134: Chapter 134 Venom and Destruction

"Stop!"

Tom's shout exploded in the Chamber of Secrets, forcing even Harry to take a step back. But the fang had already pierced the cover of the diary, and black ink sprayed out like blood, splashing into the water at Allen's feet.

The diary shrieked.

The sound belonged to neither paper nor man.

Harry covered his ears, and Fawkes spread its wings to shield him. Ginny twitched within the Portable Space, her chest heaving violently, as if she had finally been dragged from the bottom of the water back into the air.

Tom's projection began to crack from the chest.

Streams of black ink shot out from his body, only to be pressed back into the diary by the spatial containment. Allen's wrist remained steady without the slightest tremor, his blackthorn wand hovering above the diary, trapping all the overflowing soul fragments within a three-foot radius.

Harry looked at Tom, his voice hoarse, "He is disappearing."

"The Horcrux is destroyed; the projection cannot hold."

"Horcrux?"

"Ask later."

Tom raised his hand, trying to grab something, but his fingers passed through the air. He stared at Allen, his face full of twisted hatred.

"Allen Potter!"

"I heard you."

"I will remember you!"

"Try surviving first."

Allen pressed the fang down an inch.

The diary emitted an even sharper shriek, and black ink sprayed higher. The cover bulged, as if something inside wanted to crawl out. Tom's body was stretched thinner, half his face already turning into drifting ink mist.

Harry instinctively raised his wand, "Should we cast another spell?"

"No need."

"But it's still screaming!"

"Screaming doesn't mean it can survive."

Allen raised his hand, and a second knut was pressed against the bottom of the diary, sealing the space above and below. The sprayed black ink was squeezed back into the cover, and the venom seeped inside along the holes, while the soul fragments collided frantically within, unable to find an exit.

Inside the Portable Space, the Void Silver Eye stared at the black ink, its body taut. Peter huddled in the deepest part of the cage, having forgotten even how to beg for mercy.

He had seen Lord Voldemort's cruelty in his youth, and he had seen the expression his master wore when handing over split souls to his confidants. But now, a piece of a soul was being destroyed by a second-year student, pressed into a diary, unable to even escape.

The blue light of the cracked pocket watch flickered gently.

Allen ignored it.

Tom's voice began to break, "You think you've won? The master will return. He will be stronger than before. Dumbledore cannot protect you, and the Potter Family cannot protect you either!"

"I don't rely on them."

"You will be alone!"

"I'm used to it."

Hearing this, Harry tightened his grip on his wand. He looked at Allen's back, suddenly not knowing what to say.

Tom wanted to speak again, but the venom finally ate through the core of the diary.

The old black leather diary suddenly caved in.

All the water surfaces in the Chamber of Secrets shuddered simultaneously.

Tom's projection shattered from the feet up—first the school robes, then the prefect badge on his chest, followed by his arms, neck, and face. He reached out and pointed at Allen, his lips still moving, but he could no longer make a complete sound.

In the end, only a pair of eyes filled with hatred remained.

Pop.

The projection shattered into black ink dust, falling into the water, and was pressed back into the remnants of the diary by the spatial containment.

The Chamber of Secrets fell silent.

Harry lowered his hands from his ears, breathing heavily. He looked at Ginny; the girl's complexion was beginning to warm, and her fingers clutched at her soaked school robes.

"Ginny!"

He rushed over, and this time the spatial wall dissipated.

Ginny coughed up some water, her eyes half-open, her voice weak and trembling, "Harry? Where am I? What did I do?"

Harry knelt beside her, so flustered he hardly knew where to support her first, "You're okay now. The diary is destroyed. Tom is gone."

Hearing the word 'diary', tears immediately rolled down Ginny's face. She wanted to sit up, but she had no strength, so she could only grab Harry's sleeve.

"I wrote so many words... I don't know... I don't remember what happened later..."

"Don't say anything else, not yet."

Harry clumsily comforted her, then looked back at Allen, "She will live, right?"

Allen used the space to cradle the ink-soaked diary, checking the residual fluctuations.

"Her life force has returned. Weak, frightened, but alive."

Only then did Ginny notice him.

She was stunned for a few seconds, as if piecing together the person in front of her from the names occasionally mentioned by Ron and Harry, "You are... Allen Potter?"

"Yes."

"Did you save me?"

"Mostly the Phoenix, Harry, and the Basilisk fang."

Harry glared at him, "You held Tom down and destroyed him, and you're saying it wasn't mostly you?"

Allen glanced at him, "Do you want her to say that when she goes back?"

Harry paused.

Ginny's face turned even paler. She realized how big the implications were. She had been controlled by the diary, opened the Chamber of Secrets, released the Basilisk, caused students to be petrified, Dumbledore to be driven away, and Hagrid to be taken. If Allen's secret actions were brought into this, no one would be able to explain it.

