"..."
No exaggerated special effects, nor earth-shattering explosion — as the blue storm utterly crushed the other two, Voldemort's existence, which can hardly be called a physical body, began to collapse inward, vanishing as if becoming a singularity.
Then, even sound and wind were absorbed, plunging the entire sky into a suffocating total darkness.
Luckily, that darkness lasted only a brief moment.
In the next second, it was like the universe exploded again, starlight dispersed all darkness, a powerful soul shockwave exploded in rings, Dumbledore's reaction was unimaginable for a hundred-year-old man, the gold-red Iron Armor Spell thoroughly protected Harry and Cedric, avoiding any potential impact damage.
Thus, dust and dispersing magical light dots drifted down slowly like snowflakes.
At the center of the explosion, that body, fractured beyond recognition, disappeared, leaving only a small scorch mark on the ground, and a completely naked boy — this time truly a boy, about eight or nine years of age, somewhat slender in build, and his skin a bit pale —
But, those were not the key points, the key point was, he had a full head of thick, smooth black hair, covering his full forehead.
Not bald anymore?
For some reason, watching this scene, William felt somewhat disappointed.
But finally, he breathed a sigh of relief.
The boy curled up like a sleeping infant, a pale blue halo flowing under his pale skin, finally gathering at the boy's forehead into a flame-shaped scar.
"This is..."
Behind William, Dumbledore stepped forward a few steps, his old blue eyes tightly locked on the black-haired boy lying in the clearing, his gaze extremely complicated.
"A purified version of... He doesn't quite like the codename Voldemort, maybe you could help him come up with a new name."
William nodded, then shook his head, affirming Dumbledore's speculation, "I... how should I put it? Refined the essence of his soul, he now has no relation to Voldemort, including memory — from a soul perspective, he can even be considered as a tool I created, used to thoroughly annihilate Voldemort's soul."
"..."
"Uh, sort of a Soul Artifact glitch?"
Seeing the elderly man seem to still not fully understand, William scratched his head, re-explaining in a simpler, more comprehensible way, "Now, 'Voldemort' in a certain sense still exists, so he cannot resurrect anywhere else..."
"...What if he dies too?" Dumbledore nodded, then asked.
"Decades, isn't that enough to locate all the Soul Artifacts?" William retorted.
At this time, Harry and Cedric also came over, especially Harry, who looked at the boy wrapped in a cloak by William with eyes full of shock.
"He... survived?"
Harry's voice was somewhat dry, he had just witnessed the complete obliteration of the other two evil Voldemorts, which could definitely be considered the happiest event in his life, but now, this newly reborn child Tom, brought him an indescribably complex emotion.
"Yes, a new, blank... new life."
William nodded, "At the very beginning, human nature is inherently good - if nothing unexpected happens, after all, this child has a fairly good childhood, although I've been playing the role of his father... wait, how am I day by day becoming both father and mother..." talking on, William suddenly muttered quietly.
"You'll be a good father." Dumbledore comforted.
"?"
"Overall — now, the plan contract has been fulfilled, he's no longer just my tool, but an independent individual."
William shook his head, shaking off those strange thoughts from his mind, "So, he needs a good teacher — I think, uh, Professor McGonagall? Wait, or not, unless we need another Hermione, Hagrid is best not even mentioned... or, you take the role yourself? Dumbledore?"
"..."
"If you don't agree, I'll send him to Grindelwald."
"?"
Dumbledore remained silent for a long time, his gaze complicated as he looked at the boy, breathing steadily in William's arms, after a long while, he finally sighed deeply, yet a peculiar flame ignited in his eyes, "Let's hope for a different outcome this time—"
Speaking, the elder raised his magic wand, "Hogwarts can still become his new starting point, but maybe before that, he should experience more of the world?"
"You're right, he's still not old enough to be recorded in the Book of Admittance..."
During their conversation, the boy already transferred into Dumbledore's embrace suddenly moved, moments later, he opened a pair of somewhat confused black eyes.
"...Tom?"
Dumbledore suddenly spoke, so the boy, who was about to greet William, closed his mouth again and looked up at the white-bearded old man above him.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Albus Dumbledore, your teacher's friend — would you like a piece of candy?"
The elder fished out a piece of lemon sherbet from his pocket that he had stashed away, peeled back the wrapping, and handed it over. His words seemed to carry magic, dispersing the last shadow in this graveyard with morning light.
Little Tom looked at the candy, then at William, and finally carefully extended his hand, taking the candy, revealing a timid yet rain-cleared-clean-and-pure smile.
Thus, Dumbledore also smiled, he slightly turned his head, "Handle some aftermath, William, I'll wait for you at Hogwarts."
After speaking, the elder's figure turned into a ball of flame and vanished into the air—
"..."
"What's wrong, senior?"
Seeing William, arms crossed, seemingly frowning and pondering, Cedric asked curiously.
"...I'm just thinking, where did Dumbledore just hide Fawkes? It can't be his pants, can it?"
After this speculation, William decisively decided that until he bathed that bird next time, he would absolutely not touch it again!
At this moment, distant sky erupted with chaos and sparks.
"Still remnant Death Eaters?"
Harry asked while, on the other hand, already vigilantly grabbing his magic wand.
"No, it's people from the Ministry of Magic."
William shook his head, calmly looking at the crowd flying toward them on broomsticks in the distance, "And some, uh, remnants, like your Professor Lockhart, that guy probably needs an additional twenty years of sentence — conservatively estimated?"
Saying this, William again looked at Snape lying on the ground, who's been sleeping since being "lulled" by Dumbledore.
"..."
"Harry."
In the quiet, William suddenly spoke, Harry instinctively perked up, somewhat curiously looking at the person before him.
"You two probably missed out on the championship this time; if unexpected things happen, Miss Fleur will likely awaken earlier?" William's voice returned to its usual warmth, laced with a familiar smile.
Harry paused for a moment, but soon showed a relieved smile, his emerald eyes rekindled with vitality.
Regardless of the future, at this moment, the greatest shadow that's cloaked over him since childhood has completely vanished.
Though, the sea after the storm may seem calm—