But just as he finished speaking, a surge of black smoke rushed out of the passage, arriving beside Harry and then transforming into a young man with the face of Tom Riddle.
"Dumbledore and another guy have broken in..."
Before he could finish, a phoenix also burst through the passage, and with a flash of fire, Dumbledore and Grindelwald appeared simultaneously.
"Tom," Dumbledore glanced at the young man and then, shocked, looked at Harry. "Harry? Is that you?"
"Dumbledore," Harry suddenly showed a relieved expression as if comforted by his arrival. "Professor, you finally came."
However, at that moment, a green light suddenly shot towards Dumbledore from behind the group.
"Albus, watch out!" Grindelwald shouted, lifting his wand. Several stone bricks rose from the ground, spinning and turning into iron-colored shields behind Dumbledore, blocking the curse.
A teenager about sixteen or seventeen years old emerged from behind a pillar, still bearing that familiar face.
"Tom..." Dumbledore looked in shock at the two Tom Riddles. "You actually did it. How many times have you split?"
But then his focus returned to Harry. "What have you done to Harry?"
Murphy, watching this chaotic scene, was also somewhat overwhelmed.
Including Lucas and Harry, he had encountered five Voldemorts today!
It was like poking a Voldemort nest!
"Professor, this Harry is no longer Harry; he's under Voldemort's control," Murphy explained briefly. "Seeing that this guy hasn't run away, he must have some other plans. Let's take him down together."
According to Voldemort's account, he had taken control of Harry shortly after Sirius's death a year ago. But he still returned to the school and even created so many clones, surely planning something.
"It's too late, Professor," Harry suddenly laughed, then turned towards the basin. "Come out, my friend."
The water stirred, and a huge shadow rapidly surfaced below, followed by a "boom!" as the basin exploded with water, spraying like a waterfall towards everyone. A massive serpent's head emerged, issuing a piercing roar.
"It's the Basilisk!" Lucas shouted. "Don't look into its eyes!"
The Basilisk's eyes carried a powerful insta-death magic, deadly on sight and capable of petrifying even through objects like glass. Even Murphy wasn't sure he could withstand such insta-death effects, and he wasn't eager to test it, just as he wasn't keen on facing an Avada Kedavra head-on.
Yet even with his eyes closed, his magical vision still clearly outlined the Basilisk.
Instantly, Murphy felt a tremendous sense of danger, as if his body and soul were being frozen, turned into lifeless stone.
Petrification.
Not like the Petrificus Totalus curse that stiffens the body, but actual transformation into stone.
Suddenly, lightning radiated around Murphy, and he transformed into a demonic form with wings, the sensation of petrification lightening significantly.
His Animagus form was complex, incorporating aspects of a petrification lizard, granting him strong resistance to petrification effects. Coupled with his avoidance of direct eye contact with the Basilisk in his magical vision, he avoided petrification.
But this also gave Murphy insight into the essence of the Basilisk's insta-death effect: a highly pure form of transfiguration magic capable of turning any creature that meets its gaze into stone.
In terms of magical capability, it belonged to a species superior to petrification lizards.
Facing the Basilisk, everyone acted as if struck by a "Blindness" curse, forced to close their eyes, and even Murphy had to avert his gaze, discovering an unintended side effect of his magical vision.
"Harry" and the other two Toms naturally didn't miss this opportunity, launching killing curses at them.
Fortunately, even without sight, Murphy could judge the situation with his keen hearing, dodging the attacks with a swift movement. Then, pointing at the Basilisk, he sent two wind blades aiming for its eyes.
The Basilisk twisted its body, and with "bang bang," the wind blades hit its head but seemed to strike iron, not even scratching its skin.
Murphy knew the Basilisk was magic-resistant, similar to how dragon hide could defend against spells to some extent. The Basilisk's millennia-old scales were expected to have this feature.
Thus, he used wind blades, a physical attack.
Although these wind blades looked inconspicuous, they could easily cut through large trees. Even the thick-skinned Basilisk shouldn't have been left unscathed.
But then, a glimpse from his magical vision of the Basilisk's head returned to Murphy's mind, and he paused. "You made the Basilisk a Horcrux?!"
Indeed, in that moment, his magical vision showed the center of the Basilisk's head glowing differently, identical to Voldemort's aura.
In the original story, Voldemort had turned the snake Nagini into a Horcrux. Now, he'd gone a step further, turning the Basilisk into one!
Already formidable in defense, the Basilisk, now a Horcrux, received an epic enhancement, rendering ordinary spells completely ineffective against it.
And with its massive body and deadly gaze, it was both the ultimate shield and spear!
"Troublesome. I should have taken care of it back then."
Mainly, the creature had lived for over a thousand years, and its eyes possessed powerful magical effects. Murphy had hoped to study it someday, so he hadn't been willing to harm it. Unfortunately, Voldemort had beaten him to it.
"Chirp!" Amidst the piercing cries, the phoenix Fawkes charged at the Basilisk, immune to its gaze, attempting to blind the monster.
But with three Voldemorts present, they wouldn't let it succeed. Even the Basilisk seemed much smarter, dodging Fawkes's attack. Several curses aimed at Fawkes forced it to abandon its assault.
Dumbledore and Grindelwald, both with eyes closed, Dumbledore relying on Fawkes for vision and Grindelwald on his uncanny foresight, managed to dodge the Voldemorts' attacks even blinded.
Meanwhile, Murphy summoned a swarm of lightning crows, sharing his vision with Lucas, who tried to disrupt the Basilisk with Parseltongue.
For a moment, no one could gain the upper hand in the Chamber.
After several unsuccessful attempts to kill Dumbledore, "Harry" frowned. He no longer tangled with them but approached the statue of Salazar Slytherin at the back of the Chamber.
Facing the massive statue, he uttered hissing sounds.
But Lucas understood his words.
"Great Salazar Slytherin, the offerings are ready. Enjoy your resurrection feast!"
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