After Sherlock saw the boy, although he was a bit shocked, he was still calm on the surface. While clenching his wand, he touched the third button under his robe with his left hand.

“Tom Riddle?” He asked.

The boy sitting on the sofa heard Sherlock calling his name; his expression looked a little surprised, and he seemed to be expecting him.

“Professor Sherlock Forrest.” He said, slowly standing up from the sofa.

“I don’t know if you have noticed. This is not the first time we have met.”

Sherlock grabbed Harry and Ron’s hands and pulled them behind him, “Was it at the bookstore?”

Tom walked into the common room as if he were walking in his own home. “So you have known me since then.”

He walked to the fireplace, and the fire was extinguished. Because of the surrounding lights, his body seemed real.

“I also found out that you were different at first from the others. It wasn’t until the second time I met you at Hogwarts that it confirmed my guess even more.”

Sherlock heard his words and thought back to the first time he met the Malfoys at the bookstore, and the marks on his arms were searing. He came to Hogwarts and met Neville, and the mark reacted for the second time.

“You’ve been with Neville since the beginning?”

When he asked this, Tom’s face darkened a bit.

“He’s an idiot!” He said coldly.

“He didn’t start talking to me until the third week of school. He was stupid and a coward. I was still weak at that time and could only induce him slowly. He was willing to open the door of the Chamber of Secrets, but after two attacks, he realized something was wrong.”

“Before that, we were good friends who talked about everything. He told me how strict his grandmother was, how much his classmates in Gryffindor looked down on him, how he admired the greatness of Harry Potter, and how he hated himself as a coward. Only I would want to have a word with him every day.”

“But after getting rid of the Muggle that likes to bring a camera, he felt that I was manipulating him.”

“This idiot intended to burn me down at that time!” Tom’s voice was angry.

“One night, he threw me in this fireplace and used magic. He was so nervous that he didn’t even have the guts to check if I was burnt to ashes. He didn’t know that I was unbreakable, so I was lying in this fireplace for two days until another student picked me up.”

When he said this, his voice became playful, “That prefect named Weasley may seem smarter, but he’s much more controllable than this idiot.”

Harry and Ron were shocked.

“Percy?”

“Ah, yes, that’s his name, Percy Weasley. A boy addicted to power and wanted to have a bright future.”

“I made a deal with him.” Tom’s gaze met Harry’s eyes.

“He wants revenge on a guy, and I’m here to help him. All he needs is to put me on someone’s desk later. All that’s left is our meeting, Harry.”

Harry was shaken as he thought of Draco being attacked and when the diary appeared on his desk out of nowhere.

“Weasley didn’t even have a memory of me because I devoured their mind. I got stronger, and they got weaker; I can tell you my memory in hopes of regaining your trust, Harry.”

His voice became cold again, “But I didn’t expect that after you communicated with me only once, you stopped talking to me. This idiot stole me after finding out that not only did I survive the burn but fell into your hands instead.”

Tom walked up to Neville and looked at his pale face, “He tried to hand me over to the school, but with the strength I had at that time, he couldn’t resist me. He struggled, tried desperately to get rid of my control, and left some messages. But all of them were also my doing.”

“What caught me off guard is that you, Harry Potter, the savior who countless students worship, are a coward as well. After learning all the clues and knowing where the entrance was, not only did you not go with yourself, but you ran to the teacher.”

Harry didn’t feel ashamed when he heard what he said; instead, he gave him a smug look. He knew that if he and Ron ran into the chamber recklessly, they would’ve been trapped.

Tom didn’t care about it much and said casually, “Fortunately, I made some improvements and waited for you in this common room. Because all the students were evacuated and this place is empty, no one will disturb us.”

Ron, clutching the corner of Sherlock’s robe tightly, “What are you trying to do?”

“Of course, it’s to have the chance of defeating the greatest wizard of all time, the savior of the wizarding world, Harry Potter!” He laughed coldly, “I want to know if you, who once escaped from Voldemort’s hands unharmed and destroyed him, can still escape from my hands?”

Harry gulped, “What does Voldemort have to do with you?”

Sherlock said lightly, “Don’t you realize it, Harry? Who else in the world is so obsessed with you? Tom Riddle is Voldemort.”

The wand in his hand had quietly turned its direction and aimed at the portrait behind him. Tom is a little surprised that Sherlock is able to reveal his identity, but he is not too surprised. His identity was not a secret, but most people were hesitant to mention it.

Harry and Ron were both shocked. They didn’t expect that the boy in front of them was actually the Dark Lord himself, who should not be named.