I became Voldemort

Cassandra kicked open the door, and the three of them walked inside shoulder to shoulder.

What met their eyes was a circular room with a dozen identical, unmarked black doors without handles arranged around them.

The doors were spaced evenly apart, seemingly embedded in the smooth black walls surrounding the room.

"If we count the one you just kicked down, that makes exactly twelve doors," Cedric said.

"Enough about that door!" Cassandra snapped, her embarrassment evident. The door she had kicked down now lay flat on the black marble floor, where the faint flickering candlelight from blue-flamed torches on the walls made the floor appear like a pool of dark water.

The door looked like a lone boat floating adrift on the surface of that "water."

Perhaps because one door was missing, this time, the circular hall did not rotate.

"I think the treasures must be hidden in the rooms behind these doors," Fleur suggested.

In fact, there was no need for her to say it. The room was otherwise empty; the treasures could only be inside the separate rooms.

"Time is short. Let's split up to search," Cedric said, raising both his wand and the gun in his hands. He added a reminder, "We don't know what dangers might be waiting. Keep your wands ready."

Cassandra didn't say anything, but she acted swiftly, heading toward one of the doors.

Creak—

This time, it opened easily.

As soon as the door was pushed open, a musty smell, sealed away for years, wafted out. The dampness and dust invaded Cassandra's nose, making her feel a bit uncomfortable.

She didn't step inside immediately. Instead, she cautiously peered into the darkness.

"Lumos."

She raised her wand, and as the faint light illuminated the tip, the room seemed to come alive all at once. Countless points of light twinkled in the dark, resembling a vast starry sky.

"Crystal balls?"

Cassandra paused for a moment, quickly realizing that this was the Hall of Prophecies that Cyrus had mentioned to her.

Wizards had always held extreme attitudes toward prophecies. Some were fanatical believers, while others dismissed them as nonsense. This disparity stemmed from the inconsistent quality of the seers in the magical world.

Nowadays, most so-called seers were nothing more than charlatans seeking fame and fortune. Perhaps their ancestors had indeed possessed some true abilities, but over generations, the power of prophecy had almost entirely faded away.

Cassandra wasn't particularly interested in prophecies. She stepped into the room, her feet stirring up a thick layer of dust that dirtied her once-pristine white socks. She paid it no mind, remaining alert as she scanned her surroundings while advancing further inside.

The towering shelves stretched dozens of meters high, their tops invisible even when she craned her neck. These shelves were densely packed throughout the space, forming a maze-like layout. As for the number of prophecy orbs, it was utterly immeasurable.

She moved cautiously, her lit wand casting a faint glow in the darkness. The illuminated doorway behind her grew more distant, like a train leaving the tunnel's entrance.

Cassandra became increasingly vigilant, yet to her surprise, the Department of Mysteries seemed devoid of any traps.

On second thought, it made sense. A place of such importance couldn't afford any missteps caused by overly complex security mechanisms.

"Homenum Revelio."

Cassandra cast the spell, and golden footprints began to appear at her feet, extending step by step into the darkness. Following the trail, she soon came across Harry Potter, unconscious and bound in the labyrinthine Hall of Prophecies.

"Eh? Harry Potter?"

Cassandra froze for a moment, her face showing confusion mixed with a trace of disdain.

They were supposed to be looking for a treasure—so why had Harry Potter suddenly shown up?

"Who would consider Harry Potter a treasure?"

Cassandra thought, and the image of Cyrus briefly flickered in her mind. She couldn't help but shudder at the thought…

She shook her head forcefully, trying to banish the absurd thought from her mind. "Even if it were Ginny Weasley or Hermione Granger, that would make more sense. But Harry Potter? No way!"

She admitted that Cyrus occasionally showed Harry a bit of favoritism, but that was due to the connection between Harry and Voldemort. The two of them were undoubtedly friends, but not to the extent of being called a treasure.

"If I had forfeited the second task, maybe I would've been the treasure," Cassandra thought. She suddenly became curious about what her treasure might be.

If all the treasures were students, Cassandra couldn't think of anyone she would consider worth saving.

She dismissed the thought—it was just a competition, after all.

"Let's wake him up first," she muttered.

