[Gomen nasai, everyone! I set the time wrong again!]
[I'm kowtowing to you all, waah...]
...That charred body, under the watchful eyes of everyone, began to decompose and collapse in an extremely eerie manner.
It didn't turn to ash; instead, like a block of ink crushed by an invisible giant hand, it turned into wisps of pure, thick, ink-like black energy.
A stench of soul decay filled the air, causing everyone to feel a primal shudder.
That black energy, like thousands of living venomous snakes, coiled and gathered, finally transforming into a pitch-black pillar of light capable of swallowing all brightness, soaring into the sky!
But it did not dissipate.
Just before reaching the ceiling of the Great Hall, the pillar of light suddenly pivoted like a bolt of black lightning locking onto its prey.
Crossing dozens of meters with a momentum that could destroy heaven and earth, it shot straight towards Lia!
"Get out of the way!" Harry let out a horrified scream, instinctively raising the elder wand.
Only to find his own magic was as minuscule as a candle in the wind before this pure soul energy.
But Lia did not dodge.
Dodge? Why dodge?
This was precisely the end point she had patiently waited for over countless days and nights, using eight deaths as a foundation and Hermione's love as sustenance.
She didn't even open her arms to welcome it; she simply stood there quietly and slowly raised her head.
In those sky-blue eyes, there was no fear, no sadness—only a bone-chilling indifference akin to a god's, and... a faint trace of mockery, for the prey had finally fallen into the trap.
"Tom Riddle."
Her voice was very soft, piercing through Lord Voldemort's violent soul-shriek, echoing clearly in everyone's mind.
Before her words even faded, that majestic black energy had already slammed into her petite body with a roar!
There was no swallowing or possession as imagined; it was more like a balanced, silent collision capable of tearing space apart!
Lia's body trembled violently, her silver hair dancing wildly in the energy storm.
The ancient stone slabs beneath her feet cracked with a "snap," and spiderweb-like fissures instantly spread frantically across the entire hall!
A ring of eerie green light spun frantically deep within her sky-blue eyes, greedily attempting to dye that pure blue completely black.
Distorted ancient runes representing dark erosion began to emerge on the tips of her cat ears and her smooth skin.
Voldemort's ecstatic will of victory roared frantically in her mind like a mountain torrent or a tsunami:
[The perfect vessel! Immortal power!]
[This body, capable of swallowing souls, will be my final throne for conquering death!]
[Now... it's all mine!]
[Hahaha! Stupid cat!]
[In the end, you've only paved the way for me!]
However, his ecstasy came to a screeching halt.
Because an even colder, more superior will, accompanied by a contemptuous snort, crashed into the depths of his soul, instantly freezing his burning ambition!
[Inside my body, where else do you think you can go?]
Lia's voice no longer came from her throat, but rang directly within their shared soul battlefield.
Her previously trembling body instantly stopped shaking.
Lia slowly raised her head, inch by inch.
The eerie green ring in her eyes was still spinning, but it was no longer expanding or swallowing.
The green light was being deathly imprisoned and compressed by rings of even more brilliant and solid blue light rising from the depths of her pupils!
That eerie green now looked more like a trapped beast struggling frantically within a blue crystal cage!
[No... this is impossible!]
Voldemort's terrified will roared.
[This is my body! You are just the vessel!]
"Vessel?" The corner of Lia's mouth finally curled into a look of extreme contempt—the look one gives a beast that has fallen into a trap without realizing it.
She raised her hand, looking with interest at the black runes slowly fading from the back of her hand.
She stated calmly, "Perhaps in my previous lives, you could have done it.
But now... you can't."
She looked around at everyone in the hall who was dumbfounded by this shocking reversal, from Harry's shocked face to Snape's ashen expression.
"Don't worry, I won't let him make a comeback."
Her voice carried a hint of lazy laughter, yet it sent a chill through everyone from the depths of their souls—a chill even greater than when they faced Lord Voldemort.
"I'm holding a funeral for him."
Suddenly, a shout came from behind.
"Lia! What are you doing! Come back!"
Hermione had somehow broken free of Lia's spell and appeared behind her.
Hearing Hermione's voice, a flicker of panic appeared in Lia's indifferent expression.
"I'm sorry, Hermione," she took a deep breath, "as long as I am still standing here, this war will never end."
Hermione rushed forward again like mad, ignoring the invisible force that made her skin ache.
She used all her strength to hug Lia's slender body tightly.
"No... Lia, no! You promised me! You said that was your last life! You promised me you wouldn't leave me again!"
