Rhys waved his left hand, and the mud on the ground rose into the air, forming a large sphere around Quirrell's body, completely containing the explosion's shockwave within the ball.
With his right hand, he beckoned to Voldemort's fleeing soul, and Voldemort suddenly felt the air around him become viscous, pulling him uncontrollably towards Rhys.
He was utterly terrified: he no longer had a physical body, so how could that monster still restrain him?!
If Rhys knew Voldemort's thoughts, he would surely smile and say: Without a body, don't you still have magic? Indeed, I cannot easily manipulate the magic within your soul, but I can use the interaction between magical forces to "retain" you with the magic under my control.
In this area, unless you have neither a body nor magic, you will always be within his control and influence.
Voldemort was thus gradually pulled towards Rhys.
Now, Voldemort appeared as a dusky yellow phantom, with a grimacing face occasionally emerging from it. Rhys could hear its indistinct, incomprehensible howls.
He ignored Voldemort's howls and focused on studying the nature of the entity before him. Unlike Harry and Daphne, Rhys knew very little about him. He didn't even know this was Voldemort—he only knew that the main villain was Quirrell and the entity on the back of Quirrell's head.
However, to Rhys, who this thing was didn't really matter. He wasn't particularly concerned about it.
After studying for a moment, Rhys saw through the essence of Voldemort.
"Foolish thing." After seeing through Voldemort's nature, Rhys couldn't help but make a sharp comment.
The yellow phantom in Rhys's hand made even louder noises.
"No form, just a shadow and some vapor, even less than a ghost or a wandering soul. What meaning does such immortality have? You people who make Horcruxes, do you even deserve to call yourselves immortal?" Rhys's face showed a hint of disdain. To him, these wizards who achieved immortality through Horcruxes had simply lowered the prestige of the term "immortality."
Seeing the battle had ended, Daphne urged the Nightmare forward, riding it closer to Rhys. When she was within ten feet of him, she dismounted the Nightmare and stood respectfully behind Rhys.
She couldn't help but be cautious. In Daphne's eyes, the battle that had just erupted was incredibly shocking. The magic he used had already surpassed her understanding.
She had previously fought Quirrell, who was possessed by Voldemort, and she knew well how powerful the enemy was. If not for the help from the Nightmare in the crystal ball, she wouldn't even have had the chance to fight back. On her own, she couldn't even penetrate his defenses. Yet, such a powerful monster was toyed with as if it were a mere plaything in the hands of the person before her.
Seeing the respectful Daphne, Rhys felt a surge of anger just looking at her. He didn't want to deal with her at the moment and just waved his hand, signaling her to stand aside and not get in his way.
Noticing Rhys's impatience, Daphne could only stand there, feeling aggrieved. Fortunately, the Nightmare stood with her, making the situation less awkward.
While Rhys was studying Voldemort, Daphne was also studying him.
To be honest, she felt that this wizard before her looked very familiar. From his attire, he somewhat resembled the image of Slytherin she had seen in the Chamber of Secrets. His voice also had an inexplicable familiarity.
After thinking it over, Daphne furrowed her brows. She finally found the source of that familiar feeling; this green-robed wizard's voice was very similar to Rhys's! But Rhys was supposed to be in the hospital wing due to potion poisoning. Wait a minute!
Two thoughts appeared in Daphne's mind one after another, confirming each other, leading Daphne to a bold guess.
To prove her suspicion, she nudged the Nightmare beside her and moved closer to the green-robed wizard...
Watching Voldemort struggle in his hand, Rhys felt a sense of indecision. He could easily crush this wandering soul or seal it in a dark place forever, but he couldn't kill it.
This was determined by the nature of Horcruxes. A wizard with Horcruxes cannot be killed until the last Horcrux is destroyed. Even if their physical body is destroyed, they can survive in this wandering soul form. With the help of magical rituals or nourishment from the soul fragments in the Horcruxes, they can be revived.
This is a characteristic of wizards who use Horcruxes—they are very hard to kill, which is one of the few advantages of having a Horcrux.
Wizards who use Horcruxes are somewhat like potatoes; they cut off a part of their soul, which can then regrow. The thing in Rhys's hand was just a piece of this "potato." Even if it was destroyed, the potato could grow back from other pieces.
Though Rhys didn't think much of the Voldemort fragment before him, it was still a piece of a soul and could be useful.
A bold idea formed in Rhys's mind.
He thought that this soul fragment might help with Ravenclaw's "illness."
Ravenclaw's problem was that her soul had been polluted from staying in the depths of the seal for too long. Rhys's initial treatment plan involved using potions to wash away the "dirt" attached to her soul. He had prepared several types of potions: some might loosen the bond between the pollution and the soul, some could fuse with the pollution to strip it away, and some could directly purify the dirt.
The core difficulty of this treatment plan was that the insane Ravenclaw would likely not cooperate. The cleansing of the soul is painful, and even if she didn't have a high desire to fight, she might instinctively attack the healer.
Rhys's task was akin to pulling a decayed tooth from a strange lion without anesthesia.
With this soul fragment, the difficulty would be reduced. He could directly merge the fragment with Ravenclaw's soul, letting the fragment absorb the pollution. As for whether the fragment would in turn corrupt Ravenclaw's soul, Rhys thought that was overthinking it—he didn't hold the fragment in high regard.
Rhys had a new treatment plan.
Looking at Voldemort in his hand, Rhys's lips curled up slightly. He really had to thank this gentleman for his outstanding contribution to Ravenclaw's treatment.
And the specific content of the contribution?
Who said being used as a medicinal ingredient doesn't count as a contribution?
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