Dumbledore: Like, Even More Like It!

Tom Marvolo Riddle, born in 1980—coincidentally enough, that name was indeed chosen by his never-seen mother.

Ever since awakening his past-life memories, he immediately understood the function and purpose of the "persona panel" and began cultivating his own personas.

Leveraging adult experience, he effortlessly became a universally praised child prodigy in public elementary school, quickly establishing the "Intelligent" persona.

According to the panel rules, each persona level-up granted 1 achievement point, and 10 achievement points could be used to draw a new persona.

The "Robust" and "Domineering" personas were the ones he drew in succession.

Although the Dursley family had taken him in and given him a roof over his head, their method of raising an orphan was hardly decent—they treated the child like a house-elf. At the time, making people actively think that a malnourished kid like him looked robust was far too difficult.

Though Tom had grown significantly stronger thanks to those two new personas, he wasn't satisfied—because this was the magical world of Harry Potter, and he was already ten years old without a single magical outburst.

That's right, he was a Muggle.

Having gone through the trouble of transmigrating, who wouldn't want to witness that magnificent, fantastical magical world?

To change his fate, he once again began cultivating his "Wizard" persona. After trying to teach himself some magic tricks, he lied to those around him, claiming he could do real magic.

He could fool the kids at school, but the Dursleys, as adults, weren't so easily deceived—unless they were ordinary Muggles who knew nothing about magic.

Tom would occasionally use transparent threads to levitate furniture, making sure the Dursleys caught glimpses of it. They would then mistake the tricks for real magic.

When Harry was bullied by Dudley and unconsciously used magic, they always attributed the source of the magic to Tom.

After some time, he actually managed to gain the "Wizard" persona.

Through days of observation and experimentation, Tom had figured out the rules for persona generation. The quality and progress speed of a persona depended on three factors: the number of people aware of his actions, the depth of the impression those actions left in their minds, and the strength and influence of the observers.

So, after overhearing the Dursleys secretly contacting Hogwarts, Tom carefully prepared a speech.

Initially, he thought today's visitor would be McGonagall or Hagrid. He planned to use their influence to upgrade his "Intelligent" persona and, along the way, unlock a "Genius Wizard" persona.

But he never expected today's visitor to be the century's strongest White Dark Lord, who directly gave him the "Born Dark Lord" persona.

It made sense, really—what else could he expect with a name like that? And since he wasn't yet sixteen, he couldn't change it himself.

Oh well. Dark Lords were all brilliant magical geniuses anyway. No problem there.

Tom took a deep breath, calming his churning emotions, and looked back at the white-bearded old man before him.

"So, don't you suspect I'm someone sent from the asylum to capture you? Usually, when we guide Muggle-born young wizards, we need to demonstrate some magic to make them believe our words," Dumbledore probed.

This child's acceptance was far too strong—it was hard not to suspect he was Voldemort reincarnated.

But Dumbledore was, after all, a teacher of high moral character. He wouldn't decide a child's life or death based solely on similar backgrounds, personalities, or certain behaviors.

Facing Dumbledore's test, Tom didn't flinch. He met the old man's blue eyes directly and opened his palm toward his side.

From the bookshelf, a golden trophy flew into Tom's hand. Engraved on it were the words "All-Round Champion."

It was the trophy from his elementary school sports meet—he'd taken first place in every event, and that wasn't even his limit.

"Though I have abilities others don't, I don't consider myself unique in this world. Besides, Vernon once called the asylum people, but none of them could match me in physical combat."

Dumbledore immediately recalled the boulder in the yard.

Suddenly, he felt that Tom was still a rather kind child. If he truly wanted to harm anyone, the bruise on Vernon's face wouldn't be just a simple one.

"How did you build up that muscle?" Dumbledore couldn't help asking out of curiosity.

"A hundred push-ups, a hundred sit-ups, a hundred squats, and a ten-kilometer run," Tom answered honestly.

"Total?"

"Every day."

"...Truly an exceptional child..."

Dumbledore didn't even know how to praise him properly. Should he commend his excellent magical control? Or his impressive physical strength?

In any case, Tom was undeniably a genius—in every aspect. And between the lines, Dumbledore could also sense the ambition within him, the desire to push further.

Similar!

Even more similar!

This feeling was almost identical to that other Tom.

["Born Dark Lord" +50 progress, Impression Level reached Lv.1, Persona activated, Achievement Points +1]

At that moment, Tom felt his control over magic grow stronger—like a new limb extending from his body. Before, he needed to concentrate for telekinesis, but now, with just a casual flick of his finger, the trophy in his hand flew back to the bookshelf on its own.

"Thank you for your praise," Tom said with a smile, inwardly relieved.

His only worry now was Dumbledore using Legilimency to read his memories—he didn't know Occlumency.

If his memories were seen, only two outcomes awaited him: being kept under Dumbledore's strict supervision, or being sent straight to Azkaban.

Though the magical gap between them was obvious, they were less than ten steps apart.

He remembered Frieren once saying, "A strong warrior can instantly kill a top-tier mage within ten steps." He wondered if that theory applied in the world of Harry Potter.

In short, Tom had already begun observing human weak points and the height difference between them.

But Dumbledore suddenly seemed unable to hold back a cough: "Ahem... Mr. Riddle, today's conversation has gone very smoothly."

He realized he had probed too much just now, making the child feel tense.

Dumbledore stood up and took a letter from his robes. Inside, besides the Hogwarts acceptance letter, there was also a list filled with required school supplies.

Tom breathed a sigh of relief at this. It seemed Old Dumbledore's ideological and moral grade was decent enough—at least he wouldn't pry into the memories of an innocent child.

So he took the envelope, opened it, and glanced over it, then put on a troubled expression: "Um, does your esteemed school offer loan services?"

Although he had participated in many school competitions, Britain in this era had always emphasized the intrinsic motivation and honor of education, to the point that competition winners received no prize money—champions only got some school supplies and a gold-plated trophy.

As for his orphan allowance, it was basically spent on living expenses.

In short, he was very poor.

"Oh~ Mr. Riddle, please rest assured. Hogwarts not only waives all tuition fees but also provides additional financial aid for students from disadvantaged families, with no academic performance requirements whatsoever. In short, we ensure every young witch or wizard can attend school."

Dumbledore saw hope. Although this Tom before him was ambitious, he at least had principles—he wouldn't use his abilities to steal or rob. What he took from Vernon was merely what was rightfully his.

Dumbledore had many regrets in his life, but the greatest was definitely failing to properly educate little Tom fifty years ago. The wizarding war claimed so many lives, and he bore some responsibility for that too.

Now, encountering another little Tom was surely God's gift to him, a chance to make up for past regrets.

He swore to himself that he would never let a third Dark Lord emerge in the magical world!