Chapter 720 The Mysterious Riddle

"But if Dumbledore hadn't tried to capture you and brought you to Hogwarts, you might not have known Minerva and us."

Just as Fitz was staring at Dumbledore, wondering where to attack, Hermione came out to persuade him.

"Hmm..."

(ˇˇ)

The cat immediately put away its attacking posture and fell into deep thought.

Dumbledore was very glad that he had agreed to Fitz's request and asked him to bring Hermione Granger with him.

"Besides, isn't Professor Dumbledore still injured? Why don't we wait until you heal him? Now, let's continue to read Voldemort's story, right?"

Obviously, Hermione knew very well how to quickly divert Fitz's attention. Compared with persistently looking for trouble with Dumbledore, reading stories was more attractive to Fitz. So she quickly calmed down the angry cat.

"Well, Fish will let Albus go for now, meow!"

(〃｀3〃)

The cat pouted and muttered a few words, then reluctantly let Dumbledore go.

The others also turned their attention back to the memory picture.

At this time, Dumbledore and Voldemort were still talking. When Voldemort learned about the existence of magic from Dumbledore, he had no doubts at all, and even seemed very excited.

"I knew I was different." The young Tom Riddle murmured excitedly to his trembling hands: "I knew I was special. I knew there was something here."

For the first time, the young Dumbledore restrained his smile. He sensed a familiar smell from Riddle. The name of that smell is - ambition.

However, Dumbledore didn't take it too seriously at this time, because to some extent, being ambitious is not a bad thing, so although Dumbledore didn't like Riddle's performance, he just planned to pay more attention to him in school.

"You are a wizard." Dumbledore continued to explain to Riddle.

Riddle's face suddenly showed a fanatical joy.

"You are also a wizard?"

"Yes."

"Prove it to me." Riddle ordered in an arrogant tone, just like he usually treats other children in the orphanage.

But Dumbledore is not a child from the orphanage.

"If, as I understand it, you agree to go to Hogwarts to study..."

"Of course I agree!"

"Then you have to call me 'Professor' or 'Mr.'."

Riddle's expression froze for a moment, and then he suddenly said in a completely different polite tone: "I'm sorry, sir. I mean... Professor, can you let me see?"

"Voldemort is really powerful meow! After Fish got into trouble when he was a child, he often used this method to please Minerva, but it was a pity that it was not very effective after a while meow..."

(ˇˇ)

Mao Mao nodded his head seriously.

Amid the laughter and tears of the crowd, the young Dumbledore waved his wand carelessly, proving to Voldemort the existence of magic.

"Where can I get one?"

Riddle looked greedily at the wand in Dumbledore's hand.

"It will be there in due time," Dumbledore said, "something in your closet seems to want to get out."

Sure enough, a faint rattling sound came from the closet that had just been burned by Dumbledore but was intact. Riddle showed a panic expression for the first time.

Then he opened the door at Dumbledore's request and took out a cardboard box from it... The rattling sound came from inside.

"Is there something in that box that you shouldn't have?" Dumbledore asked.

Riddle looked at Dumbledore deeply with a clear and cautious look.

"Yes, I think so, sir," he finally said in a dry voice.

"Open it," Dumbledore said.

Riddle opened the lid and poured the contents onto his bed without even looking at them.

There were no items that might be Horcruxes as Harry and the others had guessed, but a bunch of ordinary things, including a yoyo pull-out reel, a silver thimble, and a dull harmonica.

These things stopped shaking as soon as they left the box, and lay obediently on the thin blanket, motionless.

"You have to return these things to their owners and apologize to them." Dumbledore said calmly, while inserting his wand into his jacket pocket, "I will know whether you have done it. I also want to warn you: Hogwarts does not tolerate stealing."

"That's right, meow!"

(ˇˇ)

The cat continued to nod with a sad expression, and then echoed: "When Fish stole some food in Honeydukes, Minerva was very angry and deducted Fish's snacks, meow!"

Compared with Fish's ignorance at the time, Riddle obviously knew that stealing was wrong, but there was no shame on his face. He still stared at Dumbledore coldly, as if weighing him.

Finally, probably because he felt that he was unlikely to be a match for Dumbledore, he reluctantly said in a dry voice, "Got it, sir."

Dumbledore then warned Riddle a few more words, but it was obvious that he didn't take it to heart. He just wanted to know how to enhance his magical abilities.

"I have no money," he told Dumbledore bluntly.

"That's easy to solve." Dumbledore said as he took out a leather purse from his pocket. "Hogwarts has a fund specifically provided to those who need funding to purchase textbooks and school robes. Some of your I'm afraid you can only buy second-hand magic books, but..."

"Where can I buy a magic book?" Riddle interrupted Dumbledore, took the money bag without a word of thanks, and carefully examined a thick gold galleons.

Dumbledore told him about the existence of Diagon Alley and mentioned that he could accompany him, but Riddle refused.

"I don't need you," Riddle said. "I'm used to doing things by myself. I always run around London alone. So, how do I get to Diagon Alley... sir?" He met Dumbledore. With his eyes, he added the last two words.

