"?!"
The two of them whipped around in fright, but behind them they saw only the Room of Requirement in its normal state—nothing unusual at all.
"I'm here."
The voice let out a bitter laugh. "Walk forward. Look down—at that black crystal ball…"
Only then did the two realize that, in their earlier panic, they had been so focused on Professor Baker that they'd completely forgotten about that suspicious, possibly Dark artifact—the black crystal ball!
And now, the voice speaking to them… who else could it be but Professor Baker?
Avada and Baron immediately drew their wands again, though they did not take a single step closer to the orb rolling on the floor.
"Caution toward the unknown is a good habit," Professor Baker's voice sighed. "But I truly don't intend to harm you… You noticed how strange the 'me' with the body was acting, didn't you? That one was fake. I am the real Benjamin Baker."
"You're the real Professor Baker?!"
Avada and Baron stared at one another. Even Avada—who already knew about the existence of Horcruxes—found this unbelievable. A soul fragment staying inside the body while the main soul ran into the Horcrux? What kind of configuration was this supposed to be?
Or… did Professor Baker have other secrets they didn't know about?
Heavy doubt and confusion weighed on them. Avada pulled Baron backward a few steps, slowly approaching the Room of Requirement's door. "Sorry, Professor Baker, but your situation is far too complicated. We're just two ordinary first-years. We can't confirm anything, nor can we help… We'll go get Professor Dumbledore and have him help you!"
"Please—absolutely not!"
Professor Baker's voice suddenly sharpened with panic, and the Room of Requirement twisted once more, returning to that inescapable invisible labyrinth. "No one else can know about my condition—not right now!"
"I swear, I didn't end up like this from trying to harm anyone, nor is this some well-earned punishment for wrongdoing… but everyone has things they don't want exposed, yes? For example, you—Ken. Earlier, how were you so certain that this crystal ball was a Dark artifact? What did you rely on? Would you be willing to tell anyone else?"
Avada's brows knitted tightly. He froze mid-step.
Baron, however, grew even more wary. "So—this crystal ball really is a Dark artifact?"
"That depends entirely on how you define a Dark artifact."
Professor Baker gave a weary laugh. "If you mean Dark magic in the academic sense—magic that requires damaging one's own mental strength to use—then yes, this crystal ball qualifies, and it may even be among the darkest of the Dark…"
"But if you define Dark magic the way old-fashioned wizards do—magic used for evil—then rest assured, this crystal ball has absolutely nothing to do with Dark magic."
"Hm?"
Listening silently, Avada's eyes flickered with doubt—paired with his Magical Perception, he had just discovered something quite extraordinary.
But before he could speak, Baron frowned again and continued questioning: "I'm confused, Professor… what exactly happened to you?"
"As a director of the Dark Magic Defense Alliance, why do you have something that counts as 'the darkest' Dark artifact? And why bring it to the school? What was it originally for?"
"And why was your body taken over by someone else? Why did you end up trapped inside the crystal ball?"
"And if you don't want anyone else to know—what would you have done if we hadn't come in?"
The black crystal ball fell silent for a long moment.
"…It seems that if I don't ease your doubts, I can forget about getting your help," Professor Baker finally said with a resigned sigh. "Fine. I'll explain—at least in broad strokes."
Avada arched an eyebrow but remained silent, willing to hear him out. After all, he couldn't escape now anyway.
"To put it simply: the me inside the crystal ball, and the person controlling my body just now… are both me—Benjamin Baker."
"For reasons I won't get into, during one of my adventures, my consciousness split. This split severely affected my thinking, my control over my own body, and even my spellcasting. To resolve this, I spent years searching for a solution… and finally found one workable method: create a specialized vessel to draw in the fractured consciousness, so that my main consciousness could regain full control of my body."
"And the black crystal ball before you is exactly that—my handmade vessel for containing the fragmented consciousness."
Exhaustion seeped into his voice. "To make it, I had to gather knowledge and magical materials from everywhere… including my decision to come to Hogwarts as a professor. Hogwarts owns Britain's largest library, a Restricted Section full of hidden lore, and a secret location I learned about as a student—that is, this room. Back then, I thought this place might help accelerate my work…"
"Turns out, I was right. With the library and Restricted Section, I obtained the knowledge and data I needed. Being a professor gave me access to rare materials… and just days ago, I finally completed the vessel."
"So I came here to the Room of Requirement, prepared to carry out the separation ritual in secret. I even placed defensive enchantments on the room's space to prevent students from wandering in—the very enchantments you encountered earlier."
"Oh, right, you probably don't know: when someone is already inside the Room, no one outside can open it unless their needs match exactly…"
"But that's strange," Baron interrupted. "Before we got here, we opened all sorts of rooms."
"Let me finish."
Professor Baker's voice grew bitter. "During the ritual, an accident occurred. Because my vessel was too well-crafted—and because I made some mistakes—the main consciousness, mine, was sucked into the vessel. The fragment, however, stayed in my body and took control!"
Avada had no idea what expression he should make. So it really was the main soul going into the Horcrux!
Just how clumsy a Dark wizard would one have to be to pull off something this outrageous… No—wait. A clumsy Dark wizard couldn't create a Horcrux-level artifact at all!
"That's also why you were able to open other versions of the room," Baker said helplessly. "Only a complete consciousness is counted as a 'person' by the Room of Requirement. Since my main mind was trapped and the fragment wasn't substantial enough to be recognized, I effectively went from one 'person' to two 'objects.'"
Avada nodded inwardly. That part made perfect sense—Voldemort's Horcruxes sat in the Room of Requirement for years without preventing students from cycling through random rooms.
"In the coming days, the one controlling my body will prove my words. You'll notice that his classes will grow duller, more rigid, and his reactions will become far slower than before…"
"But if that's the case," Baron cut in again, suspicious, "shouldn't you be seeking help even more urgently? Why trap us the moment we mentioned going to Professor Dumbledore?"
"I told you," Baker's voice dropped, heavy. "Even if I've never used it for evil, this crystal ball is still the pinnacle of Dark-magic craftsmanship. If word spreads—even with justification—it would be enough to ruin my life."
"Worse, the crystal ball contains a vast amount of my personal techniques and safeguards. If it fell into someone else's hands and they deciphered these secrets, the consequences would be catastrophic—especially for someone like me, who has offended countless Dark wizards."
"I do need help. But the fewer people involved, the better."