The Diary

Pro honestly didn't want anything to do with the diary, but when Harry showed it to the group, he secretly felt attracted to it. He felt the urge to dig its secrets immediately.

Fortunately, Pro reigned his urge back in time. After calming himself, Pro knew there was something abnormal about the diary. Even Hermione was fascinated by it, and it wasn't the normal 'I want to read' fascination, but 'I want to know its secrets' type. Harry was also clearly affected by this charm, and didn't throw away the book despite Ron's warnings.

To Pro's surprise, Ron doesn't seem to be affected. This raised a flag in Pro's mind. Either Ron is so stupid that he is not attracted to secrets or there's something really wrong with him, something hidden that was not mentioned in the book.

Maybe he's the one born with astute senses? This isn't the fake astute senses of Pro that rely on his system, but a true astute sense towards danger.

"Or ... maybe I'm thinking too much," Pro mumbled softly as he turned his attention away from the dull-faced Ron.

"What's that? Pro, did you find a way to show the secrets of the book? The revealing charm didn't work. Nor did the revealer. I can't think of any other way that it could hide its text," Hermione commented with a hint of curiosity and excitement.

Harry and Ron also looked over at Pro. Pro wryly smiled before he attempted to implement his plan, "I haven't thought of anything now, but maybe I can figure it out tonight. Harry, will you leave it on my bedside cabinet? I will play with it during bedtime and perhaps I can figure out something. I'll give it back to you tomorrow."

Harry held the diary and seemed to be very reluctant. He didn't seem to want to give the diary to anyone. Pro knew he was clearly affected by something, just like he was. If his soul wasn't more powerful due to his transmigration, perhaps he would have also strayed under the diary's charm.

"Come on Harry. You should hand it over to Pro. You know he has a way with things. If even Pro can't figure it out, you might as well chuck it because no on will," Ron persuaded.

Nice assist Ron! However, Pro still found it weird that Ron kept asking Harry to chuck it. Did he actually know something about the diary?

In the end, Harry was persuaded to hand over the diary. Pro refused to touch the diary and had him personally leave it on his drawer. Hermione found it weird that Pro had Harry do that, but Ron didn't comment.

After another daily grinding of his Hogwarts' school life, Pro finally returned to his dorms lethargically. With his months of hard work, Pro's magic level had already risen from level 30 to level 35. Heblore went up to level 24 and farming up to level 20. Even his slayer had risen to level 8, but definitely not due to Lockhart's class.

On a side note, his hunter level has also risen to level 21. His ranged level was lazily raised to level 9, but he stopped raising it after giving up on Quidditch this year.

It was needless to name all the spells that Pro had unlocked by now because it was simply too much. As Pro acquired more and more knowledge from books, not only did he gain magic XP, but he also increased his spells reserve.

Some spells he didn't have before were automatically unlocked as soon as he learned them because his level was high enough. Others would fill in the magic skill page, awaiting him to unlock.

"Still ... with this system cheat, it means that I will basically master a spell as soon as I learn it, under the condition that my magic level is high enough. Maybe at level 99 magic, I would be able to master any spell after learning their incantation. Well ... doesn't that sound awfully overpowered."

Pro snickered to himself quietly as he sat on his bed. After sweeping his eyes over the dark dorm room where the rest of the boys were asleep, Pro then silently pulled out his dragon hide gloves. Putting on the gloves and pulling the curtains, Pro finally took the diary on his bedside drawer into his hand.

Taking out a quill and ink, Pro smiled with a hint of anticipation as he used the wand-lighting charm to light up a small area. It's time to see if he can complete one part of his quest. Pro lowered his hand and wrote his first line in the open diary.

"My name is John Cena."

Pro watched the words show momentarily on the page before they sank into the page without a trace. Then, ink oozed out of the page and twisted into a line of words that replied to Pro.

"Hello, John Cena. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you come by my diary?"

After thinking for a moment, Pro wrote his reply.

"I took it from someone else. I was told there were secrets in this diary, I wanted to learn some secrets."

The words faded away and Pro eagerly waited for a reply. After a while, the diary finally came up with a response.

"I always knew that there would be those who would want to read this diary. This diary holds memories of terrible things. Things that were covered up. Things that happened at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There are even more secrets than this. So, what secrets would you like to know?"

With a grin, Pro began to reply.

"I would want to learn the secret to stop time."

The words faded away before a new line quickly replaced it.

"Stop time ... so, do you mean immortality? This is a great secret indeed. Perhaps if you look elsewhere, you may not be able to find anything about it, but there certainly is the secret to immortality here."

