[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-starting-at-hogwarts-logging-into-elden-ring":3,"chapter-starting-at-hogwarts-logging-into-elden-ring-starting-at-hogwarts-logging-into-elden-ring-chapter-260":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Starting at Hogwarts, Logging into Elden Ring",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1496153,1944,"Chapter 260: Voldemort’s Rebirth, and Turmoil in the Wizarding World","starting-at-hogwarts-logging-into-elden-ring-chapter-260",260,"\u003Cp>Thanatos's demand aligned perfectly with Voldemort's own desires.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even without the god of death saying a word, Voldemort already intended to kill Arthur—the one who had destroyed six of his Horcruxes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Hermione as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once, Voldemort's kill list had held only one name: Harry Potter. At most, perhaps Albus Dumbledore could be added.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, Arthur and Hermione had joined it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ironically, everyone on Voldemort's kill list was still alive—there were enough of them to sit down and play a full game of mahjong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Voldemort himself, meanwhile, was the one who had died.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The absurdity of it all would have been laughable—if it weren't him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I accept your terms,\" Voldemort said to Thanatos. \"When will you send me back to the mortal world?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even before Death itself, Voldemort refused to bow his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His tone was neither servile nor pleading. He positioned himself as a collaborator—not a subordinate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What he failed to realize was that, to a god, his attitude was utterly irrelevant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as a human does not care whether an ant beneath their feet feels offended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the ant bares its mandibles—if it dares to bite—then it is simply crushed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Voldemort agree, Thanatos nodded in satisfaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cooperation was convenient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had Voldemort refused, Thanatos would not have hesitated to directly seize control of his soul and use him as a vessel to return to the mortal realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanatos extended a finger and pressed it against Voldemort's forehead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An overwhelming surge of deathly power flooded into Voldemort's soul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despite having no physical senses, Voldemort experienced a bone-deep chill—as if he had plunged into an endless abyss of ice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He felt his control slipping away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a moment, Voldemort even suspected that Thanatos had deceived him—that the god had never intended to let him return.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wrapped in resentment, fury, and despair, Voldemort's soul lost consciousness and sank into darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, Thanatos was not killing him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was reshaping him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The god was modifying Voldemort's soul so that it could wield deathly power—at critical moments, even borrowing strength directly from Thanatos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Voldemort had feared, power never came without a price.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gained death's might—but lost his freedom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Divine power was not something one could take lightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arthur, of course, was an exception.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was cheating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once the transformation was complete, Thanatos could descend upon Voldemort's body at any time, using him as an anchor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was precisely why the god had been so generous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that done, Thanatos casually flung Voldemort's soul out of the underworld.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As mentioned before, the rules prevented Thanatos from leaving the underworld personally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But sending a soul out?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was trivial.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially when Voldemort still had a soul fragment in the mortal world—serving as a perfect coordinate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Using that anchor, Thanatos effortlessly cast Voldemort's soul back into the living realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long while, Voldemort opened his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His first instinct was that he had gone blind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as he took in his surroundings, he realized the truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was buried underground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still in soul form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet unlike ordinary souls, his state was astonishingly stable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could maintain cohesion indefinitely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could even condense into a physical form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was nothing like a common ghost—intangible, harmless, powerless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the contrary, Voldemort discovered that not only had his strength not diminished—it had increased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The deathly power surging within him was rich, dense, and obedient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanatos had not deceived him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Voldemort phased through the soil and emerged aboveground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the place where he had buried his last Horcrux.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A chill ran through him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had never told Thanatos the location.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet here he was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which meant one thing:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every move he made was likely under Death's gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that realization, Voldemort decided to leave at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the Horcrux buried below—even if reclaiming it could restore some measure of his soul's completeness, he had no intention of doing so.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, Voldemort planned to cut off all external detection of that Horcrux.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, through loyal followers, he would have it hidden somewhere so secure that even he himself could not find it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That Horcrux would be his final escape route—his key to breaking free of Death's control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for avoiding Thanatos's surveillance?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The legendary Invisibility Cloak would be perfect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that was a problem for later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right now, Voldemort needed a place to familiarize himself with his newfound deathly power—and to begin gathering his remaining followers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Preparations had to begin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Turning into a streak of shadow, Voldemort vanished from the Albanian forest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At Hogwarts, a new day dawned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although students were technically allowed to leave today, almost no one planned to do so.