Ginny's eyes were blank at first.
She stared at the enormous, temple-like chamber around her, completely confused about why she was there.
Then—
The memories returned.
Broken fragments that Tom Riddle had suppressed and twisted flooded back into her mind.
"Ah—!"
She remembered everything.
Writing her secrets in the diary.
Being forced to open the Chamber of Secrets.
The gigantic basilisk.
The bloody messages on the walls.
"It's me… I did it… no… it wasn't me…"
The crushing weight of guilt overwhelmed the eleven-year-old girl.
She curled up on the ground, trembling violently, on the verge of a complete breakdown.
Lucian's Calm Response
Lucian simply raised his hand.
He didn't bother with words of comfort.
Instead, he cast a simple calming charm—a spell taught in first-year textbooks.
Yet when spoken by him, the spell carried a gentle but powerful law-like force.
A soft white glow, like moonlight, drifted from his fingertip and touched Ginny's forehead.
It slowly seeped into her mind.
Instantly—
Her shaking stopped.
The panic in her eyes faded.
A deep exhaustion swept over her.
Her eyelids grew heavy.
Within seconds, she fell into a peaceful sleep.
What About the Basilisk?
With the Horcrux destroyed and Ginny stabilized, the chamber fell quiet.
Only the basilisk remained.
Still lying obediently on the ground like a gigantic pet.
Harry and Ron were only just recovering from the overwhelming events they had witnessed.
Harry still held the Sword of Gryffindor, as if his heroic battle had simply been interrupted.
Ron stared nervously at the monster.
"So… what do we do with that thing now?"
His voice trembled.
Even lying peacefully, the basilisk's massive body was terrifying.
"Should we kill it?" Harry asked cautiously, raising the sword.
In his mind, a monster that had killed students deserved death.
Lucian glanced at the basilisk.
Kill it?
No.
A living magical creature with immense power and a long lifespan was far more valuable than a corpse.
"Follow me."
Lucian didn't explain.
He simply turned and spoke to the basilisk in Parseltongue.
A simple command.
The Basilisk's New Master
The basilisk trembled.
Its enormous head lowered respectfully.
Then it slowly rose, responding to its new master with complete obedience.
The sixty-foot-long body began moving again.
But carefully.
Slowly.
As if afraid that its massive body might accidentally offend the being who filled it with instinctive terror.
Lucian began walking toward the exit of the chamber.
The basilisk followed.
Like the most loyal servant imaginable.
Harry and Ron stared in stunned silence.
He was… taking it out?
Chaos in the Bathroom
When Lucian emerged from the pipe back into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, the outside was already full of teachers.
"Lucian!"
Professor Flitwick looked relieved when he saw the student emerge safely.
But that relief lasted only three seconds.
Because the next thing to come out of the pipe…
Was not Harry.
Not Ron.
But a gigantic serpent head.
"SSSS—"
The emerald-scaled head slid out of the pipe.
Then came the enormous body.
And more.
And more.
"AAAAAAAH!"
"Merlin's beard!"
The bathroom erupted in screams.
Flitwick fell off the stack of books he had been standing on.
A sixty-foot basilisk appearing inside Hogwarts castle was enough to shatter anyone's sanity.
But what shocked them even more—
It was its behavior.
The monstrous creature followed quietly behind Lucian like a trained pet.
It didn't even dare move ahead of him.
The scene looked less like a boy taming a beast…
And more like a god walking his pet through a garden.
Frozen Professors
McGonagall.
Snape.
Flitwick.
All the professors stood frozen in place.
Their minds struggled to process the impossible sight.
Their instincts screamed that this must be an illusion.
Yet the heavy sliding sound of scales against stone was real.
The ancient stench of the basilisk was real.
This was no dream.
The Phoenix Appears
Then—
A clear, joyful cry echoed through the hallway.
A brilliant red-and-gold figure appeared.
Fawkes the phoenix.
Unlike the others, the phoenix showed no fear of the basilisk.
It circled above Lucian and landed gently on his shoulder.
The bird affectionately nudged his cheek with its beak.
Then it turned its intelligent eyes toward the corridor leading to the Headmaster's office.
It was guiding him.
Lucian simply followed.
The basilisk followed him.
And behind them—
The stunned professors followed as well.
A Surreal Procession
It looked almost mythical:
A calm young wizard walking aheadA phoenix of light resting on his shoulderA monster of darkness crawling at his feet
Light and darkness.
Both submitting to the same boy.
The Headmaster's Office
When they reached the stone gargoyle guarding the office, Lucian didn't even say the password.
Fawkes let out a soft cry.
The statue immediately jumped aside, revealing the spiral staircase.
Moments later, Lucian pushed open the oak door.
Inside, Albus Dumbledore looked up.
"Lucian," he said gravely.
"Is it you? Has the matter been resolved?"
Lucian nodded calmly.
"The manipulator has been dealt with."
He paused slightly.
"As for the creature…"
He stepped aside and revealed the large window behind him.
"I brought it back."
Total Shock
Everyone looked outside the window.
And froze.
A gigantic basilisk head hovered calmly outside.
Even blinded, the creature still radiated ancient terror.
Yet it waited obediently.
For Lucian's command.
Snape's mouth slowly opened.
And stayed open.
McGonagall gripped the table so tightly her knuckles turned white.
Even Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of the age—
I was stunned.
The office fell silent.
The Truth Revealed
Finally, Dumbledore regained his composure.
He adjusted his glasses and looked at Lucian.
"Lucian… my boy…"
"What exactly happened?"
Lucian met his gaze calmly.
"Simple."
"The one behind everything was Tom Riddle."
"The Tom Riddle who later became Voldemort."
McGonagall gasped.
"The model prefect who won the Special Award for Services to the School?"
"That was his disguise," Lucian replied.
"He used a black diary to control a first-year student—Ginny Weasley."
"He forced her to open the Chamber of Secrets."
"And release the basilisk."
The professors looked horrified.
But Lucian continued.
"And the diary…"
He paused.
Then calmly dropped the true bombshell.
"It wasn't just a magical object."
"It was something far worse."
"It was a Horcrux."
The Concept of Horcruxes
"Horcrux?" Dumbledore repeated slowly.
Lucian explained with clinical clarity.
"A forbidden form of dark magic."
"A wizard commits murder to tear their soul apart."
"The fragment is sealed inside an object."
"That object becomes a Horcrux."
"As long as the Horcrux survives…"
"The wizard cannot truly die."
Even if their body is destroyed—
They continue to exist in a twisted, incomplete state.
In other words…
"They achieve a form of immortality."
The Room Falls Silent
The office became deathly quiet.
Snape looked deeply disturbed.
McGonagall covered her mouth in shock.
And Dumbledore sat silently in his chair.
For decades he had wondered:
How had Voldemort survived the killing curse rebound?
Now—
Lucian's explanation fit perfectly.
The concept of Horcruxes unlocked the mystery that had haunted him for years.
~~--------------------------
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