The school hospital is located on the second floor wing of the castle.
After a brief moment of daze, Dumbledore recovered, still looking at Tom gently with a smile, and said, "I never thought you would be so frank. Let's talk about it one by one, Tom."
Tom made a gesture of invitation and waited seriously for Dumbledore to speak.
Dumbledore thought about it and decided to start with the least important thing: "Why did Severus do that when he spread the rumor?"
"It was just a little wizard's joking revenge on the teacher who put him in detention. Besides, it didn't cause any physical harm to Professor Snape." Tom answered truthfully. He swore that he didn't think too much about it when he first did it.
"Then how did you know about this past event? Logically, a young wizard of your age should not know about it." Dumbledore was very curious about Tom's source of information.
"Of course I learned about it from the original novels and fan fiction in my previous life." Tom complained in his heart, but answered sincerely on the surface: "They made a big fuss back then, and even Hagrid knew everything. I heard it from a few drunks in the Leaky Cauldron as gossip when I went to Diagon Alley again during the summer vacation."
Perhaps Tom's expression was too sincere for Dumbledore to refute, so he decided to skip the topic.
Just as he was about to speak, Tom seemed to have predicted his judgment and answered first: "Professor, I can argue...ah...explain about the Unforgivable Curses and Fiendfyre."
Dumbledore looked at Tom as if he was watching your performance quietly.
Tom took out a replica of "Advanced Dark Magic Unveiled" (Grindelwald's Annotation Edition) that he had prepared long ago and handed it to Dumbledore.
Dumbledore took it and flipped through it, but he didn't expect to see the familiar handwriting of a person who was unforgettable to him in the comments on it. He was distracted for a moment and couldn't help asking Tom, "Where did this thing come from?"
"One day during the summer vacation, I was practicing magic from the textbook in the woods near the orphanage. Suddenly, a black-robed wizard with a hood appeared, threw the book and a badge to me, and disappeared after saying 'for the greater good'."
Tom lied to Dumbledore calmly, and took out a homemade saint badge from his pocket and waved it in front of Dumbledore.
Dumbledore remained noncommittal about Tom's words, his eyes dark and unclear.
'Should we go talk to Gellert?'
"Why don't you go talk to Grindelwald?"
Tom's words were almost synchronized with Dumbledore's inner thoughts. If Dumbledore hadn't known that he was very good at Occlumency, he would have almost thought that his mind was being read.
Tom's next sentence almost made Dumbledore sprain his back, and he understood Snape for the first time.
"I heard that you and Grindelwald were lovers, and that your duel with him was caused by a quarrel between the two of you. Is this true?"
Looking at Tom's gossipy expression, Dumbledore felt that he could no longer maintain his composure as an elder.
"Tom, where did you hear that?"
"I heard it through the grapevine from Cassandra."
Tom stared at Dumbledore with innocent eyes, silently apologizing again to the scapegoat in his heart.
"Listen less to gossip in the future." Dumbledore was led astray by Tom's jokes and almost forgot his original purpose.
Seeing that the conversation was going off track, Dumbledore quickly brought the topic back: "I'll go and confirm it. However, Tom, I still want to give you a word of advice. Being too obsessed with the dark arts will gradually corrupt people's hearts. I don't want you to go further down the wrong path."
"It's like a sword or a spear. If a fool uses it to vent his anger, disaster will occur. If a wise man uses it to punish violence, blessing will come." Tom shook his head in disagreement when he heard Dumbledore's words, and deliberately said Han Feizi's famous saying to Dumbledore in Chinese.
"What do you mean?" Dumbledore, who was fluent in multiple languages, did not understand. Apparently Chinese was not in his language package.
"This is a famous quote from Han Feizi, a thinker from an ancient country in the Far East two thousand years ago. In simple terms, weapons themselves are neither good nor bad. It mainly depends on how the user uses them. The same is true for black magic. Besides, I am not the only one who knows black magic."
Tom patiently explained to Dumbledore as he pulled out his yew wand.
"Expect God to Guard!"
A silver-white basilisk guardian angel formed in the air and circled around Tom.
Dumbledore looked at this scene with relief: "Tom, maybe you are right. It seems that I also need to find some oriental books to read carefully."
Tom chuckled and said, "Professor, I will give you a few books as Christmas gifts this year. But, Professor Quirrell, what are you going to do? The students from the four colleges are all waiting for your decision."
"Tom, I'm glad that you were able to facilitate this first united action between the colleges. But as an outstanding graduate of Ravenclaw, Quirinus's level is not as bad as you think. Maybe he just hasn't adapted yet in the first week of school."
Dumbledore was lying with his eyes open, but Quirrell was a stepping stone for Harry's training and an important tool to verify some of his guesses, so he couldn't be driven away so easily. At this time, Dumbledore had to come forward and find a way to protect him.
Unfortunately, Tom mercilessly exposed Dumbledore: "Professor Quirrell may have been very good before, but now he is obviously not suitable for teaching. Professor Dumbledore, we students have only been in Hogwarts for a total of seven years. Do you think it is appropriate to waste a year of Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
Dumbledore did not answer immediately. After a moment of silence, he made a suggestion that shocked Tom: "How about you be the assistant teacher of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class this year, helping Professor Quirrell to teach the lower grades?"
Tom's face changed when he heard this suggestion, and he couldn't help swallowing: "Why choose me? I'm just a young wizard who just entered school. Besides, if I need to assist in the class, what about other courses?"
Dumbledore asked with a half-smile, "Young wizards who have just entered school? First-year courses?"
Before Tom could argue, his tone changed, and he said with some sigh and hint, "30 years ago, a young man named Tom Riddle came to seek the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and I rejected him. But today, 30 years later, another Tom Riddle has entered Hogwarts, and this time I think he is very suitable for this position."
Of course Tom understood what Dumbledore meant, and without any pretense, he accepted the offer immediately: "Okay, then I'll be the assistant teacher of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class." The main point is that one dares to say, and the other dares to do.
The two chatted for a while before Dumbledore stood up and said goodbye.
Tom lay in bed, always feeling that talking to Dumbledore was more tiring than fighting Voldemort alone.
"Ah, Voldemort!" Tom had just laid down when he sat up again in shock. He always felt that he had forgotten something, and now he finally had some free time to remember it.
Clicking on the actual combat crystal in the system, his consciousness sank into it, and a line of options floated before his eyes: "Do you want to start today's challenge?"
It was not in Tom's nature to waste daily challenge opportunities, so he chose "yes" without hesitation.
"Default copy of "Battle of Hogwarts", prepare for consciousness transfer."
When I regained consciousness again, I saw the familiar square and the familiar bald man.
This time Tom gripped his wand tightly, and without further ado, he fired an Avada straight forward.