Tom Riddle

Tom Riddle

The boy glared at Li Weide, his face livid. This guy had wasted so much breath talking to him, only to refuse him outright?

"So... you were playing me?"

Li Weide waved a hand. "No, I wasn't playing you. I did seriously consider your proposal, and I very much agree with your theory about fear. But... forgive me for being blunt, you don't have the ability to make me feel fear. So naturally, I have no reason to comply with your wishes. Besides, I don't keep pets like rabbits..."

The boy fell silent. A flash of crimson seemed to flicker through his pitch-black eyes. To his ears, Li Weide's words were undoubtedly dripping with mockery.

"If you have nothing else to say, please leave. I still need to fix the door lock you broke." Li Weide calmly ordered him out.

"You're provoking me... But you were right about one thing: without ability, one truly can't make others feel fear. So... what makes you think I lack such ability?" The boy stared at Li Weide, his tone cold and mocking, like a venomous snake fixated on its prey.

Li Weide was about to say something when he suddenly noticed that the chair fragments he had tossed onto the floor were all slowly floating into the air! He was certain he hadn't done that!

"I see. Is this what you're relying on?" Li Weide looked at the floating fragments, a flicker of surprise and realization passing through his eyes.

Clearly, there really were others in this world like him, people with this special ability! And one of them stood right in front of him!

When the boy saw that Li Weide had not displayed the panic he had expected, he could not help feeling somewhat puzzled. But that small bit of confusion was nowhere near enough to dispel his intention of teaching Li Weide a proper lesson!

The next second, the fragments floating in the air viciously hurtled toward Li Weide.

Any other child would naturally have been frightened by such a bizarre sight, but Li Weide was no ordinary child.

In fact, after hundreds of experiments and thousands of practice sessions, Li Weide felt that the boy's command of this ability was far too childish.

Li Weide made no unnecessary movements and did not even look at the incoming fragments. He merely watched the boy quietly, as though looking at an exceptional test subject.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The rapidly flying fragments abruptly stopped in midair before Li Weide, unable to advance even an inch further. Without a doubt, his control over this strange ability surpassed the other boy's.

The boy stared at the scene in utter shock.

"What happened?! Could it be... you... you can do it too? No! That's impossible! How could that be possible?! How can you do it too?! This is clearly something only I can..."

"Why do you think you're the only special one?" Li Weide looked at the boy mockingly.

The boy's pride was deeply wounded by that look. "So... we're the same kind of people?"

"The same kind of people? No, you and I are not alike. You possess such a special talent, yet I can't find any trace of practice in you. Don't tell me you only use this power for something as boring as scaring ordinary people... If that's the case, then I have to say, this special talent is tragically wasted on you."

Li Weide waved his hand, and the chair fragments clattered to the floor.

The boy glared fiercely at Li Weide, his eyes seeming ready to spit fire. "You may indeed be like me, possessing special abilities, but... that doesn't mean you can, in front of me..."

Bang!

The next second, the boy discovered in horror that he was somehow lying facedown on the ground. There was clearly nothing on his back, yet he could not move even a fraction! It was as if an invisible giant hand had brutally pinned him to the floor!

Li Weide slowly walked up to him and looked down at him. "What were you saying just now?"

The boy stared at the old cloth shoes before him in shock and rage, because he could not lift his head at all!

"N-No... I didn't say anything..."

His immobile body, along with the invisible pressure on his back that seemed to be growing heavier and heavier, filled him with unease!

"I can sense the scent of fear on you. So... according to your theory just now, shouldn't you listen to me now?"

Li Weide's gentle voice came from above, but to the boy, it sounded like a Demon's whisper.

The boy nodded with difficulty, and even his gaze became much clearer.

Then he suddenly felt lighter. The crushing pressure from before vanished without a trace!

"Very good. I like obedient people." Li Weide pulled the boy up from the floor and thoughtfully brushed the dust from his clothes. "By the way, I still don't know your name."

The boy gasped for breath. The experience just now still haunted him; that heavy pressure... he could clearly feel that Li Weide could really kill him with ease!

"My name is Riddle... Tom Riddle..."

"Ding! Detected that the host has crossed paths with the future Dark Lord! The Merit System has officially activated!"

"Ding! Detected that the host has thoroughly taught a bad little brat a lesson! Reward: 50 Merit Points!"

Li Weide:?

Tom Riddle? The future Dark Lord? The Merit System...

"I see... Tom... Tom Riddle."

Li Weide carefully examined the boy named Tom Riddle before him once more.

Tom's heart tightened beneath Li Weide's suddenly changed gaze.

Though he might one day become the Dark Lord who stirred the world, he was now only a little brat who had just been beaten into submission, and... he really did not want to die!

Therefore, the fear in Tom's heart toward Li Weide, who seemed capable of taking his life at any moment, was beyond words.

At that moment, Tom felt a weight on his shoulder. Li Weide had placed a hand there.

Cold sweat instantly trickled down Tom's forehead.

"Don't be nervous, Tom. I just thought your name sounded somewhat familiar."

The name truly was familiar. The combination of Dark Lord and Tom Riddle already explained a great deal.

Moreover, only then did Li Weide recall two key pieces of information he had previously overlooked.

This Orphanage was called Woods Orphanage, and its director was Mrs. Cole. Without a doubt, this was the "original spawn point" of Voldemort, the second Dark Lord.

At last, Li Weide understood. He had been transported directly into the world of Harry Potter, though it was still decades before the novel's plot began.

Which meant... the strange power he possessed was not some psychic ability, but magic!