Return

A suit of armor placed at the end of the corridor reflected the Basilisk's eyes, and Professor Burbage was petrified before he could take two steps.

"Sleep in peace..."

Kyle, who arrived just in time, successfully brought the Basilisk back into the Chamber of Secrets using the "shutdown code" that Slytherin had once mentioned.

But then he ran into a problem.

Charity Burbage was discovered at night, but it's broad daylight now, and this corridor is the only way to the fourth floor. If left unattended, someone will definitely find out.

With no other option, Kyle could only move her to an empty classroom next door before hurriedly leaving.

That evening, he went to the kitchen again, pretending that he wanted to practice magic there, and asked the House-elf to help clean it up.

They were happy and agreed.

Then came the ghosts in December and the dwarves on Valentine's Day, both of which passed smoothly without any unexpected incidents.

Kyle gradually got used to this life where he didn't have to attend classes and could just read books or practice Nonverbal Spell every day.

He also tried Wandless Magic...

To be honest, it was much simpler than he had imagined; all he needed was sufficient control over his magic.

However, while it can be used, the spell's effect is rather mediocre, or rather, very poor.

It's like the difference between sawing wood and chopping wood with your bare hands—neither of them feels right.

Without the aid of a wand, it took him two months to finally turn the beetle into a complete button... To be more precise, it was probably about the same as Ron's strength.

However, there was a bit of trouble during this period, namely that for a while, the Gryffindor trio would frequently visit the Room of Requirement.

Fortunately, Hogwarts Castle is very large, Kyle can always find other places to read. After all, it's all the same no matter where he is.

They waited until Hagrid was taken away by the Ministry of Magic.

After that, Kyle found it difficult to concentrate on either reading or practicing spells.

This meant the fifth attack was imminent... Both Ron's petrification and the impending end of the time loop filled Kyle with a strange tension.

In this situation, he almost got discovered.

It was the fifth day since Hagrid was taken away. Kyle absentmindedly pushed open the door of the Room of Requirement, preparing to go to the Chamber of Secrets.

As a result, he forgot to use the Disillusionment Charm and then ran into Hermione was just coming up the stairs.

"Kyle?"

Hermione stared at him in surprise, her eyes full of confusion. "You... you were eating in the Great Hall, weren't you? What are you doing here!"

"Oh, I just remembered I left my Intermediate Transfiguration in the Room of Requirement."

Kyle tried to appear calm. "But I came up through the secret passage, that's why you didn't see me."

"Hogwarts has secret passages?" Hermione was even more surprised.

"Of course there is." Kyle nodded. "It's on the second floor, behind that Sphinx tapestry. From there, you can go straight to the Seventh Floor, which is much faster than taking the stairs."

"Oh, I see. This is the first time I've heard of this," Hermione said, without any doubt.

After this incident, Kyle became much more cautious, and every time he left the Room of Requirement, he would first check if there was any problem with the Disillusionment Charm.

And so some time passed.

On the day Ron was attacked, Kyle risked his life to find Fred and George and borrowed the Marauder's Map from them.

"If you're looking for an heir, you'd better not get your hopes up too high."

Fred said, "We've been staring at the Marauder's Map every night lately, and we haven't found anything."

"I bet that guy was scared." George shrugged.

Kyle took the Marauder's Map. "It's fine. I've been a bit bored these past few days anyway, so this will just help pass the time."

"Whatever you want," Fred said, not really caring.

After obtaining the Marauder's Map, Kyle immediately went to the Chamber of Secrets.

Riddle is already powerful enough, and his attack on Ron is clearly aimed at the wand, so he'll likely follow suit.

If that's the case, it will be difficult to do anything else.

Kyle thought about it for a long time and decided to take a risk and control the Basilisk himself.

Through his previous observations, Kyle discovered that Riddle didn't actually keep the Basilisk under much control, mostly letting it roam freely, which gave him a lot of room to maneuver.

He could have easily manipulated the Basilisk to petrify Ron beforehand and made it look like the Basilisk's own action... as long as Riddle got Ron's wand in the end.

As for the time...

