Chapter 8: Tom Has Always Been Quite Kind and Introverted in Front of Me
"Tom, I can handle things here. You go back to your room and rest."
Theo took the tattered rag from Tom's hand and waved him off.
Tom suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with disbelief.
To be honest, Theo hadn't known what had gotten into him these past few days; he'd been single-mindedly doing good deeds...
It was one thing for him to be acting strangely himself, but he actually forced him to help!
Logically speaking, Tom had never done any chores in his life. Although he was also a member of the orphanage, when had he ever done any work?
Even when chores were assigned to him, he would have other children "voluntarily" help him!
But...
Who told him he couldn't beat Theo?
He never expected that after he had endured humiliation and carried heavy burdens, following behind Theo for several days doing odd jobs, this bastard would actually, for the first time ever, let him go back to rest early today.
Something's wrong! There must be a conspiracy!
"No. I'm not tired at all, really. I can continue working." Tom silently took back the rag and put on a standard smile.
Although he didn't know what bad idea Theo was hatching, as long as he didn't do what he said, he would definitely not suffer any losses!
"Hmm? I was thinking about other things just now and didn't hear clearly. What did you say?" Theo looked at Tom.
Facing Theo's kind gaze, Tom's smile gradually disappeared...
Okay, not doing what Theo said might not cause any losses later, but right now... there would definitely be losses!
"I said, I am indeed a little tired, so the following work will be left to you."
Tom very willingly returned the rag to Theo and quickly disappeared around the corner of the stairs.
Theo naturally didn't let Tom return to his room for no reason. If Dumbledore was going to see Tom later, it would be better to be in Tom's room.
After all, Theo also wanted to see the famous scene of Dumbledore setting fire to the wardrobe.
Theo put down the rag and turned to rush back to his room.
To prevent Dumbledore from coming to his room first, he had to hide the bottles and jars he had hidden under the carpet somewhere else. After all, a wizard of this level could always see some traces that others couldn't.
The system store hadn't refreshed anything good in the past few days. Most of them were potions and some strangely shaped materials.
These things could be bought in the wizarding world, so after selectively buying some potions for later use, Theo didn't buy anything else.
During these few days, Theo discovered something else: if he did some good deeds himself, the increase in merit points seemed negligible.
However, if he pulled Tom along to do it... the result would be completely different!
Theo guessed that the more evil the psychology of the guy he forced to do good deeds, the more merit points he would get.
Perhaps it was because his actions reduced the probability of him doing evil in the future.
After all, the system had reminded him when it gave him 100 merit points before that it seemed to be because he had changed some of Tom's life trajectory...
Of course, this was just a guess, and Theo planned to find a villain to try it out later.
However, also because of this reason, after Theo pulled Tom for a "labour reform," he successfully saved up a full 300 merit points!
Oh... Tom, may Merlin bless him!
After hiding the potion, Theo returned to the corner of the stairs as if nothing had happened and picked up the rag.
Just at this moment, Mrs. Cole walked out of the office with a flushed face, and Dumbledore slowly followed behind her. Obviously, their business was over.
"Oh... Theo." Mrs. Cole immediately stopped him when she saw Theo.
As Mrs. Cole got closer, Theo smelt a scent of gin. It seemed that the flushed face was due to alcohol.
"This is Mr. Dumbledore... sorry, it's Dumbledore... He's here to find you and Tom. He's here to tell you... well, let him tell you himself. Where's Tom?"
Facing Dumbledore's gentle gaze, Theo replied, "Tom has gone back to his room to rest."
"What excuse is this time? Sigh... well, he has changed a lot since he started playing with you... What else can I ask for? God, when have I ever seen Tom help other children? Dear, this must be your credit." Mrs. Cole was very emotional.
Since Theo came, the withdrawn and strange Tom seemed to have become a different person.
Not only did he stop bullying other children, but he would even help other children in the orphanage with Theo!
Some of the chores in the orphanage had never been left undone.
Mrs. Cole was a little puzzled by such a huge change in a bad child in just a few days, but she was more gratified.
"Mrs. Cole, I didn't actually do anything. Tom was very kind in the first place, but in the past, he was a bit introverted and didn't know how to communicate with others." Theo said with a smile.
'Well, Tom has always been kind and introverted in front of me.'
Kind? Introverted? Was this talking about Tom?
Mrs. Cole couldn't help but curl her lips, but since there were outsiders present, she didn't say anything more.
"I have a lot of things to do. Since this gentleman is looking for both of you, then you can take him to Tom's room."
"Mrs. Cole~"
Before Mrs. Cole finished speaking, Ellie's call rang out again in the distance.
"Coming!" Mrs. Cole responded loudly, then looked helplessly at Theo. "You're okay on your own, right?"
"Of course, no problem." Theo nodded.
After Mrs. Cole hurriedly left, Theo looked at Dumbledore. This was the first time he had been alone with Dumbledore.
Just by looking at Dumbledore, Theo knew that this person, although he looked very gentle, was definitely not someone to be trifled with.
It was an instinctive feeling, like looking up at a high mountain at the foot of the mountain... full of unspeakable pressure, giving people a feeling of being difficult to climb.
Theo politely said, "Sir, please come this way."
As he spoke, he turned and walked towards Tom's room.
Dumbledore immediately followed, and Theo keenly felt that Dumbledore's gaze had been fixed on him.
"Aren't you curious about why I'm looking for you?" Dumbledore suddenly asked from behind.
"Of course, I'm curious."
"Then why don't you ask me anything? You don't seem like an introverted child."
Dumbledore was indeed a little puzzled. Children of this age generally had a strong curiosity.
Since he knew he was here to find him and Tom, this child hadn't asked a single question along the way.
"Since you are looking for both me and Tom at the same time, it should be for the same thing. In that case, it's better to wait until you see Tom and then talk about it together, so as not to have you repeat it."
"Well, that's true, but I actually don't mind repeating it a few more times. After all, what I'm about to tell you is not something that can be explained in just a few words."
Dumbledore looked at Theo's thin back with interest. He had seen many eleven-year-old children, but he had never seen such a calm and composed child like Theo.
Moreover, he heard from Mrs. Cole that this child with an oriental face was picked up from the street by her, and he had always kept silent about his past.
Mrs. Cole guessed that his past must have been through unspeakable pain, so she didn't explore his background much. However, his words and deeds showed that his background would definitely not be ordinary.
This made Dumbledore a little curious about Theo. Perhaps this child came from a pure-blood family in the East?
"I heard... Tom did a lot of bad things before he met you, but after he met you, he suddenly changed? How did you do it?"
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(End of this chapter)