Big Tom: Was He Even Human?!

"I only said I saw it in Professor Slughorn's memories, I didn't say I used Legilimency on him."

Manus shrugged.

"I possess a magic ability that allows me to immerse myself in other people's memories..."

Before Big Tom could react to the effects of the magic, he heard Manus continue:

"I saw you wearing that ring when you were asking Slughorn how to seal a soul, and what would happen if a Wizard made a second Horcrux —I checked, it wasn't Horcrux then."

Big Tom's originally serious expression went blank after he finished processing the meaning of those words.

What... what are you talking about?

If one can simply see memories from that time, then it's not too incomprehensible.

After all, Legilimency, a Legilimency capable of probing memories, already exists. What's surprising is how it was done so that even Wizard of Slughorn's caliber couldn't detect the process...

Well, at least from the perspective of Voldemort during Big Tom's era, this was something that was simply incomprehensible.

If the other party doesn't have Occlumency, probing their memories is like picking a lock; with good technique, there is indeed a possibility of not being detected.

The other party knows Occlumency; how can you pick a lock in front of people without being discovered?

In Big Tom's mind, this was a completely false proposition.

However, compared to what Manus just said, this false proposition is not so unacceptable.

What do you mean you checked it? Wasn't the ring I was wearing at the time Horcrux?

Big Tom tried to interpret the sentence in other ways, but he failed.

Indeed, after turning the ring into Horcrux, Voldemort felt it was too awkward to wear his own soul.

Furthermore, if Horcrux is kept with the original body, wouldn't it be highly likely to be destroyed along with the original Horcrux when it dies? In that case, the Horcrux would completely lose its purpose.

So not long after, he stopped wearing the ring and instead stored it safely in the Gaunt Shack with various Curse.

Although that place held special significance for Voldemort, it was essentially a ruin, and normally neither Muggle nor Wizard would dare to approach it.

This whole affair was entirely Voldemort's independent thought and action, and he couldn't possibly have told anyone. Therefore, apart from Voldemort in various senses, Manus couldn't possibly have had any other way of finding out about this.

So...

Excluding the possibility that Manus directly used Legilimency on the current Voldemort, or on any of the Horcrux that followed him, to obtain the details of this event, only one possibility remains.

That is, what Manus said meant exactly what it said— Manus checked his memory and confirmed that the ring Voldemort wore in his memory was one that had not yet been made into Horcrux.

Is this even human?!

For a moment, Big Tom looked at Manus with the same eyes he would look at a ghost—no, ghosts are just phantoms to Wizard, and phantoms are quite common at Hogwarts.

Even the Diadem that Big Tom possessed was obtained by Tom after he seduced a ghost.

At that moment, Manus was far more terrifying than a ghost in Big Tom's eyes.

Looking back at the various magical abilities Manus had demonstrated in the past, Big Tom even began to doubt what the outside world had become after he was separated from Manus.

Is this still the Wizarding World he knows?

"Why aren't you saying anything? Do I have to explain in detail how you inquired about the method of sealing the soul, and how it was just to lead into the creation of the second Horcrux, before you'll admit it?"

Manus frowned slightly as he watched Big Tom stand there, speechless and unresponsive.

"... No."

Big Tom suddenly felt his throat was dry, so he cleared his throat:

"Speaking of which, so much time has passed, and you still won't prepare any food for me?"

Manus thought to himself, "There's no need for that. You're not alive anymore..."

With the life force provided by Manus, Big Tom possesses a body that appears human but is not truly alive. He remains a fragment of a soul that exists only through the magic of the Horcrux.

The most obvious difference is that Manus can now kill him with a single Killing Curse, while the same Killing Curse cannot actually kill Horcrux, who still has Voldemort in the world.

But out of humanitarian considerations, and because Manus was genuinely curious about Big Tom's motives for concealing the Diary's creation, he nodded and said:

"I'll be sending you three meals a day from now on."

Big Tom was taken aback:

Three meals a day? Will I even be able to wait that long?

From the time he witnessed Manus grow from a child to about his age, and now to several years older than him, it seemed to him as if only a meal had passed.

You can rest assured that you will wait for it.

Seeing the sincerity on Manus's face, Big Tom initially breathed a sigh of relief, after all, no one wants to spend a long time in a daze, unaware of the passage of time.

(Big Tom didn't think about the possibility of time stopping; he simply assumed it was some kind of Confundus Charm, or that it had simply sealed him away and returned him to his Horcrux state.)

But then Big Tom realized something, and a shadow fell over the light in his eyes.

Judging from his experience interacting with Manus, this guy is definitely not an innocent or kind person. This can be seen from the fact that Manus threatened him with death at the beginning, and also from making him unable to perceive the passage of time.

Manus couldn't have been acting out of kindness, offering him three meals a day before agreeing to stop blurring his perception of time.

The reason why the other party did this is quite obvious—they no longer need to do it.

How much can a person grow from the moment they enter Hogwarts until several years Hogwarts?

No one is more qualified to answer this than Voldemort. He only learned of the existence of the Wizard world when he entered Hogwarts, and by graduation he already had two Horcrux and was preparing to create a third.

(Voldemort was still studying at Hogwarts when he tricked Lady Grey into revealing the location of the Diadem; by the time he found the Diadem in Albania, he should have been close to graduating or had just graduated. Placing the Diadem in the Room of Requirement occurred after Voldemort's graduation, when he returned to apply for the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.)

Not to mention that the so-called fourth grade was just something Manus said.

Judging from Manus's expression, even if you told Big Tom that this guy had graduated a few years ago, he would believe it.