Basil was utterly speechless.
Harry still believed Ron's explanation.
Stammering and looking pitiful, Quirrell really was difficult to suspect.
For the rest of the time, Basil dealt with Hermione's boring attempts at conversation, which were almost entirely about book knowledge.
At the same time, he scooped up ice cream with a golden spoon.
Unfortunately, he could not steal the golden spoon and sell it for money. He had asked Ron about it.
How unfair. The whole school was clearly his!
Meanwhile, he examined the layout of the entire Hogwarts in his mind.
Unlike in the game, none of the rooms were labeled.
He had to mark them himself.
So he could only guess based on their interiors.
Among them, the Headmaster's office was the easiest to identify: the densely packed portraits covering the ceiling and walls, Phoenix Fawkes resting on a golden branch, and those exquisite silver instruments giving off mist.
Click. Basil blinked.
He took a moving picture of the phoenix.
The -10000 prompt made him give up on the idea of making a Phoenix Summoning Card.
He shifted his attention to the gargoyle at the entrance to the Headmaster's office.
It had bat-like wings and a pointed beak.
Basil frowned.
In his Previous Life, a nun he had dated, who believed in Catholicism, had a similar statue outside her family's courtyard house.
His gaze shifted to Hermione.
In the West, students with excellent grades often had some knowledge of theology as well.
So, he briefly described the statue to Hermione, the top student from a Muggle family.
Hermione immediately guessed it. "It's a Gorgon. It's considered a monster that collects rainwater and serves as a guard in the underworld,
so it is placed on the rooftops or gutter outlets of churches in Gothic architecture."
"The reason it was made to look terrifying was, on one hand, to warn nonbelievers: if they did not believe in religion, they would be eaten by monsters. On the other hand, it was meant to drive evil spirits out of churches. So naturally, the more frightening the monster looked, the better it was for exorcising evil."
Ron, who had been badmouthing Percy with Harry nearby, leaned over at that moment.
"Galloping Gorgons!"
"The Muggle World uses that too?"
"We use it more when insulting people or expressing surprise. As an insult, it means ugly freak."
"You didn't know, Basil?"
Basil coughed. "I've never heard a single curse word."
In fact, that was true.
His grandmother had never allowed such filthy words to reach his ears.
Even when he went to Diagon Alley, the people in the Leaky Cauldron became civilized whenever they saw him appear.
Even those drunken old drunks.
He had learned the filthy word Mudblood from memories of his Previous Life.
His eyes grew moist.
For the first time, he truly felt what it meant to be cared for.
The seven Galleons that had belonged to old Tom suddenly grew hot in his pocket.
After collecting himself,
he lowered his head and returned his gaze to the Hogwarts in his mind.
Starting from the Great Hall, where he currently was,
he found another pair of gargoyles before the door to a large room not far away, also on the first floor. The room was paneled with wood, filled with black wooden chairs, and had a large wardrobe.
Inside the wardrobe was a strange creature that seemed to be made of flowing black vapor.
Click!
Gems: 13554.271 (-500) Fantastic Beasts: Boggart Level: 1 Magic Power Cost: 3 Summon a Boggart. When a single enemy unit appears within a 2-meter radius in front of you, the Boggart will transform into the form that unit fears most. Absorbs overflowing negative emotions. Health: 0 Weaknesses: Laughter, positive emotions, spells containing positive emotions Note: Boggarts are a type of non-being Magical Creature. They are born from human emotions and feed on them. They themselves transcend life and death. Muggles can only indirectly perceive all currently known non-beings. Because non-beings transcend life and death, they are neither born nor do they die. Nor can they truly be destroyed; they can only be driven away with positive emotions or spells containing positive emotions. Maximum Capture: 1 Note: Too many intelligent life forms within range will confuse a Boggart, leaving it unsure what form to take. Transformation Form Library: 0 (Maximum 10) Damage: 0–10 Note: A Boggart's nature causes it to absorb the portion of negative emotions that might inflict damage on an enemy unit beyond the threshold their body can withstand. Therefore, enemy units will not suffer physical harm from negative emotions. Unless the form feared by the enemy unit is too dangerous and possesses active aggression, in which case it will deal numerical damage of 10 or less, including 10, based on that form. Grimoire Level: Level 2 (1000/400)
"Non-being? In Japan, it would probably count as a god."
"It was mentioned in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Boggarts like cramped, dark spaces, such as wardrobes, gaps beneath beds, sinks, and storage cupboards under desks. But judging by the card description, it actually isn't afraid of light? It just dislikes it."
"But even so, this is still a useless card."
"Transformation Form Library? Can the Boggart I summon through the card imprint other people's feared forms?"
"But I remember the book saying that their transformations cannot perfectly imitate the same power or magic. For example, a Boggart that turns into a Dementor cannot cause powerful negative effects in people, and a Boggart that turns into a banshee cannot make a lethal scream."
"Mm, the 0–10 note below explains it."
"Still, if someone had seen Voldemort and feared him most... would a Voldemort with 10 damage be enough?"
"And more importantly, damage isn't what matters. What matters about Magical Creatures is their special abilities."
"A Boggart can reproduce part of their power."
"This is practically a god-tier card."
"One card covering multiple Summoning Cards and Partner Cards."
"Wait. Voldemort."
"Harry has never seen a Dementor. Could the form he fears be Voldemort?"
Basil looked at Harry, who was wolfing down treacle tart.
Harry, danger!
He spoke up. "Harry, what do you think is beneath Professor Quirrell's turban?"
Harry looked at Quirrell's purple turban.
At that instant, the Grimoire in Basil's mind turned a page. The Boggart lit up and, following Basil's gaze, projected its power onto Harry.
A true hero killed with his eyes!
Harry suddenly went pale. The scene born from the deepest fear in his heart, conjured by the Boggart, was injected into his mind along with Basil's gaze.
That monster told his mother to move aside, then stepped over his father's corpse and walked toward him.
His mother did not move. She begged for mercy.
The monster laughed.
As green light shot toward her, his mother shouted his name, then collapsed for no reason.
The green light rebounded, and what appeared before his eyes was a bald monster with crimson snake eyes, no nose save for slit-like nostrils, and pearl-white skin tone.
In full view of everyone, Harry stood up.
He pointed at the back of Quirrell's head and blurted out that magically charged name: "Voldemort!"
Then he fainted onto the floor.
In Basil's mind, the Boggart's page suddenly updated.
Voldemort (False) Health: 0 Lets out an "eh-he-he" laugh, then casts a 10-damage Killing Curse with a yew wand (False)
Then it returned to normal.
Only the number after the Transformation Form Library entry had changed to 1.
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