After Tom once again stepped out of the orange vortex and returned to the real world, he couldn't help but weigh the elder wand that had appeared in his hand.
"Another elder wand. If I get a few more, the elder wand might go from Refined 1 to Refined 5."
However, the "Crimes of Grindelwald" dungeon, which became a permanent instance after being cleared, allowed Tom to learn how to lecture (and sell) from Grindelwald every day, changing his methods.
After tidying up his spoils, Tom hummed a tune and Apparated back to Sirius's small apartment.
When Tom pushed the door open, Harry was sitting blankly on the living room sofa, lost in thought.
Tom was about to ask what was going on, but Harry waved the small note in his hand at him, then pointed to Sirius's room, and made a "shush" gesture.
Tom immediately understood and quietly sat down opposite Harry.
"Ah~"
Just as Tom and Harry were staring at each other, counting ants to pass the time, a miserable scream came from Sirius's room.
Tom and Harry quietly opened the door a crack and looked inside, only to see Sirius tightly hugging the quilt, wrapped up in it.
Sirius, who had been mischievous with James since his student days, resisted Lord Voldemort after graduation, and never succumbed even after being wrongly thrown into Azkaban, had never been as pitiful, weak, and helpless as he was at this moment.
The woman beside him had slowly dressed, and mocked Sirius, "I didn't expect someone as handsome as you to be so bad at it. Could it be that you're still a virgin at this age?"
The woman thought for a moment, pulled a five-pound note from her purse, thoughtfully wrote her phone number on it, and then threw it at Sirius's face: "Forget it, for your face, consider this money a tip for you. Remember to come find me again next time, I'll teach you well."
After speaking, the woman pulled open the door and happened to see Tom and Harry peeking. She curled her lips and smiled at the two: "Little brothers, do you want to try it too?"
As Tom and Harry shook their heads wildly, the woman left Sirius's apartment without lingering.
And at this moment, on the bed, Sirius, 32 years old, virgin, Black, was in a completely broken state.
Tom, the instigator, thoughtfully sat by Sirius's bed, patted his shoulder, handed him a box of contraceptives, and comforted him, "Sirius, don't be sad, the first time is always difficult. But you still need to be moderate with this kind of thing, after all, you're not young anymore, and keep this safe to avoid getting sick, Harry would be sad if you did."
After this farce, Harry felt that staying at Sirius's house was too unbearable. Although Harry believed he loved Sirius, he couldn't stop his godfather from pursuing happiness after all.
So, on a dark and windy night, Ron, who received Harry's letter, brought Fred and George and drove Mr. Arthur Weasley's illegally modified car to secretly pick up Harry.
Of course, Harry didn't burn his bridges; he still left a note for Sirius.
The next morning, Sirius, seeing the note Harry left, rushed to The Burrow, then returned to the apartment with his head down like a dead dog.
Tom later learned from big-mouthed Harry that after Sirius went to find Harry that day, Mrs. Weasley had a heart-to-heart talk with him for three hours.
She spoke from the glorious history of the Black family to his heroic deeds in fighting Lord Voldemort, from recalling the wonderful school life he shared with James and Remus, to pitying his painful days in Azkaban, and finally expressed her dissatisfaction with Sirius's current self-degradation, telling him to properly fulfill his responsibility as Harry's godfather and to be a role model for the children.
She also encouraged Sirius to bravely pursue love, saying that although she hadn't noticed it in school, if he truly liked Severus Snape, he shouldn't waste himself like this, otherwise he would regret missing out on a lifetime, and she guaranteed they wouldn't judge him.
Finally, Mrs. Weasley warned Sirius that if there was a next time, she wouldn't mind sending him away directly with four silent spells.
Tom broke out in a cold sweat listening to all of this. As expected of a Prewett daughter and the mistress of the Weasley family, her combat power was strong.
After pitying Sirius for a second, Tom put this silly dog out of his mind; after all, one gets used to carrying the blame.
After Harry left Sirius's apartment, Tom also felt it was inappropriate to stay any longer, so he left the apartment that day and returned to the orphanage.
Not long after Tom returned to the orphanage, Hogwarts' owls arrived as scheduled.
Taking the second-year books brought by the owl, and looking at the complete set of Gilderoy Lockhart's books, Tom couldn't help but wail for his soon-to-be-empty wallet.
After packing his luggage once again, Tom set off for Diagon Alley, and this time, with plenty of free time, Tom unhurriedly chose Muggle transportation.
After all, Diagon Alley was crowded and full of prying eyes, and Tom didn't want to get into the trouble of being seen by someone as a 12-year-old Wizard who could Apparate.
A year later, the Leaky Cauldron was as dirty, messy, and poor as ever. If the magic world had a floating Black flag, it would probably be on the list every year.
Pinching his nose, he arrived at the courtyard, saw the unsightly trash can, thought for a moment, and then turned to leave the Leaky Cauldron.
When he returned to the courtyard again, after looking around to make sure no one was there, Tom cast a Banishing Charm and a Locking Charm on the courtyard entrance, then quickly took out a large pile of bricks and a dozen identical trash cans from his expandable bag.
Waving his wand, a false wall quickly rose in front of the original wall, then he neatly placed the trash cans along the wall, and applied spells to each trash can and the wall.
After doing all this, Tom removed the lock on the courtyard entrance and looked at his handiwork with satisfaction.
At this moment, he, Tom Riddle, understood the true meaning of "What is joy? I am joy."
At this moment, he, Tom Riddle, was a loyal follower of Aha.
After confirming everything was foolproof again, Tom quickly Apparated away, his destination—Knockturn Alley.
Just as Tom left, Professor McGonagall happened to lead the first batch of Muggle first-years to the Leaky Cauldron this year.
When Professor McGonagall led the first-years through the pub hall to the courtyard, preparing to explain how to enter Diagon Alley, she froze.
A dozen identical trash cans were neatly arranged, making it impossible to distinguish which one was the original one used as a positioning marker.
When Professor McGonagall tried to move the trash cans to find the correct one, she found that each trash can had been enchanted with a permanent sticking charm and could not be moved or replaced.
Professor McGonagall took a deep breath, then tried to find the correct brick based on the trash can's position in her memory, but even after she had tapped almost all the bricks on the wall, the wall did not react.
The surrounding Muggle Wizards and their parents were already showing impatient expressions, looking at Professor McGonagall as if she were a swindler.
Professor McGonagall, gradually unable to suppress her temper, cast a Reducto spell at the wall, only to find that the entire wall had been enchanted with powerful protective magic. Her Reducto was like a stone sinking into the sea, not even causing a ripple.
At this moment, Professor McGonagall could no longer control herself and let out a loud roar.
"Which damned bastard did this!!!"