Harry returns from Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 381 Little Riddle from the Wu Family Orphanage
"You don't recognize me?" Harry asked Riddle, pointing to himself.

“Should I know you?” Riddle scoffed. “I’m not so bored as to get to know every young wizard; that’s the most boring thing ever—so, are you prepared to pay the price for your intrusion, unknown little wizard?”

Harry stood with his hands in his pockets, looking incredibly cool.

"So, you don't have any memories of Voldemort himself after that, right?" he asked.

Riddle smiled.

“Voldemort?” he chuckled. “Indeed, indeed, I’ve thought about changing my name—that surname with the mark of a filthy Muggle…Voldemort? Very well, indeed, a wizard of my caliber deserves that title!”

Harry understood.

It seems that the Voldemort fragment within this Horcrux doesn't know where Voldemort is right now.

This made Harry lose the desire to ask any more questions.

“To thank you for bringing me such delightful news,” Riddle chuckled arrogantly, “I’d like to hear your name, little wizard…”

“Harry Potter,” Harry said, leaning against the doorframe.

“Harry Potter?” Riddle was taken aback.

Then, he realized what was happening.

“Impossible!” Riddle pointed at Harry and said, “Mr. Potter is a man from decades ago. He disappeared decades ago! How could you possibly be him! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”

"See, you wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

Harry snapped his fingers as he spoke.

Immediately, half of the office disappeared—truly disappeared. Through the damaged office walls, one could even see the swirling hurricane and the nebula filling the sky.

Riddle's expression changed.

“You…you’re really Harry Potter?” he stammered. “It’s…it’s an honor, an honor, Mr. Potter—it’s a real honor to know you—”

"Before you heard my name, you were so arrogant," Harry said casually. "And after you learned who I am, you became so humble—it's utterly ridiculous—"

His initial arrogance followed by his obsequiousness is laughable, isn't it?

Having said that, before Voldemort could say anything more, Harry snapped his fingers again.

Riddle's soul fragments, along with the entire Hogwarts Castle, vanished into the heavens and earth, turning into ashes.

He then withdrew from the spiritual world.

"How are you, Harry?" Dumbledore asked with concern as he stepped forward.

Vivi, wand in hand, dismissively pushed Dumbledore aside.

Dumbledore immediately understood what his sister-in-law meant.

I should have asked that first, Dumbledore!
“It doesn’t feel so bad.” Harry smiled at Vivi and reached for Hufflepuff’s golden cup. “Look, the dark magic mark on it is gone… This method really works, and it doesn’t harm the cup itself.”

"What about that Blood Curse Orc?" Vivi asked thoughtfully. "I asked Gellert, and he said... he knows that Blood Curse Orc too..."

Yes, I know him.

Gellert suddenly poked his head out from behind the curtains: "Aha—Potter! Long time no see!"

"Long time no see, how have you been, Gail?" Harry greeted him with great flair.

Gellert smirked.

What's with this increasingly strong brother-in-law vibe?!
“Yes, Nagini.” Gellert walked over, sat down in a chair, and said with his arms crossed, “You see—I once adopted a child named Credence Barryburn—oh, or perhaps he had another name, Aurelius Dumbledore, and he was an Obscurial who happened to have a confidante named Nagini.”

“I’m afraid that’s not adoption, Gellert,” Dumbledore denied.

“It was adoption,” Gellert retorted without backing down. “Isn’t it because you abandoned him first? Don’t tell me you’re so righteous, Albus—you dumped him in a Muggle’s house, and what was that Muggle woman’s name… oh right, Mary Lou Barryburn, she leads the New Salem Charities, an anti-witchcraft group in New York, and she’s been trying to expose the wizarding world.”

"In her eyes, Credence's birth mother was an 'evil, abnormal woman.' Do you know why Credence became the Obscurial? It was all because of her! I know that Credence was constantly subjected to physical and psychological abuse and suppressed his magical abilities. Mary Lou would often make him take off his belt and whip his hands with it! I was the one who saved him!"

Dumbledore opened his mouth.

“In fact, you only did this because he’s an Obscurial, Gellert,” he said. “After the Obscurial attack on Mary Lou, you thought Modisty was the Obscurial you were looking for. After confirming Modisty’s whereabouts, you immediately abandoned Credence, calling him a Squib, didn’t you?”

“I don’t deny it,” Gellert said casually. “I admit I made a mistake. And you? Do you admit you’ve made a mistake?”

Harry, who was watching from the sidelines, felt that Gellert was becoming less and less like the powerful dark wizard leader he had been decades ago.

However, there's nothing unacceptable about it. After all, he now has his older sister to support him, so it's fine for him to be a carefree goofball.

"Can you two stop bickering like an old couple?" Vivi said, her face flushed with anger. "If you want to argue, go outside. Come back when you're done!"

“I won’t make a fuss anymore, sister.” Gellert immediately sat up straight, like a model student.

“I have no intention of arguing with him,” Dumbledore said, rubbing his temples.

“Oh, right,” Gellert suddenly said, “My sister recently asked me to track down that Riddle. The Saints did manage to find one of his trails—not the feminine, younger one. Apparently, he’s on TPLAC now.”

"What is TPLAC?" Dumbledore asked, puzzled.

“Tin Pot Little African Country,” Gellert said, spreading his hands. “See, we’ve never been on the same wavelength, have we? Dumbledore?”

"You still feel pretty resentful, don't you?" Vivi looked at her bratty younger brother with an unfriendly gaze.

Gellert lowered his head and remained silent.

“Go on!” she tapped the table.

“That's when he disappeared.” Gellert shrugged. “They say he’s in one of the pyramids now, but… you know, sister, the Egyptian Ministry of Magic would never allow us into the pyramids.”

