When I opened my eyes, the entire area around me was enveloped in pure white light.
"Elaina, it's been a while!"
"It has been a long time, Jordan."
The first to speak to me was Lee Jordan, one of the troublemaking twins. Dressed casually in a hoodie, T-shirt, cargo pants, and sports shoes, his cheerful appearance suited his personality perfectly.
"Hey there, Honorary Advisor and Honorary Chairwoman."
"When you call me that again so formally, it makes me feel oddly uncomfortable…"
The next to speak was Cedric Diggory, a sixth-year and Head Boy of Hufflepuff. Despite wearing an extremely casual outfit of a polo shirt, jeans, and thick-soled sneakers, it somehow looked unnecessarily stylish on him, which was rather mysterious.
By the way, the two of them were helping out with operations as part-time workers, and apparently both were considered valuable assets.
After that, Penelope Clearwater-senpai arrived. She was a former Hogwarts Head Girl and, in practice, one of the company's key managers.
"Good, it looks like everyone's here."
She brushed back her wavy blonde hair, showing her intelligent blue eyes and a gentle expression as she waved and said, "Long time no see." When she spotted her boyfriend, Percy, her face immediately lit up with joy.
Today, she was wearing a refreshing white off-the-shoulder top paired with a blue denim skirt. The outfit was simple but had a slightly more mature feel.
"Oh? Where are Professor Lupin and Farley-senpai?"
When I asked about the two remaining co-managers who were absent, Penelope's blue eyes took on a somewhat gloomy shade.
"For security reasons, it's easier if someone stays behind, so Remus is in the workshop. As for Gemma, she went to enjoy a night pool with her guy friends after work, and I believe she's just getting back right about now… or at least, I hope so."
"Hey now, I sense a faint but unmistakable malice in that wording."
Fortunately, Penelope's worries turned out to be unfounded. With a soft pop, Gemma Farley-senpai, the former Slytherin Head Girl, appeared using Apparition.
"Yo."
Her translucent black hair, cut in a wolf style, fell to her shoulders. With a model-like figure, well-defined features, and catlike green eyes carrying a startlingly sly glint, she had a striking presence. She wore light-blue cropped skinny jeans, a black midriff-baring T-shirt, and a cool short-sleeved shirt layered over it, shamelessly showing off her toned, slender waist.
"Sorry I'm late. I stopped by the attached bar for a drink, and things got a bit lively."
"Why do adults always want to drink alcohol whenever they get the chance…?"
"Hehe, it's to drink and forget."
"Forget what?"
"I forgot because I drank♪"
"Alcohol is scary."
After administering a "Sobering Potion" to the drunken party-loving senior, Penelope turned back to the assembled group.
"Well then, once again, welcome to 'Circle.'"
Following her cheerful greeting, we walked down the corridor. Despite it being midnight, countless people were moving back and forth carrying books and documents. The atmosphere felt like a Muggle university campus.
"It feels less like an office building and more like a small town," Hermione murmured.
"Maybe it is," Penelope replied.
"There's a supermarket, a hospital, pubs, even nightclubs. About two hundred people from roughly twenty countries live here."
After Hermione finished asking her questions, Percy spoke up next.
"That thing that looks like an employee ID, what does it say?"
"Oh, this?"
On Penelope's lanyard-style ID card were unfamiliar characters, Eastern kanji.
"It's my surname. Penelope Sei Clearwater."
For some reason, kanji were apparently all the rage within Circle as being "the coolest thing ever," resulting in an extremely over-the-top, ultra-frozen super-cool sense of style.
"We're almost there."
After a while, Farley-senpai stopped in front of a glass door at the end of the corridor. She pressed her palm against the glass, and a perfectly enunciated female voice sounded: "Authentication complete. Entry permitted." The door opened.
Beside it was a plate with the words "General Magitics" written in a font resembling ancient runes. Above that was a simple logo reading "GM" in brass lettering against a crystal-shaped background.
