Hogwarts: Voldemort, don't stop me from studying

Chapter 1002 The Awaited Ending
As if struck by lightning, Abigail's body instantly stiffened, and all movement, breathing, and sound were brutally stripped away by extreme pain.

She didn't even have time to scream before her body went limp.

It felt as if a silent explosion had occurred in my heart, with countless steel needles simultaneously piercing outwards, puncturing blood vessels, disrupting my lungs, and piercing my stomach and throat.

She opened her mouth in vain, but couldn't inhale a single breath of oxygen; only the heavy smell of blood rushed up and blocked her throat.

My vision was distorted and shattered by the excruciating pain, and images flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern—

Rolando Stern hesitated for a moment before slowly saying, "...When those children were sent to the training base, the leader...I mean, Leader Thorne...would have a curse placed on their hearts..."

"If they choose to betray the organization and reveal secrets in the future, the curse will activate immediately, causing them to die from internal bleeding. This process is very rapid and occurs inside the body, so even a wizard... cannot stop it."

Abigail even heard her own voice—

"So?" the woman said in a cold tone, "Could there be a curse like this on my heart too?"

“How could that be?” Stern seemed to smile. “Abigail, you joined the organization of your own volition, and your conviction is stronger than anyone else’s. There is no need to add any unnecessary shackles to a warrior like you.”

The smile on that usually cautious and gentle face was meaningful, but Abigail did not notice it.

……

fraud!

She was scammed, from beginning to end!
There was clearly such a shackle on her heart as well!
Perhaps it was there from the beginning... or perhaps it was during her repeated expressions of doubt, wavering, and even desire to leave that she was brainwashed and a curse was quietly planted on her.

Because she is not "a more determined warrior than anyone else".

She had never realized that this thing existed in her body before, not because it didn't exist, but because... Despite her confusion and struggles, she never doubted the significance of the Purifiers' existence, nor did her hatred for the wizards completely waver.

Even during her time with Braun, Abigail recounted some past events, but she always avoided discussing the core secrets.

But now, everything is different.

She regained her altered memories, saw the truth about how she had been used until now, uncovered the vast conspiracy of her teacher Rick and the fairy Amanda, and even vaguely connected this conspiracy with a series of upheavals in the American wizarding world...

She even wanted to tell everyone about it without reservation, to tell anyone who could thwart their plans!

……

"My God! What happened to her? Did she suddenly fall ill? Doctor! Doctor! Wait, there's no doctor! Wayne, why didn't you take a healing potion with you when you went out?"

The cloak was startled by Abigail's sudden collapse and flew around her, trying several times to help her up but not daring to touch her.

Reminded by it, Braun quickly rummaged in his pocket, pulled out a bottle of potion, and poured it into Abigail's mouth without thinking.

The icy liquid entered her throat, and the powerful magic seemed to pull Abigail's precarious consciousness back. With her last bit of willpower, she opened her eyes, her lips moved, but she couldn't utter a single broken syllable.

All that came up in my throat was scalding hot blood mixed with pieces of internal organs.

[It can't...it can't end like this...the secret...it has to be revealed...]

Whether it was hatred or resentment, in the final moment before her consciousness was completely dragged into darkness, Abigail did the only thing she could—

She touched her temple with her finger and flicked it gently.

The memories that had just entered his mind were forcibly extracted and stripped away, and the silvery-white light trembled violently, containing the owner's dying pain and final obsession.

The cloak frantically rolled up a crystal bottle and quickly stuffed the wisp of memory inside. Just as it finished, it heard a muffled thud.

Abigail collapsed into Braun's arms, her arm hanging limply at her sides, the last glimmer of light in her eyes extinguished.

……

"How...she's dead?"

The cloak swirled incrediblely above Abigail, its hem brushing lightly against her pale cheek.

"What on earth happened? Everything was fine just now, how could it suddenly... Hey, Wayne, did you do this?" It received a cold stare.

The cloak shrank back slightly and quickly said, "Okay, I know it couldn't be you, I was just talking nonsense... but what's going on? Can memories really be harmful to humans?"

Braun ignored its cries and steadily supported Abigail's gradually cooling body with his arms, remaining silent and still for a long time.

It wasn't until the cloak began to feel uneasy and foolishly checked Braun's breathing that he finally moved.

He adjusted his position, lifting Abigail horizontally in his arms. When he spoke again, he didn't answer the cloak's question, but instead said:
“I’m going to dig up the grave. You can keep the bag—take all the memories from here with you; they might come in handy later.”

"what?"

The cloak's voice faltered for a moment, and just as Braun was about to leave the warehouse, it suddenly floated in front of him and shouted:
"Are you kidding me? Even though she was a Purifier, you two got along pretty well along the way, didn't you? Even if you weren't partners, you were at least acquaintances. Now that she's dead, all you're thinking about are these bottles and jars?"

When confronted by the cloak, Braun didn't even raise an eyebrow, simply saying, "I already knew."

Cloak: "Huh?"

“On the way here with her, I knew that if she regained her true memories, she would die.”

Braun's gaze finally shifted slightly downwards, landing on Abigail's lifeless face, her eyes as calm as her heart.

He said, "Stern of the Purifiers already said this when he was interrogated at the Magical Congress—most of the Purifiers who have access to the core secrets have a curse on their hearts to prevent betrayal, including Sera Abigail."

"This is the method by which they were able to hide in the United States for many years. It's not that the members of the Purge are incapable of betraying, but that those who wanted to betray are all dead."

"Only those insignificant members of the lower ranks... and the highest few, are exempt from being bound by the curse."

As he spoke, he also recalled the scene of his last visit to Wade before he left:

His increasingly tall and aloof master stood by the window, gazing at the bustling crowds and vehicles below, and said softly:

"Even Dumbledore had to extract his tedious memories and put them into the Pensieve to give himself a break. I don't believe anyone can hold dozens or hundreds of other people's memories in their head."

"So, if those memories haven't faded away, they must have been stored away. Try to bring them back as much as possible; they might contain some important information."

"And Professor Abigail..."

After thinking for a long time, Wade said, "When you are gathering your memories, try to avoid her... According to Stern, Abigail will probably be killed by the curse as soon as she regains her memories."

Braun stood beside him and pressed, "What if I hadn't avoided it, or what if she had discovered the memory storage location first and insisted on regaining her true self?"

“Then let her choose for herself.” Wade sighed softly, briefly thinking of Khalil. “Although it may not have been her intention, but... everyone has to pay the price for what they have done.”

Without explicit instructions from Vader, Braun did not mention the curse to Abigail.

Although he sensed that Abigail had figured something out during each memory encounter, Braun never brought it up.

Because he had another consideration in mind:

If Abigail regains her memories, she will die.
Until her memories are restored, she will always see herself as the Purifier.

Even if she briefly embarks on a different path than before, who knows when she might transform into a knife, stabbing the magical world and those wizards who try to trust and pity her.

—For example, Wade.

So he tried to stop it, but his attitude wasn't forceful—perhaps deep down, this was the outcome he was waiting for?

Braun carried Abigail out of the warehouse.

Moonlight filters through the sparse canopy of trees, casting dappled shadows on the leaf-strewn ground. The Milky Way flows silently, the night breeze rustles through the woods, and a distant stream murmurs softly.

With the rustling of footsteps, Braun walked silently past the cabin in the woods, past the traces left by their battle. Moonlight and starlight chased after his back, stretching his shadow long and long.

(End of this chapter)