Ravenclaw's Diadem! Voldemort's Lingering Soul!

"Put me on, and you shall gain endless wisdom..."

Bang!

Devero slammed the plaster bust shut with a heavy thud.

"Silencio!"

As he spoke, he pointed his wand at the bust to cast a Silent Spell, forcing it into stillness.

Devero leaned against a nearby pile of junk, his strength failing him. His face was deathly pale as he gasped for air.

Damn it! I almost fell for this Horcrux's trap!

Devero forced himself to stand straight, adjusting his breathing according to the principles of the Zen Meditation Method. A wave of coolness washed through his mind, helping to steady his spirit.

He was currently inside the Room of Requirement. Throughout the night, he had traversed several secret passages mentioned in the original story, as well as various classrooms and towers he had never visited before. As he wandered, he eventually reached the eighth floor of Hogwarts Castle, the very location of the Room of Requirement.

Devero had thought to himself that he might as well explore the Room of Requirement that night. Recalling that Voldemort had once hidden Ravenclaw's Diadem here as a Horcrux, he wanted to see what kind of treasure this relic, left behind by one of the four legendary founders, might be. Thus, he had entered the Room of Requirement—specifically, the room used for hiding things.

To his surprise, the place was far too vast. He had spent nearly half the night searching without finding the so-called plaster bust. Just as he was about to give up, he suddenly remembered: he was a wizard!

Devero immediately flicked his wand. "Accio plaster bust!"

However, the spell lacked precision, and suddenly, every plaster bust in the room came hurtling toward him. Devero dove to the floor, dodging the flying statues. Suddenly, the intuition granted to him by his status as a Magic Prodigy told him that one of them possessed extraordinary power.

Devero was quick-witted and caught it with a Levitation Charm. Driven by curiosity, he opened the bust, which led to the events that had just transpired. Had he not practiced the Zen Meditation Method, he might have already put on the diadem, and his fate likely would have been no better than Ginny's in the original story.

Devero approached the plaster bust once more, but this time, he was extremely cautious and did not dare to open it again rashly.

Although Devero had cast a Silent Spell upon it, the plaster statue continued to tremble incessantly.

The rhythm was deeply unsettling.

Devero furrowed his brows.

He felt that the reaction of this Horcrux was truly strange.

In the original story, items like the Cup or the Diary required physical contact and time before they could slowly erode the wearer's mind.

Yet this Diadem had nearly taken Devero down the moment he touched it.

It didn't feel like a Horcrux at all.

It felt as if a living soul resided within.

Although he knew that Horcruxes generally possessed some living attributes and would constantly tempt their holders—the Locket was exactly like that, and there was no need to mention Harry, who was a living person himself.

To ensure there were no slip-ups, Devero knew he could not face this potentially dangerous Horcrux directly.

Thus, a clever idea surfaced in his mind.

Devero decided to approach the Horcrux indirectly to minimize the risks of direct contact.

In front of the plaster statue, Devero slowly sat down cross-legged.

His gaze was firm and focused.

He closed his eyes and began to regulate his breathing and heartbeat, attempting to bring his body to its optimal state.

With every deep breath, Devero felt his spirit gradually calm down.

All sounds in the surroundings seemed to grow distant and blurred.

A thick fog gradually appeared around Devero.

This time, Devero began to retract his magic and perception once more.

However, it was not to enter the Microscopic World, but to observe the Diadem through the plaster statue.

As his perception retracted, the mist gradually enveloped Devero.

In Devero's perception, nothing remained but the slightly trembling plaster statue.

Devero concentrated his attention.

His perception and magic intertwined into thin, shimmering blue threads.

These threads slowly and cautiously extended into the crevices of the plaster statue.

As his perception delved deeper, Devero felt as if he had entered a space of absolute darkness.

Suddenly!

Devero felt that everything within his line of sight was flooded with green light!

"Hello!"

In that instant, Devero saw a figure clad in black robes.

The man's face was pale.

It was skeletal.

Yet, it carried an indescribable charm.

The figure smiled at Devero and spoke.

His voice was gentle, yet carried a hint of a chill.

Faced with such an unexpected situation.

Devero reacted quickly.

He immediately pulled himself out of his meditative state.

He snapped his eyes open.

He saw that one corner of the plaster statue before him had cracked slightly.

A faint green light shone from within.

But the eerie vibrations had already ceased.

However, Devero had no mind to pay attention to these things at the moment.

At this time, a piece of information appeared in his mind!

[Name: Soul Fragment of Tom Riddle]

[Age: Twenty (Eternal)]

[Spell Library: Avada Kedavra (Unrivaled), Imperius Curse (Unrivaled), Cruciatus Curse (Unrivaled)...]

[Traits: Wilderness of Knowledge (Unique), Horcrux (Gold), Dark Lord (Gold/Fragmented), Born Heartless (Purple), Decay (Purple)]

[Wilderness of Knowledge (Unique): The knowledge of the world is you; you are knowledge itself.]

[Horcrux (Gold): You are a Horcrux deliberately created through murder by a powerful dark wizard. You have inherited a portion of the original owner's knowledge and power, and possess the ability to corrode the minds of others.]

[Dark Lord (Gold/Fragmented): You will eventually become a Dark Lord who makes the world tremble. You are extremely charismatic and possess peerless talent for dark magic; you are destined to have countless followers, but due to an extremely powerful magic, your fate has been shattered, and your future is unclear.]

[Born Heartless (Purple): A tragic background and poor upbringing have left you unable to possess ordinary human emotions or empathize with others.]

[Decay (Purple): You were once brilliant and possessed grand ambitions, but endless imprisonment has worn down your body and exhausted your spirit, causing you to gradually become decayed.]

This Horcrux actually had a panel too!!

And it even had a Unique-tier trait!

[Wilderness of Knowledge (Unique)]

Hiss!

Devero frowned.

He hadn't loaded or copied any Unique-tier traits yet.

He wondered what the effect would be if he copied it?

Devero steadied his mind.

Forget about that for now!

He immediately stood up and waved his wand.

"Reparo!"

The crack in the plaster statue emitting the green light was restored in an instant.

He waited for three seconds.

Nothing unusual appeared.

Only then did Devero set his mind at ease.

He began to carefully examine the panel of this Horcrux.