Chapter 391: The Amnesiac Man

"Who are you?" Harry asked loudly, wanting to try to communicate first.

That strange Rider said nothing, just walked slowly toward them. The two halves of the huge yellow compound eyes showed no expression, and his hands just hung naturally at his sides, but from the momentum of his pace alone, everyone felt a sense of oppression that was more hostile than friendly.

Zhang Qiu pulled the two of them back continuously, while Luo En quickly took out his belt, and then, in Marietta's shocked eyes, pulled out his broadsword with the color of raging fire from his waist.

Luo En's empty left hand moved slightly; he didn't really want to fight this battle.

"We have to notify the professor." Harry said, glancing behind him. The outline of the Three Broomsticks was looming in the autumn-winter mist.

"That might not be useful." Zhang Qiu whispered. "Luo En, or rather, Saber is the only power that can defeat him."

Luo En gripped his sword tighter. Then, just as the strange Rider reached for his waist, preparing to draw his blade, Luo En rushed up fiercely.

The enemy drew that thin red weapon from his waist almost leisurely; it was more of a short stick than a sword. Like the red pipelines flowing all over his body, it emitted a faint fluorescence.

He used the light sword to gently parry Luo En's broadsword, then took half a step back and immediately delivered a heavy slash. Relying on his foundation in swordsmanship, Luo En easily blocked this move. Afterward, he seemed to discover that the opponent's strength was not as great as his own, so he held the sword with both hands and slowly pushed it toward the opponent's chest.

The enemy immediately raised his foot, but Luo En's reaction wasn't slow either. The two kicked each other, each retreated a few steps, and stood firm again. Harry was no longer worried at this moment; he knew Luo En was stronger than the enemy.

Suddenly, the strange Rider's hand flickered at his waist, and then he immediately changed his appearance: the two pieces of armor on his chest unfolded completely, revealing a core with a complex structure inside. The red pipelines all over his body changed to silver one after another, and his eyes turned red.

Harry couldn't find a word to describe this inexplicable enemy, but a sense of déjà vu flooded his heart. It seemed that this was something called technology, the technology that Muggles were proud of, appearing in the Wizarding World at this moment, on a Rider transformed from a Sorcerer's Stone.

The next second, Luo En was sent flying backward heavily, and this enemy also changed back to his original appearance, leaving behind an intriguing nod before walking into the distance.

Harry hesitated for a second. He didn't choose to chase, but immediately ran to his good friend's side, fearing he was injured.

"Cough, cough, I'm fine." Luo En deactivated his transformation and said, looking a bit disheveled. "This person is too strange."

"Yeah, how did he defeat you in the end?" Harry helped Luo En up. "Could it be a powerful non-verbal spell?"

"I barely saw it clearly." Luo En adjusted his breathing. "He suddenly became extremely fast. I only saw a few fists flash by, and then my whole body felt as if it had been hit by a car."

"Who is that person?" Marietta hadn't calmed down yet, her tone carrying a trace of fear. "He clearly could have killed us all, but why did he leave?"

"It sounds like you wish he had done that." Zhang Qiu rolled her eyes.

"I think she's right," Harry gently stroked Luo En's back, "to figure out this person's identity, we must explain why he chose to leave directly when he had clearly already won."

"I don't think there's anything to doubt; the matter is very clear." Zhang Qiu said. "This must be someone sent by the Magical Congress to test us, just like Night Rogue; they only needed to confirm Luo En's identity and strength."

"Why are you so sure he has something to do with the Magical Congress?" Luo En asked.

"It's because of the core on his chest, and the design sense of the entire armor, all of which reveal a strong sci-fi atmosphere," Zhang Qiu's tone was very firm, "only people from the Magical Congress would specifically go to understand Muggle technology."

"I don't think so." Harry said. "Where did the people from the Magical Congress learn the extremely unscientific concept of 'acceleration'?"

"Who taught Neville his time-up?" Harry stared at Zhang Qiu. "It was that Yingzhou tutor, and coincidentally, this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is a Yingzhou person."

"There is another possibility," Luo En added, "Slughorn repeatedly emphasized the masquerade ball. Is it possible that he was hinting to us that he already knows Professor Tsugami's true identity, but it's just inconvenient to say it in front of him?"

"Then that's easy to explain; he just wanted to, uh, train you? In any case, a professor wouldn't have murderous intent toward a student." After Marietta finished speaking, she blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, did I get involved in..."

"Adult topics, yes." Zhang Qiu nodded at her, revealing an encouraging smile. "It doesn't matter. If you want to attend the ball with Luo En, then these things can't be hidden from you. After all, attending the ball is also one of the signs of growing up."

