— — — — — —
This night was destined to be sleepless.
More than a hundred thousand wizards couldn't sleep. Even closing their eyes made their hearts race with unease.
The riot was over, but its aftermath was only just beginning.
Some people had been separated from their friends and family. Some had botched Apparition and ended up horribly injured. Others had lost loved ones outright in the chaos.
For many women, it felt like the sky had collapsed.
Wasn't their man just supposed to go out for a few drinks, celebrate with friends, and finally watch an amazing match? How did it all end up like this?
A few people tried to stir up trouble, but Ikaros marched through the camps with the Transformers and a large number of Astra Abyssum mercenaries. Camp by camp, they passed through, and everywhere they went, voices fell silent.
The Transformers carried several injured bodies in their massive hands.
The sheer brutality forced everyone to calm down.
Quietly, Astra Abyssum's image in people's minds began to change.
Before, many had seen it as nothing more than a place to earn some extra cash, a kind of middleman for hiring help.
But now? This was harsher than any Ministry of Magic.
No, the Ministry didn't even deserve to be compared. The Ministry hesitated forever just to arrest someone, worrying about procedures and court hearings. The Astra Abyssum Guild didn't bother with any of that. If they felt you were guilty, they acted. Immediately.
Rumors spread through the camps like wildfire. Stories of Tom Riddle fighting five hundred alone, slaughtering his way through more than twenty camps without even blinking.
Tom had become a name that could make a child cry, feared like Voldemort in the old tales.
After a few hours, the Portkey distribution area was packed to bursting. Ministry employees' hands were cramping from making Portkeys nonstop. There were just too many people. Way too many.
A lot of visitors had originally planned to stay a few extra days. The commercial streets were full of interesting things they hadn't even finished browsing. Leaving right after a match felt like a waste.
But now?
Who would want to stay in this hellhole?
If a riot could happen once, it could happen again. Better to leave quickly. Britain was too dangerous. They wanted to go home.
Many people tried to dump the blame on Britain, but in truth, the British Ministry of Magic couldn't carry that pot even if it wanted to.
Local wizards might not have been particularly polite, but the foreign gangs were far worse. Most of the troublemakers were outsiders.
As for the locals, it was mostly a few bored pure-blood families. Years of pent-up frustration, fueled by alcohol, finally exploded. They set a few fires, tortured a handful of wizards, and were promptly smashed senseless by sweeping waves of spells.
Honestly, seeing Tom soaring through the sky sobered them up more than half. Out of more than twenty former Death Eaters, only three had actually fallen.
Compared to numbers in the thousands, that really wasn't much.
There was one small incident afterward.
When Ikaros went to make arrests, Scrimgeour stepped in to block her.
"Going after those foreign punks is one thing," he said calmly. "We arrest them and hand them over to their own Ministries anyway. But these people? They are British. There's no way we can just give them up. If we do, what's the point of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement? The Ministry would be nothing but a decoration."
Scrimgeour rattled on at length, full of righteous indignation. He earned admiring looks from the young Aurors behind him.
He also earned a barrage of hexes from Ikaros.
If Lupin hadn't intervened, the Auror Office would have needed a new head on the spot.
Tom was still human, and he retained a basic level of courtesy and respect for legitimate governing bodies.
But Ikaros only cared about her master's orders.
Moving as fast as possible, Lupin took several mercenaries and took custody of all the Death Eaters. Only then did the conflict finally die down.
Throughout the entire process, Ikaros never once spared Scrimgeour a glance.
Scrimgeour's face cycled through red, yellow, and green like a traffic light, and then he simply passed out on the spot.
...
Elsewhere, Tom found Madame Maxime and took Hermione and Penelope back with him. The others were personally delivered to their parents.
Even though they already knew through the Codex that their families were safe, it would have been inappropriate for them to stay behind in the villa enjoying comfort.
Back at the villa, Tom went straight into the study space, summoned Ariana, pulled her over his knee, and gave her a spanking.
This time, Ariana didn't dare talk back. She took it obediently, sniffling the whole time.
