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Tom had never actually written any diary.
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He believed that it was unwise to record the secrets of his heart on any object.
If he wrote them down, it would be as if he were inviting others to see and discover them.
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But he could never find his way to throw away this diary.
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-------
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On December 31, 1937, his eleventh birthday.
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When Dumbledore came to find him,
He was initially skeptical.
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But after he followed Dumbledore's instructions and took a trip to Diagon Alley in the wizarding world alone, he believed completely and planned to acquire a magical space-saving bag first.
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Why?
Because he couldn't possibly bring a whole box of books and clothes back to the orphanage so openly.
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In the orphanage, even if the rooms were locked, the staff still had keys.
They would ask him why he had a travelling trunk.
And If he honestly answered, he was certain:224Please respect copyright.PENANAGJhgn1pnBi
Not only would the children in the orphanage covet it, even the headmaster would hint at the virtue of "sharing" with him.
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He never kept things that he couldn't hide.
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Since Dumbledore threatened him to "return" his possessions to others, he had no choice but to use new tools to hide his own belongings even deeper.
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----------
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"Good afternoon, sir. May I ask if I can work here?"
Eleven-years-old Tom pushed open the glass door with a doorbell and asked Ollivander.
After the incident with Dumbledore, Tom no longer dared to steal in the wizarding world and had to work diligently to buy his extracurricular supplies.
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Twenty-year-old Ollivander looked up from behind the counter, filled with surprise.
"Aren't you here to buy a wand?"
Tom politely said, "Yes, sir, but I also want to work."
Ollivander saw him in the shabby uniform of a Muggle orphanage and understood the reason.
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"I don't need anyone here. You can try asking the teachers at Hogwarts if they can help you."
Ollivander wasn't being intentionally indifferent, but there were too many poor people in this era.
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Tom asked, "Well... do you know of any places that are hiring?"
Ollivander replied, "Let's first select a wand, then we can discuss further."
Tom shut up and obediently followed Ollivander's instructions to wave the wand that was chosen for him.
He came to the wand shop first because the wand was the most important proof of a wizard's identity, and it was also the smallest item that could be carried around.
224Please respect copyright.PENANAdREY7qXVFY
"Incredible," Ollivander looked at the wand that ultimately matched Tom, lost in thought.
After waving wands for two hours, Tom's hands were sore, and his feet were tired from standing, but he remained patient.
224Please respect copyright.PENANAsZ4X4hk3s6
"Why do you say that?" Tom asked, curious.
Ollivander said, "Yew wood and phoenix feather..."
Tom asked, "Is there anything wrong?"
Ollivander gave Tom a peculiar look and carefully examined him as if wanting to etch him deep into his mind.
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Tom smiled and asked, "So, can I come to work here?"
Only then did Ollivander blink and say, "Alright."
Tom was somewhat surprised. Did all wizards judge people based on their wands?
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"Return here at nine o'clock tomorrow," Ollivander said. "I need someone to organize the shelves for me..." he added nonchalantly.
Tom looked at the stacks of wand boxes behind Ollivander, leaning crookedly and spanning two or three floors tall.
He felt that the possibility of being buried alive was not entirely unfounded.
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"Okay, thank you, sir. May I ask about the hourly wage?" Tom felt a bit excited and nervous.
This was his first job working with the employer directly.
All temporary works outside the orphanage were always arranged by the headmaster, and the compensation was naturally collected by the headmaster as well.
So, in the past, "to work ouside" for him was no different from forced labour with no payment.
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Ollivander pondered for a moment and said, "One Knut per day."
Tom mentally converted it to pounds and asked, "Five Knuts?"
"Two, take it or leave it."
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---------
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Back in the Muggle world.
Because he had found a job, Tom felt a bit lucky and secure in his heart.
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"How much is this?"
On his way back to the orphanage, Tom passed by a newsstand and picked up a black-covered diary.
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Tom was so happy in the wizarding world that he forgot to buy a wand holster.
It wasn't until he was close to the orphanage that he remembered:
He couldn't go in carrying a box, or he would definitely be questioned.
But if he casually stuffed the wand into his waist, he was afraid it would break.
224Please respect copyright.PENANAgLbk5uj9cn
The reason he chose this diary was simply that its size and thickness were suitable for rolling it up inside his left forearm and then tucking a wand in there.
He also asked the newsstand owner if he could have a piece of straw rope that was left over after tying the bundle of newspapers for free.
He plans to tied his wand, diary and his left forearm together and covered them all with a loose, oversized long-sleeve. Hence, from the outside, it would appear that he wasn't holding anything in his hands.
