
That eye was familiar to Jon, he could clearly feel like he had seen it somewhere, and not just met it by chance, but seen it often.
But before he could think carefully about whom that eye belonged afterwards, countless flames flared up from the depths of his soul!
The fire spread out from his body, not only bringing a new lease of life to his soul but also to everything around him.
After not knowing whether it had purged Voldemort's soul already or driven it away, Jon flew down from mid-air to the ground and reverted back to his human form.
He then looked at his two hands, which were obviously countless times smaller and more tender than before and fell into deep thought.
----
#Rahul Davuluri and #Mathias Zink, Thanks for all your love and support.
Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: www.p@treon.com/Crazy_Cat.
Happy Reading!!!
#Rahul Davuluri and #Mathias Zink, Thanks for all your love and support.
Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: www.p@treon.com/Crazy_Cat.
Happy Reading!!!