“That’s not something you or I need to worry about,” Vivi said with a light laugh. “If Riddle comes out of there, I think the first ones to regret it won’t be us.”

Yes, Egypt should be the first to suffer, right?

“I suggest you should clean up the next Horcrux, Potter,” Gellert said to Harry. “You don’t need to worry about where Riddle is for now. What you need to do most right now is destroy Riddle’s soul fragments while preserving Albus’s treasures.” “I know, you don’t need to tell me,” Harry retorted.

“Well-intentioned reminders are never taken seriously,” Gellert said with a shrug, seemingly unconcerned.

Harry stepped forward and aimed at the next Horcrux.

It is the Ravenclaw crown.

"This crown is actually quite beautiful," Harry thought, "if only it could be worn on Vivi's head..."

No, that won't work. Vivi already has a crown. She's more suited to that princess crown or a lady's crown; that would suit her temperament better.

Harry glanced at Vivi, who was looking at the documents, and then looked at the crown again.

This crown is actually more suitable for Cassandra—well, she really should use the crown to boost her intelligence.

With that thought in mind, Harry drew his wand and aimed it at the crown.

"Legiliments!"

Once again, he felt that dizzying sensation, but not his own; rather, the entire world seemed to be twisting into a vortex before him.

Then, the vortex gradually subsided, and what appeared before Harry was a square building surrounded by high railings.

The sign in front of the house reads "Wu Family Orphanage".

Harry knew the name all too well; he had heard more than once that Voldemort had been thrown here—or perhaps he should say, that he was Tom Riddle as a child.

Yes, the classic case of his mother not loving him.

Harry straightened his slightly disheveled clothes and slowly walked into Woody Orphanage.

The rooms in the orphanage looked old but were very clean and spotless. Harry noticed that the orphans playing or resting inside were being well taken care of.

Immediately afterwards, he saw a familiar figure.

It's a younger version of Dumbledore, with a small round face and a full beard.

“Dumbledore?” Harry muttered, and followed him up.

A woman was standing next to Dumbledore; they were standing outside a house.

"Tom? Someone's here to see you. This is Mr. Dumbledore—excuse me, Mr. Deng Debo. He's here to tell you—well, let him tell you himself."

After the woman finished speaking, she gestured for Dumbledore to go inside.

Harry quickened his pace and went into the room with Dumbledore, with Mrs. Cole closing the door behind them.

It was an empty, undecorated little house with only an old wardrobe, a wooden chair, and an iron bed. A boy sat on a gray blanket, his long legs stretched out in front of him, reading a book.

Tom Riddle's face bore no resemblance to the Gaunt family. Mehmet's dying words had come true: he was practically a miniature version of his handsome father. For an eleven-year-old, he was tall, with dark hair and a pale face. He squinted slightly, scrutinizing Dumbledore's strange appearance and attire.

For a moment, no one spoke.

“Hello, Tom,” Dumbledore said, stepping forward and extending his hand.

The boy hesitated for a moment, then reached out and shook hands.

Dumbledore pulled a hard wooden chair next to Riddle, so that the two of them looked like a hospitalized patient and a visitor.

"I am Professor Dumbledore."

“'Professor'?” Riddle repeated, his expression wary. “Is it like 'doctor'? What are you doing here? Did she send you to examine me?”

He pointed to the door where Mrs. Cole had just left.

“No, no,” Dumbledore said with a smile.

“I don’t believe you,” Riddle said. “She wants someone to come and see me, doesn’t she? Tell the truth!”

He spoke the last three words fiercely and loudly, his manner intimidating. It was an order, and it seemed he had given such orders many times before.

He suddenly opened his eyes wide and stared intently at Dumbledore, who did not answer, but continued to smile kindly. After a few seconds, Riddle's gaze relaxed, but he seemed more alert.

"who are you?"

“I have already told you. I am Professor Dumbledore, and I work at a school called Hogwarts. I have come to invite you to study at my school—your new school—if you would like.”

Riddle's reaction to this was completely unexpected. He jumped out of bed, backed away from Dumbledore, and looked extremely angry.

“You can’t fool me! You’re from the asylum, aren’t you? ‘Professor,’ humph, that’s right—let me tell you, I’m not going, understand? That damned old hag is the one who should be in the asylum. I didn’t do anything to Amy Benson or Dennis Bishop, you can ask them yourself, they’ll tell you!”

“I’m not from an asylum,” Dumbledore said patiently. “I’m a teacher, and if you can sit down and be calm, I’ll tell you about Hogwarts. Of course, if you don’t want to go to that school, no one will force you—”

“I’d like to see who dares!” Riddell said dismissively.

Harry watched them talk, Dumbledore gently trying to persuade Riddle, but Riddle didn't quite believe what Dumbledore was saying.

After hearing that magic truly existed—and witnessing Dumbledore set his wardrobe on fire, Riddle's expression shifted from excitement to fanaticism.

Yes, fanatical, and utterly greedy.

Harry frowned.

He increasingly felt that it wasn't that Dumbledore's education was flawed, but rather that Voldemort was simply born that way, a born bad seed.

It should be said that Dumbledore did have a problem—but the problem wasn't a failure in his teaching methods, but rather that he shouldn't have sent Riddle to Hogwarts in the first place.

Listening to their conversation, Harry learned what had happened at Woody Orphanage.

Who would have thought that Voldemort had a habit of petty theft?
With that thought in mind, Harry turned his gaze back to Riddle.

So... where are Voldemort's soul fragments hidden?
He had assumed the soul fragment would appear on its own, just like it had in Hufflepuff's golden cup, but so far, the soul fragment had not appeared.

(End of this chapter)