Chapter 369: The Dark Mark

Feeling the rapid ascension of magic in his body, Ivan breathed a sigh of relief.

He had never been as powerful as he was now. Voldemort's magic was not triggered, and Professor Trelawney's prophecy was not fulfilled.

He was not chosen by Voldemort's magic. All that concerned him was....

Suddenly, a black substance burst out of the golden lines that glowed from time to time on the Philosopher's Stone.

Before Ivan could react, the black magic fluctuated more and more, and the magic turned into faint black fumes, rising up his arm.

Like a python, the black mist grew on its own, feeding on the magic enveloping Ivan's body. The latter felt an unprecedented piercing pain.

Under the pressure of the black magic, in the blink of an eye, all his magical power was stirred up. The black magic left by Voldemort far surpassed his imagination!

He tried to control his magic and resist these black fumes, but to no avail.

Under the impact of the violent magic, Ivan fainted and fell straight from the sky.

After fainting, the Philosopher's Stone suddenly glowed. The red light became brighter and brighter, driving away all the remaining black fumes, and expelling them from Ivan's arm.

Three different magical forces fought in Ivan's body, eventually returning to calm, leaving only a thin black line, silently wrapped around his right wrist.

It was as if bound with a thin black thread. However, upon closer inspection, it was a small snake, glowing with cold light. It was wrapped in a circle, and its mouth was open, biting its tail.

As for the rest of the black fumes powered by the Philosopher's Stone, they floated around Ivan for a while, and then rose straight up into the air, as if living among the stars.

The mist began to warp rapidly and eventually became a black symbol.

On the platform below, everyone didn't know what was happening. They only saw Ivan suddenly fall from above, and Hermione screamed in horror.

Sirius ran ahead, and Harry and the others hurried after him.

"Look at that, what's that..." Ron said nervously as he looked at Ivan and found the black pattern that had just appeared next to him.

Following closely, they all noticed this striking sign.

It was a colossal skull, composed of what looked like emerald stars, with a snake sticking out of its mouth like a tongue.

As they watched, the skull rose higher and higher, burning in a haze of greenish smoke, etched against the black sky like a new constellation.

"Bloody hell, it's the Dark Mark!" Sirius shouted and turned to Harry, Ron and Hermione and snarled, "Stay here and don't move!"

He continued to move forward, waving his wand.

A beam of red light burst forth and spread like fireworks. Through the darkness of night, it was so bright, enough for the castle to notice....

Under the influence of Sirius' magic, Ivan's body was falling more and more slowly.

Seeing that Ivan had been rescued, Harry, Ron and Hermione sighed in relief. They looked back up at the Dark Mark above them, as well as the two Centaurs standing next to them.

It had now risen high enough to light up the entire sky like an eerie neon sign, spreading fear wantonly throughout the Centaur colony.

"The war is about to begin, and the centaurs cannot escape..." The voice of the Centaur elder rang out slowly. He seemed to tremble, and the wrinkles on his face grew deeper and deeper.

"What the hell is going on?" Harry, shocked to see Hermione's face so white and terrified, wiped steadily at his red, watery eyes.

"It's the Dark Mark, Harry!" Hermione wailed, and couldn't help but scream. "Ivan must have found something up there! This is the Mark of You-Know-Who!"

"You mean, Voldemort...," Before Harry finished his words, the Dark Mark in the sky suddenly began to change.

The large snake in the mouth of the skull suddenly came out, seemingly attracted to something, and like a meteor, ran straight towards Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"AGGRESS!" shouted Sirius, waving his right hand vigorously.

Harry, Ron and Hermione ducked, but it was too late, and the Black Mist hissed through them, rattling their robes.

On the skin, the dark mark that had shrunk countless times was slowly taking shape....

In this black temple that used to be filled with countless evil taboos, the Dark Lord's old magic would mark the chosen one, and he would return again and gain power the world could not imagine. This time, death would no longer be the end.

No one noticed this. Panic still reigned, and everyone thought it was another black magic, but nothing happened.

The platform was a mess, much less happy than when Ivan had just passed the test to get the Gryffindor Treasure Key, and everyone was staring at him.

...

In the spacious Hogwarts school hospital, everyone surrounded Ivan's bed.

Dumbledore lifted Ivan's right arm and looked carefully at the dark green stripes on the snake. Snape, Sirius and Professor McGonagall were at his side.

"Severus, this is your area of expertise." Dumbledore said calmly, turning to the sad Snape. "You think this is..."

"Surely, this is the curse that man left behind!" Snape replied, a sneer on his lips. "It's magic I've never seen before. It's very powerful and ingenious I can't believe Mr. Mason isn't dead yet!"

Hearing his words, Hermione stood waiting nervously to the side, choked up and the tears were once again spilling out of control. Harry patted her shoulder and tried to comfort her.

"Don't overreact there!" Sirius said quietly. "I just checked Ivan's vitals are very stable and there's no problem."

"Black, is that what you think?" Snape turned to Sirius, his small eyes glinting mischievously. "You think you know better, but, in fact, you were lost and ran back to Hogwarts with Mr. Mason's dying body in one of the centaurs..."

"Severus!" Dumbledore warned.

Snape snorted coldly, but did not continue speaking.

Sirius stared at him again for a moment, then sat down regretfully, watching Ivan, who still hadn't recovered from his bed.

"I can't believe it. The Dark Mark reappeared at Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall struggled hard by craning her neck and her face was paler than ever. "Fortunately, not many people saw it, otherwise what would 'The Daily Prophet' say tomorrow?"