Chapter 62 The Diary Destined for Destruction
Two days passed in a flash, and today is Wednesday, Christmas Day.
Last night was Christmas Eve.
Thanks to the physical enhancements brought by the [Dragon Knight], his sleep quality was extremely high, but also relatively short.
So, he woke up when the first rays of sunlight touched his cheeks in the morning.
The sky was still yellow, with a slight red tinge, like it had been smeared with oil.
As usual, he checked the offices of the Minister and Deputy Minister of Magic.
No one was there today.
Disappointing! Fudge and Umbridge wouldn't get their Stunning Charm today!
His attention shifted to the dormitories.
The window he had deliberately left open for the owls was not needed.
The presents were delivered by house-elves wrapped in tea towels printed with the Hogwarts emblem.
Basil did not draw back the curtains, observing everything through the Hogwarts in his mind with his eyes closed.
They manifested into the owl sheds, received the presents from the owls, and then manifested into the various dormitories that were still occupied.
However, they skillfully controlled the volume of the crackling sound produced during Apparition.
If one didn't listen carefully, Basil wouldn't hear it at all.
Basil had learned about the Apparition Charm from Riddle.
The crackling sound of the spell, and the intensity of the oppressive feeling of the dark world during the apparition process, were all determined by the distance of the Apparition and the level of proficiency.
Proficiency here refers not only to familiarity with the spell itself, but also to familiarity with the location of the apparition.
The farther the distance, the less proficient the user
, and the louder the crackling sound, the stronger the oppressive feeling.
These house-elves, being frequent Apparition users and very familiar with the locations, could do this without any surprise.
After the elves left, Basil changed his clothes and went to the pile of bundles beside the bed.
In his past life, having become an orphan at a young age, he had hardly ever experienced such a festive atmosphere.
It wasn't until he grew up and found a girlfriend that he was no longer lonely.
But waking up after Christmas Eve, instead of clothes, crumpled papers, and a used umbrella scattered around the corner of his bed ,
he found a pile of gifts.
The feeling was truly peculiar.
"Merry Christmas,"
a voice suddenly sounded in his ear.
It was Harry.
He groped his way out of bed and put on his dressing gown.
"Merry Christmas to you too," Basil said, picking up a bulging paper package.
Inside was a thick, black, hand-knitted sweater with the letter B on it. There was also a large box of homemade fudge.
"I didn't expect to receive this too."
Clearly, this was a Weasley gift—the legendary Weasley sweater.
"What's this?" Harry asked.
He had just opened a package addressed to "Basil to Harry."
Inside was a black top hat.
But he didn't believe Basil's gift would be so simple.
"A headless hat, which makes the wearer's head disappear (along with the hat)," Basil replied.
These are products from the Weasley Trick Shop.
In fact, he specifically gifted several prank props—the [Trick Wand], the [Punching Telescope], and the [Edible Dark Mark]—to the Weasley twins, and also included Ron as a gift. This
was intended to stimulate the twins' creative inspiration, encouraging them to produce even more interesting products in the future.
As for the origin of these props, Basil fabricated a story.
He said they were inventions of his distant uncle, who was killed by the Death Eaters,
and were among the inventory his uncle was preparing to stock up for his shop.
If his uncle wasn't dead, he was planning to open a joke shop, selling prank props.
However, the money wasn't Basil's own;
he'd withdrawn it directly from the Lestrange family's vault.
The same went for Hermione and Old Tom's gifts.
From now on, he wasn't going to spend his own money.
"Maybe... Basil, come look!" The headless Harry waved a piece of parchment, next to something liquid-like, silvery-gray.
That must be the Invisibility Cloak, one of the Deathly Hallows.
But Basil had no intention of engraving it.
A Ravenclaw tiara made into a Horcrux cost 10,000.
The Philosopher's Stone and the Elder Wand, Basil had tried, costing 20,000 and 27,000 respectively.
This was definitely an expensive prop he couldn't engrave right now.
If he really needed it, he could just borrow it from Harry.
And as long as Harry was at Hogwarts, he could use it anytime.
Just like he could use his spatial manipulation to transfer the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's pocket to his own.
Despite his thoughts, he couldn't help but wink at the Invisibility Cloak.
[Obtained photo of the Deathly Hallows - Invisibility Cloak. Want to spend 30,000 gems to create a summoning card?]
"Damn! Thirty thousand! More expensive than the Elder Wand!"
Basil suppressed his frustration and walked to Harry's side.
The headless Harry handed him the parchment.
It read:
[Your father left this to me before he died. Now it should be returned to you. Use it well. Merry Christmas!]
There was no signature.
Harry's excited voice rang out again: "Look at this handwriting, thin and long, with circles inside circles! The handwriting in the package you received before was the same! The format and tone are almost the same! Maybe the person who gave me my father's keepsake and the person who gave you your father's keepsake are the same person!"
"Ah, yes, yes, yes." Basil nodded.
But what he was thinking was, "It seems the original diary is doomed."
His time with Riddle these past few days, and his observations of Dumbledore,
had made Dumbledore's image more vivid in his mind.
Riddle also said, "Dumbledore won't force Harry to stop Voldemort from stealing the Philosopher's Stone. But Dumbledore will do everything he can to let Harry know what he needs to know."
Therefore, the appearance of the Mirror of Erised and the conversation between Dumbledore and Harry were inevitable.
This was to understand Harry's inner thoughts, to let Harry know about the mirror in advance. In the timeline after his influence, Dumbledore might even directly talk to Harry about the Philosopher's Stone.
Basil couldn't stop this unless he exposed his control over Hogwarts.
Even if he prevented Harry from going out at night, that is, not using the Invisibility Cloak properly
, perhaps one day Harry would be taken to the room with the Mirror of Erised by the erratic stairs on his way to dinner.
Lucius Malfoy's embellishment—the handwriting on the note and the tone of his speech all imitated Dumbledore's.
After Harry met with Dumbledore and learned the origin of the Invisibility Cloak note, the diary would inevitably be exposed.
Thus, showing the diary to Dumbledore and then destroying it was already destined.
However, while the Riddle in the card didn't reveal his identity to the original Riddle in the diary,
what if the original Riddle noticed?
Dumbledore would definitely exchange a few words with him when he destroyed it.
Therefore, the original diary needed to be destroyed.
A suitable plan that would be acceptable to Dumbledore was needed.
Being controlled and then taken to the Chamber of Secrets, then using plants to break free of control, with the diary being bitten through by the basilisk—this plan seemed quite suitable.
And the witness to all this,
Basil, looked up and said softly, "Harry, I recently discovered a secret passage."
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(End of Chapter)