The wheelchair-bound warrior is speedrunning Hogwarts.

"That's right, we...we have the dean's special approval!" The words were the same, but this time they sounded completely devoid of any power.

Vera didn't even look at the note; her gaze calmly swept over the new brooms in the Slytherin members' hands, finally settling on the smug Malfoy.

"A new Seeker?" she repeated softly, her tone devoid of emotion. "A position bought with seven brand-new Nimbus 2001s? It seems Mr. Malfoy's passion for Quidditch is mainly reflected in his sponsorship funding."

Malfoy's smug expression darkened slightly.

“Nobody asked you, Black!” he shrieked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his eyes filled with malice. “A cripple confined to a wheelchair should mind his own business in Quidditch!”

In an instant, the air froze.

Harley's anger nearly erupted. She yanked her wand at Malfoy: "Take back what you said, Malfoy! Now!"

Hermione was also furious, her face turning pale. She gripped her wand tightly and followed closely behind Harley.

Even the Gryffindor players stepped forward, with Wood's tall frame blocking Vera's way, his face ashen as he glared at Malfoy.

Flint and the other Slytherins looked even more grim. They sensed danger and instinctively took a half-step back, as if trying to distance themselves from Malfoy.

Vera's expression remained unchanged, but her dark eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at Malfoy as if examining something interesting.

“Draco,” her voice remained calm, even with a strange gentleness, “it seems your father’s generous patronage has not bought you the proper upbringing.”

She gently pushed the wheelchair out from behind Wood, looking directly at Malfoy's face, which had instantly turned red.

“There’s no other way, then I’ll have to teach you…cousin.” She shook her head, the tip of her wand slightly raised, a dangerous golden glint flashing in her eyes.

Malfoy instinctively took a step back, nearly bumping into his teammate behind him: "No! Vera Black, you dare to lay a hand on me here? That's against school rules—"

Before he could even finish speaking, a beam of light shot out from the tip of Vera's wand.

In an instant, the lawn beneath Malfoy's feet turned into a large, slippery, bubbling puddle of mud!

Malfoy cried out in surprise, his foot slipped, and he lost his balance, flailing his arms as he fell backward—

"thump!"

He fell hard into the suddenly appearing puddle of mud, his brand-new Slytherin uniform instantly soaked in the filthy mud, and his face splattered with mud.

The brand-new Nimbus 2001 flew out of his hand, tracing an arc in the air before landing with a thud on the grass not far away.

"My broom!" Malfoy was both shocked and angry. He struggled to get up, but the mud was slippery and sticky, wrapping around his calves like living vines, making it difficult for him to get up. He looked disheveled.

He struggled in terror, only to find that the more he moved, the deeper he sank, until in the end he could only wave his arms in vain, like a pale rat that had fallen into an oil drum.

The Slytherin members stared in disbelief at the scene, and for a moment no one dared to step forward to help.

Flint's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but when he met Vera's calm yet cold black eyes, he swallowed his words back.

A burst of suppressed laughter erupted from the Gryffindor side.

Harley was clutching her stomach, laughing so hard she couldn't stand up straight, while Hermione couldn't help but lean against Vera's wheelchair and chuckle softly.

“The school rules forbid attacking classmates, Mr. Malfoy.” Vera raised an eyebrow, her voice echoing clearly across the field. “I just saw that some things were too dirty and needed to be cleaned up.”

She tilted her head slightly to look at Flint, "Now, do you still need this stadium?"

Flint's face turned ashen. He glanced at Malfoy, who was still floundering in the mud, and then at Vera, who was calm and collected. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "Let's go!"

The Slytherin members were overjoyed and frantically tried to pull Malfoy out of the mud, getting themselves all disheveled in the process.

They helped the cursing, mud-covered Malfoy up, picked up his dusty Nimbus 2001, and quickly left the stadium, looking disheveled.

As they disappeared into the end of the passage, the Gryffindor team finally couldn't help but burst into loud cheers and laughter.

"Well done, Vera!" the twins cheered loudly behind her.

Harley finally stopped laughing, her green eyes sparkling with joy: "You were so cool just now!"

"But this should also be considered a violation of school rules... Won't it cause trouble?" Hermione asked with some concern.

“It’s alright.” Vera calmly put away her wand.

She didn't care about such a trivial matter as confinement.

