Chapter 295: The Diadem
Lucius's face went ashen. His lips began to tremble.
"You... what do you mean?"
Lucius tried to make his voice sound normal.
"I mean that whoever placed this diary in Ginny's bag probably didn't understand what this diary meant to Voldemort," Dudley said.
"After all, something this precious wouldn't be carelessly misplaced."
"Inside this diary, there is—"
Dudley stopped here, looking toward Lucius.
Lucius, who had been listening carefully, suddenly saw Dudley's gaze, and his expression immediately became flustered. He didn't even have time to hide his reaction.
At this moment, under Dudley's threat and the effect of his Distortion ability, Lucius's intelligence had essentially become negative.
"What's inside?" Lucius asked frantically.
"I can't tell you that. In any case, once Voldemort discovers this diary is missing, that person will probably not live much longer," Dudley said with a smile.
Lucius's face turned completely white. His already pallid cheeks became as white as a sheet of paper.
Suddenly, Lucius's mind raced. He lunged toward Dudley, trying to snatch the book back.
He shouldn't have done this. He had just denied that the book was his, but after Dudley told him the diary was extremely important to Voldemort, Lucius felt he was falling apart.
He had to get this diary back. If Voldemort ever returned one day, he...
Bang!
However, before Lucius could even touch Dudley, a tremendous force sent him flying backward, smashing him against the door.
"Lucius! You truly are becoming more and more unreasonable!" Dumbledore stood up, glaring coldly at Lucius on the ground.
"Get out of my office!"
Dumbledore said coldly and furiously.
Lucius scrambled to his feet. Seeing Dumbledore's extraordinary anger, he didn't dare say another word. He stumbled and pushed open the door, leaving.
After seeing Lucius leave, Dumbledore turned to look at Dudley.
Though he didn't ask, Dudley knew what Dumbledore was wondering about.
"Professor Dumbledore, do you think there's anyone in this world who fears Voldemort's return more than ordinary people?" Dudley asked.
Dumbledore thought for a moment and immediately grasped Dudley's meaning.
"Those who betrayed Voldemort probably fear his return far more than ordinary people," Dumbledore said.
"Exactly. And what if that person had also happened to lose something extremely important to Voldemort?" Dudley continued.
"Then they would be even more terrified," Dumbledore said.
"I believe in such circumstances, even if they were only pretending to betray him, they would still fear that person truly returning."
Dudley looked toward the door.
"A clever move, Dudley," Dumbledore praised.
Dudley put away Voldemort's diary. "Will I need to attend the Board of Governors meeting tomorrow?"
"If you have time. I've noticed that when you're around, Lucius seems to consistently make irrational decisions. In such circumstances, my position as headmaster might be more secure," Dumbledore winked at Dudley, his face already free of the earlier anger.
"Very well. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night, Professor Dumbledore," Dudley said, turning to leave.
"Good night, Dudley," Dumbledore replied.
After leaving Dumbledore's office, Dudley looked at a strand of golden hair in his palm. He had pulled it from Lucius's head whilst he lunged forward moments ago.
"The show is just beginning," Dudley smiled slightly to himself and tucked the hair away.
As he passed the tapestry of the trolls, Dudley paused.
"I need a place to store things," Dudley thought to himself, then walked past the tapestry three times, thinking of his need.
On the third pass, the wall opposite the tapestry rapidly transformed. A large door appeared, identical to the one Voldemort had brought him to previously.
Dudley pushed the door open and walked inside.
Just as before, countless strange and rare items were piled haphazardly throughout. It was essentially a massive storage room.
"The things preserved here can apparently be traced back to when Hogwarts was first built," Dudley remarked, randomly picking up several items and discovering their histories were indeed ancient.
Most were prohibited trinkets, likely brought to school by mischievous children but hidden away for some reason, remaining until now.
Dudley casually picked up a book that appeared to be a spellbook and flipped through a few pages.
"It really does have everything here..."
Dudley's mouth twitched as he looked at the book. The illustrations in magical books were all animated, and this textbook-like volume's pictures actually depicted a man and woman applauding each other for love.
"Naturally, the magical world also has its share of old perverts." Dudley set the book aside and continued deeper.
The space was quite large, with items scattered chaotically everywhere, creating many narrow passages between them.
"There seem to be quite a few dark magical objects here," Dudley's gaze fixed on a three-faced goat statue. Using his spiritual intuition, he sensed a dangerous aura from it.
Continuing forward, Dudley faintly sensed numerous evil auras. After all, this was a place to hide things. Besides storing little books of that nature, the most likely prohibited items to be hidden here were dark magical objects.
Dudley noticed a chain hanging on a nearby shelf, exquisitely crafted from extremely precious emeralds. Despite the passage of centuries, it still gleamed brilliantly.
Dudley reached out but didn't make direct contact. Instead, he suspended his hand above it and rotated it gently.
"It seems to absorb human life force. Fascinating," Dudley said. Using magic, he lifted it into suspension and stored it in the Mirror of Erised, planning to study it more thoroughly later.
He continued walking and observing, searching for anything that might be useful. There were many treasures here; one simply needed eyes to spot them. Through his keen intuition and spiritual guidance, Dudley was always able to discover small items useful to him.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Dudley's gaze sharpened.
He spotted a stunningly beautiful diadem with a large jewel embedded in its centre. The entire diadem resembled an eagle with outstretched wings, standing out distinctly among all the collected items.
"An eagle emblem..."
"Something from Ravenclaw House?"
Dudley walked toward it.