Voldemort looked at the Horcrux in front of him with a slightly subtle expression. Despite possessing five Horcruxes, it was the first time Voldemort had closely observed one that was coming back to life.
It was a completely new experience for him.
A Horcrux is a container that houses a fragment of the soul. Dark wizards can sustain their lives through Horcruxes. However, in most cases, Horcruxes only revive after the death of the dark wizard's original body. The soul fragments in the Horcruxes become more powerful as they absorb external energy and can eventually even manifest physically. Tom Riddle's diary and Slytherin's locket are good examples of this. The diary, after absorbing Ginny's soul, even manifested physically. The Tom Riddle from the diary was even able to pick up the wand that was on the floor.
It can be imagined that if given enough time, the diary would not need Peter Pettigrew to revive; however, his knowledge would be trapped in Voldemort's youth.
The fact that the Horcrux revived while his original body was still alive was a completely new situation even for the knowledgeable Voldemort.
The reason this Horcrux of Voldemort was able to revive was that he left a part of his own magic in the container, allowing the Horcrux to skip the step of absorbing soul energy and materialize directly, quickly gaining combat power.
According to Voldemort's wish, as soon as the Horcrux was ready, Umbridge's body opened her eyes again. Her eyes were blood-red, exactly like Voldemort's.
Seeing the body reopening its eyes, Voldemort slightly narrowed his snake-like eyes. Suddenly, he realized that the revived Horcrux seemed to be different from what he had imagined.
In his perception, the Horcrux should be a part of himself and, therefore, should control the actions of the Horcrux as if it were his own arm. However, reality seemed to differ from his ideal. The body formed by the Horcrux had its own thoughts!
He couldn't control it.
Voldemort gripped his wand tightly, causing his knuckles to turn white.
A mistake! That was the first thought that crossed Voldemort's mind. Faced with Dumbledore's immense pressure, he had made a reckless decision.
It is difficult to say whether his act of resisting Dumbledore using the Horcrux was a mediocre or intelligent action. Only time would tell.
Unpleasant and indecorous thoughts crossed Voldemort's mind.
The Voldemort possessing Umbridge's body shifted slightly and cracked the bones in his body. Then, he pulled a short wand from his pocket.
"Birch wood, dragon heartstring core, eight inches." The Horcrux stroked the wand, pronouncing its characteristics.
Voldemort looked at the wand and his face showed a slight expression of disdain.
"I can't believe a wand like this can cast such a powerful weather spell," Voldemort murmured, not hiding his inner contempt.
This attitude seemed to upset the Horcrux, who ignored its owner and continued muttering some puzzling words.
"When I have this wand in my hands, I don't feel any degree of strangeness. It's as if it were a genuine wand... Could it have something to do with the wand's core? Wands made with dragon heartstring cores are powerful and easier to learn spells, but they are also more prone to serving others... In other words, I've subdued it."
Voldemort frowned slightly; clearly, Dumbledore could attack at any moment, so why was this guy still investigating the wand's core? I don't remember studying wands so much!
"There's no time for further discussions; those prisoners won't hold us back for long. Dumbledore could appear at any moment, we must be prepared."
In the urgency of his true self, the Horcrux showed some displeasure but still obeyed the order and went into combat mode.
"Very well, now we can go teach Dumbledore a lesson," the Horcrux responded with a fake Umbridge smile, using a sweet and cloying voice.
Voldemort: ...
Seeing that unpleasant face and hearing that creepy voice, and thinking that his own soul was driving that body, Voldemort felt a strong discomfort.
"Can you change your appearance?"
"I can't."
Voldemort: ...
Now he felt he had paid too high a price to defeat Dumbledore.
"Petrificus Totalus."
At this moment, Dumbledore, whom two Voldemorts sought to have under their control, was in a predicament: there were too many escapees in Azkaban.
Once released, they moved like headless flies, some were so desperate that they even tried to snatch Dumbledore's wand.
Capturing hundreds of prisoners was much more complicated than capturing hundreds of pigs.
Dumbledore couldn't use large-scale destructive magic because many of the prisoners were not Death Eaters, just wizards who had committed crimes. Their crimes were much less severe than those sentenced to life imprisonment; some were captured just for having dark magic items in Knockturn Alley.
Although Dumbledore was proficient in the Petrification Spell, he was hindered by the prisoners.
"Professor, let me handle this." Tom appeared in time and released Dumbledore.
"As the owner of Azkaban, I have an obligation to capture the fugitives," Tom showed Dumbledore a confident smile. "By the way, soon you won't be able to Apparate here, so take advantage of this opportunity."
Tom didn't have two extra arms compared to Dumbledore, so his efficiency in capturing prisoners wasn't much greater, but he could call the guards to help him capture them.
"Thank you, Yodell." Dumbledore thanked Tom and quickly headed towards the lower level of the prison. He remembered clearly that Voldemort had entered a room on the lowest level, so he planned to search for him from bottom to top.
After Dumbledore left, Tom also transformed into his Dementor form and let out a furious roar towards the sky.
This roar pierced through the thick walls, crossed the turbulent sea, and reached the ears of the Dementors gathering outside clearly.
At the same time, the thunder above Azkaban also ceased. The electrical energy from the lightning in the clouds had been depleted, leaving only the rain falling onto the charred corpses with an intermittent sound.
Voldemort's army of Inferi, summoned by Voldemort, had already been destroyed by the lightning.
The Dementors, summoned, quickly returned to Azkaban and found chaos in the prison. Their "meals" were fleeing everywhere.
This was bad! What would they eat if all the prisoners escaped? Dark beings needed to survive too!
