Chapter 109: Misunderstanding
The late night corridor was silent, save for the occasional ghost drifting past and the low whistle of a draft through the stone passage.
Wrapped in a cloak, Tamara moved through the Castle stairwells like a phantom.
Now, she had to strike while the iron was hot and seize the diary while that little red haired mouse was at her most vulnerable.
As for whether her actions would arouse Dumbledore's suspicion?
Who would suspect a kind hearted girl who had broken school rules in the middle of the night only because she was worried about a younger student?
She did not need to guess whether Ginny Weasley was asleep.
As the main soul, Tamara had an instinctive perception of her own soul fragment.
That sixteen year old piece of herself within the diary was currently in an extremely active state, feasting on its host's life and fear.
When a person's soul was being drained and their mind was on the verge of collapse, peaceful sleep was absolutely impossible.
That red haired brat must be shivering in some corner right now.
Before long, Tamara arrived at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower.
The Fat Lady was snoring loudly inside her frame.
Tamara stopped before the portrait.
Of course, she did not know the password used by this group of idiots from the House of Lions, but for someone who had just mastered an advanced spell, that was no obstacle at all.
Magical portraits were essentially mimetic objects woven from magic, paint, and fragments of memory. They had no true souls, and their mental defenses were not even comparable to a Troll's.
Tamara drew her holly wand from beneath her cloak and pointed the tip directly at the sleeping Fat Lady.
"Confundo."
A hidden surge of magic silently seeped into the canvas, domineeringly overwriting the portrait's underlying logic.
The Fat Lady woke with a start, rubbing her eyes in confusion as she looked at the petite figure beneath the hooded cloak.
"Password?" the Fat Lady asked out of habit, though her gaze had already begun to wander.
"I'm a second year Gryffindor student. I just went to the bathroom and forgot the password," Tamara said calmly.
"Oh... oh, of course, you poor child. It is easy to forget things when one goes to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Go on in, it is cold outside."
The Fat Lady smiled affectionately and swung forward without suspicion, revealing the passage behind her.
A mocking sneer curled Tamara's lips as she easily stepped into the lions' den.
The Gryffindor Common Room was filled with a warmth that made her feel nauseated.
Scarlet armchairs were scattered haphazardly around the room, and the logs in the fireplace were still stubbornly giving off their last traces of heat.
Tamara's eyes, exceptionally sharp in the darkness, instantly locked onto a shadowed corner at the far end of the Common Room.
There, a conspicuous head of fiery red hair was curled up on a large sofa, shivering.
Ginny Weasley was clutching a worn black leather diary tightly. Her face was buried in her knees, her shoulders twitching with suppressed sobs. She had clearly been pushed into a state of extreme panic and mental exhaustion.
Her sixteen year old self, that despicable fragment hiding within the diary, was currently feasting without restraint on this banquet of fear.
Like an experienced hunter, Tamara deliberately lightened her steps and slowly approached that corner with a suffocating pressure.
She had already finished constructing the interrogation script in her mind.
She would expose Ginny's secret in a cold voice, completely shatter the girl's final mental defenses with fear, then forcibly seize the diary and refine it on the spot.
Tamara reached the sofa and looked down at the trembling girl from above.
"Ginny Weasley."
Tamara deliberately lowered her voice, making each word sound dark and full of authority.
Ginny jolted violently and looked up like a startled rabbit.
Her red, swollen eyes were filled with extreme fear and helplessness.
The bewitchment from the sixteen year old Tom had already left her unable to distinguish reality from hallucination. She thought the monster inside the walls had come for her.
However, the moment she clearly saw the face standing in the shadows, the fear in Ginny's eyes froze.
Tamara Riddle.
In Ginny's world, which was already on the verge of collapse, this proud Slytherin had actually come here in person late at night just to check on her.
Because of her prolonged mental exhaustion, Ginny's mind had completely lost the ability to think clearly.
She did not even consider the fatal flaw in common sense.
How had a Slytherin passed through the Fat Lady's portrait in the middle of the night and walked so openly into the heavily guarded Gryffindor Common Room?
"Tamara..."
Before Tamara could begin her perfect pressure tactic, Ginny let out a whimper filled with grievance and collapse.
The next moment, the red haired Gryffindor girl sprang from the sofa like a child who had finally seen a relative after being frightened outside. She threw aside the diary in her hand and flung herself forcefully into Tamara's arms.
The impact was so strong that the unprepared Tamara was knocked half a step backward.
Tamara instantly froze like a block of ice.
Her hands hung awkwardly in midair, while a terrifying storm of slaughter erupted in her pitch black eyes.
A hug?
This stupid brat from a blood traitor family, this puppet who could not even guard her own mind, actually dared to rub those disgusting tears and snot all over her wizard robes?