Cassandra pointed her wand at Harry. "Aguamenti."

A stream of cool, clear water spurted from her wand, turning it into a makeshift water pipe. The water gushed out, splashing over Harry's head and soaking into his collar.

The unconscious Harry shivered at the sudden cold and woke up immediately.

"Cassandra?" he said, startled.

"What? Didn't want to see me?" Cassandra snapped as she withdrew her wand with a frosty expression.

"It's not that, I just—" Harry began, glancing around nervously. "I just thought Professor Dumbledore would be the one to rescue me."

"You're his treasure?" Cassandra asked with a raised eyebrow. "That actually makes sense. But do you know who my treasure is? And Headmaster Cyrus's treasure?"

Harry nodded as Cassandra freed him from his bindings. Shaking the water off himself, he conjured a small fire to warm up. "Professor McGonagall gathered everyone chosen as treasures for a meeting in her office earlier. Your treasure is Hermione, and Cyrus's treasure is Ginny."

"Hermione Granger?"

What a filler treasure, Cassandra thought to herself.

"So, where is she?" she asked aloud.

"I don't know. I was knocked out pretty early," Harry said, shaking his head. After warming himself for a moment, he added, "I thought the professor would've found me first."

"Cyrus got into a fight with Grindelwald," Cassandra replied, focusing on the footprints still illuminated by her spell. "Dumbledore sent us down here first—"

"Us?" Harry interrupted.

"Diggory and Delacour, too," Cassandra clarified, looking up. "Let's go. I don't think there's anyone else left in the Hall of Prophecy."

The two of them walked out together, and just as they were leaving the Hall of Prophecy, they saw Cedric emerging with a passed-out Cho Chang on his back.

Harry nearly choked.

"Oh? Hey, Harry!" Cedric greeted cheerfully, "I found my treasure!"

"Yeah..." Harry replied bitterly, his eyes fixed on Cho, unable to look away.

"And what about the Veela?" Cassandra asked.

As soon as she spoke, Fleur emerged from another room, her tone sharp. "Right here!"

Everyone turned to see Fleur struggling to drag both Hermione and Ginny out of a room, holding one in each hand.

"These two girls were lying together, so I brought them both out," Fleur explained.

"Thanks, this one's mine." Cassandra flicked her wand, and Hermione seemed to be pulled by an invisible rope, floating over to Cassandra's side.

"So, now you both have your treasures?" Fleur said with an odd tone. "What are you waiting for?"

Finding their treasures meant that Cassandra and Cedric had completed the second task. All they needed to do now was activate the Portkey and return to Hogwarts as victors.

However, Cedric glanced at Cassandra, saw that she wasn't moving, and then firmly said, "I won't do it."

"Why?"

"Does anyone remember that we're an alliance?" Cedric asked.

Fleur shot him a surprised look.

Although the three of them had formed an alliance, to Fleur, it had always been more of a safety net to avoid being eliminated by Cassandra. It seemed that Cedric was the only one who truly took it seriously.

"I think we can win together. What do you think?" Cedric turned to Cassandra, seeking her opinion.

"Looks like someone wants to uphold a bit of gentlemanly virtue?" Cassandra quipped out of habit. However, she had no objections to Cedric's suggestion. "Fine, since you helped me find my 'treasure,' I don't want to owe you a favor—Harry!"

Harry: "What?"

"What is this Veela's treasure?"

"Uh, I think it's a little girl," Harry said after a moment of thought.

"Gabrielle!" Fleur shrieked, panic rising in her voice. She hadn't expected her treasure to be her sister, and her heart immediately grew more anxious.

"Let's help her search," Cedric suggested. He then mimicked Cassandra's earlier spell to awaken Cho Chang. Hermione and Ginny also regained consciousness, and the seven of them gathered together. Ginny, however, didn't seem very pleased.

The girl had thought that as soon as she opened her eyes, she would see Cyrus!

"Let's split up and search," Cedric suggested.

"Leave it to me," Cassandra said, repeating her earlier spell. "Hominem Revelio."

It was as though golden dust had been scattered across the room, revealing interwoven footprints extending into different rooms. Fleur immediately recognized Gabrielle's footprints—small and delicate.

