"Put me on, and you'll gain boundless wisdom..."
Bam!
Devero slammed a plaster statue shut.
"Silencio!"
As he spoke,
he pointed at the statue and cast a Silent Spell.
The room fell quiet.
Devero leaned against a pile of junk, feeling drained.
His face was deathly pale as he gasped for breath.
"Damn it! I almost fell for this Horcrux's trick!"
Devero managed to straighten up.
Following the principles of the Zen Meditation Method, he adjusted his breathing.
A cool sensation washed through his mind,
helping him steady himself.
He was in the Room of Requirement.
That night, he had explored several passageways mentioned in the original story,
as well as classrooms and towers he hadn't visited before.
As he wandered,
he had ended up on the Seventh Floor of Hogwarts Castle,
right where the Room of Requirement was located.
Devero had thought he might as well explore the Room of Requirement that night.
Knowing that Voldemort had made Ravenclaw's Diadem into a Horcrux and hidden it here in the original story,
Devero had wanted to see what sort of treasure had been left behind by one of the legendary Four Founders.
So he had come to the Room of Requirement,
to the chamber specifically used for hiding things.
He hadn't expected the place to be so enormous.
He had spent almost half the night searching without finding the supposed plaster statue.
Just as Devero was about to give up,
he suddenly remembered:
I'm a wizard!
Devero immediately gave his wand a wave.
"Accio Plaster Statue!"
But the spell's target wasn't specific enough.
All the plaster statues in the room came hurtling toward him at once.
Devero quickly threw himself to the ground,
dodging the various statues flying at him.
Suddenly,
the intuition granted to him by Magic Prodigy warned him
that one of them possessed extraordinary power!
Devero reacted in the blink of an eye.
He caught it with a Levitation Charm.
Then, driven by curiosity,
Devero opened the plaster statue.
And that was how the events above had unfolded.
If he hadn't practiced the Zen Meditation Method,
Devero might already have put on the Diadem.
His fate probably wouldn't have been much better than Ginny's in the original story.
Devero approached the plaster statue again.
This time, however, he was extremely cautious.
He didn't open it rashly.
Though Devero had cast a Silent Spell on it,
the statue continued to tremble.
Its rhythm was deeply unsettling.
Devero furrowed his brow.
He found the Horcrux's reaction rather strange.
In the original story,
the Cup and the Diary seemed to need contact before they could slowly corrupt their bearers over time.
This Diadem had nearly taken Devero over right away.
It didn't seem like a Horcrux at all,
but like a living soul inside it.
Though he knew
that Horcruxes generally possessed a degree of life.
They continually tempted their holders.
The Locket was like that.
And Harry, of course, was alive himself.
To make absolutely sure,
Devero knew he couldn't face this potentially dangerous Horcrux directly.
So,
a clever idea came to him.
Devero decided to approach the Horcrux indirectly,
to reduce the risk of direct contact.
In front of the plaster statue,
Devero slowly sat down cross-legged.
His gaze was focused and determined.
He closed his eyes
and began to regulate his breathing and heartbeat,
trying to bring his body into peak condition.
With each deep breath,
Devero felt his mind growing calmer.
All the sounds around him seemed to fade into the distance.
A layer of thick mist gradually formed around Devero.
This time,
Devero began to draw in his magic and perceptions once more.
But he wasn't trying to enter the Microscopic World.
Instead, he wanted to observe the Diadem through the plaster statue.
As his perceptions narrowed,
the mist gradually engulfed Devero.
In his awareness, only the faintly trembling statue remained.
Devero focused.
His perceptions and magic intertwined into strands of blue light.
The fine threads crept slowly and carefully into the cracks in the statue.
As his perceptions delved deeper,
Devero felt as if he had entered a space of complete darkness.
Suddenly!
Everywhere he looked was covered in green light!
"Hello!"
At that instant,
Devero saw a figure dressed in black robes.
The figure's face was pale,
like a skull,
yet possessed an indescribable charm.
The figure smiled at Devero and spoke.
His voice was gentle, yet carried a hint of chill.
Confronted with this unexpected situation,
Devero reacted swiftly.
He immediately pulled himself out of his meditative state
and snapped his eyes open.
A corner of the plaster statue had cracked slightly.
An eerie green light shone through it.
But the strange trembling had stopped.
Devero had no attention to spare for any of that now.
A screen of information appeared in his mind!
[Name: Tom Riddle's Soul Fragment]
[Age: Twenty (Eternal)]
[Spell Library: Avada Kedavra (Unmatched), Imperius Curse (Unmatched), Cruciatus Curse (Unmatched)...]
[Traits: Wilderness of Knowledge (The Unique), Horcrux (Gold), Dark Lord (Gold/Incomplete), Born Heartless (Purple), Decay (Purple)]
[Wilderness of Knowledge (The Unique): The knowledge of the world is you, and you are knowledge itself.]
[Horcrux (Gold): You are a Horcrux deliberately created through murder by a powerful Dark wizard. You inherited some of your original owner's knowledge and power, and possess the ability to corrupt the minds of others.]
[Dark Lord (Gold/Incomplete): You are destined to become a Dark Lord who makes the world tremble. You are immensely charismatic and possess unparalleled talent in Dark Magic. You will surely command countless followers. But because of an exceptionally powerful magic, your fate has been shattered, and your future remains uncertain.]
[Born Heartless (Purple): A tragic background and poor upbringing have left you unable to feel ordinary emotions or empathize with others.]
[Decay (Purple): You once shone brightly and had lofty ambitions. But endless imprisonment wore down your body and exhausted your spirit, gradually leaving you to decay.]
This Horcrux had a status panel too?!
And it even had a trait at the Unique level!
[Wilderness of Knowledge (The Unique)]
Damn!
Devero furrowed his brow.
So far, he hadn't loaded and copied any Unique-level traits.
He wondered what would happen if he copied one.
Devero steadied himself.
Never mind that for now!
He immediately stood and waved his wand.
"Reparo!"
The crack in the plaster statue, where the green light had shone through, was instantly repaired.
He waited three seconds.
Nothing unusual happened.
Only then did Devero relax
and begin carefully inspecting the Horcrux's status panel.
Before you continue