Curious or not, Voldemort's true body was not really Leonard's problem.
If Voldemort had not tried to steal the Basilisk Leonard had been eyeing for so long, Leonard would not have bothered with him at all.
The matter of Voldemort's true body could be left to Harry Potter and Dumbledore to worry about. All Leonard needed was to keep his head down and develop quietly.
After all, Voldemort's dying words had not been entirely wrong. If other people learned about Leonard's power, it would definitely cause quite a stir.
Better to stay cautious.
Leonard stepped down from the vines and gave a wave of his hand. A mass of roots writhed and "spat out" three children.
They were Harry Potter, Hermione, and Ron Weasley.
To prevent any melodramatic hostage nonsense, the very first thing Leonard had done after the Blood Grape appeared was hide the three of them away.
After all, if that kind of scene had really played out, Leonard certainly would not have cared whether the three of them lived or died, and that would have been a little awkward.
As for Voldemort, either his nerve was absurdly strong or he had just been stunned stupid. He had not even thought to use the hostages, which somehow made Leonard's way of thinking look even more villainous by comparison.
Leonard glanced at the three small bodies and shook his head helplessly. "I already split the three of you apart, and somehow you still managed to run into each other. The karmic entanglement between you really is hard to cut."
No one answered him. They were all still unconscious, especially Ron Weasley. His condition had not improved. His face was white as snow, and even his lips had turned bluish purple.
Fortunately, it had not gotten any worse either. It looked like he could still hold on for a while.
Unlike the original story, Voldemort had not been defeated by ordinary means this time. Every last bit of Voldemort's power had been devoured by the Blood Grape, including the soul power Voldemort had stolen from Ron Weasley.
That was why Ron Weasley had not recovered the way Ginny Weasley had in the original story.
Leonard had no intention of giving that soul power back, mainly because it had already fused with Voldemort's power. To separate it now, he would have to blow Voldemort's power apart completely.
But if he did that, Leonard would lose the ability to use the Blood Grape's mimicry to create a Voldemort incarnation. And setting aside Voldemort's other abilities, Parseltongue alone was already very useful. It would let Leonard come and go from the Chamber of Secrets freely.
So Ron Weasley would just have to suffer a little. He probably would not be going back to school anytime soon, but with a year or two of recovery, there should not be a problem.
As for Harry and Hermione...
Those two had been knocked unconscious by Leonard himself, so they would need a little Memory Charm treatment.
Once he had taken care of the two children, Leonard looked around the wrecked Chamber and fell into thought.
The Chamber of Secrets was a good place. It was not as versatile or miraculous as the Room of Requirement, but it was far better hidden. Other than a Parselmouth, no one could get in.
Unlike the Room of Requirement, which in the later stages was practically like a public toilet, anyone could walk in. Leonard was not comfortable doing research somewhere that open.
In the end, it was still better to claim the Chamber for himself.
The only remaining problem was Harris Raymons.
Leonard opened the map and quickly found Harris Raymons's name inside the walls of Hogwarts.
When Harry's father's generation made the Marauder's Map, they had not known Hogwarts had a plumbing system. But the pipes were still part of Hogwarts, so on the map, Harris Raymons's name appeared inside the walls.
"This idiot. He couldn't find the entrance, so he really decided to crawl through the pipes? What, does he think he's Mario?" Leonard stared at Harris Raymons's name with an unkind expression.
There was no way he could let Harris Raymons into the Chamber. Leonard had already claimed it as his private territory. Letting that man in would only lead to trouble.
Drive him away... or just kill him?
Leonard crooked a finger at the roots on the ground. The roots all over the floor twisted together and turned into a hideous Basilisk. It had no eyes, which made it look especially wrong.
Leonard tossed the Basilisk eyeballs in his hand over, giving the fake Basilisk its finishing touch.
The Basilisk immediately came to life. At Leonard's command, it slithered off toward the pipes connected to the Chamber.
Watching it disappear into the distance, Leonard smiled and said, "Whether you live or die depends on your luck, Professor Raymons."
...
Deep in the pipes, Harris Raymons crawled through the filthy tunnels while layering buffs onto himself.
Cushioning Charm, Levitation Charm, Shield Charm...
Common spells, uncommon spells, all kinds of mysterious and powerful magic flashed over Harris Raymons in colorful light, making him look like a walking neon sign.
Since he might have to face the monster in the Chamber at any moment, Harris Raymons had no choice but to be careful.
"Fifty years... for most magical creatures, that isn't very long. But the history of the Chamber is far older than that. Maybe the monster inside already died of old age..."
Avoiding suspicious stains in the pipes, Harris Raymons kept thinking about what he might be up against.
The Chamber of Secrets had once been opened before. Based on Raven's intelligence, they believed the one who had opened it was Voldemort.
At the time, Voldemort had released the monster from the Chamber, causing the death of a student. The incident caused quite a stir. Afterwards, the Ministry of Magic announced that the monster had been an "Acromantula," a magical creature supposedly raised by a Gryffindor student.
But very few people had ever truly believed that conclusion. It was only a public excuse to keep Hogwarts from being shut down.
After all, Myrtle had been a Muggle-born witch. Her parents did not know what an Acromantula even was. And at the time, the Headmaster, the Ministry, and every one of the Hogwarts governors needed a result.
That was also why even a wise man like Dumbledore had not found the real culprit. He had his suspicions, but no evidence, and at the time there had not been enough room for a proper investigation.
Even a little digging would have exposed how much of the case made no sense.
Leaving aside how large an Acromantula would have to be to be raised inside the castle without anyone noticing, the victim had not had a single wound on her body. What, had she been scared to death by a spider?
"And besides, an Acromantula doesn't really fit Slytherin's taste. If they chose a monster, it would definitely be something serpent-like. An Occamy... a three-headed serpent... surely not a Basilisk?"
Harris Raymons frowned.
Among serpent-type magical creatures, the Basilisk was one of the most dangerous. Its impossible-to-guard-against instant-death ability was its strongest weapon.