Study Days at Hogwarts

In April, the weather warms up and spring flowers bloom.

Hogwarts Castle has returned to its usual tranquility and peace, and no students will pay special attention to the attacks a while ago, as if none of it had ever happened.

Albert decided to take the time to find Hagrid and ask him about Tom Riddle, so as to fill in the last piece of the puzzle for the truth he was about to tell Dumbledore next.

To be honest, it is very difficult to hide from a telepathic master like Dumbledore. Even if Albert's level of Occlumency is not low, Dumbledore's IQ is not low either.

In fact, not having contact with Dumbledore is the best way.

Unfortunately, the panel mission rewards were too rich, and Albert could not give up easily. When he had to contact Dumbledore, he could only adopt another method, and that was to tell the truth with traces. To put it simply, it makes Dumbledore think that he is a genius who can piece together the truth from fragmented information. Everyone thinks that he is a genius anyway, so there is nothing to doubt about this.

Leaving the castle and walking through the grassy path, Albert walked towards Hagrid's hunting cabin. Before he could raise his hand to knock on the wooden door, there was already the sound of teeth scratching inside the door.

The next moment, the wooden door was opened from the inside, and the hound Yaya rushed up with its tail wagging. Albert ducked sideways, then squatted down and touched his head to kill, subduing the emotional Yaya.

Hagrid looked at Albert, who was squatting in front of the door, smoothing his teeth, and asked with a smile, "Why are you here? Did you find anything else..."

"Let's talk after we go in." Albert interrupted.

"Oh, I almost forgot, come in!"

Hagrid felt that Albert might have discovered some amazing secret to share with him, so he quickly moved away from the door and invited Albert into the house.

Hagrid closed the window of the room, hung the copper kettle on the fireplace to boil, and asked sideways, "What clues did you find?"

"Hagrid, do you remember Tom Riddle?" Albert asked mysteriously.

Hagrid obviously didn't expect that Albert would ask about Tom Riddle. He was stunned for a moment, and after a long time he said quietly: "Of course I remember, it was that guy who caused me to be expelled from school. I remember it seemed like he was with You said this!"

"I remember Tom Riddle was a Slytherin student, right?"

"Yes, I remember it was Slytherin House...Why are you asking this?" Hagrid put a plate of rock cakes on the table and looked at Albert in confusion.

"Have you never thought that the person who opened the secret room might be Tom Riddle?" Albert directly broke the news and began to guide Hagrid's thoughts in the direction he wanted.

"Although he caused me to be expelled from school, you can't do it because he is... Wait, did you find any evidence?" Hagrid paused while biting the rock crust pie and turned to look at Albert in shock. . He knew that Albert would never speak nonsense, and there must be some reason for doubting that Tom Riddle was the heir of Slytherin.

"There is no direct evidence, but something happened recently." Albert told Hagrid what happened a while ago.

"The Riddle diary that suddenly appeared is very suspicious." Facing the confused Hagrid, Albert continued to explain, "You probably don't know, except for the Sorting Hat, I have never seen anyone who can think for himself. Magic item, and the diary has disappeared inexplicably, and the culprit who stole it is a student of Gryffindor House."

"Why do you think you are a Gryffindor student?" Hagrid was even more confused. He could understand every word Albert said and the meaning of every sentence, but he just didn't understand why he said this. .

"Someone broke into Potter's dormitory secretly, rummaged through his cabinet, and stole Riddle's diary." Albert glanced at the rock cake that fell on the table and continued, "Don't you think this is the case? Is it suspicious?"

Hagrid seemed to want to say something, but was directly interrupted by Albert.

"You are also a Gryffindor student. You should know that students from other houses cannot know the Fat Lady's password, let alone break into the Gryffindor common room, so the person who stole the diary can only be Gryffindor. Many students.

"You're right!" Hagrid echoed absently, seeming to consider the possibility that Tom Riddle was the culprit who opened the Chamber of Secrets.

"I just know that you may not believe it, but Riddle is indeed suspicious. Come and take a look at this, and you will know why I said this."

