Chapter 110: Guide of Knowledge
The first rays of dawn filtered through the waters of the Black Lake, casting a faint, rippling light across the Slytherin Dungeons.
Tamara Riddle stood expressionlessly before the fireplace in her dormitory.
At her feet lay several dozen pounds of Muggle romance novels, the ones she had been forced to carry back from Gryffindor Tower the previous night. They were now piled inside the iron grate of the fireplace.
She flicked her holly wand.
A silent Incendio roared forth.
In mere seconds, that rubbish, with its covers of weeping handsome men and beautiful women and its cheap scent of ink, was reduced to scattering ash.
"Meow."
The awakened Nagini had returned to her usual foolish self.
The frenzied state from the previous night had vanished without a trace. At that moment, she had her hindquarters raised in the air, batting with both paws as she hopped around in front of the fireplace, trying to catch the ashes before they landed.
After missing one pounce, she rolled clumsily across the carpet, got a nose full of black soot, and let out a loud, utterly carefree sneeze.
Finally, as if tired of playing, she padded over to Tamara's ankles and expertly flopped onto the floor, rolling onto her back and exposing the patch of white fur on her belly.
Tamara looked coldly down at the silly cat rolling about and acting spoiled, then glanced at her boots, now stained with cat hair and ash.
Her temples throbbed faintly.
Half an hour later, in the Hogwarts hospital wing.
Madam Pomfrey held her wand and checked the black cat bouncing around on the hospital bed three full times. The expression on her face shifted from shock to bewilderment, and finally to deep self doubt.
"This... this is simply a medical miracle!"
Madam Pomfrey murmured in disbelief. "It was clearly completely petrified by that sort of evil Dark Arts last night! How did you do it, Miss Riddle?"
"I don't know, Madam."
Tamara stood to the side, her deep black eyes showing just the right amount of exhaustion and relief.
"I only placed her on the table and stayed with her all night. When I woke this morning, she had recovered on her own. Perhaps... she pulled through by herself?"
Tamara even blinked, directly triggering [Harmless].
Madam Pomfrey frowned and pondered for a long time. In the end, relying on her extensive medical experience, she forced out a barely plausible explanation.
"I suppose cats do naturally possess a certain resistance to some curses... Oh, Merlin be praised. It is truly a blessing amid misfortune!"
Tamara nodded obediently, while sneering coldly in her heart.
Very good. This saved her the trouble of weaving an excuse herself.
"However, you poor child, you look far too pale. Staying up all night must have drained you."
Madam Pomfrey changed the subject and waved her wand. A glass of steaming fresh milk, thick with a sweet scent, floated steadily in front of Tamara.
"Drink it. I will not permit you to leave until I see you finish it," the matron of the hospital wing commanded in a tone that brooked no refusal.
The relief on Tamara's face froze instantly.
No one could say no to this lady.
Not even the Dark Lord.
Under Madam Pomfrey's stern gaze, Tamara picked up the glass with great humiliation, held her breath, and poured the warm liquid into her stomach. In her mind, she cursed her sixteen year old self a thousand times over with Crucio.
Because of the blood on the walls of the second floor corridor and the petrification incident from the previous night, all of Hogwarts had fallen into unprecedented panic.
Whispering students were everywhere in the corridors, and the Chamber of Secrets had become the forbidden topic everyone was discussing.
That afternoon, Tamara had originally intended to go to the Library and find a quiet corner to calm her mind.
Instead, between two rows of tall bookshelves, she ran into Hermione Granger, who was pacing anxiously.
Miss Know It All's hair was bushier than usual. Around her were thick volumes of school history and Herbology dictionaries, while two obvious dark circles sat beneath her eyes.
"Tamara!"
Hermione saw her as if she had seen a savior and immediately leaned closer, lowering her voice.
"Thank Merlin. Is your poor cat all right?"
"She's fine. What are you looking for?" Tamara asked patiently.
"I'm looking for clues about the Chamber of Secrets."
Hermione bit her lip, her eyes shining with the stubbornness characteristic of a Gryffindor.
"Harry said what happened last night must have hit you hard. We have to help you find out who the hidden heir is!"
The corner of Tamara's eye twitched almost imperceptibly.
"But I've searched through all the books in the general section. Every record about the Chamber of Secrets has been checked out! I'm certain the real answer is hidden in that copy of Hogwarts: A History in the Restricted Section!"
Hermione thumped the table in frustration.
"By rights, I should go to Professor Lockhart and ask him to sign a library slip, but whenever I think about how he is a buffoon and a fraud who cannot even handle Cornish pixies, I feel that asking him for a signature would be an insult to me!"
With Tamara, this powerful, elegant, and always composed perfect honour student, as comparison, Hermione had long since lost her rose tinted view of a clown like Lockhart, who knew only how to boast.
Just then, that haunting electronic voice exploded in Tamara's mind right on time.
[Ding! Detected a student thirsting for knowledge facing an academic dilemma!]
[System Task: Guide of Knowledge! Please assist Hermione Granger in entering the Restricted Section to satisfy her desire to seek the truth! Task Reward: Wisdom +1.]
[Penalty: In the next Defense Against the Dark Arts class, stand on the podium and shout, "Everyone, eyes on me! I declare that Lockhart is the best Professor in the world!"]
Tamara closed her eyes and took a deep breath, struggling to suppress the killing intent surging in her heart.
If the system had asked her to duel an adult Hungarian Horntail, or to dive into the Black Lake and tear apart several Giant Squid with her bare hands, this once renowned Dark Lord would not even have blinked.
But this...
Tamara looked at the distressed Hermione beside her.
She would rather help this Muggle born girl find the truth about the Chamber of Secrets.
As the true Heir of Slytherin, Tamara was more familiar with the Chamber of Secrets than with her own dormitory's bathroom.
She knew exactly where her little pet was sleeping now, how to use Parseltongue to open the rusted snake carving on the tap in the girls' bathroom, and even the Dark Arts left behind by Salazar Slytherin regarding how to split the soul.
She knew it all.
But Tamara could not say a single word.
Not only could she not speak, but she was also being forced by the system to take this Gryffindor to steal a book.
"...Since it is to uncover the truth," Tamara said, opening her eyes and speaking in an extremely calm tone, "we do not need that bureaucratic scrap of paper. Besides..."
Tamara glanced around the Library and said coldly, "The truth will not be neatly laid out in a Library."
"But Tamara..."
Hermione sounded concerned. "I haven't got an authorised signature from Professor Lockhart yet. Without it, Madam Pince absolutely won't let us near the Restricted Section."
Hearing this, Tamara sneered in her heart.
A signature?
Permission?
Since when had she, the great Dark Lord, needed a buffoon's permission to enter her own school's Library?
"Granger."
Tamara leaned down slightly, her deep black eyes flashing with the arrogance and allure of one who stood above others.
"Rules are merely shackles used to bind the weak. In this Castle, as long as you possess enough strength, you do not need anyone's permission."
She straightened, her tone allowing no doubt.
"Meet me at the Library entrance at midnight tonight."
.....
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