Chapter 34: The Endgame Game

"What did you see!" Qiluo asked.

"My parents," Harry lied subconsciously, but it was also the truth; he did see his parents in the Mirror of Erised. "Wait, I need to adjust my emotions, let me look again."

"You can look slowly," Qiluo sneered. "I have plenty of time. Deng Buliduo's Wizengamot meeting will last until at least four o'clock."

Harry's heart sank. Deng Buliduo seemed to have been deceived by a conspiracy. Now, if he wanted to save Nawei, he could only take out the Sorcerer's Stone first in exchange for Qiluo temporarily not killing him.

Just as he was considering this, the Harry in the mirror blinked at him, and then a red stone fell into his pocket.

"I now have some bargaining chips, and Zhang Qiu might also be nearby," Harry thought. "I can first find a way to let Nawei leave."

"I can take it out at any time," Harry said calmly. "But not now."

"Do you think you can threaten me?" Qiluo cut Nawei's hand casually, and then used a small bottle to absorb a lot of blood.

"I can give him the Killing Curse at any time and then use a Portkey to escape," Qiluo said. "Don't make me lose my patience."

"You can let Nawei run away first, and then I'll give you the stone," Harry said. "Nawei's life is irrelevant to you, but if you can't guarantee his safety, then I will firmly not give you the stone."

Qiluo looked at him coldly.

"You also want to get the Dark Lord's reward, right?" Harry tried to lure him with words.

Perhaps the Dark Lord's reward was really tempting, Qiluo suddenly let go of the rope on Harry, and then kicked Nawei.

"In his state, I let him go, will he run?" Qiluo pointed at Nawei's lower abdomen with his toe again.

Harry's eyes darted around the room, hoping to see something he could use. His PPK pistol fell in the corner of the wall to the left after entering the door, not far from Nawei, but he might not necessarily know how to use it. And a ball of silvery-white fabric was piled on the ground to the right, which was his Invisibility Cloak.

Harry stared intently at the mirror again, thinking about how he should get out of this danger.

He saw in the mirror that Zhang Qiu appeared behind him with an Invisibility Talisman on her forehead, whispering a spell, and just as he was about to hand over the Sorcerer's Stone, Nawei suddenly flashed behind Qiluo and fired three shots at him with a pistol.

Harry's heart suddenly cleared. Nawei had a spell that could speed himself up, and he was just pretending to be unconscious, actually still having the strength to fight.

But Harry didn't want to take risks. He wasn't sure if these three shots could achieve results. At this moment, he could barely hear the mosquito-like murmuring; he knew Zhang Qiu was reciting a spell behind him. No matter what spell it was, Heavenly Dynasty spells were stronger the longer they were, and she needed time.

"We'll let Nawei rest for a while. Why don't you tell me first what role Professor Sineipu played in this plan?" Harry still chose to drag out time. Whether it was dragging until Zhang Qiu finished reciting the spell, or dragging until the professors arrived, or even Deng Buliduo discovering something was wrong, this was all favorable to him.

"Oh, Sineipu, a coward," Qiluo said with disgust. "He used to be our companion, but now he has been scared out of his wits by Deng Buliduo."

"You mean, Sineipu is also a Death Eater?" Harry's impression of this professor suddenly became very bad.

"Of course, he is also looking forward to resurrecting the Dark Lord, but he doesn't dare to come and steal the Sorcerer's Stone. Instead, he kept persuading me to cheat some blood and leave," Qiluo sneered. "He must be shivering in his office now, covering his head with a quilt, hoping that what he did won't be discovered by Deng Buliduo."

"Perhaps he is reluctant to be a professor," Harry said, following his words as much as possible, but he was a bit worried. If Hanna happened to find Sineipu...

Perhaps Sineipu wouldn't be unfavorable to her, but if that were the case, the reinforcements might be far away.

"That's right, being a professor is so happy. Slytherin adds one point, Gryffindor deducts one point," Qiluo mocked. "He thinks that getting the House Cup can show the glory of pure blood? Seven House Cups aren't worth one toe of the Dark Lord!"

"You mentioned pure blood; actually, I am also pure blood," Harry pretended to be happy. "I can join you."

"No, you are not. Your dirty Mudblood mother tarnished the Potter family, which has been pure-blooded for generations," Qiluo spat. "Half-blood wizards are born inferior, so the Dark Lord trusts me more than Sineipu."

"Don't talk about my shameful mother," Harry felt his heart bleeding when he said this. "The Dark Lord should be somewhat tolerant of those willing to swear allegiance."

"Then you take the stone over first, and then kill this traitor with your own hands," Qiluo said coldly.

"I can persuade him to defect," Harry racked his brains for words. "Longbottom is also pure blood. Pure-blood wizards are already rare, so we should try our best to win them over and distinguish who is a friend and who is an enemy."

