Harry: Now Is Chatting Time

Harry tried to make himself look more relaxed. "Oh, really? What do you want to say?"

Draco and Ron looked around, afraid a snake's head would pop out from anywhere and petrify them. Riddle smiled contemptuously and said, "No need to look. He won't come unless summoned."

Harry replied, "That's good, but why is this guy lying here?"

"An interesting question," Riddle said cheerfully. "The real reason Gilderoy Lockhart is like this is because he's too weak, weak but craving power. And he exposed it all to strangers."

"Huh?"

"Diary," Riddle said, pleased with the confusion on the three boys' faces. "My diary. For a while now, that damn old man has been writing his inner thoughts in it, telling me his heartbreaking troubles and sorrows.

Including how he erased his companions' memories and took their experiences as his own. How he forcibly bonded with famous people and used them for his own profit. He even thought the famous, kind, great Harry Potter was like-minded. Do you have this kind of hobby, Harry?"

"Oh, of course not, I'm sick of those photographers."

Riddle nodded with satisfaction, his eyes filled with greed for Harry, but also with a look as if hoping Harry wouldn't be so easy to get, like he was craving a worthy opponent.

"It's unbearable. He's clearly a middle-aged old man. Those troubles are like an eleven-year-old girl's, just as childish." Riddle paused for a moment, as if feeling nauseous.

"But I'm still the same. I wrote a sentence to reply to him. I am kind and understanding. If it weren't for my gender, he would have fallen in love with me. Oh, no one understands me like you do. This diary is truly the best gift I've ever received."

Reading this, even Riddle couldn't help but shiver. Ron and Draco behind him were about to vomit.

"I'm not bragging, Harry, I can easily charm someone. I mean... bewitch them. Lockhart was soon willing to open his soul to me. And that's exactly what I needed. Without devouring the deepest fears and secrets in his heart, my condition gradually surpassed him. It was time for me to reveal my secrets to him."

"So... your souls merged?!" Harry asked, frowning, looking puzzled.

Riddle: "Stop those inappropriate fantasies, Harry Potter."

"Sorry." (Obediently)

"Don't you guys still guess? Opening the Chamber of Secrets, killing the attacks in the school, and scribbling those terrifying words on the wall. Releasing Slytherin's Basilisk to attack four Mudbloods, and that Squib's skinny cat. It was all Lockhart's doing."

"Impossible!" Ron retorted immediately. "He doesn't have the guts. He's afraid of house-elves."

"Oh~ Of course he doesn't have the guts," Riddle remained calm. "Of course, he didn't know what he was doing before, or rather, he was hypnotized by me. Of course, he did notice some things.

Dear Tom, I feel like I'm losing my memory, my robes are covered in chicken feathers, and I don't know how they got there. I don't remember what I did before Halloween, but a cat was harmed. There's paint on my chest. Another attack happened today, and I can't remember where I was. What should I do? I think I'm going crazy, Tom."

Riddle seemed to enjoy the feeling of others fearing him. The three of them swallowed involuntarily as they watched his slightly crazed appearance.

"After some time, this idiot started to fear the diary's power. Because what he wanted most at first was power, and now he's starting to be afraid. He tried to throw the notebook away, and that's when you saw him. Fortunately, it was you. You're the one I most wanted to see."

"Even if it means making up a lie to show me?"

"It seems you're smarter than I imagined, Harry. But it's not entirely a lie, because that's what I did back then."

"But it was a frame-up, right?"

"Hahahaha," Riddle suddenly laughed. "That's right. On one hand, I was born ordinary but exceptionally smart. Orphaned but resourceful, I was also a prefect, a model student, and the top of my year. On the other hand, Hagrid was clumsy, caused trouble, and got into trouble every week. He even raised a werewolf cub under his bed and went to the Forbidden Forest to wrestle with a troll.

However, I didn't expect the plan to go so smoothly. Actually, hardly anyone suspected that Hagrid couldn't be Slytherin's heir. After all, even I took a full five years to figure out the Chamber of Secrets. It's a pity that only Dumbledore at the time believed Hagrid in the whole of Hogwarts."

"And us. And Dumbledore saw through your lies long ago."

"That's right," Riddle gritted his teeth slightly. "Since then, he's been watching me closely. I couldn't continue Salazar Slytherin's noble cause. So I left this diary, preserving the 16-year-old me within it."

"You won't dare to act. With us here, with Dumbledore here, the Mandrakes cultivated by the professors will succeed in a couple of days. This time, no one will sacrifice themselves because of you."

"No, no, no, Harry," Riddle didn't show the expected anger. "Killing those Mudbloods anymore isn't important. My target is you.

At that time, Lockhart was afraid of me revealing his actions to you. Even I didn't expect that his fear of damaging his reputation was greater than his fear of power. So when he took you out, he went into your dormitory and took back the diary.

But that was exactly what I wanted. I controlled him and brought him here. He poured most of his life into the diary. I can finally come out independently and meet you. I have many questions for you, Harry."

"What questions?"

"How did you, an infant, kill the world's greatest wizard?"

"Huh? I didn't fight Dumbledore."

"I didn't say Dumbledore."

"Didn't you say the world's greatest wizard?"

"I meant Voldemort!"

"He deserves it too!"

"You!"

"Why are you in a hurry? I didn't insult you." Harry pretended to be confused.

Furious, Riddle used Harry's wand to write his name in the air: Tom Marvolo Riddle. Then he rearranged all the letters to become I am Voldemort.

"Oh~ You're Voldemort!"

"Now you know?"

"Then you can start getting anxious."

"I!" Riddle, or rather Voldemort, was so choked by Harry that he didn't know what to say for a moment. "You just said the greatest wizard was Dumbledore, right? Well, now I, Voldemort, am about to be resurrected. As his follower, what can he do for you?"

Harry knew that stalling with words could only last this long. The next step would inevitably involve a fight, but his wand was still in his hand. Ron and Draco behind Harry also quietly placed their hands on their wands.

A dark red bird suddenly descended from the sky. It was Fawkes. As Dumbledore had said, he looked much better now than when he was first reborn.

Fawkes threw something at Harry, who thought it was the secret weapon wrapped in old cloth. Voldemort, Ron, and Draco beside him were also very curious.

Unwrapping it, Harry found the Sorting Hat, with whom he had had a pleasant conversation a few nights ago. He had to admit, it was nice to see an old friend in such a critical moment. But couldn't it have been a more combat-capable friend! Did Dumbledore really expect him to smother Voldemort to death with the Sorting Hat?

"An old hat," Voldemort laughed again. "So this is what Dumbledore uses to support his followers. Well, that little interlude is over. Speaking of which, Harry, this should be our third face-to-face encounter.

Do you think you can escape death this time? Let's have a contest, heir of Slytherin and supporter of Dumbledore." Voldemort turned and summoned the Basilisk from the sculpture.

The slithering sound of snakes could already be heard from the gaping maw of the sculpture, and the three quickly closed their eyes. Being petrified in front of the soon-to-be-resurrected Voldemort was no different from death. There was no time to think of countermeasures for the upcoming action; it was Fawkes who charged forward now.

Hearing the sounds of fighting constantly coming from in front of him, Draco, unable to contain his curiosity, secretly opened his eyes a crack.

"Look!"

Fawkes circled above the Basilisk's head, constantly looking for opportunities to peck it a couple of times. In just this short while, the Basilisk's eyes had already been pecked blind.

But Fawkes didn't intend to let the Basilisk go just like that; he continued to attack its weak points. Black blood continuously spurted from the Basilisk's body.

"Help me~"