My partner at Hogwarts is Tom

Tom's attention was immediately drawn to it.

He lowered his head and approached the crown, especially the huge sapphire in the center.

Even covered in dust and stains, the gemstones still shimmered with a deep luster in the dim light streaming through the high window, as if they contained stars or waves of wisdom within.

Tom's eyes lit up instantly; his earlier embarrassment and bewilderment were replaced by curiosity and an instinctive fondness.

Tom stretched out his front paws and carefully picked up the crown.

Then, facing the sapphire, he exhaled a long, forceful breath of hot air.

Some of the dust on the surface of the gemstone was blown away.

Tom looked at his "achievement" with satisfaction, then raised another leg.

Using the relatively soft inner fur, they carefully and meticulously wiped and polished the sapphire, as if handling the most precious trophy.

He wiped it a few times, then stopped, tilted his head, raised the crown to his eyes, squinted one eye at a direction that seemed to be a light source, and examined it carefully.

Under Tom's rough wiping and "focused attention," the gemstone seemed to actually become a little brighter than before, and the faint blue light became more obvious.

Tom nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the glittering jewels on the crown in his hand.

Then, without the slightest hesitation, it lifted the crown, which was rather large and heavy for a cat's head, with its two front paws.

After adjusting the angle, he solemnly put it back on his fluffy head.

The crown was a little slippery, and Tom had to duck slightly to keep his balance.

But the sapphire, now "shining" again, was set right in the center of his forehead, creating a strange and harmonious visual effect against Tom's dusty yet still spirited cat face.

Wearing the crown, Tom tried raising his head and felt...not bad.

Just then, the pile of debris next to them shook violently again.

"Pfft!" Fred and George finally managed to "break out of the ground" with difficulty.

Two red-haired heads, like mushrooms growing from ruins, coughed violently, spitting out ash from their mouths.

"Merlin's...lace lantern pants...I'll never laugh at antique brooms again..." Fred said listlessly.

"Agreed...it feels like my bones...have been rebuilt..." George groaned, pulling an old copper nut from his ear.

Then, they saw Tom, who was wearing a crown and looked strangely dignified despite being covered in dust.

The two of them widened their eyes and opened their mouths in shock, forgetting even the pain they were in.

"Merlin's beard!" Fred gasped.

"That's... a crown? There's a huge sapphire on it!" George rubbed his eyes.

"It looks... very old, very... Ravenclaw?" Fred examined the style of the crown.

"Boss Tom!" George exclaimed, "Where did you get this treasure?!"

"The House of Requirement actually has such a wonderful thing inside!"

Hearing their exclamations, Tom raised his crowned head even more proudly, the jewels gleaming faintly in the dim light.

Tom proudly wore the crown, feeling its heavy, cool "royal presence," and the astonished gazes of Fred and George.

Suddenly, he felt a slight jolt on the top of his head.

It's not a physical vibration, but a deeper, more subtle sensation.

It felt as if something cold and slippery had silently seeped in from where the crown touched his scalp, trying to burrow into his...head?

Tom shook his head, his ears twitching alertly, but he didn't spot any flies or insects.

However, the feeling of being invaded did not disappear; instead, it became even more pronounced.

A conscious tentacle, imbued with intense curiosity, exploration, and a barely perceptible hint of greed and ecstasy, was groping on the periphery of his consciousness, trying to locate the "door."

This is because, within the crown, the soul fragment that had been dormant for half a century—Tom Riddle's Horcrux—was awakened by Tom.

First came the physical shock caused by the violent jolts, impacts, and overturning.

Next came Tom's "sincere" breath and his "polishing" of the gemstone with fur.

Tom's fur possesses a natural, subtle magic, a breath of life.

And that unpretentious, purely possessive desire of "this sparkly thing is mine," like a rusty key, barely managed to pry open a crack in the outermost layer of the Horcrux.

Finally, when Tom solemnly placed the crown on his head again, establishing a firm connection, the Horcrux fragment was fully awakened.

"I...this is..."

