Hogwarts: Chill, I'm Not That Riddle

— — — — — —

It took nearly two hours for all the students inside the Dream Arena to finally make it back to Hogwarts.

Once everyone had gathered in the Great Hall, Dumbledore gave a brief speech.

"I know all of you are feeling lost about what’s happening right now. To be honest, so am I."

"But I trust that the Ministries of Magic of every nation will do everything they can to handle this crisis properly. Our worrying won’t help them. If anything, it may only make things harder."

Dumbledore’s booming voice echoed through the hall as he continued.

"The best thing you can do right now is stay here. Once everything settles down, you’ll have a holiday unlike any other."

"From this moment on, you are free. As long as you don’t leave the grounds or enter the Forbidden Forest, you may do whatever you like. The professors only need to maintain basic order and make sure no one wanders into dangerous places."

"That’s all. Dismissed."

With a sweep of his hand, Dumbledore turned and left the hall first.

After he was gone, silence settled over the room. For a while, nobody really knew what they were supposed to do in a time like this.

It wasn’t until Daphne stood up, grabbed Astoria by the hand, and waved to her friends. Only then did the Great Hall seem to thaw. Students began filing out in groups, some returning to their dormitories, others heading for the Black Lake to clear their heads.

Daphne led those who followed her to a small garden and had the house-elves bring out desserts.

"Honestly, my head’s still spinning," she muttered. "I still haven’t figured out what the hell just happened."

Her voice was tinged with frustration. The awards ceremony was supposed to be her crowning moment, the highlight of her year, and it had been ruined by this sudden disaster.

Damn it. She wanted her big moment in front of everyone too.

Hermione frowned deeply. Seeing Daphne’s pout, she snapped, "Daphne, at a time like this, you’re still thinking about your championship? Didn’t you hear what the professors said? Some lunatic used large-scale magic in front of everyone in New York. The entire magical world has been exposed. Who cares about the tournament now?"

"Exactly." Astoria rolled her eyes at her sister. "Can you stop thinking about weird nonsense at times like this?"

"And what does any of that have to do with me?" Faced with their criticism, Daphne slumped over the table, looking completely unbothered. "I’m just a student. Something this huge, even Dumbledore can’t solve it. What, me worrying about it is somehow going to fix everything?"

"Might as well just do what I normally do and wait for Tom to sort it out. And if even he can’t solve it... then I guess we’re all screwed together."

Honestly, for all the times Daphne seemed a little slow or airheaded, every now and then she would say something startlingly sharp.

Like right now. Her words were blunt, but there wasn’t anything wrong with them.

There really was nothing they could do.

Hermione racked her brain for a rebuttal, but after thinking for a long while, she couldn’t come up with a single thing.

Meanwhile, Kamio opened her paper fan and laughed softly behind it. "Daph, your wisdom rivals even Ravenclaw herself. I was worried at first, but hearing you say that, I realized worrying really is pointless. Better to enjoy the present."

Truthfully, Kamio was probably the least bothered out of everyone.

In the era she had lived in, wizards, or rather all supernatural beings, had never been a secret. Many of them, even entire supernatural clans, relied on the offerings of ordinary humans to survive.

When she awakened in this new era, she had found it strange.

In the previous era, supernatural beings had ruled the world. But in this age, everything had flipped.

Wizards and magical creatures had to hide themselves away, while vast lands and resources were occupied by ordinary humans.

If anything, it was the old arrangement that had felt unnatural to her. What was happening now felt far more normal.

"’Speaking of which..." Pansy, one of Daphne’s close friends, had followed her here hoping for good news, so couldn’t help asking as her eyes scanned the group. "Did Riddle come back?’"

"’Yes and no," Fleur sighed. "Tom came back, but then he and Cassandra left together."

"Did they go back to America?" Ginny guessed. "With something this big happening in her hometown, Cassandra must be worried sick."

Even though the two of them used to clash all the time, Ginny and Cassandra had grown much closer lately.

So Ginny was worried now, wondering whether Cassandra’s parents had been caught up in the chaos.

At that moment, Astoria’s iCodex suddenly lit up with a new message.

Her eyes brightened.

"It’s Tom!" she said quickly. "He says he took Cassandra and her parents home safely. He’ll be back at school later."

...

..

Dorset, Riddle Estate—

"Uncle, Auntie, you should stay here for a while."