"Go on, come in."
Following the seniors, we passed through an empty office room after business hours and soon came face-to-face with a round, metal door resembling a bank vault.
Clearwater-senpai and Farley-senpai stood on opposite sides of the door, pressing their fingers against metal plates and sliding them several times. With a loud clank, clank, the metal door opened.
Beyond the thick door was a room with smooth, modern white interiors illuminated by gas lamps. Inside were flasks and beakers filled with mysterious liquids, storage tanks, steam engines, celestial globes, astrolabes, and various machine tools. Bookshelves lined the walls.
That was not all. Another section was filled with the latest computers and electronic devices, mysterious robotic arms, and plastic gadgets. It looked like the underground secret base of a hero from an American comic book.
Standing deeper inside was someone else.
"Professor Lupin!"
Hermione cried out, and Professor Lupin, who had been adjusting the gears of a massive machine in the corner, looked up.
"Hello. We're meeting again sooner than I expected."
Seeing him for the first time in a month, he looked reasonably healthy. Perhaps because it was his day off, he was dressed simply in a gray T-shirt and blue jeans.
"And also, I'm not a professor anymore. I'm now in charge of the product division here at GM."
When the twins and I immediately explained Hermione's idea, the response we received was ambiguous.
"Technically speaking, it's already complete."
As he said that, Lupin pointed to a large rectangular mirror hanging on the wall.
When a button on the frame was pressed, the mirror displayed the garden of Circle. Turning a dial further showed live footage of the Weasley family's garden, the main street of Diagon Alley, and the lake at Hogwarts.
"This is called a 'Communication Mirror.' It's a magical tool that can broadcast live images like a Muggle television or play back recorded footage."
After pointing out the wall-mounted Communication Mirror, Lupin picked up a small magical camera shaped like Neville's Remembrall. Inside the small glass sphere was a tiny mirror. By placing it somewhere, footage from that location would be transmitted to the Communication Mirror, and any desired images could be recorded.
"The imaging technology uses two-way mirrors, the transmission technology comes from magical radios, and the recording technology is adapted from the magic used in Omnioculars."
Hearing that it was "just a combination of repurposed existing technologies" made it sound simple, but in reality, it was much easier said than done. Stabilizing quality and production, keeping costs down, and selling the product's advantages to retailers and consumers was an extremely difficult task.
"Honestly, I think we managed to create a decent product."
"But commercially, it was almost a complete failure."
Following Lupin, Penelope forced out the words, her voice tinged with frustration.
"Unlike in the Muggle world, the wizarding world doesn't have broadcasting stations, places that produce programs."
Strictly speaking, there were magical radio stations, but since no television stations existed in the wizarding world, the result was a completely backwards situation: even if you made a television, there were no programs to broadcast.
On the other hand, hijacking Muggle broadcasts would violate the International Statute of Secrecy and put them under the jurisdiction of the authorities where Uncle Weasley worked.
"We could show pretty scenery, but no consumer is going to pay Galleons just to stare at that. At best, we managed to sell them to MACUSA as something like Muggle surveillance cameras."
In short, the problem was a lack of content. It was like a game console: no matter how good the hardware is, it won't sell without appealing software.
"But wouldn't the Quidditch World Cup be a good opportunity?"
"We thought so too, but…"
When the seniors actually tried selling them at a stall in Diagon Alley, the consumers' reaction was perfectly rational.
Why would they spend Galleons to buy something like that and watch from home, when buying tickets directly was cheaper and let them see the match live?
It was so reasonable that they were left completely speechless.
In the Muggle world, where overseas travel costs are high, exporting to foreign markets might still have been viable. But in the wizarding world, where long-distance travel is relatively easy with Portkeys, Floo Powder, and Apparition, the appeal of remote communication was simply not that strong.
"If I could just graduate from Hogwarts, I'd start up a 'British Magical Broadcasting Corporation' using video communication right away!"
