Harry Potter: Who cares about belated motherly love?

———The music gradually became louder.

The strange, poignant, but spine-chilling melody made me rub my arm with the one that wasn't holding Harry's, and Harry kept rubbing the back of his neck. We had goose bumps all the time since just now.

Tom Riddle also seemed to be frightened by the music and kept looking around. When the music echoed in the "Chamber of Secrets", he appeared.

It was a very beautiful red-gold bird, about the size of a swan, that appeared from the end of the passage we had come from.

The person tightly grasped by its feet was Albus Dumbledore!

"Mr. Dumbledore!!" We shouted in unison as soon as we saw him.

The bird, the phoenix Fawkes, brought Dumbledore and landed steadily beside us. Fawkes landed on his shoulder.

"Oh, you two... I'm so glad you're safe. Sorry I'm late... You must be scared, right?"

Even in this situation and moment, seeing his mischievous wink, Harry and I both breathed a sigh of relief from the bottom of our hearts.

"You two, take Mr. Nott away. The rest of the matter will be left to me, the teacher." Dumbledore waved his wand gently, pulling Theodore's body towards us, while staring coldly at Tom Riddle with his usually shining blue eyes.

An unsettlingly powerful aura emanated from Dumbledore, the result of his magic leaking out. Feeling this pressure, Harry and I lifted Theodore's body and quickly retreated to the corner of the room.

"Long time no see, Tom... I never thought we would meet again in this way." Dumbledore said coldly, without the usual playfulness in his voice.

"You... why are you here... how did you get in?!" Tom Riddle obviously did not expect Dumbledore to appear and could not hide his inner panic.

It occurred to me that perhaps Tom thought we were here of our own free will. In fact, although we had opened the entrance, we were here by accident. If it hadn't been for that incompetent pervert Lockhart, we wouldn't be here at all.

Perhaps Tom Riddle thought we were "voluntarily coming to defeat the Heir". But he obviously didn't expect Dumbledore to show up, and perhaps he had already made up the story, expecting the "rescued boy" to defeat the "heir" alone.

At this time, I noticed that Theodore's body was getting colder and colder.

"Nott?! Hold on, don't die!"

I hurriedly laid Theodore on the ground to check if his heart was still beating. Although his heartbeat was weak, it had not stopped. However, his breathing was almost cut off and his face was pale. He could die at any time.

"It's too late! I have already absorbed most of Theodore's magic and soul! With his death, I will gain a complete body!"

"So, if I defeat you, is there any chance he can be saved?" Dumbledore responded coldly, and then a fierce battle broke out between him and Tom Riddle.

As colorful lights intertwined in the air, they were evenly matched at first, but soon Tom Riddle gradually lost the upper hand. It was no wonder, no matter how talented he was, he was just a sixth-grade student at this stage.

Tom Riddle, who was desperate, suddenly shouted in Parseltongue: "Slytherin, the strongest of the four giants of Hogwarts, respond to me."

Harry translated, "He said, 'Slytherin, the strongest of the four, answer me.'"

Then, the mouth of the huge stone statue of Salazar Slytherin began to move, and with a heavy roar, the mouth of the statue opened, revealing a dark cave.

We heard the sound of something large moving deep in the cave.

"That's a basilisk...!!" Dumbledore's voice was filled with resentment.

Hearing this, I immediately took out the prepared hand mirror from my pocket and used the levitation spell to send it in the direction of the cave.

"Enlargement spell!" Under the effect of the spell, the hand mirror quickly grew larger, and I pointed the mirror at the cave.

This was a desperate gamble, but fortunately, our luck was on our side. With a shrill hiss, the basilisk in the cave was petrified by its own eyes.

The basilisk then fell to the ground with a loud bang. Its body, which was over 20 meters long, became completely stiff and no longer moved.

At this moment, Dumbledore quickly cast a spell, and a powerful flame surrounded Tom Riddle's black diary. With a scream, Tom Riddle disappeared in the flames.

……

"Nott, Nott, wake up..."

After confirming that Tom Riddle and the diary disappeared, I turned to look at Theodore lying on the ground, but he didn't move.

"Nott, wake up!"

Harry also patted his cheek gently, but his face was still as pale as paper. Although he was still breathing, he looked like he could die at any time, and my anxiety became more and more intense.

"Ms. Weasley, please move aside."

I followed Dumbledore's instructions and stood aside. Dumbledore raised his wand, muttered something, and a look of pain appeared on his face.

"…It seems that his magic power has been over-consumed. Even if he is sent to Madam Pomfrey right now, he may not be able to hold on…"

"How could it be...! Then Nott..."

Although I was aware that Harry was screaming, my mind began to race. I was trying to think of a way to keep him alive, at least temporarily, until we could get him to the hospital wing. The rational part of me told me that if even Dumbledore said there was nothing that could be done, then it must be hopeless.

All the knowledge accumulated from past and present lives flashed through my mind, and suddenly, an idea made me act.

"I will never let you die..."

I held Theodore's pale cheeks in my hands, his almost still breath flowing gently over his bloodless lips. I covered his lips with my own.

"Ms. Weasley?! What are you doing…?"

"Ronnie?!"

Amid the surprised voices of Dumbledore and Harry, I injected my magic into Theodore's body.

——Yes, that’s it.

If his magic power is not enough, can't I just replenish it from outside?

This is just like the principle of artificial respiration. Although in the wizarding world, magic is usually used to solve these problems, so there is no concept of artificial respiration at all, and it is understandable that Dumbledore was very shocked by this.

However, my assumption seemed to be correct. As the magic power was injected, I could feel Theodore's body temperature gradually rising. At the same time, my body began to feel cold, especially my fingers, because my own magic power was also rapidly depleted. But fortunately, I could still hold on.

While I adjusted myself to avoid over-consumption of magic power, I continued to transfer magic power to Theodore's whole body. At this time, his eyelids trembled slightly.

I immediately opened my mouth and stared at his face. His eyelashes, which were as golden as his hair, fluttered slightly, revealing his light green eyes with a gray tint.

"Weasley...why...?"

I had no idea what he was going to say. Before he could finish, my body reached its limit.

"Very good……"

Although I had adjusted myself to avoid getting into trouble due to lack of magic power, the rapid consumption of magic power still exhausted me. After hearing Theodore's voice, my tension instantly relaxed, my consciousness disappeared, and I fell on his chest.

——I heard about this two days later, while lying on the bed in the infirmary.

When I woke up and saw Patsy and the twins again, holding my hands tightly and crying, I felt more sorry than wondering if this was a replay.

Sigh... I'm really sorry for making everyone worry for two consecutive years...