Harry Potter's roar brought a brief silence over the battlefield. Even Voldemort, the person being shouted at, nearly failed to react in time.
After all, Voldemort had never imagined that one day he would be yelled at by a young wizard who had not even graduated yet.
In fact, even Lucius behind him was stunned by Harry Potter's boldness.
It even made Lucius wonder whether Harry Potter actually had some way to deal with Voldemort.
Otherwise, how could he possibly dare to provoke the Dark Lord like this?
As Lucius saw it, even if Gryffindor students were all reckless fools who acted before they thought, surely they would not go this far when facing Voldemort.
But if Lucius had noticed the expression on Snape's face beside him, he would have immediately dismissed those thoughts.
Because Snape's long face was so ghastly pale that anyone who did not know better might have thought he had lost too much blood. Not only was his body swaying unsteadily, his complexion was frighteningly white.
...
In any case, after a brief silence.
"Hahahahahaaa~~~"
Voldemort suddenly clutched his own face and bent over, laughing wildly.
That deranged, frantic laughter made it seem as if he was not at all worried that Harry Potter and the others might suddenly attack him.
And it was precisely this madman-like behavior that left Harry Potter at a loss for how to react. He could only stare blankly at Voldemort.
No one knew how much time had passed.
When Voldemort finally stopped laughing, he glared at Harry Potter opposite him with his blood-red eyes. "Of course it was chance!"
This belated answer left Harry Potter and the others frozen in place, as if they had been petrified.
"Chance, luck, and the fact that you are always hiding behind adults and crying, letting me kill them for your sake!"
Voldemort's words made Harry Potter's eyes turn red.
Because they reminded him of the family and friends who had died, directly or indirectly, at Voldemort's hands.
His parents, his godfather, Dumbledore, and the wizards of the Order of the Phoenix. They were all people Harry Potter cherished, and all of their lives had been taken by Voldemort before him.
At that thought, Harry Potter clenched his teeth hard. "You won't kill anyone else. You'll never kill any of them again. Never. Do you understand? To stop you from hurting these people, I was prepared to die..."
Whether it was an illusion or not, it felt as if Harry Potter had accidentally let slip some kind of secret just now, only to shut his mouth again once he realized it.
Our arrogant Dark Lord did not notice this small detail.
Or rather, from beginning to end, he had never taken Harry Potter seriously.
Because in his eyes, killing Harry Potter was something he could do with a wave of his hand.
Perhaps that was why Voldemort still had the patience to speak with Harry Potter.
"Stop me? Heh."
"I made up my mind. That's the key."
"Oh?"
"Because I did what my mother did. You can't hurt them anymore."
"Your mother?"
"Haven't you noticed that the Charms you cast at them have all lost their hold? Because you can't torture them. You can't hurt them. You never learn from your mistakes, do you... Tom!"
"How dare you!"
"Yes, I dare. I know things you don't, Tom. I know many important things you don't. Do you want to hear them, before you make another huge mistake?"
"....."
Voldemort suddenly fell silent.
Ever since creating the Horcruxes, he had rarely quieted down to think, yet now he had actually stopped to consider Harry Potter's few words.
Or perhaps Voldemort had sensed something, and that was why he did not dare make a careless move against Harry Potter.
Could it be...
Did Harry Potter hold some fatal secret in his hands?