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Triwizard Tournament celebration banquet—originally scheduled for the previous night—had been postponed to this evening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, by the time Hermione finished fighting Voldemort, it was already deep into the night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hosting a banquet then would have been unreasonable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Early in the morning, Arthur—radiant and refreshed—headed toward the Great Hall with Hermione for breakfast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, neither of them had slept.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks to their extraordinary physiques, they had spent the entire night conducting a single-slit interference experiment and still looked perfectly energetic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hermione, in particular, was glowing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was an old saying: life holds three great joys.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reuniting with a friend in a foreign land.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Achieving top honors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the wedding night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hermione had effectively accomplished two of them in a single evening—earning glory and claiming love.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was in exceptionally high spirits, practically skipping as she walked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone else assumed she was simply thrilled by winning the Triwizard Tournament—and defeating Voldemort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one considered any other possibility.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Except Ranni.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had noticed something off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The previous night, she had not seen Arthur return to the Zen Garden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Normally, he rested in the house there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last night, he had said he would write a couple of letters first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet, an entire night passed—without him ever returning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Surely he hadn't been writing letters all night?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The truth wouldn't stay hidden from Ranni for long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, their very first \"experiment\" had already led to addiction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once you acquired a taste, repetition was inevitable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Discovery was only a matter of time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, as for those letters—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, Lucius had proven himself reliable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After returning, he immediately contacted Rita Skeeter and Gilderoy Lockhart, passing along everything Arthur had wanted conveyed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks to Lucius's efficiency, the Daily Prophet's headline that morning was filled with Cornelius Fudge's scandals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, Witch Weekly, funded entirely by Lucius, released a special issue detailing Hermione's journey through the Triwizard Tournament—culminating in her victory over Voldemort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucius and Lockhart hit it off instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They agreed to massively increase the print run and distribute both the newspaper and the magazine for free across the entire wizarding world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucius footed the bill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every witch and wizard would receive a copy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a raging storm, stacks of newspapers and magazines swept across the magical world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hogwarts was no exception.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As students from all three schools ate breakfast, a swarm of owls flooded into the Great Hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each owl delivered a paper or magazine with uncanny precision—placing one in front of every student.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arthur ignored the newspaper full of Fudge's disgrace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, he picked up the magazine praising Hermione.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The headline blazed across the cover:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hermione Granger: Champion of the Triwizard Tournament—The Witch Who Defeated Voldemort.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cover featured two animated photographs side by side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One showed Hermione at the Yule Ball, dressed in an elegant gown, dancing with Arthur.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arthur's flawless profile was clearly visible—almost suspiciously flattering. One couldn't help but suspect Lockhart of deliberate bootlicking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other image captured Hermione during her battle with Voldemort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her robes and hair billowed as if stirred by an unseen wind, her expression sharp and resolute.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She looked every bit a battle-goddess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arthur was extremely satisfied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where Lockhart had found these photos was anyone's guess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Probably Rita's private collection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, she had amassed countless images during the Triwizard Tournament.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Flipping through the magazine, Arthur found the writing vivid and immersive—especially the final task and the battle with Voldemort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was so detailed it felt as if one were standing on the battlefield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lavish praise filled every page—but without ever feeling forced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arthur could tell at a glance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was Lockhart's handiwork.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The night before, Lucius had purchased several Magical Recording Stones from Dumbledore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These stones could display footage from another stone—and record it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dumbledore had even advertised this feature to Arthur earlier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucius, ever perceptive, bought several stones that had recorded Hermione's victory over Voldemort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of them went straight to Lockhart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After watching the footage, Lockhart was fired up beyond belief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inspiration exploded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wrote the entire piece overnight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the remaining recording stones—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucius had other plans for them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Advance Chapters Available on Patreon\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>patreon.com\u002FWhiteDevil7554\u003C\u002Fp>",1458,"2026-06-06T04:19:46.382Z",1,"novelbin.me","c7b147377781240638731ce300e2b7e9522ffea87904e8c7d68d0b59c554a23e","starting-at-hogwarts-logging-into-elden-ring-chapter-261","starting-at-hogwarts-logging-into-elden-ring-chapter-259",281,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstarting-at-hogwarts-logging-into-elden-ring-cover.jpg"]