Neal to research on Horcrux?
People say that Darkness is the absence of light.
And when Neal felt that Lucius Malfoy didn't even try to beg Voldemort to spare his life and even asked the Dark Lord to kill him, he lost those positive feelings toward him.
As a guy who was born in a wizarding family that practiced dark magic for centuries from either side, it is natural that Neal had more darkness in him than light.
Some of the examples that indicate his darkness is his affiliations with the Black walnut wand, Slytherin wand, Isle- the magical snake pet, Slytherin House, etc…
Of course, it's not that he doesn't have light in his heart. If that were the case, he wouldn't have the acknowledgment of the phoenix even if he had a connection with it through Avery bloodline or be the first human who contacted Blaze, the blue phoenix as it came out of the egg.
But, this light didn't come from birth. It came from his childhood life, back at the orphanage where he was taught to hate the sin but not the sinner.
And now, the defeat against Voldemort and betrayal from Lucius Malfoy let the darkness slowly start to consume the light.
He couldn't think clearly and didn't separate the actions of Lucius and Draco's friendship.
The result is Neal turning violent just at the greetings of Draco. Not only the members of Slytherin, but the other house members and even a couple of teachers sitting on the high table also witnessed how Neal twisted Draco's arm in anger.
As Neal's voice wasn't any low, some of them with a good sense of hearing heard his words. Murmurings began to spread all over the Slytherin dining table where the students of Durmstrang Institute also sat down.
"Was Lucius Malfoy behind everything?" "Maybe, he targeted Harry Potter but Slytherin also got caught in the scheme." "But isn't Neal known to be a calmer person?" "I heard that those four call themselves the Keepers of the Void." "Will the quartet become a trio?"
Meanwhile, Neal continued to speak to the stunned Malfoy with a cold gaze, "From now onwards, never even attempt to talk to me, Draco. That's the best thing you can do to not agitate me further. After all, your father chose to be on the opposite side of me and our Avery house. If you are going to be an enemy, I will welcome that too."
After saying what he wanted to, Neal no longer paid attention to Draco and shifted his attention back to the newspaper.
Draco couldn't understand how Neal could turn out like this. As his best friend who had been with him for the past four years, Draco knew that Neal never lies or jokes around using such strong statements.
Based on the look on Neal, Draco knew that his best friend was damn serious about breaking off their friendship.
Just why in the hell did his father attempt to kill Neal? What happened to Neal and Harry when they teleported outside of Hogwarts? Was his father really behind everything the school is also going through?
Draco was filled with questions and the answers can only be given by his father, the head of Malfoy House.
Seeing that Neal was completely ignoring him, Draco disappointedly left the seat beside Neal and sat with his two lackeys, Crabbe and Goyle.
Soon, the breakfast items belonging to different cuisines popped up on the table with almost every student and every teacher including Dumbledore taking their seats.
Sitting between Tracey and Daphne, Neal started his breakfast. He didn't talk about what happened on the previous day and silently ate his food, finishing it rather quickly.
Leaving behind his friends, he left for the library. Considering the following couple of days are declared holidays, he decided to use time wisely by spending in the restricted section.
After entering the restricted section, he started searching for books about souls to study Horcrux so that he can gain an understanding of the power of Lord Voldemort. As he made a fool out of him, Neal was sure that Voldemort and his death eaters would try their best to kill him. At the same time, he needed to save his housemates too.
Dark wizards choose Voldemort because they had no choice but at the very least, he felt like showcasing his potential to take on the Dark Lord in the future. As Dumbledore is there to protect the school, Neal was confident about being safe here compared to the outside world. That means he needed to use as much time as possible in getting stronger.
And he planned to get stronger in three ways. First, acquiring knowledge about spells. Second, mastery over potions. And third, combat training.
He had clarity about what he should do to get stronger but he doesn't have any idea about the enemy. So, along with the source of the enemy's strength, he planned to study Tom Riddle's life.
As a part of his plan, he patiently searched for every book in the restricted section, eventually finding some interesting books like Moste Potente Potions, which have the information on several advanced potions, and the Dark Arts reference book called Magick Moste Evile.
It contains the collection of some never heard dangerous spells, according to the author, which he claimed to have written with the Elder wand.
When he saw the introduction, Neal remembered Ollivander. "Didn't he say about this wand, said to be superior to even my Slytherin wand? I wonder where he got his hands on it."
"That's just bullshit. There's no strongest wand, Neal, only strongest wizard." A familiar voice suddenly interrupted in his head, stealing his attention. Neal's eyes lit up right away, "Ancestor! I was trying to connect you for a while but couldn't do it."
Salazar Slytherin replied, "Well, you cannot expect me to stay inside your mindscape all the time, do you? Either way, one should only depend on others when it is necessary, not when it is convenient, lad. People usually tend to appreciate the things that are difficult to come by."
"Well, if I don't lack the time, I wouldn't have thought of asking your help either, Ancestor." Neal agreed that he was trying to take the easy way but he doesn't want to waste too much time researching the enemy's strength.
Salazar Slytherin then said, "Anyway, if you want to know about Horcruxes, you should know about its origin. You should have heard of Herpo the foul."
Neal nodded. He knew that Herpo was the one who created the basilisk and also the Horcrux.
Salazar Slytherin continued, "When I turned adult, I acquired his notes from my father. It was passed down in the family for 14 centuries. When one attains certain mastery over their magic power, enough to perform wandless magic like the elves, they can damage their souls by intentionally murdering someone without having any emotional bonds with them.
When a wizard doesn't have an ounce of guilt after committing murder and even felt happiness in your action, not on one's death, severe damage will be done to the soul.
The damage will be powerful enough that you can easily rip it apart and split it from your body. To store that part of the soul, you need either a powerful magical object or something that you hold dear to you.
The object that houses your ripped soul is called the Horcrux. Once you create a Horcrux, even if your body dies, your original soul will not leave for the Spirit Realm. Instead, it will let you become some ghost and possess a living body.
But, it is strange such a talented boy couldn't understand the simple fact that every time a part of the soul is ripped from the body, the soul becomes weaker. And when the soul becomes weaker, the capacity to hold magic power will reduce significantly.
So, I think that Voldemort might have ripped small fractions of his soul and stored them in objects. In your academic terms, suppose his soul is a full 100%. He might have split about 5%-10% every time he did that. But then again, the lad should be commended for becoming the strongest dark wizard even though his soul was split into 7 parts."
"Eh?" Neal got to his feet abruptly as Salazar blurted out something that he wasn't intended to tell him. After all, Voldemort was the destined enemy of Harry Potter, not this direct descendant of his.
"7 Horcruxes? Ancestor, how do you know that?" He asked right away.