After returning, Tom first brought Queenie and Jacob out of the pocket world and sent them to Newt and Tina’s house. Only then did he head back home and release Cassandra’s parents.

"For now, it’s best if you stay here," Tom said. "Things in America are a mess right now. New York is the worst, but no one knows if it’ll spread to Massachusetts."

Cassandra’s parents nodded quietly.

"Thank you, Tom." Cassandra’s eyes shone as she looked at him, her expression filled with naked admiration and affection.

Saving her parents had made her grateful, of course.

But what moved her most was that Tom hadn’t remembered them because she asked. He’d thought of them on his own.

That meant everything.

If the timing weren’t so awful, and if her parents weren’t right there being such an inconvenience, Cassandra would have already pounced on him and dragged him into a heated embrace.

Her gaze burned so intensely that Tom couldn’t possibly miss it.

He turned, ruffled her hair, then looked at Cassandra’s father, Andrew Vole. "Mr. Vole, there are a few things I’d like to ask you. Let’s take a walk in the garden while we talk."

Andrew nodded.

Tom had Cassandra stay behind with her mother, then led him out of the sitting room.

In the garden, the two of them, one old, one young, strolled among all kinds of strange and beautiful flowers.

These were plants carefully placed by Newt when he stayed here, each with its own unique properties. And under his meticulous arrangement, they kept the air fresh and had a calming, almost cleansing effect on the mind.

Andrew hadn’t fully shaken off his panic yet, but surrounded by the garden’s tranquility, he was already much steadier.

"So, Tom," Andrew asked, "what is it you want to know?"

Tom held out his hand, and a tiny fairy landed in his palm, covering her delicate face as she giggled shyly.

"Mr. Vole, how much do you know about the Sun-Chasers? And why was the American Magical Congress suddenly emptied out at such a critical moment? Where did all their people go?"

Andrew frowned. The question clearly wasn’t an easy one.

Tom met his gaze without hesitation, silently casting Legilimency.

A flood of scattered thoughts rushed into his mind.

As expected, Andrew did know something.

But the information was fragmented, too broken up to piece together clearly. It would be better to let the man organize it himself.

"Tom... honestly, most of this is just hearsay. I can’t guarantee any of it is true."

After gathering his thoughts, Andrew began slowly. "You know the Vole family only rose to prominence in recent years. We’re still considered newcomers, and our relationship with the old pure-blood families has never been particularly close. I tried to build ties with them, but they’ve always looked down on us. Only two or three families we’ve intermarried with ever shared any information."

"As for the Sun-Chasers, I only heard about them recently. Apparently, the organization has ties to Scott, the former headmaster of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"That man was a legend. Under his leadership, the school flourished. At the same time, he held tremendous influence within the Magical Congress. Back then, anyone who wanted to become President of the Magical Congress needed Scott’s approval first."

"But as for the organization’s purpose, or who exactly makes it up, I don’t know."

Andrew paced as he spoke.

"As for why Congress disappeared... I have a few guesses. A few years ago, the Magical Congress repealed a law aimed at the Purgers."

Tom’s eyes narrowed. "I know about that. It caused a lot of backlash at the time. The proposal came from a descendant of the Picquery family."

"Exactly." Andrew nodded quickly.

Tom remembered it clearly.

That had been when Tina, because of her opposition, was pushed to the sidelines by the Magical Congress. Furious, she resigned, which eventually led to her and the others moving to Britain.

And the attack on the Picquery family had been carried out under Tom’s orders, with Grindelwald executing it.

Partly to investigate the ancient ruins. Partly to help Tina settle old scores.

He hadn’t expected the matter to resurface years later.

.

.

.

A/N:

The Purgers were explained in Chapter 277, titled The Purgers, America’s Hidden History.

So just like Aizen say, "It’s all part of my plan."

Um... You might want to check that Chapter again—or not—but just to refresh your memory: in that Chapter, the newly appointed Director of Magical Legislation, Sam Picquery, proposed a bill aimed at preventing Purger infiltration. Every wizard’s wand would have to be registered and monitored by the Magical Congress. Any illegal spellcasting would immediately trigger detection. It sounded a bit like the Trace used by the British Ministry, but far stricter—adults included.

Naturally, such an extreme proposal stirred huge controversy. Tina was one of the loudest opponents. And she wasn’t alone either—she had a whole circle of former Aurors behind her. Thanks to their pushback, the bill was stalled.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!