Dumbledore sent Little Tom back with a grim expression, then pulled out a ticket and held it before him. "On the morning of September 1st, you need to go to King's Cross Station and pass through the pillar between Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Remember to board the train before eleven o'clock."
After giving his instructions, Dumbledore vanished on the spot. He needed to make a trip back to Diagon Alley. Ollivander had not been normal today. Setting aside the fact that he had not pulled any nasty experimental pranks, he kept praising Little Tom's talent as though he were trying to remind him of something.
The wizarding world could not withstand any more upheaval. If another Gellert appeared... No, this time, he had to stop it early. He could not make the same mistake twice.
"Ollivander! What did you see?"
"You're here~" Ollivander did not even turn around. He whistled as he arranged the shelves. He had known Dumbledore would not be able to resist coming over. "I saw incomparable talent, Albus. Terrifying talent, even greater than yours... Isn't it a wonderful twist of fate~?"
Dumbledore resisted the urge to roll his eyes. This guy... he always made him feel exhausted. No wonder his hair had turned white so early. Why was he speaking in riddles? "You really are... Can't you just tell me directly?"
Ollivander grinned happily, noticing the air around him grow thick. He shrugged and shook his head. "You're not that inexperienced boy from before. What, do you want to return to the passionate summer of 1899?"
Dumbledore gritted his teeth and drew his wand. After holding himself back again and again, he angrily put it away. Ollivander had won. He did not know which bastard had spread it around. Was it Gregorovitch? Or Bathilda?
He had not been the one who stole the Elder Wand! Damn that bastard Gellert. Why did the trouble that guy caused have to be endured by him?
"Fine~" Ollivander had seen enough of his changing expressions and put away his teasing manner. He looked at Dumbledore with great seriousness. "Just as I said, there really is a connection between you two. I'm not a Seer. All I can see is the faint connection between a wizard and a wand... Albus, what you do is up to you..."
Tom locked his bedroom door and sat at his desk, leafing through the textbooks. Though they were secondhand books, the professor had picked out clean ones for him. There were also many annotations in the margins, though he did not know whether they were correct...
Following the instructions in the spellbook, Tom took out his wand. His lips moved softly as he recited the incantation. With a movement of his hand, the paper on the desk slowly floated into the air. "So this is magic..."
Like a child who had received his favorite toy, Tom happily directed the paper as it danced through the air. This was wonderful. The fact that he was a wizard made him happier than anything else.
It was now early August. He only needed to wait one more month before he could go to the wondrous magical world. Hogwarts...
Tom found the History of Magic textbook among the pile and began reading it carefully, word by word. His finger stopped when it passed over Slytherin.
'Salazar Slytherin, a medieval wizard, spoke Parseltongue, skilled in Legilimency...'
For some reason, Tom vaguely sensed the significance of Parseltongue. Frowning, he felt a little regretful. Perhaps he should not have revealed his secret back then. So his ability to speak with snakes was Parseltongue?
He rapidly flipped through the textbook, his temples beginning to throb. He had not slept at all last night, and he had been too excited today. His body could no longer bear the strain.
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