Lee Jordan energetically spoke of his grand future dreams, but as things stood, GM simply did not have the resources to establish a broadcasting station from scratch and start producing programs at this point.
"So, with that in mind, we're thinking of switching to a new project."
Trying to lighten the slightly heavy atmosphere, Farley-senpai spoke up in a bright voice.
"In the end, the 'Communication Mirror' project was a failure, but it made one thing very clear. What our products were lacking was content, or rather, variety of content. So we thought we'd reflect on that lesson immediately."
What Farley-senpai took out was a 'Multi-Faceted Mirror,' the same type that we use.
"This one has a clear purpose, and it's easy to sell as an upgraded version of the two-way mirror, so it's actually selling pretty well. But turning it into nothing more than a magical tool copied from Muggle pagers feels like a waste."
"So what are you saying?"
"What we need is a lot more content."
Her green eyes flashed sharply as Farley-senpai wore a bewitching smile. The cunning, calculating side glimpsed behind her glamorous expression was exactly what one would expect from a former Slytherin Head Girl.
"Actually, I got a hint from a certain magical artifact. Using that as a reference, I want to pack every kind of content imaginable into a single magical tool: diaries, newspapers, books, radio, music, calls, cameras, compasses, calculators, mail-order shopping, chess, weather forecasting, everything."
Farley-senpai's words sounded so grand that they bordered on fantasy, but the twins and Jordan instead looked intrigued, and even Cedric leaned forward with interest.
"But how would you even do that?"
"That's what I was planning to show you now."
As if she had been waiting for that question, Farley-senpai snapped her slender fingers and gestured for us to follow.
**
She led us to a small section at the very back of the development room. At its center stood a display case like one used for jewelry, illuminated by a spotlight shining down from the ceiling.
What was stored there was an old, worn diary.
The black cover bore the former owner's name, and in the center was a large hole, as if it had been stabbed through with something. How should I put it? It felt extremely familiar.
George, standing beside me, seemed to recall something as well. He furrowed his brows and groaned as he searched his memory.
"I feel like I've seen this old, beat-up diary somewhere before…"
"An old, beat-up diary!"
At George's words, Farley-senpai dramatically looked up at the ceiling as if she had just heard something utterly unforgivable.
"T. M. Riddle."
She lovingly traced the name written on the back of the diary, whispering it sensually with a rapt expression.
"To think how much we owe to this great wizard."
The black diary, made by a wizard who certainly could be called great in at least one sense, had a painfully familiar presence. Its true identity was no mystery at all.
Yes, no matter how you looked at it, it was Riddle's diary.
"That's the diary that turned Ginny and Penny to stone!"
Percy shouted, and the twins finally seemed to realize what it was as well. Seeing the remains of a magical artifact believed to be imbued with powerful dark magic, the Weasley brothers openly showed their caution.
"I-it's fine! We've already checked with Headmaster Dumbledore!"
Seeing Percy draw his wand, Penelope hurriedly stepped in to stop him.
"I asked Headmaster Dumbledore myself and borrowed it for research."
"You did? This thing?"
Normally, a magical artifact that had been the cause of one's petrification would seem like pure trauma material, but Penelope appeared to think differently.
"After that incident, Professor Flitwick explained everything to me, and I remembered thinking how amazing it was at the time."
Immeasurable wisdom is our greatest treasure. The spirit of Rowena Ravenclaw, who valued curiosity and creativity, seemed to be firmly passed down to her successors even across time.
"After all, when Ginny wrote things in the diary, it gave her advice, and it even let Harry relive memories from the past. It can store a personality together with memories in the first place. If it didn't have the function of controlling its owner, wouldn't it be incredibly useful?"
Fred tilted his head and said, "Is it…?" but I found her reasoning convincing. When you think about it, without Riddle's will installed, it really would just be an absurdly convenient magical tool.
"The Headmaster also said that as long as Remus is involved, it should be fine, so you can relax."