Professor McGonagall mentioned at the Hospital Wing that Ron was attacked after he was separated from Lockhart.

Kyle opened the Marauder's Map and found Lockhart's name in the Great Hall.

Ten minutes later, the students finished their meal, and Lockhart left the Great Hall with a group of people, including Ron.

Kyle stared intently at the map.

After walking through several corridors, Lockhart's name stopped near the Gryffindor Common Room, and then he began to retrace his steps.

Harry and Ron quickly moved downstairs. They split up on the third floor; Harry went to the corridor where Filch was attacked, Ron... judging by the direction, he was probably heading to the place where the two ghosts were attacked.

"Now is the time, "Kyle said, turning around and summoning the Basilisk.

But just as he was about to leave the Chamber of Secrets, the map showed new changes.

Ron, who was moving quickly, suddenly stopped after turning a corner in a corridor.

Peter Pettigrew's name was also present, and he slowly walked into a classroom next door.

A few minutes later, Harry arrived. He lingered next to Ron for a moment before quickly running up to the third floor.

Then the professor arrived, and seven or eight people sandwiched Ron in the middle, leading him toward the Hospital Wing.

this...

Kyle looked at the Basilisk beside him and couldn't help but think of a certain possibility.

Could Ron have been hit by a regular Petrification Spell?

Thinking about it carefully, given Ron's personality, if he really wanted to steal his wand, he wouldn't need Basilisk. Even if that rat tried to steal it eight times a day in different ways, he wouldn't have noticed.

Soon, as all the professors gathered in the Hospital Wing, Peter Pettigrew also came out.

Just as Kyle was about to send the Basilisk back into the statue, a familiar feeling of dizziness suddenly washed over him.

Everything around me began to accelerate; blurry colors and shapes flashed by...

Faintly, Kyle seemed to hear Professor McGonagall's voice, as well as a ethereal melody.

"Stupefy!"

The blue light of the Stunning Spell flashed before my eyes.

Kyle saw the Basilisk, its head slamming into a nearby pillar like a giant pendulum.

A large, deep red bird descended from the sky, landing on Kyle's shoulder and covering his eyes with its wings.

"Professor McGonagall... Fawkes..."

Kyle was overjoyed... He was back, back to the original time!

But then he seemed to remember something and shouted:

"Close your eyes!"

Although the Basilisk had just withstood Professor McGonagall's Stunning Spell and was still a bit dazed, it obediently closed its eyes upon hearing Kyle's voice.

Professor McGonagall stopped in her tracks, covering her mouth in disbelief. "Kyle, you..."

"No, Minerva, not Kyle."

Dumbledore emerged from behind, his expression more serious than ever as he gazed at the swirling black mist.

"Tom Riddle!"

"Long time no see." Riddle turned around and smiled. "My dear Dumbledore ... Ah!"

Before he could finish speaking, it turned into a scream that could almost pierce eardrums.

Riddle's body twisted and writhed, his arms flailing wildly, screams escaping his lips, and then...

He vanished, like a poorly made, low-quality firework being set off.

"I'm sorry, Professor Dumbledore."

Kyle pulled the diary from the Basilisk Fang. "I guess you didn't want to talk to him, so you took it upon yourself to shut him up."

"I must say thank you," Dumbledore said softly, his expression somewhat complicated.

"Can anyone tell us what's going on?" Professor McGonagall stepped forward, glanced at the enormous Basilisk, clutched her chest, and gasped for breath.

Harry squeezed his head out of the crowd... that's what he wanted to know too.

"He's probably the most outstanding student Hogwarts has ever had!"

Dumbledore began, "Few people know that Voldemort was formerly known as Tom Riddle. Fifty years ago, I personally taught him at Hogwarts... After graduation, he disappeared, wandering the world, sinking deeper and deeper into the mire of Dark Magic, and finally reappearing as Voldemort."

"But..." Professor McGonagall asked, "Why is he here?"

"It's Horcrux, Professor."

Kyle lifted the ink-soaked diary. "This is what Voldemort left behind when he was in school. It contains his sixteen-year-old soul."