Magical creatures, including wizards.
Their nerves are like conduits for the flow of magic.
Equivalent to the core of a wand.
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If a wand is broken, a wizard can only buy another one.
The magic conducted by the new wand can never be the same as the old one.
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If we liken magic to electricity,
When Ginny's nerves are broken, it's like cutting a wire.
Any "healing effect" of electricity that comes into contact with the "wire" will be dispersed and absorbed.
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Wizards' healing magic cannot take effect, and muggles have no means to connect nerves nighter.
So Tom believes that Dumbledore also thought: Ginny is doomed.
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The cost of Horcrux to control the body is the soul of the possessed.
The more he uses Ginny's body, the faster and more thoroughly Ginny's consciousness will disappear.
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Since Dumbledore "installed" him into this body, he knew that there was no return.
The Horcrux will gradually replace the places where the nerves should be connected.
And His soul will gradually replace Ginny's.
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"Just as I planned from the beginning," Tom thought inwardly.
"Thanks to Grindelwald speaking so well of me in front of Dumbledore."
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He tried not to be happy, but the feeling of relief was not fake.
He sat in his self-made prison for fifty years, even a bit longer than Mr. Grindelwald's time.
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Unfortunately, Ginny doesn't know this.
She was deceived by Dumbledore's sweet words.
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The Weasley family, and even everyone he will meet in the future will never need to know at all as well.
Tom told himself, "From now on, I am Ginny Weasley."
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--
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"Welcome back, Ginny!"
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On Sunday morning, he returned to Gryffindor Tower.
Her brothers adorned the common room with banners, making the place look like Christmas.
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Ron, Harry, Hermione, Fred, George, even Percy.
Everyone was waiting here to celebrate for her.
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Percy was the first to apologize, "I'm sorry for misjudging you. I should have believed you."
Tom forced a smile and thought, "Your sister is already dead. What's the use of apologizing?"
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Ginny said in his mind, "Well, it's better than nothing."
Tom didn't respond because he had to concentrate hard on "daydreaming" to speak to Ginny.
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Ron said, "All those jerks are gone now. Don't keep all things to yourself. You don't act like this at home!"
He felt that as he often hung out with Harry, that caused him distant from Ginny.
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Fred asked, "Are you still feeling unwell?"
George asked, "Why are you not speaking?"
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Tom just had this subtle sense of empathy and guilt, feeling that all of this should belong to Ginny, not him.
He never had siblings or true human friends speak to him like that before.
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Tom said, "I just feel like so many students left because of me. They were students at our house too. Shouldn't we... be less happy?"
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Hermione sighed, "You're thinking too much for others."
Harry said, "It's not your fault."
Ron said, "You didn't invite others to bully you."
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Percy said, "Maybe you should be more assertive and tell others to come to pick on me instead."
Fred said, "Yeah, why do you always want to solve things on your own?"
George said, "When Bill and Charlie were here, they helped us out a lot."
Percy scolded, "You guys have the nerve to say that!"
Fred said, "The prefect is angry!"
George said, "How scary!"
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Then they all burst into laughter.
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Tom remained silent, but they attributed it to Harry's presence, so he couldn't fully relax. Therefore, they grabbed him and told him many jokes and little things about their daily lives.
Every little detail sparkled like they were back at the Weasley's home. Tom was so moved that he felt like crying. "I need to go to the bathroom," Tom said.
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When he left, Hermione said directly, "She was really bullied badly. Those girls forced her to move in with me. I should have spoken up earlier, but I didn't want Professor McGonagall to know, for I also wanted her to be my roommate."
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Ron said, "She's acting so strange. She has never been this quiet before."
Fred said, "She's been like this ever since Harry came to our house."
George said, "She's always been a bit shy."
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Percy said, "Once she gets used to the environment, she'll be noisier than Ron."
Ron retorted, "You're the noisy one."
Percy rolled his eyes at him.
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On Monday, they resumed classes.
Daisy and Colin became partners, and both of them apologized to Ginny.
Luna, as usual, recognized Tom's true identity.
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"Where's Ginny?" she asked.
Tom replied, "She needs some time to come back."
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He didn't know how to break the news of her death. Should he cast a Memory Charm on Luna? But she would still sense that they were different people, right?
Curiously, Luna asked, "Are you 'you know who'?"
Tom asked back, "Who?"
