Hogwarts: This Dark Lord is so evil

“He can't beat me.”

Li Weide stopped and turned to meet Dumbledore's blue eyes.

Dumbledore was slightly stunned. Li Weide's answer could be said to be very reasonable.

“We're here,” Li Weide added.

Only then did Dumbledore realize that they were standing in front of a wooden door.

Li Weide pushed open the door to Tom's room as if he were returning to his own home.

“Tom, this is… Mr. Dumbledore. He has something to say to us,” Li Weide said as he walked in.

Li Weide deliberately mispronounced Dumbledore's name, because Mrs. Cole had mispronounced it when she introduced him earlier.

Dumbledore helplessly corrected, “Actually, my name is Dumbledore, Albus Dumbledore. I am a professor.”

Tom was sitting on his blanket, holding a book, looking warily at the man who claimed to be a professor.

Dumbledore held out his hand, “Hello, Tom.”

Tom hesitated for a moment, looked at Li Weide again, and then shook hands with Dumbledore.

Dumbledore pulled up a chair and sat down, while Li Weide sat directly on Tom's bed.

“Professor? Is that similar to 'Doctor'? What are you doing here?” Tom said, glancing warily at Li Weide again.

“I am Professor Dumbledore, and I work at a school called Hogwarts. I've come to take you to my school… which is also your new school, if you're willing.”

Upon hearing Dumbledore's words, Tom reacted strongly, jumping up from the carpet and moving away from Dumbledore, his face full of anger.

“Who are you really?! What are you really here to do? Tell the truth!” He spoke the last three words forcefully, as if giving an order.

He glared at Dumbledore with wide eyes, but Dumbledore just smiled pleasantly, without answering.

“Who are you really?” Tom asked again, slowly and deliberately.

Dumbledore said patiently, “I've already said, I'm Professor Dumbledore…”

“No! Don't try to fool me! You're from a mental hospital, aren't you? 'Professor,' yes, of course! I won't go, understand?”

Tom said excitedly, then his gaze fell on Li Weide, and his expression instantly changed drastically.

Remembering Li Weide's unusual behavior of telling him to come back early to rest today, Tom instantly understood the “truth”!

“…He called you here, didn't he? You're finally going to attack me, aren't you? Yes, you want to send me to a mental hospital! You… you're so cruel!”

Dumbledore looked at Li Weide with a strange expression.

Li Weide shrugged, “You know, we've fought before.”

Considering what Li Weide said earlier, that Tom couldn't beat him, Dumbledore's expression became even stranger.

Clearly, the relationship between Li Weide and Tom was definitely more than just a fight.

Judging from Tom's reaction, he must have been severely oppressed by Weide…

“I'm not from a mental hospital,” Dumbledore turned his head and said patiently to Tom again. “I am a teacher, and if you can sit down quietly, I will tell you what Hogwarts is like. Of course, if you don't want to go there, no one will force you…”

“And…” Dumbledore glanced at Li Weide again, “Besides you, Weide is also among those I've invited.”

“So, he… he's going too?” Tom looked at Dumbledore suspiciously, then looked at Li Weide.

“Tom, can you calm down a bit, buck up, and not lose face?”

Li Weide's words made Tom's face flush red. His earlier flustered behavior was indeed a bit embarrassing…

Seeing that Tom had finally calmed down, Dumbledore continued, “Hogwarts is a school that accepts students with special abilities…”

This description sounded too much like a mental hospital to Tom!

“I'm not crazy…” Tom had just started to speak when he met Li Weide's calm gaze again.

In the end, he closed his mouth and swallowed the rest of his words, allowing Dumbledore to continue.

“…It is a school of magic.”

“Magic?” Tom repeated the word softly.

“That's right.”

“Those things I can do… so that's magic…” Tom looked at his hands with some excitement.

“What can you do?” Dumbledore asked with interest.

“I can do anything,” Riddle said, panting, a flush of excitement appearing on his sunken cheeks, making him look very fanatical.

“I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals obey me without training. I can make people who annoy me suffer. I can hurt them if I want to…”

Tom hadn't finished speaking when he met Li Weide's gaze again, and his excitement instantly cooled down…

No mistake, one first, one hair, one inside, one content, one in, one look, one look!

'…Except for Li Weide! That bastard!' Calming down, Tom slowly sat down again.

Dumbledore also looked at Li Weide, “Weide, you don't seem so excited. Did you already know what your abilities were?”

“No, I just found out… Just like Tom, I was indeed aware that I was different. However, since this was originally my ability, now I'm just finding out what that ability is, so what's there to be excited about?”

Dumbledore nodded, “You're right, Weide…”

'This is truly a peculiar child… So steady that he doesn't seem like an 11-year-old. What has he experienced before?'

“You are all wizards,” Dumbledore continued.

“In that case, you must be a wizard too?” Li Weide asked.

“Yes, I am also a wizard. I have the same special abilities as you.”

“Prove it to me,” Riddle said immediately.

The tone of command was the same as when he said “Tell the truth” earlier.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.

“If I prove it, you will come with me to Hogwarts…”

“Of course, I will!”

“Then you must call me 'Professor' or 'Sir.'”

Riddle's expression froze for a moment before he spoke, and he said in an almost imperceptible polite tone, “Sorry, sir, I mean… please, Professor, could you show me…”

Dumbledore didn't waste any words, directly pulling a slender, black wand from the inner pocket of his suit jacket.

Li Weide raised his eyebrows, a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

Dumbledore pointed the wand at the broken wardrobe in the corner, waving it casually.

“Boom!”

Violent flames instantly engulfed the broken wardrobe!

“Ah!” Tom screamed again, jumping up. All of his belongings were in that wardrobe!

Just as Tom was about to question Dumbledore, the flames instantly disappeared, and the wardrobe still stood there unharmed, as if everything just now had never happened.