Finishing dinner, Alexander went straight to his room.
He locked the door.
Closed the curtains.
Sat quietly at his desk.
He pulled the black diary out of his briefcase.
For a long moment… he just stared at it.
"This is the moment," he muttered.
His eyes sharpened.
"This is one of the reasons why I practiced Occlumency. I need to think I want more power and more knowledge. If I want to trick Tommy boy, I can't slip even once."
He closed his eyes.
Started to breathe slowly and began conditioning his own thoughts.
He rewrote intentions.
Layered false desires.
Masked curiosity beneath ambition.
If the diary read his mind, it would only see what he allowed it to see.
After several minutes, Alexander opened his eyes again.
Calm, focused, and ready.
He opened the diary and pretended to casually flip through it.
At first, the pages were blank.
Slowly, ink shifted and letters began forming on their own.
Hello. I am Tom. Who are you?
Alexander smiled faintly and wrote back.
I am Alex. Nice to meet you.
A pause.
Then—
I see you need help learning new spells.
Alexander feigned surprise.
Yes. My parents and friends gave me spells recently, and I'm struggling. How did you know?
The reply came quickly.
That's easy. I can help you.
Alexander hid his grin.
Can we start tomorrow? It's getting late.
This time, Tom paused longer.
…Yes, Tomorrow works too.
Alexander closed the diary slowly.
Then laughed quietly.
"Oh, Tommy boy… you're so easy to fool."
He leaned back in his chair, eyes gleaming.
"Let's absorb all your knowledge first… then you can help me get my Basilisk."
His smile widened.
"What fun this is going to be."
He went to sleep in an excellent mood.
Alexander spent the morning at the Burrow playing with the Weasley children.
Ginny shyly thanked him again for the new school supplies.
"It's no problem," he said casually. "It's only money."
After lunch, he gathered them all.
"I'll be busy the next few days before school. Got some things to prepare."
The twins groaned loudly.
But eventually waved him off.
"Fine—see you in a few days!"
Back home, Alexander repeated his mental conditioning.
Layered thoughts.
False intent.
Occlumency shields in place.
Then he took the diary to the backyard and opened it.
Ink formed almost immediately.
Hello.
Alexander sat cross-legged on the grass.
"Ready for practice?"
Yes. Which spell do you want to start with?
Alexander didn't hesitate.
"Bombarda… then Bombarda Maxima."
For hours they worked.
Tom explained structure, wand movement efficiency, magical compression, and explosive amplification.
Alexander practiced relentlessly.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Until—
"Young Master! Dinner time!"
Silver's voice broke the session.
"Dinner time. Later we can talk about runes. Do you know runes?"
Yes, I understand runes.
Alexander smirked as he shut the book.
Extremely helpful.
After dinner, he returned upstairs with rune textbooks spread across his desk.
He opened the diary again.
He began reading the rune textbook, and whenever he got confused.
Tom explained.
Ancient rune theory.
Spell reinforcement inscriptions.
Magical language structures.
For the next several days, a pattern formed:
Day — Spell practice with Tom.
Night — Rune study and magical theory.
Alexander had to admit, the young Dark Lord was a genius.
Just like him.
With Tom's guidance, his spellcasting became smoother, denser, and more efficient.
Advancement accelerated rapidly.
One night, while closing the diary, Alexander paused mid-thought.
"…Wait."
A grin slowly spread across his face.
"If Tommy boy is this knowledgeable… he can probably help me build a training schedule too."
He leaned back, pleased with himself.
"I really do have a brilliant mind."
Laughing quietly—
Alexander fell asleep, already planning how much more he would take…
Before taking everything.