"Speaking of which, Harry, I actually strongly disapprove of you making him the primary suspect." Zhang Qiu turned her head and said. "Anyway, the one that appeared now, let's call him the Crimson Rider for now, he and Night Rogue are definitely not the same person, right?"

"Logically speaking, I think you're right." Harry nodded.

"Then, you first suspected Tsugami Shouichi was Night Rogue, and later suspected he was the newly appeared Crimson Rider," Zhang Qiu advised, "you must have been wrong in your suspicion once. You have to think carefully about why you had this wrong conjecture, and then you will notice that it's actually because you have a deep prejudice against the Defense Against the Dark Arts position."

"Yes, what you said makes sense, but not much." Harry retorted. "I'm actually wondering, why have you been speaking up for him all along?"

Zhang Qiu fell silent, and the few of them walked on the road back to the castle without a word. They passed Katie from the Quidditch team and her friend Leanne. Katie waved enthusiastically toward this side, but neither Harry nor Luo En responded much to her.

Finally, when the large iron gate of Hogwarts appeared in front of them, Marietta broke the silence again.

"I just remembered, we were attacked outside the school just now, so the attacker could be anyone, right?" she said. "If we were attacked inside the school, then indeed all the weirdos in the school would be worth suspecting, but we were outside the school just now!"

"Sigh." Zhang Qiu sighed. "I don't know how to tell you. I think continuing to hide it might be a good thing for Luo En's growth, but Harry, you are really too sharp."

"My uncle explained his identity roughly in a previous letter. Indeed, he also possesses the ability to transform into a Kamen Rider." Zhang Qiu said this, and seemed to relax all at once. "The reason I am sure he is not either of these two attackers is because I know his Rider form, and it is a form that is completely different from everyone else's."

"His transformation ability comes from a human experiment. Master wanted to try to let ordinary wizards establish resonance with the Sorcerer's Stone directly, so that they could complete the transformation without relying on a driver. Among more than a dozen volunteers, he was the only one who succeeded." Zhang Qiu explained slowly. "And his belt is naturally completely different from conventional drivers; we can easily distinguish it."

Marietta listened in a daze. When they arrived at the castle gate, and Harry suggested going to find Professor Tsugami in person, she found an excuse to take her leave quite tactfully.

For an afternoon, they ran to the office several times, and finally met Professor Tsugami, who was carrying large and small bags, before dinner.

"Ah, are you talking about these? I've been at Honeydukes for a long time. If you want some, I can share a little with you..." The professor didn't notice their intention at all and kept rambling on.

"Um, Professor Tsugami, I want to ask you about some things." Harry gathered his courage and said. "Has your memory recovered?"

"Well, this, I can only remember a little bit occasionally. I remember I had a very cute girlfriend." Tsugami Shouichi scratched his head and played dumb.

"Tell them, Professor." Zhang Qiu said helplessly.

"Alright." The professor's sitting posture changed all at once, but his tone was still that nonchalant way. "I once had amnesia. As for the cause of the amnesia, it has to start with the experiment on the Dawn."

"Master Xuanjun recruited twenty volunteers, let us directly contact the Sorcerer's Stone, and try to accept it into our own bodies, thereby directly obtaining the ability to transform—no, strictly speaking, this can already be considered human body modification."

"I was the fourteenth person to contact it at the time, and it seems I was the only successful one. In short, I accidentally discovered that I had obtained the Rider power codenamed Agito, and perhaps because of the direct transformation, I could exert power exceeding the limit of the driver's power. At that time, I easily won several sparring matches."

"Is the Sorcerer's Stone in your body now?" Luo En couldn't help asking.

"Not really, it just felt a bit hot when I contacted it. We don't really need to integrate the Sorcerer's Stone into our bodies; we just need to leave a mark in the spiritual world."

"Still talking about the amnesia, actually, at the beginning, Master Xuanjun was worried that after the Rider system was spread out, lawbreakers would sneak into Hogwarts, so he asked me to come here to protect you secretly. Well, it's a bit embarrassing to say, I had a fight with a guy with horns on his head when I came, and I got injured that time, which led to the amnesia... It was also recently, after Zhang Qiu showed me Master Xuanjun's letter, that I remembered."

"Then do you know that an attacker has really appeared recently?" Harry said. "A bat monster, a Rider with red pipelines on his body, if you count the guy with horns you mentioned, that's the third one."

"I'm powerless about this," the professor glanced at Zhang Qiu secretly, "I'm afraid I can hardly transform to fight again."

"What?"

"Well, I guess it's because of the physical transformation, my body is actually already riddled with holes." ===== CHAPTER 392 =====