Voldemort's consciousness seemed to rise from deep water, bewildered yet vigilant.

The first thing he felt was... a furry touch?

And a rather low-angle perspective?

There were also two other thoughts, belonging to young wizards, circulating nearby, filled with curiosity and excitement.

"A cat? I'm... wearing a cat's head?" This realization instantly filled him with a sense of absurdity and rage, but it was quickly replaced by an even greater surprise.

"Living beings! And two young wizards at that! Young, malleable souls... and this silly cat... a perfect starting point! First, read their memories, understand their current situation, and then..."

Without hesitation, he immediately gathered his power as a Horcrux and habitually probed into the depths of the consciousness of its bearer—Tom.

Prepare to explore this cat's memories, emotions, and thought patterns as if turning the pages of an open book.

Then they would look for an opportunity to lay the groundwork for later possessing or manipulating the two young wizards.

However, as soon as his consciousness reached in, it was as if he had stepped into thin air and fallen into a strange space that was vast, empty, and filled with echoes.

"Huh?" Voldemort, the Crowned Demon, was taken aback. "This cat's consciousness... why is it so empty?"

At this moment, he "stood" in this indescribable space of consciousness.

All around were smooth, seemingly endless, curved walls, gleaming with a warm, strange sheen, carrying the smell of fish and the glow of sun-dried blankets.

There are no formed memories, no coherent thought process, only some extremely fragmented, rapidly flashing images.

A large bowl of fragrant, crispy-edged grilled fish; a smiling face upon seeing someone; Fred and George's grinning red-haired faces; the whirlwind from a flying broomstick going out of control; that sparkling blue sapphire...

These fragments are chaotic and fleeting, making it impossible to piece together a logical "memory".

"Impossible! Even animals should have clearer instinctive memories and emotional imprints!" The Crowned Voldemort felt a sense of irritation and disbelief.

He is Tom Riddle, the successor to Salazar Slytherin, a genius mastering Occlumency and Legilimency! The most powerful wizard in history!

How could it be that it couldn't even decipher the shallow consciousness of a ridiculous pet cat?

"It must be the wrong method, or maybe this stupid cat has a rather peculiar brain structure..."

Unconvinced by the odds, he decided to intensify his investigation, gathering more of the Soul Weapon's magical power to probe deeper and more brutally into the "depths" of this empty space.

Trying to find the "core" that governs memory and thought in this empty head—the brain's mapping area.

Just as he increased his strength—

Tom froze.

He felt that the "cool, slippery thing" that had crawled into his head suddenly start wriggling around!

Moreover, the pressure increased, poking and prodding everywhere, making his scalp itchy and numb, and giving him a strong sense of unease from having his territory invaded!

"Meow!"

Tom yelled in frustration and shook his head violently, trying to fling the thing away.

But the crown only wobbled; that "thing" was still causing trouble inside.

As Voldemort in his crown went deeper, Tom's furry head began to swell and grow larger at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Then, on Tom's big head, a lump appeared on the left and a depression on the right, followed by a small bump on the top of his head.

It was as if an invisible giant rat was rampaging under his skull, searching for an exit.

Fred and George stared in disbelief at Tom's round head, which had grown larger than his body.

"Merlin! Fred, look at Boss Tom's head!"

George pointed at Tom's constantly deforming head, his voice trembling.

"It's moving! There seems to be something inside!" Fred was also stunned, temporarily forgetting the pain in his body.

"Is it that crown? Is it...is it alive? Or is it attached to something?"

Tom was both shocked and furious by the turmoil in his head.

Instinctively, he raised his two front paws, hugged his deforming head, and slapped behind his ears and on the top of his head, making muffled "thump thump" sounds.

"Meow! Awoo!"

He struck so hard that his whole body shook, and the crown on his head was in grave danger.

Meanwhile, within Tom's forcibly "expanded" and "deepened" space of consciousness, Voldemort felt even worse.

His vigorous search just now not only failed to find the "memory center" he expected, but it also seemed to have triggered some kind of strange defense or rejection mechanism.

