Chapter 262: Gaunt and Riddle

"At Hogwarts, there are many special children like you."

"Hogwarts?"

For the term in Dumbledore's mouth, Tom looked very confused, and his brows twisted even tighter.

"It's a... school that teaches magic."

"You can do magic, right, Tom? It's your special ability that you think makes you different from ordinary people."

Hearing this, Tom's expression finally changed, from the vigilance and disgust just now, to hesitation.

"... Prove it to me."

Dumbledore didn't speak, didn't even move. The next moment, a raging fire suddenly rose in the wardrobe in Tom's room.

Tom sprang up from the chair, his pupils shrinking.

The tongues of fire licked the cabinet door but didn't scorch an inch of wood, and not even a grain of ash fell.

"Tom, I think there is something inside that needs to come out."

Dumbledore tilted his head toward Tom, signaling him to take the things out of the cabinet.

Tom looked at Dumbledore, and the disgust in his eyes finally turned into awe.

It was just whether the awe was for Dumbledore as a person, or for Dumbledore's power, it was unknown.

Then Tom walked toward the wardrobe hesitantly, the firelight making his pale face flicker.

After opening the cabinet door, the clothes inside were gone.

Only a box he had specifically hidden away lay quietly inside.

Tom took the box out, and the flames in the wardrobe disappeared, everything returning to normal.

He slowly opened the box and took out the three items inside.

A yo-yo, a silver thimble, and a faded harmonica.

"Stealing is absolutely not allowed at Hogwarts, Tom."

Dumbledore said slowly, as if he knew the origin of these things.

Tom lowered his head, losing his overbearing attitude just now.

Instead, he said very sincerely and obediently.

"I know, sir."

Seeing him admit his mistake, Dumbledore didn't say anything more.

Instead, he took out a money bag from somewhere.

"Before enrolling at Hogwarts, you need to go to Diagon Alley to purchase the necessities for enrollment. This is the enrollment subsidy."

"Tomorrow I will accompany you to Diagon Alley to purchase items."

Dumbledore said slowly, but Tom shook his head.

"Sir, I hope I can go by myself."

Hearing this, Dumbledore was stunned for a moment, looked at Tom's stubborn eyes, and finally nodded.

"Okay, then take care of yourself. These are the shopping list, as well as the address of Diagon Alley and the way to enter."

Dumbledore didn't force it, just gently placed several pieces of parchment, a ticket, and that bag of gold Galleons into Tom's hand.

Tom took the money bag and other items, said nothing, not even a thank you.

Afterward, it was Dumbledore simply explaining Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron to Tom, as well as some precautions for the start of school.

Tom listened quietly, remembering every word Dumbledore said.

Until all the instructions were finished, Tom didn't have much reaction, and Dumbledore didn't intend to stay long, so he stood up to leave.

But at the very last moment before he left, Tom suddenly spoke mysteriously.

"Sir, I can talk to snakes."

It was as if he was saying something extraordinary.

However, Dumbledore's expression remained flat.

"Oh, that is indeed rare, but it's not something extraordinary."

The pride on Tom's face froze instantly.

The flashback also ended here, the ink color instantly soaked the surrounding scene, returning to nothingness.

John also pulled out of the Pensieve suddenly.

He touched his face, and there was no liquid left on his face, not even his hair was wet.

It seemed that the water in the Pensieve was not real water.

"Phew... Headmaster, next time please explain the use of this thing to me before letting me use it..."

John looked at Dumbledore and said speechlessly.

"Is that so? I am more inclined to let you explore it yourself."

Dumbledore nodded noncommittally and said.

Well, it turns out you did it on purpose.

John shook his head and continued to ask.

"By the way, is Tom an orphan?"

"Then how did Sirius know his former residence was in Little Hangleton?"

When chatting with Sirius before, he mentioned this place name.

"Naturally, it's tracing back to the story before he was born."

Dumbledore beckoned again, took John back to the desk, and sat down.

Then he took out a file, which recorded a pure-blood family named Gaunt.

"Tom's birth can be said to be full of twists and turns. This is Tom's maternal family."

Dumbledore said while opening the file and letting John lean in to look.

The first page was a family tree, but the branches of this tree were very few.

"Because of the pure-blood philosophy, the Gaunt family had frequent inbreeding, and the hidden diseases and violence in the bloodline were passed down from generation to generation, and they continued to decline."

"Until Tom's mother, Merope Gaunt, fell in love with a Muggle tycoon in Little Hangleton—Tom Riddle Sr."

"So she fled the Gaunt family, and then used a love potion to steal Tom Riddle Sr.'s heart, and conceived a child with him, which is the current Tom."

"Thinking that this would allow Tom Riddle Sr. to stay by her side, and afterward she lifted the effect of the love potion."

"But after Tom Riddle Sr. woke up, he immediately abandoned her and the unborn child."

"Merope, who had nowhere to go, went to the orphanage in the memory just now, and died not long after giving birth to Tom there."

Turning further back, it was Dumbledore telling these stories.

It also recorded that Merope had an older brother and a father.

Because the brother heard that Merope liked a Muggle, that is, Tom Riddle Sr., he deliberately cast a curse on Tom Riddle Sr.

Then it led to the Ministry of Magic coming to the door, and as a result, her father was emotionally agitated because his daughter fell in love with a Muggle and wanted to strangle his daughter, and attacked this Ministry of Magic official in the chaos.

So the Ministry of Magic locked both father and son into Azkaban.

Merope also took advantage of this time to escape from the Gaunt family.

Afterward, Merope's father died in the dilapidated Gaunt old house not long after being released from prison.

And her brother was sentenced to three years before being released, but judging from the data, he was also in a dead state at this time.

"Then what about Riddle Manor?"

After reading it, John roughly sorted out the cause and effect of Voldemort's birth, which was outrageous enough.

However, he didn't see the key Riddle Manor on it.

Dumbledore then took out the second file and said slowly.

"Riddle Manor, more than a decade later, was also wiped out..." ===== CHAPTER 263 =====