The eyes of the Basilisk were reflected in the armor at the end of the corridor, and Professor Burbage was petrified after only taking a couple of steps.
"Rest in peace..."
Kael, who arrived in time, successfully returned the Basilisk to the Chamber of Secret using the shutdown password once spoken by Slytherin.
But what to do next posed a bit of a dilemma for him.
Charity Burbage was discovered in the evening, but now it's broad daylight, and this corridor is a necessary pathway to the fourth floor. If left unattended, someone is bound to notice.
In the end, Kael had no choice but to move her to an empty classroom nearby, and then hurriedly left.
When the night arrived, he went to the kitchen under the pretext of practicing magic, and asked the house-elves to help tidy up.
They were happy to agree.
...
Then came the ghost in December and the dwarf on Valentine's Day, both passed smoothly without any incidents.
Kael gradually got used to the routine of not needing to attend class, spending his days reading or practicing the Quietening Charm.
He even tried wandless spellcasting...
Truth be told, it was much simpler than he had imagined; all it required was sufficient control over magical power.
Being able to cast was one thing, but the effect of the charms was rather mediocre, or to put it bluntly, very poor.
It was like sawing wood vs. chopping wood by hand—everything felt off.
Without the assistance of a wand, it took him two months to finally transform a beetle into a complete button... to describe it concretely, it was somewhat akin to Ron's power level.
Meanwhile, there were some nuisances. The Gryffindor trio would frequently visit the Room of Requirement for a while.
Luckily, Hogwarts Castle is vast, and Kael could always find another place. Anyway, he was just reading, so it was fine wherever he went.
...
Then Hagrid was taken away by the people from the Ministry of Magic.
After that, Kael found it difficult to concentrate on reading or practicing charms.
This meant the fifth attack was imminent... Whether it was Ron being petrified or the nearing end of the time loop, they left Kael feeling inexplicably nervous.
In such a state, he almost got discovered.
It was the fifth day after Hagrid had been taken away. Absent-mindedly, Kael pushed open the door to the Room of Requirement, ready to make a trip to the Chamber of Secret.
It turned out he forgot to use the Disillusionment Charm, and he encountered Hermione who had just come up from the stairs.
"Kael?"
Hermione looked at him in surprise, her eyes full of confusion, "Weren't you in the Auditorium having dinner? How come you're here!"
"Oh, I just remembered my 'Intermediate Transfiguration Technique' book was still in the Room of Requirement."
Kael tried his best to appear calm, "I used the secret passage, so you didn't see me."
"There's secret passages in Hogwarts?" Hermione was even more surprised.
"Of course there are." Kael nodded, "It's on the second floor, behind the Sphinx tapestry. It goes directly to the eighth floor, much faster than using the stairs."
"I see, it's the first time I've heard of this." Hermione understood, not suspecting anything.
...
After this encounter, Kael became much more cautious, always checking his Disillusionment Charm before leaving the Room of Requirement.
More time passed like this.
On the day Ron was attacked, Kael took the risk to find Fred and George, borrowing the Marauder's Map from them.
"If you're looking for the heir, it's best not to hope too much."
Fred said, "We've been watching the Marauder's Map every night lately, and there hasn't been any discovery."
"I bet that guy is scared." George shrugged.
Kael took the Marauder's Map, "It's okay, I've been a bit bored these days, just killing time."
"Suit yourself." Fred didn't mind.
With the Marauder's Map in hand, Kael immediately headed to the Chamber of Secret.
Riddle had grown strong enough, and his attack on Ron was clearly aiming for the wand, so it was likely he'd follow along.
If that's the case, it would be difficult to do anything else.
Kael thought for a long time and decided to take a risk by controlling the Basilisk himself.
Based on previous observations, Kael found that Riddle didn't really restrain the Basilisk, often letting it roam freely, giving a lot of room for maneuver.
