He shook his head, cutting off the stray thoughts. Tom Riddle, inhabiting the remnant soul, focused on his next move. The other conditions for casting the Dark Magic were nearly met; only the most crucial element remained elusive: a location brimming with magical energy.
Finding a place potent enough to sustain the Dark Magic's completion was no easy feat. The energy required was immense; naturally occurring locations of that magnitude were almost nonexistent, even in the most magically rich landscapes. No, such places were invariably man-made, accumulating power over long periods, gradually reaching the necessary levels.
Perhaps I should remember something, he mused, puffing on his cigar. He felt a vague memory stirring but couldn't quite grasp it. After a fruitless struggle, he admitted that he knew of no readily available location.
A change of approach was needed. While creating such a place typically took time, it wasn't entirely impossible to expedite the process. He could capture a few hundred fire dragons and harness their immense inner magic, even with some leakage, to fuel the ritual. Alternatively, phoenixes or other creatures of similar power could be used.
Unfortunately, these were mere fantasies for the current remnant soul. Forget phoenixes; even amassing the sheer number of fire dragons required was an insurmountable task. Fire dragons weren't common birds. Even Gringotts only possessed one. They boasted exceptional lifespans and slow breeding cycles, laying only a few eggs at a time. Wild fire dragons were exceedingly rare. The largest fire dragon farm in the magical world, including unhatched specimens, barely contained fifty, inclusive of unhatched specimens.
"Sigh…" The remnant soul sighed deeply, skillfully exhaling a perfect smoke ring. As a genius, he had mastered even blowing smoke rings with incredible speed.
"Then I'll simply have to continue searching for a suitable place." Though troublesome, the remnant soul found it acceptable. After all, those most likely to threaten his life had assured him they wouldn't kill him. He wasn't particularly worried about the rest. If it were before Harry Potter's birth, he would be extremely anxious, as those two old men were a perpetual nuisance. But now, his focus was solely on survival, not global domination, which simplified matters considerably.
"Drake!" Using the newly imprinted Dark Mark, he contacted his Muggle subordinate. "Have someone help me find a place…yes, preferably one with a long history…that's right…also, I'm out of cigars; send me some more."
...
Waaah—!
A lush landscape dotted with small houses blurred past the train window. Though summer had just ended, the intense sunlight still caused the vegetation to shimmer with heat. The temperature inside the train car, however, was quite pleasant.
"So, we're going to Birmingham, right?" Harry asked, studying the map. "I've never been there before."
"Someone found traces of Dark Magic there," Hermione explained, scribbling in a notebook. "We can't be sure if it's him, but a dark wizard capable of evading Aurors is no mere nobody, so it's highly likely it is him."
"And…" Cassandra, sitting next to Tom, used her magic to sense their surroundings. "It seems we aren't the only ones who think so." Although this carriage was theirs alone, their magical senses detected at least thirty wizards on the train, including five with power comparable to seasoned Aurors. These were clearly wizards with considerable skill and confidence; otherwise, the remnant soul's sizable bounty wouldn't have tempted them to seek trouble.
"Other wizards?" Harry blinked. "Why don't they just use Portkeys or Apparition?"
"Duh, Scarhead," Malfoy scoffed, munching on a Muggle snack purchased at the station. "Didn't you know Portkey prices have skyrocketed lately due to high demand? A round trip could cost a regular wizard half a month's salary. And Apparition isn't as common as you think. It's a very advanced and dangerous spell. In some less developed areas, it's practically Auror magic."
"Oh, really?" Harry, uncharacteristically, didn't argue with Malfoy, as he was genuinely unaware.
"Not necessarily." Hermione closed her sketchbook. "Anyone daring to hunt Voldemort, even if they see him as an imposter, wouldn't come unprepared."
"And powerful wizards usually don't lack the money to use Portkeys; they might even be able to Apparate." Hermione glanced at the carriage door, seemingly trying to eavesdrop on the discussions in other cars. "So, I think they're probably using this travel time to finalize their plans and preparations."
Nagini nodded in agreement with Hermione's assessment.
Harry glanced sideways, his eyes reflecting the handsome young man who seemed bored out of his mind. "Tom? Is there anything I can do? If we're going to let Cassandra and the others confront that guy, wouldn't it be better if they weren't disturbed?"
Tom, who had stopped using his magic eye to watch the show, casually replied, "No need. It doesn't matter whether they're there or not; they won't make much of an impact." Honestly, it wasn't that Tom looked down on these wizards, but they were still too weak compared to the remnant soul. Besides, wizards are mostly specialized attackers; a single area-of-effect attack from the remnant soul would render their numbers useless.
Nagini nodded and remained silent.
"Cassandra, is what I wrote okay?" Hermione handed Cassandra her pamphlet. It detailed her plan, from locating and hunting the remnant soul to encircling it, dividing the work into groups, influencing it, and employing over a dozen methods to kill it. Hermione meticulously outlined which spells, potions, and other magical items would be used in each stage, creating a comprehensive strategy guide.
Unfortunately, even Hermione knew that without personally confronting the remnant soul, the legendary wizard's power was difficult to assess accurately, and she lacked detailed knowledge of the remnant soul's abilities. Therefore, the pamphlet only described the "best-case scenario." Hermione felt that her best course of action was to develop several backup plans in advance and continuously refine them with Cassandra to better cope with the almost inevitable "unexpected situations."
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