Interlude

In Cyberlina's Room of Requirement, Harry sat in a chair with his toes touching the floor, leaning sideways as he curiously poked at the unfamiliar plant behind him. Snape, sitting beside him, then pulled his arm back. Harry turned and saw Snape glaring at him with tightly pursed lips.

--Don't touch things carelessly!

Harry read the meaning in his expression, pouted, and pulled his arm from Snape's grip. He did not touch the magical plant again, instead turning to sit properly and looking toward Cyberlina and Dumbledore, who sat at the same long table, facing each other in silence.

Because Cyberlina had suppressed the Basilisk so quickly, it was not very late by the time the four of them left the Chamber of Secrets. The brief understanding Dumbledore and Cyberlina had reached in the Chamber had fallen apart, beginning a new round of disagreement—whether Harry should return to his dormitory.

Dumbledore: "I think we should let him meet our old friend."

Cyberlina: "Your old friend, not mine... And it doesn't necessarily have to be today."

Dumbledore: "Sooner or later, this day will come. Didn't you say earlier was better?"

Cyberlina: "Don't confuse two different matters, Albus."

"So this way everything has to go according to your wishes." Dumbledore sighed. "Don't be so stubborn, Cyber."

"Albus, aren't you also trying to make me listen to you?" Cyberlina smiled. "The reason everything can go according to my wishes is that I'm right."

The two of them traded words in the bathroom while Harry and Snape stood side by side at the door, watching them argue.

When Myrtle returned from Nick's birthday party and saw this scene, she immediately raised her brows, crying and cursing all at once. But after recognizing who the people arguing inside were, she fell silent and quietly floated away from her home, wondering where else she could visit. Although she did not know Cyberlina, her name had filled the party that day. Nick said she would cut ghosts open for experiments, though unfortunately she had not come to cut open his barely connected neck. Peeves said he had once nearly been sucked into a bottle by this person and placed on a shelf among other beings like him. The ghosts of the Headless Hunt loudly said that she had once hidden the entire team's heads, leaving them unable to find them.

Snape listened patiently as the two of them carried on their pointless conversation—because tonight, he had obtained one Basilisk venomous fang, five of its other teeth, three bottles of Basilisk blood, one bottle of Basilisk saliva, and a small piece of the Basilisk's enormous eye.

And a Basilisk that big could still be harvested for more.

The key was right beside him, after all.

Snape looked at Harry. Noticing his conflicted expression, he magnanimously spoke up for him: "The two of you seem to be discussing Mr. Potter's affairs, unless I've gone deaf. So why not ask little Mr. Potter what he thinks?"

Dumbledore and Cyberlina stopped talking and looked at Snape at the same time. The former was surprised, while the latter chuckled. Then they both lowered their heads and looked at Harry.

"Well, dear little Harry, do you want to meet the 'old friend' Albus mentioned?" Cyberlina asked with a beaming smile, speaking before Dumbledore could.

"I need to know who that friend is first," Harry said honestly. "Otherwise, I won't know the answer."

Cyberlina kept smiling and raised her brows at Dumbledore: Go on, tell him.

Dumbledore: "..."

How was he supposed to explain it? Say that the so-called "old friend" was Voldemort, the man who had killed Harry's parents and tried to kill him a few months ago?

He had been wrong. He should not have used that term.

No, he should have cast a Silencing Charm on her before Cyberlina asked.

As the group fell silent, Snape said expressionlessly, "The one currently inside that bag." He paused, but still could not resist adding, "I truly don't know how the two of you managed to live this long. Did you drag it out through procrastination? It seems our young savior does have some redeeming qualities after all. Not thinking too much at least keeps him from wasting time."

Harry's emotion, which had only just begun to rise before he had figured out what it was, abruptly sank. He pursed his lips and looked up at Snape. "Professor Snape, thank you for the compliment, but please don't compliment me next time."

Without waiting for Snape to react, he turned back and looked seriously at Cyberlina. "Senior, I want to meet him. I faced him last year, and I won't be afraid this year either."

Dumbledore looked gratified, secretly relieved that Harry had not cared about the way he had referred to that person.

"All right." Cyberlina ruffled Harry's unruly hair, then put an arm around his shoulders. "Then let's head to the headmaster's office!"

Dumbledore: "...? Why the headmaster's office?"

"Isn't it the headmaster's office?"

"If we go to the headmaster's office, he won't come out."

"He still won't come out if we force him with the Fiendfyre Curse?"

"..." Dumbledore glared at Cyberlina. "You want to set fire to my office?"

Cyberlina tilted her head toward him, her face completely innocent. "Then you choose a spell."

Dumbledore stared at Cyberlina for several seconds before smiling. "I choose the Room of Requirement."

