With the lighting of the last candle, Glenn, Hermione, and the pitifully floating black box containing little Tom's diary arrived in front of the girls' bathroom on the second floor.
Hermione had long since gotten off Glenn's back, preferring to walk side by side with him rather than being carried. Holding hands occasionally could give Glenn a bit more confidence and ease his tension.
Although this blockhead probably doesn't feel much tension anyway.
The young girl looked back, and the candles lit behind them stretched toward a distant direction, seemingly outlining a path.
Everything was proceeding according to plan.
Glenn grasped the brass doorknob of the girls' bathroom and pulled the door open.
They stepped inside, and the crying Moaning Myrtle peeked out from a stall upon hearing the door move. From her perspective, two figures cloaked entirely in black robes stood at the entrance of the bathroom, where no one should be.
In front of the two figures, a black iron box hovered in mid-air, and the aura emanating from within made her feel uneasy.
She was about to cry out to warn these suspicious individuals to leave her home when a blue-purple spell struck her, freezing Moaning Myrtle in mid-air, her mouth slightly open and eyes wide, frozen on her impending crying face.
"Petrificus Totalus." Glenn didn't even glance at Moaning Myrtle, merely casting a Petrifying Curse at her face.
Though ghosts aren't truly corporeal, many spells can still affect them, albeit with greatly reduced power. However, strong control spells like the Petrifying Curse are quite effective.
As for why Glenn knew these things, she had already practiced them thoroughly.
On certain quiet nights in the past, Glenn's rare enjoyment of tranquility after training would often be ruined by the raucous, shrill noises of a certain mischievous specter.
Peeves, the prank-loving poltergeist, never quieted down even at night, either shaking awake the sleeping portraits on the walls and then fleeing with laughter or causing chaos in the corridors by knocking over suits of armor, leaving a mess for Filch to clean up, and proudly leaving without a trace.
Thus, if Peeves happened to cross paths with Glenn on her way back to the dormitory after his escapades, he couldn't escape being subjected to various strange spells cast by an unknown presence.
Naturally, this was Glenn's handiwork.
Unable to detect the caster, Peeves grew increasingly agitated but had no outlet for his frustration, so he vented it on the only other unfortunate soul who could interact with him at night—usually Filch, though occasionally he would "especially" entertain any sneaky young wizards caught out night-walking.
Over time, this formed a virtuous cycle.
Ah, of course, it was virtuous for Glenn; others might not agree.
Knowing Moaning Myrtle's penchant for noisy crying, Glenn naturally wouldn't give her the chance to cause a ruckus, opting for a clean and swift Petrifying Curse to immobilize her.
"...Ah, this." Hermione, who was just contemplating how to deal with the troublesome Moaning Myrtle, was a bit speechless. Glenn was as straightforward as ever...
........................
"...Is this... the bathroom..." Inside the floating black box before Glenn, surrounded by numerous unknown black blocks, the soul fragment of little Tom in the diary finally recovered from the painful experience that had left a deep mark in his short memory. His nearly dissipating soul slightly recondensed.
Attempting to control his form a bit, little Tom found that the binding force on the diary seemed to have weakened slightly due to the loss of magical power.
"...Hmph, this is enough." Tom's eyes grew shadowy, his handsome face twisting, visible anger appearing in his brows.
Feeling the state of his soul, he made a rough judgment.
"To break through this last bit of restraint and project my soul externally, I'll need to expend some energy..."
Even knowing the cost and side effects of achieving this would be severe for his current self, the life force absorbed from Ginny Weasley would be completely depleted, along with some of his already scarce soul energy.
"But it's worth it."
"I'll make you pay!"
Inside the diary, Tom's soul began to roar, rushing toward the outside world, while around him, visible strands of black flame invaded from outside the diary, desperately suppressing him from escaping.
The pain in his consciousness not only failed to deter little Tom but intensified his desire to break free and seek revenge.
His desire not to die was genuine, but it didn't hinder his murderous intent.
"If I can get out... I can kill that damned person and leave this cursed Hogwarts with a shred of soul characteristic and complete soul essence!"
"Crack." A crisp sound echoed in Tom's mind, and intense pain permeated his entire soul body. Little Tom roared, the cracks on his soul surface from Glenn's Cruciatus Curse gradually expanding, with hideous marks appearing on Tom's distorted face.
These cracks continued to slowly spread, and if this trend persisted, his fate would be nothing but the disintegration of his soul body, scattering into oblivion.
"Sizzle!"
The sound signifying Glenn's restriction on the diary being violently broken echoed, and Tom within the diary finally broke through the last barrier preventing his slaughter, his flickering, ethereal form instantly appearing near the small black box in front of the two youngsters.
This startled Hermione, but immediately a swift beam of light shot from her raised wand.
It was the young girl's instinctive casting of the Knockback Jinx.
Before he was hit by the Petrifying Curse, Tom had completed his action.
A series of incomprehensible hissing sounds escaped his mouth.
Then he grinned wickedly as he was knocked back by the jinx, disappearing into the air.
"Speak to me, Slytherin—the greatest of Hogwarts' four founders."
"Basilisk, kill them!"
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