Harry Potter: The Golden Viper

075 Riddle and Voldemort

Fang was scratching the door with his two front paws desperately, his whimpering was full of sadness, as if he understood that the owner of the house had gone far away, and whether he could come back was still unknown. His brown fur was matted with dirt and tears, and his eyes were pleading for someone to open the door and let him in.

"Professor Watson!"

Feeling almost suffocated, Harry lifted the invisibility cloak and gasped. He tried to speak several times, but didn't know how to open his mouth. His throat was dry and his heart was pounding. He felt like he had just witnessed a nightmare that he couldn't wake up from.

"Professor, is the Ministry of Magic really going to lock Hagrid in Azkaban? But, Hagrid is innocent. I mean, what evidence do they have to prove that Hagrid is the heir of Slytherin!"

Hermione looked at Professor Watson who was examining the invisibility cloak in Harry's hand and spoke with a cry in her voice. She was clutching her books tightly to her chest, as if they could protect her from the harsh reality. Her bushy hair was frizzy and her face was pale. She couldn't believe that their gentle and loyal friend Hagrid was accused of such a terrible crime.

"The world of adults is sometimes very complicated, Miss Granger, and dealing with people is also a very complicated thing–"

Bryan walked to the stool and sat down. He rubbed his brow tiredly and said,

"That's why I chose to live a relatively simple life after graduation, and cut off contact with those classmates I used to know."

Bryan could see the fear in the hearts of the three little ones. Maybe even Harry and them didn't realize how helpless their faces were after Dumbledore was driven out of Hogwarts by Lucius.

Perhaps, Dumbledore didn't interact with them much on weekdays, but for more than half a century, the words 'Hogwarts' and 'Dumbledore' almost became two nouns bound together. Once Hogwarts lost its headmaster, everyone in the school would inevitably feel a sense of collapse as if the mountains were pressing down.

However, for Bryan himself, this was a very good opportunity. "Well, maybe you three owe me an explanation–"

Bryan spoke calmly, making Harry, Hermione, and Ron who had 'lost' their relatives suddenly feel that the air was not so suffocating. They looked at each other and finally, Harry took a deep breath and told everything about the strange diary in a very fast speed.

"When we found out that Ginny was in trouble, Hermione immediately went to the library. According to your hint and the information we had before, we found out that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets was likely to be a snake. Then we came here before everyone else to find Hagrid and confirm the truth about what happened fifty years ago–"

"Tom Riddle's diary can take you back to the past and show you his recorded scenes in a way of personal experience, right?"

Bryan closed his eyes and pondered. He had read his lost memory and remembered his detailed memory of destroying Voldemort's Horcrux when he was in fifth grade. He almost immediately confirmed that the notebook was another new Horcrux.

"Incredible stupidity–"

Bryan muttered in a voice that only he could hear. It was so foolish to split one's soul multiple times as an anchor, just to keep one's doomed flesh alive in the world. Bryan had experienced the world's rotation. He was probably the only person in this world who had 'died' but came back to life. Life and death were like a dream in his eyes. He couldn't understand why Voldemort was so obsessed with 'life'.

However, there were some things about this notebook that had been briefly in Harry's hands that amazed Bryan. Bryan had seen Horcruxes and had destroyed Voldemort's Horcruxes by himself, but this notebook that had been briefly in Harry's hands had the ability to deceive and mislead people with words. This surprised Bryan very much. Why did this thing have such a high 'activity'?

"I think there is something you may not know–"

Bryan opened his eyes and looked at the three uneasy people. He said calmly,

"Tom Riddle is the name Voldemort used when he went to school here, or rather, this is Voldemort's original name."

Clang!

The news that Bryan whispered softly was like a thunderbolt that struck the three people in front of him. Ron collapsed on his feet and knocked over the kettle on the stove. The boiling water splashed on the floor and made a hissing sound. Hermione screamed out loud and dropped her books on the ground. The pages fluttered in the air like frightened birds. And Harry looked as pale as death. His scar burned like fire on his forehead. He felt a cold sweat on his back.

"So you mean!"

Harry didn't have time to care where Professor Watson knew this shocking news from. He suppressed his nausea and dizziness from having intimate contact with Voldemort's dark magic creation. He asked, his voice trembling,

"It was Voldemort all along! He opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago! He framed Hagrid!"

Apart from Harry, Professor Watson was the only wizard Ron had ever seen who could say 'Voldemort' with such a calm tone. If it were normal times, he would have been extremely surprised by this. But now, all he felt was despair. He felt a cold lump in his chest, as if his heart had stopped beating. Before knowing this news, he still fantasized that as long as they found the Chamber of Secrets in time, Ginny might be saved. But now, even if Ron was optimistic, he didn't dare to imagine that his sister was still alive.

"Professor Watson!"

Hermione's forehead was covered with big drops of sweat, which meant that she was thinking at full speed with her smart little brain. She was trying to find a way out of this hopeless situation. She knew that they couldn't just sit here and do nothing. They had to act fast and save Ginny and Hagrid. She looked at Professor Watson who was examining the invisibility cloak in Harry's hand and spoke with a cry in her voice.

"If we explain all this to the Ministry of Magic, will Hagrid and Headmaster Dumbledore–"

"If the notebook was still intact in your hands, maybe the Ministry of Magic would accept our words, Miss Granger,"

Bryan understood Hermione's intention, but his answer was very disappointing.

"But now, we have no evidence to prove that this diary ever existed, and its various incredible methods. The Ministry of Magic will not easily believe the words of three underage little wizards."

Professor Watson's words made Harry feel very guilty. Ron had warned him that this diary of unknown origin was very dangerous. Hermione had also told him to hand over the diary. But he insisted on keeping the diary by his side. And this almost directly led to Ron's sister's misfortune. He felt a pang of regret and self-blame in his heart. He wished he could go back in time and change everything.

Bryan didn't speak. He was also thinking. From Harry's description, Bryan guessed that the diary was just a carrier of Voldemort's thoughts. It had no ability to act on its own. That is to say, all the attacks in the first half of the semester were done by the diary through the hands of a student. From the current situation, this student was most likely Ginny Weasley.

But how did Ginny Weasley get this Horcrux of Voldemort? Did she also find Voldemort's relic hidden in the castle by accident, like he did back then?

There was another question, that was whether Ginny Weasley was still alive or not.

In Bryan's opinion, the possibility of Voldemort's highly active Horcrux killing Ginny Weasley directly was very low, because such an act was too 'wasteful'.

Bryan knew about Horcruxes. Horcruxes had two functions. The first one was to use themselves as anchors and forcibly nail the broken soul to the world when the 'main body' suffered a fatal injury, thus avoiding the death of the Horcrux maker.

The second one was that Horcruxes had the function of reviving the main body. And the way to achieve this function was to devour the life force of the person who touched the Horcrux. This was something Bryan knew very well.

Absorbing life force was not a process that could be done in one go. From Bryan's vague impression of Ginny Weasley these days, this girl's life had not reached the stage of a candle in the wind. That is to say, it was probably not an easy thing for Voldemort's Horcrux to completely devour Ginny's life force in a few hours.

But if time dragged on until tomorrow's sunrise, Ginny's life and death would really be hard to say.