Kael held a quill, staring at the diary for a long while, but he still hadn't opened it.
He was hesitating...
The diary was Voldemort's first Horcrux, and in some ways, it was also the most special one.
Because among all of Voldemort's Horcruxes, only the soul in the diary could achieve resurrection without its main body.
Under the right conditions, the soul fragment attached to the diary could even directly absorb the life force of others and conjure a body out of thin air.
This incredible method of resurrection was something even the Voldemort in Albania couldn't do.
Otherwise, he would have drained Quirrell last year and wouldn't have needed to steal the Philosopher's Stone.
If you think of the soul as a pie, then perhaps the portion assigned to the diary was the largest slice, far exceeding that of Voldemort's main body.
Being the first cut, naturally, it would be a bit larger, and it could even be split in half.
This could explain why Riddle had such complete memories and the ability to converse... you could say that apart from not being able to use magic, this diary was indistinguishable from Riddle in his student days.
This completeness... perhaps that's the correct way to open a Horcrux.
Kael suddenly became curious; if Riddle could successfully resurrect, what kind of relationship would he have with Voldemort?
Would they work together? Or would it be a fight to the death?
Kael thought the latter was more likely. Of course, they might cooperate at first and only decide the ownership of the name "Voldemort" after dealing with Dumbledore and Harry.
But in any case, the two of them could never coexist indefinitely.
After all, someone as proud as Voldemort would never allow the existence of a second self... even if they shared the same soul.
When Kael came back to his senses, he realized he had been sitting in front of the diary for over an hour.
He shook his head, dispelled the strange thoughts from his mind, and put down the quill.
In his student days, Tom Riddle was undoubtedly an exceptionally brilliant student. He was smart, adept at winning people over and concealing himself, and possessed keen observation and insight.
Kael remembered Dumbledore once said he was one of the smartest students he had ever seen.
Before now, that statement belonged to Tom Riddle... and at that time, there was no "one of."
Faced with such an opponent, Kael had to be more cautious to ensure he didn't reveal any flaws.
At the very least, he needed to craft a disguise that would make Riddle drop his guard.
Kael took out the box Nicolas Flamel had given him and placed the diary inside. Then, he rummaged through a box under the bed and retrieved a thick parchment booklet.
On the outermost part of the booklet, a line of cursive script was written in ink.
"Mysteries of Fear"
He had copied it from the Restricted Area before the holidays and hadn't gotten a chance to read it carefully.
Most of it described research on Dark Magic, but there were some useful tidbits too.
It mentioned advanced applications of Occlumency... actively opening one's mind while hiding key thoughts and memories.
When Snape was an undercover agent among the Death Eaters, he probably used this method.
If he had maintained an entirely empty mind, Voldemort would have discovered him long ago.
Kael could even imagine the scene at the time...
"Oh, you're hiding your thoughts from me, something's fishy, drag him out and Avada him."
Hmm... something like that.
Of course, reaching Snape's level of proficiency was something Kael couldn't achieve in a short time... it required a lot of practice.
But if it was just a simple application to make his mind seem less empty, that would be much easier.
...
Three days later.
"Ron, has Kael gone out again?"
At the dining table in the Shabby Residence, as Harry sliced a piece of bread, he asked, "I feel like I haven't seen him since we got back from Diagon Alley."
"I'm not sure either." Ron shook his head. Lately, he had been obsessed with Harry's Nimbus 2000 and spent all his free time playing Quidditch, so he hadn't really noticed.
"But Fred and George might know..."
"What?"
Fred, just coming down the stairs, heard Ron mention his name and asked, "What were you guys talking about?"
"Oh, I was asking about Kael..." Harry said, "I haven't seen him recently; did he go out again?"
Fred came to the table and started spreading marmalade on a slice of bread, "Why are you suddenly asking? Are you looking for him?"
"It's Hermione," Harry replied, "She really likes the Automatic Ink Spray Quill Kael gave Ron and wanted me to ask if it was for sale."
"For sale, of course!"
George sat down next to Harry, pulled a brand new quill out of his pocket, and handed it over.
"I have to say, you guys have good taste. Though this was one of our early works, it's quite popular. Plus, it's reasonably priced, only a Sickle."
"Early works?"
Harry looked puzzled at the quill in his hand... didn't Kael say he made it at Nicolas Flamel's place?
Did he remember wrong?
However, this quill looked no different from Ron's... both seemed like ordinary quills.
"You can try it," Fred said with a smile, "No charge for this one."
"Well... okay then."
Harry rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.
It was the notice about students not being allowed to use magic outside of school, which he hadn't even looked at before shoving it into his pocket, and now it was coming in handy.
Harry flattened the paper, and under Fred and George's expectant eyes, he picked up the quill.
"Poof!"
As soon as the tip touched the paper, a large blob of ink sprayed out from the tail of the quill, covering his face.
Harry was stunned, standing there with the quill in hand, his whole face stained with ink.
Fred and George burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs, but within a second, Mrs. Weasley's angry voice rang out from behind them.
"Harry is a guest, how dare you... and haven't I told you not to pull such pranks at home!"
Fred and George turned around with difficulty.
Mrs. Weasley stood behind them, holding a spatula like a sword, ready to come down on them at any moment.
"Mom, I can explain," Fred quickly said, "This was Harry's idea!"
George nodded, "That's right, Harry wanted to buy one for his friend, so we let him try it, Ron can vouch for us!"