Chapter 259: Confident Riddle
Chapter 259: Confident Riddle
Despite Fred and George's reasonable and plausible excuse, Mrs. Weasley still pulled their ears, on the grounds that the ink had almost splattered onto the sausage platter.
Fortunately, Harry stepped in and took the blame, so Mrs. Weasley merely gave Fred and George a light twist of the ear before letting them off.
After Mrs. Weasley left, Harry quietly explained what had happened, and it was then that Fred and George realized they had misunderstood before.
"So, this isn't the kind of self-inking quill you wanted?" Fred asked, rubbing his ear.
"Of course not." Harry wiped the ink off his face. "Why would Hermione specifically write to ask about something unrelated to her studies?"
Fred and George thought about it. Indeed, the usually straight-laced Hermione, who reminded them of a miniature Professor McGonagall, wouldn't do such a thing.
It was worth mentioning that they were the ones who gave her that nickname.
"It's a quill that automatically releases ink as you write," Harry explained to Ron. "Are you carrying it with you now?"
"No," Ron picked up a sausage, "I mean, who would carry a quill around while eating breakfast?"
"Then dear little brother, would you mind fetching it for us to have a look?" George asked with a smile.
Ron was about to refuse, but seeing everyone staring at him intently, he could only reluctantly put down his half-eaten sausage and go back to his room to retrieve the quill.
"Is this it?"
George took the quill and started scribbling on Harry's letter... Soon, the paper was filled with ink marks.
"It's indeed very convenient for doing homework."
George stroked his chin. Like their waterproof and moisture-proof badges, this quill was probably enchanted with an Auto-Refill Charm.
"Auto-Refill Charm?" Harry blinked, apparently hearing about this spell for the first time.
"Are you guys discussing your studies?"
At that moment, Mr. Weasley sat down at the table and said with a smile to Harry, "I think I heard you asking about the Auto-Refill Charm. It's a very useful spell, like this..."
He took out his wand and tapped on Harry's cup. The remaining half of the pumpkin juice suddenly started to rise, quickly filling the cup to the brim.
"Wow..." Harry exclaimed with his mouth wide open. "But... Professor McGonagall said that magic can't create food..."
"It's not creating anything..." Mr. Weasley explained. "It's just transferring the pumpkin juice from the kitchen to your cup, saving the time of going back and forth.
I guess... this spell must have been invented by a drunkard."
Harry nodded, then turned to Fred and George, "Can you make this kind of quill?"
Fred remained silent for a moment, then asked, "What did you just ask?"
"You can also..."
"Not that. What were you asking about when we came down?"
Harry thought for a moment, then said uncertainly, "I haven't seen Kyle lately. Has he gone out again?"
"No, he's been in his room reading books." Fred said calmly, "He's always like that. You'll get used to it." George returned the quill to Ron. "By the way, did you know that the Chudley Cannons beat the Falmouth Falcons this year?"
"That's the third-ranked team... Does this mean the Cannons, who have always been at the bottom, are rising?"
Fred and George tacitly shifted the topic of the conversation.
Harry was puzzled, but when he heard about something related to Quidditch, he soon forgot about the quill and enthusiastically joined the discussion.
...
Meanwhile, Kyle was indeed in his room, but he wasn't reading.
He didn't need to for the time being...
After two days had passed, Kyle retrieved the diary from its box.
He stared at Riddle's name for a moment before turning to the second blank page and effortlessly copying the notes on the Transfiguration Spell using his quill.
However, before he could write much, the words began to fade, eventually disappearing completely as if the paper itself had absorbed them.
Suddenly, a new line of text appeared on the now-blank page, written in the same ink he had just used.
[Hello, are you a student at Hogwarts?]
The words flickered for a few seconds and then vanished.
Kyle's expression changed slightly, and he quickly picked up his quill and scribbled a long paragraph on the paper:
"Who are you? Where are my notes? And how can you talk to me? How do you know I'm a student at Hogwarts? Is this some kind of Dark Magic item?"
The writing disappeared, and it was a long time before new words appeared again.
[My name is Tom Riddle, and this is not a Dark Magic item. It is a memory that has been left within this diary, much like the magical portraits in the castle, which is why I am able to communicate with you in this manner.]
[You wrote down the precautions for transforming stationary objects into animals. This is content from the Intermediate Transfiguration Guide, so you must be a third-year student.]
Kyle raised an eyebrow.
It seemed that Tom Riddle was quite patient, providing answers to each of his questions without skipping a beat.
Kyle thought for a moment before writing,
"I know about those portraits, and I often talk to them... But this is the first time I've seen such a magical diary."
"You're right; I'll be starting my third year when school begins."
This time, Riddle responded quickly.
[You still study during the holidays? I guess you must be just like me—a top student.]
"I've memorized all the books!" Kyle wrote hastily, his handwriting becoming messy with his enthusiasm. "And I'm the top of my year."
[I knew I was right; we'll get along well.]
"Are you also the top of your year?"
[Always.]
Riddle seemed eager to impress Kyle, quickly writing again.
[And in my fifth year, I received the Special Services to the School Award. You can go and look in the trophy room; my name is there.]
So what? I have one too, and I even have one more than you...
Kyle thought to himself, picking up his quill.
"The Special Services to the School Award... That's quite an impressive achievement."
"With your excellence, you must have also received the Order of Merlin."
Apparently caught off guard by Kyle's question, Riddle fell silent once more... until Kyle grew impatient, and new words finally appeared on the paper.
[Not at the time I left this diary...]
[But I believe that if I wanted to, I would certainly be able to obtain the Order of Merlin.]
Even through mere text, Kyle could sense Riddle's unwavering confidence.
And it seemed he was probably right.
...
(End of Chapter)
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