224Please respect copyright.PENANA2h2RPhMt5P
The newsstand owner said, "One penny."
His gaze was a bit skeptical, wondering if Tom could afford it.
Tom then smiled happily and paid him one penny.
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---------
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"Where have you been?"
Upon returning to the orphanage, the headmaster interrogated Tom.
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Tom calmly replied, "I went to work to pay for the boarding school fees."
The headmaster frowned.
She knew that Tom had been selected by a school and was sponsored to attend.
But whenever she tried to think about it, her attention seemed to shift elsewhere.
224Please respect copyright.PENANAkXJZO8bVg3
"The school..." the headmaster couldn't remember what she wanted to say.
"Forget it, how much did you earn?" That was the point she wanted to ask.
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Tom blinked, "The job was related to the school, they didn't pay me but deducted it directly from the tuition."
Tom realized it: Albus Dumbledore had manipulated this woman's mind.
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He cursed internally, "Albus Dumbledore, you're nothing but a hypocritical double standard."
Don't bully Muggles, he said. Yet he himself was manipulating and deceiving Muggles behind the scenes.
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The headmaster furrowed her brow again and waved her hand,
"Forget it, see if you can eat there, and you don't have to come back during the holidays."
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Tom took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I'll ask about it."
In his mind, he thought, "I don't want to come back anyway."224Please respect copyright.PENANAsVXv8S28lv
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At the same time, a thought floated into his mind: Could he find an adoptive family among the wizards?
No, he should first find his biological father... perhaps?
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---------
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Ginny: Tom, I've been stood up again.
Tom thought, "It's been less than a day, how lonely is she?"
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Tom: Who stood you up?
Ginny: Eugene. He said he couldn't find me in the library last night, so he left. I told him I was at the first table near the entrance. He said he'll definitely come tonight.
Tom: So, why can't you just ignore him?
Ginny: Then we might fail the potions class...
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Grades in potion-making on class were an important part of their overall marks in Potion class.
If they didn't get along, they would inevitably start blaming each other in front of the whole class.
Ginny originally felt that Eugene didn't seem like someone who wanted to pick a fight, otherwise, he wouldn't have specifically come today and asked her why she didn't show up yesterday.
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Tom: Can't you discuss this with your brothers?
Tom thought, "Slytherin's plan might be to deliberately isolate Ginny and find an opportunity to trick her."
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Ginny: They will definitely tell me not to bother with Eugene and just accept the loss in Potions class.
Tom: Isn't that it then?
But Ginny still felt frustrated.
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Ginny: I don't want Snape to target me and keep giving me assignments.
Tom: It's a two-person team, if you have to write, make Eugene write as well.
Ginny: And we'll lose house points...
Tom: It's not just your problem. At least your brothers will understand.
Ginny: Should I say, only my brothers could understand if it really happened?
Tom: Well, then win back the points in other classes, right?
Ginny was a bit surprised.
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Ginny: You know Hogwarts' rules quite well.
Tom: I am a student at Hogwarts.
Ginny: Is that one of your settings?
Tom: It is.
224Please respect copyright.PENANAAL6oNCZR5L
Ginny was interested and asked: Which house are you in?
Tom hesitated for a moment but still answered: Slytherin.
A sense of alertness flashed in Ginny's mind. "Does my dad know?"
Tom: It's a secret.
224Please respect copyright.PENANA29aKQCwvrC
Ginny couldn't help but get a bit angry: You're not capable to lie to me, right?
Tom said straightforwardly: That's no such setting.
He bet on Ginny's loneliness and knew she couldn't stay away from him.
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Ginny hesitated and asked, "Is your creator a Slytherin?"
She suddenly remembered that her dad had warned her not to trust things that didn't have a visible brain.
But isn't the flying car that Ron and Harry crashed also a self-aware car?
Its "brain" is not in the engine, right?
224Please respect copyright.PENANAVo5hI0kgVC
However, is Tom too clever?
Ginny thought its intelligence rivals that of Hogwarts portraits and ghosts.
224Please respect copyright.PENANAzxKj06xfaM
Then, Ginny also thought, "Well, Tom can only read and write, how danger could it be?"
As long as she doesn't give the diary to anyone else, nothing will happen.
Tom's secret will also belongs to her alone forever.
224Please respect copyright.PENANAuol9KYVtdW
Tom reply : I've said I don't know my creator.
Ginny continues asking: Then, what grade are you in?
Tom thinks to himself: "She really has some nerves."
Or is she really just too naive and easily fooled?
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Tom: Sixth.
Ginny: So, do you dislike Gryffindor?
Tom: I don't use houses to divide people. (I use utility value.)
