"But… I haven't seen him since I returned," Tom murmured.
"These things take time, Tom. The shadows in one's heart always need time to fade," said Mr. Riddle with a sigh. "Though you might not want to hear this… truth be told, after hearing that your mother had passed, he actually began to show some signs of improvement."
"My mother… was she the deepest shadow in his heart?"
"I'm afraid so. I don't expect you to forgive him, but I hope you can understand… after all that he went through, it's not entirely unreasonable that he ended up this way."
Tom was silent for a moment, then finally said, "There's nothing to forgive him for. He never really wronged me. If I were him… I wouldn't have handled it any better."
Putting himself in his father's shoes, Tom had to admit—his mother's actions had indeed been abysmal. If he were in Old Tom's place, he too would likely carry such psychological scars for a lifetime.
He, more than anyone, understood now what it felt like to be suppressed, completely powerless to resist…
It was rather pathetic, really.
The reason he could now empathise with his father, and even think from someone else's perspective for the first time, was because he'd spent so long enduring life under Wade Reynolds's constant pressure.
After touring the new house, Tom and Mr. Riddle sat down together on a bench by the front door.
Tom opened his suitcase and pulled out a tea set.
This suitcase had been a Christmas gift from Wade. Thanks to the Undetectable Extension Charm placed on it, it could hold a considerable number of items.
Back then, Wade had even said he forgot to prepare a gift for him...
Mr. Riddle watched in surprise as the teapot floated in mid-air and automatically poured a steaming cup of tea into the empty teacup in his hand.
The hovering teapot… as if it would never run out, and the tea never seemed to go cold…
After overcoming his initial fear of the wizarding world, Mr. Riddle had gradually adapted, and now he simply found magic to be full of wonder.
After pouring Mr. Riddle some tea, Tom then took out a cage from the suitcase.
Inside the cage was a snowy owl.
It was a white Snowy Owl that he had just purchased today in Diagon Alley.
Perhaps from being kept inside the suitcase for too long, the owl looked a bit displeased.
"I'll be using magic to conceal this place later. If you want to contact me, just write a letter and send it with her. I'll come find you," Tom said as he handed the owl over.
Mr. Riddle had already been receiving Tom's letters by owl post, so this didn't come as much of a surprise to him.
He simply nodded and took the Snowy Owl.
"What's its name?" Mr. Riddle asked, looking at the owl inside the cage.
"Name?" Tom was taken aback for a moment.
In his eyes, owls were merely tools for delivering letters… why would a tool need a name?
"From today on, she's part of the family too. She should have a name," Mr. Riddle said cheerfully, gazing at the owl in the cage.
He had always felt that owls from the wizarding world were far more intelligent than any others he'd seen before.
Every time he received a letter from one, it almost felt like they could understand human speech.
"Then you name her," Tom said casually.
Mr. Riddle thought for a moment and then suggested tentatively, "How about… letting your father name her, what do you think?"
Tom paused, not quite understanding Mr. Riddle's reasoning.
Still, he didn't object.
"Whatever."
"That's wonderful," Mr. Riddle said happily.
Next, Tom planned to move into the new place.
So, the butler, Mr. August, soon delivered the rest of Tom's belongings.
After Mr. Riddle and the others left, Tom pulled out his wand and began casting spells around the woods.
Protective Enchantment…
Muggle-Repelling Charm…
Though the forest wasn't very large, it still took him over an hour to finish casting spells along the perimeter.
Thankfully, Wade had taught him how to mask his traces. Otherwise, just this one round would've gotten him expelled several times over…
…
While Tom was setting up his secret base, Wade was in the greenhouse outside the Wizard Tower, working overtime to tame that Venomous Tentacula.
Thunk thunk thunk!
Another round of volley fire.
Wade and Tomcat, perfectly in sync, each grabbed a wooden shield and blocked the flurry of fangs until the plant finally settled down.
It's not that it didn't want to keep attacking—it was just severely undernourished from being watered only with plain water every day.
And Wade and his cat kept showing up again and again!
Its venomous fangs… didn't even have time to grow back anymore!
It was truly… all out of juice…
"It looks like it's done for," Wade said.
"Meow!!"
Tomcat peeked out from behind the shield with one eye, then nodded rapidly.
"You can start your performance now, Tom," Wade said.
Tomcat puffed out its chest and proudly patted it, as if to say: "Leave it to me."
Then it pulled out a large bottle of nutrient solution from behind and strutted up to the Venomous Tentacula.
At this point, the plant was utterly exhausted.
A long seam slowly opened along one of its branches, revealing a blood-red eye inside—it looked horrifying.
"Keke~ Meow~~!"
But Tomcat wasn't scared at all. It even reached out and poked at the largest bloom atop the Tentacula's head, revealing the insides of the petals.
Inside the petals, not a single fang remained—just a bald patch. It looked utterly pitiful.
