Professor Vampire.

Chapter 71: Souls of Annihilation

"Dracula, what is that expression on your face?"

Seeing Dracula lose all patience and turn utterly indifferent, Voldemort panicked.

The black smoke he had transformed into raged wildly, crashing repeatedly against the blood-red water prison, paying no attention to the pain of being eroded by the blood water. He desperately hoped to break through the impregnable prison and escape from the devil's grasp.

Dracula watched this scene with indifference, his fingers suddenly closing together.

The next moment, the water prison tightened, completely enveloping the black smoke that Voldemort had transformed into, gradually eroding, compressing, and extinguishing it.

"Why... I can't believe anyone would have no interest in immortality!" Voldemort's desperate and unwilling voice came from within the blood-red water prison.

Dracula's wings fluttered as he floated closer.

"Perhaps you should open your eyes and see who you are discussing immortality with," he said softly.

The dark moon shadow behind him had not yet fully dissipated, casting Dracula's figure into a slender silhouette, leaving only his wine-red eyes glowing and a pair of sharp side teeth emitting a chilling and cold light.

Voldemort's eyes widened in sudden realization.

Everything suddenly made sense—

The powerful wizard who had appeared abruptly in the magical world, exuding a dark aura; the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor suddenly appointed by Dumbledore after abandoning Quirrell; the strange characteristics of Apparition within Hogwarts Castle, unaffected by counter-curses...

"The legendary vampire count..." Voldemort's angry voice faintly came from the blood-red water prison.

Then, the blood-red water suddenly gathered, leaving no gaps.

The black smoke that Voldemort had turned into was completely eroded and extinguished, leaving no trace behind!

The light of the dark moon gradually faded, and the Forbidden Forest became quiet, with only occasional distant deer calls and bird chirps remaining...

Dracula waved away the blood river, silently floating in the air, deep in thought.

...

When Dracula returned to the fourth-floor forbidden area of Hogwarts Castle, he was greeted by a chaotic scene.

In the corridor, Madam Pomfrey from the hospital wing was controlling a stretcher with her wand, on which lay the unconscious Harry, while Hermione sobbed beside her.

At the entrance outside the trapdoor, Hagrid was crying bitterly while holding the three-headed dog Fluffy, whose size was comparable to his own.

Professor Sprout, short and plump, stood nearby, straining to tiptoe and carefully examining Fluffy's wide-open eyes, hoping to find suitable herbs to treat it.

"Don't worry, Hagrid, it's not dead yet," Professor Sprout said, unable to endure Hagrid's loud wailing, covering her ears as she comforted him. "Generally, curses that change the body's state can be treated with Mandrake Draught applied all over."

Dracula bypassed the two and jumped into the open trapdoor.

The Devil's Snare below the trapdoor had been collected by Professor Sprout, leaving an empty, hard floor.

'If Potter, Weasley, and Granger wanted to jump in right now, they'd probably end up being severely injured and unable to reach the final challenge,' Dracula thought casually.

Landing lightly, Dracula contemplated the next two challenges: Professor Flitwick's winged keys and Professor McGonagall's large chessboard created through Transfiguration.

Professor Flitwick had just finished tidying up the winged keys and was now clearing the rubble from the large chessboard.

Dracula nodded to Professor Flitwick and continued forward.

Passing by the two cleaned giant troll corpses and the extinguished fire gates, he quickly arrived at the final room with the Mirror of Erised.

The final room was quite lively—

"Albus, did you already know that Voldemort's soul was lurking in our school?!"

As soon as he entered, Dracula heard Professor McGonagall's voice, filled with suppressed anger.

Professor McGonagall had her lips tightly pressed together, her face serious, extremely displeased with Dumbledore for hiding such crucial information and loudly accusing him of putting all Hogwarts students in danger.

Dumbledore stood before her, his face etched with helplessness, his eyes darting around as if he were a student listening to a lecture from Professor McGonagall.

Seeing Dracula enter the room, Dumbledore immediately turned away from McGonagall and came to greet him as if he had found a savior.

"It is so delightful to see you now, Professor Dracula," he said with a beaming smile. "So, have you dealt with Voldemort?"

Upon hearing the name mentioned by Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall instinctively gasped and came closer with a serious expression, looking at Dracula with a questioning gaze.

"Theoretically, yes," Dracula said softly. "His soul has been completely extinguished, not even a trace of ashes remains."

"Then why say 'theoretically'?" Professor McGonagall asked, puzzled.

"Because I have a feeling he is still alive," Dracula glanced at her. "Even if this soul has been annihilated, he could still regenerate elsewhere."

Dracula and Dumbledore exchanged a glance, both recognizing the fleeting word in each other's eyes—

"Horcrux"!

According to their understanding, as long as at least one Horcrux exists, the maker's soul will remain in the world. Thus, even if the physical body is attacked or destroyed, the Horcrux's owner will not die, as the soul within the Horcrux remains undamaged.

So this time, although the black smoke of Voldemort was destroyed by Dracula, his soul did not completely vanish. He was at most weakened to a state of extreme fragility, akin to the condition he was in eleven years ago after being struck by his own rebounding Killing Curse.

This form of existence was even weaker than a ghost, more feeble than the most insignificant wandering soul.

But he was still alive, with a possibility of returning.

The air was momentarily frozen.

Dumbledore remained silent, contemplating how to completely deal with Voldemort; Professor McGonagall was worried about the safety of Hogwarts and had no mood for conversation; while Dracula was thinking about where to find Voldemort and test any special traits of someone who had split their soul compared to a normal person...

At that moment, a rough voice broke the silence.

"Albus, come and see how to get this little cutie out of here. I want to keep it in the Forbidden Forest!" Professor Kettleburn shouted from atop the Basilisk.

No one knew how he managed to climb up with only one arm and half a leg.

Dumbledore turned around, looking at the Basilisk that occupied a small part of the room and coiled up to the height of a small mountain, lost in thought.

'This is the little cutie you mentioned?'

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