After meeting Lucius in the courtyard, everyone's mood was somewhat affected. They returned to the castle in silence and then went back to their respective common rooms.
The next day, Ron had not yet been discharged.
However, according to the Slytherin people, it seemed Malfoy had been taken away by his father, possibly to St Mungo's.
Kael didn't pay much attention to it either.
He had more important things to do today.
After breakfast, Fred and George were taken by Wood for Quidditch practice.
Kael, on the other hand, went to the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor and spent the entire morning transferring the Moonstruck Beast and some plants into his box.
But he left untouched the plants with slow growth cycles, like the Poisonous Tentacles.
The seeds of these plants were compensation from the Ministry of Magic last year, and even now, just a year later, they were still in the seedling stage. The special properties of the Room of Requirement allowed them to grow better.
There would be plenty of time in the future, there was no rush for the moment...
After transferring the last Moonstruck Beast, Kael returned to the small room at the entrance of the box.
However, he didn't leave but instead took out a box from under the bed.
Seeing Lucius Malfoy yesterday reminded Kael that he hadn't looked at that diary since Fawkes had come last time.
He didn't even know how Riddle was doing...
Kael took the Dragon Blood he had bought from Diagon Alley, poured it into an empty ink bottle, and then diluted it with some water.
Dragon Blood was so expensive, might as well save a bit.
After finishing all this, he then opened the diary.
Soon, faint writing appeared.
[I'm sorry, I haven't recovered yet]
[I'm not sure why, but my recovery of Magic Power is very slow]
"It's okay, I've brought Dragon Blood."
Kael wrote a line of red words on it with the Quill.
The line of text was quickly absorbed.
A few seconds later...
[Strange, it is indeed Dragon Blood, but why is there so little Magic in it.]
"I don't know either..." Kael wrote, "I bought it in Diagon Alley."
[Then you chose the wrong shop, this isn't pure Dragon Blood.]
"Is it useless to you?"
[Although the effect is much weaker, it's still useful.]
These words were much clearer than before.
Kael nodded inwardly. As long as it worked, there was no need to be demanding.
After the Riddle-brand E-Reader came back online, Kael continued to ask about the arrangement of Magic Text...
But Riddle's mind wasn't on that; he was very concerned about what Kael had mentioned before.
Who on earth... could easily kill an adversary even Dumbledore found troublesome.
And this strangely named Dark Wizard that Kael mentioned might very well be him in the future.
Someone who could trouble Dumbledore had to be him; no one else would qualify.
He was eager to learn more about this and the reasons for his own failure.
After patiently answering a few questions from Kael, Riddle couldn't hold back anymore.
[I remember you said earlier that someone was stronger than Dumbledore, is that true?]
[And... what is his name, is he from my era?]
Kael looked up from a pile of symbols and Magic Text, glanced at the diary, and casually wrote:
"Do you care a lot about this?"
[Just too curious.]
Riddle replied.
[After all, in my memory, Professor Dumbledore has always been the strongest, and he's the one I strive to catch up with.]
[Since you mentioned someone surpassing him, I've been thinking about it.]
"No wonder, I thought your answers were much slower than usual just now."
[It's unavoidable; I really can't concentrate.]
"Hmm, I understand..."
Kael looked at the Parchment, at the recently written combination arrangement formulas, tapping his fingers lightly on the table.
Although this order seemed normal and wasn't different from the previous ones, coincidentally, Kael had seen two of the symbols before.
In an Alchemy book written by Nicolas Flamel, it's clearly stated that symbols representing "Light" and "Touch" must not be directly connected; there must be a buffer between them.
Otherwise, there's a 90% chance the Alchemy Items produced will explode immediately.
Was this deliberate?
Or an accident...
Kael hesitated for a moment and decided not to bring it up.
It wouldn't help anyway. Riddle could easily use the excuse of being distracted by other thoughts.
And if he knew Kael had read Alchemy books, his next mischief would certainly be more covert.
That would be troublesome...
Kael sighed, gently scratching the Parchment, then took some of the nutrient prepared for the Poisonous Tentacles from a nearby iron bucket with a clip, and stirred it into the ink bottle.
Then he used the Quill to dip a bit of the new "ink" and wrote:
"I'm sorry, Tom, I previously made a joke with you. The person who killed that Dark Wizard isn't stronger than Headmaster Dumbledore."
[So it was a joke... but I've already guessed it.]
Riddle's writing became clearer.
[I knew it; no one could be stronger than Professor Dumbledore...]
"No Tom, you're wrong."
Kael wrote: "Actually, Headmaster Dumbledore doesn't even rank second."
[What?]
"Previously, I was afraid you couldn't accept it, but now I've decided to tell you the truth...
In fact, there are many secret families in the Magic Realm that have been passed down for millennia, possessing incredibly powerful strength, capable of moving mountains and filling seas on a whim.
However, these families almost never appear in front of ordinary wizards, silently guarding the safety of the Magic Realm from the shadows."
[That's impossible!]
[If that were true, why did I only encounter mediocre people during my school days?]
Riddle's writing became so sloppy that it ran together.
"They don't attend Hogwarts; it's all family-taught... I know it's hard for you to believe, but that's the truth."
This time, Riddle didn't respond anymore.
After a long while, writing appeared again in the diary.
[If that's the case, then how do you know about it.]
"Many people know about it now..."
"It was still many years ago when the Dark Wizard named Voldebat... his subordinates became so arrogant and openly shouted 'My master the Dark Lord has the aura of a God of Magic,' offending those people.
So an old man stepped forward and, with a Two-Handed Sword, nearly cut the Dark Lord they were talking about half to death."
The diary fell into a long silence again.
...
[Then what happened? What about that Dark Lord.]
"Maybe just a few days later, he died at the hands of a baby; this is also the only news that was reported."
Saying this, Kael even pasted a prepared newspaper clipping in the diary.
After another ten minutes...
"Tom, Tom, are you still there?"
This time, the diary seemed broken and no longer responded at all.
...