"Longbottom, Weasley," Harry didn't hesitate to pretend to betray his friends. "They are all noble pure bloods, just deceived by Dumbledore. Just persuade them a little, and they can..."

"The Dark Lord persuaded your father and gave him a chance," Qiluo said slowly. "But he didn't know what was good for him. Traitors are not worth saving."

"After saying so much, you are just moving your lips," Qiluo pointed his wand at Nawei again. "If you are sincerely surrendering, then what about the Sorcerer's Stone?"

"But I really don't want to give up Nawei," Harry said. "Can you restore his strength first?"

"No," Qiluo said coldly. "My patience is limited."

"Then open the fire wall and let our other companions in," Harry said. "Let them take Nawei away first. After they go far away, I will give you the stone, and then you can leave before the professors come."

Qiluo weighed it and waved his hand to disperse the fire wall set by Sineipu.

Through the short corridor, Harry was surprised to find that there was no one on the opposite side of the corridor.

"It seems your companions are a bit cowardly," Qiluo pointed his wand at Nawei again. "I'll count to ten."

"I understand, they must have gone back to find the professors."

"Nine."

"I want to say a word to the Dark Lord. I have something to tell him about the end of magic."

"Eight."

"I think you would also be willing to know about it—power sufficient to defeat Death."

"Seven."

"I..." Harry didn't speak anymore. He stared at Nawei lying on the ground, and at this moment, he was surprised to find that he blinked at him.

"Six."

"I'll give it to you," Harry said while taking a step forward.

"Don't move," Qiluo's wand pointed at him again. "Throw it over."

Just what I wanted, Harry thought.

He slowly took out the Sorcerer's Stone in his hand and made a throwing motion.

"Ascendio!" Nawei shouted. He picked up the gun from the ground in a fraction of a second at a speed difficult for the naked eye to distinguish, then grabbed the Invisibility Cloak on the ground and threw it toward Harry, while he himself pounced on Qiluo, firing three shots at him almost against his body.

In the blink of an eye, Harry found the Invisibility Cloak floating in the air. He wanted to reach out and grab it, but he made another move, which was to hold the Sorcerer's Stone tightly against his waist with both hands, and then curled up his whole body.

"Let him go!" Harry shouted.

Those three shots had an effect. His Protego was broken by Harry and hadn't been replenished. But the residual effect of the spell still helped him block a bullet. At this time, his abdomen was faintly bleeding, and Qiluo had to cover the wound with his left hand, his expression a bit painful.

Harry's heart went cold. This kind of penetrating wound wouldn't be fatal even in the Muggle world as long as it was sent to the hospital in time, let alone in the Wizarding World with various means.

Qiluo angrily raised his wand with his right hand to cast a curse on Nawei.

"Nawei was just impulsive, let him go," Harry said loudly. "If he doesn't leave, I will never give you the Sorcerer's Stone even if I die."

What surprised Harry was that Nawei really stood up shakily, and then drifted away like a ghost, dragging his two feet. The speed was quite fast, without a trace of weakness.

This didn't look like Nawei's personality, he thought. But then he discovered that there seemed to be two handprints on Nawei's clothes, and in the gradually rising white mist, Harry could faintly identify two outlines, a man and a woman, beside him.

Ron and Hemin didn't run away; they saved Nawei's life with Disillusionment Charms.

"Do you really think I don't dare to touch you?" Qiluo was almost furious. "Crucio!"

Harry had never experienced such painful torture. All the bones in his body were burning, his head was about to split along the scar, and his eyeballs seemed to be spinning wildly in his skull. He wanted to speak, but the pain made him spasm. All he could do was hold the Sorcerer's Stone tightly, swearing not to give it to Qiluo even if he died.

"Accio Sorcerer's Stone!" Qiluo shouted.

Harry held it even tighter; he almost wanted to stuff the stone into his body from his navel.

"Crucio!"

Another time, but Harry seemed to have adapted a bit. He could feel his waist warm, not knowing if it was an illusion.

"Accio Sorcerer's Stone!"

Harry, who had just recovered from the pain, had to use all his strength to resist the magical power that wanted to take the stone away. Just hold on a little longer, Harry thought, just hold on a little longer.

"You still won't give it?" Qiluo staggered forward. He wanted to pry open Harry's fingers and take the Sorcerer's Stone by force.

By this time, Qiluo finally realized that something was wrong in the gradually thickening white mist. He only then discovered that there was a transparent human figure hidden behind Harry.

"... Cannot be analyzed, cannot be combined, cannot be described, cannot be thought. Only because of its chaos, it is the Dao!"

Harry felt the white mist becoming more and more intense. His already blurred vision was completely covered by the white mist. Qiluo, the Mirror of Erised, all disappeared. The effect of the Cruciatus Curse hadn't dissipated yet. He curled up on the ground powerlessly, almost fainting to death. ===== CHAPTER 35 =====