"Hiss—"
"Hiss."
"Yes, a contract, a contract with Salazar Slytherin,"
Harry turned his head and hissed twice at the Basilisk, then nodded again, "It said it signed a contract with Slytherin, and can never leave the castle, and must obey the orders of Slytherin's heir—"
As he spoke, the boy's tone grew increasingly strange, he stopped translating, and his voice began to lower, "Uh, and it says, I'm now the Slytherin heir..."
"But aren't you a Gryffindor?"
Cedric asked instinctively, letting go of the arm he was rubbing.
"...Yes."
Harry looked somewhat embarrassed, obviously not feeling happy about being the Slytherin heir, rather it was a severe humiliation for him, making the boy uncomfortable. Being able to speak Parseltongue had already made him uneasy, and now he was 'diagnosed' as the heir...
Harry recalled what the Sorting Hat had said to him during the sorting ceremony...
"What if, you, as the heir, let it leave Hogwarts?" William rubbed his chin.
"...Hiss." Having thought for a long time without understanding, Harry decided to throw the question to the Basilisk.
Upon hearing the question, the Basilisk fell silent, and although its expression couldn't be seen, William could tell its brain was already starting a boxing match.
"Okay, let's not talk about that, of course you're the heir," hearing this news, William wasn't very shocked, looking at the burning green fire on the boy's head and his doubtful eyes, he explained, "Little Tom was Slytherin's heir, and now that you've consumed him, naturally you become the..."
"Wait, this Tom you're talking about... is it a person?"
Cedric interrupted a bit abruptly, blinking, wondering if he'd stumbled into a scene from 'Diary of a Madman'.
"Shut up, it's not what you think—so free? Finished your thesis?"
"Ah—"
Cedric let out a wail when hit where it hurt, and turned back to his desk.
"You mean—"
Noticing William's gaze, Harry instinctively touched the fire on his head, pondering for a moment, seemingly finally understanding the situation, but it didn't bring him comfort. Yet, the boy still hopefully asked again, "Does it mean, the heir isn't me, but rather Voldemort..."
"In a way, you are now Voldemort."
"..."
You might as well not say it—For Harry, this was probably even harder to accept than having Slytherin family blood and being the heir himself.
Ugh, ants crawling on the body...
"It's inevitable, after Little Tom parasitized your soul, even separation will leave residue, and may even affect you—fusion is the best result, you can not only retain your complete soul, but also inherit parts of Voldemort's talents..."
William saw through Harry's thoughts, he waved his hand, starting to help the extremely conflicted boy with psychological counseling, "Though he's a Black Wizard, rest assured, I've erased all of Little Tom's consciousness, leaving only the most basic essence, plus the bottle of digestive-smoothing Magic Potion—don't you feel your Parseltongue has become more fluent?"
"Hiss—seems like it?"
Harry paused, this time he didn't look at the Basilisk on the table, yet he still hissed smoothly, even being able to distinguish whether he was speaking in English or Parseltongue.
"Power itself is neither good nor bad, it depends on how you use it, think about it, if Voldemort causes trouble one day, you give him an Avada Kedavra..."
"...Isn't that illegal?"
Harry shivered, although a bit tempted by the scene William painted—he still remembered smashing a melon onto his own head in the dream.
"Click, I said to change your mindset, magic itself isn't divided into good or bad—"
"But that's Dark Arts, still Unforgivable Curses."
"Before 1697, they weren't, unforgivable is merely a human definition—though broadly speaking, Dark Arts aren't something fun either, don't delve into that stuff for no reason."
William shook his head, not continuing, a bit worried that if he continued, Harry really would be persuaded and then go delve into Dark Arts—with the talents Voldemort's complete soul gave Harry, these simple Dark Arts would likely be mastered quickly, but the boy without Emotion Magic's bug-like protection would inevitably meet unexpected events.
If one day a Dark Lord Harry suddenly popped up, William felt Dumbledore would likely turn against him.
As he thought, William raised his hand, a heavy dictionary flew down from the bookshelf, looking at the boy's puzzled look, he opened the dictionary and said, "Now I'll give you a task, translating this dictionary into Parseltongue—"
Saying this, William tapped on it with his magic wand, "Remember to hold the word while reading, it'll record your pronunciation."
"You, want to learn Parseltongue?"
Harry was a bit confused, but soon thought of what William just said, about power having no categorization into good or bad, and he felt a bit relieved.
"Yes, of course, I won't have you work for free, I can teach you some magic that Hogwarts won't, of course, I know what they teach too—so far, the teaching effect has been good, you can ask your senior."
William raised his hand and pointed behind him.
"Right, even sensitive skin can use it, kids love it, the style is good, I like it..."
Cedric, who was mentioned, kept writing diligently while not forgetting to chime (perfunctory) in.
"Click, Norbert, go, bite him—"
William grabbed Norbert's tail and tossed it, the dizzy Little Fire Dragon immediately hugged Cedric's head, then coughed out two fireballs, while Cedric skillfully cast a Bubble-Head Charm empty-handed, extinguishing his yet-to-catch-fire hair.
"Cough, cough, anyway, this is a trade, of course, you can also seek apprenticeship right here—it's up to how you think about it." William extended his hand to the pondering boy, "How about it, deal?"
Harry hesitated for a moment, but it wasn't out of rejection; it was because he began speaking rather hesitantly, "Magic that Hogwarts won't teach—does that include Dream Magic?"
He recalled what William just mentioned, the Dream Magic cast by Voldemort—inside it, he saw his parents, and even though the memory was gradually fading, he still remembered the warmth.
"Oh, that one doesn't, it requires talent."
William shook his head, seeing the somewhat disappointed boy, he continued, "But I can teach you some other things, like—how to defeat Professor Snape."
"!"
Harry involuntarily raised his head, seeing the boy who decisively took the bait, William couldn't help but chuckle.
Coach, coach, your magic skills are really strong, but still too talent-dependent, is there a simpler and easier-to-understand magic?
Yes, brother, yes, for this type of magic, I have nine more...