He wore a Slytherin school robe, and a silver Class Prefect badge glimmered on his chest.
Is his name Tom?
"I was just about to see the Principal, sir."
Tom said, his expression still somewhat restrained, his head down as he dared not meet Dumbledore's gaze.
Harry actually quite understood Tom's behavior—after all, the present Dumbledore exuded much more intimidation than the White Christmas version with a beard.
Any Hogwarts student would likely lack the courage to meet his eyes, let alone when Dumbledore was clearly giving him that penetrating stare that Harry knew so well.
"Alright, off to bed now." Dumbledore gazed at Riddle, "It's best not to wander the corridors at night these days, seeing as—"
At this point, he sighed heavily.
"Goodnight, Tom." Professor Dumbledore bid Riddle goodnight and strode away.
Harry wasn't interested in this young man named Tom but chose instead to leave with Professor Dumbledore.
Soon, Harry was following Professor Dumbledore into the Transformation Class office.
A sudden knock sounded.
"Come in." Dumbledore sighed with his hand on his forehead.
The door opened, and a red-haired beauty walked in.
(Young Professor McGonagall)
Harry was a bit shocked; if it weren't for the overwhelming resemblance in appearance and temperament, he really couldn't connect the beauty in front of him with the stern old lady McGonagall.
"Albus."
Professor McGonagall walked to Professor Dumbledore's desk and sat opposite him.
"So—it's true? We're closing Hogwarts?"
"Perhaps, Minerva." Professor Dumbledore rubbed the point between his eyes as if relieving fatigue: "You know, there's a student death in the school, and we haven't caught the culprit—the School Board has leaked it to the Prophet Daily, and now the Ministry of Magic has to take this matter seriously."
Professor McGonagall grabbed her collar and wiped her tears: "Oh my, poor Myrtle…"
"Yes, poor child." Professor Dumbledore sighed, "I remember this girl, it was I who brought her to Hogwarts... I really don't know how saddened her parents will be when they learn about this."
Professor McGonagall cried for a while, wiped her tears, and asked: "Do you know who the culprit could be, Albus?"
"I don't know." Professor Dumbledore said.
But his eyes seemed to flicker, as if hiding some speculation.
Professor McGonagall didn't notice Dumbledore's changing expression; she had just stood up when the door was knocked again.
"Albus." An old voice sounded from outside, sounding a bit weak and feeble.
"Come in, Principal Dipet." Professor Dumbledore said.
Principal Dipet pushed open the door but didn't come in; instead, he said: "Albus, Mr. Riddle has found the culprit—he accuses Gryffindor's Rubeus Hagrid of harboring the Eight-eyed Giant Spider, which is the real culprit that harmed Elizabeth Warren..."
"Impossible!" Professor McGonagall immediately retorted: "That's impossible, I can guarantee, Mr. Hagrid is definitely not such a person!"
"I think so too, Principal Dipet." Dumbledore said seriously: "If Myrtle was bitten to death by the Eight-eyed Giant Spider, she would certainly show signs of poisoning—I think we all should know what the symptoms of Eight-eyed Giant Spider Venom look like."
"But Mr. Riddle has already written a letter to the Ministry of Magic, reporting Mr. Hagrid by name." Principal Dipet sighed, "You should know, the Ministry of Magic always prefers less trouble over more; according to their consistent practice, now what they want is not to ascertain the truth but how to pin this incident down, and let Mr. Hagrid bear the name of the culprit—this way, they won't need to worry about the consequences of closing Hogwarts, nor need to worry about anxious parents—because the real culprit has already been identified."
Harry's fists clenched tightly.
He felt that even if he hadn't known about the Snake Monster earlier, he wouldn't believe this matter was done by Hagrid.
Oh my, Hagrid is so kind, so… kind.
Originally he thought Tom was quite nice...
But then again, that Eight-eyed Giant Spider Hagrid raised in school was indeed somewhat abstract.
His heart was too big, raising such a thing in school.
Luckily, he wasn't a Gryffindor student now; otherwise, he might one night be murdered along with the spider by Ron.
"So what should we do?" Professor McGonagall whimpered: "No, I can't stand by while Mr. Hagrid is arrested, I should…"
"Minerva!" Professor Dumbledore sighed: "No matter what, we can't prove Hagrid's innocence—you need to know, the Eight-eyed Giant Spider can also cause death; what we can do now, is try our best to ensure Mr. Hagrid is not sent to Azkaban."
"Oh my, oh dear…" Professor McGonagall leaned powerlessly against the chair, sobbing lowly.
"However." Principal Dipet spoke again: "Previously, Mr. Riddle came to me; he asked if he could stay at school during the holidays because he didn't want to return to that orphanage—he told me his father is a Muggle and his mother was a Witch, but after giving birth to him, his mother died."