Archaeologists at Hogwarts

Chapter 402 Old Tom and Merope

401 Old Tom and Merope

After realizing that old Tom had been pretending to be unconscious, Toby's new underling, Antioch, was the first to react. deep.

"Roar!"

"Step aside!"

Toby pushed the crazy Antioch aside impatiently, and then glanced sideways at the armor that also turned its head - it obviously didn't believe that it had misread it, and it hadn't noticed it for so long. Old Tom was pretending to be unconscious.

"You can take the wand away, don't worry, I can't move yet."

said old Tom.

Instead of doing what old Tom said, Toby poked his wand on the forehead a few more times.

"But how do I know if you're lying to me again?"

Old Tom responded calmly: "That's why I don't want to wake up. You are too vigilant. I can only avoid attracting your attention—especially after getting this magical body. Are you really a wizard now?"

"Didn't you already know?" Toby said, narrowing his eyes.

There was a moment of silence in the secret room, but not for too long.

Toby asked abruptly: "When did this start? After you had the body of the plant Animagus? Or when the death steward touched you?"

Old Tom thought for a few seconds in silence.

"If you mean I can think in a normal way. I think I finally woke up after I saw the kerosene lamp."

"Do you know who that person is?" Toby asked again: "The transparent person hidden under the kerosene lamp."

Old Tom shook his head.

"Why does the other party want to help you?"

Old Tom shook his head again.

Toby was very dissatisfied with this guy's attitude, and Old Tom was clearly aware of it—it was all written on Toby's face, especially when the tip of his wand almost pierced the skin on his forehead, like Like a nail.

"Calm down, young man."

There was no panic in old Tom's face.

"Perhaps you will be interested in the story between me and Merope, so you will know why I have to kill... this person."

He glanced at the armor on the other side of the chamber—more precisely, Voldemort, who was now trapped inside the armor.

"Do not."

Toby's answer still made people feel a little surprised. He said with disgust: "I'm not interested in the love story between you and Merope at all, it means nothing to me, and I don't want to know why you are very To kill the mysterious man is nothing more than a conspiracy set up by Hai Erbo."

"What I want to know now is, how on earth did you know Lily Evans?"

Old Tom looked at Toby in confusion.

"Lily Evans?" he asked back. "Who's that?"

"Are you still thinking about being stubborn?" Toby said, causing the tip of the wand to burst into a fierce fire: "Didn't you tell her the story of the Horcrux?"

"No, I don't." Old Tom replied solemnly: "Besides Merope, and her family of weirdos, I have hardly had any contact with wizards—I think you may have found the wrong person. But Horcruxes, I do know about Horcruxes, but so does Merope—do you know where Merope is? Have you ever seen her?"

There was a rare look of excitement on Old Tom's face.

Toby stared at him for a moment.

Suddenly he withdrew his wand and swung it back and forth in the palm of his hand.

"Now I'm interested in the story between you and Merope."

Toby said uncharacteristically: "Tell me carefully, we have plenty of time."

"Looks like this Lily Evans is very important to you—"

Old Tom smiled, and he didn't know what he thought of, but the next second he saw a strange expression on Toby's face.

"Is there nothing in your minds except love?"

Toby's tone was full of sadness.

Old Tom's tone faltered, and Toby shook his head and urged: "Hurry up and tell the story, no matter how much time you have, you won't waste it like this."

"Well."

Until then, there was no trace of humanity in old Tom, at least he knew the embarrassment.
-
The beginning of the story seems very cliché, old Tom was born in a rich family, so rich that the whole valley on one side is theirs - except the old Gaunt house on the other side.

He occasionally rode by there, but he never wanted to get in touch with the family, because he knew that the people living in that house were crazy, and people in the village had a lot of bad comments about them.

Until one night, when old Tom passed by here again, he felt someone peeping at him in the fenced garden.

At first he thought it was a fool in this old house, so he didn't pay much attention to it, he just planned to rush home to rest as soon as possible.

But also in that night, the accident happened.

"Merope's brother suddenly jumped out and attacked me. I didn't know how he did it at the time, but suddenly there was a very serious hives on my face, and then I saw another girl also He rushed towards me suddenly—thinking about it now, Merope should have intended to protect me, but at that time I was completely terrified, and I just ran away on horseback—this was the first time Merope and I met. "

After finishing this series of words, old Tom paused.

"Similarly, this is also the first time I've seen Merope."

Toby yawned boredly, and he asked casually, "And then? Are you so in love with each other?"

"How is it possible?" Old Tom seemed to believe that Toby's brain was wrong, and he explained patiently: "Love at first sight is something that almost only happens in novels. I have read some of these novels, but Merope and I It’s not like that — well, stop pushing me, I’ll get on with it.”

After Old Tom returned home, his parents were taken aback by his appearance, and hurriedly invited the best doctor to treat him.

What the doctor said was heart-wrenching, and he didn't understand why this disease was born suddenly. At that time, old Tom couldn't understand the existence of magic at all. Even if he had doubts in his heart, he didn't dare to really tell the truth.

That night, old Tom tossed and turned for half the night and couldn't fall asleep, which made him wait for an unexpected visitor.

"It's Merope."

There was a look of reminiscence in Old Tom's eyes.

"I recognized her at a glance. She was huddled in the corner of the house, very thin, and looked very pitiful, just like a wild cat I usually saw in the village."