Albert took out a piece of parchment from his pocket, spread it flat on the table, and let Hagrid read what was written on it.

Hagrid took the parchment and read the concatenated names on it:

[Harry], [Basilisk], [Parseltongue], [A certain Gryffindor student], [Riddle's Diary], [Hagrid], [Tom Riddle], [Chamber of Secrets].

They are connected by countless lines.

"What does this mean?" Hagrid put down the parchment, walked to the fireplace, picked up the boiling copper kettle, and made a pot of hot tea for Albert.

"Don't you think Tom Riddle is connected to a lot of things?"

Albert picked up the tea cup, blew lightly, took a sip of hot tea, and continued to guide Hagrid: "Remember it carefully, think about what Tom Riddle did, and think about whether there were Parseltongues in the school at that time. rumors."

"What if Riddle is a Parseltongue?" Hagrid asked tentatively.

"If Tom Riddle is a Parselmouth, then he is undoubtedly the culprit who opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago." Albert said with certainty: "Although there is no formal evidence for this, I have no idea at all. It is suspected that opening the Chamber of Secrets requires mastering Parseltongue. Don't forget, Salazar Slytherin is also a Parseltongue, and his mark is a snake. I think nothing can be more suitable as a symbol of Slytherin's heir than using Parseltongue. ”

Hagrid didn't know why Albert thought so. Thinking about it carefully, it was really like this. Although in addition to Slytherin's blood, there were other wizards who could speak Parseltongue, but there were many things in Slytherin House that were related to snakes. Related, especially ways to control basilisks.

"This is just your suspicion, we have no evidence." Hagrid pointed out the problem clearly.

"You should know that we only need suspicion, not evidence." Albert ignored Hagrid and continued, "Although Tom Riddle lives in the Muggle world, it does not mean that his parents are Muggles. There may even be wizards or squibs among his fathers."

"Tom Riddle is a Muggle wizard?"

"The diary that Potter found was bought in the Muggle world, so he must have lived in the Muggle world during his childhood. Otherwise, who would go to the Muggle world to buy a diary?"

Hagrid knew that what Albert said made sense. Wizards didn't actually have much contact with Muggles, let alone purchase notes.

"If we are being bold and Riddle is a Parselmouth, is it possible that he is a descendant of Slytherin?" Albert once again raised a hypothesis, "I know many famous wizards, and I have rarely heard of the four. The descendants of giants may have changed their surnames. After all, if there are no sons in the descendants, the continuation of the bloodline will be inherited by the daughters.”

At this moment, Hagrid was confused. His IQ was really unable to keep up with Albert's changes in thinking, so he could only listen to Albert's words.

"For such an outstanding wizard as Tom Riddle, I have never heard of such a person. I even asked some old friends, but I have never heard of his name." Albert picked up a piece from the plate. Yanpi Cake, soaked in tea, smiled and asked, "Do you know what this means?"

"Does that mean he's dead?"

"Or..." Albert reminded.

"Or?" Hagrid used his brain to answer, "Becoming a very mediocre wizard and therefore unknown?"

"Do you think I will be unknown for the rest of my life?" Albert asked.

"No." Hagrid shook his head. He knew that Albert's abilities and talents would remain unknown unless he died early.

"That's right!" Albert took a bite of the wet rock biscuit and said slowly, "Tom was the student union president of Hogwarts when he was in seventh grade, and according to the magic of that diary, Tom ·Riddle is a genius who is not inferior to me at all. I am not boasting here, but I am quite confident in my talent."

"You mean..."

"He probably changed his name."

"Why do you think so?" Hagrid asked in confusion.

"Tom is a bad name. All my cats are named Tom."

"Why did he do this?" Hagrid was even more confused. According to Albert's analysis, Tom Riddle was indeed suspicious.

"The reason why he wants to report you is probably because he doesn't want the school to be closed down." Albert threw out the final killer weapon, "Don't deny it in a hurry. After you are caught, the attacks at Hogwarts will stop completely. Yes, are you the heir of Slytherin?"

"Of course not," Hagrid shouted excitedly.

