great-warnovel Chapter 173 The Cup of Rebirth
Chapter 173 The Cup of Rebirth
Chapter 173 The Cup of Rebirth
"With the antidote, the soothing agent, and your fragrant medicine, the snake venom did not spread due to their combined effects."
After flying down the cliff with everyone, Dumbledore checked on the unconscious Lockhart and breathed a sigh of relief.
Fox landed quietly beside him, his tears falling into the wound on his arm, wisps of white smoke rising. The hawk paced restlessly nearby, also worried about its master's condition.
"Fortunately, apart from not being able to use this arm for several months, there are no other major problems. He just used up too much magic power."
The White Wizard's diagnosis put everyone at ease. Lockhart was the most seriously injured in the trial, followed by Neville, who had a large boil on his head.
"This is really tough. If it weren't for this snakeskin, the professor wouldn't have had such a hard time dealing with it." Harry mustered his courage and ran to the snake house, kicking the headless basilisk as if he were kicking a steel plate.
He was unaware of Lockhart's two personalities and thought it was simply a matter of dealing with the basilisk.
"It wasn't just the snakeskin, but also the green light that emanated from its body at the end. If Hermione's great bow magic hadn't been so powerful, she probably still wouldn't have been able to kill it." Ron pinched his nose and ran to look at the basilisk's head. Because of the steel eye patch, even though the instant-death magic of the snake's eyes hadn't worn off, it was safe enough for now.
"Good heavens, this mouth could hold a dozen of me!"
"Be careful not to touch its teeth, the basilisk's venom is enough to keep you in bed for a week." McGonagall said seriously, stopping the mischievous monkeys from her school, and then applied medicine to Neville's head.
"What kind of experiments did Tom conduct to gain this power that transcends death, and even allows him to share it with his servants and pets?" Dumbledore frowned; this was something he couldn't understand.
There was no such magic in the forbidden section of Hogwarts. He initially thought Voldemort had created Horcruxes, but that didn't match the current situation. The owner of a Horcrux could only be resurrected, not killed.
"Look what this is!" Harry suddenly exclaimed.
He then lifted a heavily corroded, green-glowing golden cup from the basilisk's disgusting esophagus.
"My Merlin!" McGonagall cried out immediately, and with a flick of her wrist, she knocked the golden cup from Harry's hand.
Use magic to suspend it in mid-air.
"How dare you pick it up with your bare hands!" she scolded Harry sternly, the boy was far too bold.
She carefully manipulated the golden cup, peeling away the filth from it, and floated it towards her: "Even if the basilisk is dead, Voldemort's dark magic won't dissipate so quickly! Are you out of your mind?!"
Flitwick stared at the golden cup and suddenly said, "Could this be Hufflepuff's golden cup?"
"I'm not so sure. The pattern looks a lot like what's described in the book. Pomona might know it better," he said hesitantly.
"That's it!" Dumbledore made his judgment with a piercing gaze.
"With Voldemort getting his hands on it, Hepzba Smith is probably already dead, and the Hufflepuff family has lost another branch."
"Why is it inside the basilisk's belly? It must be a very valuable treasure, right?" Ron asked curiously.
He turned to the bound Amicus: "Hey, you Death Eater, do you know what you're doing?"
Amicus tried his best to remain inconspicuous, but he was still mentioned.
He swallowed hard when he saw the stares coming from the crowd.
She didn't hesitate for long between speaking and not speaking. Hermione Granger, with her "I'll kill you if you don't talk" face, was quite frightening.
"The Cup of Death and Rebirth, Severus's masterpiece," he murmured in a hoarse voice.
"With the help of the Lord—Voldemort, he altered the original Hufflepuff magic on the Golden Cup, transforming it into a Potions miracle—or so he himself said."
Harry chuckled. "That coward? He dares to call his work a miracle in potions?"
Hermione knew that Harry, influenced by his father, harbored a deep prejudice against Snape, but as one of the three Potions Masters, she believed he must have some extraordinary abilities.
"There's black magic and some other spells I don't understand, but they're not used for curses." McGonagall and Flitwick examined it together, and the old witch frowned as she looked.
"A truly ingenious design. Severus used spells that we usually consider evil to have accomplished part of the medium conversion," the half-elf said, adjusting his glasses.