"Well, if Dumbledore says so…"
Percy reluctantly lowered his wand, and Penelope continued with a relieved expression.
"I mean, I was one of the victims who got petrified, and after that, I struggled with my studies because of the gap it caused. So I figured I might as well get some use out of the diary in return for turning me to stone."
Because of all this, the seniors had been analyzing it together with Lupin, and from time to time Professor Snape also came by at Headmaster Dumbledore's request to help investigate what kind of magic had been cast on the diary.
…
As for me, I was so intrigued that I was staring intently at the diary when Farley-senpai approached with a sly grin.
"So, want to know what we found out?"
"To be honest, not particularly…"
"No, given the flow of things, you're supposed to ask."
"So, what did you find out?"
Listening to the explanation properly, it turned out that surprisingly little complex dark magic had been used.
"Basically, it seems to be based on the 'moving portraits' at Hogwarts. On top of that, it adds functions like reliving recorded images, similar to a Pensieve, and the ability to use certain spells."
As she wrapped a loose strand of black hair around her finger with a proud look, I glanced to the side and saw that Lupin, in contrast to the two seniors, wore a slightly complicated expression.
I wondered if there was some other hidden function the seniors did not know about.
Still, if Lupin was tacitly allowing it, then Headmaster Dumbledore must be as well. Since the seniors clearly saw it as nothing more than an upgraded moving portrait, perhaps he did not want to stir things up by saying too much.
"In any case, the important thing is that this 'diary' effectively functions as a 'magic-using moving portrait.' That's kind of dangerous when you think about it, right?"
Hearing Farley-senpai put it that way made me realize something all at once.
Unbelievable.
I suddenly felt a chill as I grasped the true potential of the moving portraits placed all over Hogwarts.
While we were students, their presence felt so natural that we never really thought about it. But when you think calmly about it, creating a moving portrait that can fully copy a person's thoughts, speech, and behavior patterns could also be described as a form of pseudo-personality creation.
For example, the portraits of past headmasters in the Headmaster's Office are given information, knowledge, and memories by the individuals themselves while alive, allowing them to act within the portrait after death much as they did in life.
Despite being two-dimensional beings, they can communicate almost exactly like the original person and even engage in deep thought.
That meant—
"Ah."
Almost at the same time as me, Hermione also seemed to understand what the seniors were trying to do using the magic of moving portraits.
This was practically a Muggle computer, or even AI.
In terms of receiving information, storing it, making judgments, and outputting processed results, moving portraits cover almost all five major functions of a computer: input, control, memory, computation, and output.
And if they could use magic on top of that—
"That's incredible! In a sense, the magic of portraits is copying the wizard's brain, isn't it? Depending on how you think about it, that's a form of artificial intelligence!"
Hermione exclaimed excitedly, and Penelope, another Muggle-born who could follow the discussion, smiled happily.
"Exactly. It's like copying the caster's thought patterns wholesale, so it might be closer to a pseudo-neural computer than a von Neumann model. It can handle natural language processing effortlessly, and Riddle's diary can even use magic. Don't you think that's amazing?"
"It's amazing!"
"It'll definitely sell!"
Hermione and I answered at the same time.
"But if you think about it calmly, not just portraits, even the Pensieve is basically like a magical version of a memory storage device."
"If you could connect a Pensieve to a moving portrait like a floppy disk, you might be able to store more information than a single portrait could ever remember."
"If you went further and linked multiple portraits together, it would essentially become a network like a single giant brain made from multiple human minds. The processing speed would probably increase too, don't you think?"
As our discussion drifted further and further into mad-science territory, Farley-senpai winked at us mischievously.
"That's exactly it, my dear Watson. By borrowing ideas from Riddle's diary and using the magic behind moving portraits, we might eventually be able to control a vast amount of content using just a single diary."
"…That's insane."
"So, what do you think? Interested in this project?"
Of course, there was no possible answer other than yes.
(End of chapter)
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