Chapter 129: I Think Pasta Should Be Mixed with Concrete #42

"I'll hold onto this diary for now," Irina said firmly to Harry and Ron as she picked up the Horcrux diary. 

As the most powerful among them, neither Harry nor Ron objected to Irina keeping the evil diary safe.

After taking the Horcrux diary, Irina parted ways with Harry and Ron and returned alone to her dorm room. She took out her two-way mirror from her pocket.

"Lynn!" Irina channeled her magic into the mirror and called out Lynn's name.

Soon, Lynn's face appeared in the mirror's surface. Irina could see that Lynn was wearing a pair of glasses used to help concentrate - it seemed Lynn was in the middle of an alchemy experiment. 

"Sorry to interrupt your alchemy work, but I have something to tell you. I've obtained Voldemort's Horcrux diary," Irina said.

Lynn looked slightly startled. "You stole it from Ginny?"

Irina shook her head. "No, Harry and I found it in the bathroom where Moaning Myrtle haunts. It looks like Ginny threw the diary in there."

Lynn smiled wryly. "Well, that was easy then. Shall we meet in the Room of Requirement after dinner?"

"Sure, no problem," Irina agreed softly.

The two-way mirror connection ended. Irina put the Horcrux diary in a wooden box that she carried with her.

After dinner, Irina went to meet Lynn outside the Room of Requirement as promised. When she arrived, a brown wooden door with a red sandalwood handle appeared on the wall.

Recognizing this familiar door, Irina understood how to enter the room. Though the Room could transform into countless configurations, when someone was already inside, the next person wishing to enter had to have the same requirements to open the door.

"I need a place to hold a meeting," Irina said inwardly. The door opened smoothly.

Inside, Irina saw Lynn seated at a round table with a steaming teapot on it. As Irina entered, Lynn waved his wand like a magician - a chair flew to the opposite side of the table, a white teacup slid over, and a thin stream of tea poured itself from the pot into the cup.

Irina sat down, placing the box with the diary on the table. With another wave of his wand, Lynn opened the box, revealing the innocent-looking diary inside.

Since Horcruxes had the ability to resist magic due to their evil nature, Lynn couldn't levitate it with a spell. He picked it up by hand and opened to the first page, seeing the name inscribed there.

"T.M. Riddle...of course, Voldemort's Horcrux diary..." Lynn said gravely. He transfigured another teacup into a pen.

Lynn began writing intently in the blank diary. Curious, Irina leaned over to see what he was writing.

But upon reading Lynn's words, Irina couldn't help a bemused smile. Lynn had written:

"I personally think this pasta should be mixed with concrete #42, because the length of this screw will directly affect the torque of the excavator. When you smash it in, it will instantly generate a large amount of high-energy protein, commonly known as a UFO, which will seriously affect economic development and even cause nuclear pollution to the Pacific Ocean and chargers..."

After this long stream of nonsensical words, Lynn swished his pen with satisfaction. A moment later, the paragraph flashed on the diary's pages and was absorbed, leaving no trace.

Then a large question mark appeared on the diary's pages.

"Hello, I am Tom Riddle. What is your name, and how did you find my diary?" A line slowly seeped out from under the question mark.

Seeing this, Lynn picked up the pen to write again. But before he could, Irina snatched the diary and pen from his hands.

"Wait, let me try this time!" Excited by Lynn's antics, Irina began scribbling furiously in the diary:

"I must disagree. I think we should increase the brightness when stir-frying instant noodles, because when the screws twist inwards they produce carbon dioxide, which is bad for economic development. And since the Vatican only has 800 permanent residents, postpartum care for sows must start before birth..."

Soon Irina's writing also disappeared from the diary's pages, replaced by an even larger question mark.

"?"

Tom Riddle fell silent, baffled by the strange words appearing in his diary from the outside world. Since he hadn't absorbed enough life force yet, he could only pull whoever was touching the diary into his memory at this stage, or possess them briefly.

But without anyone to possess, he couldn't see outside the diary's confines. Tom wondered if the people were trying to communicate in some special coded language.

"Weibi weibi, weibi bababa?" A line of distorted text appeared.

Seeing this, Lynn and Irina looked at each other in confusion. What was going on - had they driven Tom Riddle insane?

"Let's stop playing," Irina said, an idea occurring to her. "Say, why don't we use this diary as a learning tool to get info on magic we can't learn otherwise?"

Lynn considered it, but shook his head. "Nah, better not. This isn't a game - there are no do-overs if we mess up. Dealing with an evil thing like a Horcrux, the more we interact with it, the more chances for mistakes. Let's minimize contact until the Basilisk is killed."

"Should we give the diary to Dumbledore then?" Irina asked.

Lynn fell into thought for a long moment before answering quietly, "Let's wait until after the Basilisk is defeated, then give it to Dumbledore. You hold onto it for now."

(End of chapter)