Dumbledore handed Riddle the envelope containing the shopping list, and told Riddle the specific route from the orphanage to the Leaky Cauldron, and then said: "You will definitely be able to see it, even though the Muggles around you... People who don't understand magic...can't see it. Ask the bar owner Tom...it's easy to remember, his name is the same as yours..."

Riddle twitched in annoyance, as if trying to shoo away a pesky fly.

"You don't like the name 'Tom'?"

"Too many people named 'Tom,'" Riddle muttered.

Then Riddle asked Dumbledore about his life experience. After getting no answer, he asked him about the way to Hogwarts... Just like when buying textbooks, he did not need help from others.

And when Dumbledore was about to leave at the end, Riddle suddenly said: "I can talk to snakes. I discovered it when we were hiking in the countryside... They found me and whispered to me. This is for a wizard Is it normal?"

Everyone could see that he deliberately delayed mentioning this most bizarre skill until the last moment, hoping to suppress Dumbledore.

"What's so amazing about this is that Fish can talk to all the animals!"

(`)

Maomao curled his lips in disdain, then raised his head triumphantly.

Young Dumbledore didn't show any surprise. He said casually: "It's rare, but it's not unheard of."

Although Riddle still looked expressionless, he could still faintly sense that he was a little disappointed.

"Goodbye, Tom. I'll see you at Hogwarts."

As the young Dumbledore said goodbye to the young Voldemort, the old Dumbledore and Fish also took others out of his memory.

"So, what do you see from this memory?"

When everyone returned to the principal's office, Dumbledore sat in front of his desk, put his arms on the edge of the table, and asked with his fingers facing each other as usual.

This time, it was Fei Xu who spoke first.

"The old Voldemort and Fish were a bit like Meow."

(ω)

Maomao scratched his head, then twirled his fingers and said, "He can steal things, likes to collect trophies, can talk to other animals... and he also knows how to act nice!"

"Pfft..." Ron on the side couldn't help laughing.

Harry and Hermione also had smiles on their faces.

"What's so funny!"

(`н)

Feixu asked angrily.

"Yes, there is nothing funny about it," Dumbledore defended Cat: "Fish was very keen to discover several important characteristics of Voldemort - contempt for rules, vanity, talent, and...understanding Forbearance.”

"No, that's right, that's it, meow!"

(ˇˇ)

Maomao was stunned for a moment, and then echoed seriously: "That's what Fei Xu thinks, meow!"

Everyone (including the portraits on the wall) smiled fondly and did not expose Fei Xu.

"However, we cannot ignore other characteristics displayed by Voldemort..." Dumbledore continued after fading his smile: "He does not do random experiments like ordinary young wizards. He has already Use magic to deal with others, use magic to intimidate, punish and control others. The story of the hanging rabbit and the two children, a boy and a girl, who were tricked into the cave are very illustrative... As long as I am willing. It can make them hurt..."

"He's also a Parseltongue," Ron and Harry said in unison.

"Yes, a rare ability said to be related to dark magic, but we know that Parselmouth also exists among great and good wizards. In fact, his ability to talk to snakes doesn't make me very uneasy. What worries me is his obviously cruel, secretive and domineering nature."

"Also, I think you must have noticed, what was Riddle's reaction when I mentioned that there was someone with the same name as him, also called 'Tom'?" Dumbledore asked again after sighing.

"He doesn't like the name very much," Hermione replied.

"Yes, he despises anything that ties him to others, despises anything that makes him seem ordinary..."

"That's why he gave himself the nickname 'Voldemort', meow?"

(ω)

Fish didn't quite understand this idea.

"Didn't Minerva say that it's impolite to call people by nicknames? And Tom is obviously simpler than Voldemort, and it's much easier to write."

"Because he wants to be different, just like when I told him about the existence of magic, he accepted it all at once, because he wanted to be different from others." Dumbledore explained.

Harry and Hermione had a deep understanding of this. When they knew they were wizards, it took them a long time to accept it.

But Fish and Ron didn't feel much.

"Time is playing tricks on us again," Dumbledore analyzed some of Voldemort's personality traits for Fish and the others, and then looked up at the dark sky outside the window, "It's time for you to go back and rest."

Because the memory was a little longer this time, Fish and Hermione did not go out for a night tour after saying goodbye to Dumbledore, but returned to the common room with Harry and Ron.

After returning to the common room, they did not go to rest immediately, but sat together and discussed in a low voice.

"I didn't expect the You-Know-Who was so scary when he was a teenager." Ron whispered, "But I still don't understand why Dumbledore let us watch these? I mean, it's interesting, but what's the use?"

"He said these memories will help us find Voldemort's Horcruxes, but I don't think he would use a thimble or a harmonica to make his own Horcruxes." Harry shrugged.

"I think it's very attractive." Hermione said seriously, "It's absolutely meaningful to try to understand Voldemort, otherwise how can you find his weaknesses?"

And the cat's idea is very simple...

"These stories are quite interesting. It would be even better if we could see the content of Dumbledore's previous fight with Voldemort, meow!"

(ω)

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