Chapter 111  

Neville observed Harry for almost a week and found no diary or book being used, which confused him but he still decided to report it to Alex who in turn, just dismissed him.

A very uneasy feeling rose in his heart as he thought hard about the book.

'There's something missing here… there's no diary with him but why? Why do I feel so strange?'

*******

Alex walked into the hospital ward and headed straight to Ron's bed. Pomfrey said nothing but still kept an eye on him.

"Hey, Ron. I didn't know what happened and only recently found out that you were here."

"Oh, hi. Wait, don't you have cl-"

Alex covered his mouth with one hand and signaled him to stay quiet with the other, "Shh."

Ron nodded and while he didn't understand why he had to stay quiet, he had heard from Harry about the brutal match a few days ago.

"Well…. Why did you have to injure so many? I thought about it and I still don't understand why."

"Hey, be thankful that I sent some people to accompany you. Anyway, let's not talk about it. I'm simply here to visit you and I also brought you something interesting."

Ron scowled, "What? A book or something?"

"Of course. Here you go."

Ron stared at the book, wide-eyed, and didn't take his eyes off of it for a whole ten seconds. He then sat up and asked,

"Where?"

"Where what?"

"I mean, where did you find such a beautiful book?", Ron replied, his expression changing from confusion to awe.

"Oh. Actually, I made it myself.", he said and smiled as Madam Pomfrey fell asleep.

Ron noticed it but was too slow to react as Alex's wand was already pointing at him.

"So, should I call you Ron or a puppet or a… let's see.", he said as he opened all the drawers and then checked under his pillow.

"Nothing huh…", he muttered before adding, "There's no point in asking you anything right now, I guess. After all, you aren't possessed at this moment."

"Wh- what do you mean?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Just answer a few questions of mine and I won't tell anyone about the book that answers all of your questions."

Ron nodded, "Sure. I don't mind sharing it with four people."

Squinting his eyes, Alex asked, "Four? That means there are two others who know about this diary?"

"Yes. Harry and Ginny. It was Ginny who gave it to me for safekeeping."

"All right. We can share, I guess. Now tell me how you ended up in this state."

"Well…", Ron said as he scratched the back of his head, "Professor Dumbledore wasn't at the staff table back then and a few days later we heard Fred and George talking about not having to see Filch's face for a while week. Harry got curious but didn't want to check it out but… but… I can't remember what happened."

Alex nodded slowly, "Hmm… looks like you came in contact with the diary before you tried to check it out. Good. Obliviate."

Ron's pupils rolled backward as he fell asleep while Alex walked over to Madam Pomfrey and cast the same spell before camouflaging himself. He then walked over to an empty bed farthest to Ron's and sat down, waiting.

A few hours passed as he waited and during that time, Madam Pomfrey and Ron had woken up. Ginny first walked through the door and talked to Ron for a while before giving him the diary. 

A few minutes after she left, Harry entered the room. He did the same thing as she did and talked to Ron but after he was done with that, he took the diary and began writing on it.

The diary seemed to have no effect on Harry but whenever Ron and Ginny were near it, their complexions changed and they looked like they were in a semi-hypnotized state.

It was when they came into physical contact that they looked like they were possessed. 

'So, the Horcruxes can affect more than one person. Maybe all of them or it is probably based on the type of object. It doesn't matter. I'll destroy them soon.', Alex thought as he sat and stared at Harry who was busy writing in the book.

He left the room silently and headed towards the room of requirements which was now the only place where he slept and did all of his things so it looked more like a house.

He walked inside and began working out as he thought about the Horcrux and the three Gryffindors.

'If I knew the truth about the sins earlier at the start of this year, I wouldn't have tried to give it to Ginny. Now that it has been done, I guess I have to find a way to use them. There's no way I'll face a Basilisk without properly equipping myself and I know that luck isn't on my side.

Alchemy has no way to control people other than the soul-splitting method but I cannot use it since I'm not an adult yet. There's no way to control the Horcrux either. 

Maybe Tom will lead them there and I'll reap the profits when they're done with the snake. If things go wrong, I'll help them from the shadows but I really want the basilisk's corpse so now I need a very strong camouflaging suit. 

If I get Toffy to do it for me, maybe I don't even have to lift a finger myself. Nah, I shouldn't think like that. I have to kill sloth, after all. Hmm? Looks like those two got what I wanted them to. They make things so much easier for me.'

*********

Hermione ran towards Neville and opened a book in front of him before pointing at a specific paragraph. Neville obediently read the page she showed and what he read had shocked him.

"It's a basilisk?", he whispered and Hermione nodded before whispering back.

"Yes, and there are a few books that mention Salazar Slytherin owning one so I am pretty sure that the culprit is from Slytherin."