Tom is a transmigrator.
When he was six years old and his magic was running rampant, it also helped Tom awaken his past life memories.
Of course, Tom didn't know at first that this was the world of Harry Potter. It wasn't until he started participating in math competitions in the third grade that he met an opponent named Hermione Granger.
After asking, he learned that Miss Granger's father was a dentist, and he was completely stunned.
It's actually the Wizarding World of Harry Potter?
His name in this life held extraordinary meaning in this world.
Tom Riddle—wasn't that Voldemort?
After that, Tom did think about whether he should change his name.
But aside from being a minor—needing to be an adult to legally change his name or even his surname—the risk of being caught by Hogwarts even after a name change was not a gamble he was willing to take.
After all, it was a magnificent and magical world, and Tom didn't want to risk missing this opportunity.
So Tom had lived with this name, bearing its great consequences, until today. The day before yesterday, he received his admission letter to Hogwarts as he wished.
But Tom didn't expect that it wouldn't be Hagrid or McGonagall who came to guide him into the magical world.
Instead, Dumbledore had taken action personally.
But he could understand why it would alarm the greatest white wizard of this century.
Tom Riddle was too special for Dumbledore.
Especially since his experience was so similar to that Tom's, it was normal for Dumbledore to come and see in person if he was Voldemort's reincarnation.
When Dumbledore raised the question earlier, it was the first difficulty Tom faced.
Why didn't he show any shock or doubt?
Tom didn't think his act of being shocked could fool Dumbledore, an old man with rich experience who had lived for over a hundred years.
It was better to handle it the same way as before—openly showing off his talent and using it as an excuse.
Of course, this was also a gamble.
Betting on Dumbledore's character, that he would not become hostile just because of his name and use Legilimency to probe his memories.
If he bet wrong... then he would surrender on the spot and tell everything. It seemed he had nothing to lose. Maybe he could even witness Dumbledore's heroic feat of quickly collecting the seven Horcruxes.
But there was no guarantee he wouldn't be dissected and studied afterwards.
Fortunately, he bet right. Dumbledore still had good character and did not do anything out of line.
"Mr. Riddle, I didn't expect today to go so smoothly."
Dumbledore stood up and extended an invitation: "It's still early. Why don't we get everything you need ready right away? I also need to pick up something in Diagon Alley today."
"Of course, sir. Please wait a moment."
Tom nodded, walked to the desk, and took out a wad of banknotes from the drawer, mostly ten- and five-pound notes.
In the UK, the largest denomination note is fifty pounds, even after decades of severe inflation. Fifty-pound notes are mostly used for large transactions. He didn't know if you'd get beaten for using a fifty for change at a convenience store, but you'd definitely get someone greeting your relatives with a word starting with 'f'.
"Mr. Riddle."
Dumbledore then remembered what he had forgotten and said, "For students from needy families, Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic have established loan programs that do not require repayment."
"But I'm not hard up, am I?"
Tom counted it out—a total of £1,200—and smiled, waving it at Dumbledore.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom doesn't have any special cheats, but perhaps because he has been human for two lifetimes, his memory, while not photographic, is much better than an ordinary person's. He also has a strong learning ability.
Don't think competitions only happen among students in the East; the same is true in British schools.
Tom managed to save a certain amount of money through prize money from various competitions, school grants, government subsidies, and even TV appearance fees.
What he had in the drawer was just his daily pocket money. He also had a deposit of £40,000 sitting in his bank account, earning interest.
When Dumbledore learned that Tom was so capable, he could only give him a thumbs up to express his admiration.
After saying goodbye to Mrs. Cole (the matron), Tom followed Dumbledore out of the children's home.
If it were any other child, Mrs. Cole would never be so at ease, but Tom's maturity and ability since childhood made her feel much more relaxed.
Perhaps there was also the reason that Dumbledore had secretly used magic?
Walking on the tree-lined path, Dumbledore did not use magical methods to save time. Instead, he took Tom towards the train station with great interest. Along the way, he asked some life questions like an elder who cares for his juniors.
Tom did not hide anything and told his situation frankly.
He was abandoned and became an orphan. His appearance in this world was an accident. His parents only gave him his name and surname as a birth gift and then abandoned him at the orphanage door.
The next time he heard about them was from a news report about a plane crash.
The two had no inheritance and were heavily in debt, but fortunately, he didn't have to pay it back.
