Chapter 68: Enchantment
Chapter 68: Enchantment
Felix tried to reconstruct the scene from fifty years ago—
A young, intelligent, and ambitious wizard, after entering Hogwarts, accidentally heard the legend of Slytherin. Being so clever, he must have realized that both he and Slytherin shared the same magical talent—Parseltongue. This almost implied a blood connection between them.
He must have been thrilled, knowing that the same noble blood of Slytherin flowed through his veins.
Without a doubt, he would have sought out the Chamber of Secrets left by his ancestor. This might have taken years, but with his intelligence and perhaps some help from snakes... eventually, he succeeded.
As a descendant of Slytherin, he became the new master of the basilisk.
He naturally inherited everything there, including a room hidden even deeper, filled with various forbidden materials from Slytherin.
Slytherin was especially skilled in bloodline research and possessed many powerful ancient magics. Most crucially, at that time, dark magic was in vogue, and Slytherin never shied away from studying and using it...
The young wizard accepted his ancestor's legacy, secretly absorbing all of it. His knowledge of magic grew deeper, and his ambitions swelled. After being rejected by Albus Dumbledore, he formed the Death Eaters and became the Dark Lord, a name that struck fear into the hearts of many.
...
'Is all of this true? Or is it just my speculation?' Felix's gaze seemed to pierce through time, witnessing the rise of the second Dark Lord.
He stared motionlessly at the diary, as still as a quiet painting in the silent night.
Who wouldn't want the research materials of a master-level legendary wizard who bridged the past and the future?
'Even the mere possibility is worth a try.'
'What I fear is that Voldemort either took or destroyed these materials, which would be a problem.'
Felix had already made his plan.
'The first step is to establish communication, but the Horcrux is pretending to be dead...'
After some thought, Felix quickly constructed a small segment of memory and emotion in his mind.
In this new memory, he was still a young genius wizard who had achieved remarkable success, but with a critical difference: he was extremely arrogant and overconfident, never doubting his ability to control this mysterious diary...
'The art of lies is nine parts truth and one part falsehood. I only need to make him misjudge my character, believing that I can be of use to him,' Felix thought.
He opened the diary, picked up a quill, dipped it in ink, and wrote a line with passionate intensity.
"Evil being, reveal your secrets, or I will destroy you!"
He pondered for a moment, feeling that the emotion was right but the information was not yet enticing enough. So, he added another line in the style of Gilderoy Lockhart—
"I, Felix Hep, the finest graduate of Hogwarts in a century, have published three magical works and maintain correspondence with over a hundred famous wizards—though I don't boast about it. I didn't secure Albus Dumbledore's invitation through my extensive network."
He put down the quill, waiting... one second, two seconds...
A subtle Legilimency probe swept over him. The presence did not forcibly break into his memories or read the false information but merely circled around the periphery, capturing his emotions.
This impressed Felix.
Because many Legilimency masters do the same; they rarely brutally delve into others' minds to sift through memories. Instead, they sense the current emotions and use their extensive experience to subtly obtain the information they seek.
Under Felix's watchful eye, the ink on the diary was absorbed.
He waited patiently, and sure enough, a line of text appeared on the diary.
"Hello, Felix Hep."
The line lingered for a few seconds, then quickly disappeared, replaced by a new one—
"I am not a dark magic item. The young wizard misunderstood me. The one who truly opened the Chamber of Secrets is someone else."
Felix curled the corners of his mouth and simply wrote, "Who are you?"
"I can show you."
A blinding white light surged from the diary, and Felix felt his body being pulled as if he were about to fall into it.
He quickly closed the diary.
"Bang!"
After a few seconds, he opened the diary again.
The soul within the diary seemed a bit dazed and slowly typed out a question mark.
Felix wrote, "Don't think I'm one of those unreliable little wizards. I'm a genius Slytherin and won't fall for your tricks so easily!"
After a full ten seconds, the diary finally displayed another line of text.
"You are indeed cautious, Felix Hep. But I am not a dark magic artifact. I graduated from Slytherin just like you, and in a way, I am your senior. Fifty years ago, it was I who caught the person who opened the Chamber of Secrets."
Felix smiled in satisfaction. This was exactly the impression he wanted to give the soul—a proud and arrogant Slytherin who was also shrewd.
So, don't try to fool him with cheap tricks.
The diary then spent nearly half an hour painstakingly writing thousands of words to explain the events from fifty years ago.
As the diary's ink began to fade, Felix considerately added a few drops of ink.
"The person who opened the Chamber of Secrets was Rubeus Hagrid", the diary concluded.
"How do you explain controlling the young wizards in the school?" Felix asked sharply.
A large block of text quickly appeared on the diary's page.
"The Chamber of Secrets was reopened..."
"Rubeus Hagrid was never sent to Azkaban; he stayed at the school as the Forbidden Forest keeper. The danger never disappeared, and as I predicted, it finally became a problem this year. I tried to sound the alarm, but a young wizard named Draco Malfoy wasn't interested. Instead, he enjoyed the spectacle. I had to control him to try and find evidence of Hagrid's guilt."
The diary wrote with a hint of emotion, "Even though I am just a memory, my resolve to protect Hogwarts has not changed. I am still a part of Hogwarts and have a duty to prevent this from happening."
Felix wrote, "How do you prove what you say?"
"I am from a Muggle orphanage, unlike those pure-blood families whose arrogance seeps into their bones. You can check the trophy room at Hogwarts; my trophy should still be there."
"Sounds like the truth", Felix wrote, but under Occlumency, he couldn't help but curse internally, "You've scanned me seventeen times; really think I wouldn't notice?"
"Because it is the truth. You can investigate if you want, but time is short. The next attack could happen at any moment. My suggestion is to secretly write to the Ministry of Magic and have them temporarily remove Rubeus Hagrid."
"You want me to inform on him?" Felix wrote "angrily."
"No, just an experiment. Trust me, if you take him away, the attacks will stop immediately." The diary displayed a line of enticing text, "When this is all over, you can step forward and claim your rightful glory. I think an Order of Merlin—awarded to the hero who ended the Chamber of Secrets attacks—would be fitting!"
"But please keep my existence a secret for now. There are people at the school protecting Hagrid. If they discover me, they won't hesitate to use me as a scapegoat. This is my only request. Once everything is clear, you can do as you please."
Felix paused for a moment and wrote, "I'll consider it."
He then retrieved an exquisite box from the corner of his office and placed the diary inside.
Complex magical runes flashed, completely isolating the diary from the outside world.
In the quiet of his office, Felix reflected on the verbal sparring that had just occurred and sincerely remarked—
"Sounds like the real deal."
(End of Chapter)
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