After a few seconds, Voldemort's agonized screams finally ceased—he had been burned to nothing, with not a trace remaining.
Helena seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
Those seconds had felt like a century to her.
Watching a soul so similar to her own be obliterated so cruelly was indeed a harrowing experience.
It felt like a form of empathetic sorrow—no, it was a shared pain.
—Luckily, this boy wasn't on Voldemort's side. He had his own principles.
Helena thought to herself.
What she didn't know was that Alaric's reason for not siding with Voldemort wasn't this noble.
Rather, Voldemort's side lacked the charming young girls Alaric was fond of.
Among the girls currently around him—Hermione, Cho Chang, Penelope, Fleur, and the reserve team including Luna and Gabrielle.
Every single one was on the side of justice—or at least the side of ordinary wizards.
On Voldemort's side, who was there?
Pansy Parkinson, the lapdog? Or Bellatrix Lestrange, the deranged older woman?
Or would Alaric have to kidnap the main character and engage in some dark, forbidden "seduction training"?
That was hardly a possibility.
Furthermore, Voldemort himself was not as easy to get along with as Dumbledore.
At least Dumbledore was fundamentally a good person.
As for Voldemort...
Alaric believed that if he had been on Voldemort's side, with his personality, he would have ended up fighting Voldemort before taking on Dumbledore.
Back to the main topic.
Though Helena was deeply surprised by the fire, Alaric was not.
Although it was his first time using this particular technique, he had indeed used this kind of fire before.
The discovery of this technique was also attributed to his previous use of the flame.
Previously, due to different methods, the form of the fire had varied.
If Hermione had been there (and if she could see souls), she would have immediately identified it.
Alaric had used this flame before, actually in conjunction with the Patronus Charm.
As it's well known, the Patronus Charm produces a guardian that represents the caster's essence.
Moreover, based on current information, a wizard's Animagus form and Patronus are often the same animal.
Alaric, however, discovered that this was a simpler reason.
Both the Animagus and the Patronus involve the wizard's soul.
The Animagus form is the animal that best matches the wizard's soul, while the Patronus Charm is a manifestation of the soul's power.
Of course, the Patronus Charm also infuses positive mental energy.
Alaric's dragon Patronus could repel Dementors because this flame of burning souls was at work.
Ordinary wizards' Patronuses, while capable of driving away Dementors through positive energy, cannot kill them because they cannot destroy their souls.
This is the difference between their Patronuses and Alaric's.
Having grasped this, Alaric was now able to use his dragon soul directly to cast such breath without needing the Patronus Charm.
He believed that even real dragons could not achieve this feat.
It seemed to be due to his combined human and dragon soul.
Given that his soul had been tempered, it was undoubtedly unique.
The exact nature of this uniqueness, despite Alaric's profound magical expertise, was still not fully understood.
However, he believed that through continuous exploration, learning magic from different worlds, understanding the essence of rules, and evolving himself, he would eventually fully understand his own secrets.
Now that another fragment of Voldemort's soul had been destroyed, this marked the sixth Horcrux that had been eradicated.
Among Voldemort's seven Horcruxes (including Harry), only Nagini remained. His end was drawing near.
Under the flames of soul-burning, the Diadem itself remained unharmed, and even its magic was unaffected.
This was the strength of the fire.
Unlike the Sword of Gryffindor, which destroys both the Horcrux's soul fragment and the object itself, this soul attack only destroys Voldemort's soul.
It does not affect the Diadem itself except for its magical balance.
Though the magic on the Diadem might fail due to the loss of the soul fragment, it was fundamentally different.
Moreover, Alaric had a remedy.
He quickly turned and waved his wand.
The wand's tip emitted a blue light, forming a chain that shot towards Helena.
"Now's the time!"
Alaric commanded.
Helena understood and surrendered herself completely to Alaric's magic.
In the next moment, she felt a unique connection between her soul and Alaric's.
While it didn't allow them to communicate telepathically, it established an invisible rapport.
Helena realized this was a form of contract magic.
In modern times, contract magic was nearly lost, but in her era, it was well-known.
The basilisk and Salazar Slytherin had a contract, extending even to the bloodline.
Slytherin's descendants could activate this contract to command the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets.
However, she had never seen a contract like this that could establish a soul connection.
Next, Alaric cast a spell on the Diadem, maintaining the connection between the soul fragment and the Diadem and transferring it to Helena.
Feeling this connection, Helena chose to accept.
Then, as if by instinct, she merged into the Diadem and vanished.
"Now, it's up to her to maintain it."
Alaric sighed, watching the Diadem with concern.
Although he spoke confidently, he had never tested this magic before.
While he was confident in his grasp of it, having no practical experience was a drawback.
This was understandable, as Alaric had only encountered seven Horcruxes, two of which were still intact, and four of the five destroyed were inanimate.
Moreover, using a complete soul as a substitute was practically impossible.
Thus, he could only trust Helena and his theoretical understanding.
If this failed, he might lose the opportunity to study this unprecedented and great magic further.
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