Harry lowered his voice, "Then what do we do?"

"Tell it according to your version."

"What version?"

"You followed Myrtle's clues, found the entrance, took Gilderoy Lockhart down to the Chamber of Secrets, killed the Basilisk, destroyed the diary with the fang, and saved Ginny."

Harry was stunned, "But what about you?"

"Just passing by."

"Who would believe that?"

"If you don't mention it, people will believe it."

Ginny gripped Harry's sleeve, her voice tearful, "I don't want to lie."

Allen crouched down, his gaze level with hers.

Ginny shrank back a little under his gaze.

"Do you want your parents to know that you were controlled by a Dark Arts diary for months, personally released the Basilisk, and almost caused the death of the entire school?"

Ginny's lips trembled, and she couldn't speak.

"Do you want the Board of Governors to use you as a weapon to continue pressuring Dumbledore?"

She shook her head.

"Do you want Lucius Malfoy to pin all the responsibility on the Weasley Family?"

Ginny's crying stopped, her eyes filled with fear.

Harry looked up sharply, "Lucius? Did he give the diary to Ginny?"

Allen didn't answer immediately. He flipped the diary over; on the inside of the back cover, there was a shallow mark corroded by the venom, leaving a faint mark of the Malfoy Family collection, the silver-green "M" mostly covered by black ink.

Harry saw it too.

"It's him."

"Not enough evidence."

"Isn't this enough?"

"It can make him lose face, but it can't put him in Azkaban."

Allen took the diary back into his hand, using space to separate himself from the remnants of the cover so the ink wouldn't touch his skin.

Harry said anxiously, "Then we'll tell Dumbledore!"

"You can."

"Didn't you just say not to mention you?"

"Mention the diary, mention Lucius, mention the Basilisk. Don't mention me."

Ginny wiped her tears, "But how can Harry explain alone why the entrance opened so early? And Tom using my life force..."

Allen said calmly, "Gilderoy Lockhart will help."

Harry was stunned, "Him?"

From the other side of the collapse, Ron's distant shout came, "Harry! Are you still alive? Gilderoy Lockhart blew his own brains out! He keeps saying he wants to sign autographs for the stones!"

Allen looked toward the passage, "See, the witness has a broken brain."

Harry: "..."

Ginny, mid-cry, was also stunned by this remark.

Fawkes chirped softly, flew above the diary, and glanced at Allen. There was no hostility in the Phoenix's eyes, but there was scrutiny.

Allen raised the diary a little higher, "You want to take them out?"

Fawkes lowered its head to grab Harry's robe, then gestured toward the direction of Ginny and Ron.

Harry helped Ginny up, "Allen, come with us."

"No."

"You can't do this every time!"

Allen pulled the Basilisk fang out of the diary; venom was still dripping from the tip. He used the space to cradle the fang and stuffed it into a temporarily transfigured stone tube.

"I can."

"It was you last year too, right? Quirrell, the Killing Curse, the silver light, the missing memories—it was all you."

Allen's movements paused for a moment.

Harry seized the opportunity, "You saved me, but you wiped my memory. Why?"

"Because you can't keep a secret."

"I can learn!"

"Wait until you learn to hold your wand tight first."

Harry was choked speechless.

Ginny looked down at the water on the ground and whispered, "Harry, he's right. We can't say anything rashly now."

Harry looked at her.

Ginny bit her lip, "If we say the wrong thing, Mom and Dad will be implicated. Percy will go crazy, and so will Ron. And Professor Dumbledore... I don't want to hurt anyone else."

Harry gripped his wand tight, his chest feeling congested for a long time, and finally managed to squeeze out one sentence: "Allen, at least explain things clearly to Dumbledore."

"I'm even less familiar with him."

Fawkes chirped again, as if unsatisfied with this remark.

Allen looked at the Phoenix, "Don't tattle."

Fawkes stared at him.

Allen added, "You've also hidden the Sorting Hat."

The Phoenix withdrew its gaze and turned to find Harry.

Harry, supporting Ginny, was still unwilling to let it go, "Where are you going?"

"To clean up the traces."

"What traces?"

Allen raised the ink-soaked diary, "Traces that would let Snape catch me."

Harry immediately shut his mouth.

He understood this reason.

At the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, Ron's shouts grew closer. The stones on the other side of the collapse were being knocked with a thudding sound, and Gilderoy Lockhart was still vaguely muttering about autographs and adventure stories.

Allen gathered up the diary, the fang, and the few knuts, and finally looked at Ginny.

"After you go back, cry, faint, and don't explain in too much detail."

Ginny nodded.

"Harry."

Harry looked up.

"Don't put my name into any sentences."