My Foolish Potter!

Harry suddenly remembered the dream: Ron picked him up from his warm bed and took him out of the dormitory.

That wasn't a dream; it actually happened!

The thought appeared in Harry's mind without warning.

"I don't believe Ron wouldn't harm me." Harry's voice was almost inaudible. "You've got something wrong..."

"Oh, silly Potter is still defending his good friend." Riddle's smile grew even wider.

"Unfortunately, when he told me about you, his soul was completely open to me."

I have a natural sensitivity to lies, and I'm willing to believe him, especially when he's in such a weakened state.

Harry felt a sharp pain. "I'm warning you, if you hurt Ron in any way—"

"Harm?" Riddle said with a chuckle. "I did take something from him, and that definitely hurt him in the process."

But I didn't force your good friend, Potter... I'm a very reasonable person, and I never like to force things.

You can go and confirm with Dumbledore that he knows me, just like a father knows his child.

This analogy may not be very heartwarming, after all, I killed my own father... he was a Muggle and an idiot... who abandoned my mother...

"Ah, thinking about my pitiful family history..." he said softly, "Makes me a little sad."

There was no sadness in Riddle's tone; instead, there was a sense of vengeful pleasure.

Harry shrank back in fear, his voice shrill. "So, what exactly did you take from Ron?!"

"Oh, that's an interesting question," Riddle said cheerfully. "It's a long story, let me think..."

For the past six months, Ron has been writing his innermost thoughts in his diary, telling me about his heartbreaking troubles and sorrows.

Five older brothers... never needing anything new... Bill's old robe... Charlie's old wand... Percy throwing away the unwanted mouse—that funny Scabbers.

Harry noticed that Riddle paused slightly when he mentioned Scabbers.

"The family's poverty is one thing... but the twins clearly earn a lot of money, buying things for the family, new robes and textbooks for Ginny, but they won't buy him anything."

"And then there's Malfoy, whom he despises; Stark, whom he admires; Granger, who excels academically but isn't very popular; and his best friend, the great hero Harry Potter..."

Riddle told Ron his innermost thoughts without any hesitation.

"Potter, tell me... why does Ron have so many worries and such low self-esteem?" Riddle sneered.

"It's so boring to listen to a twelve-year-old wizard talk about his childish worries and to do so much homework for him."

You see, at twelve years old, I had already gathered a group of friends, secretly studying in the library's Restricted Section, investigating the professors' preferences, and even thinking about how to conquer... death.

"But I still patiently wrote something in reply to Ron to comfort him."

Riddle gave a charming smile. "Not to brag, Potter, but I've always been able to charm people at will, except for Dumbledore."

"So Ron voluntarily opened his whole soul to me."

I used a special kind of magic to connect with his soul and absorb his life force... That's what I took from him!

"Of course, this doesn't come without a price," Riddle said.

"That special magic requires an 'equivalent' exchange. In exchange, I must also do as Ron wants..."

"What did Ron make you do?" Harry felt his throat burning.

"Didn't you already guess, Harry Potter?" Riddle said softly.

"Ron didn't like Filch... that Squib made him wipe the trophies in the Trophy Room with his bare hands, so I lent him my strength and attacked that old bastard Filch!"

"Impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible," Riddle said with a laugh. "Ron was missing for a while before Halloween, wasn't he?"

I led him to the Chamber of Secrets, only to find disgusting, filthy things placed at the entrance!

I had Ron clean up; he smelled terrible. There were students in the break room, so I sent him to Black Lake and pretended to fall in. The silt masked the stench.

Then, I arranged for Ron to appear right in front of Filch, follow him to his office, attack him, and leave him in the hallway.

"And that's not all," Riddle continued. "Ron hated that Mudblood Colin, he was always taking pictures of you, always bothering you... so I attacked Colin."

"What about Eloise? She has nothing to do with Ron."

"Eloise... she was just unlucky. Instead of going to class, she was wandering around the academy and ended up at the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets..."

"No! The diary was lost that night at the Duelling Club... Justin was attacked, it had nothing to do with Ron," Harry said weakly.

"Yes, yes." Riddle smiled with satisfaction.

"That's because I discovered something interesting, something that was right under Dumbledore's nose."

That discovery made me change my plans on the spot, and I decided to abandon that idiot Ron... So I taught him Dark Magic and left."

"But even after I leave, I still absorb his soul, so I still have to do things according to his ideas."

Ron got punched by Justin at the Duelling Club, and he's told me more than once that he hates Lockhart, that cheat...

"See? In all five attacks, I was just following Ron's orders," Riddle said softly.

"The more I help him, the stronger I become... That's the power of equivalent exchange!"

"Ron wouldn't attack them!" Harry said angrily.

"Yes, of course he didn't have the guts to do these things, so he was in a state of ignorance when he did them," Riddle said sarcastically.

"That's where my brilliance lies... I merely used magic to slightly influence his darker side, turning 'equivalent exchange' into attacks I desired time and time again."

Harry rushed over and slapped Riddle.

"Now that we've finished telling Ron's story, it's time to talk about the two of us, Potter," Riddle laughed.

"As I said from the beginning, I summoned you here for a reason.

I also need you, to willingly form a magical bond with me.

"I won't do anything for you." Harry met his gaze fearlessly, a hint of defiance in his eyes.

"Then your beloved Ron will probably..."

"You just said you don't like being forced!"

"I didn't force you, Potter," Riddle laughed.

"I just suddenly don't like Ron anymore and want to get rid of him... Poor Ron, Ron trusted his beloved Harry so much, but because of Harry's lack of cooperation..."

"You're despicable!" Harry roared.

"Despicable?" Riddle stared in disbelief, as if he had heard the funniest thing ever. He took two steps and couldn't help but burst into laughter:

"Look what Dumbledore has been teaching you! Is he trying to mold you into a saint?"

You really don't know anything about the great Albus Dumbledore. When it comes to being despicable... who can compare to him?

Harry took a deep breath.

"I can help you, but you have to release Ron first! I'll stay and help you, or I'll kill us all!"

Riddle gradually calmed down and shook his head.

"I'm very dissatisfied with you, Harry. I suspect you haven't grasped the true nature of your current predicament."

Riddle's eyes were cold, and he hissed.

"Aaaaaah!"

Ron suddenly clutched his chest, his face contorted in extreme pain, and a chilling scream escaped his throat.

A thin, long snake, covered in blood, crawled Cairo's chest.

Hate me,

My foolish Potter.

Riddle's lips curled up again.

The stronger the emotions, the greater the potential energy that will be released when the ritual is completed!

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