On the third day of the Christmas holiday, shocking news swept through the school—
The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who had stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas, Gilderoy Lockhart, had been petrified!
This was the first professor to be attacked since the petrification incidents began.
Although, for well-known reasons, Lockhart's reputation among part of the student body had always been abysmal—so much so that quite a few people actually breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing he'd been petrified—the fact that even a professor could be listed as a target by the "will of the castle" (or the basilisk) still filled many with deep unease.
What made things worse was that Lockhart himself was a half-blood wizard. He shouldn't have fallen within the castle will's range of attack at all. This only made the situation more baffling—and far more terrifying.
And worse still, Lockhart's petrification was only the beginning.
On the morning of the fourth day of the Christmas holiday, two Gryffindor half-blood wizards—Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas—were discovered petrified together in a corridor. On that same day, the warning devices carried by several Muggle-born students who had stayed at school were triggered as well.
The revelation that half-bloods were also being attacked plunged the remaining students into unprecedented chaos. The vast majority now barely dared to leave their own house common rooms, while only a handful of pure-bloods continued to act arrogantly…
That arrogance, however, was mercilessly crushed on the very afternoon of the fourth day—
Baron Shafiq, a pure-blood wizard from the Shafiq family, was petrified!
Upon receiving the news, Headmaster Severus Snape, who had already left the school, rushed back to Hogwarts that very night. He personally went from common room to common room to comfort the students, stating that he would soon attempt to communicate with the will of the castle to determine the root of the problem…
Snape's assurances had some calming effect, but Hogwarts on the fifth day of the holiday was still eerily empty. Students no longer even dared to eat breakfast in the Great Hall—instead, they grabbed their food as quickly as possible and fled back to their common rooms, unwilling to linger anywhere outside.
Even so, another terrifying piece of news still spread through the school at lightning speed—
On the fifth day of the Christmas holiday, the famous Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, was petrified outside the entrance to the Gryffindor common room!
Harry Potter—who had defeated Voldemort twice, who had survived even the Killing Curse—had been petrified. That alone was enough to convince everyone that nothing could stop the will of the castle from acting as it pleased. No one could guess whether the next victim would be themselves.
Under such circumstances, Snape had no choice but to personally deliver meals to the common rooms, as no one dared leave them anymore…
…
'Something's wrong.'
Listening to the pale-faced students around him discuss the increasingly erratic attacks, Tom Riddle fell into deep confusion.
'This isn't how it's supposed to be.'
'I ordered the basilisk to kill Ken—not to run rampant like this.'
'And I clearly remember removing the protective enchantments on its eyes… so why are the victims still only being petrified, not killed?'
'Why would Harry Potter—the one who defeated the original body and inexplicably possesses Parseltongue—also be attacked?'
'And why isn't Ken on the list of victims?'
'…'
To be honest, when he first heard about the initial two petrification incidents, Tom Riddle had been quite dismissive.
After all, he believed the basilisk was completely under his control. He had ordered it to kill Ken—so until Ken was dead, the basilisk should not have done anything else.
Those two incidents were probably just imitations by some fanatical pure-bloods.
At first, many around him shared that view.
But by the fourth day, everyone was stunned.
Madam Pomfrey and Snape jointly confirmed that the petrification curse on the new victims was identical to the earlier cases—something no mere copycat could reproduce. They warned everyone not to suspect those around them and to remain vigilant…
It was at that moment Tom realized something was wrong with his basilisk.
And when he heard that even Harry Potter hadn't escaped, Tom Riddle could no longer sit still.
'I have to check. I need to confirm the basilisk's condition…'
'That cursed bastard was able to make the original body stumble. It's not impossible that he has some way to interfere with the basilisk in return. And if that's true…'
He narrowed his eyes, a flash of vicious intent crossing them.
"Then I'll have to kill him myself."
With that thought, he began manipulating the body of that wretched student. He picked up his original diary, wrapped the body in that expensive invisibility cloak, and slipped out of the common room unnoticed, slowly beginning to sense the basilisk's location…
'Damn it.'
As he searched, he cursed the host who had brought him so much trouble.
According to his original plan, he should have been a specter hovering over every student's head, able to switch hosts at will. Yet a mistake at the very first step had created a massive flaw—one that prevented him from observing that even more detestable "Ken" too frequently or too closely…
'Hm?'
What surprised him was that the basilisk wasn't near the Hufflepuff common room at all, but instead lurking in the corridor outside an empty classroom…
'Ken isn't hiding in his common room like everyone else?'
'Or has the basilisk completely disobeyed my orders?'
He guided the body forward, silently heading toward the basilisk's position.
Maintaining basic caution, he stopped dozens of meters away from the classroom, rendered the body unconscious, covered it with the invisibility cloak, and condensed his own illusory form. Holding the diary, he cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself and cautiously advanced…
Thirty meters.
Twenty meters.
Fifteen meters…
Suddenly, an inexplicable surge of excitement washed over his soul, nearly destabilizing his form.
How should he describe that sensation?
It was like the first time he had held that yew wand as a student—or the first time he had laid eyes on Morfin Gaunt and Tom Riddle Sr.
A feeling as though bound by blood.
What nonsense—he didn't even have a body right now. Where would a "blood connection" come from?!
And yet—why was he feeling this all of a sudden?
What had happened to the basilisk?
What, exactly, was inside that empty classroom?!
Irritation welled up within Tom Riddle. As he hesitated—debating whether to withdraw for now and avoid that bizarre sensation, or continue investigating—something even more unbelievable happened.
"When do you think he'll finally come see me?"
Even after being muffled by doors and walls, the voice was clearly audible in the deathly silent corridor.
What shocked Tom even more was that the voice was extremely familiar.
And the language it was using was even more so—
The person he wanted to kill, Ken, was chatting with his basilisk in Parseltongue.
"He really does have patience…"
The voice from inside the classroom continued.
"I've ordered you to cause this much chaos, and he still doesn't plan to come check on you? And he even sealed your mouth so you can't talk to me… What a heartless fragment."
"So which one is it that's so patient, I wonder…"
"The ring? The diadem? Or the diary?"
(End of Chapter)