"There is indeed a consciousness inside, but... it isn't what you think." Slytherin floated over to a nearby chair and sat down, casually picking up the incense burner and taking a puff.
They were in Ms. Paris's office.
Slytherin and Ms. Paris had already finished examining the Diadem.
"It isn't?" Wade asked, somewhat disappointed.
"Yes... it really isn't." Ms. Paris, or rather Hufflepuff, also sounded disappointed. "I thought... perhaps we might be reunited with another old friend."
"Then what exactly is the consciousness inside?" Wade asked curiously.
Slytherin smiled. "You've seen the Sorting Hat, haven't you? Godric created a consciousness for that hat, then the other three of us, together with him, poured our ideas about selecting students into it. That's how the Sorting Hat came to exist as it does today."
At the mention of the Sorting Hat, Wade immediately understood.
In the wizarding world, many objects could be given a kind of "intelligence" by wizards.
There were the talking figures in portraits, the Sorting Hat, and even Jack the Lantern, which Wade himself had created.
Of course, such objects varied greatly in sophistication depending on how many "programs" their creators had given them and how much "emotional memory" had been infused into them.
At the highest level was something like the Sorting Hat. All four founders had poured "emotional memories" into it, so it could even think for itself and had developed its own personality.
The portraits in the Headmaster's office were similar. Each one contained a trace of its owner's memories from life, somewhat like a ghost, allowing them to speak and think much as they had while alive.
Many famous wizards prepared portraits like that for themselves while they were still alive.
That way, even after death, a version of themselves possessing "thought" could remain in the world in another form.
At the lower end were most of the moving paintings in Hogwarts Castle that could not speak.
Their creators had only given them certain behavioural "programs," along with some reactions to things like being startled, to make them seem more lifelike. But very little emotion had been included, so the figures inside the paintings merely moved like puppets.
Even Jack the Lantern, which Wade had created himself, was relatively low-level despite being able to speak.
Wade had only given it the programmed functions of "guarding," "keeping watch," and "raising an alarm."
To make it more vivid, Wade had specifically added speech to the "alarm" function.
And because he had created it largely for amusement, some prankish emotional memories had inevitably been mixed in during the process.
That was why, once activated, it would issue warnings based on its master's likes and dislikes and make remarks about every visitor.
So when Dumbledore became its master, it naturally began mocking Grindelwald whenever he appeared.
But Jack itself could not truly think the way its creator could.
...
Afterward, Hufflepuff gave her own judgement of the consciousness inside Ravenclaw's Diadem.
Ravenclaw had infused the Diadem with a kind of "emotional memory," creating a consciousness similar to the one within the Sorting Hat.
In Wade's understanding, Ravenclaw had essentially created an "AI," much like the "AI" inside the Sorting Hat.
And naturally, an "AI" created by the most knowledgeable of the four founders would be a highly advanced one.
"Then... why would she create a consciousness inside her own Diadem?" Wade asked.
"That's easy to understand, Wade," Slytherin said with a smile. "Back then, the only person capable of discussing scholarship with Rowena on her own level was Rowena herself. Neither I, Godric, nor Helga possessed knowledge as broad as hers. So she probably created another consciousness inside the Diadem and copied her own knowledge into it."
Hufflepuff nodded in agreement. "That does sound exactly like something she would do."
The people who understood the four founders best were still the founders themselves.
"Hiss..." Wade drew in a sharp breath.
In other words, Ravenclaw had been so knowledgeable that she could no longer find anyone capable of discussing things with her properly, so she created an "AI" herself.
That "AI" copied all of her knowledge, and Ravenclaw also gave it the ability to think.
That meant whenever Ravenclaw wore the Diadem and considered a problem, it was effectively like having two Ravenclaws thinking together.
And because the Diadem was not human, its thought process would be more rational, allowing it to provide Ravenclaw with even more new ideas.
No wonder the voice inside the Diadem had said that it was Ravenclaw, yet also not Ravenclaw.
"But... why didn't I hear this voice when I wore the Diadem before?" Wade asked in confusion.
"How long has it been since you last wore it?" Hufflepuff asked.
