Chapter 124: Wand Core, The Diary's Change

Tom Riddle never dreamed that even after becoming a Horcrux, he could still be threatened by someone.

And he couldn't figure out what had happened in those fifty years, why a second-year little wizard could already use the Patronus Charm with such skill.

Tom Riddle never realized that the unicorn attacking him was actually a soul-state creature just like him.

After seeing that creature could fly and glow, Riddle assumed it was a Patronus in an unusual form.

But this only made Riddle even more unhinged.

He couldn't accept that a magic he hadn't managed to learn even in fifth year had been easily mastered by a second-year student.

He glared viciously at Silven, "What a pity the Basilisk didn't kill you!"

"So the Basilisk was your doing too?" Silven asked.

"Of course it was me, I am the Heir of Slytherin!" He suddenly grew agitated, "You impostor could never open the Chamber, let alone control the Basilisk, only I can!"

Looks like he must have read the newspaper... or maybe Malfoy told him what was in it.

And he had a strong opinion about Silven admitting in the paper that he was the Heir of Slytherin. This was also an important reason that prompted Malfoy to return to school early.

Normally, the proud Riddle would never have believed Silven could open the Chamber; after all, if he could, he wouldn't have waited until now without acting.

But Silven claiming in the paper to be the Heir of Slytherin was something Riddle couldn't accept — it was his most prized identity, and he would never let anyone steal it.

Silven ignored Riddle's impotent rage, recalled the situation at the time once more, and asked in confusion, "But how did you know I would appear in the eighth-floor corridor at that moment? The Basilisk is so big, you couldn't have kept it exposed the whole time."

"Oh, that's a very interesting matter." Riddle suddenly laughed. "In fact, the Basilisk's target wasn't you at first, but someone else."

"Who?"

"A boy named Weasley." Riddle said, recalling what Malfoy had written in the diary at the time. "Damn Weasley, he actually dared to make me eat slugs, turned me into the laughingstock of the whole school, I'll kill him, Tom, do you have any way to help me kill him!"

"He was furious, the fire of revenge drowned out his reason, and that was exactly what I most wanted to see." Riddle continued, "That day was my first attempt to control Malfoy, to have him go to the Chamber in my place and awaken the Basilisk.

"In return, I would have the Basilisk petrify that boy, to vent his anger for him."

"Of course, I wouldn't kill him, because once a student died, Hogwarts would be shut down, and that's not what I wanted to see — at least before achieving my goal, the school couldn't be closed."

"What goal?" Silven asked.

"Why, to use the Basilisk to kill you, of course." Riddle looked at Silven with a sinister gaze, "When I saw you walk out of that underground classroom that day, do you know how happy I was?"

"But I'm still alive." Silven said calmly, "Are you disappointed?"

"Yes, you're so lucky — the Basilisk can't find things it has already cursed." Riddle said regretfully.

"Maybe it's not just luck." Silven smiled, "Tell me more about the Chamber entrance — was that note left by you?"

"That's right, me too." Riddle's body seemed to grow fainter, and even his voice became much smaller, sounding as if it came from the other end of the room.

"I guessed right, didn't I?" Riddle said smugly, "You're a prophet with the gift of prophecy."

"Wrong by a mile." Silven said lightly, "As laughable as you mistaking me for Harry."

But Riddle appeared very confident.

"You can't fool me." His body had already turned a brownish-gray, "From the very first time we met, I could sense that you desperately wanted to get the diary, yet remained wary of me."

"But that's impossible — I, as a Horcrux…"

Riddle's tone suddenly changed, as if something were stuck in his throat, and only after a moment did he continue:

"After being brought to Hogwarts, I kept pondering one question. Before that, the diary had never been opened — what reason would you have to be wary of me?"

"Later I thought of another person, a born prophet, who, having seen the future, prepared to unite wizards and thoroughly rule the Muggles."

"So I wondered whether you could also see the future." Riddle's face once again showed a smug smile, "You saw that I would appear at Hogwarts, saw everything I did, and I must have succeeded too.

"That's why you knew me, were wary of me, and tried to destroy me before everything began."

Silven said nothing.

In a sense, Riddle was right — he really did want to crush the other party at the very beginning.

