Glenn opened her eyes, ending this round of Legilimency. Immediately, a strong impact transmitted from her mind, but Glenn was already accustomed to this feeling. Her resilient soul helped offset the discomfort.
"How did it go, Glenn? Did you find any useful information?" Hermione, waiting by the side, hurriedly asked when she saw Glenn open her eyes.
"Yes, I have a rough understanding of the situation now." Glenn nodded, ceasing the magic output of the Hand of Sorcery, but showed no intention of caring for Ginny, heading straight for Ginny's desk. "Ginny Weasley is indeed controlled, but she herself has no issues."
Hermione helplessly followed behind Glenn, reaching out to tuck the blanket around Ginny, who lay on the bed with her eyes tightly shut. She refrained from using holy power to soothe Ginny's mind, knowing there might be a fierce battle ahead and she needed to conserve energy.
Glenn stopped about a meter from Ginny's desk, her right hand wand flicking to open the drawer she had seen in Ginny's memory.
Inside lay a slightly old black-covered notebook, exactly as depicted in Ginny's memory.
"So the anomaly I sensed back then was because of this diary..."
Glenn recalled feeling something strange at Flourish and Blotts but hadn't pinpointed the source of the discord.
"Everything is because of this diary," Hermione said, resting her head on Glenn's, "It's Tom Marvolo Riddle's diary, possibly containing a fragment of his soul."
"Voldemort again?!" Hermione immediately grasped the significance of this name, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise before turning to anger. "Why is this guy so persistent? He's involved in every bad thing!"
"Is this situation essentially the same as last year's?" Hermione questioned.
The young girl referred to the matter of splitting the soul in pursuit of immortality.
"Most likely," Glenn nodded, glancing at the young girl's hand resting not-so-quietly on her chest, choosing not to comment. "It's somewhat similar to Quirinus Quirrell last year. Ginny Weasley's weakened state is due to this soul fragment continuously absorbing her life force."
"However, the diary hosts the student-era Voldemort, while Quirinus Quirrell last year hosted the remnant soul of the entity killed by Harry Potter's rebound."
Glenn detailed to Hermione the content he saw in Ginny's memory of her conversations with Tom.
"He needs Ginny's accounts to understand the events of the past years, meaning he doesn't know what happened to the main Voldemort body after being separated."
"Perhaps our previous assumptions were wrong; these separated soul fragments can only achieve a vague connection at the soul level but cannot share their memories."
"...Hermione, are you listening?"
Glenn turned to look up at Hermione.
At this moment, Hermione was a bit dazed, her face flushed, still immersed in the content Glenn described of Ginny's chats with Tom.
"Wow, who would've thought Ginny, this shy girl, is actually so bold..."
"Hermione?" Glenn's cool voice reached Hermione's ears, startling the young girl.
"Huh? What?" Hermione, a bit embarrassed, touched... Glenn's head, asking.
Touching her own head or Glenn's, it didn't matter.
"..." Glenn was silent.
Then she repeated her views to Hermione.
"Indeed, otherwise he wouldn't need to constantly probe Ginny about Voldemort and Harry." After listening to Glenn's analysis, Hermione's expression became serious, resting her head on Glenn's to start analyzing.
"So, assuming Voldemort split many soul fragments for his life security, perhaps he split them at different times."
"The books mention the importance of the soul; I believe even splitting one soul fragment would cause irreversible trauma to the main body's spirit, let alone splitting multiple fragments in a short time."
"Therefore, Voldemort must have split one soul fragment, recuperated for a long time, and then continued splitting the next, so these soul fragments might vary in age."
"...Hmm, then perhaps we can deduce where and on what Tom Riddle placed his soul fragments based on the events around him!" After pondering for a long time, Hermione's eyes suddenly lit up, boldly proposing her hypothesis.
Glenn thought for a moment, found it reasonable, and nodded.
"Yes, there's such a possibility, and it's quite likely. Hermione, your thinking is deeper and more comprehensive than mine. That's great." Not stingy with her praise, Glenn habitually wanted to reach out and pat Hermione's head, but found her height insufficient.
"..."
Glenn retracted her hand.
"Of course!" Hermione proudly lifted her head, humming, clearly very happy.
After her joy, Hermione lowered her head again, questioning Glenn.
"What should we do next? Since we already know this diary is the so-called 'Heir of Slytherin,' should we deal with it directly or deal with it directly?" Hermione looked at the black notebook in the drawer with some disdain and disgust. This broken thing nearly cost Ginny her life and is so dangerous, it might as well be burned away!
Although their original plan was to handle the Heir of Slytherin and the Serpent entirely, Hermione didn't want Glenn to take risks, even if Glenn promised he was very confident.
But it's not a hundred percent.
"I don't want any hidden threats where you are."
"Not even a little."
"So I'm going to eliminate all these things."
At that time, facing Hermione's conservative opinion, Glenn uncharacteristically refused the young girl's suggestion and said so.
"And I also don't want anything that can threaten me where I am; it makes me very uncomfortable."
Glenn immediately added another sentence, having learned a bit of the art of language under Hermione's tutelage, believing this addition might ease Hermione's pressure.
—This matter isn't just for you; it's mainly for myself—
In hindsight, Hermione still found it amusing; Glenn's anxious explanation with that expressionless face was incredibly cute.
It made her very moved.
"Alright, it's up to you." Returning her thoughts, Hermione didn't continue, suddenly smiling and shaking her head.
"I'm listening to you."
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
Welcome to visit my Patreon, read the early chapters, and enjoy your reading!
patreon.com/DarkGolds