But their conversation was interrupted by the teacher's cough.
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Tom behaved like a good student and focused on the class. Luna fell asleep beside him, and they forgot about that topic after the class.
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During his class with Ricky, he enthusiastically said, "Ginny! I heard they all got expelled! You must be relieved, right?"
Ricky genuinely rejoiced Ginny, thinking that she wouldn't be bullied in her own house anymore.
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Tom, however, couldn't even force to smile.
If Ricky hadn't rushed to fight and lost, maybe Ginny wouldn't have died.
But as a beneficiary of that event, what right did he have to blame Ricky?
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"Wait, you're Tom, right?" Ricky finally recognized him from his silence.
Tom replied, "Yes, Ginny got hurt pretty badly. It will take some time for her to heal."
Ricky's joy was replaced with sadness, "Oh, I see. Sorry about that."
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Ginny said in Tom's mind, "It's okay, it's not his fault. It's just my bad luck..."
Since the beginning of the school year, she has encountered attacks, accidents, and fights one after another. Without Tom, she wouldn't have made it this far.
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Tom conveyed, "Ginny forgives you. But I hope you won't be so impulsive next time. If the enemy knows you'll retaliate immediately when provoked, you may easily fall into traps."
Ricky blinked and sighed, "You really are a Slytherin."
Tom took out stationery and books from his bag, ready to focus on class. Ricky, however, continued to watch him.
Tom couldn't help asking, "Is there anything else?"704Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ieLQ4Jjmj
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Ricky glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them and whispered, "Is 'You know who' related to you or not?"
Tom was puzzled.
Ginny explained in Tom's mind, "Because you changed your name to Voldemort and attached a curse definition to that term. So, people always call you 'You know who' instead."
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Tom blinked and said, "I have no relation with him at all," lying to Ricky.
Slytherin was an ancient figure from a thousand years ago, and there were likely many far-away descendants. It would be normal for someone to awaken unexpected parseltongue talent without knowing the confusing bloodline at all.
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Ricky felt relieved, "Oh... I see. That's good then."
He also wanted to ask where Tom had been last Friday, but the class had started.
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During dinner, Tom asked Ginny in his mind, "Do you feel lonely? Unable to chat with them anymore?"
Ginny replied, "I think of you. Before, You could only see the world through my eyes like that too, and I felt sorry for you."
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Tom realized that Ginny was exceptionally kind.
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The guilt of stealing someone else's life kept growing inside him.
Quietly, Tom stuffed the steak into his mouth and said to Ginny, "We'll finish our homework as soon as possible, then research new healing methods."
Dark magic has limitless possibilities for an equivalent exchange, including bodies regenerated.
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Those around Ginny felt that she became even quieter and colder.
Despite her academic achievements remaining at the top, she seemed more engrossed in studying extracurricular subjects.704Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qTrPhKFOI
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Daisy and Colin both tried to be friendly with Ginny multiple times, hoping to reconnect as friends, but Tom always expressed that he preferred solitude.704Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBFB1JTjaD
Luna and Ricky knew that Tom was searching for a way to heal Ginny, but he refused to tell them what her injury was.
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Luna probably guessed it out, but she kept silent and wished him good luck without pressing further.
Ricky felt deeply guilty and didn't ask any more questions.
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Another person who observed Tom closely was Albus Dumbledore.
Since Tom entered Ginny's body, Dumbledore had not spoken to him again. 704Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8NJKdT4gd1
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There was also no need to.
That day, he and Gellert were discussing how to design the second Chamber of Secrets event. Tom could hear them since Gellert's hand was pressed on the diary the whole time.
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Albus Dumbledore had long known that Harry was a Parseltongue. He was informed about the zoo but kept it secret.
Connected with what Tom said about Horcruxes, Dumbledore guessed that Harry's situation might be similar to Ginny's.
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If there was a protection spell that could exchange one life for another, how could only Lily Potter know how to cast it?
Lily's protection spell did work, but it was not enough to withstand the Killing Curse. It could only inflict some damage on Voldemort's fragmented soul.
This minor damage might not affect ordinary wizards, but Voldemort's soul was already too unstable.
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Harry's near-death body attracted the fragmented pieces of Voldemort's soul, allowing the small baby to be resurrected.
But who was resurrected, Harry or the tiny Voldemort?
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Dumbledore had found it odd at the time, so he went along with the flow and sent him to the Dursleys' house.