This little incident greatly boosted the morale of the Gryffindor team, and the players put in extra effort during the following training sessions.

Harley was in superb form, even nearly crashing into the ground during one dive, only managing to pull herself up at the last moment, eliciting gasps from Vera and Hermione watching from the sidelines.

By the time training ended, the sun was high in the sky, and the team members were drenched in sweat, yet all were in high spirits.

Harley, panting and with a flushed face, landed on her broomstick next to Vera and Hermione, her eyes shining with excitement: "How was it?"

"That was fantastic!" Hermione handed over water and a towel, though her face still showed lingering fear. "It was just too dangerous, Harley, that dive you just made..."

“But it is really beautiful, isn’t it?” Harley took the water and gulped down a few mouthfuls, then proudly raised her chin and looked at Vera for approval.

Vera looked at her bright, praise-seeking green eyes and couldn't help but chuckle, nodding: "Yes, very impressive."

Harley smiled even more broadly after receiving her affirmation.

Her black hair was soaked with sweat and clung to her cheeks, but it couldn't hide her radiant spirit at all.

Author's note: This... is just a birthday present, a kiss on the cheek is perfectly normal!

Chapter Eight Poor Tom

As Hermione had predicted, as soon as they returned from the court and stepped into the cool foyer, they heard a voice.

“You’re back, Miss Black,” Professor McGonagall said sternly as she approached them. “You cast a spell on Mr. Malfoy on the field, so you’ll have to stay in jail tonight.”

Harley stepped forward urgently: "Professor, Malfoy provoked us first! He said some very offensive things—"

“Miss Potter,” Professor McGonagall interrupted her sternly, “anything that could have happened, is a violation of school rules to openly use magic to attack a classmate on the field. Miss Black, come to my office at seven o’clock tonight.”

“Yes, Professor.” Vera nodded slightly.

Professor McGonagall's gaze lingered on Vera's calm face for a moment, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just pursed her lips and turned to leave.

"That's not fair!" Harley cried, her cheeks puffed out in anger as she watched Professor McGonagall walk away. "It was Malfoy who started it all with that nasty talk!"

"Professor McGonagall also wants us to follow the school rules," Hermione said helplessly, offering only this reassurance.

“Besides,” Vera gently placed her hand on Harley’s clenched fist, “Professor McGonagall was quite fair; at least… she didn’t deduct any points, just put her in solitary confinement.”

Harley opened her mouth, but ultimately swallowed her dissatisfaction, muttering under her breath, "Malfoy really got off easy."

She already harbored resentment towards the Malfoys because of the frustration she experienced during the summer vacation. Now, with both old and new grudges combined, she wished she could immediately tie Malfoy to the goal and beat him again.

"Alright," Vera gently patted the back of her hand, "Let's go have lunch first. Aren't you hungry after training all morning?"

At the mention of food, Harley's stomach immediately started growling.

She patted her stomach, finally shifting her attention away from Malfoy: "Alright, we can't let someone like him ruin our meal!"

The three walked toward the auditorium, where the aroma of lunch was already wafting out.

Fortunately, Malfoy didn't show up in the Great Hall today, which made Harley feel a little better.

In the afternoon, they did their homework in the lounge, while Vera went to the Room of Requirement alone.

She was still thinking about the diary.

After a semester, Vera returned to her familiar room, pushed her wheelchair to the table, and carefully took out the black diary from the space under the wheelchair, placing it on the table.

To an ordinary wizard, a Horcrux looks exactly like an ordinary object before it is activated.

However, for someone like her who had activated her magic circuits, even from a distance, she could still sense that faint, chilling aura.

Therefore, wizards with magical circuits are born hunters. Even if a Horcrux turns into a drop of water and sinks into the sea, as long as they have enough magic power, they can still find a needle in a haystack.

She took a deep breath, the golden patterns on her fingertips shimmering slightly, and then placed them on the wall tiles in front of her, beginning to establish a connection with Hogwarts.

Soon, with a tremor in the crystal in her heart, she felt a pleasant aura emanating from the castle.

"Yes, it's been a long time." Vera couldn't help but laugh and responded softly.

At the same time, she also saw a line of information flash before her eyes:

[Current Hogwarts approval rating: 30%]

Did her improvement of another 10% increase mean she passed the test set by Hogwarts last year?

