Riddle's Second Request

What is the content of the first lesson on Ancient Runes?

The next morning, at the Great Hall table, Cedric pondered for a moment and said, "I remember it was pretty difficult... no, I should say the first class was the hardest part of the entire school year."

"Babbling wouldn't have talked about the application of Ancient Runes in alchemy, would she...?" Qiu asked with a strange expression, "And those different ways of writing that represent different meanings?"

But to her surprise, Cedric immediately shook his head and said, "No... that's something that's taught in fifth grade, how could it be taught in third grade?"

"Then you..."

"Babbling told us about the evolution of Ancient Runes... and what they originally looked like."

Cedric wore a pained expression. "You can't imagine how complex those Ancient Runes were before they were simplified... Honestly, it was the first time I felt like I hadn't remembered anything in class."

"That's right." Fred and George nodded in unison.

"That was a nightmare."

"At that time, I felt like a stunted Troll..."

Qiu looked at the three of them with empathy, having experienced the same feeling not long ago.

At this moment, Kyle suddenly asked, "How many of you chose that course back then?"

"A dozen or so, I forget the exact number."

Cedric thought for a moment and said, "But that's not important, because Babbling said that if you don't want to take Ancient Runes, you can change the course."

So when classes started the second week, there were only nine people left in the classroom.

"Almost seven."

Fred said, "When we got to Professor McGonagall's office, we suddenly hesitated..."

"For the sake of the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in the future, I've decided to attend one more class," George said with a smile.

"It's good that we thought that way..."

"Because the second lesson is the normal one, although it's still difficult... but at least we can understand it."

"You guys aren't like that too, are you?" Cedric asked.

"Apart from the different content, everything else is pretty much the same, including the option to switch courses," Qiu sighed. "But I don't understand why Babbling would do that."

"I don't know..." Fred thought for a moment, "Although some people say that Babbling wanted to have students from grades three through seven in the same class, deliberately reducing the number of students in each grade, that's obviously impossible."

"Everyone is learning different things, so we can't teach them all at the same time," George said. "Percy is currently reading <Advanced Ancient Runes Translation>, while we are still reading <Ancient Runes Made Easy>."

"Perhaps the first lesson will be Babbling's test."

Cedric said, "Learning Ancient Runes is destined to be a tedious and tedious process, and you must have enough patience to persevere."

She probably wanted to use this method to weed out those who weren't suitable, so they wouldn't waste their time.

"Of course, this is just my guess."

Cedric took a sip of Pumpkin Juice and continued, "We know too little about Babbling. After all, aside from teaching and various holiday banquets, she almost never shows her face, and she's never even been to Quidditch Match."

Over the next while, the group began discussing how difficult the Ancient Runes were, but also how interesting it was once mastered...

Kyle listened from the side, trying to act similarly to them rather than appearing overly smug.

This is where the advantage of having a personal tutor comes in. Riddle is patient, capable, and has a very comprehensive understanding of Ancient Runes.

With his help, Kyle avoided many detours and learned very efficiently.

I didn't think much of it before, but now that I've compared the two, it's different... The problems Cedric and his friends encountered are incredibly simple in Kyle's eyes.

In other words, Riddle's diary is Voldemort's study notes from back then.

This notebook has been acting up lately. Not only do I need to be careful when using it, but it also stopped working a few days ago, and I don't know when it will be back up and running.

With that in mind, Kyle quickly finished his breakfast and, as usual, went to the Room of Requirement. He greeted Riddle from inside the box and inquired about his situation with concern.

He had been doing this for the past few days, but Riddle had not replied.

Kyle didn't have much hope today. He wrote a sentence as usual and then prepared to close his diary.

Surprisingly, Riddle stopped playing dead and quickly responded to him.

[I'm so sorry... when you showed me the newspaper that day, the magic of the diary seemed to suddenly disappear.]

Kyle picked up the quill pen with some surprise.

"Are you alright, Tom? I was so worried about you."

I guess so. Luckily, you've been using dragon blood to write for me lately.

[What are we going to learn today? I've wasted so much time, I'm getting impatient!]

Neither the story Kyle fabricated nor the news of Voldemort dying from an infant seemed to have any effect on Riddle.

He didn't even ask anything else.

It's as if Voldemort was just an insignificant passerby, whose life or death didn't matter.

However, since Riddle had said so, Kyle couldn't let him down.

"Then let's continue learning Ancient Runes."

[I knew it! You really like Ancient Runes.]

However, this time the training didn't last very long.

Because he had class soon, Kyle had to leave at 8:50.

Time always flies.

Before closing the diary, Riddle made one last request.

[If possible, could you bring some animals next time?]

"Animals?" Kyle frowned slightly and wrote, "Do you need anything to eat? I can just get some cooked food from the kitchen."

No, I don't need to eat. I just love Fantastic Beasts, I always have, so I want to see them again.

[They don't need to be very rare; fairies or Bowtruckle will do. They're easy to find near the edge of the Forbidden Forest.]

Kyle hesitated for a moment. "But Tom, can you see them?"

[Of course, I can see them as long as you put them in your diary.]

"Well... okay, I'll go check out the Forbidden Forest this weekend."

Kyle readily agreed and then quickly left the Room of Requirement.

Riddle's desire for animals certainly had nothing to do with Knut's liking, but Kyle didn't have time to guess what he was thinking.

There were still five minutes until the first Transfiguration Class. If he was late... tsk, an angry Professor McGonagall was far more terrifying than Voldemort.