Now, it seemed that Tom's greatest enemy had always been himself.
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Ginny couldn't understand the dark magic books that Tom was reading.
He completed her homework much faster than she could keep up with.
She suspected that once she took back control of her body, she might never catch up with her peers again.
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"Tom," he was the only person she could talk to now.
"Hmm? What's wrong?" Tom's surface was still reading the book, but he was engaged in their inner conversation.
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Ginny said, "What if I can never recover?"
They had never discussed this topic before.
Tom remained silent.
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Ginny continued, "My parents will notice if we go back home for Christmas."
Time flies and October was almost over. They were approaching Halloween.
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Tom said, "I can't say I'm Tom Riddle; it would implicate Dumbledore."
Although Dumbledore always asked him to do things against his will, he had indeed grown and benefited from those experiences.
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Ginny said, "Then let's find a plausible excuse for memory loss."
Tom thought, "Is she being too proactive? Does she suspect something?"
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Tom said, "For example, I, the dark lord, possessed you and made you open the Chamber of Secrets. As a result, you suffered a mental breakdown and lost your memory. Luckily, Harry Potter appeared, defeated me, saved you, and unravelled the Malfoy plot."
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Ginny awkwardly replied, "So, you've already planned all this?"
Tom said, "Maybe I need to harm a few more classmates and some small animals."
Ginny asked, "They won't die, will they?"
Tom assured her, "We will be more careful this time."
Ginny asked, "We? You and Professor Dumbledore?"
Tom replied, "Yes."
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Ginny thought, "When did they discuss all this without my knowledge?"
Lately, she had been feeling mentally unstable due to sleepiness. Occasionally, she would lose consciousness for several hours unwillingly.
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Ginny said, "If I never wake up again, please take good care of my family. Protect them, especially Harry."
Tom remained silent.
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Ginny said, "If my family finds out you're not me, don't admit it. Or, you can say you're my friend, and I gave you my body willingly."
This time, Tom asked, "Why are you so sure that this wasn't all planned by me and Dumbledore from the beginning?
Don't you think it's a bit too coincidental? Just when I needed a body, you became a vegetable.
Just when I left, you have been pushed.
I'm a seventeen-year-old Voldemort, and Dumbledore is Grindelwald's old flame.
We were most likely to conspire against you like we did with Harry from the start, wasn't it?"
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Tom felt that the world seemed particularly malicious towards beautiful creatures. First, it was his mother, who gave him such a thoughtful name. Then it was Basilisk, and now Ginny.
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Ginny said, "I don't think you're a bad person, Tom. Even if you were, it's too late for me to scream and shout now."
Tom said seriously, "I can leave if you want."
He could talk to Dumbledore about this.
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Ginny said, "I still trust you the most. You will surely defeat yourself."
Tom didn't say anything.
He closed his eyes, folded his hands on the table, and rested his forehead on top.
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If God existed in this world, he wished he had refused Dumbledore back then. 704Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7duxgz8GGz
He wanted to graduate smoothly, work for a while, save money, and then travel. He would keep waiting for a vacancy at Hogwarts while travelling.
And If he got a job at the school and worked with Dumbledore. On weekends, they would visit Hogsmeade and reminisce about the past like friends.
Maybe if he even sent the ring to Dumbledore in time, Grindelwald would have gotten married. So during summer vacation, he would visit their home and test the limits of magic together.
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If only there were so many ifs in this world.
The longer people lived, the more things they would feel guilty and regarded about.
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Tom responded, "I will let Harry defeat me. If possible, I want to live with your name forever. I don't want to defeat myself. For I've killed so many people, I don't have the face to live on. Your family and friends miss you, not me. I'm just an unloved, jinxed person, wherever I go, someone dies."
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Ginny remained silent for a long time and said, "You're just very unlucky. Holding on for a little longer. Someone will love you eventually. My family and friends really like your type. Just look at Harry, my parents treat him like another son. Luna and Ricky both said you're great too."
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Tom rested his elbow on the table, wiped his tears with his sleeve, and knew that crying was useless. So he said with determination, "We have to start by dealing with Mrs. Norris."
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Ginny didn't have much time left, and there was still too much Tom needed to take over.
Studying medical dark magic books every day now was unrealistic. It would be better to spend more time interacting and communicating with Ginny and truly becoming her doppelgänger.
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