Chapter 6: interrogation and introduction [Edited]

From what I've learned, all the other magical focuses had specialties that a wand lacked. Wands were great for general control of magic, but these new replacements, although they lacked a bit of control, introduced special abilities that tipped the scale in their favor during these turbulent times.

Staves have limitations in assisting with magical control, as they require a significant amount of power to operate. However, they can act as powerful amplifiers of magic, and due to their size and customizability, they can be enchanted with various tricks for use in battle. Staves are particularly useful for wide-range (AOE) magic and are therefore favored by war mages as their focus of choice.

The next type of magical item is an orb which is the most complicated one. It requires programming to work as an auto-magic caster. Normally, they have a floating charm that allows the owner to access the inner workings of the orb and set rules, such as auto-protego against spells or even auto-stupefy on enemies.

The third type is swords or other bladed items. These are usually made with goblin technology. Grindelwald stole the knowledge of the goblins and made it public. Seeing that, Goblins pressured Ministry of Magic to lift the ban of Goblins using magic and Ministry being in a difficult situation that it was, allowed Goblins to practice magic freely. Even with the victory of goblins being able to learn and practice magic, they were not happy with the turn of events. They joined the side against dark lords, but not in a way that would lead to their extinction if the war was lost. These bladed weapons have a plethora of options, with some even capable of cutting through magical shields and overpowering spells.

The last types are amulets and rings which are the most diverse in specialty. After the secret of creating these magical foci was revealed, any enchanter and alchemist could put a personal spin on them and create a different version. There are other kinds of magical foci such as tattoos, turning a body part into a magical foci, and even tomes, but they are not as popular as the aforementioned types.

.

I closed the book I was reading on magical foci and rubbed my forehead. I had to decide whether to use these items or not. I could perform well without them, but if they had benefits, why not use them? I put on my brown robe, washed up in the bathroom, and checked myself in the mirror. I saw Michael, who had just woken up and was still sleepy. 

"I'm going outside for the meeting from Hogwarts, don't wait up," I told him. He shooed me away with his hand. He could be grumpy some mornings. 

I went downstairs, grabbed a mug of hot coffee and a sandwich, and sat at one of the tables to have breakfast. After a while, I heard a pop and turned my head to see a pirate-looking Minerva McGonagall, wearing an eye patch, analyzing the Leaky Cauldron. Unlike the black dress she usually wore in my previous life, she was wearing a grey combat dress that oozed magic from its enchantments. A cloak covered her clothes, but I caught a glimpse of a jeweled silver dagger when she walked towards me. 

I got up and took a closer look at her face. I saw two long pale scars on two sides of her face and a black eye patch on her left eye. Her skin looked surprisingly younger than what I remembered from the Battle of Hogwarts, so I was sure that she had used some kind of magic to increase her lifespan or at least rejuvenate her outer look, and my money was on rituals. 

"Mr. Riddle," she nodded in my direction. "Good morning, I'm Minerva McGonagall, you can call me Professor McGonagall. We seem to have arrived earlier than others. Please sit." 

I smiled at her and replied, "Good morning to you too, Professor. I wasn't expecting you so early. Our meeting is in half an hour, right?" 

"That's correct, Mr. Riddle."

I sat down and she took her seat in front of me. She stared at me as if there was something on my face.

"To be honest with you, Mr. Riddle, you were the reason why I came a little earlier than usual," Professor McGonagall said. "We don't have many muggle-born wizards joining Hogwarts nowadays. It's impressive that you found the wizarding community on your own and received a full scholarship from Gringotts Goblins when they announced their scholarship program. One might wonder if they started the scholarship specifically for you unless it was just a happy coincidence."

I stopped smiling. I didn't want to look like a villain. They say honesty is the best policy, right? But in this case, I wasn't sure.

"I don't know what to say, Professor McGonagall," I replied. "Some wizard came to our orphanage and told us to come here and apply for a job at Gringotts. The goblins were understanding and happy to support me. I signed a contract with them. I don't know much more than that."

When I told her that I had signed a contract with the goblins, her face became less aggressive, and a hint of pity came to her eyes.

- Alright, but even though Tom told me that they performed a dark magic detection on you, I'm compelled to test you again. Hogwarts policy. 

I smiled and said:

- of course professor. 

She took out a small black orb and started chanting. Then the orb started flying around my head and shooting a spell at me once in a while. 

She pocketed the orb after 10-15 minutes and said: 

- it seems there are no traces of dark or any evil magic in your body. Also no compulsion or mind curses. I guess you saw what happened at your orphanage right? That's why there are some natural defenses around your mind to protect from trauma. 

I just looked down and tried my best, acting like an innocent child. 

- don't worry about it now. We'll take care of everything in Hogwarts and try to create an environment for students to learn without the worry of being attacked.

While keeping my head down I said in a quiet tone: 

- thank you, professor. 

We sat there quietly and she ordered some coffee from Tom too. We slowly sipped our coffee until I composed myself. If she knew that I was the one who killed them, that would a be funny look on her face I imagine.

I started my "innocent" curiosity then, actually, I was digging for information.

- professor, Mr. Tom said all the muggleborns are taken by darklords. How come there are other students coming today? How did they survive? 

- Ah, it is indeed a sad story. We usually get one or two survivors per year who sometimes get snatched away before they finish Hogwarts. This year we have you Mr. Riddle and one Hermione Granger. She had her magical awakening while seeing a local skirmish between aurors and nightwalkers, an auror saved her and put many wards on her house to prevent their trace on her. 

- what are aurors and nightwalkers if I may ask professor? 

- aurors are wizards under the Ministry of Magic who work to keep the society secure and fight against dark wizards. Nightwalkers are wizards under a darklord named Mr. Floyd. Annoying bunch to fight against. They used muggle guns and explosives and improved them using magic. I lost my left eye fighting Mr. Floyd. He is a cruel fighter. 