Pro rolled his eyes. He didn't care about immortality now, and even if he wanted it, he certainly doesn't want to be a bald man with no nose. Quickly scribbling his reply, Pro chuckled to himself.

"No, you misunderstood. I don't want immortality. I want the magic to stop time. Not to stop my time, but to stop everyone else's time. That way, I can do things, manly things."

The ink disappeared into the page, and the book stayed blank for a much longer time than before.

"I'm sorry. Magic that has anything to do with time is a powerful and taboo secret. Even I have not delved too deeply into the secrets of time. There is a saying, those that mess with time do not end well."

Of course he knows. Pro rolled his eyes and wrote his reply.

"So, you don't even know time magic, and you still claim to know many secrets. What do you even know?"

The ink faded away and a long reply swiftly appeared.

"I know many things. I can teach you the way to master powerful magic. I can also help you brew outstanding potions. I can also give you the knowledge needed to do many things, from growing dangerous plants to getting outstanding grades. But ... knowledge comes with a corresponding price."

"Oh? What price?"

"It's not much. I just need you to do some little things for me. Then, you can return me to the one you took me from after I teach you. We shouldn't steal what belongs to others."

"Oh, no problem. So, you can teach me anything I want right?"

"Of course. As long as you are willing to pay the price."

"Well, teach me how to build the perfect harem."

Pro grinned as he watched the ink disappear, but there was no response for a while. After a couple of minutes, the diary finally formulated a response.

"Are you messing with me?"

"No, of course not. It's a man's dream to build a harem. Don't you agree?"

The diary fell silent once more. It took another while for it to reply.

"Yes. I believe I do have the secret to do what you want. I can teach you the way to brew love in ladies and have them at your beck and call."

"Ohh! As expected from the diary of secrets. But how can I believe you know how to do it. Maybe you can give me some evidence."

"Evidence?"

"Yes. How about you give me your full name. Then, I'll go look you up, and see if you actually have a harem yourself."

The diary took a while to come up with a reply once more.

"There is no need for my full name. You should be able to find my achievements regardless. I have no harem, but I can assure you that I know the secrets to achieving one."

"Well, I don't believe you. Someone that hides their name can't speak the truth."

The diary didn't take long to respond.

"Of course, there is no need to hide my name. It's not much of a secret. My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle."

Ding! Pro heard the quest chime in the background and couldn't help but raise his eyebrow in shock. Pulling up his quest log, he noticed that the 'acquire the secrets of the diary' part was completed.

"Huh? That's it? I thought I had to find the way to lead it to tell me he was you-know-who," Pro mumbled to himself, a bit confused on how easy this part of the quest was.

"Well, since I've got what I want, I can give the diary back to Harry. But before that, let's see if I can leech some XP from this diary."

Turning back to the diary, Pro quickly scribbled another line.

"Eh, never heard of a harem lord named Tom Marvolo Riddle. Seems you don't seem to be too capable in this regard. I bet you were a virgin weren't you."

The diary fell completely silent for a couple of minutes before ink squeezed out of the pages to form rickety words as if to show its anger.

"You are messing with me."

"No, of course not. I just thought your secrets aren't that great in that category. Hmm ... maybe you can teach me some magic instead? You should at least know that much."

The words faded away and the diary responded coldly.

"Not everyone deserves to learn the secrets of this diary. If you aren't serious about learning, please return me to my former owner."

[Ding! New quest 'Hunter and Prey' has been added.]

The diary then fell silent and didn't respond no matter how much Pro wrote into it. Pro sighed and grumbled with dissatisfaction, "So stingy. Not even a single XP. At least I got a quest."

[Hunter and Prey] You have angered an evil, dark overlord and will be targeted for a hunt in the near future. Transform from the prey into a hunter or successfully escape.

"Heh! What a lame quest. Isn't it just being targeted? No one can hunt me as long as I have the mini-map."

Hopping off the bed, Pro brought the diary over to Harry's drawer and tossed it on top. Heading back to his bed, he put away his dragon hide gloves before plopping down to sleep.

"Well, at least I completed a part of the main quest. Now, I don't have to find an excuse to keep the diary from Harry. I also didn't reveal too much info, so maybe the diary won't be able to find me even though I angered it? Haha!" Pro chuckled to himself with a hint of schadenfreude.

Although it was a bit risky, Pro still felt happy. It was not everyday that you could mess with Voldemort. Pro felt it was a good past-time to wind down a bit after all his harsh grinding.

"I know I can't mess with that scary headmaster that seems to have everyone under his control, but maybe I can mess with the dumb Voldy that killed himself?"

With messy thoughts such as these, Pro gradually fell asleep.