Thomas took the 'mosquito coil' and poked the little snake's belly: "Wake up, Aegis, I found you a pretty hat, want to try it on?"
"Have you ever seen a snake wearing a hat? Shut up, don't disturb my sleep." Aegis flicked its tongue, hissing in complaint.
Then it raised its head, a hint of confusion in its voice: "Tom is with you guys?"
"Tom Riddle, why do you say that?" Thomas asked. The diadem had been in the pile of junk for who knows how long, and it still carried the Dark Lord's scent?
Before putting it in the Room of Requirement, the Dark Lord couldn't have been fondling it every day, right?
Thomas placed Aegis next to the diadem on the table, and the little snake's attention was indeed drawn to the diadem: "Isn't this Lady Rowena's golden diadem? Why is Tom living inside it?"
Aegis thought of that lady, who was occasionally a bit mischievous, and twisted its body, coiling back onto Thomas's hand, playing dead. It hadn't seen anything, knew nothing.
"Living inside it? Are you saying the Dark Lord's soul is inside this?!"
Aegis remained silent, determined to play dead.
Everyone exchanged glances, a common question forming in their minds: "Then whose soul is in the Dark Lord's body now?"
Thomas poked the little snake's head with his finger, deep in thought: "No wonder his statements in the newspapers now are completely different from his early ones."
Severus frowned deeply, his thoughts drifting back to the future, to the series of dangerous events manipulated by the Dark Lord after the Savior started school — Quirrell suddenly becoming a follower of the Dark Lord, the monster released from the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets, the disappearance of the youngest Weasley daughter... He had thought that the Dark Lord's immense power prevented him from completely dying, allowing him to wander as a spirit, much like the powerful ghosts at Hogwarts.
But now it seemed the Dark Lord had already split his soul and preserved it in different places while he was still alive.
Thomas heard Severus say with some hesitation: "Perhaps there's more than just this one item containing the Dark Lord's soul, and this means he split... his own soul?"
His obsidian-like eyes stared intently at the diadem, as if trying to pierce through it with his gaze: "But does such magic truly exist? I've never heard of it, not even in the Restricted Section of Hogwarts, among those ancient and dangerous Dark Arts texts. Such a horrifying spell has never been mentioned."
Becoming a Hogwarts Professor, Severus felt the most worthwhile aspect was being able to freely read the books in the Restricted Section.
Most of the books in the Hogwarts Restricted Section were related to the Dark Arts, and he could proudly say he had read almost all of them!
But Thomas didn't think it was impossible for the Dark Lord to invent a Dark Arts spell that splits the soul.
"The Dark Lord is widely acknowledged as the strongest Dark Wizard in the Wizarding World. It's perfectly normal for him to invent some Dark Arts spells, isn't it? This isn't the only Dark Arts spell he invented and used."
However, this action was indeed difficult to judge. Even in distant Eastern countries with vastly different cultures and beliefs, the integrity of the soul is universally recognized as important.
"The birth of a Dark Arts spell is not a simple matter, even if he is the Dark Lord."
"Because the uncertainty of completely new magic is simply too great. Experimenting on oneself is equivalent to putting oneself in an extremely dangerous situation, which is something the Dark Lord would absolutely never do!"
"You should know that before the Dark Lord branded the Death Eaters with the dark mark, he had experimented on many innocent wizards and Azkaban prisoners." Lucius Malfoy told him this.
And among the Death Eaters, no one had ever mentioned the Dark Lord conducting experiments on soul-splitting.
You see, nobles are much more 'informed' than ordinary people, not to mention his good friend was a Malfoy!
"Those people..." Little Sev silently closed his eyes. Severus's expression clearly told him: those people were dealt with as 'experiment subjects'.
Sherlock Holmes narrowed his eyes: "Severus, perhaps it wasn't unrecorded, but rather those books were taken by someone else before you started school."
Severus looked at him in confusion: "What did you find?"
"Have you read the book 'Most Venomous Concoctions'?"
Severus nodded: "Of course, but that was after I graduated."
That book contained the most vicious and terrifying potion brewing methods existing in the Wizarding World. If he had seen this book during his school days, he would have definitely been unable to resist using the potions inside on the Marauders!
Sherlock continued: "Did you notice that the book's position on the shelf was a bit unusual?"
"According to the Library's usual book arrangement logic, it should have been surrounded by more books related to the Dark Arts, but in reality, those books were missing. Judging by the thickness of the dust accumulated in the empty spaces on the shelf, they weren't normally borrowed by students or Professors, but had been 'missing' for a long time."
"They must have contained some content that 'Most Venomous Concoctions' didn't."
"But if the danger levels weren't matched, then 'Most Venomous Concoctions' wouldn't have been placed with those books, so..."
"Horcrux," Severus said in a deep voice.
"What?"
"The preface of 'Most Venomous Concoctions' stated, 'Regarding the Horcrux, the most evil magical invention, it will not be discussed or guided here.'" Severus carefully recalled the contents of the book, a chill rising from his heart: "He split his soul, perhaps to create 'Horcruxes'."
Thomas was very puzzled: "What did he want to do by creating 'Horcruxes'? The soul is the core that sustains our vitality and mental power. Once the soul is split, the weakening of power is just one of the most intuitive manifestations that might occur."
"But the more far-reaching damage is to the mind. Such as potentially causing confusion and loss of memory, leading to loss of emotional and behavioral control, irritability, and ultimately... turning into a madman who cannot control himself."
"Isn't this something even a three-year-old knows? It doesn't make sense that the Dark Lord wouldn't know!"
Thomas noticed that the other four people's gazes were all focused on him, and then, surprisingly, they all shook their heads in unison: "We don't know..."
"...The education in the Wizarding World really has big problems," Thomas sighed. It was understandable if Muggles didn't know, but why didn't a powerful wizard like Severus know?
Thomas knew with his toes that the wizard who took those books was Dumbledore. His original intention should have been to protect the young wizards, to prevent them from trying such dangerous Dark Arts.
But the way he protected them was to simply take all the books away, instead of telling the children about the potential consequences and dangers of the spell.
If you can't see it, does it cease to exist?
Without even leaving Hogwarts, Thomas could guarantee there should be plenty in the Room of Requirement!
Referring to the preface of 'Most Venomous Concoctions', it's estimated that the authors were all riddlers, only saying that this magic was evil, but not how dangerous it was.
How many young wizards would try it out of curiosity, after all, in the entire Wizarding World, there isn't a book that describes a Dark Arts spell as not evil... As Thomas's thoughts wandered, Sherlock spoke again: "But I want to know why he split the 'Horcrux'."
"You just said the Dark Lord wasn't called Voldemort when he was in school, right?" Sherlock waved his wand, drawing several letters in the air with a Lumos charm: "Then the name he changed himself to — VOL DE MORT, which is French for 'flight of death'. Your Dark Lord probably wants to use the power of 'Horcruxes' to create an immortal body."
"..." Thomas was speechless: He hadn't even ruled a small Wizarding World, and he was already acting like a god!
Severus pointed his wand at the diadem: "Since this is a part of the Dark Lord, why don't we destroy it now? It will definitely weaken the Dark Lord's main body." His fingertips were slightly white from gripping tightly, and a resolute light flickered in his eyes.