The soul was the essence of a person. Consciousness, experience, knowledge, all of it was built upon the soul.
Once enough of a person's soul had been devoured, taking control became only natural.
Ron Weasley's eyes immediately lost focus, and the terror and regret still lingering on his face froze in place.
Holding the jack-o'-lantern, he opened his mouth on his own and leaned toward the flames.
The fire inside the jack-o'-lantern flickered, and a large mass of shadow spilled out from within, swelling as it battered the lantern's outer shell.
The silver threads on the surface of the jack-o'-lantern reacted at once, blazing with dazzling light to stop the shadow from escaping.
But after devouring part of Ron Weasley's soul, the shadow's strength had been replenished. The seal formed by ancient magic was powerful, but it lacked continuing support. As one side rose and the other weakened, a tear gradually opened in the silver light.
A flood of shadow poured through the ripped opening and surged straight into Ron Weasley's mouth.
The instant the shadow entered his body, a trace of black flashed through Ron Weasley's eyes, and the empty look in them vanished.
Only now, Ron Weasley was no longer himself.
At this point, calling it a shadow would actually be a little disrespectful.
Inside the jack-o'-lantern, Voldemort, having regained a great deal of his reason through the power of Ron Weasley's soul, had officially awakened.
He became aware of his situation and was deeply dissatisfied with his sealed state.
But when he noticed the dimmed silver threads on the surface of the jack-o'-lantern, even he was startled.
"This is... ancient magic. Damn it, wasn't this supposed to be lost?"
As the heir to most of Salazar Slytherin's legacy in the Chamber of Secrets, Voldemort knew quite a few secrets from the wizarding world's past.
Ancient magic was naturally among them. It had once been one of the powers Salazar Slytherin himself pursued.
"This ancient magic was used by that Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. I never expected someone to actually wield this kind of power."
Voldemort fell silent for a moment.
"No, if this keeps up, I'll stay trapped. My power still hasn't fully recovered, and my main body is still sealed. I have to find a way out."
Hogwarts Castle was too dangerous. If Dumbledore discovered him, not only would this soul fragment be in trouble, the secret of the Horcruxes would definitely be exposed as well.
"Looks like I'll have to use something ruthless." Voldemort gritted his teeth and manipulated Ron Weasley out of the stairwell.
His destination was the bathroom on the third floor, the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. As long as he could get into the Chamber, there was still hope.
At this moment, the strongest force he could command was the Basilisk inside the Chamber of Secrets.
"I just hope there's still time."
A dark expression crossed "Ron Weasley's" face.
By now, he was completely under Voldemort's control.
Unlike the young Tom Riddle in the earlier Horcruxes, the fragment of Voldemort's soul inside Ravenclaw's Diadem had been split off at a much later stage. It was older, and far more powerful.
He could completely control the person he possessed, to the point that the victim almost became another version of himself.
But Voldemort was not in a good mood.
Because inside this school, apart from Dumbledore, the one he feared most, there was someone else who knew who he was.
That Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
He was not sure how much that professor knew, but the fact that the man knew about Horcruxes at all made him dangerous.
"Once the Basilisk is out, I'll kill him first." Voldemort gave a cold snort and quickened his pace.
His words sounded bold enough, but in truth all he wanted was to find the Basilisk before that Defense Against the Dark Arts professor caught on.
...
Harris Raymons hurried down the corridor, and the moment he reached his door, his pupils shrank.
His door was open.
"Damn it. If Filch hadn't rushed me so hard, I would've put a spell on it no matter what." Harris Raymons gritted his teeth, regretting it now.
But regret was useless at this point. Besides, he never would have imagined that in supposedly safe Hogwarts, someone would actually break into his room.
He shoved the door open anxiously. Sure enough, the cloth that had covered the jack-o'-lantern had been torn down and thrown on the floor, and the jack-o'-lantern itself had disappeared.
Who did this?
Harris Raymons was furious and alarmed all at once. Then something occurred to him, and he immediately yanked aside the curtain hanging across the room, revealing Ravenclaw's Diadem sealed inside the crystal behind it.
"Thank God, the Diadem is still here." Harris Raymons let out a breath of relief, then suddenly paused.
A Horcrux was the most important thing a person could have, more important than life itself. After all, a man could survive without certain things, but lose a Horcrux and death was not far behind.
If whoever had taken it had been summoned by Voldemort himself, there was no way they would have left Ravenclaw's Diadem behind.
At the very least, they would have taken it too.
The crystal sealing the outside was fragile. Even a young wizard could smash it open without much effort.
But Ravenclaw's Diadem was still sitting there untouched, which meant the one who took the jack-o'-lantern did not have the ability to break the crystal.
So perhaps it was not a person at all...
Harris Raymons searched the room carefully, and before long he found several strands of cat hair on the fallen cloth.
That immediately made him think of the cat that had been following Filch. He remembered that at first the cat had still been trailing behind Filch, but before they reached the Great Hall, it had suddenly disappeared.
The answer was already obvious.
"As expected of Voldemort..." Harris Raymons clenched his teeth.
He truly had not expected Voldemort, even sealed by ancient magic, to still have enough strength left to control other creatures. It really was Voldemort. Terrifying as ever.
"If I were actually the heir of ancient magic, even Voldemort's true body probably wouldn't be able to break out of the seal, right?" Harris Raymons sighed, his mood sinking.
Right then, hurried footsteps came rushing toward the room. Before Harris Raymons could react, the door was kicked open.
"Harris Raymons!"
Leonard appeared in the doorway with a dark expression. Looking at Harris Raymons standing inside, he lowered the leg he had just used to kick the door open.
"I need an explanation." Leonard's gaze was icy. "Couldn't you just let me have one decent Halloween?"
Harris Raymons was stunned.
What did you mean, one decent Halloween? Something this huge had happened. Couldn't you take it a little more seriously?
That line made Harris Raymons' teeth ache. He was obviously a victim too, so how had he turned into the mastermind by the time it came out of Leonard's mouth?
"Don't misunderstand. I'm a victim too," Harris Raymons said quickly.
"I know. Otherwise, you'd already be dead." Leonard's eyes were sharp. "Now tell me. What exactly have you been doing?"