Professor Hicks's Oblivion Charm was very effective.
Mrs. Cole and the other children no longer recognized Robert and Tom. In their eyes, Robert and Tom were just two good kids from wealthy families who had suddenly shown some kindness. Tom used the Riddle family's money to donate a lot of supplies to the orphanage. Mrs. Cole was very grateful for this. At least this way, no one in the orphanage would go hungry this Christmas.
Master Riddle did not object to Tom's actions. Instead, he felt relieved after seeing Tom do this. At the very least, this proved one thing: Tom was indeed not the evil wizard he had imagined before. Otherwise, how could he do good things?
After distributing the supplies, the two said goodbye to the old butler and returned to the safe house. Toby had dinner ready and waiting for them as usual. Even for Tom and Nagini, the attentive elves prepared their favorite food. Robert and Tom sat down and ate in silence.
After finishing his meal, Tom was about to go back to his room to read.
"Tom," Robert suddenly called.
"Are you calling me or your cat?" Tom turned and looked at him.
"This time, I'm calling you," Robert said calmly.
"What's wrong?" Tom sat back down at the table.
"You know what? After learning about your good deed today, Professor Dumbledore and Master Riddle were very happy. Especially Professor Dumbledore—his words in his letter to me revealed his relief," Robert said with a smile.
"Um…"
Tom didn't know why Robert suddenly brought this up, so he could only answer vaguely and wait for his next words.
"Tom, you have really grown up… you've truly learned something from me," Robert continued.
"What am I learning?"
"You are now better at disguising yourself than before."
"What do you mean?" Tom suddenly became a little nervous.
"Professor Dumbledore thinks you're finally starting to change. Do you think I feel the same way?"
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying that you imitated me very well this time. You almost succeeded in fooling everyone. But… you couldn't fool me."
"You… you mean what I did was fake?" Tom seemed very angry.
"I didn't say what you did was fake…" Robert had a slight smile on his face.
"Hmph! I know what you mean! Robert! You mean what I did was just acting, right?"
Robert didn't answer. He just smiled and looked at Tom quietly.
Tom suddenly felt like he had punched cotton…
However, even Nagini and Toby felt that Robert was going too far.
What Tom did today was truly impeccable.
Giving back to the orphanage where he grew up was not only an act of gratitude but also an act of kindness.
In any case, it was a good thing.
They couldn't understand why Robert was questioning it.
"I don't care what you think. I didn't do these things for your approval," Tom said angrily before leaving the table and striding up the stairs.
"Look, you're getting anxious again. Tom… it's okay to fool others, but don't fool yourself."
Hearing this, Tom stopped briefly but quickly disappeared around the corner.
Nagini raised her head and hissed.
"Nagini, I don't deny that a person's character can change dramatically. But that usually requires a major turning point. What about Tom? I can only say that he's too anxious…"
Nagini tilted her head thoughtfully.
Robert rested his face on one hand and slowly stirred his coffee with the other, a playful smile on his lips.
"Tom… you are becoming more and more interesting…"
He didn't deny that Tom was indeed different now.
However, the change was so abrupt that even those who knew Tom well felt like they didn't know him anymore.
There must be something wrong when things seem too unusual.
In this world, no one knew Tom better than Robert.
Tom was someone who excelled at disguising himself!
In the original story, his disguise won the favor of all the teachers and students—except Dumbledore, who was never deceived by him.
So why did Dumbledore believe him so easily this time?
Dumbledore didn't even see what Tom did; he just believed it after hearing Robert's account!
So, Dumbledore didn't believe in Tom's change—he believed in Robert's judgment…
"Tom, you've really grown up. You've even used me as a pawn in your disguise."
But there was another reason that confirmed Robert's suspicion.
For merely keeping Dumbledore alive, that ridiculous system had generously given Robert 10,000 merit points.
But… for supposedly turning a future Dark Lord into a good person, the system only gave him 55.5 merit points?
If Tom had truly changed for the better, then why was the reward so insignificant?
On the second floor, Tom walked into his room angrily and slammed the door shut.
However, after the door was closed, Tom, who had been full of anger, immediately calmed down, as if he had taken off a mask.
He sat on his bed, stroking his wand gently, his eyes turning sinister.
"I even fooled Dumbledore… but as expected, I still can't fool you, can I, Robert?"
"Hmph… no matter what, I will step on your head sooner or later! There will definitely be a chance!"
In the following days, Tom was initially worried that Robert would expose his true identity to Dumbledore.
However, when Tom saw Robert again the next day, he seemed to have forgotten about the conversation…
Gradually, Tom understood.
For some reason, Robert would probably never tell anyone.
So, in the days that followed, both Tom and Robert tacitly understood each other and never mentioned that conversation again.
As if nothing had happened.
But what made Tom uneasy was that Robert seemed to trust him more than before!
Robert didn't even avoid him when researching and improving spells. He even invited Tom to participate!
If it weren't for their previous conversation, Tom might have believed that Robert had been completely deceived by him.
Tom was sure that Robert must be plotting something against him! But he didn't have any evidence yet…
In this way, the two schemers stayed in the safe house until Christmas.
On Christmas morning, Robert woke up early.
Phoenix Fawkes had brought them a large number of gifts.
Since the two had been staying in the safe house, the owls couldn't find them, so Dumbledore had asked Fawkes to deliver the gifts in multiple trips.
After treating Fawkes to fresh eels, Robert ran upstairs and knocked on Tom's door.
"Tom! It's time to get up! If you don't get up, I'll open your presents!"
Tom, who was in a bad mood after waking up, opened the door with a gloomy face.
His hair was messy from sleep.
He had been studying spells all night and went to bed very late. He hadn't expected Robert to wake him up so early…
Although he wanted to ignore Robert and continue sleeping, Tom knew that if he didn't get up, Robert would probably break down his door…
After freshening up and drinking an invigorating potion, Tom walked into the living room.
As soon as he entered, he was shocked by the mountain of gifts in front of him.
"Are all of these mine?" Tom asked in surprise.
"That's a nice thought, but unfortunately, these are all mine. Yours are over there," Robert said, pointing to a small pile by the fireplace.
Tom looked at his gifts, then at Robert's…
At that moment, he once again realized the difference between people.
"Why do you have so many?"
"It's simple, Tom. If you keep this up when you return to school, you'll receive just as many next year."
Robert's words made Tom's heart tighten.
He was hinting at something!
If he kept pretending, he could gain more friends… and more gifts…
Looks like I need to train my mind for Occlumency, Tom thought.
At that moment, Robert found a particularly interesting gift in his pile…
It was from Mr. G.
Inside was something very familiar—a fairy metal ball.
Tom had received the same thing.
"What does Grindelwald mean by this?" Tom frowned.
"This is a gift, Tom. And, logically, it's a very generous one."
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