Humoring a Fool

Harry, startled by the dripping ink, quickly tried to wipe it away. But the ink droplet was strangely absorbed by the diary.

Harry thought for a moment and tentatively wrote on the diary, "Hello, my name is Harry Potter."

The line of text shimmered on the page and was also absorbed. The next second, a new line of text automatically appeared on the diary, in a completely different font from Harry's.

"Hello, Harry Potter, my name is Tom Riddle. How did you find my diary?"

The newly appeared text was lighter, as if to spread out the ink's weight. Harry dipped more ink and continued to chat with the diary through text.

"I found it in the toilet."

"..." The person in the diary seemed disgusted, but he still maintained his professionalism and replied to Harry. "Fortunately, I used a method more lasting than ink to record my past. I always knew there would be people who didn't want this diary read."

"There's something here!" Harry muttered. "Do you know a lot about Hogwarts' past?"

"Yes."

"Do you know about the Chamber of Secrets? People are getting hurt again." Harry sounded agitated, almost poking through the paper.

"I promised someone I wouldn't speak carelessly. But I can take you to see it." Soon, the line of text disappeared, and the diary seemed to be flipped through rapidly, finally stopping on the page for June 13th.

A dazzling golden light flashed, and when Harry's vision cleared, he found himself standing on a staircase at Hogwarts. At the corner of the stairs, a handsome boy watched two caretakers carry away a stand covered with a white cloth. It looked like someone had just been murdered here. Soon...

"Are you Riddle?" Harry wanted to go forward and greet him, but the other person seemed unable to see him at all.

"Riddle," an old and familiar voice rang out. Harry looked up. It was Dumbledore, with much less beard. "Come here." Dumbledore beckoned to Riddle.

"Professor Dumbledore."

"It's not good to be wandering around outside so late, Tom."

"Professor, I think I need to see for myself if the rumors are true." Riddle stood with his hands behind his back, like a prefect reporting to a teacher.

"I'm afraid so, Tom." Dumbledore's tone was worried, much like the night Colin was attacked.

"I'm homeless. Are they really going to close Hogwarts, Professor?" Tom's voice trembled slightly; it was clear he cared deeply about Hogwarts.

"I understand, Tom, but Headmaster Dippet has no choice."

"If this matter can be resolved, I mean, if the culprit is caught, then will it..."

Dumbledore looked at Tom strangely. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"No, sir."

"...Go to bed now."

"Good night, Professor."

Harry followed him with a sense of foreboding. As expected, Tom didn't choose to return to the common room. They arrived at a room door.

A familiar voice came from inside. "Come in quickly. Put it in the box, and I'll take you out."

Seemingly confirming something, Tom pushed the door open.

"Good evening, Hagrid."

"Tom?"

"I have to report you, Hagrid. They are discussing closing Hogwarts if the attacks don't stop. I know you didn't want to kill anyone. But the beast... it's not suitable as a pet. I guess you just wanted to let it out to stretch its legs."

"It didn't kill anyone." The young Hagrid was agitated and wanted to defend the creature in the box.

"Move aside, Hagrid. The girl's parents are coming to Hogwarts tomorrow. At least we should kill the monster that killed her."

The wand in his hand emitted a dazzling firelight, striking the box. A rather large spider crawled out of the box. It was driven by the spell and fled into the darkness. Harry, who was about to get closer, suddenly felt someone tugging at him from behind. The surrounding scenery seemed to be rapidly moving forward. No! He was rapidly retreating.

After a dizzying spin, Harry returned to his original position. The diary lay quietly before him. Just then, the other four also returned, having finished their day of searching.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Ron asked, helping him up, looking at him with concern. Harry was covered in sweat and trembling.

"Hagrid, Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets."

The four: ("◇")?

Draco poured Harry a glass of water. Harry calmed down and began to recount his strange adventure to them.

After listening, they fell into thought. If they hadn't known the truth beforehand, they might have been misled. Bing Huan cautiously placed a charm on the diary and sealed it.

"First, we can confirm this guy is lying. So he must be the murderer, Voldemort, or an accomplice, left behind to focus our attention on Hagrid and waste our time to achieve his goal. After all, Hagrid doesn't have the brains for that."

The image of Hagrid's憨态可掬 (endearingly simple and honest) smile and his kindness towards them flashed in their minds. "True~."

Harry frowned. "So the clue is still broken."

"Not necessarily."

Harry looked at Hermione and asked, "Do you have any other ideas?"

Hermione tilted her head and smiled. "Although what he said is indeed a lie, at least he was someone who experienced this event 50 years ago, and he was the murderer or an accomplice. We can pretend we still don't know the truth and try to trick him into talking. Maybe we can find out where the Chamber of Secrets is."

Ron asked, "How do we trick him?"

Bing Huan: ⌓‿⌓

"We play along with a fool."

Bing Huan motioned for the others to be quiet, opened the diary, and flicked a few drops of ink onto it. After the ink was absorbed, he pretended to be surprised and wrote, "Is anyone in there? Where did the ink go?"

"My name is Tom Riddle. What's yours? Where did you find my diary?"

"My name is Nidie. I just came back from outside and was about to do my homework when I accidentally spilled ink on this notebook. There have been so many strange things happening at school lately, even diaries can talk now."

"What happened?"

"They're all saying the Chamber of Secrets has been opened. There have been several attacks already, and everyone's been petrified."

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened again?"

The few of them showed triumphant smiles; they had taken the bait.

Bing Huan continued to write, "Has it been opened before? How do you know?"

"Yes, I studied here 50 years ago, and the Chamber of Secrets was opened then."

"50 years ago? So you're a senior, then."

"Hahaha, no need to be so polite." The guy seemed to really like being respected.

"Then, Senior, do you know where the Chamber of Secrets is? I want to go and deal with the monster inside!"

"So brave, you must be from Gryffindor. But the monster in the Chamber of Secrets is not something a young wizard can handle. It's different from back then; a girl lost her life that time."

"She died?"

"Yes, when people found her, she had already breathed her last in the girls' restroom."

After that, no matter how they asked, the diary refused to reveal any more information. Bing Huan sealed the diary again. "It seems the fool isn't very cooperative anymore. He probably knows about the connection between Harry and Voldemort; he was clearly different when talking to us. But we didn't come away empty-handed."

"Are you talking about the girl who was killed back then?"

"Not only that, but I plan to have my people outside the school inquire about what happened to Tom Riddle after he graduated."

The next day there was a small quiz. Professor McGonagall wanted to see how much everyone had learned so far, to decide where to focus the teaching for the remaining period.

Everyone was waiting by the door. Hermione looked at her good-for-nothing friend, who was frowning. "What's wrong?"

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"It couldn't be that Draco failed the quiz, could it?" All four of them had already finished their quizzes; Draco was still inside waiting in line.

"No, I'm not worried about that guy. I just feel like something bad is going to happen."

His premonition was correct. When they returned to the dormitory to put away their books, Harry's bed and luggage looked like they had been bombed, scattered everywhere. Every drawer, pocket, and hiding place had been pulled out and rummaged through.

The two of them, along with Dean and Seamus who came in later, helped Harry tidy up. After taking stock, Harry's belongings were all accounted for. After comforting Seamus and the others, they went off to eat.

The five of them gathered again in an empty classroom. "My diary was stolen, and someone rummaged through my dormitory."

Hermione immediately narrowed down the suspects. "Only people from Gryffindor know the password. And that person definitely didn't know your bed specifically; they must have sensed where the diary was and gone to search your spot."

But that was as far as it went; there were no other clues to follow up on.