Inside the Room of Requirement…
Victor was sitting on a huge wooden chest, holding the diadem of Ravenclaw and examining it repeatedly. But soon, he realized that besides being pretty, the diadem didn't seem to have any special properties. Even when he poured magic into it, there was no reaction.
So, after a fruitless period of research, he decided to just put the diadem on his head. Legend said that the diadem could increase one's wisdom, and he wanted to see if it was true.
When Victor first put on the diadem, he didn't feel anything. But a moment later, he suddenly felt a strange surge of malevolence and other negative emotions welling up from the depths of his heart.
The hysteria he felt when he first arrived in Earth Land, the first person he killed, the massacre he carried out against a dark guild's inhumane acts, the anger he felt when he heard that his guildmates on Tenrou Island had all disappeared…
All the negative emotions hidden deep within him were gushing out and amplifying, clouding his mind. This bizarre situation made Victor immediately take the diadem off his head.
"You wait, Voldemort, you bastard!" Victor was certain that the situation was caused by Voldemort's soul inside the diadem. It seemed that if you didn't know it was a Horcrux, spending a long time with one could make you lose yourself and gradually fall into darkness.
He had to find a way to destroy Voldemort's soul without damaging the diadem. Victor remembered that there were two ways to destroy a Horcrux in the original books: a basilisk's venom and Fiendfyre.
Fiendfyre was definitely not an option. Victor remembered that it wasn't an ordinary flame and would most likely melt the diadem. But a basilisk's venom…
Victor could go to the dungeons right now, blast a hole through the floor, and find the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. A snake that big would surely have enough venom in its fangs to submerge the entire diadem.
But Victor was hesitant to use this method because he wasn't sure if the basilisk's venom would also damage the diadem. He wouldn't take such a risk unless he had no other choice; otherwise, if the diadem were to be damaged, he would be the one regretting it.
So, after much thought, Victor decided to put the diadem away for now, gather some more information, and do some more research.
But Voldemort's soul had just made him relive many unpleasant things from his past. Victor felt that he had to settle the score with Voldemort for that.
Simply killing Quirrell wouldn't be satisfying enough, and he had promised Dumbledore that he wouldn't interfere with Quirrell. A man of his word couldn't break a promise. So, Victor thought for a moment and came up with a good idea, a way to publicly humiliate Voldemort…
————
Meanwhile, Harry and Ron, soaked to the bone, arrived at Hagrid's hut. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. The first thing Harry and Ron saw was a giant crossbow and a pair of wellington boots that looked like buckets hanging on the front door. Harry took off his glasses, wiped the rain from his face, and then went to knock on the door.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The sound of knuckles hitting wood echoed. A moment later, with a creak, the door opened a crack.
"Who is it?!" Hagrid's voice came from inside.
"Hagrid, it's me! Harry!"
Hagrid immediately poked his head out and saw the two soaked students. He instantly welcomed them inside. "Oh, Merlin's beard, get in here!" Harry and Ron, shivering, ran into the house.
Inside Hagrid's small wooden house, several smoked turkeys and pheasants hung from the ceiling. In the corner, a copper kettle was boiling on the fire, the steam rhythmically lifting the lid. On the other side of the room was a large bed with a clean comforter that looked out of place in the rustic house.
"Quickly, take off your wet clothes and come warm up by the fire!" Hagrid placed two stools by the fireplace. "Is there something urgent you needed to see me about in this weather?"
It was late autumn, and the temperature outside was below 20 degrees Celsius. Harry and Ron, soaked to the bone, were shivering from the sudden drop in body temperature.
"Hagrid, today I…" Harry, while warming himself by the fire, told Hagrid about how Victor had asked for his help.
"No, that's impossible!" Hagrid immediately shook his head in denial when Harry suggested that Victor might be connected to Voldemort. "Victor couldn't possibly be involved with him. He's not that kind of person! He started a vegetable patch right next to the Forbidden Forest, not far from here. He came to ask me to look after what he had planted, and he even gave me a brand-new comforter, the one on my bed!"
"So, there's no way he could be involved with Vo… no way!"
"But Hagrid, how do you explain why my scar hurt so badly when I got close to that diadem? I've never felt anything like it before." Harry insisted.
"That…" Harry's words left Hagrid speechless. After a moment, Hagrid sighed and said, "Alright! I'll go talk to Professor Dumbledore about this. But you have to promise me that you will not tell anyone else what you just said!"
"Do you understand?!"
