The Cursed Soul

Chapter 41

ÍROAS

I may have more power than them, but I am still the weakest. I'm the one who most visited the hospital, the one with the curse, and the one who needed to be saved all the time.

Why am I so weak?

When Hermione's shadow left, it felt like a part of me was stolen. On top of that, the pain lingering in my body just adds up in this depressing state.

When will all this stop?

In every second that passes, I feel like I'm losing my mind.

Ever since the first attack, the three have been so keen to know who the heir was. Funny how I defended Malfoy from them when in truth I am the true heir, or at least, the son of the heir they're looking for.

Gods! When will I ever get out of this place? Tormenting myself won't do me any good nor would help me in this situation.

Think Iro! Just think! What would Hermione do?

I pushed myself off the ground and stood. Knees trembling so I had to support myself against the nearest wall. But every movement I made feels like my body's going to break.

As I look around, the dim place touches my night vision. It was empty, with nothing but walls and a dampish cold floor. There was a faint sound of running water, but aside from that, I could feel no sign of someone else, even the great serpent was off my radar.

So I started walking, my injured wings wobbling itself to seek comfort. Every step I took made me want to just lie down and sleep.

But I continued.

I passed wall after wall, even though it seems to be an endless place. The farther I go, the more eerie it feels. But when I reached a chamber aisled in a series of towering serpent stone structures from both sides, I found the dead body of the great snake.

I'm not sure why I still approached the dead body. All I know is I'm moving on my gut's own accord. Because it feels something in it. Something I haven't felt before. When I reached the snake, instead of touching the cold body, I bent my knee and stretched out my hand, reaching for its shadows.

And when I touched it, there was a strong thread of pull I felt and the next second, I'm seeing the last moments of the serpent's life. But not from its point of view, but from the chamber itself.

The memory came out random. How Harry killed it using a sword. How a phoenix suddenly came and saved my friend.

It was confusing at first.

But that quickly vanished when the next memory came. Harry and Tom Riddle were talking together. Tom smiled in its most devilish grin while having the same face as I do, while Harry, filled with raging anger in his eyes, was looking at the other.

At the short moment that I saw that, I imagined it was me who Harry was looking at. And that made me pull out from this vision and stepped away from the serpent's body.

All I wanted was to get away from this place. At the moment that's what I wanted above all else. And as I think of that, I haven't realized that the next step I made, my body sunk into the shadow. I was moving too fast and my gut feels like it'll explode all out.

But when I emerged once again onto the surface, I found myself stumbling on the floor of the very place where it all started.

Where I fought the basilisk.

Luckily, there's no one here to see me do that. And despite the last energy I had consumed from whatever power I just did, I still managed to scan the area.