Hogwarts: Oh no, I've become Voldemort!

In an instant, Cyrus's mind flashed an image of a surging swarm of eight-eyed giant spiders.

The eight-eyed giant spiders had a great fondness for eating people, especially after Hagrid's Aragog died. The spider swarm completely lost control and eventually sided with Voldemort. If these creatures were used as sacrifices, Sylph would feel no guilt.

“The Forbidden Forest, it seems I have to go there.” Cyrus took off the crown from his head, and instantly he felt much quieter. It was so much more comfortable without Voldemort’s incessant chatter.

However, this time he really has to thank Voldemort.

He didn't see whether a crown could enhance a person's wisdom, but Voldemort truly deserved to be one of the most terrifying geniuses in the wizarding world.

Of course, the crown might indeed play a role in it.

Cyrus carefully put away the crown and left the House of Requirement with it.

"Now that Lucius Malfoy is ready, it's about time to bring the plan to a close."

-

In an empty classroom, Hermione sat at a desk and waved to Cyrus. A large stack of books lay on the desk.

"Here you are! You've finally arrived!"

Ever since they were kicked out of the library by Mrs. Pince, they had to find a new place for tutoring. Fortunately, Hogwarts had plenty of abandoned classrooms, and they easily found one.

"Why aren't Ginny and the others here?" Cyrus was a little surprised to find that only Hermione was there. Normally, Harry and Ron rarely came; the coursework for this semester was enough to give them a headache. But Ginny was always there without fail.

“You forgot? She has class today.” Hermione shook her head happily, her fluffy brown curls bouncing, making her look incredibly cute. If it weren’t for her overly large front teeth, which made her look like an otter when she smiled, Cyrus believed even more people would have noticed her beauty.

"As for Harry, he's playing the Hufflepuff team this weekend, and Wood is giving him almost no respite, pushing him to train every second. I think Wood might be intimidated by your flying skills," Hermione said with a smile, a hint of smugness in her voice.

"Luckily the weather's been nice lately. It was raining a lot a while ago, and I was worried Harry would catch a cold," Cyrus said casually. He sat down opposite Hermione, and the two of them were now sharing the same table. "That Seeker from Hufflepuff seems pretty good. I watched his match against Ravenclaw last time, and he flew a bit better than Cho."

"Choi? When did you two become so close?" Hermione wrinkled her nose, a little displeased, as she flipped through the borrowed ancient runes textbook. "What I mean is, you'd better not have too much contact with others, lest you get caught. After all, you and that nasty Malfoy are completely different in personality."

"She would sometimes ask me about Quidditch. I didn't go to the matches against Hufflepuff and Slytherin, did I? I let Higgs continue as the Seeker. He trained for quite a while, but he still lost to Hufflepuff. She probably felt it was a pity, so she came to ask me why I didn't participate in the matches. Later, she pestered me to teach her some flying techniques."

Hermione stopped what she was doing: "How come I didn't know about this?"

“Slytherin and Gryffindor don’t always attend classes together.”

Cyrus suddenly felt guilty. Why did he suddenly feel guilty as if he had been cheating?

He didn't want to continue the topic, so he decided to change the subject. "Alright, let's look at the textbook. The scope of ancient magic script is very large, but at this stage you only need to learn runes."

"Nine Nights hung from a tree swaying in the fierce wind."

"I was wounded by spears; I was offered as a sacrifice to Odin."

"I offered myself as a sacrifice, on a tree unknown to anyone!"

"There is no bread to fill our stomachs, and no water to quench our thirst."

I looked down and picked up the Runas script.

"They were picking it up while shouting, as it fell from the tree."

Cyrus began to read the Word of God.

“This is a legend from the Muggle world,” Hermione pointed out astutely, because in the wizarding world, the so-called Odin is more likely just a powerful wizard.

“That’s right.” Cyrus nodded. “Odin paid the price of losing his right eye to obtain the wisdom of runes in order to get the Well of Wisdom. Runes are a kind of incantation; as long as they are engraved on wood, stone, metal, or any material, they can gain infinite power. That’s why many very powerful alchemical tools are inscribed with runes.”

"This script is similar to, but different from, magic spells. It is not uttered through sound; rather, it must be written down to exert its power. If you want to learn artifact alchemy, then mastering magic script is essential. It is a tool."

"The runic script has a total of 24 letters, divided into groups of eight. The first eight symbolize abundance, prosperity, love, and peace; the middle eight symbolize obstacles and difficulties; and the last eight are closely related to war. It must be said that understanding the meaning of the runic script is the most difficult part of learning it."

“Each letter has an abstract meaning. For example, a single letter might symbolize wealth, prosperity, or abundance. However, it can have different meanings in different combinations. For instance, the magic item ‘Disappearing Cabinet’ symbolizes a safe transfer.”

Classes like this continued until Friday, and the Quidditch match is tomorrow at 11 a.m.

The action is gone.

Chapter 66 Hermione Discovers the Truth

The next morning, Hermione and Harry gathered in the Great Hall. The weather was lovely, and Wood was very happy, filling each player's plate with scrambled eggs.

"Go Harry!" Hermione and Ginny cheered Harry on while glancing at the Slytherin table out of the corner of their eyes, but they didn't see the conspicuous tuft of white hair. Harry was also a little frustrated; he inexplicably felt a bit of affection for "Riddle," perhaps because Riddle's fate reminded him of himself.

