Chapter 645: You’re the Culprit, Dumbledore!

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At night, inside the pocket world, Tom let out a weary sigh while feeding Nagini.

"What a headache..."

After everything that had happened, the scale of the celebration party had already far exceeded his original expectations.

More than half of Hogwarts’ students would probably show up, and there would definitely be plenty from the other schools coming to join the fun too. With that many people attending, it would look pretty rude if he didn’t invite the professors.

Whether they came or not was another matter, but at the very least, they had to be informed.

As if sensing Tom’s frustration, Nagini suddenly moved closer and gently rubbed her head against his hand, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"You really are sharp, huh? I’m fine."

Only after seeing him smile did Nagini close her cold snake eyes and curl up beside his feet.

After being together for so long, the bond between them had long since become extraordinary. Their understanding of each other was nearly perfect.

Still, it wasn’t the kind of relationship shared between close friends. It was simply that of a master and a loyal pet. At present, Nagini was just an unusually intelligent snake.

As for dealing with Nagini’s blood curse, Tom already had a foolproof solution in mind. The best method was the golden apples. Once the next batch ripened, it would also be the moment Nagini regained her human identity.

Recently, he had been watering the golden apple tree with water from the Kanathos Sacred Spring. Judging by the progress... He should see results before the end of this term.

(A/N: If you don’t remember, Tom got Kanathos Spring in Chapter 589, when he called it Hera’s Bathwater.)

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The next day, Tom began personally delivering invitations to each professor.

Maybe Astoria alone didn’t have enough pull to invite professors to a student celebration party, but Tom definitely did. Every professor he invited accepted happily.

Flitwick even grabbed him and spent two full hours discussing blood curses. By the time the professor finally fell into deep contemplation after gaining a mountain of new insights, Tom seized the chance to slip away.

The moment he stepped out the door, he ran straight into Snape.

The man strode down the corridor with his usual expressionless face, coat billowing behind him from how fast he was walking. The students in the hallway scattered out of the way one after another.

"Professor Snape!"

Tom quickly called out.

Snape, who had been keeping a stony expression the whole time, twitched slightly around the eyes. Part of him desperately wanted to pretend he hadn’t heard and walk away.

Unfortunately, reason told him that would only make things worse.

So Snape slowed his pace and allowed Tom to catch up.

"Professor Snag—"

"Hm?"

That single word instantly destroyed what had actually been a fairly decent mood today.

Snape’s dead-fish eyes turned even emptier as he stared at Tom.

"Riddle... what exactly did you just call me?"

"Sorry, slip of the tongue..." Tom laughed awkwardly, smoothly changing the subject as if nothing had happened. He pulled out one of his custom-made invitations.

"Professor, you should be free this weekend, right?"

Honestly, he didn’t even know what had come over him just now. The moment he saw Snape, he suddenly remembered that before his reincarnation, HBO supposedly cast a black actor to play Snape in some adaptation.

While everyone was angry at this direction, he had already started imagining it... James Potter bullying Snape. The new reason? Racism... Snape kneeling and calling Voldemort "my Lord." The episode would have to be called The Return of Slavery, right?

Tom’s wild imagination finally stopped, hearing—

"...Understood, Riddle. I’ll attend."

Snape couldn’t shake the feeling that the way Tom was looking at him today was deeply unsettling. To prevent this brat from suddenly having another "brilliant inspiration," and forcing him to brew potions without sleep again, he decisively accepted the invitation, snatched it from Tom’s hand, and turned to leave.

He walked even faster than before.

"Why’s he in such a rush?"

Tom muttered to himself and shook his head. No idea what weird episode Snape was having this time, and frankly, he couldn’t be bothered guessing. He simply headed upstairs instead.

He’d invited the professors already. No way he could forget old Dumbles, right?

Not long after, Tom arrived at the headmaster’s office. Dumbledore had been troubled over the Sun-Chasers robbery incident, but after receiving the invitation, he temporarily pushed those worries aside and agreed cheerfully that he would definitely attend.

"Congratulations, Tom. The greatest problem you’ve faced since enrolling at Hogwarts has finally been solved. Truly remarkable."

The old man smiled so broadly the wrinkles on his face practically folded together. It was obvious he was genuinely happy.

Happy for Tom, because from his very first term at Hogwarts, Tom had been searching for a way to solve the blood curse. And after more than three years of persistence, he had finally succeeded.

Dumbledore was happy for Astoria too. She was his student, after all. Watching her suffer under the blood curse while being powerless to help as headmaster had always left him feeling guilty.

But more than anything else... He felt fortunate.

Fortunate for the wizarding world itself.

Thankfully, after enrolling at Hogwarts, Tom had met the Greengrass sisters. He’d found people capable of keeping him grounded, at least somewhat.

Without Daphne and Astoria, if Tom had spent several more years developing in complete isolation... Everyone else would probably have been doomed.

Fortunately, things hadn’t reached the worst possible outcome.

A person preparing to build a family was far less likely to develop dangerously extreme ideas.

...

..

The next morning during breakfast, Tom distributed invitations to the other headmasters as well. And whether the professors from their schools attended or not was up to them.

Even Fontaine, the one he got along with the least, received an invitation.

That alone surprised quite a few of the headmasters and professors.

Everyone knew about the friction and bad blood between Tom Riddle and Agilbert Fontaine. Aside from their few direct clashes, the two basically treated each other like strangers for life.

Riddle... What a classy guy.

...

Meanwhile, Fontaine accepted the invitation with a smile, though inwardly he was turning things over again and again.

It seemed Tom Riddle had truly been focused the entire time on solving his little girlfriend’s blood curse.

If that was the case, would he even have had the spare energy to sabotage the Sun-Chasers?

Tom’s suspicion level immediately dropped sharply in Fontaine’s mind.

Which, naturally, made everyone else seem more suspicious instead.

Fontaine casually glanced toward Dumbledore.

Old Dumbles was quietly talking with Professor McGonagall, both of them smiling faintly.

That settles it.

You’re the culprit, Dumbledore! I knew it.

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