What Was This Voldemort Trying to Do?

What Was This Voldemort Trying to Do?

Charles felt like he had caused trouble. This world clearly contained things that differed from his "memories," and his wild rambling had somehow hit the mark.

He immediately calmed down. He couldn't say he didn't know now. If Voldemort used Legilimency to "see" the large number of fanfictions about Lin Daiyu and him, who knew what kind of mess that would cause? If he "saw" the mess involving Snape, it would be even worse.

Charles answered at once, "They're Muggles who call themselves the 'Church of Necessary Evil.' They said they've been searching for a treasure containing these Magic Books, using that as an excuse to swindle money from Muggles everywhere."

Voldemort asked him, "Just Muggles?"

Charles promptly replied, "I've only met them once. I never saw them use wands. They also said they were going to places like the pyramids, Easter Island, and Leifeng Pagoda to look for clues."

What he needed to do now was muddy the waters. If Voldemort was capable, he could go cause trouble at Leifeng Pagoda and see whether Old Man Xu, who sold drinks nearby, would beat him until he came back with a swollen nose.

Voldemort showed no reaction for a long while after hearing that. Only much later did he say, "Those despicable, shameless thieves must have heard something from some wizard and now want to steal the precious wealth belonging to wizards!"

Charles asked in confusion, "Professor, is there really such a treasure?"

Voldemort's answer, however, was, "I don't know."

After a moment, he added, "I heard that a hundred years ago, some goblins tried to seize a certain power, but ultimately failed."

"But that history was erased. There are no clues at all. No one knows what that power was, where it was, or whose hands it is in now."

Charles was extremely surprised to hear this, but he wasn't interested in the matter. Since someone had been capable of concealing it so thoroughly that even Voldemort couldn't find any clues, it meant that some incredibly powerful person didn't want anyone touching it. If he rashly investigated it, he might not even be allowed to play computer games after he got home.

Voldemort clearly didn't think Charles knew anything more. He asked no further questions and continued pacing back and forth.

Charles also continued copying the table of contents, and the office quickly fell silent.

Voldemort occasionally glanced at Charles through Quirrell and, seeing how seriously he was working, seemed rather satisfied.

After more than ten minutes, Voldemort suddenly asked Charles, "I heard you're looking for an explosive spell?"

Charles raised his head, unable to understand how Voldemort had found out. Still, he didn't hide it and answered, "Yes, Professor. I need some means of destroying the Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest, but I'm not strong enough yet."

Voldemort looked at him and said sternly, "You would win if you fought one Acromantula now. You might win against ten. But if you went to war against the entire Acromantula colony, not even your corpse would remain. You would be eaten clean."

Charles shuddered in fright.

He was only pretending.

"What should I do, then?" he asked pitifully. "I promised my friends I'd help them destroy the Acromantulas."

Voldemort pointed at the books and said, "Find the answer yourself."

Charles was speechless.

The office fell silent again. There was only the sound of footsteps and the scraping of the quill against parchment.

But Voldemort seemed to have many questions to ask. This time, he asked something that made Charles very unhappy: "I heard you've killed someone?"

Charles froze, then replied somewhat unhappily, "Can I refuse to answer that?"

By saying that, he had effectively answered the question.

Voldemort was a little curious. Hadn't he himself still never killed anyone at that age? This boy was actually more impressive than he had been. He was quite a talent.

"May I know why?" Voldemort tried to make his tone gentler, like a caring older brother. To Charles's ears, however, it sounded more like a threat.

Charles pursed his lips and answered, "It was nothing. I got caught up in a kidnapping case, and I killed one of the kidnappers to escape."

The primary school Charles attended had many children of powerful families. A middle-class family like Hermione's was considered ordinary there, and there were plenty of parents who were county councilors like Charles's Old Man.

That spring, when the sixth-year students went on a field trip, the daughter of a major capitalist was kidnapped. Charles happened to be playing with that classmate at the time, so the kidnappers grabbed him as well.

Because their hostages were children, the kidnappers let down their guard. When the others went out to collect the ransom, they left only one person behind to keep watch.

While the kidnapper guarding them was asleep, Charles strangled him with a noose made from a shoelace. He then used the telephone in the house to call the police, who were able to locate them by tracing the line.

The incident caused quite a stir within the relevant departments. The SAS was even dispatched, but the parents on both sides suppressed the matter. Charles didn't want to mention it afterward, and even the neighbors knew nothing about it.

The classmate who had been kidnapped transferred schools without returning. The other students all said that Charles had beaten the kidnapper to death by himself and escaped, since he had enrolled in boxing lessons and had always performed very well.

That was why Hermione had held Charles back during Flying Class earlier that day, worried that he might beat someone to death.

Voldemort asked him, "Were you afraid at the time?"

Charles froze. He realized he had never considered that question.

He stopped writing and thought for a while before shaking his head. "No. I didn't feel afraid at the time."

Voldemort asked again, "When you realized he was dead, what did you feel? Fear, or pleasure?"

Charles's brows furrowed. After recalling it for a long time, he finally answered firmly, "Neither fear nor pleasure. I felt very calm, like... like I'd just finished copying a few words."

That answer left Voldemort completely at a loss.

If Charles had answered fear, Voldemort could have tempted him to seek greater power. If he had answered pleasure, Voldemort could have guided him to repeat that kind of enjoyable act. In either case, he could have dragged him toward Dark Magic.

But Charles felt absolutely nothing about killing someone. In all his years out in the world, Voldemort had truly never encountered anything like it.

Voldemort decided he needed to adjust his strategy. He didn't say another word until the allotted time was up.

After leaving the office, Charles walked a long way before he dared to relax. He replayed everything that had happened, unable to understand why Voldemort had acted that way.

He felt somewhat agitated. It was the feeling that his fate was no longer in his own hands. As he walked, he suddenly came to his senses and found the door to the Room of Requirement in front of him.

Charles sighed and entered the Room of Requirement, only to find that it had become a boxing gym.

He picked up the boxing gloves and tried them on. They were quite good. He took off his robes, went over to the side, and began pounding the heavy bag, imagining that it was Voldemort.

He had no idea how much time passed. By the time he lay on the floor, panting heavily, it was already very late.

He left the Room of Requirement, then had it turn into a bathroom so he could take a hot shower. Only after eating a late-night meal in the kitchen did he return to Gryffindor's Common Room.

When he entered, The Fat Lady complained, "Do young people these days not need to sleep?"

After Charles entered the Common Room, the scene before him left him somewhat dumbfounded.

Hermione was standing there in a pink dressing gown. There was nothing wrong with that.

The problem was that, like Harry, Ron, and Neville, her face was flushed, she was drenched in sweat, and she was breathing a little heavily. They had clearly just finished some strenuous exercise.

The even bigger problem was that Hermione angrily said to the three of them, "All right. If you don't object, I'm going to bed!"

Charles scratched his head. Had something truly outrageous just happened between them?