Noticing the change in Silven's expression, Riddle grew even smugger. He was very good at guessing people's inner thoughts through their expressions and eyes, and the flicker that had just passed through Silven's eyes undoubtedly confirmed he had guessed right.

Riddle laughed out loud for the first time, a cold, piercing, mocking laugh.

"You can't succeed, do you know why? Because that person also failed."

"You all trusted prophecy too much, never considering that the future is a fixed fact — when you try to do something, you end up driving the process forward, toward the predetermined ending."

"Grindelwald's plan was ultimately ruined by a group of self-proclaimed righteous wizards, and only after that did Hogwarts have so many Mudbloods."

"So you will fail too, and everything I want to do will ultimately be realized!" Riddle suddenly went mad, his body flickering like a TV image with a bad connection.

Silven frowned, preparing to have the unicorn help Riddle recognize the reality — he was already in his hands, how dare he still be so arrogant.

But this time the unicorn passed straight through his body.

The diary on the ground rapidly changed — wisps of gray mist seeped out from within, and the remaining parts began to wrinkle and wither.

Along with the peeling away of the gray mist, Riddle let out piercing screams, as if enduring some extreme agony.

Silven didn't know whether a soul fragment, once turned into a Horcrux, could still break free from the Horcrux, but Riddle was demonstrating that possibility right before his eyes.

Still, judging from his screams and the madness in his eyes, the price of this method must be enormous — perhaps the remaining half of his soul, or even more.

Silven instinctively wanted to stop him, but Riddle was in a very special state at this moment — even the unicorn's soul couldn't touch him.

Silven didn't know any other soul-targeting magic. In his urgency, he instinctively thought of another Voldemort, and reached out to grab the diary on the ground… and immediately the golden rune symbol on his wrist began to emit a faint glow.

At that instant, Riddle's screams grew even louder.

If before it had been a saw tearing at his soul, now there was also a blazing furnace.

It worked!

Silven's eyes lit up.

He couldn't directly make Riddle's soul into a wand core — after all, Riddle at this point hadn't yet conducted various dangerous dark magic experiments, and still possessed a true soul. Silven's magic power and instincts were strongly resisting this idea.

But the part that had been separated out was completely unaffected.

So Silven quickly made a decision — he used the diary directly as a wand body, and on the spot crafted a wand core to enhance its power.

Although the diary wasn't a wand body, had no runes to pair with it, and couldn't fuse with the wand core, briefly borrowing the wand core's power was still no problem.

In an instant, the grey fog grew thick.

If before Riddle had needed to give up half his soul to break free of the Horcrux's binding, then with Silven's help, he now had to leave at least two-thirds of it behind.

An ugly monster roared and thrashed in mid-air, while below it a diary exhaled a greyish mist, like a greedy beast endlessly devouring everything about its opponent.

At some unknown moment, the unconscious Malfoy groggily came to, but the moment he saw this scene, his eyes rolled back in fright and he crashed back to the ground.

A faint tearing sound drifted through the air.

It was the diary — once Riddle decided to pull his soul away, it was no longer a proper Horcrux, and under these circumstances its paper shell began to grow fragile, cracks appearing on the cover as well.

But at that moment, a grey, rope-like thing appeared over the cracks, mending them whole again.

If Harry and Ron had been present, they would surely have recognized that thing as what a wand core looks like once something has been made into one.

They had seen it before — only back then Silven had used the Red Cap's heart nerve, which was red; this one now was grey.

The cracks grew more and more numerous, and the grey wand core kept burrowing into every gap.

At last, Riddle tore himself completely free of the diary.

His appearance was truly hideous now — nothing of his original look remained; he looked more like a snowman piled together at random, with no features, his body twisted in some indescribably grotesque way.

He ran, brimming with venom and unwillingness, and burst out of the room.

This time Silven did not give chase; instead, he focused on controlling the wand core inside the diary, letting it flow into every gap.

In his other hand Silven held his wand, using magic to draw complex magical script upon it.

Golden symbols surfaced on the paper one after another, then quickly vanished, but the places that had been crumpled before were once again smooth and flat.

At the same time, the feeling the entire diary gave Silven also changed — he had a premonition, a wandmaker's premonition… that he might have inadvertently crafted something extraordinary.

The feeling was so strong that Silven paid no attention at all to the fleeing Riddle, focusing all his attention on the diary before him.

(End of chapter)