Hearing Vid's words, it was a while before Dumbledore finally spoke, "Do you intend to destroy it as well?"
"I think this should be your decision." Vid said, "This Soul Artifact is very special... I've been hesitating about how to deal with it."
Dumbledore was silent for a moment and said, "...Well, let me take a look at it."
"Such an important thing, of course, I wouldn't carry it with me." Vid said, "To avoid accidents, I left it at the school."
"In the dormitory?" Dumbledore frowned slightly, "That's not a safe choice. The Soul Artifact could very likely lure students or a House-Elf to help it escape."
"Not in the dormitory, it's in the Room of Requirement, on the eighth floor of the castle." Vid said, "Do you remember? I found Ravenclaw's Diadem there, which Voldemort also made into a Soul Artifact."
The last time Vid had an open discussion with Dumbledore was also in this cave, on the boat leading to the center of the Black Lake.
He mentioned the process of finding the Diadem in the Room of Requirement, but at the time, another one of Voldemort's Soul Artifacts was close at hand, so Dumbledore didn't ask more questions.
Vid believed that Dumbledore wouldn't forget after hearing something like that. But thereafter, the headmaster never pursued the matter.
Vid used to think that this mutual respect and sense of distance was more reassuring and trustworthy. There was no need to bring up a Soul Artifact that had already been dealt with repeatedly.
But at this moment, he felt... maybe Dumbledore didn't want to pursue it more forcefully; he just had restraint and endurance beyond ordinary people's imagination.
"Ah... a very clever idea."
Dumbledore closed his eyes, seemingly escaping from some emotion.
He said amiably, "If it's in the Room of Requirement, then apart from yourself, indeed no one else could easily find it... it might be the safest place in the world..."
He thought of the time Voldemort came to the school for a job, of how the Diadem Soul Artifact was hidden in Hogwarts for decades, and he recalled the time he inadvertently discovered the Room of Requirement.
"Voldemort realized this very quickly, but I never thought of it... and I was always smug about my knowledge of the school... Relf was right, I was too arrogant..."
—Relf?
Vid found this name somewhat familiar, as if someone had mentioned it to him before.
After thinking carefully for a while, he remembered.
—It was Maki who mentioned it.
He said it was the oldest House-Elf at the school, even older than Dumbledore himself.
A House-Elf could live up to over 200 years, and in ancient wizarding families, a House-Elf often served several generations, holding the most secrets of the family.
Vid waited for a moment for Dumbledore's self-reflection to conclude before asking, "Shall we return to the school? I'll go find the Soul Artifact for you."
Dumbledore did not object.
He took Vid's arm, and at the same time, Fox landed on Dumbledore's shoulder.
With a flash of fire, they appeared on the eighth floor of the castle.
The portrait of Silly Barnabas was next to them, still being hit on the head by trolls in ballet skirts, looking silly.
Vid went back and forth in the corridor three times, and a familiar door emerged from the wall. He turned to Dumbledore and said, "Professor, please wait a moment."
"Alright." Dumbledore waited patiently.
Vid opened the door, went in, and closed the door, then exhaled a long breath.
He took the pen case from his waist and threw it on the ground, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into the shape of a suitcase.
Vid opened the suitcase, found the box with the Masking Spell, and after opening it, he saw the black notebook lying quietly inside.
This was Tom Riddle's diary.
The Soul Artifact... had actually always been with Vid.
Even during classes, the bag in the form of a backpack was with him; when he turned into a Peregrine Falcon, he held the pen case in his claws.
Even though the diary had always been quiet, and Vid had locked it in the masking box, Vid could never let this ghostly thing stay in the same house as his parents.
And leaving it at the school, risking it being discovered and taken by someone else? That was even less possible.
What he said earlier was actually just because the atmosphere in the cave... or some kind of repressed emotion from Dumbledore... made Vid feel uneasy.
But back in this familiar environment at the school, not only did Vid relax, but he could clearly sense Dumbledore quickly reverting to the elder he was familiar with.
Thinking of the cold hand that had just grabbed him, Vid couldn't help but sigh softly.
Ariana—the death of Dumbledore's sister—even after a hundred years, was still an insurmountable hurdle in Dumbledore's heart.
Vid snapped the suitcase shut with a "click," turned it back into a pen case, stuffed it into his pocket, and then walked out of the Room of Requirement holding the box.
"Professor, this is the Soul Artifact I mentioned, and it's the last one I could find," Vid said.
Dumbledore hesitated for a moment before taking the box, and upon opening it and seeing the notebook inside, he couldn't help but be slightly stunned.
"This is Tom Riddle's diary."
Vid explained, "At the start of the second year, I saw Lucius Malfoy secretly slip it into Ginny Weasley's cauldron, so I found an opportunity to take it."
"It's a sentient diary, and it tried to communicate with me. But I've always kept it locked in the box, never taking it out."
Vid didn't explain why he did this.
Since in Dumbledore's understanding, he was a wizard with a kind of foresight ability, it was reasonable that he foresaw the danger of Voldemort's diary.
Dumbledore took the diary, focusing intently on the battered black cover, and opened the first page, where the name Tom Marvolo Riddle was written.
In the hands of the headmaster, the diary appeared very docile and ordinary, as if there was nothing strange about the magic on it.
But Dumbledore seemed to have seen something of interest, his gaze sweeping over the blank pages.
After a good while, he then closed the diary.
"Thank you, Vid." Dumbledore lowered his head and said warmly, "This diary might be the first Soul Artifact Voldemort created... I think it will tell us a lot of useful things..."
"As long as it helps you," Vid said, "I just hope, after you're done researching it, that you won't use the Flame Curse to destroy it as you did with the other one. You can use the Basilisk fang, give it a 'complete corpse.' This diary might still have other uses..."
He lowered his voice and whispered a few words.
Dumbledore showed a surprised expression, then smiled.