Harry had no idea what Lupin was thinking, nor did he particularly care. Realizing he wouldn't glean any critical information from the man, Harry changed the subject, inquiring about his parents.
Lupin, of course, answered all that he knew. He described Lily as a brave, kind, beautiful, and generous witch with high magical talent, diligent study habits, and strong principles—in short, a true hero.
But when it came to James, Lupin fell silent.
How was that possible? Harry wondered.
Lupin wanted James to leave a good impression, but before he could string together any words of praise, he seemed at a loss. James wasn't without merits. He had excellent flying skills, was loyal, and didn't discriminate against Muggles.
Conversely, James had many flaws. In his youth, he was arrogant and boastful, loved to play pranks, was reckless and lacked tact, and was utterly love-struck, spending over half of his seven years at Hogwarts chasing after Lily.
Seeing Lupin's silence, Harry seemed to realize something, and his smile froze. The conversation died, and the atmosphere grew awkward.
Meanwhile, Malfoy and the others, who had been eavesdropping, began to whisper among themselves.
Seeing Harry's sullen expression, Tom remained calm, lost in thought. Then, without a word, Tom stood, left his seat, and sat down next to Harry.
"James Potter was a thick-headed buffoon who loved to show off," Tom stated coldly, cutting through the silence. "He even slandered all of Slytherin in his pathetic attempts to woo your mother. Snape and he clashed frequently over it."
Hearing Tom speak, Harry turned to look at him, surprised.
Lupin, too, was somewhat taken aback. He hadn't known some of what Tom was saying. Thinking back, James did seem to have tried to flirt with Lily at the Welcoming Feast, and Lupin remembered overhearing him making derogatory remarks about Slytherin. So that's why Snape always seemed to have it in for James? He had thought Snape was just naturally unpleasant.
Tom continued, "And he was reckless, utterly lacking in social grace, and always dragging his sycophants into conflicts with Snape, nearly getting him killed on more than one occasion."
Hearing this, Harry suddenly understood why Snape always seemed to enjoy making his life difficult, though he didn't know that this wasn't the primary reason.
As for Lupin, hearing someone speak ill of James might have angered him in other circumstances, but he knew the accusations were, for the most part, true. And the person speaking was Tom Riddle. What could he do? Retaliate by slandering Tom Riddle in return, only to be delivered to James by Tom Riddle himself?
"What a joke!"
"He still has a reason to live!"
"Vengeance for James would be one thing, but simply hurling insults? That's just stupid!"
"Damn it, insulting us and bullying us… is he even human?!"
The outspoken Malfoy couldn't help but complain, adding insult to injury: "My dad's still the best."
Harry heard this too, but he didn't know what to say. He also felt that James had indeed gone too far. But before this, James had always held a perfect place in his heart.
"Although that oaf had a bad personality and questionable character… when faced with Snape, whom Sirius and the others had nearly killed, he had a change of heart and went back to save him… Overall, he wasn't a hopeless idiot."
When Sirius had tricked Snape into meeting the werewolf Lupin, James, who "thought Snape didn't deserve to die," did indeed run back to save Snape. This made Snape feel indebted to James, and his subsequent help to Harry might have been an attempt to repay that debt.
But Tom's words sounded like he was simply trying to comfort Harry.
Harry certainly believed Tom's words; he knew James's character was far from perfect. But Tom, to keep him from being sad, had gone out of his way to say something positive about James, which moved Harry deeply.
"Sir… Waaah…"
Seeing Harry's reaction, Tom got up with a look of disgust and returned to his seat. Harry didn't seem to notice; in his eyes, Tom was just pretending to be mean.
Lupin, too, was secretly watching Tom with a puzzled expression. He truly couldn't understand Tom Riddle.
...
Time passed quickly.
After the train arrived at the station, the young wizards disembarked in an orderly fashion. Those in their second year and above, led by their prefects, took a detour across the bridge to the castle. The new students, led by Hagrid, traveled by small boat across the Black Lake to their destination.
This time, Tom didn't choose to transform into black mist and fly directly to the castle. Instead, he opened his suitcase.
A terrifying basilisk with a radius of half a meter crawled out.
"Whoa!!!"
"Waaah…"
The young wizards were terrified and scattered in a panic.
"Tch, you're making a fuss over nothing," Tom scoffed, settling onto Ouroboros's head with a disdainful look.
"That little guy looks familiar... bloody hell, it's a basilisk!"
As this year's professor of Magical Creatures Protection, Hagrid knew a fair bit about magical creatures. He quickly recognized the basilisk's species based on some of its features.
"Everyone, get back! Hide! Don't look into its eyes!" Hagrid pulled the surrounding wizards behind him, loudly warning the others. He was inwardly conflicted, having initially thought Tom was different...
"Do you really need to create such a commotion?" Tom asked impatiently. "Did any of you actually see its eyes? Nothing happened!"
Hearing this, Hagrid realized that he had indeed seen the basilisk's eyes when he was observing it.
"Yeah… but why am I okay?" Hagrid scratched his head in confusion, offering a slightly embarrassed smile.
Tom ignored him and guided Ouroboros toward the Black Lake.
Seeing this, Hagrid quickly reassured the little wizards and led them onto the boats toward the castle.
...
"Watch your head! Keep your heads down!" Upon hearing Hagrid's words, the other young wizards all sprang into action, ducking low.
Tom, however, remained unmoved, even sitting on the exposed head of Ouroboros. The high reef didn't touch his head. Sure enough, apart from Hagrid, the rock over three meters high posed no threat to the others.
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