Vizette nodded repeatedly and picked up his notebook to write furiously.
Salazar's words were very insightful and instructive.
Even if Vizette could not understand or practice it now, it could still serve as important material for future in-depth interpretation.
However, one question lingered in his mind: would four like-minded friends really choose to leave each other decisively because of their differences?
"Those are things of the past, so do they still matter?" Salazar, who was skilled in Legilimency, asked. "Hogwarts still exists, which means I did the right thing!"
Vizette looked up, smiled, and asked, "Excuse me... Headmaster Slytherin, what state are you in right now?"
"Want to know what state my soul is in?" Salazar smiled as well. "What a cunning little eagle... but you'll have to figure that out for yourself!"
Vizette nodded. "Sorry, I am indeed a little curious."
"You passed the first round of tests unscathed, that's a pretty good result..." Salazar murmured. "Since that's the case... I'll still give you a reward!"
Vizette's eyes lit up. Holding a notebook and a pen in one hand, he adopted a humble and eager-to-learn posture and thanked him repeatedly: "Headmaster Slytherin, thank you so much!"
"Hogwarts!" Salazar whispered, "It's been a very, very long time since I've heard anyone call me Headmaster!"
"It seems the new guardian is indeed extraordinary... I sense something truly unique about you, beyond your mere soul..."
"It seems that anyone who is willing to get close to you and accept you will easily open their heart to you... You must be very popular at school, right?"
Vizette shook his head. "I guess I was just lucky. The professors took good care of me, and most of my classmates were very nice to me too."
"Is that so?" Salazar cleared his throat, displaying the demeanor of a professor. "Let me ask you a small question. If I had a box right now…"
He snapped his fingers, and a wooden box with an exquisite snake carving appeared, complete with a small padlock.
"The lock on this box can only be opened by me; no one else can! So... can you be sure there's a Billywig inside?"
"Billywig?" Vizette frowned in thought. "Headmaster Slytherin, are you trying to stump me? I have to figure this out."
"Of course." Salazar nodded slightly, a hint of appreciation in his eyes. "It's so convenient talking to a Ravenclaw; you can figure things out as much as you want."
"If that's the case…" Vizette murmured, "Unless you open the box, I will never believe that there is a Billywig in this box of yours."
"Oh?" Salazar's admiration became even more evident. He waved his hand, and the lock clicked open.
He opened the box, glanced inside, and then locked it again. "What if I told you that the Billywig inside is beautiful, with a jade-like sheen?"
"I still don't believe it!" Vizette shook his head firmly.
Salazar stroked his beard. "What if I told you... that this Billywig flies incredibly fast, almost like a Golden Snitch?"
Vizette still shook his head, "I don't believe it!"
"What if I described more detailed features, such as… this Billywig is about a foot long and has a small notch on its left wing?"
"Even so... I still don't believe it! I will stick to my beliefs!"
"This doesn't count as upholding your beliefs, you cunning little eagle!" Salazar said with a smile. "This is just Ravenclaw-style trickery, I've seen it all before!"
"Tell me! I described the Billywig so clearly, why don't you still believe... there's a Billywig in my box?"
"Because you've only told me, you haven't actually shown me. I need to see it with my own eyes... wait!" Vizette said.
He felt a flash of inspiration, as if he had grasped the key to the problem.
"Headmaster Slytherin, can I understand it like this... that each of us has a box containing a Billywig?"
"Like what we call the soul... or what you call something deeper than the soul... these are unique to us... and truly one of a kind..."
Vizette stammered as he tried to organize his thoughts and make his words as coherent as possible.
"The soul cannot be opened… it can only be understood by oneself! The Billywig you described is just what you see from inside your own box…" he spoke fluently.
"And the Billywig I see is necessarily different from the one you see. In other words, no matter how you describe the soul, I can't truly understand it, right?"
After saying these words, he felt as if he had suddenly seen the light, and vaguely seemed to have glimpsed the threshold of his soul.
"To be able to think of that so quickly... it seems the new Guardian has a lot of potential." Salazar smiled and nodded slightly. "That's right, that's exactly it!"
"I can never tell you definitively about my inner self. If I go too deep into it, things might even get worse..."
"You might believe my description and then feel that your understanding is flawed, thus disbelieving the spirits you see or even denying your own understanding."
"In this way, you will become extremely mediocre, because you cannot even trust yourself, let alone uphold your beliefs."
"I have truly benefited greatly…" Vizette wrote down the last few words, then let out a long sigh. "Headmaster Slytherin, I have learned so much! I don't know how to thank you enough!"
"Want to thank me?" Salazar started walking, climbing the serpentine staircase step by step.
He returned to his throne. "Then let's complete the next test!"
Vizette gripped his wand tightly, looked around, and asked, "The next trial? Shall we take it here?"
"Don't be so tense! Isn't it the end of the school year? You should get some rest!" Salazar rested his chin on his hand, opened his mouth and yawned, looking rather lazy.
"The next test is my pet... It's still at Hogwarts, continuing to fulfill its former duties. You can choose to defeat it, kill it... or tame it."
"Whichever option you choose, I only want to see the final result—come back to me through the Mirror of Erised after you have obtained its body fragments or gained its trust!"
"No more information?" Vizette asked tentatively.
"Let me think…" Salazar placed his long fingers on his lips, "You can't seek help from the professors; you have to rely on yourself… to find the answers."
Vizette raised an eyebrow, sensing a hint of ambiguity in the word "self".
"Think what you want!" Salazar knew what Vizette was thinking and gave a cryptic smile. "It's about time. You should go back."
Vizette took a deep breath and said solemnly, "I understand!"
"Then let's go back!" Salazar waved his hand, picked up the book in his hands again, and the serpentine staircase returned to its original state, encircling the throne once more.
"In addition, I can tell you the reward after the test, which is the method of controlling the spell. This should be what you need most right now."
"Command?" Vizette heard a completely unfamiliar word.