Tamara's fingers trembled violently inside her sleeves.
The system seemed to sense her surging killing intent, and a faint current had already begun to flow through her fingertips.
Just then, Ginny began wailing helplessly in her arms.
"Waaah... Tamara... why... why is everyone so cold? Only you... only you would come to care about me in the middle of the night..."
"I knew it... I knew you were the best person in the whole school..."
Tamara took a deep breath.
To avoid attracting the sleeping Gryffindors upstairs, to keep that old man Dumbledore from gaining leverage over her, to maintain her perfect disguise, and to avoid being electrocuted into an idiot, this Dark Lord, who had once terrified the entire British wizarding world, forcibly swallowed that world shaking killing intent back into her stomach.
She lowered her hands in humiliation.
After a full five seconds of hesitation, she patted Ginny's back in a manner so stiff it could hardly be called comfort.
"...Don't be afraid."
Tamara gritted her teeth and forced a gentle voice from her throat.
"Tell me. What happened?"
Hearing those comforting words, Ginny cried even harder, as if she were pouring out all the fear she had suffered under the diary's torment.
Tamara suppressed her physical nausea, her gaze passing over Ginny's shoulder and locking sharply onto the black leather diary thrown on the sofa.
The diary lay there quietly.
But Tamara could clearly feel that the sixteen year old soul fragment inside it was releasing magical fluctuations filled with hostility and defensiveness.
Two generations of Dark Lords, separated by a sobbing, hiccuping red haired girl, engaged in a silent confrontation.
Tamara decided to settle this quickly.
While stiffly stroking Ginny's red hair, she began her inducement in the tone of a caring older sister.
"You look exhausted, Ginny."
Tamara's voice was soft, carrying a subtle magic that seemed able to seep into the heart.
"There is a heavy burden weighing on you, something dangerous that is slowly corroding you."
Ginny's crying gradually subsided. She raised her red, swollen eyes and looked at Tamara in shock.
"You... you noticed?" Ginny's voice was filled with disbelief.
"Of course."
Tamara looked at her tenderly, her gaze flicking unobtrusively toward the diary.
"So, why not give it to me? Hand the source of your pain over to me for safekeeping. I promise it will never hurt you again."
Tamara felt very satisfied.
Perfect psychological suggestion. Precise inducement.
For a brat with such weak willpower, this was total checkmate.
However, Ginny sniffled hard, and a firm light of realization suddenly flashed in her eyes.
"Tamara, you're so good!"
Ginny gripped Tamara's hand emotionally, tears streaming down her face again.
"You're right! I really was being crushed by those heavy burdens!"
"I've been reading those sad Muggle romance novels lately. Their plots are so hopeless that they make me feel like life is meaningless every night. I even started having hallucinations!"
A tiny crack appeared in Tamara's perfectly disguised expression.
"...What?"
"You really are so perceptive and kind!" Ginny said, moved beyond words.
"You've enlightened me! I shouldn't keep reading those sad Muggle novels and making my own burden worse!"
Ginny spun around and huffed as she dragged a huge stack of Muggle melodramatic novels from a corner beneath the sofa. The pile was nearly half a metre high.
Then she shoved the entire stack of novels into Tamara's arms all at once.
"Thank you so much, Tamara! If I give them to you for safekeeping, I can finally be completely free!"
Ginny wiped away her tears in relief. Then, with great consideration, she picked up the black leather diary from the sofa and stuffed it back into her inner pocket.
Noticing Tamara's gaze lingering on the diary, Ginny scratched her head and explained somewhat sheepishly.
"This diary... it's the only place where I can pour out all this pain. Tom has always been a very good listener. Of course, now I have you too!"
Ginny looked at Tamara with adoration.
"I'll tell you everything from now on! Tamara, thank you for coming to see me in the middle of the night!"
Tamara stood frozen, holding the heavy stack of Muggle romance novels that smelled of cheap ink, and stared into Ginny's crystal clear, stupid eyes.
A deep, heavy silence fell over the entire Gryffindor Common Room.
Amid that suffocating silence, the damned system exploded in her mind without warning, accompanied by the cheerful sound of fireworks.
[Ding! Sincere gratitude from a lost lamb detected!]
[What a touching late night redemption! With your gentle listening and selfless care, you have successfully soothed a soul on the verge of breaking. You have become the only lighthouse in the red haired girl's long night!]
[Quest reward issued: Love +1. Current Love: 24.]
[System Evaluation: This is the power of bonds! Love is the greatest magic in the world. Please continue to use your warm embrace to influence everyone around you!]
In her heart, Tamara let out a cold, despairing laugh of mockery.
"Tom... you actually chose such an idiot with a head full of slugs as your vessel."
"It really is... pathetic."
.....
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