HP: The Root of Everything - The Magician

Tom Riddle was feeling very frustrated at this point, as he could only stay inside the protective shield and remain stationary under Hermione's relentless pistol attacks.

Furthermore, because Hermione does not use wands or magic in combat, it is impossible to connect the magic emitted by his wand to Hermione's wand, thus preventing him from using his powerful magic to overwhelm her.

Wizards' spells are attracted to each other, like magnets. If two spells collide and connect, they are very difficult to separate. If they are not broken, the winner can only be determined by the strength of their individual magic.

Therefore, Tom, who kept shooting out dark magic from within the protective shield, had no way to deal with Hermione, who could constantly teleport and dodge.

The shield was shattered and repaired by bullets. Although magic can be used infinitely by absorbing natural magic, excessive use will burden a person's spirit. Now Tom Riddle is just a remnant soul, and his magical endurance is extremely poor.

But Tom is the future Voldemort, with far more magical energy pores open on his body than ordinary wizards, and he can draw upon more than ten times the magical power of others.

[Since the spell won't hit, let's use a wide-range spell to cover everything.] After thinking this, Tom waved Lockhart's wand in his hand. After a big swing of his arm, the protective shield formed by the Armor Charm suddenly expanded rapidly and squeezed outward.

In a mere instant, the expanded defensive barrier filled the entire classroom space of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

Tom was surrounded by nothing, as if a vacuum had been created that prevented any outside intrusion.

The desks, benches, and everything else in the classroom were pushed against the walls by the protective shield, crushed and deformed.

Tom Riddle looked at Hermione Granger, who was pinned to the corner of the classroom and unable to move, and laughed arrogantly: "Got you, you wretched little witch."

He then approached Hermione, pointed his wand at her, and said, "Now hand over the parchment. You're such a fine little witch, don't force me to use Legilimency."

Hermione's young mind is not enough to prevent Legilimency, even though Teach drew her a 'Mental Nurturing Training Array'. Tom is a Legilimency expert, and has been since childhood.

To prevent her magical knowledge from being stolen, Hermione could only nod at Tom, who was in Lockhart's guise.

Tom was very cautious. To prevent Hermione from using Blink to escape, he only opened a small opening in the expanded defensive barrier... a small opening that only allowed Hermione to move one hand.

Upon receiving the parchment, Tom Riddle couldn't wait to examine it, unaware that... there was a training array on the back of the parchment.

In an instant, Hermione seized the opportunity when Tom was looking around and snapped her fingers with her only movable hand.

The 'Explosive Training Array' on the back of the parchment activated instantly, catching Tom Riddle completely off guard.

Lockhart's body was severely injured in the explosion, and Tom's remnant soul was affected, causing the expanded defensive shield to be dispelled. After Hermione regained her mobility, she immediately used Blink to try to escape, but Tom's attention to Hermione had not been removed.

Just as Hermione landed, Tom unleashed a precise spell.

Just as the dark magic was about to strike, Hermione immediately took out a bottle of potion used to powerfully seal the brain and drank it, then was struck and fell into a vegetative coma.

Hermione obtained this sealing potion from Professor Snape by using Professor Teach's name.

She knew perfectly well that she couldn't defend against the Mind Control Spell, so even if no one would harm her, she still prepared a bottle of this sealing potion to protect her brain.

Knowledge is sacred and cannot be stolen, especially the knowledge of magic.

After Tom unleashed this dark magic, Lockhart's severely injured body reached its limit. Lockhart's body still needed to be used, and Tom couldn't let it die like that.

So he quickly cast a healing spell on his body and then asked Lockhart in his mind if he had any healing potions.

After drinking the healing potion, his blasted body regained its life balance.

Tom Riddle stared at the parchment reduced to ashes on the ground, his face contorted with rage, but thankfully he had memorized the Life Analysis Alchemy Array pattern before the explosion.

Tommy Riddle grabbed the unconscious Hermione and left the wrecked classroom.

.......

the other side.

After finishing his day of research on the 'Eye of the Storm' glasses in the magic office, Teach Carr, feeling hungry, went to the lobby for dinner as usual.

But there were very few young wizards in the hall, which puzzled Teach.

At that moment, Harry and Ron returned to the hall, their faces filled with worry. Upon seeing Teach Carr, Harry rushed over, grabbed Teach's clothes, and cried out in a panic, "Professor Carr, Hermione... Hermione's been attacked..."

"Then he was kidnapped by bad guys."

After hearing Harry's words, Teach was stunned for a moment, then her expression changed drastically as she grabbed Harry and pressed him for details.

Teach Carr teleported to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, only to find it in complete disarray. Headmaster Dumbledore was using his teleportation ability to recreate the events of the incident.

However, Tom Riddle had already cleaned up the magical traces in the classroom before leaving, leaving Dumbledore nowhere to be found.

When Dumbledore saw Teach Carr arrive, they looked at each other in silence for a moment before Dumbledore said, "Professor Carr, this classroom was used by Lockhart, and now... Lockhart is gone."

Teach looked around the classroom and saw the bullet casings scattered on the floor.

Without answering Dumbledore's question, Teach left with a murderous look on his face.

After a few teleportation spells, Teach arrived at Fulch's dormitory and began rummaging through drawers and cabinets looking for the 'Marine Map'.

Although Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is a castle and doesn't look very big from the outside, its interior is extremely spacious and intricate.

Finding someone in such a castle is extremely difficult.

After searching through the map, Teach opened the Marauder's Map, then took out a black and green gem obtained by an alchemist and placed it on the map. Finally, he chanted, "I solemnly swear that I will not do anything good."

Teach Carl has no magic; he can only activate this map using the black magic within the gem.

The map showed the layout of the entire castle and marked the locations of all the wizards in the castle, but after a careful search, Teach could not find Lockhart and Hermione's traces or names.

The absence of footprints means they are not in the castle... or perhaps in some secret chamber within the castle hidden by magic.

Hogwarts is protected by an Apparition-blocking charm, so the person who took Hermione away couldn't have left the castle in that short time.

So, it has to be a locked room, a locked room...?

It can only be the basilisk's secret chamber.

Teach Carr put the map into his pocket, then quickly returned to the dining hall. Ignoring Ron and some of the young wizards' attempts to stop him, he grabbed Harry Potter and headed towards the secret room door in the girls' restroom.

But when they reached the entrance to the hall, Dumbledore stopped Teach and sternly questioned him, "Professor Teach Carr, where are you taking Harry with that murderous look on your face?"

"Dumbledore, leave my business alone and get out of the way."

Under Teach's murderous gaze, Dumbledore did not back down, but instead asked again in a stern voice, "Where are you taking Harry?"

Under the subtle pressure of Dumbledore's magic, Teach didn't want to waste time breaking through Dumbledore's obstruction, so he quickly explained, "Hermione is my magical apprentice; I must go save her."

"And Harry is the key that allowed me to rescue Hermione. Don't worry, I will return Harry Potter to you safely after I've used him."

Having received Teach's explanation and assurance, Dumbledore stepped aside. Since Teach Carr did not offer any further explanation, Dumbledore would not press the matter further.

He understood the meaning of the word 'disciple' in relation to teacher and student. Hermione Granger was Teach Carr's disciple, so he, as the headmaster, could entrust the safety of Hermione's students to Teach with peace of mind.

But Dumbledore still sent Fawkes the Phoenix out to ensure Harry's safety.

Hermione is important to Teach, and Harry is equally important to Dumbledore.

However, the importance of these two sides is completely different.

One is about feelings, the other is about exploitation.