Since Tom had never had any contact with the Wizarding World, Dumbledore decided to take him to Diagon Alley himself to shop, with Harry coming along too. He was almost eleven as well.
After saying goodbye to Vernon, Dumbledore left the house with the two boys.
Seeing that the little devil had finally left, Vernon breathed a sigh of relief. But even without anyone watching him, Dudley kept grunting as he did jumping jacks.
On the way to Diagon Alley, Dumbledore didn't use magic or magical transportation. Instead, he walked there with the boys, pulling a few Muggle coins from his pocket so they could take the Underground later.
"So I really can use magic!"
Harry stared, eyes shining, at the acceptance letter that belonged to him.
As they hurried along, Dumbledore decided to keep probing. "Harry, how have things been for you at the Dursleys'? Have you been bullied?"
He'd noticed that Harry seemed remarkably sturdy for such a small boy. He must have been made to exercise just as often as Dudley, under Tom's orders.
Every Dark Lord throughout history had been deeply calculating and a master of deception. So Dumbledore planned to find out more about Tom's true nature by asking the people around him.
His question also carried another meaning: if Tom really had been bullying Harry, Dumbledore would step in and stand up for him.
"Thank you for your concern, sir, but with my big brother around, who could bully me?" Harry immediately protested, then turned and clasped his hands toward Tom in a salute.
"Oh?" Dumbledore paused.
And why did Harry's accent sound so strange? It wasn't London, and it wasn't traditional British English either.
"You should know, I'm just an orphan." Harry hesitated, as if remembering something sad, then explained, "I have no one to rely on. If I get bullied, there's nobody to stick up for me..."
According to the original plan, if Harry didn't go to Hogwarts, he would attend the public Stonewall High, a byword for chaos. The school even had a tradition of shoving new students' heads into toilets.
To avoid that, he would have to arm himself and be the first to shove someone else's head into a toilet.
When he'd been malnourished, he hadn't had the strength to do that. But Tom's sudden change in personality had given him the chance. Not only did Tom help him get even whenever Dudley bullied him, he also got Vernon to let Harry eat his fill and stay warm. When Harry was feeling down, Tom would tell him stories from other countries.
"I see." Dumbledore understood at once. Harry clearly respected Tom, and Dudley had also carried out Tom's assigned tasks without slacking off...
It was clear that, in the children's eyes, Tom was a dependable big brother with a thoroughly positive reputation.
Putting aside the strange accent and grammar, Dumbledore nodded at Tom. "A fine boy. You stood up against injustice at such a young age. I'm sure you'll make an excellent Gryffindor—provided you don't shove your classmates' heads into toilets."
"Gryffindor?"
"It's the name of a house. It stands for courage and justice, and it's the most passionate and loyal of the lot. Of course, the other houses are excellent too."
Just then, Tom's panel appeared on its own.
["Brave" +100 progress, impression level reached Lv.1, Persona activated, achievement points +1] [Persona: Brave (New)] [Impression Level: Lv.1 (Progress: 50/200)] [Description: The heart of a lion. Fearless. Ordinary fears cannot shake your spirit, and you can still press forward in the face of danger.]
An emotion-based Persona?
Excellent!
Magic in the Harry Potter world was a profoundly psychological force. Many spells required emotions like happiness, bloodlust, or courage.
A wavering will could weaken a spell considerably or even prevent it from working at all. [Brave] was an exceptionally important Persona for a wizard.
He wondered if he'd get the chance to wield the Sword of Gryffindor someday.
"My theory was right after all."
Before, getting a new Persona had required him to spend a great deal of time and effort acting in front of people. To build up the [Diligent] Persona, he'd gotten up at dawn every day to read and exercise, and gone to bed later than anyone else.
Now, all it had taken was a brief chat with Dumbledore.
As one of the most influential figures in the Wizarding World, even a few seconds of his attention and judgment had a far greater impact than an ordinary person's.
The Leaky Cauldron was a favorite haunt of local wizards. It was shabby and filthy, yet packed with people.
The wizards who'd been drinking and bragging set everything aside when they saw their visitor. They crowded around to greet him one by one, while curiously eyeing the two boys at his side.
Ever since Dumbledore had become headmaster, escorting young wizards was no longer his job. So the two children beside him had to be someone special.
"That boy's face looks so familiar, and he's got a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead..."
Someone spoke up. Every wizard present rushed over, as if they'd found their savior and the person who'd given them a second chance at life. Their eyes filled with tears as they eagerly shook his hand.
"Fame sure is nice," Tom remarked.
The more famous you were, the easier it was to make up a Persona that didn't exist. He'd have to find a chance to spread the word about himself.
He wondered where Lockhart was at the moment. When it came to publicity and self-promotion, that fraudulent writer was clearly an expert.
"By the way, who is this young gentleman...?"
Someone came up to Tom and looked at him curiously.
"His name is Tom Riddle. He's a first-year student this year. I brought the two of them here to buy their supplies."
At that, the lively pub fell silent for a moment.
A few wizards suddenly sobered up.
The second Dark Lord always called himself "Voldemort," and people usually referred to him as "You-Know-Who." But there was no keeping every secret forever. A tiny number of wizards had heard his real name through some quirk of fate—some old men in their sixties, for instance, or wizards who'd heard some urban legend. And this was a pub full of drunks and chatterboxes, after all.
The strongest reaction came from one professor whose head was wrapped in a thick turban. His fingers trembled uncontrollably, and his head hurt a little. He forced himself to abandon the idea of going over to greet them.
It was as if silence had spread in a spiral. Before long, the pub had gone completely quiet, like a noisy study hall that had suddenly fallen silent.
Most of the wizards were simply bewildered by what was happening.
"See you in a bit, everyone."
Dumbledore chuckled. With no one else coming over to greet him, he hurriedly led the two boys through the pub and into the small courtyard at the back. He drew a wand with knobby, bone-like protrusions and tapped a particular sequence of bricks on the wall.
The bricks immediately rotated and slid aside. An archway widened, revealing a winding, cobbled street.
"Welcome to Diagon Alley," Dumbledore said with a smile, turning back to them.
Harry's eyes widened at the sight before him. Tom's panel appeared again.
["Born Dark Lord" +1 progress] ["Born Dark Lord" +1 progress] [...+1 progress] ...+1...+1...+1...
If Tom had been an ordinary young wizard, people might have thought he'd simply happened to share a name. But since he was walking alongside Dumbledore, it meant something else entirely.
It was enough to make onlookers imagine all sorts of things.
Before you continue