Riddle shook his head, "I am built for this exact purpose. I have no choice in the matter. My older self might need it from me."
"No, you know your other self's fate, and you would never take orders from him. I would believe that you were telling the truth about you not having a choice, but I know your nature. I know what you are. You're not just an enchanted inanimate object with some intelligence, you're a shard of a soul. And that means that you're independent enough to make decisions. No, what you want is more than that. Oh, that's so simple. How did I not think of that? You want to live. Not as a Diary, but as a normal person. You're disappointed with your future self, and you want to be free, to live."
Riddle stayed silent and Harry continued, "But it's not that easy, is it? Getting a body of your own. Your counterpart has been trying to do that for years and you're a soul shard, you don't have enough energy to manifest into a permanent magical construct, and possession is temporary and unreliable at best. You can't rely on Lockhart all the time, and I'm not an expert in soul magic, but you can't just steal his life force or his body. The incompatibility of it would destroy the body. That's what you want Dumbledore out of the castle for. Whatever you're planning, he'll be able to recognize, or maybe he could use the wards to stop it somehow."
The older boy's face was made of stone and Harry couldn't really read him anymore. For all his confidence, Harry was just egging Riddle on, watching his reactions to things that are personal. But the boy had steeled himself entirely when Harry mentioned him getting a new body.
Suddenly, Riddle burst into laughter again, "You're close, I'll admit that. But you're still so far away. You had me worried for a second. I would tell you what I'm planning, but I'm not some story villain that would explain my plans. And well, you're not going to live long enough to see it anyway. After all, you're still inside my wards."
Harry suppressed a grin. Yes, Harry kept talking all the time, but it was mostly a delaying tactic. Staying in enemy wards was just stupid. It was why Harry analyzed the wards thoroughly during his conversation using his Arcane Hearing. The moment he realized that the Diary had control over the wards, he knew that he wasn't going to get out of Lockhart's office without a fight.
And so, the moment Riddle started shifting the wards and activating harmful attacks, Harry waved his wand and sent that pulse of magic that deactivated the entire array. It would take over half an hour for the wards to recharge and it was definitely noticeable, but it was better than being in a fight.
Harry winked at the flabbergasted expression on the older boy, "Come on, you can't say that you didn't see that coming."
The Potter scion then slowly walked towards the Diary to pick it up, happy with his victory, only for the book to turn into ash the moment he touched it. He turned around and saw Riddle's projection that had an infuriating smile on his face and realized something, "Lockhart never had the Diary, did he?"
The boy's previous smirking expression turned into a full-on grin, "No, he didn't. There are other ways to take control of people. Lockhart was weak enough and stupid enough that it wouldn't really notice my voice whispering in the back of his head. You're a remarkable student, Harry Potter, and you're very observant, but you have a long way to go to challenge someone like me."
Harry understood then what had happened, "You were always planning on using Lockhart as a decoy. You knew that someone was going after you, and the moment you realized how I was tracking you, you took control of him and made him stand near the entrance of the chamber while possessing him to fake my results. You wanted me to break in here and get the Diary. Why?"
"I didn't know who was coming after me. This was to reveal yourself, for me to trap you, find out what you know using Legilimency before finally obliviating you. I expected a seer with little sense, but you, you're a lot more interested than I thought you were going to be."
"And yet here we are. I can't touch you, because I don't know where you are, and you can't touch me because I cancelled your connection to the wards. A stalemate."
"Perhaps, but it will have to break sometime soon. And I found my original goal, while you're still floundering trying to find my diary," the older boy answered with a smug grin.
At his sour expression, Riddle continued, "Oh, don't be so sad. You were very close. And I'm doing everyone a favour by getting rid of Dumbledore. I'm even only petrifying people. I have no plan to kill anyone."
Harry gritted his teeth. He didn't like losing, but it was undeniable that Harry lost this encounter, "You could be bluffing about the Diary not being here. You could be lying about killing people."
Riddle's smirk was infuriating, "Come on, don't be a sore loser. Why would I even lie, when there's nothing you can do about it either way? You know what, you're free to look around. Hell, you're free to even break into the fool's mind. But be quick about it; you only have a few minutes before the wards reset. I have to say that I was going to kill you, at first. Or at least petrify you. But now that we spoke up, I have to say that I'm fascinated. I look forwards to our next encounter, Potter."
As the projection was starting to disappear, Harry muttered, "Catch you later."
His answer was a chuckle, "No, you won't."
With Riddle gone, Harry ended up taking a quick look into Lockhart's mind while focusing on a diary. There was nothing. Riddle had played him and had won this round.
Harry returned to his common room feeling both disappointed and excited for some reason. He knew it was wrong, but there was just something about having a worthy opponent to spar against. He only hoped that no one would suffer because of his mistake.
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