"She headed toward the Hall of Time," Cassandra said gravely, her brow furrowing.

"Is there a problem with that?"

No one seemed to sense anything unusual—except Hermione.

"Didn't you notice these are her own footprints?" Hermione pointed out sharply, her keen gaze scanning the others, lingering briefly on Fleur's elegant face. "We've all been enchanted. We shouldn't have woken up this early."

"But maybe the spell malfunctioned…?" Harry suggested, trying to look on the bright side.

"Gabrielle and I both have a Veela heritage. Maybe her magical resistance allowed her to wake up earlier," Fleur said, her face serious.

"That doesn't make sense. Even if she woke up early, why would she wander around? We were all instructed to stay in place and wait for the champions to rescue us," Hermione argued.

At this point, Cedric added, "Delacour, when I was searching for Cho, I went to the Hall of Time. There wasn't anyone there."

Hearing Cedric refer to Cho so warmly, Harry's heart sank. He tried to hide his feelings but couldn't resist contradicting Cedric.

"Maybe you missed her. We could check again."

"Good idea," Cedric said earnestly.

So, the group headed toward the Hall of Time.

Cho, meanwhile, looked around with wide-eyed amazement. Her almond-shaped eyes sparkled with excitement.

"It's my first time in the Department of Mysteries," she said with enthusiasm.

"I'd advise you to be more cautious," Cassandra said coldly, immediately cutting through Cho's relaxed tone.

Gabrielle's strange behavior, combined with her being from Beauxbatons, had already set Cassandra on edge.

It wasn't hard for her to connect the dots to a possible Death Eater plot.

What had initially seemed like their withdrawal from the second task now appeared to be a subtle tampering with the "treasures."

"Are you saying there might be danger?" Cho asked, shrinking back behind Cedric, clearly intimidated by Cassandra.

"Hopefully not," Cassandra replied, though her wand was already raised in a position best suited for both offense and defense. Her serious demeanor affected the others, and the seven young wizards advanced cautiously, keeping their guard up.

However, the Hall of Time was empty.

"There's no one here?" Ginny asked, sounding frustrated, and looked like she was about to start dismantling the enormous grandfather clocks.

Hermione quickly stopped her. "Don't touch them! These clocks are enchanted."

Among everyone present, Hermione had the deepest understanding of time-turners and the magic tied to time.

The outer casings of the clocks served as protection, as the magic of time was a natural force embedded in them.

"Look..." Harry called out as he approached the far end of the hall. Scattered across the floor were shards of broken glass, gleaming with a rainbow of shifting colors. "Cedric, when you were here earlier, were these shards already broken?"

Cedric shook his head. "No..."

The broken glass captivated everyone's attention. Suddenly, the shattered pieces began to lift off the ground, as if drawn by an invisible force. In the astonished gaze of the group, the fragments started to reassemble themselves into their original form.

"Time is in chaos!" Hermione called out with concern.

It was as if her words triggered something. The flow of time suddenly surged forth, filling every corner of the room in an instant!

"Tick Tock Tick Tock Tic Tik Tic"

Countless clocks began to chime all at once! The sound of ticking from every direction surrounded them, like the march of soldiers on parade, creating a continuous, unrelenting noise!

Cassandra looked around. The pendulums of all the clocks were rapidly reversing, forming a shadow of blackness on one side!

"Be careful!"

Everyone instinctively took a step back, but the entire room was in disarray. As Harry took a step back, his body returned to its original position. Meanwhile, Cho didn't do anything, yet she found herself back at the moment when she had first entered the room.

Cassandra felt something rush past her at high speed, like an illusory shadow.

"It's Gabri!" Fleur cried out as she fell to the ground, shouting.

She saw Gabrial's shadow move toward the glass case. She rushed toward the dark figure, but in that split second, countless shadows and the flow of time surged forward, as if the entire room was caught in a vortex, swirling in reverse with the current of time!

Boom!!!

Golden light exploded suddenly!

A tall shadow arrogantly walked out of the flowing stream of time.

He held the collar of the unconscious child in one hand, his cold gaze sweeping across everyone present.

"Ah, Harry Potter," he spoke lightly.

Harry had never seen this face before, but he instantly recognized who this person was—

Voldemort!

______

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