Lia raised her hand and gently stroked Hermione's hair with the back of her fingers, just as Hermione had soothed her countless times before.
"I'm sorry, Hermione."
"I've eaten too much," she gave a self-deprecating chuckle, "Whether I like it or not, my soul has been treated as the most perfect breeding ground by him. I..."
"...have also become his final Horcrux."
The Lia before them was no longer the Cat-girl who would act spoiled and depend on Hermione.
The pressure she emitted now, that queenly aura looking down on all living beings from the deepest part of her soul, was even purer and more awe-inspiring than Voldemort's just now.
Lia gently pushed her away, and Hermione floated softly to the back of the crowd.
"No! Lia! Come back!" Hermione let out the most desperate howl of her life, trying to chase after her, but she was held back tightly by the reacting Sirius and Lupin.
Lia did not look back.
In her mind, the voice of the Centaur Firenze echoed from the depths of the Forbidden Forest—a voice as ancient and compassionate as the stars.
—"For your 'only one', you will proactively offer up your everything."
—"Your life, your power, your memories, even the traces of your existence."
—"You will proactively walk towards your own demise."
"Let me go! Let me go!" she struggled, her nails almost digging into the arms of the two men.
Lia did not look back.
"Now, Tom Riddle,"
Lia whispered, as if pronouncing judgment on herself, and on the prisoner within her.
"Your seven soul fragments, along with your main soul, are all present and accounted for."
She raised her other hand, and her two hands slowly came together in front of her chest, like a believer making a final prayer.
"With this body alone, I shall bury you."
"My Ninth Death will be the grandest funeral for you, the Dark Lord."
As her words fell, everyone saw a holy white flame of the utmost purity suddenly light up from the gaps between her joined fingers!
The light was faint at first, like a firefly, but in an instant, it became more dazzling than the midday sun!
[No—!!]
Voldemort let out the most shrill and desperate scream of his life.
He finally understood that the so-called "ultimate Horcrux" was not his insurance at all, but a coffin tailored specifically for him!
He frantically struck at Lia's soul barrier constructed of Resilient Spirit, but it was like hitting an eternal Wall of Sighs, easily being bounced back and crushed.
Lia's body, starting from her bare feet, began to irreversibly and slowly dissolve in this white flame.
Her flesh, bones, and even her soul were turning into the purest shimmering particles, drifting into the air.
The sublimation and purification shown by death used the complete annihilation of an ancient life to wash away all traces left in the world by another filthy soul.
"Lia!"
Harry shouted hoarsely; he wanted to rush forward but was blocked by that holy light, unable to get even an inch closer.
Lia didn't look at anyone.
Just before her body completely dissipated, she turned her head slightly and looked towards Gryffindor Tower.
In those eyes that were about to turn into light—eyes that merged sky-blue and eerie green—all the coldness and divinity melted away in an instant, leaving only the deepest, most burning attachment and tenderness for a certain someone.
'Hermione...'
'Sleep well.'
'When you wake up, it will be a brand new world without Voldemort.'
The next second, the light intensified!
A pillar of white light reaching to the heavens rose from Lia as the center, instantly piercing through the magical ceiling of the Hogwarts Great Hall and piercing the gloomy post-war night sky.
Under the illumination of that light, all traces left in the world by Voldemort...
That charred corpse, the dark magic permeating the air, even the ugly dark mark on Snape's arm...
Were all instantly purified and turned into nothingness.
When the light faded.
The entrance to the Great Hall was empty.
It was as if that silver-haired Cat-girl, along with that terrifying Dark Lord, had never existed.
Only a faint, lingering scent remained in the air, similar to the warm fragrance of sunlight on feathers.
The Death Eaters had already been subdued by members of the Order of the Phoenix in the previous battle; they now slumped on the ground, their eyes hollow as if all their will had been drained.
And the ugly shell belonging to Voldemort that had been lying in the center of the hall had, under everyone's gaze, silently turned into a pile of fine black ash, like a sand sculpture blown by the wind for billions of years.
A breeze blew through the broken doorway, scattering that pile of ash, making it disappear completely from this world.
In the dead silence, a crisp "ting-aling" sound rang out, exceptionally clear.
Everyone looked towards the sound and saw, in the spot where Lia had just been standing, a small silver bell collar lying quietly on the cracked stone slab.
That gold and red ribbon, woven from Phoenix tail feathers, had broken into two pieces.
[Heiya~ Don't worry~ I won't die~]
[Also, next time if I don't post at six o'clock, please just come and question me: "Why is there only one update today?"]
[I'm begging you!]
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