Chapter 193 Destroying The Second Horcrux
Evan took half a step back. Before the tongs pierced his skin, he grabbed them with his other hand, pushed them aside with a swift motion, and tossed them to the ground.
The instrument resumed its quiet, as if it had never been alive.
Staring at the tongs on the ground, Evan dared not be careless anymore. He gasped for a moment, pulled out his wand, held it in one hand, and approached the wardrobe with the other hand, slowly and cautiously nearing the Locket, ready to defend himself against any danger.
However, this time, he encountered no obstacles and gently took the Locket in his hand.
Right as his left hand touched the Locket, Evan's eyes widened.
He couldn't believe he had acquired one of Voldemort's Horcruxes so easily. Remembering Tom Riddle's diary he encountered the year before, compared to that, the entire process of the Slytherin's Locket was so straightforward that he began to think it was all just a dream.
He encountered no obstacles except for spider-like tongs with very weak attacking power.
Evan suspected that the multi-legged tongs were also a protective magic cast by Kreacher, resembling the style of a house-elf.
He glanced back towards the entrance hall. Though thick walls blocked it, the mad shrieks of Mrs. Black kept intermittently piercing the air.
It seemed Kreacher wouldn't be returning there for a while.
The trio of Sirius, Harry, and Hermione who disappeared through the dark passage seemed to have vanished without a trace. It appeared they had descended so deep underground that not even their voices could be heard.
Evan took a deep breath. He still had time.
He gently brushed off the surface dust of the pendant with his hand and scrutinized the Horcrux intently.
Then, he took out the basilisk fang he carried with him and, to prevent any mishaps, he prepared to destroy it right there.
Evan had been in contact with Tom Riddle's diary the previous year. He knew that the Horcrux itself was magical, capable of influencing the minds of those around it, draining vitality from those who touched it, to live and grow stronger gradually, and perform magic. It was not much different from the real Voldemort.
In this case, it was far too dangerous for Evan to carry that thing on his body and risk being controlled by it or facing other issues.
He didn't know exactly when Voldemort had created this Horcrux.
But one thing was certain. At that moment, it was definitely more dangerous than the sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle who made the diary. It was more sinister inside and possessed more dark magic.
Evan didn't want to come into contact with Voldemort again, so destroying this Horcrux immediately was the wisest choice.
He squinted, examining the necklace in his hand.
Notably, the most striking feature on the pendant was the capital letter S embedded in brilliant green stone on the front, marked by Slytherin.
Anyone familiar with magic history or the family crests of pure-blood wizarding families would understand the true significance of this letter. Salazar Slytherin was so renowned that besides being a co-founder of Hogwarts with the other three founders, he had accomplished many grand feats.
Around the capital letter was a distinct circle.
Further out, around the circle, there were many blurry yellow and black lines of intricate and complex patterns, as if they were from some ancient text conveying a message.
Evan didn't recognize those words. To be more precise, he wasn't even sure if the lines were writing or not. Perhaps they were merely arranged together haphazardly.
These peculiar patterns seemed to be filled with magic, and occasionally a faint golden light flickered over them, emanating from the eight corners of the circle to the emerald in the center.
Evan gazed at the necklace for a while and found nothing but those words.
Then, he ceased to hesitate!
He decided to place the necklace on the dusty table in front of him, holding the Basilisk fang in his right hand.
In the darkness, his posture was unusually strange.
It seemed to anticipate what Evan was about to do, and there seemed to be something in the necklace at that moment, like beetles in a box.
"One... two..." Evan breathed deeply, and counted silently, trying to overcome the growing unease in his heart.
"One... two... three... open!"
Evan counted the final number, and the wand moved gently upwards. As it did so, the golden doors of the necklace swung open with a soft click.
Like a music box, an ominous voice resounded, and Evan found himself inexplicably weakening and drifting into drowsiness.
Inside the necklace was a glass door with something inside it.
He observed closely. Behind both glass windows, lively eyes flickered, dark and alluring like the eyes Tom Riddle had before turning them red with slit pupils.
As the melody progressed, the two eyes began to change, gradually turning red, and the pupils started to morph into lines, transforming into Voldemort's eyes.
Within the melody, a hissing voice emanated from the Horcrux and spoke to Evan.
"I have seen your heart, and it is mine," whispered Voldemort, "I have seen your dreams, child, and I have seen your fears. All you desire is possible, but all you fear is also..."
Evan whispered, his right hand holding the Basilisk fang trembling.
"Yes, I can assist you, help you succeed, I can give you what you desire, strength, power, glory, I can..."
The temptation of the voice grew stronger. Evan's mind was in chaos. He knew he could not wait any longer. Voldemort was trying to control him. He had to do it.
From the Horcrux, Voldemort's whisper persisted.
But Evan took the Basilisk fang, and his right hand stopped trembling. He took a deep breath, his eyes fixed on the locket, and drove the fang through it.
There was a loud noise, the sound of shattering glass.
As the whisper ceased, Voldemort's soul trapped in the Horcrux emitted a shrill scream, as if trying to penetrate the human soul. Riddle's eyes vanished, and the stained silk lining of the locket began to smoke slightly.
Evan's body trembled, knowing he had succeeded.
He breathed heavily, his face pale, his legs constantly shaking, gripping the table in front of him tightly to avoid collapsing.
He stooped down and picked up the broken Horcrux.
He had pierced through both windows of glass, and there was nothing left. There was no trace of Voldemort's soul, as if it had never existed there.
Like the window glass, the silk lining at the bottom of the locket was also pierced by Evan, but the whole was undamaged.
"Hey!" Evan suddenly noticed that the bottom of the locket seemed to be the same as the outer cover. Inside the silk lining were many strange and intricate lines.
He hurried to tear all the silk apart, and was amazed to find that the inside of the locket was exactly like the yellow and black, cunningly whimsical text.
He couldn't be sure that they were definitely not the lines that originally came with the locket, but they were intentionally engraved, like a magical set.
Slytherin's locket was not just a Horcrux.