Cyberlina: "?"

"The room you used to live in when you were a student." Dumbledore suddenly seemed to remember something and lifted his head. "Oh, do you still go there often? I heard you hardly ever stay in the Slytherin dormitory. Technically, I should deduct points from you."

Cyberlina: "... I don't go there that often."

"True. Last time, you were in the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night."

Cyberlina: "..."

On the other side, Harry had already been listening in a daze. He stared wide-eyed at Dumbledore, then watched as the old man stroked his beard, lowered his head, and muttered, "You still haven't let me try any of your newly mixed drinks."

Cyberlina looked at Snape. Snape looked back without the slightest trace of guilt, shrugged and spread his hands, then raised his brows and pursed his lips toward her, clearly saying: You knew I'd report it, didn't you?

Seeing the smugness in Snape's eyes, Cyberlina found it amusing. Then she looked at Dumbledore's feigned, aggrieved expression and finally broke into laughter.

She had not seen Dumbledore like this in many years. Ever since he had grown out of his youth, he had hardly ever put on this aggrieved, sullen expression in front of her again. He had, however, complained about her to Omi several times while wearing that same look.

Dumbledore was doing it deliberately—it was obvious.

After all, he made no attempt to hide his desire to enter her Room of Requirement. He even looked as though he would throw a tantrum and roll on the floor if necessary to get inside. Cyberlina could not guess what he wanted to verify there, but she felt she ought to agree. Otherwise, she really would be letting down the white-bearded old man who had put on such an awkward act in front of the two children.

"All right, Albus, since you insist." Cyberlina put an arm around Harry's shoulders. "Though that means little Harry will suffer."

"Me?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Yes. Poor you—you won't be able to figure out how to enter the Room of Requirement on your own, so you'll miss out on one of the joys of studying at Hogwarts." Cyberlina looked regretful as she led Harry toward the Seventh Floor. "Just like me. Professor Weasley told me about it back then."

"Weasley?"

"Yes, the Weasley who is your friend."

"Oh, she must have been a very kind professor." Dumbledore followed them. "She was the Gryffindor Head of House at the time, as well as deputy headmistress."

"Just like Professor McGonagall!"

"Yes, just like Professor McGonagall." Dumbledore smiled. "They were both professors of Transfiguration, too."

"A classic combination." Cyberlina teased him.

The three of them talked in front while Snape followed behind, listening as he went. The four soon arrived unhurriedly before the tapestry of a troll on the Seventh Floor.

In fact, Dumbledore and Cyberlina had still been talking when they first entered the Room of Requirement. But after Cyberlina led the three of them into a room with a long table and sat down, she and Dumbledore fell silent and took out the contents of the black cloth bag—a black notebook.

Harry and Snape were both astonished. Wasn't it supposed to be Voldemort?

Cyberlina first suspended the notebook above her palm and examined it carefully. Later, it ended up in Dumbledore's hands, and the two of them scrutinized it with equal intensity, though no one knew what they were looking for. Waiting quietly was always boring, so Harry, bored, was drawn to the unfamiliar plant behind him. Snape then yanked him back.

"How is it?" Cyberlina asked, her arms folded on the table as she questioned Dumbledore across from her. "He can't hear us, can he?"

"No. He is sealed inside, like someone locked in a house with no door and its windows shut as well." Dumbledore placed the notebook between them. "He needs someone to open a window for him."

Cyberlina tilted her head and waved to Harry. Harry immediately moved his chair over and sat down beside her. Cyberlina placed the notebook in front of him, then flicked her hand and produced a quill from thin air, handing it to him.

Harry took the quill, pulled the notebook closer, and discovered that it was a diary. The faded date on the cover showed that it was fifty years old. When he opened it, Harry could see only a blurred name on the first page—T.M. Riddle. Every page after that was blank.

Harry glanced at the quill in his hand and asked Cyberlina, "What do you need me to write?"

"Anything."

"Anything?" Harry thought for a moment, then wrote—

"October 31, 1992, Saturday night."

Just as Harry lifted his quill and wondered what to write next, another line miraculously appeared on the notebook—

[Halloween. What a wonderful day. Strange things tend to happen easily on this day. What did you encounter at the feast?]

Harry: "!!!"

Harry stared at Cyberlina in shock. Cyberlina shook her head, signaling for him to continue.

Harry pursed his lips and continued writing—

"Who are you? Where are you? How are you writing in this notebook???"

[You... Ah, I understand. I should have realized from your handwriting... Hello, young wizard. My name is Tom Riddle.]

Harry hesitated, then looked up at the three people beside him before continuing to write: "Hello, my name is Harry Potter."

[Harry Potter. May I ask how you came to possess my diary?]

"I picked it up off the ground, sir."