Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 238 Who am I?

Tom couldn't wait any longer; it felt like a million cats were scratching at his heart, and he couldn't calm down no matter what.

He took out the fairy coins and placed them beside him, ready to call for help at any time. Then he drew his wand and pointed it at himself.

"Inhale, exhale..." He took a deep breath, "Seduction!"

A strange feeling of searching through his own memories suddenly overwhelmed him, making him almost vomit, but he forced himself to endure it, trying to follow the timeline forward, and forward again, attempting to find those memories that he had inexplicably forgotten.

However, he soon entered a void.

His earliest memory is still the day he woke up in the orphanage.

Further ahead, it was as if there was nothing left; his mind was completely blank, as if he had just been born on that very day.

He tried for another half minute, until his mind and magic could no longer hold on, before finally exiting the Legilimency state.

"What's wrong with me?"

Tom felt incredibly frustrated.

"Could it be that my Legilimency isn't strong enough? My magic power is insufficient? What should I do...?"

Tom was completely bewildered. The Legilimency technique rewarded by the Book of Guidance was technically sound, so it must be a problem with his own magic. But improving magic was not something that could be done overnight. When would he be able to regain his memories?

If only the Book of Guidance could give me a task right now and tell me what to do.

"Wait, the Book of Guidance..."

He suddenly remembered that before the Book of Guidance changed, it was a diary that could write down the future.

The diary was already beside him when he woke up.

Since it's a diary, did it record anything from its past?

Is it possible that it originally had past records, but they were overwritten when the text was updated?

This book of guidance has always been very mysterious; it seems to have its own mind and can issue tasks based on one's circumstances.

What would happen if we used Legilimency on it?

Will it reveal past diaries?

This was undoubtedly an outrageous idea, but once it appeared in his mind, he couldn't shake it off no matter what.

Anyway, it's just a trial; at worst, it just won't work.

Thinking of this, he pointed his wand at the diary again, preparing to cast a spell, but then suddenly thought of something and pulled out the snakewood wand instead.

Tom held the two wands side by side in his hands and pointed them at the diary.

May Merlin bless you...

"Capture the spirit, grasp the mind!"

……

A notification message entered Murphy's mind while he was fast asleep. He was momentarily conscious, understood the message, and then chose to continue sleeping soundly.

……

As soon as Tom finished chanting the incantation, a pitch-black passageway opened up in an instant.

A flood of information rushed into Tom's mind.

……

"Hey, Tom."

He turned around, and suddenly a fist smashed into his face, knocking him to the ground.

A tall boy looked down at him and said, "This punch is to teach you a rule, to let you know who's in charge here."

"Billich," he heard himself say, "you mean yourself? Sorry, no offense, I'm just a little incredulous that you've managed to use such complex sentence structures. It's truly astonishing, considering even a snail has a larger brain than you."

He was kicked twice more.

One of the kicks landed on his chest, causing him to cough repeatedly.

"If you dare disobey me again, I'll break your legs!" Billy glared at him fiercely.

"Ernie's gone, so you think you're qualified to be the emperor of the orphanage?"

"At least I'm more qualified than you! You freak!"

"Take back that word," he heard himself say, his voice filled with a terrible anger.

"You're angry? Ha! The freak is angry! Freak! Freak!"

"You'll regret this, you idiot!"

"Still talking back! Beat him up!"

……

"Sir, I'd like to ask if you know anything about...&￥#%."

A slightly overweight middle-aged man stood before him, holding a wine glass. The man glared at him. "A subject of Defense Against the Dark Arts, is that it?"

"No, sir, I read it in a book, but I don't quite understand it," he heard himself say.

For some reason, he could tell that it was a lie.

"Hmm...yes...it's hard to find a book that details '&￥#%' at Hogwarts, Tom. It's very evil stuff, very evil," the professor said.

"Of course, it wouldn't hurt to give you a brief introduction. Simply put, it's an object that contains part of a human's soul."

"But I don't quite understand what's going on, sir," he said.

"That means you split your soul in two," the professor said, "and hide one part inside an object outside your body. That way, even if your body is attacked or destroyed, you won't die because a part of your soul remains unharmed. But, of course, existing in this form..."

"...Few people would want that, Tom, very few. It's better to die quickly."

……

"Tom, they say you broke Billy's leg." An elderly woman looked at him anxiously. "Did you do it?"

"No, Mrs. Cole, I didn't do it. They're lying. I was in my room at the time, and Billitch was playing with them outside. I think they kicked Billitch, but they're blaming me."

"They said they saw you laughing," Mrs. Cole said, still looking at him with concern. "Did you hurt Billy because he threatened you? They said Billy threatened to break your legs."

"I laughed?" he said in surprise, but his voice seemed to contain an uncontrollable excitement. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Cole, I didn't notice."

"But you're laughing right now, Tom."

……

"Good evening, Rube." His voice was extremely harsh.

The burly boy across from him jumped in surprise and slammed the door shut behind him. "What are you doing here, Tom?"

He took a few steps closer. "It's time to end this," he said. "I have to report you, Rubeus. They're discussing closing Hogwarts if the attacks don't stop."

"What did you say—" the boy opposite asked, confused.

"I know you didn't mean to kill. But monsters aren't ideal pets. I guess you just let it out for some exercise, and—"

"It definitely didn't kill anyone!"

"It won't! It absolutely won't!"

"Get out of the way."

……

"Pedra says you hanged her rabbit," Mrs. Cole said wearily. "Was it because she didn't want you to play with the rabbit?"

"I don't want to play with her and her silly rabbit," he said.

"I think she just felt you were too rough with her pet, and didn't mean any harm."

"This has nothing to do with her rabbit dying, Mrs. Cole," he said. "I think it might have been Billitch who did it."

“Billich went to a mental hospital, Tom,” Mrs. Cole said, looking at him. “He kept calling your name and begging you in his sleep.”

"I don't know why he did that, Mrs. Cole."

"Then why are you so happy, Tom? This is clearly a sad thing!"

"happy?"

He went back to his room and found a mirror.

A boy's face was reflected in the mirror.

He was indeed smiling, almost unable to contain his excitement, his lips parted in a cruel, gloating grin.

Wait, that face...

This is my face!

But how is that possible? How could I possibly look like this?

The boy in the mirror covered his face in terror.

who am I?

Who am I?

I am Tom.

This is Tom's memory.

I am Tom.

Which one, Tom?

Lucas... Tom... Brettson?

Or... Tom... Riddle?

……

With a bang, a flash of light exploded from the laptop, and the memory channel was disconnected.

Tom collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

(End of this chapter)