HP/LOTM: Hogwart's Mind Dragon

Aiden hurriedly returned to his dormitory and, for once, spent a peaceful night. It was unknown what kind of storm had raged in the Headmaster's Office, but the next day, in the Great Hall, Aiden saw the black diary appear in Harry's hands.

"It seems their fate is truly a wonderful thing," Arsesi said, holding a plate and sitting down next to Aiden. In order not to attract too much attention, Aiden had to use psychological invisibility to shield them both.

"What are you doing here?" Aiden joked. "Aren't you afraid of being ostracized by your little sisters when you go back?"

"You're my boss," she replied, taking a bite of her food. "With you protecting me, why would I care about them? Besides, I don't know why, but every time you take me through a crowd without being noticed, the feeling is really captivating." She focused on finishing her breakfast, then added, "So, tell me. How did that book get into the Savior's hands? Will the clash between the Savior and the Dark Lord be staged again this year?"

"After you left last night, I met Professor McGonagall," Aiden explained, satisfying her curiosity. "So I guess this particular item was... gifted to Harry by his Head of House."

Having successfully caught up with the sequel, Arsesi happily left with her plate.

That afternoon, after finishing Herbology class, Aiden went to the Room of Requirement. Oliver was already there, practicing spells. Regarding Oliver's father, Aiden had thought for a long time. In the end, he decided to tell him what he knew and let Oliver judge the matter for himself.

"Oliver, stop for a moment," Aiden called out. "I have something to tell you."

In the middle of the dueling room, Oliver flung a shattering curse at a practice dummy, blasting it to pieces. "What's wrong, Aiden?" he asked, wiping the sweat from his brow and walking over.

"Before Christmas, I went home and received some news from the Department of Mysteries about your father."

Hearing Aiden's words, Oliver's face darkened. His eyes grew solemn as he looked at his friend. "The Department of Mysteries? They tracked down a group of people with the same worship as my father..." Aiden glanced at Oliver. The red aura of anger on his body had already begun to flare at the edges.

"You think my father was bewitched by them?" Oliver's voice was low and dangerous. "No way. He's just an ordinary person. How could he have come into contact with the affairs of the magical world? Definitely... certainly..." He clenched his fists, angry emotions scattering everywhere. "I will kill them," he said through gritted teeth.

"Oliver, calm down," Aiden said, using a subtle touch of hypnosis to extinguish his friend's rising anger. "We need to investigate. What if it's not them?"

"It doesn't matter," Oliver said decisively. "These people who sacrifice others to beg for the pity of demons shouldn't be allowed to live in this world."

'Cough,' Aiden thought as the System popped up in his mind. 'Although it's very inappropriate to say this, he seems to have just cursed his own father.'

'System, what are you doing? You've ruined the atmosphere,' Aiden complained, pinching the gem on his neck.

"You think so too, right, Aiden?" Oliver's red-rimmed eyes swept over him.

'Wow, even that sentence is just like his dad's,' Aiden thought, his mind now completely led astray by the System. He could never go back.

"Cough, yes, that's right," he said with false righteousness. "That's what I think, too."

While Aiden was awkwardly dealing with Oliver, Harry, carrying the black diary he had "picked up," went with Ron to visit Hermione. In the Hospital Wing, Hermione had almost finished coughing up hairballs; at least her face had returned to its human contours.

"This is the diary I found," Harry said, handing it to his friends. "The owner's name is Tom Marvolo Riddle."

Tom, in the book, was silent. "..."

"I remember now!" Ron exclaimed, the familiarity finally clicking into place. "I've seen this name before. He received a special award for services to the school fifty years ago."

"Malfoy's father also said that the Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years ago," Hermione added. "Maybe you can find out the details from him."

"That's a great inference, Hermione," Harry said, "but there's a small flaw. Nothing is written in the diary." He opened it to show her. It was indeed empty.

That evening, Harry was sitting alone in the Gryffindor common room. He opened the diary, and a pair of beautiful, heterochromatic eyes appeared beside him, unseen. He tried writing in the diary. The ink he dripped onto the page was quickly absorbed. After flipping through a few pages, he found no ink stains, so he tried again.

My name is Harry Potter.

The diary absorbed the ink, and a line of text appeared in response.

Hello, Harry Potter. My name is Tom Riddle.

Harry asked about the Chamber of Secrets, and the diary told him he could witness what happened fifty years ago with his own eyes. The book emitted a brilliant white light, opening a passage to the island of consciousness within it and sucking Harry in.

But what the diary didn't expect was that Aiden, who had just finished dealing with Oliver, had also accepted the invitation.

As the light dissipated, Harry found himself at Hogwarts fifty years in the past, beginning to watch the memories that Tom Riddle had so carefully edited for him. And a dragon, muddying the waters, had been invited to Tom Riddle's island of consciousness.

'Let's see if Tom has been healthy these past few years,' Aiden thought, taking out his wand and beginning to scan the internal structure of the Horcrux. 'Hmm, he really is a genius. He actually improved upon the original Horcrux design. He used the souls of those he killed as nails to bind his own soul fragment to the item, letting the resentful souls tear each other apart.' As magic flowed through the island of consciousness, Aiden gradually understood the truth of the Horcrux.

'System, give me some ideas. How can I dispel this thing without damaging the item?' he asked.

['Are you planning to keep the founder's relic?']

'Of course. We Prewetts love antiques the most,' Aiden raised an eyebrow.

['The System provides a suggestion: use the Tiwaz (ᛏ) rune.']

'Justice and sacrifice? Who would do it? I can't expect Tom to suddenly have a good conscience, can I?' Aiden shook his head.

['No, but you can count on that suffering soul—Myrtle.']

'But wouldn't that just be a one-time solution? I need a general...'

The System interrupted him. ['Denied. The sacrifice is replaceable. You don't need to find the soul's original mentality. You just need to write a dominating rune into it.']

"Isn't making sacrifice become voluntary a bit too evil, System?" Aiden couldn't help but say it aloud.

"Who's there?!" The entire island of consciousness shook. Tom Riddle had discovered the intruder, and his consciousness began to repel everyone staying on the island.

Harry, who was watching the "movie" next door, had just reached the credits. He shouted Hagrid's name and was thrown backward. A flash of white light, and two boys appeared back in the Gryffindor common room.

"Aiden, what are you doing here?" Harry asked, then shook his head. "It's not the time to talk about these things now." He hurriedly ran up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

Aiden just shrugged and returned to the Ravenclaw tower.

[Chapter Complete]

***

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