Ron: Strangled a Mysterious Person to Death with Bare Hands?

Perhaps because someone their own age seemed more approachable, after Harry also stepped through the wall, Ron followed Tom and the two of them into the same compartment on the train.

After stuffing all the heavy luggage onto the racks, Tom took out a textbook and continued reading.

Training was over; now it was study time.

Although Tom didn't spend much time reading each day, he had already finished all the first-year textbooks. Even if he didn't fully understand the content, he had memorized it all.

[Intelligence (Lv.9): A powerful mind, as if light shines through the skull. Photographic memory is just the basics.]

Now he was almost done memorizing the second-year textbooks too.

"Hello, I'm Ron Weasley." Ron extended his hand.

"Tom Riddle."

"Harry Potter."

Each gave their name.

"It's you!" Ron's eyes went wide.

He never expected to meet the legendary Boy Who Lived here in person.

And he remembered that all along the way, Harry had been calling the guy next to him "Big Brother." The legendary boy's big brother must be no ordinary person either.

He was so lucky. On the very first day of school, he got to be up close with two legendary figures at once.

Excited, Ron studied them carefully.

Since Tom and the other had walked the whole way on foot, their clothes were thin to let off heat, making their muscles clearly visible—especially Tom's, which could only be described as "ferocious."

He'd never seen a physique like that on any wizard. It was too exaggerated.

He seriously wondered if, ten years ago, Tom had strangled the Dark Lord with his bare hands.

Just imagining that scene sent chills down his spine.

As he was deep in thought, the compartment door suddenly slid open, startling Ron so much he thought the Dark Lord had come for revenge.

"Would you like to buy anything, dear?"

An old woman pushing a snack cart appeared in the aisle, smiling at the three inside.

Tom felt a bit hungry too. After trekking several kilometers, with energy conservation in play, breakfast had long been digested.

But before he could pay, Harry, who was closer to the door, beat him to it, pulling out a handful of Galleons and stuffing them into the old woman's hand.

"We'll take it all!"

"Oh, child, these snacks aren't worth that much."

The old woman cheerfully returned some of the Galleons, along with a few Silver Sickles and Bronze Knuts.

Early shift over!

"Brother Ron, aren't you buying any snacks?" Harry pushed some snacks toward Tom, then asked the other with slight confusion.

"..." Ron wanted to complain. You bought everything, so what's left for me to buy?

Besides, he couldn't afford it anyway.

His family's vault at Gringotts had only one Galleon total. The pile Harry had just pulled out was worth his entire family's fortune.

But looking at the snacks covering the table, he couldn't help swallowing. Awkwardly, he pulled a Corned Beef Sandwich from his robes. Through the plastic wrap, the dry-looking meat inside didn't exactly whet his appetite.

"No, thanks, I brought my own." Ron muttered quietly.

"Too bad she never remembers I don't like corned beef."

Tom noticed Ron's embarrassment, and memories from his past life surfaced in his mind.

Britain was called a culinary wasteland. It was said they had a corned beef can that used military-grade extreme preservation techniques—theoretically, the beef could last a hundred years. Historically, the British army had actually eaten beef from their grandfathers' era.

Seeing Ron's disgusted expression, plus the fact that his dad liked collecting Muggle items, Tom was pretty sure Ron's sandwich was made from a batch of military-grade corned beef cans his dad had scavenged from somewhere.

After all, Arthur Weasley was a wizard and couldn't stay in Muggle society long. Buying a bunch of long-shelf-life Muggle cans at once was normal.

Poor kid~

"How about we swap?" Tom offered, pushing some snacks toward Ron. "Too many sweets get cloying."

Besides building a positive image, he also did this because snacks were too high in calories.

Fitness required not just consistent training but also proper nutrition, and beef was an excellent source of high-quality protein.

"Sure, thanks!" Ron shot Tom a grateful look, then raised the Corned Beef Sandwich in offering.

His heart felt warm.

Tom tore the sandwich in half and gave a piece to Harry.

Just then.

["Selflessness" +1 progress]

["Kindness" +1 progress]

["Selflessness" +10 progress]

["Kindness +10 progress"]

Why the sudden increase?

Tom looked around. Could it be that some old wizard had witnessed this scene?

Meanwhile.

In a certain compartment, a slightly older wizard quickly wrote a letter, then stuffed it into the letter tube strapped to an owl's leg.

Taking advantage of the train not yet having departed, the owl slipped through the window, spread its wings, and took flight.

Just as Tom had guessed earlier, Dumbledore had indeed sent an Order of the Phoenix member to the station to keep an eye on Tom.

Originally, this was only meant to find evidence that Tom might be Voldemort's reincarnation, but in the end, this Order member was moved by Tom.

A good kid like this—how could he possibly be that murderous Voldemort?

Past eleven, the train began to move.

"Finally finished reading." Tom closed the book.

With that, he had officially memorized the second-year textbooks.

With the knowledge points in his head, once he started studying, he would be able to stay many steps ahead of his peers.

Although Tom had a cheat like the persona panel, if a person truly wanted to become strong, relying solely on a cheat was definitely not enough. One's own effort was also a very important part.

Effort plus a cheat—that was how he could push his power to the extreme.

["Diligence +1 progress"]

["Intelligence +1 progress"]

["Diligence +10 progress"]

["Intelligence +10 progress"]

But just then.

The compartment door was pushed open again, and this time with great force—the entire door shuddered twice.

A platinum-blond boy appeared at the entrance, followed by two chubby henchmen who were almost as big as Dudley before he lost weight.

"I just heard someone on the train say that the Boy Who Lived from years ago was on board. Looks like those people weren't blind after all."

Draco Malfoy swept his gaze around the compartment, first immediately recognizing Ron's red hair, then letting his eyes linger on Tom for a few seconds.

His mind rapidly recalled the appearances of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, but nothing about Tom matched any of those families.

At that thought, a trace of disgust crept onto his face.

"Tsk tsk. Who would've thought the famous Harry Potter would be hanging out with blood traitors like the Weasleys, and even with a half-blood lower than them."

"Potter, if you want to break away from your disreputable circle of friends, I'd be happy to help you..." Before Draco could finish his sentence.

A fist the size of a sandbag had already flown right in front of his face.

Bang!