He felt himself being swept along by an invisible force, speeding through this smooth, empty, maze-like mind hole!

The surrounding arc-shaped barriers receded rapidly, and countless forks in the road appeared, each exuding a different, yet equally illogical, odor.

The aroma of milk wafts over here, the choking smell of fireplace ash over there, the scent of ink from a quill pen in front, and the lingering sulfurous smell of the Weasley twins' prank fireworks to the left...

"Stop! Damn it! Where am I?!"

The handsome, crowned Voldemort's consciousness tried to steady itself, but it was beyond its control.

His prized control over magic seemed to have slipped out of control here.

Just as he was feeling dizzy and disoriented, his foot suddenly slipped, and he lost his balance, tumbling into one of the countless forks in the road with a cry of "Ouch!"

This "road" was unusually narrow and winding, dimly lit, and filled with a mixed smell of... sun-dried cat fur and a little bit of aged catnip.

"Slap!"

Voldemort, who had been smashed to a pulp, scrambled to his feet, dusted off non-existent dust, and was filled with ever-growing rage.

He had never been so embarrassed before, not even when he faced Dumbledore's threat!

He looked around, intending to first figure out which corner he had been thrown into.

Then, his gaze settled on the end of the narrow passage.

There, there is a small, faintly glowing "platform".

On the platform, something sits quietly.

The thing was about the size of an adult's thumb, pink and wrinkled, with grooves all over its surface, like a... miniature brain?

Or rather, it's more like an underdeveloped walnut kernel.

But this is undoubtedly some form of "mindset core" or "brain mapping".

But... isn't this too small?!

The illusory image of the Crowned Voldemort froze in place, and for the first time, a crack appeared on his perfect youthful face.

It was an expression that mixed shock, absurdity, and a deep doubt about life.

"This...this is the cat's...brain?" he roared inwardly.

"So tiny?! Not much bigger than a vixen's brain! No wonder her memory is completely blank! Can this thing really support complex thought processes? What does it use to think? Its spinal cord?!"

Just as Voldemort, the Crowned One, fell silent as he stared at the thumb, beginning to doubt his own existence and common sense about magic.

That pink, thumb-sized brain suddenly moved.

Immediately afterwards, in the very center of his brain, a groove split open, and suddenly a round, bright blue cat eye belonging to Tom opened!

The cat's eyes were filled with vigilance, impatience, and the burning rage of someone who had invaded its deepest private space!

The cat's eyes were fixed on the crowned Voldemort phantom not far away.

Then, from the base and sides of this thumb brain, several muscular, disproportionately thick arms and legs suddenly "grew" out!

These arms and legs are equally pink, but they are full of exaggerated, cartoonish power.

The "muscle brain" "stood up" on the platform, moved its "arms" and made a "crack" sound.

The next second, it leaped up from the spot and, with lightning speed, instantly crossed the short distance, arriving in front of the still-dazed phantom of the Crowned Voldemort.

All Voldemort saw was a pink "giant fist" covered in lumps rapidly enlarging before his eyes.

"wait--?!"

"Boom!!!!!!!!!"

A powerful punch of will, heavy enough to shatter the soul, landed squarely on the face of the illusory figure of the Crowned Voldemort!

Before he could even react, he felt an irresistible force, purely stemming from the "body's owner's extreme rejection," coming at him.

"Ah—!!!" The phantom let out a short scream as it was sent flying through the air by the punch.

Like a twisted black meteor, it flew backward at an astonishing speed, whistling along its original path through the smooth walls and the noisy side roads...

"Whoosh—Pfft!"

Outside, Tom was vigorously slapping his ears.

Suddenly, he felt a jolt, as if the "chilling thing" that had been darting around in his head had shuddered violently.

Then, at an extremely fast speed, it was "hammered" out of his head, directly lifting his crown and "launching" him back into the crown!

At the same time, his swollen and deformed head, like a deflated balloon, quickly returned to its original fluffy, round, and adorable shape.