Hoo... ha!
The Dementors moved swiftly and captured the prisoners one by one. As former wardens of Azkaban for hundreds of years, they were extremely skilled at capturing prisoners.
When the Dementors appeared in Azkaban, the temperature in the place dropped sharply, and the air seemed to freeze, causing all the prisoners to shudder. At that moment, they recalled the fear they used to feel when ruled by the Dementors and the pain of being locked up.
As a result, they became even more desperate. They didn't want to go back to the days of confinement, not even for a second. Some prisoners lost their minds and jumped out of the windows, falling onto the hard ground or rocks and becoming a mass of flesh. Others gave up resistance and huddled in the corners of the walls, feeling deep despair.
Amidst the chaos in the prison, a haggard-looking woman, with withered hair, walked barefoot through the empty corridors. Her eyes were filled with fanaticism and madness, and one of her hands held the Dark Mark on her left arm tightly, caressing it as if it were her lover.
In these endless nights and days, simply caressing the Mark made her feel that she was still alive, satisfying her both psychologically and physically.
There was no one who could associate this mad woman with the noble and beautiful lady she once was. Bellatrix had been a famous beauty, inheriting the excellent genetics of the Black family, and her stunning beauty, with her thick, glossy black hair and long eyelashes, had captivated countless people in her youth. Unfortunately, all of that faded when she immersed herself in dark magic and was imprisoned in Azkaban.
Tom Riddle and Bellatrix had shown that indulging excessively in dark magic wreaked havoc on one's appearance. In fact, Lucius Malfoy and his family apparently hadn't focused much on dark magic.
After the Dementors' appearance, Bellatrix's eyes became slightly more lucid. She knew that she had little time left to move freely. She continued descending two more levels, and when the height was safe enough, she grabbed the edge of the window and jumped.
Pluff!
She fell into the sea and, after a few waves, the witch disappeared. Meanwhile, all of Azkaban was covered in ice, and a large number of Dementors returned, hovering over the prison.
"The Dementors have returned." A grim look crossed Voldemort's face, aware that his time was running out.
He pushed open the door of the room and stepped outside. The Horcrux followed him with a sinister smile on its face.
[If I die, will I still be the entity formed by the Horcrux?]
Voldemort pondered this question. In theory, the Horcrux's entity and his original self were the same person, but Voldemort found it hard to believe in this idea. That appearance had nothing to do with him! He didn't think he could face Dumbledore that way.
[Is it because the soul fragments in the Horcrux are influenced by the Horcrux's bearer?]
Voldemort speculated in his mind about the reason behind this phenomenon. There were few wizards who had created Horcruxes, and records about them were scarce. Voldemort was doing something unprecedented: he was the most advanced wizard on this path, without precedents in terms of reference or guidance.
At that moment, a fire dragon formed by flames rushed towards Voldemort from the end of the hallway.
Voldemort knew that Dumbledore was arriving.
With a flick of his hand, he cast several spells and turned the fire dragon into a simple form of fire.
While undoing Dumbledore's spell, he instructed his Horcrux to hide for now and wait for the right moment to attack Dumbledore.
The Horcrux enchanted herself with an invisibility charm and concealed herself to the side. Meanwhile, Voldemort himself remained in the center of the corridor, silently observing Dumbledore emerge from the flames.
Dumbledore glanced at Voldemort and was internally surprised: in just a moment, Riddle's aura had changed once again.
"You always catch me by surprise, Tom," Dumbledore shook his head. "You will regret your choice."
Voldemort snorted. "When I regret, your bones will be rotting!"
He raised his hand, and a green bolt shot directly towards Dumbledore's chest. Instead of passively defending, Dumbledore twirled his wand and released a golden blaze that collided with Voldemort's killing curse.
Both were locked in, the golden blaze and the green bolt interweaving into a line.
Both Voldemort and Dumbledore were using all their power, trying to overpower each other's spell. Dumbledore's face tensed, and Voldemort began to sweat slightly on his forehead; the sweat evaporated in the cold air, turning into small drops of white vapor.
The golden blaze was slowly consuming the green light.
[It's time to act! Why are you standing there watching?!]
Voldemort shouted furiously in his mind. There was no better opportunity for a surprise attack. Dumbledore was already occupied; he just had to let the Horcrux act, deliver a fatal blow to Dumbledore, and secure his victory.
But the Horcrux did nothing, as if it were asleep, watching Voldemort fall behind in the fight.
Are you daring to play with me? An evil fire burned inside Voldemort, making his spell surge in power once again, and he was deadlocked with Dumbledore.
"Come out already!" Voldemort roared, simultaneously interrupting his own spell. The golden flame instantly followed the path of the killing curse and finally spread towards Voldemort's arm.
Voldemort growled, and small droplets of sweat broke out on his forehead. The fire didn't seem to burn his arm; instead, it felt like it was burning his soul.
The Horcrux, called by Voldemort, had no choice but to reveal herself. It wasn't because she had little shame but because Voldemort looked in her direction and instantly exposed her.
A "living being" appeared in front of Dumbledore, but the headmaster showed no astonishment. These invisibility tricks were just a joke in Dumbledore's eyes. From the moment he arrived here, he sensed the Horcrux's presence.
As for why Dumbledore dared to confront Voldemort despite knowing there was an ambush, it was because he knew his own backup was also nearby.
Tom summoned his Dementor minions and returned to his human form to assist Dumbledore. When he found Dumbledore, the headmaster was already engaged in a battle with Voldemort, so Tom held his breath and concealed himself, seeking an opportunity to surprise Voldemort.