She slowly went into a daze, I bet she was thinking about her fight with him. 

A pop sound of apparition brought her out of her daze and we saw a blue-uniformed man with a long staff holding the hand of a small girl who was trying not to barf on the floor. 

I could recognize Hermione Granger, I saw her accompanying Potter in my past life. I remembered that she was smart, and now that I think about her face and body from that time, she was both beautiful and hot too. My newly brought-back sexuality might be a problem for me moving forward. I might not be able to keep any hatred towards female enemies of my past life. 

The man in the blue cloak beside her walked towards Professor McGonagall and glanced at me too. 

- Is he clear professor? 

"he is" She answered.

"Alright, then I'll take my leave." Then looked towards Granger and said, "Miss Granger, I'll pick you up at 3 p.m. Please stay at Leaky Cauldron after your meeting." 

Granger just nodded. She hadn't found her bearings with apparition yet. 

Professor McGonagall asked Granger to sit down. We introduced ourselves and it seemed our birthdays were only days apart. She was a few days older than me. (Authors note: I don't know her birthday. I just made it up. Bear with it.) 

McGonagall talked about some basics of magic that I knew of and the general knowledge about the wars, darklords, the current situation of the wizarding world, and the fact that there is no magical trace from the ministry anymore, yet darklords control the trace. About different foci and finally, we went to the Diagon Alley. There she introduced us to many different shops and where to buy our items. Because we had around 8-9 months since the start of the school year, we had enough time to buy whatever we needed. We went to the bank and there I found out magical money also circulates to some extent in the muggle world too.

Granger bought some books with some galleons that she brought. 

We also went to a shop that sold magical foci, but everything there felt soulless, I preferred my old wand. I told McGonagall that I'll purchase my magical foci myself. Granger got an orb for herself.

I glanced at Ollivanders shop and asked McGonagall: what's that place professor? 

"That's a wand shop. It was the best wand shop in the whole of Europe, but after the use of these foci became common he tried to experiment with his wands to improve them. Sadly he failed and hurt himself. Nowadays he doesn't even open his shop anymore." She answered in a sad tone and continued, "You can buy an amulet or a ring for utility use, they are even some specialized for day-to-day use. If you insist on a wand, I think you can buy that cheaper in a pawn shop. They have so many wands that you can find a matching one." 

After I took Gerrick Ollivander hostage I stole most of his magical knowledge on wands. If I wanted to, I could create a simple wand if I wanted. But I couldn't access his family legacy on wands. After analyzing my wand and the Elder Wand I had ideas on how to improve the art of Wandlore, sadly they were out of the picture in this world. 

[Ding!]

[New quest!

Rise of the wands! Learn Wandlore and improve the process of wand creation until you surpass any other magical foci. 

Step one: Learn the family legacy of Ollivanders

Step two: Learn the legacy of 3 different wand makers that take other approaches to wand making.

Step three: reintroduce new and powerful wands to the public

Step four: Create the most powerful wand.

Reward: based on success rate] 

Great! Another objective and a challenge to defeat. I enjoyed the prospect of challenging myself in these magical endeavors. 

We went back to Leaky Cauldron to have lunch. As per usual it was empty. We sat around a table and Tom took our order. We had lunch and Granger asked McGonagall: 

"What is Hogwarts like professor? What is expected of us?" 

"Hogwarts is like a cozy home. When you arrive you'll be categorised into four different groups. That'll be your house. You'll live and study with the students in your house. You just need to study hard and take magic seriously. Especially in these trying times." 

Granger nodded with a full Grifindore high courage and determined look. 

I asked: "Professor, how can Granger and I compete with students who studied since their birth?" 

She replied: "For now, you have 9 months. They are not as studious as you might think. So don't worry about falling back. Just try your best." 

She then looked at her weird magical watch and said: "I have a meeting to catch. Please take care of yourselves. I'll see you at the starting ceremony of the school. For now, goodbye." 

We said goodbye to her and she popped out. For a minute me and granger didn't talk to each other until she said: 

"You can call me Hermione you know? You don't need to call me granger." She said with shyness, I felt a tingle in my stomach and looked up to see her shy and burning red face. Which made another stronger tingle. 

"You can also call me Tom." 

From the corner of my eyes, I suddenly saw a crouching figure. 

Michael tried to hide himself behind a table and observe us with a proud smile on his face. 

'fucking shit, I need to relearn Oblivious charm to prevent Michaels nosiness.'

************************************

Name: Tom Riddle

Titles: The Phoenix Lord (+10 Vit per 10 levels)

Race: Human

Level: 4(75%)

HP: 380/380

MP: 490/490

STR: 25

DEX: 25

VIT: 38

INT: 49

WIS: 38

AP:15

Money: 60G / 0$

Perks: Master of Magick[Lvl2], Inner Control[Lvl1], Dark Master, Genius / PP: 0 (+4 INT and +WIS per 5 lvls, +1 INT per level)

Traits: Touched by death, MetaMorph, ParselMouth, Arsonist, Dark Vision / TP: 0]

Skills:

Wandless Magic [Level 6/200]

Meditation [Level 13/50]

Mind Arts [Level 23/100]

(Occlumency [18/25] |Legilimency [5/25] | Mind design [0/25] | ??? [0/25])

Healing arts: [Level 1/80]

Potion making: [Level 6/80]

Charms [Level 6/80]

Transfiguration [Level 6/80]

Arithmancy [Level 6/100] (New)

Ritual magic [Level 21/100]

(Astronomy[13/25] | Ancient runes[8/25] | Ritualistic Potions [0/25] | ??? [0/25])