"Don't yell at me, of course I know you're not." Albert tried to calm Hagrid's agitated emotions, "But after you were caught, the attacks stopped, and that's the point."

"Point?" Hagrid obviously didn't understand what Albert meant.

"After you were caught, the attacks stopped, and everyone thought you were the culprit of the attacks." Albert reminded, "If the attacks continue after you are caught, they will know that they have caught you." Wrong person."

"Yes, that's right, that's it." Hagrid seemed to have figured it out and stood up excitedly.

"Since you are not the heir of Slytherin, why did the attacks stop after you were caught?" Albert continued, "Of course the attackers wanted to make you take the blame, and Tom Lee, who won the Special Contribution Award, Del is the biggest suspect."

"Why?"

"Because he is the biggest profiteer, he is naturally the most suspicious."

"I remember that only Dumbledore thought I was innocent." Hagrid said sadly. "Later, he persuaded Professor Dippet to let me stay as a gamekeeper."

"No, you are wrong. In fact, most professors know that you are innocent as long as they are sane." Albert said calmly, "Otherwise, why do you think you have the right to stay in Hogwarts instead of Living in Azkaban Prison? Of course Principal Dippet knew that, so he agreed with Dumbledore’s opinion.”

"But why..." Hagrid opened his mouth in shock.

"They need a scapegoat, and after you were caught, the attacks stopped, so you are the most suitable to take the blame. Someone always needs to do this." Albert had an undisguised expression on his face. He sarcastically said, "After all, if a student dies, his family must be given an explanation. And you were caught on the spot by Riddle and let the young Acromantula go. You can't prove your innocence, even if it's Deng." Bullido can't help you either, so don't blame others."

Hagrid was silent for a long time. Although he was very reluctant to admit it, Albert had already explained it to him in detail, and what he said made sense.

"Why do you think I am innocent?" Hagrid asked curiously: "Why do you think I am not the culprit? Why do you think others can tell at a glance."

"Because you are not a Parselmouth, because you have the blood of a giant. Of course, others may not consider this, but the heir of Slytherin must be a cunning, clever guy, and he is most likely to be in Slater. Lin, not in Gryffindor, and your brain... ahem, you can only be considered ordinary among many students." Albert shrugged and said, "Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets can be hidden in the castle. It has not been discovered by others for a thousand years. It is not easy for ordinary people to find the secret room, so you know why I said that."

"Hmph!" Hagrid snorted dissatisfied, a little dissatisfied with Albert for saying that he was not smart, although this was true.

"If it was Tom Riddle who opened the Chamber of Secrets last time, and who opened the Chamber of Secrets this time, according to you, apart from Harry, there are no other students in the school who can speak Parseltongue. And according to you, controlling a basilisk from attacking students also requires Parseltongue.”

"If these assumptions are true, Riddle's diary is very suspicious." Albert expressed his point of view, "Since he can automatically answer the questions of the person who wrote it, why can't he speak? Let a diary Speaking is actually not that difficult!”

Albert took out his wand and pointed at the parchment, and the parchment made a sound as it opened and closed.

"If Riddle left any weird magic in the diary, it would naturally be possible to open the secret room and control the basilisk through the diary. Don't forget, that diary has its own mind. The only question now is what will Tom Riddle do? He doesn't know Parseltongue. Is he the one who opened the secret room fifty years ago? Did he change his name?"

"Tell me, what is your final answer?" Hagrid took a deep breath and asked.

"Mysterious Man." Albert tapped lightly, causing the name to appear on the parchment. After he was connected with Tom Riddle, everything could be explained.

"Mystery man!"

Hagrid's breathing became rapid when he saw that name, "Do you have any evidence?"

"No." Albert shook his head, "But I will find clues."

Naturally, he would not tell Hagrid the secret of Voldemort's name, otherwise it would be difficult to explain clearly.

[The English name of Tom Marvolo Riddle is "Tom Marvolo Riddle", and the English name of "I am Lord Voldemort" is "I Am Lord Voldemort". The letters are all the same, just arranged differently. 】