Ginny: Do you have many friends?
Tom: I don't have any friends.
Ginny: Why?
Tom: Don't you also not have any?
224Please respect copyright.PENANAmqn8gVNUKI
Ginny hesitates a bit.
What is she doing? Being friends with a diary?
All the settings of magical objects are fictional.
He cannot be a real student.
She is just curious about how much of a setting he has.
That's all.
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Ginny: I have my brothers, and I know some people from other houses.
Tom doesn't respond.
Ginny: So, do you feel lonely?
224Please respect copyright.PENANAi5Rgk5iAld
Ginny wants to hear Tom answer, "Yes, I'm also very lonely."
Even though she knows magical objects can't have genuine human emotions.
Moving and jumping portrait paintings would never get Bipolar Disorder unless the painter originally painted an angry lunatic.
The "personality" of magical objects is limited, all part of the creator's imagination and design.
If Tom's "setting" isn't meant to be lonely, he wouldn't feel any "lonelness".
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Tom responds: I prefer feeling lonely rather than crowded.
From the past until now, he has always had to insincerely deal with everyone.
Work, going to school, living, surviving — there's no other path for him.
If he were Ginny, he could be seen as a "bitch" in Gryffindor based on simply his family background.
Having the luxury to be able to ignore people as he wanted, how nice it could be.
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Ginny asks again: So, are you an aristocracy?
Tom laughs: I'm even the heir of Slytherin!
Ginny laughs too.
The setting of this diary is quite interesting.
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Ginny thinks to herself that the creator of this diary might be a materialistic woman.
Or in the real world, how would an aristocracy Slytherin be wholeheartedly amusing her, just because she is a user?
Super unrealistic...
But she likes it.
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Ginny closes the diary, feeling slightly better.
She packs up her books and walks out of the library's door.
She stayed even later than yesterday, by an hour.
There are no other students in the corridors.
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"Stupefy!" Someone suddenly curses her from behind.
Ginny gets startled, her vision darkens, and she falls forward.
Before losing consciousness, she still can't believe such a despicable thing would happen in Hogwarts.
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-------
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Coming out from behind the pillar was none other than Eugene.
"It's your fault for offending Malfoy," he whispered to himself.
Eugene opened Ginny's bag and searched for something he could use.
"A diary," Eugene thought, "this is perfect."
Just as he was about to open it to make sure it had contents...
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"Don't you think that would be mean?"
Ginny suddenly woke up.
"Petrificus Totalus!" She pointed her wand at him.
He was frozen in terror.
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"Pretty impressive for a first-year, using Stupefy,"
Tom didn't want to interfere, but he mentioned the Malfoy family.
Tom didn't want to go back into the hands of the Malfoy family, after all, he had just managed to escape.
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"How I have trusted you with my whole heart," Tom cruelly smiled using Ginny's face.
Eugene was shocked and thought to himself, "Did the spell not work?"
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Tom was thinking about how to deal with him.
Yes, he could modify this student's memory, but he was afraid Dumbledore would notice.
And Slytherin's revenge wouldn't be so easily stopped. There was not only Eugene but others as well.
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"Don't blame me. Before playing tricks on others, dig your own grave," Tom said.
Tom searched Eugene's body, but unfortunately, he only found a wallet.
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"I'll take this as tuition fee," Tom said, lifting Ginny's bag and dusting it off.
He carried the petrified Eugene into an empty wardrobe covered in spiderwebs.
Regardless of Eugene's terrified and pleading gaze, he closed the door.
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He returned to Gryffindor's common room.
Ginny, or rather Tom, was intercepted again.
"Hey, Ginny," it was Colin and Kenny.
"Wanna play Wizard's Chess together?"
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Tom was not Ginny, and he didn't recognize that the chessboard belonged to Ron.
Ron must have come earlier to establish a relationship with them, indirectly hoping they would take care of her and play with her more.
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"No, I think I'll rest, thanks," Tom said.
The longer Tom stayed active, the more memories Ginny would have lost.
Tom went upstairs and mechanically helped Ginny:
Taking a bath, drying her hair, and drawing the curtains around the four-poster bed.
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He crossed his hands and placed the diary on her chest, closing her eyes.
His consciousness sank back into the darkness.
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---------
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The next day, Ginny woke up.
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"Hah!"
She was startled, covered in a cold sweat.
"It... was a dream?"
She sat up in bed, and the black diary fell on her lap.
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She remembered someone attacking her, it felt so real.
Wait, how did she get back to the dormitory?
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"Ginny, you're going to be late."
Stephanie drew open her curtains.
