Hogwarts: I, Tom, am really not Voldemort!

Castle, second floor, side wing, school hospital.

After a brief moment of astonishment, Dumbledore recovered, still looking at Tom with a gentle smile and said, "I never thought you would be so straightforward, so let's talk about it frankly, item by item, Tom."

Tom made a gesture of invitation, waiting earnestly for Dumbledore to speak.

Dumbledore thought for a moment, deciding to start with the least important matter: "Why did you do that Severus Snape rumor thing?"

"It was just a little wizard's playful act of revenge against the teacher who confined him, and besides, it didn't cause Professor Snape any physical harm," Tom replied truthfully, vowing that he hadn't thought too much about it when he first did it.

"Then how did you learn about this past? Logically, a young wizard of your age shouldn't know about it," Dumbledore was very curious about Tom's source of information.

'Of course, it was learned from the original work and fan fiction in my previous life,' Tom slandered in his heart, but on the surface, he replied with a sincere face: "They made a lot of noise back then, even Hagrid knew all about it. I heard it as gossip from a few drunkards in the Leaky Cauldron when I went to Diagon Alley again during the summer vacation."

Perhaps Tom's expression was too sincere, and Dumbledore couldn't argue, so he decided to skip this topic.

Just as he was about to speak, Tom preemptively answered as if he had anticipated his judgment: "Professor, I can quibble... ah, bah... explain about the Unforgivable Curses and Fiendfyre."

Dumbledore looked at Tom with an expression of quietly watching your performance.

Tom took out a copy of "Secrets of the Darkest Arts Revealed" (annotated by Grindelwald) that he had prepared long ago and handed it to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore casually took it and flipped through it, but unexpectedly saw the familiar handwriting of someone unforgettable to him in the annotations, and was lost in thought for a moment, unable to help but ask Tom: "Where did this come from?"

"One day during the summer vacation, I was practicing the magic in the textbook in the small forest near the orphanage when suddenly a black-robed wizard wearing a hood appeared, threw this book and a badge to me, and disappeared after dropping the sentence 'For the Greater Good'."

Tom told Dumbledore a lie without blushing or panicking, and also took out a self-made Hallows badge from his pocket and waved it in front of Dumbledore.

Dumbledore was noncommittal about Tom's words, his eyes dark and unclear.

'Should I go and chat with Gellert?'

"Do you want to go and chat with Grindelwald?"

Tom's words and Dumbledore's inner thoughts were almost synchronized. If Dumbledore didn't know that his Occlumency was very good, he would have almost thought that he was being mind-read.

And Tom's next sentence almost made Dumbledore sprain his back, and he understood Snape for the first time.

"I heard that you and Grindelwald are lovers, and your duel with him back then was also caused by a lovers' quarrel. Is this true?"

Looking at Tom's gossipy expression, Dumbledore felt that he was about to lose his elder demeanor.

"Tom, where did you hear this from again?"

"I heard it from Cassandra's gossip."

Tom stared at Dumbledore with innocent eyes, silently apologizing to a certain scapegoat again in his heart.

"This is the famous saying of the ancient Chinese thinker Han Feizi two thousand years ago. In simple terms, weapons themselves are neither good nor bad, it mainly depends on how the user uses them, and so is dark magic, and besides, I don't only know dark magic."

Tom patiently explained to Dumbledore while taking out his yew wand.

"Expecto Patronum!"

The silvery-white Basilisk Patronus took shape in the air, circling around Tom.

Dumbledore looked at this scene with relief: "Tom, maybe you are right, it seems that I also need to find some Eastern books to read carefully."

Tom chuckled: "Professor, then I will give you a few books as Christmas gifts this year. However, what do you plan to do with Professor Quirrell? The students from all four houses are waiting for your decision."

"Tom, I am very pleased that you can facilitate the first such united action between the houses. But Quirinus, as an excellent graduate of Ravenclaw, his level is not as bad as you think, maybe he just hasn't adapted in the first week of school."

Dumbledore was completely talking nonsense with his eyes open, but Quirrell, as a stepping stone for Harry's experience and an important tool to verify some of his guesses, could not be easily driven away. At this time, Dumbledore had to come forward to find a way to protect him.

Unfortunately, Tom ruthlessly exposed Dumbledore: "Professor Quirrell may have been very good before, but now his condition is obviously not suitable for teaching. Professor Dumbledore, we students only have a total of seven years at Hogwarts, and now we have to waste a year of Defense Against the Dark Arts class, do you think it is appropriate?"

Dumbledore did not answer immediately, and after a moment of silence, he made a suggestion that surprised Tom: "Then how about Tom, you become the teaching assistant for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class this year, assisting Professor Quirrell in charge of teaching the lower grades?"

Tom's expression changed when he heard this suggestion, and he couldn't help but swallow: "Why choose me? I'm just a little wizard who just entered school. Besides, if I have to assist in class, what about the other courses?"

Dumbledore asked back with a half-smile: "A little wizard who just entered school? First-year courses?"

Before Tom could quibble, his tone changed, with some sighs and meaningful words: "30 years ago, a young man named Tom Riddle came to seek the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and I refused him. But 30 years later, another Tom Riddle has stepped into Hogwarts, and this time I think he is very suitable for this position."

Tom, of course, understood the meaning of Dumbledore's words, and was not pretentious, and immediately accepted: "Okay, then I will be the teaching assistant for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class." The main thing is to dare to say and dare to do.

The two chatted for a while, and then Dumbledore got up to leave.

Tom lay on the bed, feeling that talking to Dumbledore was more tiring than fighting Voldemort alone.

"Ah, Voldemort!" Tom just lay down and sat up in shock again. He always felt that he had forgotten something, and only remembered it now that he was finally free.

Clicking on the combat crystal in the system, his consciousness sank into it, and a line of options floated in front of him: "Do you want to start today's challenge?"

Wasting the daily challenge opportunity was not Tom's personality, and he immediately chose "Yes" without hesitation.

"Default copy "Battle of Hogwarts", preparing to transfer consciousness."

Once again regaining consciousness, it was the familiar square, the familiar bald man.

This time Tom clenched his wand, without saying a word, he directly cast Avada Kedavra.