Ron's Goal

At the thought that his money would be wasted on someone like Lockhart,

Basil, who had only recently escaped poverty by selling unicorn tail hair and Gillyweed sap, felt deeply pained.

He suddenly remembered that he had another goal for this school year: expose Lockhart's true nature!

Ron reached a resolution for the same reason.

But his goal differed from Basil's.

"I've decided! I'm going to make sure Professor Quirrell gets through this school year safely!"

"I'll make him the longest-serving Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!"

Hermione, who still somewhat wanted Lockhart to take the position, poured cold water on the idea. "You've decided? Even Dumbledore can't do anything about it. What can you decide?"

Then she saw Ron looking at Basil with hopeful eyes.

Basil spread his hands. "I can't do anything either. How about this? I'll give you a suggestion. I've heard a rumor. Although everything Lockhart writes about in his books really did happen, and it all matches his personal travel routes, after he leaves each place, a wizard with missing memories and a dazed expression appears there."

"You mean the stories in Lockhart's books all came from other people?" Harry was utterly shocked.

Hermione was just as shocked. She did not fly into hysterics at the first hint of doubt cast upon Lockhart, as she had in the original story.

Perhaps it was because she had not read Lockhart's books yet, and because Basil was the one saying it.

Ron rubbed his hands excitedly. "If that's true, haha! I'll investigate it properly!"

"How are you going to investigate? You're at school," Hermione asked curiously.

Because she noticed that neither Harry nor Basil seemed particularly surprised by Ron's words.

It was as though Ron really could investigate this information while staying at school.

Ron merely gave a mysterious smile. "Lockhart has more fans than you think."

At the same time, he muttered inwardly, My mum is one of them. Some of them even know what underwear Lockhart wore to bed last night. As long as I know where to look, all that's left is the investigation.

"What exactly is going on?" Seeing that Ron was unwilling to say more, Hermione turned her gaze on Basil again.

"Have you heard of the Six Degrees of Separation Theory?" Basil asked with feigned profundity.

Because Riddle, far away in the secret chamber beneath Loch Ness, was sending him information.

He was preparing to find a theory authoritative enough in Hermione's eyes to fool her.

"You've heard of Harvard University, right?"

"Mhm. It's one of the very best schools." Hermione's ears practically perked up.

"This theory was proposed decades ago by Stanley Milgram, a famous psychologist at Harvard University. Simply put, there are no more than six people separating you from any stranger. In other words, through at most six people, you can get to know any stranger."

Basil directly explained the theory.

Because so long as the speaker seemed authoritative enough, Hermione would always persuade herself to accept theories that sounded utterly fantastical.

And, as expected, Hermione readily accepted it and began thinking seriously.

"And the distance between Ron and Lockhart is obviously nowhere near six people. Lockhart was an outstanding Ravenclaw graduate. There are so few British wizards, too. Someone Ron knows well might even be among his fans!"

Basil nodded.

At the same time, he replied to Riddle in his mind.

"You can begin over there."

Inside a luxurious room whose ceiling and walls were inlaid with emeralds, connected by flowing mercury, with an enormous mercury pool and a serpent statue,

Riddle replied, "My lord, please take a look. This room is the most valuable part of Safe House Number Seven."

"The flowing mercury and emeralds form a Magic Circle, linking the entire safe house's magnetic field with Loch Ness. It makes the safe house blend into its surroundings, making traces of magic very difficult to detect."

"It also serves as the power source for the magical traps within the safe house."

"The mercury pool has also absorbed the essence of water. Any verified wizard who enters it can have bodily injuries and mental exhaustion healed and dispelled."

"So," Basil's face darkened, "there's no cash here."

"Yes." Riddle nodded. "Would Voldemort need Galleons to buy things?"

"What about that horse-shaped lake monster?"

"It has never appeared."

October quickly drew to a close.

That was, Halloween Eve.

Today was Thursday.

Basil woke early that morning and smelled the sickeningly sweet scent of pumpkin.

And this was in a tower.

Even now, he still could not understand why Hogwarts' menu contained so many pumpkin-based dishes.

Pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, Pumpkin Juice.

Even now, he still could not accept it.

He had faced Voldemort at considerable "risk," only to receive a House-elf wholly loyal to him and a piece of property.

And he could only use that property until fourth year.

That was, if Voldemort had not been resurrected by then.

During Charms that day, Professor Flitwick announced that they would be learning the Levitation Charm.

The other students were immensely excited.

Ever since seeing Professor Flitwick make Neville's toad Trevor fly all over the classroom, they had been eagerly waiting to try the skill themselves.

But Basil had not.

A mere Levitation Charm? He had mastered it ages ago.

His current priority was the Killing Curse.

It was not that he had not considered using the bargain-bin Voldemort from the Boggart, or directly experiencing Youthful Voldemort casting the Killing Curse, to get started.

But Riddle had warned him that during the beginner stage, it was best to rely entirely on himself.

The entire framework of the spell had to be his own.

It was like laying a foundation.

A foundation laid entirely by oneself would be flat and level.

But a foundation laid under another person's influence would have an imperceptible tilt.

Once the spell advanced into its most profound realms, that "tilt" would become especially obvious.

So even now, his Killing Curse had not truly reached the beginner stage.

He could only release a streak of green light that could barely kill someone.

But that was only because his magic was so strong.

If an ordinary young wizard with a magic level between three and five cast it instead,

the green light would at most give someone a nosebleed.

That was why he had not chosen to make Spell Cards with a Killing Curse at that level.

Riddle said it was a matter of mentality.

It was not that killing someone would let you learn the Killing Curse.

Rather, one had to possess genuine Killing Intent, without hesitation or doubt, utterly committed to it, to truly enter the spell's beginner stage.

That was also why it was classified as an Unforgivable Curse.

Without exception, those who could successfully cast it were rotten to the core in the truest sense.

Basil had once been puzzled by this. "What about a Killing Curse driven by hatred or a sense of justice? I remember that during the First Wizarding War, Aurors were allowed to use the Killing Curse."

At the time, Riddle shook his head. "This spell can corrupt a person's soul. Its true terror isn't learning or casting it, but the shift in one's values and mind after successfully killing someone. And then the high-quality, powerful magic that comes after that shift. A righteous soul using it will only create mental chaos. Mad-Eye is probably so mad because of this spell's influence."

Even though there was no break, I should release another saved chapter.

I had originally planned to save it as backup for maintaining daily updates after going premium, with the occasional small burst.

But I did get promoted after all, and several people gave monthly votes yesterday.