Born Evil-Gavin Gu

When Justin answered, the writing on the Diary vanished for a long time.

Inside the Diary, Tom fell silent for a long while.

For the first time, he felt something like a sharp intake of breath—if a Horcrux had lungs.

For the second time, he felt the urge to throw his soul away, burst out, and tear the person before him apart.

The name was identical to the one the impostor had given him: "Justin."

That innately evil twelve-year-old brat who had tested him with Muggle knowledge, invented a story about Voldemort sweeping floors, and made him waste a portion of his soul breaking through a Flame-Rune Seal had been using someone else's name!

He had deceived him from beginning to end. Starting with his name, every last thing had been a lie.

How could anyone be that wicked?

He was rotten to the core.

Killing intent surged through Tom.

It was raw, personal anger. He, Tom Riddle, had once been the best at manipulating people in Slytherin, yet more than fifty years later, a twelve-year-old brat had fooled him round after round.

He would kill that brat! Right now! This instant!

No.

Not this instant—

He couldn't kill him now. He was almost out of magic.

But he would find a way someday. He certainly would.

Calm down. Recover your strength first, he told himself.

He pushed his killing intent deep into his mind. It could wait.

He turned his attention back to his new host.

"Justin," he wrote, each letter gentler than the last, "would you like to become the most powerful wizard in the world? Like—Voldemort? Do you know who he is?"

Voldemort? Justin knew the name.

When he had first entered the Wizarding World and found everyone treating a handshake with Harry Potter as an honor,