"And you too, young Weasley!" With that, Hagrid turned his stern gaze to Ron. Harry and Ron looked at each other and both nodded. "We understand!"
"Good. I'll take you back now. I don't have any clothes for you to change into. And I'll go see Professor Dumbledore, too." With that, Hagrid pulled a giant pink umbrella out from a pile of junk in the corner of the room. The umbrella was more than big enough for Hagrid, Harry, and Ron.
After dropping Harry and Ron off at Hogwarts Castle, Hagrid, with a heavy heart, went to the stone gargoyle at the entrance to Dumbledore's office.
"What's the password again?" Hagrid tilted his head and thought. "Fizzing Whizbees, Peppermint Toads, Lemon Drops…" After trying a dozen or so passwords, the gargoyle finally opened when he said, "Jelly Slugs."
Hagrid walked straight up the spiral staircase and opened the oak door to the headmaster's office. Dumbledore was standing by Fawkes's gilded perch, feeding his phoenix. Hearing the door open behind him, Dumbledore slowly turned around.
"Good afternoon, Professor Dumbledore," Hagrid greeted him.
"Ah, Hagrid, hello! Would you like a jelly slug?" Dumbledore said, pointing to the crawling, slimy jelly slugs on the copper dish. They left crisscrossing, sugary trails of slime on the plate.
"Oh, no, thank you!" Hagrid politely declined. He had no desire to eat something so gross, even if it was a sweet treat. He thought hardtack was much tastier. It would be perfect if it had a little meat on it, a tip Victor had taught him.
"Professor Dumbledore, it's about Harry…" Hagrid reported what Harry had told him, looking just as serious as Harry had been in the hut. Dumbledore patiently listened to Hagrid's story, and the humorous look on his face disappeared, replaced by a blank expression.
Hagrid would not lie, and the possibility of Harry making something up was also very small. So, if what Harry said was true, what was Victor's goal? And what was the connection between the diadem he found and Voldemort?
Just as Dumbledore was lost in thought, the person who had the answers suddenly appeared. In the large office, a figure suddenly materialized out of thin air, and a voice that gave Dumbledore a headache filled the air.
"Professor Dumbledore, I need to borrow your hat!" Victor shouted. This made Dumbledore sigh in frustration, and it gave Hagrid a good fright.
"Oh! Hagrid, you're here, too!" Victor said, smiling and greeting the large man he had recently met.
"Mr. Dreyar, if it's not too much trouble, please use the main entrance next time you visit. This old man can't take being startled like that," Dumbledore said helplessly.
"Professor, you're selling yourself short. If the White Wizard could be scared to death, you'd have a better chance of convincing people I'm the first King of Britain!" Victor quipped. "But we can talk about that later! Professor, I need to borrow the Sorting Hat."
"The Sorting Hat? What do you need it for?" Dumbledore asked, confused.
"I need to ask it something. I have something to deal with," Victor said, pulling the diadem of Ravenclaw from his pocket. "I found this. The Sorting Hat has been around for so long, it must know something."
"Is this… the diadem of Ravenclaw?!" Dumbledore stared at the object in Victor's hand, a look of shock on his face. "Where did you find it?"
"Don't worry about that for now. This is one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, and I want to destroy the soul inside without damaging the diadem!"
"A Horcrux?!"
"Voldemort?!" Dumbledore and Hagrid both exclaimed at the same time.
"Ahem…" Dumbledore faked a cough and said to Hagrid, "Hagrid, you can go back now. I'm aware of the situation you told me about."
"Oh, right. Okay, Professor Dumbledore!" Hagrid said, awkwardly patting his large belly. "I won't bother you anymore. I'll be going now." With that, he left the office with heavy footsteps.
"Did you find Harry just for this diadem?" Dumbledore asked as soon as Hagrid left.
"Huh?!" Victor tilted his head, not immediately understanding how Dumbledore knew. But then he remembered that Hagrid had been there, and it all clicked. "Oh, I see! That kid Harry went to Hagrid, didn't he?!"
"I must say, Mr. Dreyar, you do have Ravenclaw's extraordinary wisdom!" Dumbledore said, not at all surprised that Victor had figured out what happened. He was indirectly confirming Victor's guess. "So, Mr. Dreyar, can you answer this for me? Since you knew to ask Harry to help you find the diadem of Ravenclaw, does that also mean that Harry is one of his Horcruxes?"
————————————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon —— patreon.com(.)/primaldemon [remove the parenthesis ( )]
There are 50+ advance chaptersavailable for you to read!