Riddle's Charm!

Ron's gloomy demeanor silenced Lavender and Anthony, who were on the verge of arguing.

They looked at each other and simultaneously fell silent.

At this moment, the first-year students had already stood in front of the classroom seats, standing nervously, waiting for their assigned colleges.

"Look, that's Ginny!" Harry quickly said, trying to distract Ron.

"Ginny! How could I forget! That's my sister! She's very smart!"

"I think she might be Ravenclaw like me!" Ron was indeed energized by his brother's attention to his sister.

"Is that the cute red-haired girl?" Michael Conner said softly, his face flushing slightly for some reason, a blush that even his dark skin couldn't hide.

"Yes!" Ron said proudly.

Ryan looked at Michael —one of Ginny's ex-boyfriends from the original timeline—with a strange smile.

Do you know?

"Ginny learned to use a toy broom when she was six years old. She's Quidditch star!" he kept praising Michael, who was willing to listen to his sister's story, and Michael's face turned increasingly red.

"Wait, who's that little witch next to Ginny?"

"She looks kind of familiar— the Loony!"

"Her name is Luna, I think. My sister mentioned her," Ron said, his face showing disbelief.

"Is it your neighbor, the Lovegood family, whose house is as big as a car?" Harry stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"But I've wanted to ask this for a while now, why is she called 'Loony'?" Harry looked at Ron in confusion, feeling that the nickname was too much for a girl.

Her hair color was very similar to Draco's, leaning more towards white, and her eyes were similar to those of his friend Ryan.

Judging by her appearance alone, she is a very pretty young girl.

Harry thought to himself as if the person in the original timeline who saw Luna and thought she was crazy wasn't him.

"Huh? I'm not quite sure, but she's not usually like this. Her hair is a mess, just like Hermione's, and she wears some weird decorations—the kind that are weird even among wizards, like beer bottle corks, leftover carrot heads, and the like." Ron's eyes gleamed with recollection.

He seemed completely unaware that he had also subtly disparaged Hermione.

"What are you doing? Oh, it's time for the Sorting Ceremony, isn't it?" Ron looked at Harry, Harry at his sleeve.

Harry looked up in Hermione's direction, only to find that she hadn't paid any attention to what Ron was saying.

That's right, Harry noticed that almost everyone was looking at the teachers' desk.

Even he himself couldn't help but look there.

There are two extra seats at the faculty desks this year!

Keep in mind that there is only one professorship vacancy this year!

One of them was Lupin, a refined yet weathered-looking man. The other was Tom Riddle, the legendary Dark Lord.

Harry, however, couldn't connect him at all with Voldemort. He was handsome, exuding an amazing charm in every gesture! He was completely different from the ugly, terrifying Voldemort!

Harry wondered if Voldemort had lost his mind to be so heartless as to ruin such a face!

A face as white as marble, a dreamlike face that only Michelangelo could have sculpted!

This is barely comparable to Ryan!

"So handsome!"

"Mom, I'm in love!"

"Why did it turn out like this...? For the first time, I had someone I liked; for the first time, I had a handsome and dashing teacher. These two joyful things intertwined. And these two joys brought me so much happiness. I should have been enjoying this dreamlike bliss. But why did it turn out like this...? Why is the person I like my teacher?!"

Such conversations were constantly heard from the little witch and some of the little wizards.

Even Harry felt a strange fondness for him.

But this doesn't make sense. This should also be Voldemort's "heart," and I always feel a strong sense of repulsion when I face them.

But this is completely different, as if he has gained a blood-related brother!

Tom Riddle seemed to notice Harry's gaze and turned to give him a big smile.

Screams erupted from the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor table.

"Ahhh! He's looking at me!"

"Ninian! Look at me! Is there anything wrong with my look? — He's looking at me!"

"He's looking at me! What kind of monster are you!"

"Gryffindor! What are you called?!"

"You nerds from the nerd academy! Is he looking at you?! Losers!"

Riddle's smile caused the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor were originally on good terms, to start arguing.

Terms like "stupid lion" and "freak" kept popping up among them.

Even their Prefect, Penelope and Percy, were almost unable to contain themselves.

Harry glared at Riddle, the instigator, who seemed completely unfazed and well aware of his own charm.

This caused Harry's inexplicable goodwill to vanish.

However, there was one thing that Harry found strange: where did Ravenclaw's ghost, Lady Grey, go?

According to records from last year and earlier, she had never missed a single day of the zoning.

Nearly Headless Nick, floated over from the Lanffindor table. He seemed to understand Harry's confusion. "Lady Grey been very strange lately! She's been staying at Ravenclaw Tower —next to the Ravenclaw statue, staring at the Ravenclaw's Diadem on Ravenclaw's head, almost motionless. You know, she is—well, I can't say. I mean, she shouldn't be so obsessed with that Ravenclaw's Diadem; she should be very familiar with it."

Familiar?

Nicholas's words made Harry fall into deep thought.

Ron, who was next to him, and the other roommates had joined in the argument between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, completely ignoring Nicholas's words.

When it was clear that things were about to get out of control.

"Quiet!" Professor McGonagall couldn't help but say.

She was like an angry lioness, her mouth pursed tightly, her gaze sweeping over Gryffindor and Ravenclaw with a look that seemed to burn everything.

The verbal battle came to an abrupt end.

She stood still for a moment, then placed a three-legged stool on the ground in front of the new student, and on the stool placed a tattered, dirty, patched wizard's hat.

The first-year students stared at it blankly.

Others were also looking at it.

For a moment, the Great Hall was silent.

However, just as the Sorting Hat was about to sing, something unexpected happened.

Dumbledore stood up and, for the first time in history, began to speak before the Sorting Hat sang the Sorting Song: "I think everyone has noticed, and many of you also knew in advance from the Daily Prophet."

Dumbledore paused for a moment, but no one responded except Tom Riddle, who raised his glass in greeting. After giving Riddle a serious look, he continued, "This year, I am delighted to welcome two new teachers to our ranks, both of whom are professors of Defense Against the Dark Arts."