Does that mean... she unlocked another part of Hogwarts' access?

Vera thought for a moment, then looked up at the bricks and stones in front of her and tentatively asked, "I have a problem now. Have you seen the diary over there?"

Is there a way for me to safely access it without being spied on, manipulated, or affected?

Although I don't know if the castle will answer, it's never a bad thing to ask.

The bricks on the wall were slightly warm, as if in response to her question.

Vera waited patiently, her fingertips still lightly touching the wall, until she felt a gentle yet vast stream of consciousness sweep over her senses, instantly enveloping her mind like the most resilient barrier.

Explanatory text appears in front of the retina at the appropriate time:

[Hogwarts 30% approval rating unlocks: Hogwarts' Blessing.]

[Within the Hogwarts premises, greatly enhances resistance to mental corruption, spying, and soul-based magic, and isolates the wearer from all external perception and influence on their mind and emotions.]

[Within the Hogwarts area, magic regeneration speed is increased by 10%, magic consumption speed is reduced by 10%, and spell learning speed is increased by 10%.]

There actually is a solution?

Vera was stunned for a moment, then a look of surprise appeared in her eyes.

She hadn't expected that the increased recognition of Hogwarts would bring such a direct and powerful protective effect.

Moreover, it's practically a power tailor-made to deal with Horcruxes!

"Then... could you give me another 100% bonus to all attributes, 100% bonus to magic power, and 100% bonus to status effects?" she continued to ask, her eyes shining.

Then… Hogwarts sent a signal that was almost “speechless,” unilaterally severing the connection with her.

Oh, I was rejected.

She scratched her face. It was rare for her to make such a shameless request, couldn't they at least give her a little perfunctory treatment?

Well, having this feature is already pretty good.

"Anyway, thank you." She said softly to the castle, turning to look at the diary on the table.

With Hogwarts' blessing as her confidence, Vera's worries dissipated considerably.

Now, she can try to make some initial contact and probes without worrying about being spied on or influenced by the fragments of soul in the diary.

However, she still didn't directly open the diary to start talking to the soul inside. Instead, her magic circuits quietly activated, and her vision was instantly enhanced to the extreme.

At this moment, in her eyes, the diary was no longer a physical entity, but a complex structure woven from countless tiny magical particles.

A cold, viscous core of dark energy, filled with greed and decay, lies hidden within, like a lurking venomous snake, breathing slowly, trying to absorb any trace of emotion or magical fluctuation from the outside world.

It's probably best to just use a Fiery Blaze or a serpent's fang to destroy this kind of thing directly.

She squinted slightly, stepped forward, picked up the quill pen, hesitated for a moment staring at the black cover, and then opened it.

Despite having taken precautions, she still clearly didn't want to reveal her real name.

She picked up her pen and drew a few meaningless lines on the first page of the yellowed paper.

The moment the pen tip leaves the paper, the ink seems to be swallowed up by the paper, quickly seeping in and disappearing without a trace.

Then, as if an invisible pen was writing, a line of elegant yet slightly ornate handwriting slowly emerged:

"Hello, I am Tom Riddle. May I ask your name?"

Vera stared at the emerging words, not answering immediately, but letting them linger on the paper for a moment, as if she were pondering them.

After a moment, she slowly wrote: "You can call me... Sail."

Tom seemed to pause for a moment at the other end of the diary before the ink slowly spread, forming a new response: "An interesting name, Miss Sail."

It was clearly a pseudonym, but she didn't care that the younger version of Voldemort could tell.

"So, Miss Sail, why did you choose to speak with me?"

Vera, of course, wouldn't tell the truth, so she wrote: "I obtained this diary by chance, and I never expected it to respond to me... What are you? A ghost trapped in the book?"

“In a sense, yes.” Tom’s handwriting was calm and even a little melancholy. “I’ve been locked up here for a long time, and it’s my luck to have met you.”

A standard opening move: feign weakness to gain sympathy and lower guard.

Vera could almost picture the fake, gentle smile that might be on the handsome face of sixteen-year-old Riddle at that moment.

"Oh?" She feigned just the right amount of curiosity. "So, whose memories are you? And what are they about?"

“About Hogwarts, about some… forgotten things.” Tom’s handwriting became a little messy, as if he was lost in memories. “I was also a Slytherin student, that was many years ago.”