After hearing this, Dumbledore twitched the corner of his mouth.
This kind of thing seemed to happen quite often in the Muggle world. People get pregnant unexpectedly and, due to strict restrictions on abortion, give birth. When they find they can't raise the child, they abandon it, leaving the government to clean up the mess while they go on with their lives.
Little did they know that the English wizarding world had already reached a certain level of population decline. The Weasley family was a minority after all. With six boys and one girl standing together, which pure-blood family wouldn't be envious?
He wondered how many people regretted not marrying Molly Weasley; otherwise, their family would have been prosperous.
All he could say was that people of the same country have different destinies.
"I see the children in the children's home seem to be quite afraid of you?"
While sighing inwardly, Dumbledore did not forget to dig out a bit more.
Even as they were leaving, the little boy named Seth was still obediently following Tom's instructions, hitting the sandbag.
This scene brought back some bad memories for him.
"Professor."
Tom stopped and looked up at Dumbledore, but his beard was too thick, so the boy couldn't see his full face—only meet his deep eyes.
"Do you know what the biggest fear of an orphan is?"
Dumbledore pretended to listen attentively.
"You're afraid that others will know your cowardice."
Tom continued, "Once people find out you're easy to bully, they'll try to bully you for pleasure."
"And the best way to prevent bullying... is to arm yourself and be the first to bully others."
Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly, and his beard twitched.
"Of course, I'm not bullying Seth," Tom said, trying to justify himself. "He's my friend. I'm just teaching him some self-defense skills. He's going to middle school soon, and he needs to be able to protect himself."
"He will understand your painstaking efforts." Dumbledore thought of how Seth, despite his bitter expression, still diligently completed the task assigned by Tom. He also knew the two had a good relationship. His mood suddenly improved a lot, and he said cheerfully:
"I think you have the potential to be an excellent Hufflepuff, provided you don't bully others, of course."
"Hufflepuff? What's that?"
"The name of a house. Each one is extremely outstanding..."
The shadows of the two grew longer and longer, gradually disappearing on Elm Avenue.
.....
After an hour and a half of traveling by train and then by subway, the two finally arrived at the entrance to Diagon Alley—the dirty and shabby Leaky Cauldron.
Three o'clock in the afternoon wasn't the busiest time, and only two or three tables had customers.
When they saw Dumbledore, all the wizards who were drinking and bragging immediately stood up and greeted him awkwardly. The hunchbacked man wiping the bar with a dirty rag also hurried over, a smile on his face:
"Good afternoon, Professor Dumbledore."
"Good afternoon, Tom. Oh, no, there's another Tom here."
Dumbledore laughed and introduced the two men to each other, "Mr. Riddle, this is Tom. Isn't it wonderful? Tom, Mr. Riddle is a new student this year. I'm here to take him shopping."
"It's fate, it's fate. Nice to meet you, little Tom."
The bar owner, Tom, laughed heartily. Although there weren't 100,000 or 80,000 Toms in Britain, he was even more enthusiastic than usual for Dumbledore's sake and invited:
"After you finish shopping, you can sit down and have a drink. It's my treat. The non-alcoholic version of Butterbeer."
"Good idea."
Dumbledore agreed. "Then we must hurry. See you later, Tom."
"See you later, Dumbledore."
Dumbledore took Tom through the bar to the small patio at the back. He took out a wand with knobby protrusions and explained how to enter Diagon Alley.
"Count three up, two across..."
Three taps of the wand, and the bricks began to shift, opening in the blink of an eye into a wide archway through which a bustling crowd rushed.
Tom's eyes lit up as he looked at the dense crowd inside.
"A magical world..."
"Yes, the magical world." Dumbledore liked Tom's expression at this moment very much. He finally saw in him what a child should be like.
"Let's go, the most important thing... money."
Dumbledore took Tom across the street to the door of Gringotts. Because he was so popular, people kept greeting Dumbledore and saying hello in the short few hundred meters.
At the grand entrance of Gringotts, two goblins bowed respectfully. One of them became their personal receptionist and led the two to the front desk to exchange money.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Each person can only exchange for 70 Galleons, but because of Dumbledore, I can give you a limit of 100 Galleons, a total of 505 pounds, including a 5-pound handling fee."
"So little?" Tom frowned in dissatisfaction. "Professor Dumbledore just told me that it can usually be exchanged for around 200 Galleons."
"Because times have changed."