#6 - Chapter 6: Gaunt's House

"Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?"

At this moment, Little Tom posed the classic three questions of the soul.

"Who exactly are you? Another Horcrux?" Looking at the Tom before him, identical to himself but younger, Little Tom was uncertain.

"Guess!"

Winking playfully at Little Tom, Tom decided to stop teasing him.

The Soul Furnace activated, and a gentle golden light appeared out of nowhere, instantly enveloping the incredulous diary.

Voldemort's soul fragment encountered the ball of light, and was forcibly dragged out of the diary, constantly being obliterated, emitting miserable howls, trying to escape but unable to break through the light's enclosure.

"Silencio!"

Tom, who was watching the show, immediately cast a silencing charm upon hearing the howls, to prevent attracting the attention of others in the orphanage.

After an unknown amount of time, the ball of light gradually dimmed, the consciousness of Voldemort's soul fragment had disappeared, and only a ball of pure white substance and a complete diary remained on the table.

'To be able to eliminate the soul inside without destroying the Horcrux, this is too powerful. Does this mean the relics of the four founders can be saved?'

Tom stared dumbfounded at the scene before him, never expecting that this skill would truly be as he had predicted, specifically targeting Voldemort.

However, more important at the moment was to test the effects of the furnace.

Carefully holding up the ball of pure white substance, just as he was wondering how to use it, it suddenly burrowed into Tom's brow.

Before Tom could react, a sharp pain struck, countless knowledge, experiences, and memories flooded into his mind, and the magic within his body began to boil.

In a brief moment in reality, Tom seemed to have experienced a long time, almost losing consciousness.

The pain slowly disappeared, and the magic gradually calmed down, and Tom's panel also changed.

[Name: Tom Marvolo Riddle]

[Occupation: Wizard]

[Magic Power: Level 4]

[Talents:

Alchemy: 6 / 10

...

Dark Arts: 10+ / 10]

[Special Talent: Parseltongue]

[Skills: Occlumency (Passive, Perfect), Wand Protection (Host's wand can shield Trace, Prior Incantato, and a series of tracking magic from the Ministry of Magic), Soul Furnace (Can absorb specific soul substances without side effects), Nonverbal Magic, Apparition...]

[Spells: Avada Kedavra Lv4, Crucio Lv4, Imperio Lv4, Fiendfyre Lv4, Levitation Charm Lv4, Lumos Lv4, Accio Lv4, Protego Lv4, Confringo Lv4.....]

[Special Items: "Secrets of the Darkest Art" (Grindelwald's Annotated Edition), Combat Crystallization (Unactivated)]

Looking at the increased magic power and talent values on the panel, as well as the newly added densely packed skills and spells, Tom felt a sense of joy rise in his heart.

'This has really become an experience pack. As expected, the joy of having a cheat is hard for ordinary people to understand. If we were to look at it like a game, I would be considered a beta tester.'

As his mood gradually calmed down, Tom had to consider his next arrangements.

'In the first year, Old Voldemort possessed Quirrell and stayed at the school. In my current state, I will definitely be noticed by him. If I am regarded as a Horcrux, then it is likely that Old Voldemort will check the status of the Horcruxes in advance, or even transfer them. My biggest advantage now is that I clearly know where Old Voldemort's Horcruxes are hidden, and I also have the Soul Furnace skill as a backup.'

'There is still a month before school starts. I must go find a few more Horcruxes, both to prevent this situation and to improve my own strength.'

'So, next, is it Hufflepuff's cup or the Resurrection Stone ring?'

After thinking for a long time, Tom finally made up his mind to find the ring first and then seek the cup.

After leaving a letter for Mrs. Anna to prevent her from worrying, Tom disappeared in a Apparition.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw the dilapidated shack in the distance, which was also Tom's destination—the Gaunt family's old house.

"Thank you, Diary. If it weren't for your guidance, I really wouldn't be able to find this place."

Tom silently gave a thumbs up to the departed Diary in his heart.

Along the weedy countryside path, he arrived at the former Gaunt family's old house.

The house was surrounded by weeds, and dense nettles covered the small, grime-filled windows. Moss climbed all over the exterior walls, and the roof tiles had fallen off, revealing the rafters inside. No one would imagine that this dilapidated house would be the residence of Slytherin's descendants. Only the S-shaped dead snake nailed to the door symbolized the family's former glory.

"Fiendfyre!"

Tom ignited the weeds around him, carefully controlling the burning of the flames.

But until the weeds around were burned away, and the doors and windows of the shack were burned down, nothing happened.

"Could it be that Old Voldemort just casually threw the ring in the old house without setting up protective magic? Is it overconfidence or is there a trick?"

Tom did not trust Voldemort's character at all, and immediately turned a stone at the door into a rabbit, driving it into the house.

But the old house was still quiet, without the slightest movement.

This made Tom not know what to do. All the way, according to the memory experience of the Diary, he had thought of many methods set by Voldemort, but this situation was really unexpected.

Carefully looking into the house from the collapsed door, a cloud of dust swept over his face.

"Scourgify!"

Tom covered his nose in disgust, and threw a cleaning charm into the house, which barely cleared the situation inside. Broken tables and chairs, mottled walls, greasy kerosene lamps, everywhere telling of the poverty of the Gaunt family's last generation.

Although the house did not seem dangerous, Tom still did not dare to step into it rashly.

At this time, the Grindelwald-brand fire shield that he had been researching during this period came in handy.

The blue Fiendfyre emerged from the tip of his wand, and Tom carefully stepped into the house after controlling it to surround himself.

It was by no means an easy task to control the Fiendfyre to prevent it from igniting the house, while paying attention to the movement, and also looking for the whereabouts of the ring.

After an unknown amount of time, just as Tom was sweating profusely and preparing to withdraw to rest, suddenly a certain old brother seemed to feel the threat, and a human-shaped black shadow appeared abruptly.

Instantly frightened, Tom almost lost control of the Fiendfyre and fell to the ground, but fortunately he stabilized his mind at the last moment and did not cause a tragedy.

But Tom was not the only one who was frightened. The remnant soul of Voldemort, who was preparing to launch an attack, stopped abruptly when he saw Tom's appearance. Like the Diary, the snake face stared at Tom with wide eyes for a moment, stunned.

"Who are you? Another Horcrux?" The Ring spoke with difficulty.

Hearing the same question as the Diary, Tom, who had a plan in his mind this time, maintained the Fiendfyre while taking out the black-covered diary from the storage space and showing it to the Ring.

"Stop shouting, it's me."

"It's you, are you resurrected? Where is the main body?" Seeing the living 'Diary', the Ring was completely shocked.

Tom then started the flickering Dafa, running the train with his mouth: "The main body failed 11 years ago and was defeated by a small baby. I learned this from Lucius, so I tried to find a way to resurrect."

"How did you do it?"

"An ancient magic inherited by the Lucius family, plus a little bit of luck."

"I don't believe it, take down the fire shield, I want to share your thoughts." The Ring was clearly suspicious.

"Okay!" Tom agreed without hesitation.

Just as the Ring was preparing to possess Tom the moment he removed the Fiendfyre, he saw Tom in the flames suddenly reveal a bright smile to himself.

"Found you!"