Chapter 97: A Heart to Heart Talk
Ginny looked at Tamara expectantly, as though she were an all knowing expert on romance.
Tamara took a deep breath.
Endure it.
She could not simply give this girl an Avada Kedavra.
This was for the Horcrux.
This was for the great restoration.
"...Ginny."
Tamara adjusted her expression, making her voice sound slightly less as though she were speaking through clenched teeth.
"Who do you think Harry Potter is?"
"He's a hero!" Ginny answered without hesitation, her eyes shining.
"Exactly. A hero."
Tamara curled her lips into a faint smirk. There was mockery in it, but even more than that, there was the calm confidence of someone guiding a puppet by its strings.
"Heroes are always lonely. And dangerous. To stand beside him means facing endless darkness, conspiracies, and even death."
She leaned in slightly and reached out with one pale finger, gently lifting a lock of Ginny's red hair.
"So, Ginny, a hero does not need a little sister who only knows how to hide behind him and tremble."
"What he needs is a companion who can stand beside him. Perhaps even someone stronger than he is."
Ginny froze.
To a girl her age, those words were nothing short of a revelation.
"A strong... companion?" Ginny murmured.
"Yes."
Tamara continued her patient guidance, attempting to pour Slytherin's creed of strength into the young girl's mind.
"Tears and shyness will not earn you respect. Only power can."
"If you want him to notice you, you cannot remain the Ginny Weasley who hides in a corner clutching her textbooks."
"You must become yourself. Become outstanding. Become sharp. Become... impossible to ignore."
Tamara looked into Ginny's brown eyes, watching them gradually brighten, and sneered inwardly.
Good.
Become a believer in the pursuit of power.
As long as someone pursued power, they would crave guidance.
And Tamara would become Ginny's only mentor.
By then, let alone a diary, Ginny might even tie up Harry Potter and bring him over as a sacrifice if Tamara asked.
"Tamara... you're absolutely right!"
Ginny suddenly grabbed Tamara's hand, her face flushed with excitement.
"I was so stupid before! I should become strong! Just like you!"
"You're practically my idol! How did you become so amazing? Can you teach me?"
[Ding! Detected a significant increase in important character Ginny Weasley's admiration value toward you!]
Tamara felt the warm little hand wrapped around hers and suppressed the urge to pull away.
"Of course."
She put on a saintly smile.
"I'll teach you. But in exchange, there can be no secrets between us, right?"
Her gaze swept once again toward the pillow.
"For example... those little secrets written in that diary."
Tamara's voice was full of enchantment.
"Rather than trusting a notebook of unknown origin, you should trust me. After all, paper is dead, but I am alive. I can give you real advice."
"And that diary might perhaps find a better home."
She could not simply ask for it outright.
For one thing, that damned Virtue System judged things with extreme strictness. Any form of coercive acquisition would be deemed bullying, leading directly to mission failure and electric shock punishment.
For another, and more importantly, her current persona was that of a noble and perfect confidante.
If she appeared too eager over a tattered, worthless second hand diary, it would only arouse Ginny's suspicion.
She had to make the prey feel that the diary was a burden and take the initiative to hand the item over to the hunter.
That was the highest form of plunder.
Ginny followed Tamara's gaze and glanced at the pillow.
She hesitated.
Tamara's lips curved into a confident smile.
Her plan was about to succeed. As long as Ginny was willing to give her the diary, all this nonsense tonight would not have been in vain.
"Tamara, you're so kind."
Ginny was so moved that tears gathered in her eyes.
She reached under the pillow.
The next second.
Instead of taking out the diary, Ginny shoved it deeper beneath the pillow and looked up with a determined expression.
"You're right! I shouldn't waste my time on something as boring as writing in a diary!"
"I'm going to tell you all my thoughts!"
Ginny gripped Tamara's hand in return, her eyes burning with fervour like two little flames.
"That diary is really old anyway, and I don't have much to write. Since you're willing to listen, I'll just tell you directly!"
"Actually, besides Harry, I also think..."
Tamara: "...?"
Wait.
That was not how this was supposed to go.
Ginny was supposed to give her the diary and say, "I don't need it anymore, you can have it."
Why was she shoving it back in?
But Ginny did not notice Tamara's thoughts at all. It was as if she had finally found a hollow tree into which she could pour every secret in her heart, and she began to talk without stopping.
"You know, during the few days Harry has been staying at our house, I noticed he has a habit. He pushes his glasses up whenever he gets nervous..."
"And when he was catching Gnomes in the garden, he moved so quickly..."
"I've also secretly watched him at breakfast. He seems to really like treacle tart. He always takes an extra piece..."
"Tamara, do you think he'd like it if I gave him a new quill? Or would a Quidditch model be better?"
Time passed minute by minute.
Even the Ghoul outside the window stopped banging on the pipes, as though it had been annoyed into sleep by the sheer density of a young girl's confessions.
But Tamara could not sleep.
To maintain her understanding big sister persona, she had to keep smiling and nod from time to time.
"Mhm... really... how interesting..."
Tamara's eyes gradually lost focus.
It felt as though a thousand Mandrakes were screaming inside her head.
Harry Potter.
Harry Potter.
Everything was Harry Potter.
Across this life and the last, she had not heard Harry Potter's name as many times as she heard it tonight.
"...And then he smiled! That smile was really..."
Ginny was still rambling, her spirits high.
Tamara glanced at the diary tucked under the pillow.
The magical fluctuation coming from it seemed to have weakened, as though the sixteen year old Tom Riddle had also chosen silence under such a relentless barrage of nonsense.
Not only had she failed to obtain the Horcrux, she had also been forced to listen to an entire night of hymns praising her mortal enemy.
"Ginny..."
Tamara finally could not bear it anymore. Her voice was so weak that it sounded as if she had truly just been hit by the Cruciatus Curse.
"I think... if you want to become strong... you must first make sure you get enough sleep..."
"Ah? Oh! Sorry, Tamara. I got too excited."
Ginny finally closed her mouth, though she still looked as if she had plenty more to say, and stuck out her tongue sheepishly.
"Goodnight, Tamara. Thank you for listening to all this. I feel like we're already best friends!"
Ginny snuggled into her covers contentedly. Within two minutes, her breathing became steady.
Tamara lay on the hard bed beside her.
She turned her head and looked at the diary, a corner of which still peeked out from beneath the pillow.
It was right there.
Within reach.
But now, the moment she moved, the system's electric shocks would follow one after another.
[System Notification: Congratulations, host! Ginny Weasley's trust in you has reached the required level!]
[Although you did not obtain the item tonight, you successfully prevented the diary from enchanting her. This is a great victory!]
"Get lost."
Tamara cursed a single word in her mind.
She closed her eyes, but echoes of "Harry, Harry, Harry" still reverberated through her head.
"Sooner or later, I'm going to kill that four eyed Scarhead..."
.....
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