The office door suddenly swung open.

Lucius Malfoy stormed inside, with the small, helpless, and pitiful house-elf Dobby trailing behind him.

"Dobby?"

Harry stared at the house-elf, whose body was wrapped in bandages.

"So you're the one you were talking about? Your master is from the Malfoy family."

"We should've figured that out, Harry."

Ron could barely conceal his anger.

"He wasn't just targeting you. He was targeting the Weasleys too."

"I'll deal with you later."

Lucius shot Dobby a vicious glare before gripping his cane and walking over to Dumbledore.

"So, you really have returned."

"When the Board of Governors learned that Arthur Weasley's daughter had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets, they decided to bring me back."

"Strangely enough, they seemed to think you would curse their families unless they agreed to suspend me in the first place."

Lucius's expression changed slightly.

"You've gone too far."

"What did you say?"

"I assume the culprit has already been identified. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

Dumbledore calmly nodded.

"Then who is it?"

Dumbledore glanced at Harry before turning his attention back to Lucius.

"Voldemort."

Lucius's lips twitched.

The name hit him particularly hard, especially coming from Dumbledore. For a moment, he was even slow to react.

"So... that's how it is."

"This time, however, he acted through someone else."

Dumbledore picked up the diary and deliberately turned it so Lucius could see the hole running through it.

"Through his diary."

Dobby quietly tugged on Harry's sleeve.

His tennis-ball-sized eyes darted toward the diary, then toward Lucius.

Harry immediately understood.

Voldemort's diary had been planted in Ginny's cauldron by Lucius without her knowledge.

"Fortunately, Mr. Potter saw through his scheme."

Dumbledore's tone remained calm.

"Let us hope that no more objects from Voldemort's school days fall into the hands of innocent people. Otherwise, the consequences for whoever is responsible would be extremely... serious."

Faced with the blatant warning, Lucius nervously pressed his lips together.

"Very well. We hope our Mr. Harry Potter will always be able to turn the tide."

"Don't worry. I will."

Lucius left angrily, taking all his frustration out on Dobby.

He kicked the house-elf viciously before using his cane to drive him out of the office.

"That's cruel."

Ron curled his lip.

"He's that vicious even toward his own servant."

Harry remained silent for a moment before looking at the diary on the table.

"Headmaster, can I take this with me?"

"Of course."

Harry hurriedly picked up the diary and chased after Lucius.

In the corridor, he took off one of his shoes and tucked his sock inside the diary.

He caught up with Lucius, shoved the diary directly into his hands, and bluntly pointed out that Lucius had been the one who slipped the diary into Ginny's cauldron at Flourish and Blotts.

Lucius casually tossed the diary to Dobby.

Of course, he wasn't going to admit anything.

No one could prove that he had done it.

"Come, Dobby."

Dobby didn't move.

Instead, he excitedly picked up the sock inside the diary.

"Master has given Dobby a sock! Dobby is free!"

Lucius froze.

Then he noticed Harry standing there with one bare foot.

"You've caused me to lose my servant!"

Lucius drew his wand and furiously advanced toward Harry.

"You must not hurt Harry Potter again!"

Dobby stepped in front of Harry.

A streak of blue light shot from his hand and blasted Lucius backward.

It took Lucius quite some time to get back on his feet.

"Your parents were foolish busybodies too, Harry Potter. One day, you'll suffer the same fate as them."

After spitting out those venomous words, Lucius hurried away in disgrace.

Dobby excitedly thanked Harry.

After giving him a hug, the house-elf disappeared with a choked sob.

"Is everything settled?"

Ron happily walked over, his face beaming.

"I saw everything.

"Brilliant, Harry! You freed Malfoy's servant with nothing more than a single sock.

"I bet he's absolutely furious. House-elves are one of the symbols of the Malfoy family's prestige."

"Here's another piece of good news. Dumbledore has decided to award us the Special Award for Services to the School."

"Each of us earned Gryffindor two hundred points. The House Cup is practically ours this year."

...

Vader silently returned to the Slytherin common room.

After entering the dormitory, he found Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle sleeping as soundly as dead logs.

He sniffed the faint scent of Sleeping Draught lingering in the air and quietly raised his wand.

"Scouring Wind!"

After purifying the air in the dormitory, he walked over to his own bed and put away the dummy lying beneath the blankets.

At the same time, his appearance began to change.

In less than two seconds, Enzo had transformed back into Vader Moria.

The dark-red wizard's robe and wand were also put away inside his trunk.

"~It's over."

Vader lay down on his bed and silently reviewed the night's operation.

The trip to the Chamber of Secrets hadn't gone entirely smoothly.

He hadn't expected Voldemort's Horcrux to be capable of materializing into a physical form.

Fortunately, Tom Riddle only possessed the magical power Voldemort had possessed at the age of sixteen.

Voldemort really was a genius.

At only sixteen, he had already been able to fight him on equal footing without being at a disadvantage.

If Vader hadn't discovered the weakness of his "true body," he might have been forced to reveal all of his trump cards before he could win.

The problem was that Harry Potter had been there too.

The more Enzo revealed, the fewer options Vader Moria would have in the future.

Otherwise, it would be too easy for Harry to connect the two identities.

Still, everything had ultimately worked out.

The process had been somewhat thrilling, but the results were excellent.

First, he had collected the basilisk's eyes and venom.

The main ingredient and an auxiliary ingredient required for a Sequence 4 potion were worth 110,000 Galleons in total.

That alone would save him a huge amount of money.

Second, Enzo's identity had been successfully established.

During the summer holidays, he could put on this identity and do many things that would be inconvenient for Vader Moria to do.

There was nothing strange about a genius wizard emerging from some mysterious hidden place.

Once his reputation spread, the digestion of his potion would naturally progress as well.

It was worth mentioning that tonight's performance had also helped him digest part of the Faceless Man potion.

The progress bar on the Blasphemy Card had now reached fifty percent.

Finally, he had successfully planted the Fool's label onto Harry Potter.

Once Dumbledore understood everything that had happened, he would certainly believe that Harry Potter was the Fool.

And once the White Devil had already accepted that belief, he would gradually convince Harry Potter as well, persuading him to accept another identity beyond that of the Chosen One.

Once an established belief takes root and becomes dominant, it becomes extremely difficult to objectively accept anything that contradicts it.

With that, his shield had truly been erected.

And that was the greatest gain from tonight's operation.