A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 303 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 hurt me." Harry's voice was almost inaudible. "You must be mistaken about something..."

"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 was willing to believe him, especially given his 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.

"It's one thing for the family to be poor... but the twins clearly earn a lot of money, buy things for the family, and buy Ginny new robes and new textbooks, but they don't buy him any."

"And then there's Malfoy, whom he despises; Stark, whom he admires; Granger, who is academically gifted but not 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 feel so inferior?" 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 areas, investigating the professors' preferences, and even contemplating 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 bewitch 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 isn't without its costs," Riddell 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 power and attacked that old bastard Filch!"

"impossible!"

“Nothing is impossible,” Riddle said with a laugh. “Ron disappeared for a while before Halloween, didn’t he?”

I led him to the secret room, but there was something disgusting and filthy placed at the entrance!

I had Ron clean up because he smelled bad. There were still students in the break room, so I sent him to Black Lake and pretended to fall in. The silt covered up the smell.

Then, I arranged for Ron to happen to appear in front of Filch, followed him to his office, attacked him, and dumped him in the hallway.

“That’s not all,” Riddle continued. “Ron hated that mud bastard Colin. He was always taking pictures of you and bothering you all the time… so I attacked Colin.”

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

"Elois...she was just unlucky. Instead of going to class, she was wandering around the academy and ended up at the entrance to the secret chamber..."

"No! The diary was lost that night at the Duel 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, 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 dueling 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 equal 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 simply used magic to slightly influence his dark side, turning 'equivalent exchange' into attacks that I desired time and time again."

Harry really wanted to rush over and slap 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 enter into 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 is probably going to..."

"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, he 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 is 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 slowly calmed down and shook his head.

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

Riddle's eyes were cold, and he hissed.

"Ahhhhh!"

Ron suddenly clutched his chest, his face contorted in an extremely grotesque expression, and a chilling scream escaped his throat.

A thin, long snake, covered in blood, crawled out of Ron'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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(End of this chapter)