Chapter 25 "Mr. Gaunt"

For the villagers in Budleigh Babberton Village, Mr. Gaunt has always been an extraordinary person.

Mr. Gaunt looks around forty years old, his face is pale, haggard, and he has suffered from the vicissitudes of time.

However, the chivalrous look could still be seen on his face. It can be imagined that he must be a pretty handsome guy when he was young.

He has lived in the village of Budleigh Babberton for three years, but during these three years, everyone only knows his surname, "Gaunt," not even his name.

He seems to have nothing to do, no work, rarely goes out, and rarely communicates with his neighbors... but he is never short of money and spends money lavishly.

He shuts himself in his house every day, not knowing what weird things he does.

Occasionally, some strange people visit him.

In short, he is incompatible with the whole village of Budleigh Babberton.

...

In fact, Mr. Gaunt is a wizard. An incognito wizard.

His full name is Tom Gaunt. Mr. Gaunt had a different name back then, Tom Riddle.

Speaking of it, Mr. Gaunt's life can be said to have been ill-fated.

His father is a Muggle, and his mother is a witch, but his mother is cruelly abandoned by his father after being pregnant with him.

On the last day of 1926, in an orphanage, his mother gave birth to him, and she soon passed away.

Poor Tom grew up in this orphanage.

At eleven, a wizard named Albus Dumbledore approached him and told him he was actually a wizard.

Then Tom succeeded in becoming a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

During his time at Hogwarts, he showed an extraordinary talent for magic. After being sorted into Slytherin House, he became the prefect and the student council president, gathering a large group of followers.

At the age of sixteen, Tom avenged his mother. He set up a trap, killed the old Tom Riddle family and his biological father, and framed his uncle, Morfin Gaunt.

He planned to continue his research on Dark Arts (called black magic at the time) after graduation.

So when he graduated from Hogwarts at 18, he came to an extreme magic item store, the Borgin and Burkes store, and became a clerk there.

But at the same time, the situation changed suddenly.

By then, the identity of the dark wizard Albus Dumbledore, the Hogwarts Transfiguration teacher, was revealed. Gellert Grindelwald defeated him in a duel and was imprisoned in Nurmengarde Prison.

At the same time, the British Minister of Magic, Leonard Spencer-Moon, was also forced to step down and commit suicide a week after stepping down.

The then principal of Hogwarts, Armando Dippet, also quickly announced his resignation and died soon after.

Mr. Grindelwald led the reconstruction of the British Ministry of Magic and took the initiative to serve as the principal of Hogwarts.

And Tom Riddle, who had just graduated, was closely associated with the dark wizard Albus Dumbledore (he knew that Dumbledore was the guide of the wizarding world, and according to the revealed information, Dumbledore had been paying great attention to Tom for the past few years), and was eyed by the Auror.

In January 1946, Tom was arrested for trading in Dark Arts items.

Soon, he was sentenced to three years imprisonment... He was imprisoned in Azkaban Prison because he was not eligible to enter the Nurmengarde Prison.

And in January 1949, on the eve of Tom's release from prison--

The Department of Law Enforcement of the Ministry of Magic discovered another unjust, false, and wrongful case.

A wizard named "Morfin Gaunt" had been imprisoned for being accused of murdering three Muggles; however, follow-up evidence showed that he was not the culprit. The real murderer was Tom.

This case was quickly retried, and Tom was finally sentenced again to fifty years in prison. Prison life continued for Tom.

He stayed in Azkaban Prison for another eleven years, then transferred to Nurmengarde Prison and was detained for another 21 years. He was finally released early due to his good behavior in prison.

On October 31, 1981, Tom, who was in his fifties, finally regained his freedom.

After being released from prison, he changed his name to Tom Gaunt and began to live incognito.

He also reconnected with some of his student followers.

Even after many years in prison, his outstanding talent for Dark Arts still won their respect.

It took a few years, and Tom gathered a small group of followers and formed an illegal group called the "Death Eaters." Tom became their leader.

Soon, this group had to retreat into underground activities due to attacks from the Ministry of Magic.

Since 1988, Tom has been engaged in the study of mysterious magic.

Because he often comes into contact with some contraband, he begins to choose to live in a Muggle town.

...

Six old books were placed in front of Tom in various directions.

"Ah!" He let out an angry roar and then tore all six books before him to pieces.

He had spent two hundred thousand gallons to have Lucius Malfoy buy these books from abroad, but now when he had these books, he realized they were utterly worthless.

The core content of the six books all pointed to another one. The seventh book, which he did not possess at all. If he couldn't get the seventh book, then everything was absolutely meaningless, and he couldn't do anything.

Due to anger, Tom's face began to tremble, and a red light flashed in his black eyes.

Suddenly, a strange instrument on the table began to hum. Then it started to wriggle violently.

Tom's face changed suddenly, and he quickly turned on the instrument and lowered his head. The expression in Tom's eyes rapidly changed to ecstasy.

Because he suddenly felt that the seventh book did exist... and a few minutes ago, someone had opened it, the position of the seventh book seemed to be at Hogwarts.

Tom's face quickly turned from ecstasy, and a bit of haze appeared.

Because the person he hated most was also at Hogwarts.