"I'm very proficient with the Wand-Lighting Charm (Lumos) now. If I turn it into a card, will its proficiency start as a blank slate, or will it be based on my actual mastery of the spell?" Basil asked quickly.
He was beginning to feel grateful for this System-Spirit-like Youth Version Riddle.
Without him, to find this answer, Basil would have had to spend 100 Gems to make a card.
Then test and compare the spell's power without using a wand, without the [Wand Skin Component], and without using 'System Mana' or his own Magic simultaneously—using only the [Magic Book].
Because the cards didn't display proficiency.
The standard feature for System-based protagonists—a data bar showing tiny progress from hard work and training—he didn't have that.
Riddle pondered for a moment. "My Lord, the essence of creating a card is taking a snapshot of the magic you cast and engraving it into the [Magic Book]."
"Later on, imbalances might occur due to 'walking habits'."
"But at the very beginning, the two are identical."
Basil suddenly understood. "So if I really make a [Lumos] Spell Card, it will inherit my current proficiency in that spell."
Riddle smiled. "Yes. If your mastery of the spell itself surpasses the Spell Card later, you can update the data by 'taking another photo'."
Basil narrowed his eyes. "I have another question. You said earlier that polishing Intent and Form to perfection makes the spell come 'alive' and be engraved in the heart. But based on my observation, almost no one is striving in that direction."
"Even Hermione, the most serious student, is only diligent about the Form."
"Even Dumbledore. Based on my understanding from the movies... it's hard to imagine him as the kind of wizard you described who is wholly dedicated to magic with no distractions. He doesn't emphasize the accuracy of Technique and appropriateness of Intent like Professor Flitwick does. In short, he doesn't seem like someone changed by magic."
Riddle raised an eyebrow. "It's hard to imagine such observational skills from a college dropout."
"That path is the smooth road for wizards who truly study magic."
"The path for the 'smart people' of Ravenclaw."
"This behavior is called obsession or nerdiness by other Houses."
"As for other Houses... the weaker ones among them are mostly infected by Black or White Magic that has a strong 'active' nature—spells that come 'alive' as soon as they are cast."
"But the truly strong ones. Like Dumbledore."
"Rely on an unshakable Self."
"They change magic through their Self. Not letting spells develop 'souls' that change them, but using irrational confidence to make ordinary spells extraordinary."
"Like your friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. They care little for theory. They simply believe that reciting the incantation produces the spell and magical phenomenon."
"Sometimes, ignorance is also a form of power."
"Just like Dumbledore believes Love can change everything. And so his magic truly possesses unmatched power."
At this point, Riddle gagged slightly.
"Do you have any other questions?"
"If not, I'm going back into the room to chat with the other me."
"It's a really strange feeling."
Basil shook his head.
The "room" referred to the chamber inside the statue, which originally housed bookshelves full of Slytherin's treasured books and documents.
The "other him" Riddle mentioned was the original Horcrux Diary.
Even hiding the Diary in the Chamber of Secrets didn't make Basil entirely comfortable.
After all, there was another Voldemort (Main Body) possessing Quirrell.
Although he probably wouldn't tell a host he viewed as lower than a servant about such a private place...
But what if?
What if he suddenly decided to revisit old haunts on a whim and found his Horcrux here?
Dumbledore would have to deal with two Voldemorts at once.
The plot would completely derail.
Basil hoped for plot deviations to earn Gems...
But not this kind of bad deviation.
So, he pioneered the method of "using Voldemort to guard Voldemort."
Before walking into the statue, Riddle reminded him, "My Lord, I suggest you do not teleport the debris of these tables and chairs back to their original places."
"Although I would be delighted to see Dumbledore terrified by detecting the magical signature of my younger self..."
"You don't seem to want that."
"Thank god for you!" Basil breathed a sigh of relief.
He had almost habitually put the broken furniture back into the empty classroom.
Whatever happened to transmigrators being omnipotent geniuses after crossing over?
Why wasn't he?
He was no different from his past self—a dropout slacker, careless and forgetful.
He suddenly thought of a possibility. "Wait, in that case... doesn't Dumbledore already know I've been breaking furniture often?"
Riddle didn't speak.
But his silence was a clear confirmation.
Basil collapsed onto his bed, utterly dejected.
Is this how I got the Old Fraud's attention?
Other transmigrators got noticed by looking into the Mirror of Erised with Harry, or wasting their "first time" breaking into the Forbidden Corridor to face Voldemort.
And he got noticed for... vandalism.
"Why didn't you remind me earlier?" Basil instinctively shifted the blame.
"Is there a possibility that I hadn't been born—or rather, created by you—yet?" Riddle whispered a reminder. "Besides, you've probably been watched for a long time. Based on my understanding of Dumbledore... the moment you stole Harry Potter's thunder and killed Fenrir, you were on his little list."
"Fine." Basil laughed dryly.
How could he forget getting stared at (intently watched) while waiting for the Sorting?
Finally, the furniture removed from the empty classrooms was vanished by Riddle with a Vanishing Spell.
Leaving this beautiful world completely.
The lesson was officially over.
Basil had wanted to learn the Killing Curse.
Although he could learn it through the [Fenrir Wolf] Echo...
One teacher was Voldemort, the other was a dog owned by Voldemort turned into an Echo.
Even a troll would know which to choose.
Anyway, Hermione bursting into the dormitory interrupted Basil's connection with Riddle.
Her face was flushed from running, and her two front teeth showing made her look exceptionally cute.
"Basil, I found it!"
"I found out what a Grand Wizard is!"
"'Grand Wizards of the Twentieth Century', I found it in the library! Grand Wizard is just an abbreviation for Great Wizard. Any wizard who has made outstanding contributions can be called a Grand Wizard!"
Basil had a headache! A massive headache!
That's not what a Grand Wizard is at all!
Suppressing the urge to roast her, he explained patiently, "The Grand Wizard in that book might be different from the one I mentioned."
"I saw it in the miscellaneous notes of my grandfather's grandfather's grandfather. About six hundred years ago."
"Back then, he met a wizard completely different from others, one whose body truly had magic flowing through it. He called him a Grand Wizard. That wizard explained that the magic flowing in him was born from nothingness—a concept turned into reality through belief, will, and intense desire."
Hermione was silent for a moment before saying, "I'm not saying I don't believe your ancestor."
"But magic progresses. Just like in the Middle Ages when we believed in Geocentric Theory. Now everyone knows Heliocentric Theory is correct."
"In the past, everyone believed in the Magic Power Theory. But now, the textbook of the best magic school in the world—Magical Theory—says magic power (as a substance) doesn't exist."
"Our uniqueness comes from the Magic Field."
"So, could your ancestor have been mistaken? After all, Magical Theory also says: 'You can feel it, you can make others perceive it, but it doesn't actually exist.'"
Basil was speechless.
"I infer that you do not lack intelligence, but regrettably, you are too narrow-minded, shortsighted, and closed in your thinking."
Basil didn't know who said that originally.
Not having read the novels, he only knew it was a critique of Hermione.
Before, he thought it was just haters talking nonsense.
But now—it was damn accurate!
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