Chapter 563: Choice

"You must return these things to their owners and apologize to them."

Professor Dumbledore said calmly.

"I will know if you have done it, and I must warn you: Hogwarts does not tolerate theft."

There was not a hint of shame on Riddle's face. He stared coldly at Dumbledore, as if weighing him up.

Finally, he said in a dry voice:

"Understood, sir."

Beside Sien, the white-haired Dumbledore's voice was calm:

"And then the second choice, how to face one's own actions."

And so the scene flowed again—

Riddle put the small pile of stolen loot back into the cardboard box, his face still expressionless.

After tidying up, he turned around and said to Dumbledore without any courtesy:

"I have no money."

"That is easy to solve."

Dumbledore said, pulling a leather pouch from his pocket.

"Hogwarts has a fund specifically provided for those who need financial aid to buy textbooks and school robes. Some of your magic books will probably have to be bought secondhand, but—"

"Where can I buy magic books?"

Riddle interrupted Dumbledore, took the pouch without a word of thanks, and carefully examined a thick Jin Jialong.

Both Professor Dumbledore and Headmaster Dumbledore had extremely deep expressions on their faces.

After a long while, the white-haired Headmaster Dumbledore spoke:

"Finally, it is how one chooses to face profit."

At this moment, the scene in the memory shattered like bubbles.

A few seconds later, Sien felt himself flying lightly in the darkness once again, and then he landed steadily in the office in reality.

He was a bit dazed from the sudden departure; the Pensieve always caused such an effect.

"Time is playing tricks on us,"

Dumbledore said, pointing to the pitch-black sky outside the window.

"Goodbye, child."

Sien was stunned. Headmaster Dumbledore had just taken him to see Voldemort's childhood, yet in the end, he said nothing?

When his gaze swept over, Headmaster Dumbledore was smiling kindly:

"Well, I hope you didn't ignore the last point because you were sleepy, Sien—young Tom Riddle liked to collect trophies.

You saw that box of stolen goods he hid in his room, didn't you? They were all taken from the children he bullied; one could say they were souvenirs of some particularly wicked magical tricks.

I suspect you have read that book. If you have any doubts, perhaps now you will have some answers.

As for what I want to say, child…… it is to choose your life cautiously. However, I must say, no one does this better than you."

The door to the Headmaster's office closed.

Dumbledore stood at the edge of the window. Different choices always lead the story in different directions.

The deeper silver threads of memory in the Pensieve stored completely different scenes.

The fourth-floor classroom, the underground Chamber, the vanished Undetectable Extension Bag, and the new Children's Home rising from the ground.

His beard twitched, as if he had remembered something happy.

……

And when Sien walked out of the Headmaster's office, he was still deep in thought.

It seemed Headmaster Dumbledore had already discovered the secret of Voldemort's Horcruxes, and he likely tacitly allowed Sien to study "Most Potent Potions."

This also meant that the plot never changed much, and even if it did, it was shifting in the right direction.

This was also what he wanted to see.

Avoiding the excited young wizards on patrol, Sien's pace was slightly lighter. He didn't need much more proficiency to reach 【Expert】 in Soul Transfiguration. Soon, he would be able to resolve the Voldemort soul on Harry.

However, what were the young wizards actually doing?

Sien focused slightly and effortlessly saw the black cat portrait in their hands.

Sien, who was about to practice Soul Transfiguration: "……"

At night, the snow that started in the morning turned into a violent blizzard. Thick, gray snowflakes danced in the sky, sealing every window, and the castle was much darker than usual.

A black cat finally found a place to stay. Its ears pricked up, and it could still hear the sound of young wizards running happily in the corridor downstairs.

Fortunately, there was no one deep in the fourth-floor corridor; most of the young wizards were gathered at the black cat statue.

The area below the statue was now covered with offerings. Sometimes the black cat felt that this was too strange.

After it quietly moved the offerings away, the next time there would only be more, so it helplessly let it be.

Besides the rumors recently spread by the Castle Spirit Cat Club, since the morning, another matter had become a popular rumor at Hogwarts.

"Ah, so it's silly baby Potter! What is Potter doing? Why is Potter acting so sneaky—oh, Potter, you annoying brat, look at the good deed you've done, you control snakes and think it's funny—"

The black cat's ears moved, and it heard a strange sound.

It was Peeves, giggling and hopping along, passing by the fourth floor and Harry, knocking Harry's glasses askew.

"Go away! Peeves! The Bloody Baron is coming!"

Harry roared. Peeves hurriedly retreated and fled, but he didn't forget to stick his tongue out at Harry.

"I'm not like him, and I'm definitely not suited for Slytherin!"

After Peeves left, Harry said loudly.

Ever since he came out of the Headmaster's office, he had developed a panic he couldn't explain.

"I'm in Gryffindor……"

A voice in his heart said.

"But the Sorting Hat originally wanted to put you in Slytherin."

Soon, another voice retorted.

These two voices had been arguing for a long time, so much so that Harry wanted to throw himself into the Black Lake, which was covered with a thin layer of ice.

In his agitation, Harry saw a black shadow flash by. This shadow was very familiar, so he hurriedly rubbed his eyes:

"Mr. Black Cat!"

He shouted.

It was the castle spirit cat of Hogwarts Castle. It even knew about Voldemort's diary; maybe it could answer his questions!

But the black shadow was long gone, so he could only lower his head in disappointment.

That night, Harry couldn't sleep for several hours. Through the gap in the curtains around his bed, he watched snowflakes drift past the castle windows, feeling a sense of emptiness in his heart.

In the gray-white world, he finally drifted off to sleep in a daze.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a blurry space. On the familiar "Children's Home" sign, a black cat was using its paw to settle its tail.

"Mr. Black Cat!"

Harry shouted in surprise.

The black cat nodded in a human-like manner.

"Do you know—"

At this moment, Harry had too many words on his lips, and he couldn't utter a single syllable for a while.

The black cat wasn't in a hurry at all; it seemed to be still taming its own tail.

Busy today, six chapters tomorrow. ===== CHAPTER 564 =====