Harry Potter: From Muggle Cousin to Conceptual Wizard

Chapter 257 A Series of Slaps for Interest: You Ask Me If I'm Reasonable?

A thin wisp of black magic, carrying with it the spiritual power of a youthful version of Voldemort's soul, drifted out from the Horcrux of the diary.

Floating directly above the open diary, it gradually transformed into a phantom half-body three-dimensional figure, forming an extremely fragile embodiment of the soul.

This soul avatar was semi-transparent, with its upper body relatively clear, while its lower body gradually faded into an almost invisible state, with only an invisible spiritual connection remaining, linking it to the diary soul artifact below.

To be fair, 16-year-old Voldemort really had a good appearance. He was young and handsome, with black hair and black eyes, pale Western-style three-dimensional facial features, and a well-defined nose.

If you ignored his gloomy expression at that moment, anyone would praise him as a great young man.

Unfortunately, the young man completely ruined his performance as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Who exactly are you people? I never expected that Dumbledore, in his old age, would have such increasingly younger servants!"

"Take the God's Protection!"

Faced with the provocation of the younger version of Voldemort, Dudley immediately unleashed the Patronus Charm.

It controlled the silvery-white protective energy to slightly affect the soul avatar of the youth version of Voldemort, causing it to feel a slight mental sting, but not enough to cause the avatar to collapse.

Then, from the silvery-white protective energy, a huge and powerful orca guardian spirit leaped out and, under Dudley's control, flew to Harry's side, circling around him and providing his cousin with foolproof protection.

"Hiss...you...humph!"

The youthful version of Voldemort's soul avatar let out a painful cry and a cold snort, his attitude becoming slightly more subdued. He said to Dudley, "I admit you have the ability to threaten me. If you don't want to reveal your identity, that's fine too."

Tell me! What do you want me to do for you? And what will I get in return?

Don't try to hide your intentions. If you didn't need something from me, you wouldn't have kept me around until now!

Furthermore, you must have an extraordinary relationship with Dumbledore, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to obtain the method to lift his magical seal and know my identity so well.

And now you've brought people behind Dumbledore's back to break my seal, proving that you and Dumbledore aren't entirely on the same page.

You are ruthless and merciless, striking without hesitation. This is not the style of a cowardly and incompetent white wizard. You must be a dark wizard masquerading as a white wizard, who has gone to great lengths to gain Dumbledore's trust, right?

Dudley listened silently to the analysis of the young version of Voldemort's soul incarnation, his smile growing wider and wider. When the other person finished speaking, he even applauded.

"As expected of the 16-year-old Voldemort who is free from madness and stupidity, even when in a completely disadvantageous position, he can still logically analyze and come up with such a set of words to attack my psychological defenses and increase his own bargaining power."

What a pity, what a pity, you've misdirected your thinking. I had no intention of hiding anything at all.

I can tell you plainly that you are useful to us now, but this usefulness doesn't require your active cooperation, nor is it indispensable.

You are Voldemort, you must know that Voldemort couldn't have only created one Horcrux, you, right?

Unfortunately, the other Horcruxes Voldemort created after you also ended up in my hands.

Dudley's very frank words shattered some of the confidence that the young version of Voldemort's soul had painstakingly built up.

"What did you say? This isn't..."

Sixteen-year-old Voldemort could hardly imagine that he would be so bad in the future, actually letting someone else take control of such an important thing as the Horcruxes. His first feeling was that the person in front of him was deceiving him, bluffing him, and attacking his psychological defenses.

But then he thought, whether the person in front of him was deceiving him or not, it wouldn't help change his current situation at all.

Because the person in front of him was clearly not someone who could be threatened, nor was he someone who was very patient with him, and moreover, this person had the means to harm or even kill him.

If he continues to engage in this tit-for-tat, verbal accusations, he will only be the one who suffers.

Thinking of this, the youthful version of Voldemort's spirit, his expression no longer gloomy and ruthless, but instead adopted a gentle demeanor, beginning to exert his affability and charm, using words to bewitch and entice:

"Actually, we don't need to make the atmosphere so tense. You have what I need, and I have what you need. We can help each other, each get what we need, and be friends."

I also possess a great deal of advanced knowledge about black and white magic, all of which I can share with you…

"Hahahaha!"

Suddenly, Dali burst into laughter, a chilling laugh that interrupted the other person's endless chatter. "We, as friends? How could you even say that!"

You killed my cousin's parents, and you want to be friends with us? You're dreaming!

"Go, Harry, go collect some interest!"

"Yes, cousin!"

Harry, who had been silently protected by the orca guardian spirit, finally spoke up.

Then, under the protection of the protective energy, he quickly walked up to the incarnation of the youthful Voldemort's soul, raised his hand, which was surrounded by white light, and slapped the handsome face of the 16-year-old Voldemort repeatedly.

This time, Harry felt no pity whatsoever.

The power of the Dudley Patronus Charm protected Harry completely, leaving the young version of Voldemort's spirit with absolutely no chance of retaliating.

The protective energy attached to Harry's palm made him dizzy and angry, to the point that he felt like vomiting blood.

However, he was merely a weak soul avatar and had no blood to spit out.

To avoid this not-fatal but exceptionally humiliating retribution, the only option is to temporarily retreat back into the diary's Horcrux.

But just as he made a move, Dudley stopped him.

"If you take back your soul avatar, then I'll have no choice but to have my orca guardian swallow that tattered diary, so that your soul body can continue to suffer the pain of being invaded by the guardian energy."

"You..." The youth version of Voldemort's soul was furious, but after weighing the pros and cons, he chose not to withdraw his soul avatar and silently endured the insult.

After Harry finished venting, the youthful version of Voldemort's soul replenished his avatar's magic and mental energy, and through the avatar, angrily asked:

"Is your cousin's mother that mud-planted myrtle? She had children so early? And who was your cousin born to? I know nothing about it, and I didn't kill anyone..."

Shut your stinking mouth!

Harry's anger flared again when he heard the young version of Voldemort's spirit dare to speak ill of his parents like that. He switched hands and grabbed the Voldemort spirit, giving it another good slap.

This time, the transparency of the soul avatar was increased, and the youthful version of Voldemort's soul in the diary had no choice but to reluctantly replenish some mental and magical power to allow the soul avatar to survive this beating.

After the next storm subsided, the teenage version of Voldemort realized what was happening and, feeling extremely frustrated, asked again:

"I've only ever killed Myrtle from Ravenclaw. Your cousin's parents, you didn't kill them, did you? How can you pin the blame on me for the people my future self killed?"

"Do you even have any sense of reason?!"