HP - Shadow Monarch!

Chapter 157 - Returning to Hogwarts.

[Chapter Size: 2100 Words.]

Third Person POV

England.

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Severus stood there, in the middle of the destruction, as the last thing he saw was the grimace the headmaster made while being consumed by the ring. This clearly demonstrated that it had not been planned by Dumbledore; after all, the man had looked terrified, like someone who had narrowly escaped death but had no idea how to flee from what awaited him.

His gaze shifted to the side, where destruction surrounded him. The pine forest was completely devastated. Everything seemed immersed in silence, as if such an intense battle had never occurred moments before. But the ground before Snape told a different story.

Snape saw his shadows reforming. They were finishing their shapes, and soon the 21 shadow soldiers stood before him, aligned and approaching while bowing to salute their king.

He ignored the soldiers and turned his attention to another nearby spot. There was a pile of ashes left behind by the phoenix, where Fawkes had fallen to the ground and been consumed by his own flames.

He recalled Dumbledore's words and remarked with interest, "If he said it would resurrect, perhaps I can prevent that myself." Snape murmured pensively, raising his hand toward the ashes, which were beginning to transform, signaling that the phoenix would return at any moment. He waited, confident in his ability to wield his powers.

"Arise," he commanded.

A dark atmosphere began to form around the ashes. The energy grew stronger and stronger. Snape saw that he was succeeding in extracting the creature's soul before it could resurrect. The phoenix resisted the shadow's pull, but it was already too late. Dumbledore could never have imagined, even in his worst nightmares, that his phoenix would meet such a fate. Snape maintained control, cold and calculating, as he extracted the creature's shadow.

The ashes darkened completely, and black wings began to emerge. The phoenix reappeared in its adult form, but now it flew in shadows, its entire body cloaked in darkness. It seemed to emit fire from its wings, but this fire was born of shadow itself.

"Good. This will be very useful," Snape murmured, observing the creature with interest. A phoenix, after all, was exceedingly rare.

The new phoenix appeared to be a valuable acquisition. He turned his attention to his surroundings, noticing that his shadow soldiers stood at attention, awaiting commands. Snape realized that his system had granted him additional levels for this accomplishment—not only for defeating Dumbledore, despite not killing him, but also for his progress as a necromancer. Fortunately, this gave him more shadow slots, and he didn't need to eliminate any to accommodate the phoenix.

He could still fill more slots, but there were no other nearby dead beings to acquire. Dumbledore might have sufficed at this moment, but he was trapped in his own ring, offering no solutions. Snape knew he would need to find Steve to understand what was happening.

For now, he had something more urgent to do: clean up the mess. Especially because the villagers nearby had likely heard and seen the entire battle. It wouldn't take long for the Aurors to arrive to investigate.

His gaze fell to the ground, where Dumbledore's wand lay. Using his monarch authority to summon the item to him, he analyzed the wand and was certain he could wield it as his own. But he dismissed the idea, as his old wand had grown with him. Instead, he simply stored it in the system, where no one else could find it.

Snape quickly began waving his wand. The entire area began to reshape itself. Fallen trees returned to their places as if time were being rewound, and the ground leveled itself automatically. The place, destroyed just moments ago, was restored to its original state.