"At first I was very scared, but after I saw her face, I didn't think so. I quietly asked her a few things, including the hives on my face, whether it was her brother It caused it. Merope didn’t dare to talk to me, and only nodded and shook her head to answer. Then I asked how did this happen? She refused to answer, and only gestured for me to close my eyes.”

"I thought she was going to cure me, or have some other magical thing to do - but it turned out she just gave me a little potion, a magic potion. Because after that, in my room More people showed up, and they had very weird conversations, and they said they were from a place called the Ministry of Magic. They healed all my wounds, and then cast an Oblivion Charm on me-this is what I later I just found out. At that time, I was quite alert, and I soon realized what the effect of Merope's potion was—it was me to eliminate the influence of the Oblivion Curse on me in advance."

"I think she probably didn't want me to forget about it, maybe it was to keep me away from her terrible brother in the future, or she simply didn't want me to forget her—in a word, I pretended to be stupid Passing the Ministry of Magic test made them think I was really amnesiac and kept it to myself."

Out of nowhere, Toby conjured a table with a plate of all-flavored beans and a freshly opened bottle of Black Devil wine.

He threw the bean into the air, seeing the direction it fell, it was impossible to catch it with his mouth, but the bean made a strange turn in the air, and landed smoothly in his mouth, making a crisp sound when he bit it.

"So you fell in love with her?"

"Still not." Old Tom shook his head and said, "I'm more curious about what kind of abilities their family has. At that time, I didn't have to worry about money. I just wanted to have fun everywhere, Merope It's just a newfound joy for me."

"Tut tsk tsk." Toby clapped his hands, "Scumbag."

"Maybe it is." Old Tom admitted: "When I was young, there were indeed many girls who would circle around me, hoping to use this method to attract my attention and make them the future Riddle family. Mistress, but I am really not interested in them, because those people's purpose is too obvious, and I don't know how to hide my little thoughts."

"But Merope is special."

After experiencing such a thing, old Tom will pay more attention when passing by Gaunt's old house.

I don't know if it was due to luck enough, but he found a second chance to be alone with Merope very quickly.

And the time is only one day in the past.

"That day, when I was passing Gunter's old house, I found that Merope was standing in the courtyard looking at me generously, and then I stopped to look at her. Merope waved to me, and I He hesitated for a little while, but followed her into the house."

"To be honest, the layout of the house is really bad. It doesn't look like a place where people can live. It's the first time I've been in such a house. As a result, both me and Merope are very panicked. I guess She didn't expect that I would actually walk in."

"Just like that night, she still didn't talk to me, so I was the one who asked her. Soon, I probably knew that her father and brother were taken away, and then I found out that they actually attacked Those people from the Ministry of Magic. They're really brave. But I also understand that Merope is free, and she obviously knows it herself."

At that time, neither Old Tom nor Merope were silent for an unusually long time, until Merope suddenly signaled Old Tom to close his eyes.

"I did it right," said old Tom.

"After the last experience, I closed my eyes and asked her if she was going to give me some magic potion again, and then asked her what the potion would do this time. But all I could hear was her fiddling The jar's voice did not hear her answer."

"Finally, I asked her if she would teach me magic. I was too innocent at that time, thinking that it was something that could be done if I studied hard. I told her how boring my normal life was, and if I knew magic, I could do it." There's a lot of new fun, like silencing up the yelling ladies, or keeping my parents completely ignorant of how late I'm going to be home, and that's a lot of fun for me."

"Then I heard Merope's voice for the first time."

【Would you like to come with me? 】

Old Tom repeated the words slowly.

"This is the beginning of everything. I said yes right away, but I said goodbye to my parents and brought more belongings. Let her wait for me here, and I will be back soon."

"The reason why I agreed at the time was because I thought it would be very interesting, and I might be able to visit the place called the Ministry of Magic. Merope probably didn't expect me to answer this way, because the sound of tinkering in the room suddenly stopped. down."

At this time, Toby had already finished drinking a whole bottle of Black Devil wine. He poured the empty bottle into his mouth, and then slowly exhaled a mouthful of black smoke with the mark of "Death Devil", looking extremely comfortable.

"She let you go just like that?" Toby asked abruptly while putting down the bottle: "If it were me, I would definitely take you away directly, lest you have the chance to go back on your word."

"As I said, Merope is different." Old Tom said slowly: "But I did hear the sound of something breaking, and the smell was fascinating. When I opened my eyes, I saw Merope was Sweeping the floor with your back to me, I guess that's consent."

"That's a love potion, you stupid Muggle." Toby sneered.

Old Tom fell silent again.

"I know." He said suddenly: "Actually, I realized it at the time. This must be different from the last potion. Dangerous things often show the most charming colors, and that potion is probably the same. But I don't know Because of something... maybe because she looked so pathetic, and there were some feral cats, and they never came out, except for the few I would take home."

"Maybe he left, or maybe he died, I don't know."

This time the silence in the secret room was longer.

"Or maybe it's because they have learned magic." Toby murmured, "I don't want to be with you stupid Muggles anymore, so as not to be infected and return to the peaceful and boring days before."

"Are you talking about yourself?" asked old Tom.

"No." Toby said lazily, but his tone was extremely firm: "I can't be a wild cat, and no one can infect me."

"Let's continue to tell the story after you broke into the magic world. Now this story finally becomes interesting."

(End of this chapter)