"Avada Ked—"
"Expelliarmus!"
Morfin didn't even get to finish the Killing Curse incantation…
The red spell hit before he could get the words out.
Smack!
"Ack!" Morfin Gaunt lay sprawled on the ground, eyes blankly staring at the sky.
"Haah.. haah.. H-how… how is this possible…"
A shadow fell over his vision—it was someone blocking out the light.
Tom stood over him, looking down from above.
In truth, he had deliberately provoked Morfin further just now.
In a duel, once you lost your composure, you were already halfway to losing.
As expected, Morfin, easily provoked by Tom, didn't even cast a Shield Charm—he went straight for the more difficult Killing Curse.
But… Morfin hadn't practiced dark magic properly in far too many years…
So his casting was far too slow…
With such a long wind-up, how could he possibly be a match for Tom?
Tom had endured several months of high-intensity training under Wade's pressure.
His casting speed was nothing short of astonishing.
Tin-tiding!
Tom tossed Morfin's wand back beside him and said coldly, "Pick it up."
"What?"
"I said—pick up your wand."
"You… you—" Morfin, furious, snatched up his wand again.
"You, you, you—What? Don't tell me the shock of getting hit was too much for your inbred brain." Tom said in disdain.
"You mudblood! Cruc—"
"Expelliarmus!"
Morfin got hit by the spell again, and his wand once again hit the ground.
"Ack—! You—"
"Once again! Pick it up and fight me!"
But once again, the outcome didn't change.
This time, Morfin, long out of practice, was blasted away before he could even lift his wand. His body slammed hard into the fence.
Tom slowly walked over again, gazing coldly at the defeated and despairing Morfin.
"Ah.. tsk, tsk.. A proud descendant of Slytherin who can't even defeat an underage wizard? Think about it yourself, Slytherin's heir? You? Heh~ Are you really worthy? If you can't bear that responsibility, then I will."
Tom bent down and took the ring from Morfin's hand, who no longer had the strength to fight.
"By winning this duel for the honor of our great ancestor, by the terms agreed upon between the two of us who share the same blood of our great ancestor! From this day on, I am the true heir of the great Salazar Slytherin. And you…"
Tom took a pouch of coins from his pocket and tossed it beside Morfin. "Morfin Gaunt, and your Gaunt family… from now on, you are no longer allowed to call yourselves heirs of Slytherin. These 500 Galleons are the price for my mother, Merope Gaunt, formally severing all ties with the Gaunt family."
With that, Tom turned and walked out of the Gaunt family's decaying yard, without looking back, the ring in hand.
Dumbledore glanced at Morfin Gaunt, who lay on the ground pale and defeated. After confirming that he wasn't physically injured, he and Wade followed Tom and left the Gaunt household.
...
Tom walked silently at the front.
Dumbledore and Wade followed behind him.
None of the three said a word.
Tom suddenly stopped. He raised his hand and solemnly slipped the ring onto his finger, a flush of feverish color rising on his face.
In all the years he had lived, he had never felt a day as satisfying as this.
Only then did he turn around to look at Dumbledore and Wade.
"Professor Dumbledore… thank you for not interfering…" After the excitement faded, Tom seemed to become reserved again.
Dumbledore sighed. "In truth, I'm comforted by the change in you, Tom… You really have changed a lot. The old you would never have left him that money."
Though everything had unfolded unexpectedly, in hindsight Dumbledore felt a measure of reassurance.
Taking the ring was Tom's assertion of responsibility for revitalizing the Slytherin legacy.
And leaving 500 Galleons was a sign of mercy. Compared to the abstract concept of family honor, having enough to eat was Morfin Gaunt's more pressing concern…
That was what pleased Dumbledore the most.
"It's nothing… I just thought, if it were Wade, he would've done the same," Tom said modestly.
"Hmm? Me?" Wade was a bit surprised to be mentioned so suddenly.
Suddenly, Wade seemed to remember something. He quickly reached into his pocket and exclaimed, "Ha! So that's why you were buttering me up… turns out the Galleons you tossed at that guy were mine! Talk—when did you take them?!"
Tom retorted, displeased, "What do you mean your Galleons? Don't forget, I have a share in the vault at Gringotts too!"
"But this is my pocket! Not Gringotts!"
"Alright, alright, let's just say I borrowed them from you, okay?"
"Borrowed? Oh, so now you admit it's a loan? Fine then—13 back for every 9 lent, no room for negotiation!"
"You damn—! I knew it! How could it have gone so smoothly… You let me take it on purpose!"
"Hehehe, save it. You already said it was a loan—no take-backs!"
Dumbledore watched the two boys bickering ahead of him and let out another soft sigh.
"Ah… youth really is a wonderful thing…"
...
"Are we heading back now?" Wade asked.
Tom, who had just been forced into an unfair agreement, nodded slowly with a sullen face.
Then Wade suddenly asked, "But… you just learned some information about your father. Don't you want to ask around if there's a Muggle family named Riddle nearby?"
Tom frowned slightly at the mention of a Muggle family.
Only today had he learned—from his uncle's mouth—that his father was actually a Muggle…
Completely contrary to everything he had assumed before.
In other words, he wasn't a pure-blood…
The thought left Tom feeling a bit down.
"Tom, have you still not figured it out by now?" Wade said, sounding frustrated. "What does it matter if you're pure-blood or half-blood?"
"But..."
"You're a half-blood, and yet you've beaten other students from pure-blood families at school. Even Morfin Gaunt, a pure-blood wizard and descendant of Slytherin, was no match for you—doesn't that prove something?"
"Does it really take that much courage for you to accept reality?"
Tom lowered his head, silenced by Wade's words.
After a long moment, he sighed and said, "Alright… let's go ask around."
Dumbledore watched this exchange, a faint smile once again appearing on his face.
As expected, his decision back then had been the right one!
Wade truly could change Tom!
...
In the Muggle world, the Riddle family was considered a "prestigious household," because they were wealthy enough.
So it didn't take long for the three of them to find out where the Riddles lived.
And to their surprise, the Riddle estate was only five or six miles from the Gaunt shack, located in Little Hangleton.
No wonder Merope had often been able to see young Tom Riddle passing by her home back then...
And while asking the local Muggles about the Riddle family, they also happened to overhear an interesting bit of gossip…
It was a story about the current head of the Riddle family—Tom's father, old Tom Riddle.
A few Muggles mentioned that over a decade ago, old Tom had disappeared for an entire year.
When he finally returned, he seemed mentally unstable, constantly muttering about witches and magic.
People thought he had gone mad. Over time, he gradually returned to normal.
But the incident had long since become the talk of the town among the Muggles of Little Hangleton… and it remained a popular bit of gossip for many years.
After hearing this, Tom didn't look very pleased…
Even if he didn't know what method his mother had used, he could tell that his father definitely hadn't married her of his own free will.
As a witch, Merope would have had many ways to make a Muggle fall in love with her…
In other words...
_________
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