"Tom… I was wrong…"
Only when he could clearly feel that both sides of the girl's bottom were swollen did Tom stop. With a thought, the power of the space restored her completely.
"Alright. Get up."
Ariana stood obediently, saying nothing, and hugged the boy's arm.
"Do you know why I hit you?" Tom asked softly.
"Because I did something wrong."
"Then do you know what kind of people I hate the most?"
Ariana froze. This time, she didn't answer right away. She actually thought about it seriously.
'…Ugly people?'
That was definitely one of them. But if she said that out loud now, she'd probably get smacked again.
"…Traitors." She finally gave her answer.
Tom shook his head immediately. "Traitors? Traitors aren't worth hating. If you're capable, you kill them the moment they betray you. And if you're not capable, then what right do you have to demand loyalty from anyone?"
"The people I hate most are idiots." Tom turned her face so she had no choice but to meet his gaze. "Idiotic teammates."
Ariana's eyes reddened instantly. Seeing that, he added calmly, "Ariana, you're not that far gone. You were just stupid once."
"Next time, think things through. I know you meant well and ended up doing harm, but that's exactly what hurts the most. No matter what your intentions are, the result is right there in front of you."
"When you wanted to bring people out, didn't Vinda stop you?"
At that, Ariana's guilt deepened. "She did… Vogel also disagreed. But at the time, I…"
She trailed off. How was she supposed to explain it?
That she'd been angry those people ruined the event Tom had organized, and then saw the Dark Mark flaunting itself in the sky, so she rushed out without thinking?
Just like Tom said. Good intentions that caused bad results were still bad intentions.
"I was wrong." The girl admitted it again, no longer trying to defend herself.
That attitude satisfied Tom. At least she had understood what he meant.
"Everyone makes mistakes. Just think more before you make decisions. What if you run into danger? What if the consequences spiral out of your control?"
"As long as you're strong enough to bear all the consequences, then it isn't a mistake."
"I understand." Ariana nodded seriously, taking his words to heart.
"Alright. Go rest." Tom ruffled her hair and gently set her back on her feet.
Ariana knew Tom had plenty to deal with. She didn't cling to him, and left the study space at once.
Tom stepped into his small world. He'd captured eight people in total. Either he could clearly feel their hostility toward him was far stronger than anyone else's, or they were the ones secretly inciting the marchers to violence.
After questioning them, it turned out five of them all had different motives. Two had been placed under the Imperius Curse, and their intended target was him.
"Voldemort?" The boy pondered quietly.
He didn't have many enemies, and most of them were already dead. The first suspect was naturally Little Voldy.
But the strength of the Imperius Curse was far too weak.
Tom knew Voldemort's personality well. Calling him cowardly was practically praising his bravery. After getting beaten senseless last time, he'd recovered this fast and come straight to Britain to mess with him again?
More likely he'd sent underlings to cause trouble, or used some indirect dark magic method. Either way, Tom didn't believe he'd dare show up in person right now.
He tried to trace the source, but the magical trail dissipated after a short distance. Tom didn't bother pressing further. He released the two unlucky fools who'd been controlled, and cleanly eliminated the other three with ulterior motives.
Then Tom opened his system panel.
[Host: Tom Riddle]
[Identity: Hogwarts pre–Fourth Year Student]
[Credits: 8,655]
[Achievement Points: 4,580]
[Unused Reward: One Gacha Pull]
He'd spent credits pretty aggressively lately. During his month-long break he'd saved up nearly twenty thousand, but now it had dropped again. Most of it had gone into researching new magic and bloodline-related paths.
His achievement points were finally creeping toward five thousand again, but Tom hesitated.
After the minor system update (in Chapter 450), the wizard tier system had become more detailed, much like the gacha system.
Thinking about that, Tom clicked to view the tiers:
[Gacha Tiers: Basic – Intermediate – High – Legendary – Mythical]
[Wizard Tiers: Elite - Century King – Legend – Wizard King – God of Magic] (Tiers below Elite are omitted.)
.
.
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