Sorry, I Was Lying!

"Ssss ~ (speak to me, Slytherin—the greatest of the Hogwarts Big Four!)"

Lockhart muttered something in the snake language, but after waiting for a long time and seeing no movement from the statue of Slytherin behind him, his heart sank and he tried again.

"Are you calling the basilisk?" Ivan sneered. "If I've been in the Chamber of Secrets, do you think I'd let it live to see the light of day?"

"It seems Tom kept a lot of information from you. I'm guessing he didn't tell you to keep your eyes closed when you summoned the basilisk?"

From a distance of three meters, Ivan's black eyes instantly turned orange as he spoke…

Lockhart's mind went blank before he knew what Ivan meant. Ivan's eyes seemed to swirl around and devour his mind and soul…

"Expelliarmus!"

With a shout from Ivan, Lockhart regained consciousness, but in the next instant he felt as if he had been hit by a bull, and he was thrown backwards against the Slytherin statue.

The wand flew out of her hand, spun in the air, and then fell into Ivan's hand …

Ivan reached out and took Lockhart's wand. He checked his status bar and saw that one-tenth of his mana was gone.

Ivan sighed. Wizards were far more resistant to magic than normal creatures.

He had only used the snake's eye for less than a second, not to kill Lockhart, but to trap him in a stalemate so that he would not be able to activate his protective cloak.

After all, the protective cloak was a magical tool that he had personally created with many precious materials. It would take a lot of time to break it normally.

Only by taking them by surprise could they win in a single blow and save magic.

Ivan walked towards Lockhart,

Lockhart, who had been knocked to the statue, tried to get up in terror, but his body felt as heavy as lead. He struggled to lift his right hand, but was stopped by a foot.

"Tell me, where is Tom Riddle now?" Ivan demanded as he stepped on Lockhart's right hand and ripped off several pieces of his magical equipment.

"I…I don't know…" Lockhart said, horrified at the way Ivan's wand was glowing.

"You want a taste of Cruciatus?" Yvonne didn't know the spell, but she could use it to threaten Lockhart.

Lockhart was naturally familiar with the Cruciatus Curse, one of the Three Unforgivable Curses, and when Ivan told him about it, he shuddered and racked his brains, trying to think of where Tom Riddle would go.

"He must have been looking for something on the eighth floor of the castle! He told me earlier that you were in the way because of your frequent visits to the castle, and he hoped that I might be able to distract you…" Lockhart broke off.

Ivan's heart sank. He had a bad feeling about this.

Tom probably wanted to go to the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor to find the second Horcrux, Ravenclaw's Diadem!

Due to the previous attacks, he did not dare to go to the Room of Requirement, which was exactly what the other party wanted…

"So you took the Ravenclaw girl to the eighth floor? And framed me for it?" Ivan was furious at the thought, his black eyes turning faintly orange and vertical…

Lockhart looked at him for a moment, as if he were about to die, but then Ivan's eyes snapped back to normal and he snapped, "No, I didn't do it! The diary took over!"

Lockhart quickly explained the situation to Ivan.

After receiving the diary, Tom Riddle taught him a great deal of magic and asked him to help him regain his powers, in return for which Tom Riddle promised to help him become a true Master of Magic.

Lockhart was hesitant, and did not agree.

However, the next day, he lost consciousness while experimenting with a spell, and when he woke up, he had only a vague memory of talking to a girl who admired him and then going to the eighth floor to do something.

When he reached the eighth floor, he found the man lying in a pool of his own blood. Lockhart could see his handwriting on the wall.

Lockhart was left in a state of panic after that, fearing that he would be traced back to his attacker.

Therefore, he took Tom Riddle's advice and passed the Horcrux on to his other admirer to clear his name.

"Tom Riddle promised me he wouldn't kill anyone, and I gave the Horcrux to the Slytherin girl… you can't kill me, or you'll end up in Azkaban!" Lockhart quavered.

"They'd have to be able to find this place and find your body!" Ivan said sarcastically.

Lockhart felt as if he had been thrown into an ice cellar, but Ivan spoke again. "But you're in luck. I won't kill you this time…"

Ivan looked at Lockhart with a cold expression of relief. He needed someone to blame for these attacks, and Lockhart would be better off alive than dead.

Lockhart, however, knew a lot of things he shouldn't, such as his conversations with Tom Riddle…

Lockhart swallowed hard at Ivan's increasingly dangerous gaze. A thought occurred to him and he said in alarm, "Hars, when I taught you the Memory Charm, you promised me that you would never use it on me again…"

"I'm sorry, I lied!" Ivan waved his wand mercilessly.

"I forgot everything!"

The milky white light of the spell hit Lockhart, who was unable to defend himself. His body shook violently and he passed out.

Ivan placed a Stunning Charm on him to ensure that he would not regain consciousness for several hours, then proceeded to the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor, hoping that Tom would not find what he was looking for by then.

However, as soon as he turned around, Ivan stopped in his tracks. From a distance, he saw a familiar figure standing in the corridor of the Chamber of Secrets.

He was a handsome boy of about sixteen with a nasty smile on his face.

What made Ivan most uneasy was the fact that Tom Riddle now had a simple, crown-like object on his forehead, its brilliant blue stones glittering in the dim Chamber of Secrets…

It was the second Horcrux, Ravenclaw's Diadem!

(PS: How Tom got his hands on this Horcrux and how he knew it was a Horcrux will be explained later…)