Chapter 288

Due to Tom and the Magic Stone incident, the professors at Hogwarts were questioned by the Ministry of Magic for a long time. Coupled with the Headmaster's sudden disappearance, the professors were almost like headless flies, with many matters left without anyone to preside over or arrange, so that the grading of papers and the announcement of results were delayed by several days, which also caused this year's summer vacation to be more than a week later than usual.

However, according to tradition, on the last day before the holiday, the school still held the House Cup ceremony.

Although the students were all wondering why Headmaster Dumbledore did not attend, this did not prevent them from cheering for the long-awaited summer vacation.

This time, without Dumbledore giving biased points to Gryffindor, Slytherin finally won the House Cup. This was already their seventh consecutive championship.

But Malfoy couldn't be happy.

Tom was gone. Although it was nice that no one could suppress him in Slytherin anymore, he no longer wanted to be in the spotlight as much as he used to.

He had seen how a true Slytherin acted, and he wanted to try moving in that direction.

Malfoy looked at the Gryffindor table, where several dejected young wizards were also sitting.

He walked over, without his cronies.

Arriving at the seat where Tom used to sit, Malfoy asked Harry, "Can I sit here?"

"Malfoy..." Ron immediately became alert, "What do you want?"

Although due to Tom's mediation, the relationship between Harry and his friends and Malfoy was not as bad as in the original work, it really couldn't be considered very good either.

Malfoy ignored him, thought for a moment, and actually sat down directly, "Professor Murphy said we could sit anywhere, right?"

"That is Tom's seat," Hermione, sitting opposite him, frowned and said.

If it were in the past, if Hermione dared to talk to him, he would definitely have spat "Mudblood" back at her, but now, he was no longer that superficial blood-supremacist.

"But, Tom is no longer here," Malfoy said flatly.

This sentence finally got a reaction from Harry, who turned his head slowly, "What did you say?"

"Tom is gone. Your Hero team doesn't have enough members from three houses anymore. If you want to continue to exist, I can join you," Malfoy said.

These words were not easy for him, but he tried hard to hide his arrogant demeanor. Imagining Tom's possible posture and tone in his mind, he lowered his attitude and slowed his speech. He looked into Harry's eyes and said, "I will be your best choice."

"We don't need you!" Ron said.

Hermione didn't have such a big grudge against Malfoy, "Although I don't know what you mean, Professor Murphy has left the school, and it's not certain if there will be practical classes next semester. It's useless for you to join us now. Besides, you know, you can't replace him."

"Why do you talk like that?" Harry asked suddenly, "Why are you learning to talk like him?"

Malfoy was a little scared for a moment; he seemed to see a touch of soul-stirring red in the depths of Harry's eyes.

He was angry!

The frustration in his heart quickly turned into a strong impulse to regain his self-esteem, making him feel like he was sitting on pins and needles. Malfoy wanted to snort coldly and flick his sleeves to leave, but in the end, he let out a breath.

【Let me teach you something good, my friend... Calmness will make you appear powerful, while anger will only make you look like a loser.】

He opened his mouth, and a lot of answers flooded into his mind in an instant, but in the end, he clenched his fists, "Because... cough, because I, I want to be friends with you, with you all."

Saying this, a hint of crimson appeared on Malfoy's face.

This was not something the old him could have said, but at this moment, he knew this was the most sincere statement.

And sincerity is the most moving thing.

Hermione was stunned, and even Harry and Ron were shocked. They looked at the boy in front of them who was almost trembling, feeling somewhat incredulous.

Is this still Draco Malfoy?

Could he have been possessed by a ghost?

However, even Ron couldn't say anything mocking at this moment; he could only awkwardly echo, "Oh, oh."

Harry was stunned for a long while before finally lowering his head, "Sorry, we thought you were here to cause trouble."

Hermione looked at Malfoy, thought for a moment, and showed a smile, "Then, welcome. I represent the Hero team in welcoming you."

Harry had been depressed for a long time; no matter what, it was always good to have some changes.

Malfoy breathed a sigh of relief, the trembling on his body almost unable to stop.

Just now, if a sneer had come from the other side, he felt he would have died immediately—perhaps even worse than dying.

But, no. He chose to take a huge risk, but he also reaped a huge reward.

He squeezed out a smile with difficulty.

He had become stronger.

A leader should learn to control his emotions.

Only by learning to use oneself can one use others; only by defeating oneself can one defeat others.

And he had already defeated himself once.

In the future, there would be many more times.

Until, just like that person, he could handle things with ease and become a true Slytherin.

"Achoo..." At the Magic Research Institute, Tom—now Lucas—suddenly sneezed.

"What's wrong?" Murphy stood opposite her, "A cold?"

Recently, Murphy had been busy rectifying the Ministry of Magic and rarely returned here. This was the first time they had met since bringing Lucas here, and he was taking the latter on a tour of the entire institute.

"It's nothing," Lucas shook her head, "However, this body seems to be much weaker than before. My arms have no strength, and I get tired easily..."

"Hmm," Murphy nodded, "You are too thin. You need to eat more and exercise. I'll tell the doctors later to have them formulate a recovery plan for you."

"Hmm." Lucas nodded, her short golden hair swaying slightly with her movements, "Professor, why did I become a girl?"

The current Tom was completely in the appearance of a girl.

Some shadows of Tom Riddle could still be seen in her brows and eyes, but the contours were much softer. A pair of azure blue eyes were crystal clear, and her figure was as curvaceous as a sixteen-year-old girl. Except for being too thin, she was actually quite beautiful.

This wasn't too strange, after all, Tom Riddle's appearance was already very high.

It was just that her original black hair had turned golden, which surprised Murphy a little.

He guessed this might be the influence of "Lucas." After all, the body Murphy originally created for her was a golden-haired boy, and in the false memories Tom saw, Lucas was also golden-haired.

Tom's identification with Lucas might also be reflected through this hair color.

However, it's fine. This way, even those who originally knew Tom would find it difficult to associate her directly with Voldemort.

And this was also the reason why Murphy added a Transformation Potion to the Resurrection Potion.

Tom Riddle lived fifty years ago. There were not many people who knew his past appearance, but there were some. There should still be many old-generation Death Eaters alive, as well as some old Phoenix Society members, Dumbledore, etc. Although it wouldn't have much impact even if they knew Tom's identity, it was better to save some trouble.

Moreover, Murphy had always been a bit bothered by the "prophecy coming true" thing. He was really worried that if things developed according to the prophecy he had made up, Muggles would fight wizards.

That would be no fun at all!

But the prophecy said the Savior was a boy. I turned Tom into a girl; I don't believe the prophecy can continue to develop.

This could be considered a patch to remedy the situation.

Of course, this couldn't be said to the other party.

(End of chapter)