"It's been a while..." Wade recalled.
"Is this the first time you've worn the Diadem since the day you released Miravia?" Hufflepuff asked again.
"Yes..." Wade nodded.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "You mean... the ancient magic Miravia and I used that day reactivated this consciousness?"
"Not necessarily ancient magic. Rowena herself had no talent for ancient magic, so the Diadem she created probably had nothing to do with it. Wade... the surge of magic that erupted when you released Miravia was extraordinary. Perhaps the dormant consciousness inside the Diadem was reactivated by that massive magical disturbance," Hufflepuff said.
Wade nodded, then cautiously extended a finger and channelled some of the pure magic refined from the "residue" inside his body into the Diadem.
At once, the Diadem began shining with a brilliant silver light again.
Wade frowned slightly as he stared at it.
Seeing his expression, Hufflepuff seemed to understand something. She stepped forward, picked up her old friend's Diadem, and placed it on her head.
"Long time no see, Rowena," Hufflepuff said with a smile.
As soon as she spoke, the Diadem flashed again.
Hufflepuff then nodded, as though she had heard something.
"Did you hear the voice?" Wade asked.
"Mm... exactly as we thought." Hufflepuff removed the Diadem and placed it back on the table. "Wade, you've stumbled upon a treasure."
Slytherin picked up the Diadem and put it on as well.
"Hey, do you still recognise me?"
The Diadem flashed again.
"Well, Wade, you really have found a treasure." Slytherin chuckled as he removed it.
Wade's eyes flickered. "Are you saying it still retains Ravenclaw's knowledge?"
If the Diadem had preserved Ravenclaw's vast knowledge, then it truly deserved to be called a treasure.
But Wade still had concerns of his own.
"I know what you're thinking, Wade. It only reads your knowledge. It won't read your secrets," Hufflepuff said, immediately seeing through his concern.
They could all tell that Wade had secrets. So seeing him stare at the Diadem so warily, they naturally understood what he was worried about.
Slytherin laughed. "Heh, that's right, Wade... if I remember correctly, you never stop using Occlumency, do you?"
Any wizard skilled in Occlumency would naturally hide their deepest secrets behind it.
Someone as suspicious as Wade was certainly no exception.
And with Wade's abilities, there was hardly anything that could forcibly break through his Occlumency, uncover his secrets, and do so without him noticing.
Besides, Wade had already spent so much time wearing the Diadem while conducting research. If the consciousness inside truly could have窥ed into his secrets, it would have done so long ago.
Wade thought for a while before finally placing the Diadem back on his head.
"We can continue the conversation we didn't finish earlier," Wade said first.
"As I told you before, I am not Ravenclaw, yet I am Ravenclaw. I am a consciousness copied from her. Your magic reactivated me. If my words become too faint for you to hear, you will need to continue supplying me with magic," the voice said again, seamlessly continuing its previous conversation with Wade.
"When did you wake up?" Wade asked.
"I was restarted by an enormous surge of magic. When you used me to assist you in improving the Hogyoku, I fully awakened..."
Wade raised an eyebrow.
So the consciousness inside the Diadem now even understood the concept of the Hogyoku.
He continued, "Can you keep learning?"
"Yes... When you use me to assist with improving the Hogyoku, all the knowledge you draw upon during that research is copied into me. Only then can I help you."
Wade finally understood why a Diadem created a thousand years ago knew what the Hogyoku was and even knew about the Philosopher's Stone.
It had learned those concepts by copying knowledge from him.
"If you do not wish to share that knowledge with me, I can delete it," the Diadem continued.
"Delete it? No..." Wade smiled on the surface while doing the Muhahaha in his mind. "I want you to help me build upon it and ...create something new!"
Heh... Slytherin grinned beside him.
He knew perfectly well that from this moment onward, there was no chance Wade would ever return Ravenclaw's Diadem to Hogwarts.
He understood just how tempting knowledge was to someone like Wade.
And he understood even better that Wade would never tolerate even the slightest risk of his secrets being exposed, no matter how small the chance that the Diadem might access them.
Still, Slytherin said nothing.
After all, if it were him, he would have made exactly the same choice.
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69