Capítulo 81: Chapter 81: Two Toms
"Exciting News! Get Ready for a Massive 35-Chapter Release on Patreon after 2 Days!"
The first stop for Lucius to handle the items was Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley, but he didn't reach an agreement with old Borgin today. Borgin's offered price was too low, and this opportunistic attitude angered Lucius. Of course, even if they had agreed, Lucius wouldn't have sold the diary to Borgin. Borgin was too familiar with dark magic items, and Lucius feared he might discern something suspicious.
After hiding the diary, Lawrence had finished packing the second-year textbooks. When Lucius saw the large box of books, he couldn't control the expression on his face. At this moment, he had only one thought: What? Why are there so many?
Mr. Lawrence placed the box on the counter and added the few books Lucius had chosen. Hermione glanced at them and said, "A total of 51 Galleons and 13 Sickles."
Lucius couldn't help it. Fifty-one Galleons were almost half of his monthly salary, and this young girl had just glanced at them and calculated the total? Who was she trying to deceive?
"Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?" Lucius sneered at Hermione. "Can't you even use a calculator?"
Hermione shrugged, pulled out a calculator, and started calculating. The result was accurate to the last Knut.
Lucius, with a stern face, took out his money bag and slapped 52 Galleons on the counter.
"No need for change," he said, looking at his deflated money bag. Lucius's family had fallen into a dire situation. To maintain appearances, he almost emptied his monthly salary. Although he appeared respectable on the outside, Mr. Lucius was, in fact, living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to balance income and expenses, with slow growth in savings. Taking out 52 Galleons at once, while not a large sum for him, felt as nauseating as eating a fly.
Looking at Hermione, Lucius suddenly remembered that his son had mentioned this blond girl. He narrowed his eyes slightly and said arrogantly, "For these books, some people's families might have to go hungry..."
Sense of superiority was relative. Thinking about the Weasley family having to pay five times the amount, and this girl, Hermione, likely spending her entire holiday earnings, Lucius felt much better.
Hermione looked up, recalling the exchange rates for gold, Galleons, and pounds. With 5 grams of gold equal to 1 Galleon, and 35 Galleons requiring 175 grams of gold, given the current gold price of 355 dollars per ounce, approximately 170 pounds per ounce, and 31 grams per ounce...
Hermione, after a simple calculation, found that she only needed 960 pounds to exchange for 35 Galleons. Her father could earn that in one or two days by working overtime.
Sometimes, making money in Western countries was too easy. For example, the nucleic acid test in Paris had three designated agencies, with two charging 50 euros—if there was no health insurance, an additional 65 euros. The third agency offered an additional package: 190 euros for a guaranteed result within 12 hours, providing services in English, French, Arabic, and Chinese, and assisting in obtaining a green pass. It was a one-stop service. As long as customers spent enough money, everything would be taken care of.
Doctors could earn a fortune with a little overtime, using absolutely legal means. For instance, if you wanted to book an appointment at this clinic, you needed to pay 100 euros in advance. If you canceled due to a flight change, the money would not be refunded.
Mr. Granger only needed to schedule an appointment in advance—pay more money, see the dentist directly, and easily earn his daughter's book and living expenses. Booking a dentist appointment in Europe and America was troublesome. Some students with toothaches in December made an appointment, but their teeth were only treated during the Spring Festival—of course, this was due to not finding the right channel.
Hence, Hermione's expression turned into: Is that it?
Lucius keenly perceived the change in Hermione's expression.
Lucius: ?
"Well, my dad can earn it in two days of overtime," Hermione muttered softly.
This sentence directly broke through Lucius's defenses. He picked up his wand, briskly left Flourish and Blotts, and Lawrence waited until he was far away before straightening up, spitting out disdainfully, then returning to his office to rest. Hermione also sat back on her little stool, continuing to read.
Tom, on the other hand, stood up. Following Lucius's path, he carefully circled around and finally found the diary placed in a corner of the bookshelf. Tom had been restocking these days, so he immediately noticed this outsider.
Actually, this diary was quite conspicuous, as it looked like an old book. The cover appeared weathered, with the corners of the cover curled up, and the inner pages had yellowed. Such an old book shouldn't be among the new books in Flourish and Blotts.
Tom discreetly put the diary into his pocket.
[Acquired Tom Riddle's Diary
A seemingly ordinary blank diary that belongs to Tom Riddle in the sixth year, retaining extremely dark powers]
Tom knew that this diary was a Horcrux—more precisely, Tom Riddle's Horcrux. He had decided to destroy it immediately, but before doing so, he needed to extract the last bit of value from Riddle.
As for the corrosion of the Horcrux, Tom had a vague guess. Perhaps he could solve the issue of corrosion. It was this speculation, coupled with the fact that the sixth-year Riddle still fell within the category of a human, that gave Tom the confidence to take the risk.
In the evening, after finishing work, Tom returned to the Ollivander Wand Shop's dormitory. Today, for the first time, he didn't practice carving but sat at the table, spreading out the diary.
He wrote his name on the diary: Tom Yodel. After a second, the ink faded, leaving no trace on the paper. Then, a line of text seeped out from the paper, composed of his ink, forming a sentence: "What a coincidence, I'm also named Tom, I'm Tom Riddle."
Tom placed the pen on the paper, letting the diary absorb the ink. Suddenly, he realized something and changed to another pen. He didn't want to accidentally speak the truth while writing.
"You must be curious why a diary is talking to you..."
Seeing Tom remain silent, the diary started talking to itself.
"In fact, I am an alchemical creation made by an outstanding graduate!"
Tom was momentarily at a loss for words. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry—did they think they could deceive young wizards just because they were ignorant? If this Riddle diary was genuinely an alchemical creation, its intelligence was no less than that of the Sorting Hat. Did your outstanding graduate reach the level of the Four Founders?
Seeing Tom silent, the diary continued, "You see, you're named Tom, and I'm also named Tom, so..."
"There are too many people named Tom in the UK?"
Diary: ...
Tom was now somewhat confused by Riddle's diary.
You can read +88 advanced chapters on my P@treon page for just 4$ !!
P@treon.com/young_sunlight
Collection/Tag is : TDDH
(End of this chapter)
Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder