Chapter 43: Diary, Today is 2077

In the secret chamber, Murphy called Alex again.

They were facing Riddle's diary.

Previously, Murphy hadn't delved into the diary's capabilities due to the discovery of the Thorn Vow spell.

Nor had he mentioned learning dark magic.

Now, it was time.

However, before that, he needed to ensure that he dominated the communication with the diary.

Murphy hadn't forgotten that this was an extremely dangerous dark magic artifact. To utilize it without being used by it, he needed to thoroughly understand its capabilities. Therefore, he believed it was necessary to test the diary's abilities.

Murphy continued to have Alex write, then threw the diary into water. After a few minutes, he fished it out and had Alex write: "Diary, how do you feel?"

Diary: "I don't understand your question."

Then they placed the diary over a fire for a few minutes before asking, "Diary, do you feel anything?"

Diary: "What should I be feeling?"

It seemed the diary had no sense of temperature.

Murphy gave Alex a hammer, "Hit its face."

Alex: "..."

It's just a notebook, why are you doing this? But he still hammered it a few times, and the diary remained undamaged.

Murphy then rubbed the diary's cover with a steel wool pad and asked, "Diary, how do you feel now?"

Diary: "I feel nothing."

Murphy noted in a little notebook: "Conclusion: No sense of touch."

Next, they confirmed that the diary had no sense of hearing through verbal insults and noise stimulation. They verified the absence of taste through soaking in salt water and bathing in chili water, and they confirmed the lack of smell through Alex's farts.

Finally, Murphy concluded that Riddle's diary had no five senses.

During the process, Alex watched Murphy manically torture the notebook, wondering if his employer had some weird hobbies.

This is a sentient diary; wouldn't it be furious to know someone is doing this to it?

Is this why you used the name Lucius?

After the trial, Murphy became famous in the wizarding world, and Alex naturally learned that his real name was not Peter Parker.

He later read in the Daily Prophet that Peter Parker was actually the name of a Muggle comic book character.

Initially, Alex didn't understand why Murphy gave him a fake name.

But now, he kind of understood.

Probably afraid of being kidnapped on the street.

After testing the five senses, Murphy still wasn't satisfied. Next, he needed to know the diary's perception of time. "Diary, do you know what time it is?"

Diary: "I am not sure."

"How long has it been since I first wrote in you?"

Diary: "Not very long."

"Can you help me count the seconds?"

Diary: "I cannot do that."

Murphy smiled; the diary had no internal clock and its concept of time was vague.

Next was a test of its logical ability. "Three Muggles and three werewolves are at a river crossing. There is only a small boat that can carry two people. If there are more werewolves than Muggles, the werewolves will eat the Muggles. How can you get everyone across safely?"

The diary was silent for a while, then replied, "The werewolves could bite the Muggles, turning them into werewolves?"

Murphy: "..."

He wrote in his notebook: "Low comprehension."

"That's not safe for the Muggles," Murphy had Alex write in the diary, "Please understand the question carefully without inferring anything extra."

After a while, the diary replied, "I don't know how."

Murphy added to his notebook: "Low logical ability."

Now, it was time to test its computational power.

"45 times 63 equals?"

"2835."

Good, so Tom knew basic math.

"What about the sum of 1 plus 2 plus 3 plus 4 all the way to 100?"

"..."

After a while, the diary answered, "5050."

"What about 1×2+2×3+3×4+...+100×101?"

"..........."

This time the diary took much longer.

Finally, it replied, "343400."

Interesting!

Murphy got excited, "What about 1×2×3×4 all the way to 2008? How many zeros are at the end of the product?"

"................."

The diary froze. After a long time, it wrote, "I don't know."

Alright then.

Murphy had hoped it was a notebook supercomputer, but it seemed he had hoped for too much.

Summary: Lacks five senses, has a confused perception of time, ordinary understanding and logical ability, average computational power, but rich knowledge base. Conclusion: Can be used as a reference tool.

Having completed the tests, Murphy decided to get down to business.

He let a confused Alex leave and then picked up a ballpoint pen himself, "Hello, diary."

The diary did not respond, probably because Alex's handwriting was different from Murphy's, or maybe the ballpoint ink was harder to absorb?

Murphy continued, "Today is April 21, 2077. The weather is overcast. A tactical nuclear bomb was dropped by the Housaka Company on a village rumored to be inhabited by wizards. Thousands of tons of radioactive dust were blown into the sky, which will take over a month to completely drift over the dome. It's going to be cold here."

Diary: "..."

What nonsense is this?

Murphy: "Today, another day of scavenging. I found this diary in a ruin. It looks very old. Strange, since we no longer use pen and paper to record things. But I like it. I also found this pen. If I sell it to an antique dealer, it might fetch some money."

"I've tried it, the diary is impervious to water and fire. It must have a secret; I've decided to keep it."

"I read about the world before the war in some materials. People in that world sometimes used precious raw pulp paper to write. Can't believe I have the luxury to use such extravagant items. Mom in heaven, do you see? I'm writing on real paper!"

Diary: "..."

Is this fiction? How could paper become expensive?

And what war? Are Muggles at war again?

Murphy: "Today is May 2, 2077. The weather is still overcast. The radioactive dust hasn't cleared, and the city management company has issued a notice for everyone to stay at home and avoid going out."

Diary: "..."

That's not right, you just finished writing April 21!

Murphy: "June 35, 2077. Heavy snow. Today they broadcast the execution of a girl. Because she was detected as a witch."

Diary: "..."

Getting messier, isn't it? What's with June 35!

And heavy snow in June?

But the last sentence from the recorder made the diary feel a hint of panic.

What does it mean? Muggles killed a witch?

Why? Please keep reading!