Hearing Leonard's words, Harris Raymons felt distinctly offended.
"I admit you're talented, and yes, you're the heir to ancient magic. But your age is what it is. You need to show proper respect to your seniors."
Harris Raymons stared at Leonard. He was a genius who had graduated from Hogwarts with outstanding marks, received an invitation from the secret organization Raven immediately after graduation, and soon gained the favor of the Second Senator. In his view, Leonard showed him very little respect. Especially that last remark. That was a serious insult. It meant Leonard had not taken him seriously at all.
"Respect?" Leonard curled his lip, and silver light instantly filled his eyes.
Terrifying magic power gathered around him. The flickering silver magic made Harris Raymons's face twitch.
Forget actual spells. Even a simple blast of raw magic from that kind of power would be hard for him to withstand.
He could rely on Star's teleportation magic to dodge other forms of magic, but ancient magic played by no rules at all. Even its raw magic alone was frighteningly powerful.
Better not provoke him. Absolutely better not provoke him.
"Sorry, I was wrong." Harris Raymons knew when to bend and when to stand straight, and surrendered on the spot. He did it so fast that even Leonard, as a transmigrator, found it hard to process.
"You..." The corner of Leonard's mouth twitched. He instantly felt that this Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's sense of dignity was highly questionable. He was still irritated, but Harris Raymons had folded so quickly that it completely threw off Leonard's rhythm.
Leonard took a deep breath to steady himself after being so thoroughly derailed by Harris Raymons. Then his eyes swept across the room and landed on Ravenclaw's Diadem sealed inside the crystal.
The obvious crack on it made his pupils contract.
"You let Voldemort out?" Leonard turned a sharp gaze on Harris Raymons.
"So you knew..." Harris Raymons gave a bitter smile. "Sorry, this is my fault. I really did let Voldemort out by accident, though it was only a soul fragment. I think the most urgent thing now is to find him and bring him back..."
Leonard did not even let him finish. He turned and rushed out immediately.
"Hey... wait. How are you supposed to find him if you just charge off like that? Hey!" Harris Raymons stretched out a hand uselessly after the departing Leonard and sighed inwardly. Young people really had no patience at all.
At a time like this, shouldn't they be putting their heads together and figuring out what Voldemort was going to do next?
"Damn..." Harris Raymons's face changed.
What was Voldemort going to do? In Hogwarts, a place as dangerous to him as a dragon's den, the first thing he would do would definitely be to obtain enough power to protect himself.
But where could he get power that quickly?
"The Chamber of Secrets. Damn it, Voldemort can control the monster inside the Chamber. He's definitely going there." The moment Harris Raymons realized it, he was about to rush out too, but then suddenly stopped, his expression turning uncertain.
He did not know where the Chamber of Secrets was. He had just managed to lure Voldemort out of Ravenclaw's Diadem, and before he could interrogate him, the bastard had already escaped.
"Wait... Leonard William's reaction... He might have realized Voldemort's goal. He was in such a hurry... he knows where the Chamber of Secrets is."
Harris Raymons was stunned by his own conclusion. He suddenly wondered what the hell he had even been doing for the past month.
Why was it that even with Raven's intelligence network backing him, he had still failed to find the Chamber of Secrets, while Leonard somehow knew?
And why was Leonard running so fast? Voldemort could control the monster in the Chamber of Secrets. That place was incredibly dangerous.
Leonard paid no attention to Harris Raymons shouting after him. He ran like mad, and in the blink of an eye had disappeared from Harris Raymons's sight.
Of course he knew the Chamber of Secrets was dangerous. He even knew the monster inside was a Basilisk. But that was exactly why he was in such a hurry.
He was not in a hurry because he was afraid Voldemort would release the Basilisk and slaughter everyone. For one thing, he did not particularly care how many students died. He could watch Draco Malfoy and his two lackeys get beaten to death by a troll without batting an eye.
For another, Voldemort's goal right now definitely was not killing people. To avoid falling into Dumbledore's hands, the first thing he would be thinking about was getting out of there as fast as possible.
The Voldemort inside Ravenclaw's Diadem, a later-made Horcrux, was definitely far more cunning and experienced than the young Tom Riddle in the diary. He was not going to stay in the school and fight Dumbledore head-on.
When the time came, he would definitely escape riding the Basilisk.
And Voldemort escaping was not the problem. The Basilisk being taken away was.
That was Leonard's prey. He had already planned how he was going to feed every one of its organs to his plants.
This was a magical creature with the power of instant death. Something this rare was not easy to come by.
"Damn you, Voldemort. If you steal my Basilisk, I'll destroy every last one of your Horcruxes."
Leonard could not stop himself from cursing out loud as he sprinted toward the third floor, ignoring the baffled looks some of the students were giving him.
...
Third floor. The abandoned bathroom.
Myrtle's shrill singing drifted out of the bathroom and echoed through the corridor.
On Halloween, hearing Myrtle's voice fit the atmosphere a little too perfectly. It made everyone instinctively avoid the place.
Which meant there was usually no one around.
But today, an unwelcome guest had arrived.
"Ron Weasley," with eyes turned black, stepped into the deserted bathroom. Listening to the sharp singing, he curled his lips into a mocking smile.
That voice reminded him of the past, of the death scream of an especially hateful person.
"That Mudblood who had nothing better to do in the middle of the night than cry in the bathroom." Voldemort, controlling Ron Weasley's body, rolled his neck and spat out the vicious words. "What a pity ghosts can't be killed."
The arrival of a living person caught Myrtle's attention. She poked her head out of the toilet and saw "Ron Weasley" holding a jack-o'-lantern.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Myrtle floated out of the toilet and came over to question him.
"Heh..." "Ron Weasley" sneered. "You're just as full of nonsense as you were when you were alive."
"What?" Myrtle froze for a moment, then suddenly saw the red-haired boy in front of her open his mouth wide. Black mist seeped from his face and formed into a hideous serpent's head.
That familiar serpent head seemed to drag Myrtle right back to the moment before her death. Those fatal eyes were suffocating.
"Ah!!" With a scream, Myrtle panicked and flew wildly about. In the end, her last shred of reason drove her back into the toilet, and she refused to come out again.
"Hmph. Mudbloods belong in filthy places like that." Voldemort sneered and was just about to go to the sink and open the Chamber of Secrets when he suddenly noticed a cauldron slowly bubbling nearby.
Someone was brewing a potion here?