At that moment, Basil was breaking into Safe House Seven, left behind by Voldemort.
Seven—the number Voldemort was most obsessed with and believed to possess the greatest magical power.
His original plan had also been to create seven Horcruxes.
What would Safe House Seven be like?
So, after meeting Quirrell, even though Transfiguration Class came right after,
Basil still did not have the patience to wait.
He Apparated directly before Slytherin's Statue and called for Lyle.
He had Lyle deliver his Diary to that safe house.
Meanwhile, he projected part of his attention into the Diary.
As for Summoning Cards, although Basil did not possess the same extraordinary control over the creatures and item cards within them as he did over plant cards,
he could still project his consciousness into them and experience things firsthand.
Just like when he had replicated Harry's inner fear before: he had merged with the Boggart, read the image of fear through its eyes, and planted it in Harry's mind.
At present, although he was attending Transfiguration Class,
his consciousness—another version of himself—seemed to spin in place with the House-elf Lyle, Apparating away from before Slytherin's Statue.
The sensation was extraordinarily peculiar.
He did not know how a House-elf's Apparition differed from a wizard's.
Perhaps it was because the Apparition distance was too great.
Before reappearing—
that was, during the stage between vanishing from one place—Apparating—and appearing somewhere else—reappearing—the sensation was incredibly strange.
Everything around him turned pitch-black, while intense pressure squeezed him from every direction—above, below, left, right, front, and back.
He could not breathe.
It felt as though several iron hoops were tightly cinched around his chest, his eyeballs were being forced back into his skull, and his eardrums were being pressed deep into his head.
Though the feeling lasted only an instant, it seemed as if an entire century had passed.
It was an intense test of both mind and body.
He wondered whether it would become less unpleasant after gaining proficiency—or whether a wizard's Apparition was simply not this uncomfortable.
Then what came into view was a narrow, cramped little room.
The walls were inlaid with green gemstones that glimmered with a cold light.
Magic had been cast upon the ceiling.
He could clearly see the scene above—the dark, deep riverbed, covered in aquatic plants.
Patches of snow-white gravel dotted it.
Judging by the Scottish salmon swimming along the riverbed from time to time, they should still be in Scotland.
This lake connected to the sea.
And the eels here were enormous, each seven to eight meters long.
Once, in order to impress a British backpacker girl traveling in China,
he had specifically looked up the famous attractions near her home.
So this was Loch Ness?
Under normal circumstances, eels would leave Loch Ness at around ten years old and head for the Atlantic and Florida, where they would mate, lay eggs, and quietly grow old.
But because there were no natural predators in the lake,
a large number of eels would defy their instincts and remain here.
Combined with the low water temperature and their reduced activity, they would grow larger and larger.
The Loch Ness Monster was actually just the giant eels here.
Of course, that was what Muggles—or rather, people from his Previous Life—said.
In reality, this was no secret in the magical world.
The Loch Ness Monster was actually the world's largest kelpie.
Kelpies were shapeshifting water monsters found in Britain and Ireland.
Although they could take all sorts of forms, their most common appearance was that of a horse, with broad-leaved rushes draped over themselves as a mane. They lured careless people onto their backs, then plunged into the depths of a river or lake, devoured them ravenously, and let their internal organs float to the surface.
The one in Loch Ness, however, preferred the form of a sea serpent.
When wizard observers from the International Confederation of Wizards saw the creature turn into an otter as it approached a group of Muggle investigators, then change back into a sea serpent after everyone had left, they confirmed its identity—a kelpie.
The Misinformation Office worked hard to convince Muggles that all photographic evidence of the "Loch Ness Monster" was fake.
So, in this world,
the Loch Ness Monster was not considered a giant eel.
It was merely a sensationalized spectacle.
"So, you want to create a new Summoning Card? A kelpie?" Riddle, emerging from the Diary, spoke to Basil in his mind.
While Basil had been thinking just now, Riddle had taken the opportunity to deal with the traps Voldemort had left behind.
Those glowing green gemstones.
If the visitor had not been a House-elf, Voldemort himself, or someone upon whom he had placed a counter-curse,
the light would have transformed into threads and burrowed into the intruder's body.
It would control the intruder and send a message to the creator of the magical trap.
But Riddle had come.
He was practically the same person as Voldemort.
So he had merely cast Lumos. Once their magical signatures matched, the trap automatically subsided.
Meanwhile, Basil, who was guiding Ron through the key points of Transfiguration, replied in his mind, "Of course. This is the world's largest kelpie. The creature summoned by a Summoning Card is the original template engraved upon it. That way, the kelpie I summon will also be the largest and most imposing. Not to mention it can be upgraded later!"
After Riddle's guidance had enlightened him to the true nature of cards, he could now take pictures through his summons' eyes.
"But check the safe house first. I wonder what treasures are inside?" Basil rubbed his hands together eagerly.
"Mr. Granger, what are you doing?" Professor McGonagall, who felt somewhat uncomfortable that Basil had not sought her out, picked a quarrel with him.
"Professor, Basil is teaching me Transfiguration," Ron hurriedly explained. "He added an extra step to the casting procedure you taught us: before casting, silently repeat the desired transformation three times. It increases the success rate of Transfiguration."
"That is indeed a good method." Professor McGonagall nodded. "But in a duel, no one will wait for you to repeat it three times. This is merely an exam-taking technique. Once you succeed, I suggest gradually reducing the number of repetitions. Five points to Gryffindor!"
She paused again. "However, that was not what I was asking about. I meant Mr. Granger's strange movements."
Damn it! Are you picking a fight?
Basil's eyes darted around as he came up with an excuse. "This is how I concentrate. Rubbing my hands warms my palms. Then I sense the subtle changes in them."
"Oh?" McGonagall pursed her lips. "Have you read books from the School of Philosophical Thinking?"
"What is the School of Philosophical Thinking?" Basil asked in surprise.
Had he accidentally stumbled onto the right answer?
The students practicing around them all stopped moving.
They looked at Professor McGonagall with curiosity.
Professor McGonagall glanced around and said helplessly, "I had not intended to mention it. This school's theories are far too fanciful. Or rather, they may lead you astray."
"The founder of this school, Benjamin Modern, believed that the best way for wizards to strengthen themselves was to look inward. He claimed that every wizard was a strong person who determined what the world was like through the self, rather than a weak person who needed to study theories and knowledge and observe what the world was like."
"Wizards only needed to spend their days resting with their eyes closed, using perception to detect the subtle changes within themselves. If they persisted, all kinds of supernatural abilities would naturally emerge."
"Is that true?" Ron eagerly raised his right hand.
Seamus and Neville, nearby, also wore eager expressions.
Professor McGonagall shook her head. "This school was popular in Yorkshire during the seventeenth century. Even its most outstanding members merely mastered the Levitation Charm without needing a wand, incantation, or gesture—meaning without any casting medium or casting movement. Their leader's most impressive method was only condensing a fireball in his palm out of thin air."
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