Daisy was there too, saying, "You missed breakfast, we were worried about you."
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Ginny didn't have time to think further and quickly got up to freshen up.
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---------
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Today has Potions class again.
Ginny was originally worried about confronting Eugene about standing her up.
But Eugene didn't even show up.
The Slytherin students informed Professor Snape that he was sick, and kept giving her looks.
As if insinuating that she had done something to upset Eugene?
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Ginny innocently stared back at the cold gaze of Snape.
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-------
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Ginny nervously finished a full day of classes and had dinner.
Out of habit, she headed towards the library instead of the common room.
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"Was last night really just my imagination?" she muttered to herself as she walked to the location where she was attacked.
There were no portraits around.
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"I don't sleep hugging my diary," she thought. "I always keep it under my mattress."
Should she tell her brothers about this incident? Ginny had a vague feeling that it might be related to the diary.
But if she reported it to her brothers, it would likely mean that she would have to share Tom with them in the future.
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"No way," Ginny thought, feeling annoyed.
Tom Riddle was her secret, something that belonged only specially to her in the first time of her life.
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--------
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Ginny continued walking, getting closer to the library.
"Miss Weasley," a chilling voice called from behind her.
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Ginny froze and turned around. "Professor Snape?" she thought, feeling terrified.
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"I need to talk to you," Snape approached, casting a dark shadow over her.
Ginny immediately whispered, "I haven't done anything!"
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She pulled on the straps of her backpack, shrinking her neck.
The tension made it seem like he was about to strike her any second.
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Snape stared at her coldly for a while.
"Mr. Laletta requested to withdraw from school, and I'm curious about what you did to him."
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Ginny tightened her fists, holding onto the backpack strap, and said coldly, "He stood me up for two days. Why don't you ask him..."
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Her rationality made her suppress her anger and she changed her wording to something more polite. "I mean... I don't know what happened to him. If we're discussing who did what to whom."
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She stared up at Snape, feeling both aggrieved and angry, then let out a sigh.
Snape silently stared at her fiery red hair for a while before shifting his gaze back to her face.
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"I'm afraid you won't have a partner for your classes from now on. And I won't give you any additional practical time due to your personal circumstances."
Ginny breathed a sigh of relief. "I can do it on my own."
Snape asked in return, "How do you know you can?"
Ginny replied, "I help out at home... cooking and stuff..." She said the last part particularly quietly.
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With nine people in the house, her mother always praised her for her multitasking abilities in the kitchen.
Stirring soup while frying vegetables, simmering one pot while roasting another...
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Her mother always said that thanks to her help, she could shorten the cooking time.
Snape gave her a noncommittal look.
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"You said it yourself. When the time limit is up, I will empty your cauldron and give you a zero."
Ginny retorted, "Understood, Professor." But she had no confidence in her heart.
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--------
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When she arrived at the library, Ginny also felt a bit sad for Eugene.
Why did Eugene want to withdraw? It is so lucky to get into Hogwarts...
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Ginny raised her hand, trying to write a letter.
But wasn't sure if she had the right to be concerned about this matter.
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"Maybe he wasn't having a good time in Slytherin..." Ginny muttered to herself. "Those Slytherins were making up excuses..."
Unless...
What happened when she lost her memory?
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Ginny: Tom.
Tom: Good evening, Ginny. How was your day?
Ginny: I lost my memory. How did I get back to the dormitory after the attack last night?
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She opened up and spoke honestly.
Apart from him, there was nothing suspicious around.
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Tom: Eugene attacked you, he tried to take me away. That's why my defensive magic activated.
224Please respect copyright.PENANARwaa7hTCnN
Ginny widened her eyes, the diary had its own defensive magic?
No, seriously thinking about it, she do had heard about books that brought its own curses before...
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Ginny: So what did you do to Eugene?
Tom: If you're here to interrogate me, I don't want to tell you.
Ginny: You've affected my life.
Tom: I protected you. That's what a friend do!
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Ginny paused for a moment.
Yes, last night's situation could have gotten worse if it weren't for Tom.
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Ginny: But Eugene applied for withdrawal today. What did you do to him exactly?
Tom: He attacked you, according to school rules, he should be expelled.
Ginny: That should be determined by the teachers.
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Tom didn't respond.
He inwardly cursed: Gryffindors are a bunch of moral hypocrites.
Eugene's withdrawal was his own business.
If Tom really was just an ordinary diary, then the one who requested to withdraw from school today would be her, would it?
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Ginny: Anyway, don't do things behind my back that I don't know about.
Tom remained silent.
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Ginny forcefully closed the diary.
Still felt uneasy in her heart.
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