[I kindly gave you the ability to insulate the usage of magical runes, and you're using it against me?]
Tom was devastated. He had not expected this bastard Ivan Hals to use his knowledge against him.
"That's why I always said you were a good person, Tom! It's a pity you didn't want to be better," Ivan said sincerely as he handed Tom Riddle a Nice Guy Card and put the cover on.
In the meantime, just in case, Ivan opened the system to check the status of the Horcrux.
[Magical Item: The Diary of Tom Marvolo Riddle
Magic: Strong
Special State: Magic Isolation
Description: This is a Horcrux created by Tom Marvolo Riddle when he was 16 years old. The Horcrux's outer layer is composed of an insulating magical sequence that makes it safe to use without being opened."
Ivan was relieved to see the system's instructions.
He had been worried that the diary would be too powerful and cause the insulating runes to fail, which would render the hard-crafted seal he had created to restrain the Horcruxes useless.
Fortunately, the effect was just as he had expected…
After stowing the Horcrux away, Ivan considered going to the Chamber of Secrets to find a way to fuse various bloodlines.
One of Ivan's greatest worries was, of course, the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets.
Despite his ability to speak the language and the fact that basilisks don't come out automatically without being summoned, he had to think of the worst, right?
"What's a basilisk's worst fear? The sound of a rooster?" Ivan vaguely recalled the information mentioned in the book. It seemed that he would have to go to Hagrid and steal a few chickens just in case.
It was not impossible to transfigure a few with a Transfiguration Charm, but Ivan did not know if that cry would work…
Without further ado, Ivan began his operation that afternoon!
In Hagrid's absence, Ivan sneaked into the farm and kidnapped several roosters…
He left several Galleons in the chicken coop for Hagrid to buy himself…
However, Ivan found it difficult to decide where to place the roosters, as keeping them in the dormitory might lead to suspicions.
If they were kept outside, they might get lost or starve to death.
Ivan had to use a Transfiguration Charm to transfigure the roosters into owls, which he would return to when needed.
While Yvonne was sorting things out, Harry and Ron happened to be returning from their meeting, and the first thing they saw was the strange group of owls.
One by one, they began to move about in the dormitory. Some of them were not used to this body and fell to the ground…
The leading owl suddenly threw back its head and began to sing, but when it opened its mouth, the whole chicken was stunned. This was not its tone at all…
Inside the cage, the Maca curiously stuck her head out and examined her "kind" in the ground.
"Ivan, why do you have so many owls?" Harry asked suspiciously.
"To deliver letters, you know. I've been getting a lot of letters from fans lately, so I'm borrowing some owls for the time being…" Ivan bluffed.
"I feel like you're catching up to Lockhart…" Ron shook his head and then looked at the group of owls on the ground. "By the way, why do all your owls look so weird?"
"They just arrived today, so they probably haven't adapted to school life yet…" Ivan also noticed that this was a little strange, so he quickly made a cage and locked the owls inside to prevent them from running around.
At the same time,
Hagrid, who had returned from his usual inspection of the Forbidden Forest, returned to his hut. When he saw the empty chicken coop with only a few feathers left, his smile froze and he roared angrily.
"Where are my chickens?!"
…
Saturday, evening,
Keeping out of sight, Ivan stepped into the disused girls' bathroom, where he was accompanied by two grotesque owls perched on his shoulders.
In the middle of the girls' bathroom was a circular sink made up of a large number of washbasins.
Ivan found a snake-shaped mark on the copper tap of one of the basins.
Upon closer inspection, Ivan saw that the snake-shaped carvings also contained smaller characters, densely packed together like snake scales.
Having learned so much from Tom Riddle, Ivan was well aware that these tiny characters were Salazar Slytherin's words based on the language of snakes, which may be why the mechanism was opened by the language.
"What are you doing here? Nobody usually comes here!"
A voice suddenly spoke beside Ivan.
Ivan turned to see a ghost wearing Ravenclaw clothes and thick glasses floating towards him.
"Are you looking for something here?" Myrtle's ethereal form floated past Ivan, examining him curiously.
Yvonne frowned and was about to explain when Myrtle's face changed and she shrieked, "Or are you here to mock me, like them!"
Yvonne stopped mid-sentence and went along with Myrtle.
"Yes, that's it. I heard a legend that there was a fat, ugly, pimply, sniveling soul here and I came to see it out of curiosity!"
"So? You see it now? You think I'm what they say I am?" Myrtle sobbed, but she kept her eyes on Ivan, desperately hoping that the good-looking boy in front of her would say something different.
"Now I think…" Ivan glanced at Myrtle and nodded in confirmation. "They're right!"
"Ah! Get out! Get out of here! I don't want to see you again!" Myrtle covered her face and screamed as she rushed into the innermost cubicle and hid in the toilet bowl there. One could vaguely hear her crying.
Ivan shook his head, apologized to himself, and turned back to the sink.
While Myrtle was crying in the cubicle, Ivan looked at the snake on the copper dragon's head and said something in snake language.
"Hiss ~ (Open!)"
The snake shadow on the copper dragon's head lit up, and the dozen washbasins in front of it began to turn quickly.
Some of them sank into the ground, but the rest fell apart, revealing a large central tube, large enough to fit Hagrid easily…
The tube was dark and seemingly bottomless…
(PS: The promised third watch, complete! Requesting subscription… Requesting votes…)