To be honest, staying at the Dursleys' house was not as good as staying at the orphanage!

"Isn't he coming to cheer me on? I thought we were friends."

“He probably overslept, and with so many people watching, it’s not really convenient for him to cheer you on, Harry,” Ron said reassuringly.

After a while, Cyrus finally came in.

He had actually gotten up a while ago, but had gone to the Chamber of Secrets earlier. Now, he needed to use the Basilisk's voice to give Hermione a hint so she could fall behind alone.

After entering the restaurant, Cyrus raised his chin at them with the smug look that Malfoy was known for.

To others, this might seem like a provocation, but Harry knew it was actually "Mr. Riddle" greeting him.

“Malfoy is really annoying, isn’t he? I don’t know why he’s not participating in the tournament anymore, but it’s a good thing. Last time Slytherin lost to Hufflepuff, so the champion will have to be decided between us and Hufflepuff.” Wood frowned and patted Harry on the shoulder. “Alright, Harry, hurry up and eat. I want to finalize the tactics before the tournament starts.”

After saying that, Wood left the Great Hall first and headed to the Quidditch arena.

Harry thought he might be able to say a few words to "Mr. Riddle" before the match started, preferably to get his encouragement and approval, which would give him more confidence. So he slowly delayed. Before long, there weren't many people left in the Great Hall.

"How are you feeling, Harry?" Cyrus then slowly walked over to greet them.

"Not bad, but Diggory is very strong, I doubt I can beat him."

“You should have confidence in yourself,” Cyrus said casually, his mind not on the Quidditch match at all, since the match was ultimately not going to happen anyway.

The five of them left the auditorium together.

Because Harry needed to go back and pack his competition gear, Cyrus parted ways with them first.

"I'm going to the court first."

However, just as Cyrus reached the corner, he cast an illusion spell on himself and once again followed behind them, controlling the basilisk as it swam through the pipes.

At this moment, Harry's initial nervousness turned into a heavy worry, because just as he stepped onto the marble stairs, he suddenly heard that voice again: "This time, kill... Let me tear... Let me rip..."

He yelled, and Ron and Hermione jumped away from him in alarm.

What's wrong with you?

“That sound!” Harry said, turning his head to look behind him. “I just heard it again—did you hear it?”

Ron shook his head, his eyes wide open.

"That strange sound you mentioned earlier?" Ginny looked around. "But where is it? It can't be invisible, can it? Or is there a path we can't see?"

"An invisible road?" Hermione suddenly slapped her forehead.

"Harry—I suddenly realized something! I'm going to the library!"

She ran off quickly upstairs.

"What did she understand?" Harry asked anxiously, still looking around, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from.

“I don’t know,” Ron said, shaking his head.

"But why would she go to the library?"

“That’s just how Hermione does it,” Ron said, shrugging. “Whenever she has a question, she goes to the library.”

Harry stood there hesitantly, trying to catch the sound again. But by then, it was too late.

“You’d better hurry up and do it,” Ginny said.

"But that voice..."

"It's almost eleven o'clock—the match is about to start."

Harry and his two companions left, while Cyrus turned and followed Hermione.

He saw Hermione rushing toward the library, her hair like a cluster of blooming and gathering flowers. She ran all the way to the fourth floor, but the library doors were locked, and there was no one inside. Everyone, including Mrs. Pince, had gone to the Quidditch pitch.

Hermione gave the door a violent push, but it wouldn't open. So she simply took a half step back and drew her wand:

"Araho Cave is open."

The chains rattled and fell to the ground.

"Petrification—an invisible path, perhaps in the walls, probably in the pipes—a sound only Harry can hear—"

She walked through rows of bookshelves, the clues from before seeming to form a huge net, almost weaving the real answer into her mind.

Cyrus followed her at a leisurely pace, even dispelling his Disillusionment Charm. A gigantic basilisk emerged from the pipe, its steel-like scales rustling against the ground!

The enormous monster followed behind Cyrus, but soon lowered its head and swam close to the ground to the other side. Rows of bookshelves filled with books served as its cover. In the dimly lit library, only the greenish-colored scales shimmered with a faint light.

“That must be a snake—that’s why Harry could hear it. Because he speaks Parsley—but what kind of snake could petrify someone and exist for a thousand years?” Hermione pulled several books from the shelf, one about Hogwarts’s conduit system and another about magical creatures.

She kept flipping through the pages, using the light from the wand.

“The basilisk can live for a thousand years, but its magic kills people, not petrifies them, right? That’s right—” she suddenly remembered something, “because none of the victims saw the basilisk’s eyes directly.”

“Colin Creevey saw it through a camera, Justin saw it through the headless Nicole. Ginny said Percy and Penelope were dating, and she was holding a mirror, probably getting ready. And Mrs. Loris saw the basilisk through the reflection of water on the ground. So the magic was diminished. It's like hearing the mandrake's call while wearing earmuffs!”

Hermione's face lit up with excited joy!

She solved a 50-year-old mystery, and the sense of accomplishment was indescribable. More importantly, the murderer was likely to be caught because of it!

But soon, new doubts arose in her mind.