[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-hogwarts-learning-panel":3,"chapter-hogwarts-learning-panel-hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-407":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Hogwarts Learning Panel",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2250645,4210,"Chapter 407: Cave","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-407",407,"\u003Cp>“Why Borgin and Burkes?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wizard Sean asked, following along.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, you didn’t know that?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well, I suppose you’ll see why the place appealed to him once you enter Hao Qi’s memories. But it wasn’t Tom Riddle’s first choice. Few people knew back then—I was one of the few who heard about it from the old headmaster.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tom Riddle first approached Professor Dipper, asking if he could stay on at Hogwarts as a teacher.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dumbledore seemed to be waiting for something, but Wizard Sean fell silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you know what he wanted to teach?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dumbledore took a sip of tea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Probably not Defense Against the Dark Arts.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wizard Sean thought for a moment and made a small joke at the right moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dumbledore laughed:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I believe he had several reasons, though he told Professor Dipper none of them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dumbledore said,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“First, and most importantly, Tom Riddle felt more affection for this school than for any individual. Hogwarts was the place where he was happiest, the first and only place he ever felt at home.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wizard Sean blinked, saying nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course, if it were you, child, I’d be happy to let you inherit Minerva’s position.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But if you ever want to replace me, you’ll always have to find a place for an old wizard first.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dumbledore blinked as well,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Second, this castle is a stronghold of ancient magic. Tom Riddle undoubtedly uncovered more secrets here than most students ever could, but he likely believed there were still many mysteries left, many magical treasures waiting to be found.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yet fate played a trick on him—the ones who control the treasures are always those who don’t care for them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dumbledore shook his head,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Third, as a teacher, he could exert great influence over young wizards.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This idea may have come from Professor Slughorn, the professor he got along with best—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Slughorn showed him just how much power a teacher could wield. I never thought Tom Riddle intended to stay at Hogwarts for life. I believed he saw it as an excellent place to recruit—where he could build himself an army.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wizard Sean had already guessed what Dumbledore would say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He imagined, unpleasantly, the largest club in Hogwarts history.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His thoughts drifted, suddenly conjuring a strange image:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dumbledore standing in the headmaster’s office, facing him:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright, Green Headmaster, when are you planning to overthrow me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He quickly shook his head—and saw Dumbledore smiling with deep meaning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“An interesting thought…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Later, I became deeply uneasy about Tom Riddle’s choice.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I advised Armando not to hire him—I didn’t lay out the reasons I just gave, because Professor Dipper adored Tom Riddle and trusted his honesty completely—but I didn’t want Tom Riddle back in this school, especially not in a position of power.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The good news was, Professor Dipper said he was only eighteen, too young—but he welcomed him to reapply in two years, if he still wished to teach then.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dumbledore spoke slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So he went to Borgin and Burkes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wizard Sean always knew how to extend a topic at just the right moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Exactly. Tom Riddle went to Borgin and Burkes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“All the staff who admired him said it was a pity—a brilliant young wizard reduced to being a shop assistant.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But Tom Riddle wasn’t just an assistant. He was courteous, handsome, and clever, and soon earned the kind of special work only a place like Borgin and Burkes could offer.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You see, Wizard Sean, this shop specializes in items with unusual properties. Tom Riddle was assigned to persuade people to sell their treasures to the shop—and it’s said he was particularly skilled at it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dumbledore continued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wizard Sean knew well: though Tom had gradually lost his wit after splitting his soul, at that time he was still not Voldemort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes,”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dumbledore said, offering a weak smile,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Now it’s time to hear Hao Qi’s memories—her mistress was an elderly, very wealthy witch named Hepzibah Smith.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dumbledore tapped a small vial with his wand; the cork flew off. He poured the swirling memory into the Pensieve and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Together, Wizard Sean?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They spent a long time, through Hao Qi’s memories, learning that Tom Riddle had murdered her mistress, Hepzibah Smith.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And stolen two of Hepzibah Smith’s most important possessions—a cup and a locket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then framed Hao Qi entirely for the crime.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hepzibah Smith is dead.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dumbledore stood up; Wizard Sean did too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Ministry ruled that Hao Qi had accidentally poisoned her mistress’s evening cocoa.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“By the time Hao Qi was convicted, Hepzibah’s family discovered her two most valuable treasures were missing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dumbledore’s voice carried a note of sorrow,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Ministry took a long time to confirm it, because she had many secret hiding places and guarded her collection obsessively.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And before they realized the cup and locket were gone, the shop assistant from Borgin and Burkes—the young man who frequently visited Hepzibah and charmed her so well—had resigned and vanished.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“His boss didn’t know where he’d gone; they were as surprised as everyone else. Tom Riddle disappeared for a very long time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But you found something.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wizard Sean said with quiet certainty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dumbledore smiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You must have seen it too: this time, it wasn’t revenge—he was after profit. He wanted those two rare treasures the poor old woman showed him. Just like he took things from other children at the orphanage, just like he stole his uncle’s ring—he stole Hepzibah’s cup and locket…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Feel like a walk?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They left the castle and walked along a path shrouded in twilight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rain fell as swiftly as their steps; by the time they reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest, it was pouring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lights glimmered in Hogwarts’ windows as they walked on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Hogwarts slept, some wizards must always stay awake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I can’t be certain exactly where—but I believe it’s in a cave by a distant shore, a cave I’ve searched for a very long time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you remember the cave where Tom Riddle once frightened two orphans during their annual orphanage trip?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dumbledore said, stepping over the grass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wizard Sean knew the news he’d been waiting for had finally come.\u003C\u002Fp>",1018,"2026-06-19T10:00:42.198Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","698eefaf1d645422d4e30c5fcacf5e81053623c8a30c7c43dd9a793bd46f0278","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-408","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-406",526,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fhogwarts-learning-panel-cover.jpg"]