Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 182 I've seen this brother before.

Murphy doesn't believe claims like "Tom was born from an aphrodisiac, so he can't feel love."

Are all children born into this world products of love? No, right?

Furthermore, are all unions between men and women based on love? No, right?

What about women who undergo IVF alone? How is that calculated?

In Murphy's view, the only reason Tom Riddle became Voldemort and didn't understand "love" was that he had never truly experienced love, and no one had ever truly loved him.

Love is not an innate gift, but a skill, a technique, just like eating, drinking, and walking—it is an ability that needs to be learned.

Growing up in a loveless environment, it's perfectly normal for Tom not to know how to love.

On the contrary, Harry in the original story is incredibly resilient. Despite growing up in such an environment, he still managed to maintain the spark within him. In some ways, he is indeed stronger than Tom.

Murphy had a plan for Tom, which, in addition to achieving certain goals, also had a certain experimental purpose. He was also very curious to know what kind of power this "most powerful magic" that Dumbledore mentioned actually had.

……

Diagon Alley.

Hermione was vomiting so badly she felt dizzy and disoriented, as if she were about to die.

Apparition is still too exciting for an eleven-year-old.

This time, Murphy gave her a bottle of energizing potion and made her drink it.

This stuff is like a stimulant; it can restore the body to some abnormal states.

Tom, on the other hand, didn't seem to react much.

His body was actually dead; Murphy had simply used the Seed of the Mind to bind it to Tom's soul and activated his body's heartbeat, breathing, and other systems with some dark magic. His brain only had electrical responses similar to those in a coma; he was merely a vegetative state driven by Tom's soul.

After a while, Hermione finally recovered, and Murphy took the two children to Gringotts to apply for a student loan for Tom.

Then they took them to buy Tom a crucible, dragon skin gloves, books, and other items, most of which were second-hand.

Watching Tom carefully count the coins in his hand, Murphy couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion. He had been poor when he was in school, and that's how he got by.

So when he saw the owner of the secondhand crucible shop preparing to sell an old crucible to Tom for one gallon, he couldn't resist.

"Boss, this crucible is chipped and can't be folded. And the black ash here looks like it's been used for at least three years. How dare you charge such a high price? Three siecos, I don't want it for any more."

At the protective gear store, "the cotton inside the gloves is almost showing, and there's a burn hole here. There are at most four gloves."

At the bookstore, someone said, "A complete set of textbooks costs one Galleon? Are you trying to rob us? These aren't new books! They're in good condition, huh? Fine, we'll pick them out ourselves."

"Look, this one has no cover, this one's corners are chewed up, this one's yellowed, and with this parchment and pen, it's nine siscos in total. Want to sell it?"

After leaving the secondhand bookstore, Murphy found a place to sit down, took the worn-out books, and began to process them.

While cleaning the book, she taught Tom, "These yellowed and old books aren't damaged, they're just dirty. You can remove most of the mold with a cleaning agent, then air them out. For some stubborn stains, you can try alcohol or a shine cleaner, and they can usually restore about 70-80% of the stains."

"The easiest thing to do with these that don't have a cover is to make one yourself."

As he spoke, he used his wand to cut the parchment into a suitable size, wrapped it around the uncovered textbook, and then tapped it with his wand to create a beautiful cover design, which he then stuck onto the book.

"The books with missing corners are not badly damaged and do not affect their use."

As he spoke, he used his wand to trim the torn corner of the book into an arc shape, making it look smooth and neat without appearing abrupt.

After everything was processed, the old books no longer looked so old; instead, they had a unique kind of exquisite beauty.

Then I cleaned up the gloves and crucible again, restoring their functionality and making them look much better.

Hermione exclaimed in amazement, "Amazing! These things look brand new, and it only cost one Galleon! I spent thirteen Galleons!"

"There's no way around it, poor kids have to learn to be independent early." Murphy smiled. "If you don't learn to be frugal, you won't be able to make a living."

"Were you also... broke before?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, very poor. I was an orphan like Tom. My parents were dark wizards who died in prison and didn't leave much money. At that time, I was also a bit awkward and inflexible, so I was always poor and lived a very frugal life."

Tom glanced at Murphy's obviously expensive outfit, and then thought about how the goblins in Gringotts treated Murphy with such respect. It was hard to imagine that he had once been a poor kid.

"Alright, let's go buy school uniforms and wands." Murphy didn't say much and led the two to a second-hand robe shop.

They bought two robes that fit well, but there was one robe left that didn't fit. Tom wanted to buy the remaining one, which was much too big, but Murphy stopped him, saying, "You should still have enough money left. Go to Madam Malkin and have one made."

"But that would cost a lot of money."

"Books and crucibles are meant to be used, so it doesn't matter if they're a bit worn out. But clothes, besides being comfortable, are also for people to see. Dressing sloppily will always make people look down on you. It's not about being vain, it's just that it saves me more energy to focus on more important things."

"Finally, the magic wand."

Murphy was about to take them to Ollivander when he spotted two people through a raven he had placed on a high point somewhere in Diagon Alley and overheard their conversation.

"what?"

"What's wrong, Professor?"

"Oh, it's alright, let's go."

But at that moment, Tom suddenly had a premonition.

He made an excuse that he had forgotten something in the fitting room, went back, and opened the diary he always carried with him.

The text above has been updated.

"I learned a lot from Mr. Murphy during my trip to Diagon Alley."

"But what made me even happier was that I met my lifelong friend at Ollivanders wand shop."

"We have amazing similarities, our souls resonate, we are drawn to each other, and he will become my most loyal friend and most reliable partner."

Tom frowned. He had previously said that the person who would change his destiny was now his lifelong friend.

This diary seems to have a strong flavor of deception.

But no sooner had he thought that than his diary was updated again.

"But I didn't believe in fate, so I deliberately delayed and dawdled for a long time before going to the wand shop. I managed to buy the wand."

"It was a bright and sunny morning. I was practicing the Split Spell when suddenly my wand broke in half, and the spell backfired, hitting me instead."

"I am dead."

"Before I died, I shed tears of regret, if only..."

Okay, okay, I'll go, I'll go, alright?

Tom also became curious: who exactly was the person mentioned in the diary as his lifelong best friend?

A short while later, Murphy brought the two children to Ollivander's Wand Shop.

He had just stepped into the store when someone else walked in. Murphy exclaimed, "Sirius? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I took Harry on a trip to Egypt and we just got back yesterday. I only realized I haven't bought him a wand yet when I took him to school today."

"Hello, Mr. Darkholm." Harry Potter, who was following behind Sirius Black, also saw Murphy and greeted him.

Just then, he suddenly felt a tingling sensation on his forehead. He touched the scar on his forehead and then looked at a boy next to Murphy.

The other person also saw him.

In an instant, Tom knew that the diary was about this boy.

The same thought arose in their minds.

"who is he?"

"Where do I feel like I've seen this before?"

(End of this chapter)