"It's not hard to understand Riddle's choice." Dumbledore glanced at Sivan and said suddenly. "Xiwen, let me ask you: If you are a very competitive person with a great desire to improve your strength, and now you have a peer pressing on your head from beginning to end, what would you think?"

Xiwen was stunned for a moment.

As if it were, his existence was like a mountain over Riddle's head, which had been pressing on his head since he entered the school, and had never wavered.

Especially when the mountain keeps getting taller, like a rising peak, shaking the skies of the wizarding world, you can imagine how desperate the people under the mountain must be.

When Riddle learns that Shevin has the strength to challenge Grindelwald, the dark wizard at the top of the wizarding world, how desperate and helpless will he feel?

So it's conceivable that Riddle must have wanted to find some other way to improve his strength, so he thought of his mother's ancient pure-blood family, so he set off for Little Hangton to find the blood left behind by this Slytherin.

However, the long-lost Gaunt family did not give him many ways to improve his strength, but only a sick uncle sneered at his origin. So Riddle used his power to avenge his Muggle father and blame the sneering uncle.

"So I still have a lot of responsibility after all." Xiwen sighed and said.

"No, you don't have any responsibility, Xiwen." Newt said to Shevan. "You've done enough, it's not up to you to control what other little wizards can grow into, and it's just Riddle's own nature right now."

"yes, Xiwen, don't blame yourself too much." Dumbledore echoed the chuckle. "Tom is the product of an aphrodisiac between Melo Gunter and Tom Riddle Sr., and since birth, he has been destined not to have any strong emotions such as 'love', and it is natural to be cold and selfish."

"Albus, is that why you alerted me to Tom Riddle earlier?" Headmaster Duppet asked, looking at Dumbledore.

"It's not because of that, after all, I didn't know that Tom was the product of an aphrodisiac." Dumbledore shook his head and spoke. "It's just that Tom behaved very domineering in the orphanage, didn't understand the feelings of other children, and was good at lying. That's why I want to draw your attention. ”

"Was this what happened before Tom came to Hogwarts?" Principal Dippet nodded slightly, his expression still showing some regret.

At that moment, Newt asked, "So Miss Mannis's petrification is a spell created by Riddle himself?" ”

"Probably not." Shivin shook his head and explained to Newt. "I've been with Riddle for a few years, and I know him a little bit."

"Riddle doesn't really like to spend time and experience creating his own spells, he prefers to spend his energy learning powerful spells invented by others, quickly increasing his power, or focusing his mind on pursuing a way to please die."

"The Legend of the Fairy Tree"

"If this isn't Riddle's own spell, and we haven't heard of it, then what kind of magic is it?" Principal Duper asked.

Dumbledore thought for a moment, then turned his gaze to the ground, where Manneth had stepped before.

"Look here, didn't Tom say that the real murderer is in the secret room!" He looked at the blood-red handwriting on the ground and whispered to Xiwen and the others. "Maybe there's a magical creature in the Chamber of Secrets that is so powerful that it can petrify people instantly, and of course, it's also possible that Riddle himself is playing tricks."

"So we're going to get rid of Riddle right away?" Xiwen asked.

"After all, we are all speculation, and there is no definite evidence." Principal Dippert subconsciously shook his head and said cautiously. "Let's find a few house-elves to monitor him first, and then talk about catching him when we get caught."

Hiven wanted to refute it, but suddenly remembered that he didn't like Principal Dippert's methods of seeking stability when he was in the first grade, so he called the school board and the Ministry of Magic to choose a more drastic method and forcibly arrested Professor Lorey at the time, which eventually indirectly led to the destruction of the third magic node of the castle.

So he suppressed the rebuttal in his heart, nodded slightly, and said, "I know." ”

"But I don't have to let the house-elves spy on Riddle, I have a better way."

……

At night, it's time for ghosts to move around Hogwarts Castle.

Ghost Xiwen made a rare appearance in the Ghost Hall, and used his authority in the Ghost Council to gather most of the ghosts in the castle.

After the meeting, a large number of ghosts sprang into action, some inconspicuously scattered around Riddle's bedroom, others occupying all possible paths he could.

A larger group of ghosts roam Hogwarts Castle, searching for the secret chambers left behind by Slytherin.

Ghosts are the kind of beings that can overcome the obstacles of various physical objects, and can track a person's shadow as quickly and conveniently as possible. In addition, their transparent bodies and the physical state that can easily make the little wizards cold all over their bodies make the young wizards often not pay too much attention to the movements and actions of the ghosts.

Coupled with the fact that the ghosts liked to wander around the castle in the first place, there were only a few ghosts in a small area, and the ghosts thought that this phenomenon could not attract the attention of the haughty and confident Riddle.

However, I don't know if Riddle has reformed or wants to wait a little longer, or if Shevin is really wrong about him, and the ghosts have never sent any useful news.

At the ghost meeting the next day, Ghost Xiwen looked at the ghosts sitting around the ghost table, and his expression was not too good-looking.

"Tell me, what information did you gather about Riddle?" He spoke.

The ghosts all shook their heads, wondering why Riddle was just staring out the window in his dorm room, and why he hadn't looked for the Slytherin chambers.

At this moment, the fat friar suddenly said with some concern, "Have you seen that kid Grubb tonight?" He seems to be gone. ”

"I remember that at this time of the day, he should have just started to enjoy the big meal, and I don't know why he is gone."

……

……