"Tom, are you feeling alright now?" Dumbledore asked with a calm expression, though his true intention was to assess Tom Riddle's current state.
"I'm fine, Professor. I've never felt so clear-headed as I do today," Tom replied as he lifted his head after being pulled out of his thoughts.
Each time he looked at Dumbledore, his feelings shifted.
He understood Dumbledore's thoughts.
But he could not understand his actions.
Perhaps they should never have met.
The idea of leaving Hogwarts grew stronger.
With Dumbledore, one of the most powerful wizards in the world, present, any action he took would be noticed.
And suspicion would always follow.
Trust between them had long since been destroyed.
Once suspicion took root, it never truly disappeared.
After so many years, it had already grown into something unshakable.
As long as he remained Tom Riddle, and as long as Lord Voldemort existed, there would never be trust between them.
Everything had started from that first mistake.
If Dumbledore had not treated him with hostility from the beginning, if he had not tried so hard to prove Dumbledore wrong, if he had not pursued immortality so obsessively, then perhaps things would have been different.
Tom Riddle was extremely intelligent.
From a few clues, he could already deduce the truth.
The cost of tearing apart his soul had been far greater than he ever imagined.
Originally, his plan had been simple.
He would rise peacefully.
By promoting pure-blood ideology, he would gain the support of pure-blood families.
Then he would use their influence to build his own power.
Eventually, he would become Minister for Magic.
Only after gaining authority would he reward those families and complete his long-term plan.
But his future self had chosen a completely different path.
Violence.
Terror.
Mass slaughter.
This was not something he believed he would have done.
After careful thought, he reached a conclusion.
The Horcrux.
No one understood the danger of losing control to dark thoughts better than he did.
The urge to destroy.
The desire to kill.
The obsession with purifying Hogwarts.
Even now, thinking about it made him feel uneasy.
He had always been cautious.
Measured.
So how could he have become so reckless?
There was only one explanation.
Splitting his soul had changed him.
More than he had ever expected.
If the question-and-answer space had not appeared, he might never have realized it.
He might have believed that distorted version of himself was the real one.
That thought sent a chill through him.
And yet, he could also feel another change.
Logically, he should resist it.
But instead, he felt… acceptance.
Even satisfaction.
As if this change was beneficial.
Then, suddenly, a thought surfaced.
"From now on, I will be called Tom Gaunt," he said without hesitation.
Dumbledore looked at him with surprise.
He knew Tom had always despised his name.
And the Gaunt family even more.
Otherwise, he would not have created the name Lord Voldemort.
But now, he had chosen that name again.
And not just any name.
The name of an ancient pure-blood family.
The Gaunt family.
Dumbledore's thoughts turned quickly.
Was Tom planning to revive that lineage?
To raise its banner once more?
If so, combined with his connection to Voldemort, the implications were serious.
For a moment, Dumbledore even considered keeping him at Hogwarts by force.
Tom's thoughts, however, were both similar and different.
Yes, he intended to reclaim the Gaunt name.
After all, he was the last of that bloodline.
The rest were dead.
And the dead held no claim.
His reasoning was simple.
By reclaiming the name, he had already chosen his path.
Germany.
The wizarding world there was just as chaotic.
But pure-blood status carried undeniable influence.
Durmstrang Institute accepted only pure-blood students.
That alone proved enough.
There, without relying on the name Voldemort, he could rebuild his power.
For his own version of justice.
Was pure blood truly superior?
He needed to find the answer.
He needed a new goal.
"Professor, there is no need to look at me like that. I am only reclaiming what was originally mine," Tom said calmly.
"Yes, you are the last of the Gaunt family, and those things do belong to you, but I do not understand. You once hated that name," Dumbledore replied.
"People change, Professor. Perhaps I once hated it, but now I have no choice but to accept it and use it," Tom said.
"To continue promoting pure-blood ideology, or to finish what you started?" Dumbledore asked, testing him.
Tom met his gaze and answered calmly.
"Pure blood is not necessarily correct, and I am not necessarily your enemy, Professor."
...
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