— — — — — —
"Tears too?!"
Snape felt unfair now.
"Severus," Dumbledore's expression turned serious, "you must have noticed it too—something's changed about Mr. Riddle."
Snape, momentarily distracted from his feather-related rage, nodded solemnly and offered his analysis.
"He's sharp. Overwhelming. His aura alone dominates the room."
"He must've done something major over the holidays," he added. "There's no way someone changes this much without a serious trigger."
Dumbledore smiled gently. "It's good to see students grow. I just want to make sure whatever changed him didn't come at too high a cost."
"I'll look into it," Snape said firmly, already planning to duel Tom again. He wanted to be sure that the change he felt wasn't because the boy was using some kind of underhanded shortcut.
He didn't mind dark magic—but rushing ahead without proper foundation was dangerous. It might seem like progress now, but when you hit a wall, that's when you realize just how foolish you were.
And he would know—he was the perfect example.
Sure, he was now one of the most powerful wizards under Dumbledore and Voldemort, but the gap between them and him was still soul-crushing.
"Thanks, Severus," Dumbledore said with a smile, and then left the office.
Only after the old man's silhouette disappeared did Snape realize—
Damn it. He sidetracked me again!
Weren't we talking about phoenix feathers?! How did we end up back on Tom?!
---
Back in the Slytherin common room, Tom had barely stepped inside before Daphne dragged him into a quiet corner.
She lowered her voice and asked, "Tom, seriously—what the hell happened today?"
Tom let out a heavy sigh, collapsed onto the sofa, and casually cast a silent Muffliatoto make sure no one could eavesdrop.
"What happened?" he muttered. "Just my usual luck... utter disaster."
Then, he began recounting his absolutely cursed day.
It all started at six in the morning. Tom had slipped away from the Veela tribe quietly—he didn't even wake Fleur or Gabrielle. He just said goodbye to Polana and set off for London via Apparition.
Things went smoothly at first… until he hit the border between France and England.
Turns out, there's a no-Apparition zone between the UK and France. It's part of a long-standing restriction to stop wizards from freely hopping between countries without registration.
The barrier itself wasn't that strong—it was more of an alarm system.
But the second it triggered, four wizards in official Hit Wizard uniforms Apparated on the spot.
Luckily, Tom reacted fast and conjured a black cloak with a tom-cat mask to cover his face and figure. No way was he letting them see his identity.
Explaining himself was not an option. One wrong word and he'd be spending the night in Azkaban.
So, naturally, he ran for it.
The wizards were stunned for a second—then immediately locked onto his magical trace and gave chase.
They weren't there to arrest people—just to register travelers—but the second Tom bolted without a word, it screamed 'guilty' to them.
What followed was a cat-and-mouse chase across half of Britain.
At first, Tom managed to lose them. But the Ministry apparently didn't believe in fair fights—they called in four more wizards to box him in.
Eventually, Tom had enough. He set a trap and took them all down—eight Hit Wizards in total, knocked out cold before they could launch a spell.
Only then did the mess finally end.
But by that point, it was already 2 p.m. The Hogwarts Express had long gone. So, he had no choice but to summon the Knight Bus to take him the rest of the way.
Daphne stared at him, mouth slightly open, completely stunned.
He was this close to ending up in Azkaban… She wasn't even sure if her mother would've been able to bail him out.
"Well… at least they didn't catch you," she said quietly, gripping his hand. "But next time—please—use a safer way to travel."
Then she frowned, clearly still annoyed. "And it's all that half-Veela's fault! If she hadn't insisted on keeping you an extra day, none of this would've happened!"
Even while Tom was with the Veela, he'd kept in touch with Daphne through their enchanted mirrors, so she knew where he'd been and what he was up to. She also knew about Fleur.
Of course, since the mirror could only show one person at a time, she'd never actually seen Fleur's face. But just hearing she was a half-Veela was enough to trigger some serious hostility.
In the Western wizarding world, Veela had about the same reputation as fox yokai in the East—beautiful, seductive… and dangerous.
Tom chuckled helplessly. "It was bound to happen eventually. Even if I'd come back a day earlier, I still planned to Apparate. Same result."
He hadn't expected the Muggle idea of "splendid isolation" to carry over to the magical world. The rest of Europe was trying to unify, and here was Britain, building magical border walls.
After chatting for a while longer, Tom snuck out of the common room and headed to the kitchens to finally grab some dinner.
What he didn't know was that his little stunt had thrown the entire Ministry of Magic into chaos.
The eight Hit Wizards weren't seriously hurt—just a few minor injuries—but the real problem was this: a powerful, unknown wizard had forced his way into the country. Who was he? What did he want? Was he working alone?
The Ministry had no clue.
None of the Hit Wizards even saw the intruder's face.
That same night, every single Auror and Hit Wizard was called in for emergency overtime. The Ministry launched a massive manhunt, sweeping through known wizarding hotspots. Knockturn Alley became a warzone. What started as a pursuit turned into an all-out anti-dark magic raid.
Tom didn't find out how much of a mess he'd caused until the next day, when he opened the Daily Prophet.
{BEWARE STRANGE WIZARD—DANGER MAY BE CLOSER THAN YOU THINK!}
That was the front-page headline.
The Prophet described the event as a "premeditated magical invasion." The intruder's identity, appearance, and motives were all unknown—but his power was "extremely formidable." The Ministry urged citizens to report anything suspicious immediately.
Daphne read the paper, went completely blank… then glanced at Tom and burst out laughing.
Tom grinned too. Her laughter was infectious, and it made the tension from yesterday feel just a little lighter.
The other students were baffled by their reaction, but didn't dare ask. They just kept chatting about the "mysterious figure" on the loose.
Before Transfiguration class, Daphne secretly filled Hermione in on the truth. Hermione was speechless.
"The Ministry caused all that panic… for Tom?" she whispered, glancing around to make sure no one overheard.
"Not Tom," Daphne corrected seriously. "A mysterious intruder. This has nothing to do with Tom."
Hermione nodded quickly, agreeing. No one else could know. If word got out, it could bring huge trouble for Tom.
Then she turned to him, eyes pleading. "Tom… that hiding charm of yours… could you use it on my wand too?"
Not being able to practice magic over the holidays had nearly driven her insane. And now that she knew Tom had this kind of trick up his sleeve, she just had to try it.
Tom shot her a teasing look. "Wow, if it isn't Miss Rule-Abiding-Granger. What's the matter? School rules are sacred, but laws are optional?"
"Oh, shut up!" Hermione blushed furiously.
Daphne giggled, loving the way her bestie was squirming.
Hermione swatted Tom's arm lightly, pouting. "Stop bringing up my dark past, okay?"
She was slowly starting to change. Rules weren't absolute anymore. Some were just outdated or flat-out unreasonable. So why follow them?
Like the "no wandering the halls at night" rule—what was the big deal, as long as she didn't miss class the next day? A walk could be good for mental health!
Honestly, looking back, she thought her old self had been way too uptight. She was starting to feel like she'd been "academically brainwashed."
Tom didn't tease her further—no point risking an actual argument. Besides, if he annoyed her too much, he'd be the one who had to make up for it.
So he agreed right away, promising to help with the concealment charm after class.
Just then, Professor McGonagall walked in, holding two owl cages.
The classroom instantly fell silent. Hermione hurried back to sit beside Lavender Brown.
McGonagall stepped up to the front, scanning the room with her usual stern expression.
"Everyone, place your holiday assignments on your desks," she said, voice crisp. "And don't try telling me you forgot it! Um... It's nothing for me to send an owl to your house right now and fetch it for you."