"This is indeed a pure potion cup; dark magic is merely a means, not an end."
"Explain in detail, what is its use?" Hermione asked after both professors had given their opinions.
Amycus confessed honestly: "This cup can transform life and death. The life that the basilisk devours will be transformed into the power to erase death, that green light, which accumulates in its body. This is why it is so difficult to kill."
"Impossible!" Harry retorted.
"Even the Philosopher's Stone can't truly erase death; it can only postpone it indefinitely! My mother taught me that Potions doesn't possess such power!"
Regardless of whether this power can truly resist death, Snape alone deserves the title of one of the three Potions Masters of our time for his design that allows him to switch between life and death.
Amicus hesitated for a moment, then did not refute.
Dumbledore noticed his hesitation and asked softly, "Is it Voldemort's power? He bestowed this power upon Snape, just as he did upon you?"
This is the only explanation. Although Snape was indeed a genius, he probably couldn't have completed such incredible research.
Amicus remained silent for a long while, then suddenly spoke: "If I'm willing to reveal the secret of Voldemort's immortality..."
"Can you spare my life, brother and sister?"
All eyes turned to him, and his pale, fierce face was now filled with fear.
He swallowed hard and looked at Dumbledore: "Even eternal imprisonment! Broken wands! As long as you don't kill us!"
Fear of death is the guiding principle of the Carroll family this generation, and it is precisely because of this fear of death that they join Voldemort in pursuit of the secret of immortality.
Dumbledore looked at them, pondered for a moment, and said, "I remember you had an elder in your family who served under Gellert, didn't you? How is he?"
Amicus shook his head: "He lost contact with us a long time ago. In fact, every pure-blood family has members who 'betray' the family and join the shamanistic party."
He emphasized the word "betrayal," indicating that this was merely a trick played by pure-blood families. They wouldn't put all their eggs in one basket; even if they didn't join the entire clan like Black, they would select some outstanding members from their families to "betray" them.
In this way, even if the main family is destroyed one day, the branch under Grindelwald can rebuild the family.
The reason he suddenly asked an unrelated question was that Dumbledore was using Legilimency on Amycus. Unlike Alexios, whose skill was only good for bullying children, Dumbledore was the strongest white wizard, and the Death Eaters' heads were practically transparent to him.
However, he could not directly access Voldemort's secrets from Amycus's mind; that part seemed to be hidden separately, a fact he confirmed by asking other questions.
Without pressing further, he continued, "Then tell me Tom's secret, how you obtained this power."
Amicus hesitated for a moment, then looked at his sister lying on the ground, unable to move. The spells Harry and the others had long since lost their effect; now it was McGonagall's powerful petrification spell.
He was never one to use his brain, but he doubted that his sister could think of a better way to survive at this moment. Their only value was this piece of information, and only by using it could they possibly survive.
"You have to promise me that if I reveal Voldemort's secret, you won't kill me and my sister."
Amicus demanded.
"It can't just be a verbal promise, you have to make an unbreakable vow! Only then will I talk." Even though Hermione's gaze was like she wanted to kill him, he stubbornly insisted on speaking for the sake of his life.
Dumbledore readily agreed, kneeling down and taking Amycus's hand off his so that it was clasped in his own: "Minerva, as my witness, I swear an unbreakable oath to you."
As he said this, McGonagall walked over, placed her wand on both of their hands, and solemnly said, "I will be your witness."
Dumbledore then continued, "If Amycus Carroll reveals the secret of Tom Riddle's immortality, I, Albus Percival Woolfrick Bryan Dumbledore, will guarantee that the Carroll siblings—Amycus Carroll and Alexio Carroll—will not be executed, and will prevent any of my men from killing you."
Dumbledore's oath was carefully chosen to prevent Amycus from exploiting this loophole.
The latter nodded nervously, for even since his student days, he had never enjoyed the honor of having his arm held by the greatest white wizard.
I accept.
"Contract established!"
Thin flames coiled around their arms before disappearing completely. A vow bound them together, a bond that even someone as powerful as Dumbledore could not break. Although he was dead, breaking the vow would still cause great harm to his soul.
"You can speak now," Dumbledore said kindly, looking at him.