HP: The Root of Everything - The Magician

Although Nagini, who has been permanently transformed into a snake, is not very intelligent, she is still able to communicate in a simple way.

Tom Riddle, controlling Harry's body, communicated with him in Parseltongue, and that's how he learned why Harry was there.

It turns out that after Voldemort failed to steal the Philosopher's Stone and escaped without Quirrell's body, he ordered Nagini to hide in the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts to monitor Harry Potter and Dumbledore, serving as a coordinate for his future rebirth and return, so as to launch a direct attack on Hogwarts.

For Tom/Voldemort, no one is important except Nagini.

Nagini could be considered 'their' first love.

Young Tom was ambitious and far-sighted, and he admired the pure blood of Slytherin. The snake totem of Slytherin was something Tom revered.

Nagini, who was living in Hogwarts Castle at the time, became something Tom Riddle absolutely wanted to have.

Although Tom approached Nagini with ulterior motives, he was still a teenager at the time, and the emotional outbursts of adolescence were beyond Tom's control. Therefore, Tom involuntarily took the pretense to heart and developed feelings for Nagini.

Perhaps it was this sincere affection that made Nagini, after losing Credence, rely on Tom for support in her fragile heart.

Tom promised that he would restore Nagini to human form and lift the blood curse from her.

But now it seems that Voldemort failed to keep his promise.

Tom, dressed as Harry, slowly knelt down and kissed the snake's lips: "Nagini~ Don't worry, I, Tom, will keep my promise to you. I am not Voldemort, I am Tom—Tom ​​Riddle."

"Come with me. After more than 40 years, please come back to my side. Let's... take revenge on that liar Voldemort together."

After saying that, seeing that Nagini did not refuse, Harry/Tom raised his wand and chanted, "Shrink quickly."

Under the influence of the spell, Nagini's 4-meter-long body began to shrink to about 30 centimeters, resembling a pet snake like a ball python.

Harry/Tom, with Nagini wrapped around his arm, left the Forbidden Forest.

The Forbidden Forest is vast, spanning several mountain ranges. Finding Black inside won't be easy, and Harry, being a student, doesn't have the time to search the entire forest.

Harry's hatred is crucial to Tom, determining whether he can drag Harry into the darkness and make him Tom's substitute.

Murder is both a very simple and a very difficult thing.

Any tool can kill a person.

However, how someone who has never killed anyone can kill someone is a difficult point.

If Harry can kill his 'traitor' Black, then once that's done, Tom will have a way to exploit any openings in Harry's mind.

After careful consideration, Tom decided against using magic to create a new body.

The wizarding world in Britain isn't very large, so if Tom were to be born, everyone would likely notice his existence.

First and foremost is Voldemort, who would absolutely not allow Tom to be reborn.

The Ministry of Magic would not allow someone who is destined to be Voldemort to live.

Dumbledore would certainly not let the newly born Tom Riddle get away with it.

Those who have a grudge against Voldemort will flock to kill him to avenge their loved ones.

These people only know that Tom is Voldemort and Voldemort is Tom, without caring that Tom and Voldemort are actually two people with the same identity.

So Tom Riddle decided to lurk inside Harry's body, waiting for an opportunity... to bewitch Harry, possess Harry, and then merge with Harry, walking the world as Harry Potter.

By then, no one will know that beneath Harry's exterior lies Tom; they will only know that the prophesied savior, Harry Potter, has become the Dark Lord.

......

Early morning, Gryffindor boys' dormitory.

Ron, who was still in bed, felt something crawling on him. At first, he thought it was some kind of pet belonging to his roommate, but upon closer inspection, he realized that the thing was very cold.

Gradually, Ron woke up from his half-asleep state and saw a 30-centimeter-long patterned python crawling on his body. The red tongue flicking out of the snake's mouth terrified Ron so much that he didn't dare to breathe.

As Harry was organizing the books he would need for class that day, he heard rapid, suppressed breathing. Only then did he see Nagini, with her snake body, which terrified Ron, turning him pale.

Harry picked up Nagini and apologized to Ron.

After calming down, Ron asked suspiciously, "Harry, you got a new pet? You didn't abandon 'Hydway', did you?"

Harry stroked Nagini's snake body and shook his head, saying, "Hydway is practically family to me. How could I possibly abandon it for something new?"

"This snake... I found it last night near the edge of the forbidden forest while I was out for a night walk."

"It was injured at the time, so I brought it home and healed it with magic. It seemed to have taken me as its owner, so I decided to keep it."

"Ron, look, it's all soft and squishy, ​​isn't it cute?"

Tom Riddle, in Harry's subconscious mind, nodded: "It seems the false memories I created didn't arouse any suspicion in this Harry. That's good; children are so easily fooled."

Once Tom realized that Nagini had fooled Harry, he stopped paying attention to it.

Focused intently on devouring the last remnant of Voldemort's Horcrux within Harry: [Keep going! After devouring this, go devour the remnant of Nagini's soul. A bright future awaits me, Tom Riddle!]

Ron was speechless when Harry said the snake was cute. He rolled his eyes and got out of bed to wash up.

And so, Ron kept a certain distance from Harry as they walked together.

Because Harry is acting strangely right now. Imagine Harry wearing a snake around his neck, using a snake as a scarf – wouldn't that be odd?

In class, the professor gave Harry Potter a strange look for bringing a snake to class. He wanted to ask him something but decided against it, since there was no rule against young wizards bringing pets to class.

The professor may not care, but that doesn't mean the young wizards in class don't care.

Draco Malfoy stared intently at the snake around Harry's neck, believing it to be a symbol of Slytherin and that Harry, as a Gryffindor, was unworthy of such a beautiful python.

So after class, Draco and his three henchmen cornered Harry and snatched the snake from Harry's neck.

After admiring the drowsy snake-like Nagini for a while, Draco gave Harry an extremely disdainful look: "Such a beautiful snake should belong to my Slytherin."

After saying that, Draco tossed down a Galleon and then turned and left with his henchman.

The meaning is clear: 'I'm buying this snake.'

But as soon as Draco took a step, he was met with Harry's furious roar: "Who gave you permission to touch my Nagini? Who gave you permission to take Nagini away from me?"

Before Draco could turn around, Harry punched him in the face with a punch filled with hatred.

This powerful punch sent Draco flying three meters away.

Harry's hands didn't stop moving. He caught up with the fallen Draco, straddled him, and then pulled out his wand, pressing it hard against Draco's chin. With an extremely ferocious expression, he slowly said, "Tell me... who gave you permission to steal my Nagini? Who gave you permission to insult Nagini with money? Tell me... who gave you the guts?"

Draco was speechless, stunned by Harry's ferocious expression.

Honestly, Draco had never seen an expression like this, which combined all negative emotions such as anger, hatred, and murderous intent, before, nor had he ever seen it on anyone's face.

Even his father, Lucius, did not.