Grindelwald had taken up residence at Hogwarts, and Tom felt it was very Hogwarts-like, unexpectedly normal… or not.
"What's wrong with you again?"
Cassandra asked curiously, watching Tom slam his hand on the table in anger once more.
"I need to go to the Headmaster's Office and have a serious discussion with Dumbledore about Hogwarts being the safest place in the world."
The resentment emanating from Tom was almost uncontrollable as he spoke.
Cassandra looked at Tom strangely: "Why? It's common knowledge that Hogwarts is the safest place in the world. What's there to discuss?"
Hearing Cassandra say that, Tom choked up for some reason and retorted angrily, "Hogwarts, the safest place? The Dark Lord has already moved in!"
Hearing this, Cassandra became even more confused: "But hasn't the Dark Lord already moved in? Why discuss this with Dumbledore now? And even if you do discuss it, it doesn't seem appropriate for you to personally go, does it?"
"…"
Tom felt like he was punching cotton; he was so frustrated. He sighed, feeling quite helpless: "Cassandra!"
"Hmm?"
"That was well said. Please don't say it again next time."
Cassandra genuinely felt bewildered. Had the Dark Lord's brain gone bad again?
Tom decided to skip that topic. He looked at the empty STARGAZER gathering place and asked curiously, "Why are there so few people at the gatherings these past two days? Where have they all gone? Do you have a recruitment plan this year?"
"There's no recruitment plan for now. Hermione and the others, who were originally in charge, have all gone to Professor Lockhart's Black Magic Defense Class club. After all, that's currently the most popular gathering at Hogwarts, and the participants are all personally invited by Professor Lockhart. Even so, there's still an endless stream of people who want to join. As for STARGAZER, sigh…"
Speaking of this, Cassandra felt quite helpless. Who could blame her when Lockhart's popularity was so high right now?
Tom felt his fists unconsciously clench. He knew that nothing good ever came from encountering Grindelwald. Hadn't his home been stolen right at the start of the school year?
The key was that Grindelwald hadn't invited him! How much did he look down on him? Did Tom Riddle not care about his reputation?
"Forget it. This year, we'll just trick as many as we can into joining the team, then we'll talk."
Tom thought for a moment and then asked Cassandra, "What about Draco? I haven't seen him much these past few days. Has he not taken any action?"
Cassandra looked at Tom strangely: "Isn't Draco still working on that Black Magic Defense Class teacher expulsion plan version 2.0 that you two came up with together? I thought you knew."
"…"
Tom fell silent for a moment. After a while, he gently patted Cassandra's shoulder and said earnestly, "Please help me custom-order a coffin for Draco. It needs to be of good quality and have a magnificent appearance. I'm afraid there won't be enough time to make one on the fly."
"?"
Cassandra suddenly thought the Dark Lord's brain had indeed gone bad again.
And so, amidst a series of misfortunes at the start of the new term, Tom received a message from two Weasley Twins whom he had long since forgotten.
"See you this Saturday in Hogsmeade. Let's discuss game development matters properly."
Tom glanced at the textbook he was carrying today, unsure, then looked again and became furious.
What did George and Fred mean? He was only in his second year; he wasn't old enough to go to Hogsmeade yet.
As for sneaking off, please, who didn't know that he, Tom, was the most law-abiding good child in all of Hogwarts? How could he do something that violated school rules?
Resist, he must firmly resist.
Thus, on Saturday morning, in the newly opened Al Cafe in Hogsmeade Village, Tom and the Weasley Twins sat together, chatting happily.
"We've been waiting for you for a long time! You were the one who said on the train that we should develop a game together, but we never heard from you, so we had no choice but to come find you."
Tom felt a bit embarrassed hearing George say this, as he was the one who had forgotten about it. So he quickly apologized: "I'm sorry, I've been too busy lately. Let me treat you today as an apology."
Just as Tom was about to order, the waiter had already placed a cup of coffee in front of Tom, bowing respectfully and saying, "This is on the house, Dark Lord!"
'Slander, this is slandering me!'
Tom's inner groundhog was roaring.
Didn't he see the strange looks the Weasley Twins were giving him? They were even teasingly shouting "Dark Lord," "Dark Lord," as if afraid others wouldn't know.
Tom, feeling weary, pushed the coffee back to the waiter: "I think you've made a mistake. I'm not some Dark Lord!"
The waiter looked troubled and glanced towards the bar. Tom followed his gaze and was instantly shocked.
He saw a woman holding a parchment that looked like a wanted poster. After carefully cross-referencing it again, she nodded to the pleading waiter, confirming it.
And this woman was not unfamiliar to Tom. Although she was older, Tom recognized her at a glance: she was indeed the Black Rose of France—Veida Rosier.
Connecting this with the name of the newly opened cafe, Tom instantly understood who was behind it.
'Damn it, that lingering Grindelwald, why are you everywhere? Dumbledore, aren't you going to manage your old flame? Hogwarts is almost surrounded by his Saints!'
Tom cursed inwardly while tearfully accepting Grindelwald's coffee. Since Grindelwald was treating, he might as well drink it.
At this point, the Weasley Twins also realized something was amiss. They dropped their playful demeanor, didn't ask any more questions, and directly discussed business with Tom.
"So what exactly is the game you're planning to develop?"
Tom took a sip of coffee and, without ceremony, once again told the Weasley Twins the story of a game called "Yu-Gi-Oh!" After all, it was only 1992, and Tom unceremoniously claimed Takahashi-san's copyright. Besides, what kind of transmigrator doesn't plagiarize at least once?
"Genius, absolutely a genius design!"
After hearing Tom's story and seeing the duel disk and initial card drafts Tom brought, George and Fred became incredibly excited.
Moreover, in the grand vision Tom painted, if a century-long battle like Dumbledore vs. Grindelwald were to happen again in the future, it wouldn't be about both sides pointing wands at each other. Instead, they would directly unfold their duel disks and shout: "Duel!" "My turn, draw!"
Fire God's Path vs. Fire Shield Charm, transformed into Dark Magician vs. Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Traitor Dragon vs. Obelisk the Tormentor—the imagery was incredibly thrilling.
Immediately, the Weasley Twins adamantly declared that the development task could be left entirely to them.
And for Tom, weren't the Weasley Twins—these two reliable, affordable, and technically proficient alchemy prodigies—the chosen laborers?
Thus, both parties hit it off instantly, without a moment's hesitation.
After finalizing the cooperation, Tom was the first to stand up and take his leave.
Stepping out the door and looking at the brand-new sign of Al Cafe, Tom's expression shifted slightly. It was time to give a certain centenarian, who had been quite active lately, some trouble.