Do You Want to Do It Soft or Hard?

Ivan stared at the Horcrux diary for a while, a million thoughts racing through his mind, before finally asking a question, feigning curiosity.

"This looks like a book? A notebook? What does it do?"

"I'm not sure," Lucius said vaguely. "All I know is that it's Dark Magic. If you want it, I can sell it to you cheap."

Yvonne pursed her lips, thinking that old Malfoy was being very easy on a young wizard like her.

Even if it was someone's study notes, it was better to be able to answer questions automatically than to be dry like this.

Unbeknownst to Ivan, however, Lucius did not know how to use the Horcrux diary.

After all, this was something that the Dark Lord had personally given him to keep. Perhaps there was something terrifying inside.

Thus, Lucius kept it in a secret place and never touched it again.

It was not until this year, when he heard that the Ministry was going to investigate the proliferation of Dark Materials, that he decided to take it out and dispose of it somewhere, lest the Ministry find out about his connection to the Dark Lord.

"Are you going to do it or not?" Lucius demanded when Ivan gave him an odd look.

"Since it's impossible to determine what it does, it's possible that it's nothing more than a regular diary. How about this, a copper narthex?" Ivan asked after a moment of thought.

Lucius burst out laughing. A Bronze Knut?

Even a Muggle book cost more than that, and this was a Dark Magic item!

"The Ministry of Magic investigates Dark objects, Mr. Malfoy. I'm trying to help you with your troubles…"

Ivan pretended to be a snobby businessman looking for an opportunity to squeeze the price down, but due to his young age, the proposed price was childish and ridiculous, completely ruining the mood for negotiations.

However, it was this display that made Lucius decide.

Lucius gave Ivan a long look, then put down the diary, picked up the bronze Knut from the table, gripped his serpentine cane, and left.

Once outside, Lucius tossed the Knut into the bushes, which was the stupidest deal he had ever made in his life.

A Bronze Knut sold an item of Dark Magic…

However, Lucius's face broke into a dark smile as he recalled the young wizard he had just met.

He was the one who wanted to buy it. If anything happened, he couldn't be blamed…

When Lucius was out of earshot, Ivan dropped his disguise and waved his wand gently.

"Tunat come flying!"

A round, slightly rusty coin flew out of the bushes nearby and landed in Ivan's hand.

Lucius did not try to hide the fact that he threw a Bronze Knut; he merely expressed his disdain, and Ivan was not in the habit of disdaining a Bronze Knut.

No matter how little, it was still money!

"It would seem that you are worthless to Mr Malfoy." Ivan placed the coin on the table and turned it, sighing.

Ivan was also wondering how he should approach the Horcrux diary.

Embracing softness?

Dear Mr Tom Marvolo Riddle, I am your junior from over fifty years ago. Have you ever broken a book collection in school?

'How about a more direct approach?'

Ivan thought he might be able to ask Alicia for a dark magical tool that could cast fierce fire to threaten Horcruxes…

Do you see this fire? You will die if you do not tell the truth!

Ivan hesitated for a long time, then pushed both extreme thoughts aside. After performing Occlumency, he gently touched the black cover with his left hand.

[Magical Item: The Diary of Tom Marvolo Riddle

Magic: Strong

Description: This was originally a diary used by Lord Voldemort in his youth to record information. However, after unexpectedly obtaining advanced knowledge of Horcruxes from the Restricted Section, Lord Voldemort used a ritual of slaughter to divide the soul and incorporate it into the diary, creating the first Horcrux.]

When Ivan picked it up, he did not feel as if his mind had been invaded, but he did not let his guard down. Instead, he looked up and down, trying to find something special about the diary, such as the fact that it was inscribed with magic.

Unfortunately, Ivan did not find anything, indicating that the Horcrux was made on a different principle than he had anticipated. It was not the runes that were the driving force; it was more likely the remnant of the Horcrux.

With that in mind, Yvonne cautiously opened the diary. Occlumency had been activated to the maximum, and on the first page was written in blurred ink: T.M. Riddle.

[Ding, after some practice, your Occlumency proficiency has increased…]

Ivan's expression faltered. Finally.

Tom Riddle's ability to perform Dementor was something he had expected, but judging from the system prompt, it was not of a very high level, and Ivan thought it would be similar to his Occlumency level.

The two sides were equally matched,

Unlike with Dumbledore, however, Occlumency did not come as a result of a period of hard practice.

In this way, even if he did not spend any GPA points to purchase an experience card, he would be able to handle the Horcrux Diary with ease, and he would also be able to gain proficiency in Occlumency.

Yvonne grabbed a quill and dipped it in the ink, trying to decide how best to communicate with it.

[Hello, I'm Tom Riddle…]

A sentence suddenly appeared in the empty diary. The faint ink marks automatically hooked together, and after a few seconds, disappeared.

Ivan was slightly moved and asked a bunch of questions.

[Hello, you say your name is Tom Riddle? How old are you? Why can you talk to me? How are you created? Do you have any special abilities?]

Ivan waited in silence after he finished writing, waiting to see how he would fabricate an identity for the diary so that he could decide what attitude to use to extract information.

The series of questions stunned Tom Riddle, and after a while, the words Ivan had left in the diary were rearranged into a few lines.

[I'm just a diary. The man who made me was called Tom Riddle. He left behind some of his memories so that I could communicate with you…]

So uninspiring, Ivan thought, pursing his lips. After all this time, you've come up with such a clichéd identity…

He had expected Tom Riddle to pretend to be a wizard of the highest order and trick him into believing that he had a grandfather…