Chapter 391: The Amnesiac Man

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

That strange Rider said nothing, just slowly walked toward them. The two huge yellow compound eyes showed no expression, and his hands just hung naturally at his sides, but from the momentum of his steps alone, everyone felt a sense of oppression that he was an enemy, not a friend.

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

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

"We have to notify the professor." Harry said, looking behind him; the outline of the Three Broomsticks was looming in the autumn mist.

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

Ron gripped his sword tighter, and then, just as the strange Rider reached for his waist, preparing to pull out his blade, Ron rushed up fiercely.

The enemy pulled out that thin red weapon from his waist almost leisurely; it was more like a short stick than a sword. Like the red pipelines flowing through his whole body, it emitted a faint fluorescence.

He used the light sword to gently parry Ron's broadsword, then took half a step back and immediately delivered a heavy slash. Relying on his foundation in swordsmanship, Ron easily parried 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 Ron'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 Ron 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 fully unfolded, revealing the core with a complex structure inside. The red pipelines all over his body were replaced by silver ones, 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 technique that Muggles were proud of, appearing in the Wizarding World at this moment, on a Rider transformed from a Philosopher's Stone.

The next second, Ron was sent flying heavily, and the enemy also changed back to his original appearance, leaving behind an intriguing nod before walking toward 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." Ron deactivated his transformation and said with a somewhat dusty face, "This person is too strange."

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

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

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

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

"I think she's right," Harry gently stroked Ron's back, "To figure out this person's identity, we must explain why he chose to leave directly when he clearly had 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 just need to confirm Ron's identity and strength."

"Why are you so sure he has something to do with the Magical Congress?" Ron 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 certain, "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 Clock 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's another possibility," Ron added, "Slughorn repeatedly emphasized the masquerade; is it possible he was hinting to us that he already knew Professor Jinshang Xiangyi's true identity, just that it wasn't convenient 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 embarrassedly, "Sorry, did I get involved in..."

"Adult topics, yes." Zhang Qiu nodded at her, revealing an encouraging smile, "It's okay, if you want to attend the dance party with Ron, then these things can't be hidden from you; after all, attending the dance party is also one of the expressions of growing up."

"Speaking of which, Harry, I actually strongly disapprove of you taking him as the primary target of suspicion." Zhang Qiu turned her head and said, "In any case, the one that appeared now, let's call him the Crimson Rider for now, he and Night Rogue must not be the same person, right?"

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

"Then, you first suspected Jinshang Jinshang Xiangyi was Night Rogue, and later suspected he was the newly appeared Crimson Rider," Zhang Qiu advised, "You must have suspected wrongly 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 deep-seated prejudices against the Defense Against the Dark Arts position."

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

Zhang Qiu was silent; several people walked on the road back to the castle without a word. They passed Katie and her friend Leenie from the Quidditch team; Katie waved enthusiastically toward this side, but neither Harry nor Ron responded much to her.

Finally, when the big iron gate of Hogwarts appeared in front of them, Marietta finally 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 in the school, then indeed all the weirdos in the school are 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 Ron'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." After Zhang Qiu said this, she seemed to relax all at once, "The reason I am certain 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 Philosopher's Stone directly, so as to 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 walked to the castle entrance, and Harry suggested going to find Professor Jinshang Xiangyi in person, she quite sensibly found an excuse to say goodbye.

For an afternoon, they ran to the office several times, and finally met Professor Jinshang Xiangyi, who was carrying bags of things, before dinner.

"Ah, are you talking about these? I spent a long time at Honeydukes; if you want some, I'll share a bit with you..." The professor didn't notice their intention at all and kept chattering.

"Um, Professor Jinshang Xiangyi, 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." Jinshang Jinshang Xiangyi 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 reason for the amnesia, it has to start from the experiment on the Dawn."

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

"I was the fourteenth person to contact it at that time, and it seems I was also the only successful one. In short, I accidentally discovered that I 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 Philosopher's Stone in your body now?" Ron couldn't help but ask.

"Not really, it just felt a bit hot when contacting; we don't really need to integrate the Philosopher's Stone into our bodies, we just need to leave a trace in the spiritual world."

"Still talking about the amnesia, actually at the beginning, Master Master Xuanjun was worried that after the Rider system was spread out, criminals would infiltrate Hogwarts, so he let me come here to secretly protect you. Well, speaking of it, it's a bit embarrassing; 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 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 secretly glanced at Zhang Qiu, "I'm afraid I can hardly transform to fight anymore."

"What?"

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