He could completely control the Basilisk in advance to petrify Ron, making it look like the Basilisk acted on its own... as long as Riddle ended up with Ron's wand.
As for timing...
Professor McGonagall mentioned in the Hospital Wing that Ron was attacked after separating from Lockhart.
Kael opened the Marauder's Map and found Lockhart's name in the Auditorium.
Ten minutes later, the students finished their meal, and Lockhart left the Auditorium with a group, including Ron's name.
Kael nervously watched the map.
After passing through several corridors, Lockhart's name stopped near the Gryffindor Common Room and began to return along the same route.
Harry and Ron quickly moved downstairs, parting ways on the third floor. Harry proceeded to the corridor where Filch was attacked, while Ron seemed headed for the place where the two ghosts were attacked.
It should be now, Kael turned to summon the Basilisk.
But just as he was about to leave the Chamber of Secret, the map showed new changes.
Ron, originally moving swiftly, suddenly stopped after turning down a corridor.
And Peter Pettigrew's name entered a nearby classroom leisurely.
A few minutes later, Harry arrived, lingering near Ron for a while before quickly running to the third floor.
Then the professors came, seven or eight names surrounded Ron, escorting him towards the Hospital Wing.
This...
Kael glanced at the Basilisk beside him and thought of a possibility.
Could it be that Ron was hit by a regular Petrification Spell?
Thinking about it, with Ron's personality, if someone wanted to steal his wand, there was no need to involve the Basilisk. That rat could steal it eight times a day in different ways without Ron noticing.
Soon, as the professors gathered in the Hospital Wing, Peter Pettigrew exited.
Realizing this, Kael was about to command the Basilisk back into the statue when a familiar dizziness rapidly surged over him.
Everything around started accelerating, blurred colors and shapes flashed by...
Vaguely, Kael seemed to hear Professor McGonagall's voice, along with ethereal music.
"Stupefy!"
The blue light of the Stunning Spell flashed in front.
Kael saw the Basilisk, its head swinging like a giant pendulum, slamming into a nearby pillar.
A deep-red bird descended from the sky, landing on Kael's shoulder, covering his eyes with its wings.
"Professor McGonagall... Fawkes..."
Kael felt joy in his heart... He had returned, back to his original time!
But then he seemed to recall something, shouting loudly:
"Close eyes!"
Although the Basilisk had resisted Professor McGonagall's Stunning Spell and was still dazed, it obediently closed its eyes upon hearing Kael's command.
Professor McGonagall halted, covering her mouth in disbelief: "Kael, you..."
"No, Minerva, it's not Kael."
Dumbledore emerged from behind, gazing at the black fog gathered together, with an unprecedentedly serious expression.
"Tom Riddle!"
"Long time no see." Riddle turned, smiling: "My dear Dumbledore... Ah!"
Before he could finish, his words turned into an eardrum-piercing scream.
Riddle's body twisted and struggled, his arms flailing wildly, his mouth emitting cries of agony, then...
He vanished, like a poorly made firework.
"Sorry, Professor Dumbledore."
Kael pulled out the diary from the Basilisk's venomous fang, "I figured you wouldn't want to converse with him, so I took the liberty of shutting him up."
"I must say thank you." Dumbledore spoke softly, his expression complex.
"Can anyone tell us what's going on?" Professor McGonagall approached, looking at the giant Basilisk, clutching her chest, gasping for air.
Harry poked his head from the crowd... this, too, was what he wanted to learn.
"He was arguably the finest student in Hogwarts' history!"
Dumbledore began: "Few know Voldemort used to be called Tom Riddle. Fifty years ago, I personally taught him at Hogwarts... After graduation, he disappeared, traveled far, delved deeper into the muck of Dark Magic, and eventually emerged as Voldemort."
"But..." Professor McGonagall asked, "why was he here?"
"It's the Soul Artifact, professor."
Kael raised the diary soaked in ink, "This was left by Voldemort when he was in school, containing the soul of his sixteen-year-old self."