Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 146 The golden cicada escapes from its shell
Harry felt a sudden darkness engulf him, and if Ron and Hermione hadn't been there to support him, he might have fallen to the ground.

Dumbledore was bending over, placing his hand on Tyrell's heart, as if examining something.

"Tierra!" Harry cried, rushing to the bedside. He gripped the edge of the bed with one hand, and with the other, he carefully reached out and gently touched Tierra's hand—

Cold and stiff like a corpse.

A suffocating fear gripped Harry's throat, making it hard for him to breathe.

"It really is Tyella?" Dumbledore exclaimed, straightening up and stroking his beard with some doubt.

"Don't talk nonsense, Albus. Do you think he's a fake Tierra? The question we're concerned with is why Tierra was injured?" Professor McGonagall asked bluntly.

“Oh… I mean, he’s petrified, but not in a normal, prank-like way, but… but with a very powerful dark magic curse,” Dumbledore said, but seeing Harry’s anxious expression, he sighed and said, “But don’t worry, Tyella is just petrified, she’s not in any immediate danger. If I remember correctly, Mrs. Sprout’s mandrake should be ripe soon.”

“Yes, Headmaster,” said the chubby Professor Sprout.

“That’s fantastic! Once they’re mature, I have a petrifying resurrection potion that can bring Tyrell back to life—” Dumbledore said, then patted Harry on the shoulder.

Harry felt his mood suddenly calm down, as if Dumbledore had some kind of special magic that could soothe his anxiety.

“So calm down, Harry. While Tyella’s situation is a heartbreaking accident, it’s more important that we figure out why this happened,” Dumbledore said. “Tyella is usually inseparable from you, so can you tell me where she’s been today and if she’s been behaving unusually?”

“At breakfast this morning, Tierra suddenly made a prophecy… I don’t really understand what Tierra’s prophecy means… but after making the prophecy, Tierra ran out of the Great Hall… and we haven’t seen her since…” Harry said.

"Prophecy? What prophecy?" Dumbledore's hand, which was stroking his beard, suddenly paused. He looked at Professor McGonagall and Snape in surprise. "When did Tyrell become a prophet?"

"Headmaster," Snape calmly replied to Dumbledore's questioning, "I personally believe that Tyella's so-called prophecy is merely a reasonable deduction based on available information and a stroke of blind luck." He then lowered his voice and said:
“Dumbledore, you and I have both seen real prophecies, and I can be sure…” Snape paused for a moment, “I can be sure this is just a child’s prank, or something he does to get attention.”

“But almost all of his prophecies have come true, haven’t they? So whether it’s prediction or prophecy, it shows that the information he gave was indeed reliable,” Dumbledore said. “Then, Mr. Potter, can you tell me what prophecy our little Tyella made this time?”

“Actually…we’re not entirely sure what Tyrell’s prophecy was about either…” Harry said, then turned to Hermione and said, “Hermione, that piece of paper.”

“Here you go, Professor.” Hermione pulled the list that Tyrell had written at breakfast from her pocket and handed it to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore took the paper from Tyrell, glanced at it, and then solemnly handed it to Professor McGonagall.

After glancing at it a few times, Professor McGonagall handed it over to Flitwick and Professor Sprout.

"Protect the children on the list immediately," Dumbledore said gravely. "Tiera has likely been attacked, a very malicious attack, and it could happen again."

"What kind of attack was it?" Professor McGonagall asked worriedly. Suddenly, as if remembering something, she added, "Could it be related to..."

“Yes, Minerva,” Dumbledore said. “I’m afraid this time it will be more serious than before.”

……

Meanwhile, as many professors were deeply worried about the "attack," on the platform square above the water in Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets, miles below Tierra's body, a nearly humanoid, dark red worm-like mass sat cross-legged on a worn sofa, using its worm-like tentacles to peruse a thick book. On the book's cover was written a line in Arabic—

Necronomicon
On the damp floor next to the sofa, more than twenty pale yellow worms were crawling out one by one from the stiff spider. In front of the spider stood a huge mirror.

Through the reflection in the mirror, the eight-eyed giant spider saw a huge yellow eye.

“Alright, Salazar, you can eat now. I have enough cursed worms.” The humanoid worm block, who had been sitting on the sofa, closed the Necronomicon and slowly stood up. The worms that had emerged from the eight-eyed giant spider seemed to be drawn towards the worm block as if by some unseen force—

Ultimately, it was integrated into the design.

This makes the worm block more humanoid.

But on the damp floor of the sealed room, twenty-five worms still wriggled—

One for each Muggle wizard on the list, excluding Tierra.

It's an old trick; their own predictions come true.

Because Tyella still needs Gilderoy Lockhart and Tom Riddle to help him summon Yog-Sothoth, Tyella cannot do anything that might arouse their suspicion.

Therefore, in order to avoid Tom Riddle's inexplicable retaliation, Tierra had no choice but to return to her old ways and eat her own worms.

Petrification caused by indirect eye contact with the basilisk is a weakened version of the instant death curse.

Although not fatal, it will put Tiera into a near-death petrified state.

The rituals performed by Gidrol Lohart required that the human body be healthy and alive.

In other words, Tiera is no longer useful after being afflicted by the petrification curse.

But what does it matter if Tiera is useful or not? Anyway, the head on Gilderoy Lockhart's body can last for more than three months.

So Tiera simply slipped away, leaving her unusable body at the school hospital and transferring her consciousness to the "parasite." Without social interaction, classes, or even sleep, Tiera finally had plenty of time to openly study the magic in the Necronomicon.

As for the other Muggle-born students—

Tiera believed that if Gilderoy Lockhart couldn't harm her, he would definitely target other students, and compared to students from wizarding families who had already established themselves in the magical world, Gilderoy Lockhart would certainly prefer to harm Muggle-born students—

Tyrell also believed that Tom Riddle wouldn't expose his own lies for a bunch of Muggle-born kids.

So Tyrell had no choice but to claim to be a prophet, instructing the Hogwarts professors to keep a close eye on the Muggle-born children—

Unable to find an opportunity to strike, Gilderoy Lockhart will inevitably seek help from Tom Riddle again.

Tom Riddle then continued to use one lie to cover up the previous one—

(End of this chapter)