Tomcat let go of the petals, shook its head, and clicked its tongue repeatedly, making that "tsk tsk tsk" sound.
The Venomous Tentacula was burning with rage.
If it had even a sliver of energy left, it would've shot that damn cat full of holes!
But now, all it could do was droop its bizarre single eye and glare intently at Tomcat.
Then, right in front of it, Tomcat opened the bottle.
A familiar scent wafted out. Though the Tentacula had no sense of smell, it could still sense that the liquid inside was exactly the nutrient solution it craved most.
Tomcat dipped a claw into the bottle, drew out a drop, and brought it close to the base of the Tentacula.
The Tentacula's eye widened at once, locked onto that single droplet.
Even one drop would be enough!
But just as the droplet was about to fall, Tomcat suddenly pulled its paw back and licked it instead, making a blissful expression.
"Meeeaaaaoooowww~~ Wow~~"
(╬▔皿▔)╯The entire vine of the Venomous Tentacula trembled in fury.
Damn fangs! Grow, damn it! I'm gonna riddle that damn cat full of holes!
Off to the side, Wade had been silently observing the Venomous Tentacula's reaction—or rather, its "expression."
Though describing a plant this way sounded bizarre… when it came to system-generated flora, even the strangest things somehow made sense.
Was this species always capable of growing intelligent plants from the start?
Or was it Tomcat's nutrient solution that caused it to mutate again and gain sapience?
Wade was very curious.
While Wade pondered, Tomcat continued its performance.
Right in front of the Tentacula, it tilted back its head and started chugging the nutrient solution from the glass bottle.
Since it was a transparent bottle, the Tentacula could see everything clearly. In just a few seconds, Tomcat had gulped down half the liquid!
At this moment, the Tentacula's craving for the nutrient solution had reached its peak.
Hic— Burp~~
After only drinking half, Tomcat let out a long, satisfied burp, as if it were already full.
The Venomous Tentacula stared at him with utter longing.
If you're full, then give me the rest!
But Tomcat only grinned cheekily—and poured the remaining half-bottle right onto the ground.
The Tentacula, trapped in its flowerpot, could only watch in horror.
Whoosh!
Its entire body thrashed wildly, leaves flailing like it was screaming at the top of its lungs—
You poured it out?! YOU POURED IT OUT?!
Lick it up! I command you to lick it clean!
Its single bloodshot eye was fixed on the spilled nutrient solution, practically bulging from its socket.
"Forget it, looks like it's still not willing to give in. Just water it with plain water again, let's go," Wade said helplessly. "I honestly don't get it—if it just admitted defeat, it could be drinking nutrient solution every day, but no, it insists on plain water."
Whoosh whoosh whoosh! The Tentacula furiously shook its branches, nodding and bowing desperately.
Enough! It's enough—I surrender!
"Meaw! Meaw!!" Tomcat tugged on Wade's sleeve, then pointed at the Venomous Tentacula.
"Hm? It gave in?" Wade asked curiously.
Tomcat nodded vigorously.
"Alright…" Wade stepped closer to the Tentacula again. "If you've truly surrendered, I can give you nutrient solution—every meal, even. But if you're just tricking us, planning to turn on us once you're full… then I'll make this clear now: we're the only ones who can brew this nutrient solution. You either get full every day, or you get one last feast. Think it through."
The Tentacula nodded frantically.
"Tom, give it to it."
Grinning wide, Tomcat reached behind him—who knows from where—and pulled out several more bottles of nutrient solution, then poured them all straight into the Tentacula's flowerpot.
The plant's single eye narrowed in pleasure, and its tendrils trembled with delight.
It was like a dying man in a desert suddenly offered all the clean water he could drink.
Ahh~ Bliss~
The nutrient solution disappeared into the soil at a visible speed.
Tomcat dumped in five or six bottles—and the flowerpot was still dry.
At the same time, the fangs hidden in the petals of the Venomous Tentacula began growing rapidly again.
A short while later, it was finally full.
This time, the nutrient solution in the flowerpot didn't vanish instantly.
Wade kept a wary eye on it, but the plant no longer attacked.
Woosh~~ Whosh~~ The Tentacula gently swayed its tendrils to express its gratitude…
This nutrient solution was so good—what if it never got to drink it again? Fine, it gives up. No more fighting…
It had never felt this satisfied in its entire life.
Tomcat set the bottles down, pointed at the remaining nutrient solution inside one of them, then proudly patted its own chest.
As if to say, I brewed all of this!
The Tentacula lightly placed a tendril on Tomcat's shoulder.
As if to say… From now on, we're blood brothers…
"Since you've yielded, I'll give you a name too. How about… 'Fang'?"
The Tentacula rustled its branches in approval, completely unbothered by Wade's lazy naming.
As long as it could eat its fill… who cared about a name anyway?
_____
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