In the game, there was a term called a hoarder.
It meant stockpiling resources like a squirrel and using them at critical moments.
Basil was that kind of person too.
So he held himself back from checking Hagrid's newly obtained data and the Echo that required gems to activate.
For now, he did not look at it.
Just like Harry, Neville, Ron, and Malfoy.
With a smile on his face, he followed Hagrid down a narrow path and through the pitch-black woods.
At last, they arrived before a dark lake.
On the high slope across the lake stood a majestic castle, its spires rising in clusters, its windows glittering beneath the stars.
"That's Hogwarts!" Basil murmured dreamily.
In his mind, color suddenly filled that gray-white, motionless fortress.
Time seemed to come to a standstill.
His body vanished from where it stood.
He appeared in the small world within his mind, made up of Hogwarts Castle, mountains, the lake, the docks, the Quidditch Pitch, and the Forbidden Forest.
It slowly began to expand.
Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and London emerged at the edges of the illusion.
Only now did he realize that the world in his mind was a real small world.
And now, the two worlds began to overlap.
Ding-dong! Personal information panel updated New identity: Hogwarts Preparatory Student (20 gems issued daily) Bzzzt, bzzzt. Beginning self-check Achievement Component missing. Library Component missing. Arena Component missing. Dance Component missing. Homework Component missing Forbidden Forest Component missing. Historical Corridor vanished The Grimoire Component's sole Connect Parallel Worlds function changed to Adjacent World Travel Hogsmeade. Diagon Alley. London unactivated
As the two worlds overlapped, Basil returned to where he had been.
At the same time, an enormous stream of information flooded into his mind.
In the game, the main Golden Finger of players who had transmigrated was the Grimoire.
Moreover, in the Harry Potter world each of them had transmigrated into, they were the only transmigrator.
All socializing, dueling, teaming up, and forming clubs between players relied on it.
The Historical Corridor was a projection of the future created by the Grimoire. It used the transmigrator's time-space talent to gather the temporal turbulence produced after Time-Thieves destroyed a whole pile of Time-Turners in the Forbidden Forest.
The Echoes in the game were obtained by fighting in those projections.
Connect Parallel Worlds meant exactly what it sounded like: after becoming friends with another player and receiving permission, one could travel to that player's world.
And Adjacent World Travel now—
Relied on the similarity between worlds and the attraction between the System and its missing System Components to travel between them.
He had received this information before. It required 30,000 gems.
Now, he simply understood the cause and effect, along with its official name.
As for activating Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, and London, he probably had to reach those places in person first.
He had previously gone to London and Diagon Alley without activating them.
That was because the Hogwarts in his mind had not yet formally merged with the Hogwarts of this world.
And after the merger, the Hogwarts in his mind had not disappeared.
Its phantom remained.
So now, with a single thought, Basil—or his spells—could appear anywhere in Hogwarts.
He could go dance in the Potions professor's office, or pick his toes in the headmaster's office.
Standing here, he could directly cast Scourgify on the back of Quirrell's head in the Great Hall.
The quick map in the upper-right corner of the game had merged with the entire castle in a simpler form.
He could zoom in to inspect every building in Hogwarts.
That included, but was not limited to, bathrooms and the girls' dormitory.
That meant the Magical Plants in Professor Sprout's greenhouse had completely opened their doors to him as well.
He could blink and "take pictures" to create Summoning Cards.
If the Forbidden Forest Component had not been lost, he could have collected materials for Fantastic Beasts the same way.
This was no fantasy.
The current Hogwarts could already be considered one with Basil.
He was Hogwarts.
Even if his physical body died.
His soul would not go to the afterlife.
As long as he spent an equivalent number of gems, he could revive anywhere in Hogwarts.
If he died in another world, he would also have to pay an additional cross-world fee of 100 gems.
Why the hell should I fear Voldemort now? Basil could not help thinking.
He lightly reached into the air with his right hand, and the red Philosopher's Stone appeared in his palm.
He stuffed it into his pocket, and in the next second it returned to its original place.
Now, he suddenly wanted to run to the headmaster's office and tell Dumbledore, "I'm the real headmaster!"
"Duck!" Hagrid's roar jolted Basil out of his immersion in the Hogwarts inside his mind.
Without realizing it, he had already boarded one of the small boats, propelled by magic as it slowly moved forward.
Together with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
Since each boat could only hold four people, Neville had voluntarily found another boat.
The boat ahead of them had already drawn close to the cliff.
It was about to pass through the curtain of ivy covering the cliff face, enter the dark tunnel, and head for the docks beneath the castle.
However, Basil, who was still behind them, could see everything around him clearly.
The light from the castle reflected off the lake, so the surroundings were not completely dark.
Basil also noticed the only boat carrying three people.
Draco Malfoy sat in it with Crabbe and Goyle.
Basil guessed it was more likely because of the weight of those two chubby boys.
"Basil, that awful Malfoy is staring at you!" Hermione wrinkled her nose.
"No," Basil said, quite surprised. "He's looking at Harry."
Harry and Ron paid no attention.
They were both immersed in the solemn atmosphere of heading to Hogwarts.
Basil narrowed his eyes. He was in a good mood and needed something to add to the fun.
"Betrayal! This is shameless betrayal!" Draco glared fiercely at the bespectacled boy.
He had met him first.
Yet Harry Potter had chosen someone else.
A pure-blood traitor, Weasley; the shame of pure-bloods, Neville Lumbaton, who was even more like a Squib; and a branch of the Granger family.
Had the Malfoys really declined?
In just one summer.
Everything had changed.
His family no longer held a seat on the Hogwarts board of governors.
Several of their shops had been raided and confiscated under fabricated excuses.
Even Goyle seemed to have become a little disobedient.
Without Draco's permission, he had reached for that pile of snacks.
No, this isn't real! Malfoy roared inwardly.
Completely unaware that the vines on the cliff face were slowly moving toward him.
Splash!
Inside the pitch-black tunnel, Hagrid held up his lantern and looked back.
"Who fell into the water?!"
Screams rang out without end.
They drowned out Crabbe and Goyle's voices.
At the bottom of the deep lake, a huge tentacle wrapped around Malfoy's body.
It passed directly over boat after boat and lifted him before Hagrid.
Without thinking too much, Hagrid took off his moleskin coat and wrapped it around Malfoy.
But the coat was far too large on Malfoy, making him look as though he were covered by a black circus fur tent.
His sharp, thin face poked out above the collar, filled with terror.
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