Hogwarts: I, Tom, am really not Voldemort!

[Lowered Head]

The man and snake faced off for a long time, just as Tom was about to speak first, deciding to strike preemptively if the Basilisk didn't obey his commands.

At that moment, the Basilisk obediently lowered its head slowly, retracting its attack stance.

[Slytherin... Heir... Mark... Obedience...]

Hearing the Basilisk's words, Tom's heart sank. The best and worst-case scenarios he had envisioned had both come to pass.

The good news was that the Basilisk obeyed his commands, saving him from a life-or-death struggle.

The bad news was that Tom's existence was indeed linked to Slytherin, or rather, his descendants.

Tom knew his own situation. From birth until last summer, he had never displayed any magical abilities. Even Parseltongue only appeared after the system was activated.

Aside from sharing the exact same name and appearance as Voldemort, he couldn't think of any connection to Slytherin. As for being Voldemort's offspring, Tom thought anyone who believed that was insane. Old Voldy would never name his child Tom Riddle; he would definitely change the surname to Gaunt, knowing his tendencies.

So, what caused Tom's existence to be linked to Slytherin?

Time travel? The system? A parallel universe counterpart? The influence of a Voldemort Horcrux fragment? Or simply Parseltongue?

There were too many possibilities, and Tom couldn't deduce anything without clues.

Then, Tom remembered another matter that he found increasingly strange afterward. When searching for the ring in the Gaunt shack, he initially thought Voldemort was out of his mind for not setting up defenses. But upon closer reflection, no matter how crazy Old Voldy was, he wouldn't be that careless. Now it seemed that his ability to find the Gaunt shack so easily and enter without triggering any defenses, just like today, was inextricably linked to Tom himself.

He shook his head vigorously, banishing the chaotic thoughts from his mind. Tom knew that dwelling on this now was meaningless. Besides, being connected to Slytherin or Voldemort might not be a bad thing, at least he was good-looking and the Basilisk was obedient.

[Close your eyes, turn your head away.]

After issuing the command to the Basilisk, Tom waited for a while and only opened his eyes slowly when he heard movement.

What met his eyes was the Basilisk's head turned away, its eyes closed, and its massive body.

Good, now it was Tom's turn to show off his skills.

"Aguamenti!"

With Tom's full power, a huge stream of water drenched the Basilisk's massive body from head to tail.

[Obey, don't move.]

The Basilisk, soaked by the water, was about to struggle, but upon hearing Tom's command, it calmed down again.

"Scourgify!"

The powerful Scouring Charm, combined with the Aguamenti spell, removed the years of accumulated grime and the lingering smell of dead rats from the Basilisk's body.

Looking at the Basilisk's newly revitalized, jade-green body, Tom felt that this was more like it. After all, as a pet, its appearance couldn't be too shabby.

[Be good from now on.]

The image of a delicate bracelet appeared in Tom's mind, and he waved his wand at the Basilisk.

"Hiss!"

"Huh, why is it so ugly? Did the Transfiguration fail? I feel sorry for Professor McGonagall. It's okay, let's continue."

Tom cast a healing spell on the Basilisk and waved his wand again.

"Hiss!"

"Why does it look so awkward? Did it fail again? Could there be a problem with Professor McGonagall's teaching? I'll have Dumbledore teach next time."

Tom cast another healing spell on the Basilisk and waved his wand repeatedly.

"Hiss!"

"***, is my Transfiguration that bad? It's all the fault of the noseless Tom."

Hearing Tom's call, Cassandra and Draco opened their eyes and cautiously moved slowly towards Tom.

The two looked around and asked suspiciously, "Where's the Basilisk?"

Tom proudly raised his right hand and showed them the newly added bracelet: "Look, it's here."

Cassandra said in disbelief, "You turned the Basilisk into a bracelet and carry it with you!"

Draco's face turned pale with fright: "Does that mean I have to sleep in the same dormitory as the Basilisk every night?"

Tom vowed and assured: "Don't worry, my Transfiguration is very good, nothing will happen."

"..."

Cassandra and Draco rarely showed Tom a look of distrust.

They had heard the Basilisk's screams just now. Although they didn't know what Tom had done, they instinctively felt it was related to his Transfiguration.

As Cassandra and Draco's self-proclaimed 'Dark Lord', black magic, spells, potions, curses, and alchemy could all be trusted unconditionally, but Transfiguration... that seemed to be Dumbledore's domain.

Cassandra tentatively suggested: "Why don't we let Dumbledore check it after we get out?"

Tom's heart was stabbed hard.

Seeing this, Draco quickly changed the subject: "What do we do next, and what about this rooster?"

"Of course, we eat first. We've been delayed for so long, I'm starving."

As Tom spoke, he took out pots, bowls, ladles, stoves, tables, small benches, and all kinds of seasonings and side dishes. The completeness of the preparation stunned Cassandra and Draco.

Draco swallowed and couldn't help but ask, "Why did you prepare these things?"

Tom pointed to the rooster in Draco's hand as a matter of course: "Of course, it's for eating chicken."

"......But I can't kill a chicken!"

As Draco spoke, he looked at Cassandra, asking with his eyes, 'What about you?'

Cassandra spread her hands: "I can't either."

Tom looked at the interaction between the two and sighed: "I'll do it."

With that, he took the rooster from Draco's hand. A flash of green light, and it died without knowing it. Then, he bled it, plucked its feathers, gutted it, and divided it in one go.

Tom even explained to the two standing next to him while casting spells: "Small animals that have been kissed by the Avada Kedavra, retain the original flavor of the food, and the meat is even more tender."

This set of procedures made Cassandra and Draco break out in cold sweats, feeling like they were going crazy, with an urge to run away.

But when Tom heated the pot with cold oil, added scallions, ginger, and garlic to stir-fry, and then put the chicken pieces in to stir-fry, the two had already extinguished their desire to escape.

When Tom added cooking wine, chicken essence, salt, Sichuan peppercorns, dried chili peppers, and star anise to stir-fry until fragrant, the two had already squatted next to the pot, eagerly waiting for the meal to be served.

After Tom plated the dishes and brought out three bottles of drinks, the two, who were starving, began to grab food without regard for their image. The two, who couldn't eat spicy food, were eating with red faces and sweating, but their hands didn't stop at all. They ate while drinking beverages. If anyone saw the Slytherin young master and young lady acting like this, they would definitely be shocked.

Draco even praised repeatedly: "As expected of a rooster kissed by Avada Kedavra, oh, it's so delicious!"

Tom said that it was indeed his craftsmanship. It would be even better if there was rice.