Playing Tricks

Riddle frowned upon hearing Xiwen's question.

"Can I take that as you doubting me?" he asked softly.

"I'm just a little curious about Parseltongue," Xiwen said with a light laugh. "After all, if we consider Parseltongue as a language, Mr. Scamander told us that snakes don't have hearing; they can only sense vibrations and can't accurately hear our conversations."

"But if we consider it a kind of magic targeting snakes, yet the method of its operation is unclear, who could resist the curiosity about such a wondrous ability?"

"It's nothing magical, just a talent," Riddle said casually, his expression softening slightly. "The magic isn't truly working on the snake, so it's normal that you can't communicate with snakes that possess magic."

"It's very abnormal that Parseltongue can't communicate with Nagini!"

Meanwhile, in the Transfiguration Professor's Office, Dumbledore was explaining something to everyone.

"Nagini was clearly affected when Tom used Parseltongue," he said. "Whether in the cave or in Newt's box, Tom's Parseltongue could calm Nagini down briefly, proving that it is possible to communicate with Nagini using Parseltongue."

"But Riddle said Nagini doesn't trust him and doesn't want to talk to him," Ghost Xiwen asked. "Is it possible that Nagini possesses magic that allows her to resist the effects of Parseltongue?"

Xiwen repeated what Riddle had told him.

"I don't think so," Dumbledore. "While Nagini's madness in the cave was somewhat normal, his outburst in the cage felt rather affected."

"Now that you mention it, something does seem a bit off," Newt explained. "In fact, besides the two methods of movement I showed you in the Albania forests, vipers actually have a third way of moving—that is, contraction and extension!"

When chased by predators or hunting, vipers often raise the front of their bodies and stretch them forward as far as possible. Upon contact with the object, they then retract the rear of their bodies forward. This stretching and contracting movement is physically demanding, but it is much faster than a meandering crawl!

"In addition, vipers usually do not flee when startled. Instead, they coil their bodies into a circle, hiss, and inflate and deflate their bodies to frighten the other party and gain a sense of security."

"However, Nagini did not exhibit these two normal behaviors when she was locked in the cage. Instead, she displayed a very incongruous state of frenzy, constantly circling the cage walls. It was as if she was acting!"

Upon hearing Newt's explanation, the others present largely believed Dumbledore's speculation, and felt puzzled and annoyed.

"But why would he lie to us?" Aurelius asked, frowning. He still couldn't quite believe that the seemingly polite young wizard would deceive them.

"From Riddle's perspective, his actions aren't entirely incomprehensible," Ghost Xiwen said after a moment's thought. "Having finally encountered a powerful serpentine creature, Riddle, with his Parseltongue, might have a chance to subdue it and gain a powerful ally."

"Since no one else can understand the conversation between the man and the snake, why doesn't he do something to tamper with it and bring the giant snake completely under his control?"

"So, that kid really dares to play tricks on us?" Aberforth was furious after hearing Xiwen's speculation, shouting angrily, "I'm going to settle the score with him right now!"

However, Dumbledore stopped him, gently shook his head, and said, "Strange is right. We can't understand his conversation with the snake, so there's no evidence that Tom concealed anything or tampered with Nagini's affairs. To avoid further trouble, let's wait until we wake Nagini up before making any decisions."

"So, how should we wake her up?" Aurelius asked helplessly.

"Yes, how do we wake her up?" Dumbledore pondered.

Before they knew it, Xiwen and Riddle had descended the spiral staircase and returned to the Slytherin Common Room. The journey was smooth; they encountered no night watchman Pringle, nor were they caught red-handed by any of the other professors. Therefore, they didn't even need to use the note Dumbledore had written.

"It's late, go back and rest, Riddle," Xiwen said softly, looking at the candles still burning with faint green flames in the lounge.

Riddle nodded silently and walked towards his dormitory.

Xiwen didn't go back immediately; instead, he stared blankly at the deep, Black Lake outside the lounge window.

Who created the Blood Curse? If it truly has no unbreakable curse, why isn't it classified as Unforgivable Curses? Did Riddle pull any tricks in this matter?

Xiwen pondered various questions, feeling his mind in complete turmoil.

He shook his head helplessly and finally returned to his dormitory, where Mobley's faint snoring and Abu and Gomez's steady breathing could be heard.

It was indeed very late at night.

Even though he went to bed late the night before, Xiwen didn't feel too tired or sleepy during the next day's classes.

During the morning Herbology, Xiwen, referring to Miranda's borrowed Herbology notes, successfully answered Professor Isad's questions one by one, earning Slytherin another three points.

Of course, the Hufflepuff next door received more points, even though their answers to the questions weren't particularly technical. But Xiwen was still pleased, since it was already quite rare for Professor Isad to give Slytherin extra points.

In the afternoon Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Enriques, with his long, lake-blue hair, appeared in the Defense Against the Dark Arts right on time.

However, he seemed somewhat distracted this time, and instead of using his Bloodline Magic knowledge to give everyone the unique experience of Defense Against the Dark Arts that they used to have in class, he let the young wizards practice Knockback Jinx on their own in the classroom.

Professor Enriques himself was engrossed in studying a thick book, his brow furrowed. He would only look up to address the issues when a student encountered problems while casting a spell.

After class, Xiwen wanted to stop Professor Enriques to ask him a few questions about Nagini. However, the professor hurriedly left the classroom as soon as the bell rang. Judging from the direction he went, he was probably heading to the Transfiguration Professor's Office to see Dumbledore.

Xiwen watched his retreating figure and sighed silently.

Even Dumbledore seemed to have no solution to Nagini's Blood Curse, and could only discuss and research it with Professor Enriques.

Ghost Xiwen was occasionally called over to help observe Nagini's soul condition, so Xiwen had some understanding of the situation there.

He knew that Nagini's condition was not good; the Blood Curse of Maledictus was still eroding her humanity, and Dumbledore and his companions did not have much time left.

Since what happened yesterday, Riddle has not been called on for help again, even though he has mentioned it unintentionally several times.

After all, Nagini's body couldn't withstand another risk.