Only someone who desires the Philosopher's Stone but has no intention of using it can retrieve it from the Mirror of Erised. Therefore, Harry was not lying; he genuinely did not see the Philosopher's Stone.
"..."
But why can't I believe it?
Quirinus Quirrell frowned, his impatience growing. "Don't try any of those ridiculous little tricks on me! Hand over the Philosopher's Stone right now!" He bent down, glaring fiercely at Harry.
"..."
No, I really don't have the intelligence to play tricks on you. Harry was speechless. Why was it that no one ever believed him when he told the truth?
"Don't be so ungrateful..."
Quirinus Quirrell's eyes grew even redder, but suddenly, he hurriedly stood up and leaned back, a red spell grazing past him. Turning his head, he saw Cassandra Vole pointing her wand at him.
"..."
Quirinus Quirrell gritted his teeth, his bloodshot eyes radiating an almost tangible killing intent. Then, he slowly drew his wand. He no longer cared about the Philosopher's Stone; with his soul restored, his mad nature had returned.
But just then, the surrounding space distorted!
...
Pong!
A sudden explosion echoed through the distorted space.
"What's going on!"
Hearing a cacophony of voices, Quirinus Quirrell looked around in panic. He was on the Quidditch pitch! The stands surrounding the pitch were packed with people—Hogwarts students, other adult wizards, and in the highest seat, in the center, sat Albus Dumbledore.
Albus Dumbledore looked at Quirinus Quirrell with a complex expression. He now believed what Tom Riddle had told him when they first met.
The two stared at each other from a distance.
Quirinus Quirrell muttered under his breath, "It was you who did this…"
He turned around and saw Harry and the others standing in the distance, Harry holding a red gem in his hand.
"Is this the Philosopher's Stone?" Harry looked thoughtfully at the red gem in his hand.
"Give me the Philosopher's Stone!" Quirinus Quirrell shouted, extending his left hand towards Harry.
"You wish!" Harry stuffed the Philosopher's Stone into his pocket without hesitation. Hearing the person who had once caused his death speak to him like this, Quirinus Quirrell's face grew increasingly ferocious, gradually being replaced by Voldemort's true form. Quirinus Quirrell had completely disappeared, leaving only Voldemort, resurrected and possessing his body!
The fully transformed Voldemort raised his left hand to his mouth, opened his maw, and exhaled a ball of fire.
What appeared to be ordinary flames suddenly surged towards Harry and his companions, growing larger and larger with the wind until it transformed into a colossal fire serpent nearly a hundred meters tall. The fire serpent spread with incredible speed; Harry and the others had no time to react and could only watch helplessly as it opened its blood-red maw and swallowed them whole.
Boom!
Just as the fire serpent was about to engulf them, a crimson Fiendfyre, which had appeared out of nowhere, enveloped them completely and transformed into a giant fire dragon that spread its wings and slammed into the oncoming fire serpent.
Boom!!!
If the collision of the Fiendfyre hadn't been stopped in time, an area within a radius of several thousand meters would likely have been reduced to ashes in an instant.
"Everyone stand up! Wands into the ground! Otherwise, Hogwarts will be destroyed!" Albus Dumbledore led the way, followed by the professors, the Aurors already prepared in the stands, and the other adult wizards. Everyone raised their wands high and slammed them into the ground!
"End of Curses!!!"
A golden curtain of light instantly rose, enveloping the entire Quidditch pitch!
Boom!!!
The flames collided and intertwined, impacting the entire golden curtain! It was as if a dazzling sun had risen over the entire Quidditch pitch!
"Is this really something a spell can achieve?" The young wizards stared wide-eyed at what they were seeing!
"…"
The wizards could only grip their wands tightly, desperately trying to maintain End of Curses. Even with their superior numbers, they still felt incredibly strained. After all, this clash of spells was virtually unprecedented! Not only in scale and power but also in the casters of both spells! Fortunately, however, there was Albus Dumbledore, who could share most of the burden!
...
The Quidditch pitch, now the epicenter of the clash of Fiendfyre.
Harry's eyes widened. All he could see were flames, yet they maintained a certain distance, refusing to get close.
"Step back, don't get hurt."
A familiar voice came from beside him. Harry felt a hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him back. Turning his head, he saw Tom Riddle walking towards him.
"Sir…" Harry admitted, he was stunned by the coolness.
Not long after, as the aftershocks of the explosion subsided, the entire Quidditch pitch was reduced to a massive, black crater.
Voldemort stared at Tom Riddle in the distance, his face filled with confusion and disbelief. "It was you?" He hadn't even noticed Dumbledore's phoenix suddenly appearing and taking Harry and the others away.
Tom Riddle looked at Voldemort before him, the latter's attribute panel automatically appearing in his mind.
[Name: Tom Marvolo Riddle (Socket Master)]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 65]
[Occupation: Wizard, Dark Lord]
[Magic: SS (Legendary Wizard, such as Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald)]
[Talent (Max level 10)]:
[Charms: 9 (Charms? Aren't they supposed to be learned instantly?)]
[Transfiguration: 8 (A Transfiguration master whose name will be etched in the history of magic)]
[Defense Against the Dark Arts: 9 (The materialization of the Dark Arts' nemesis)]
[Dark Magic: 10 (The legendary Dark Lord)]
[Potions Mastery: 7 (A renowned Potions Master)]
[Alchemy: 6 (Extremely excellent)]
[Prophecy: 2 (Relatively superstitious)]
[Special Talent: Serpent's Bloodline (A descendant of Salazar Slytherin, naturally able to communicate with and even control snakes.)]
[Spell Mastery: Avada Kedavra (Level 10), Imperius Curse (Level 9), Cruciatus Curse (Level 9), Fiendfyre Curse (Level 9)...]
[Item: Yew Wand (Phoenix Feather) "Quality: Excellent"...]
Did he retrieve his wand early because he thought he was about to be resurrected? Tom, seeing Voldemort's wand, could roughly guess the reason.
"Why?" Voldemort kept asking this question, unable to believe he had been betrayed by himself. More importantly, "himself" had conspired with Dumbledore to scheme against him!
Hearing Voldemort's question, Tom simply chuckled, "It was like that from the beginning."
"..."
Silence fell once more on the Quidditch pitch, a terrifying silence, but it was quickly broken...
"Avada Kedavra!!!" x2
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We are climbing the charts faster than ever because the work I am putting in this time is on a completely different level of excellence.
The Top 10 is within our reach, and every Powerstone is a step closer. Smash the vote button and share your best theories in the comments so I can see who is really paying attention to the plot!