Tom did not refuse Lucius Malfoy's gesture of goodwill. He casually accepted the broom and weighed it in his hand.
"Then thank Mr. Malfoy on my behalf. If he ever has the time, he can come to the school for a cup of tea with me."
"I—I'll pass that along," Malfoy said with a dry laugh.
He vaguely sensed that his father harbored a certain fear toward Riddle—wanting only to maintain cordial relations and polite appearances, without truly seeking deeper contact.
"I'll go find Professor Snape right now and secure the Quidditch pitch for this weekend," Marcus Flint declared, not wanting to waste a single moment. With several teammates in tow, he rushed out of the common room.
The crowd gradually dispersed. Tom tucked the broom under his arm and headed back to his dormitory.
Ever since he had mastered flight magic, flying brooms were of little use to him. Accepting the gift meant nothing more than adding another collectible to his shelf. From its appearance alone, though, the Nimbus was quite impressive—its sleek design worthy of display, like a figurine.
That reminded him—Newt had lent him a Nimbus 2000, which was still sitting in his personal pocket-world. He had forgotten to return it, and Newt had forgotten to ask for it back.
"Tom."
A soft, sweet voice sounded beside him.
"Ah, Astoria. How was your very first day at school? Getting used to it?" Tom turned with a smile. The silver-haired girl stood obediently nearby, her presence as delicate as moonlight.
"Mhm." A bright smile bloomed on her face. "Everything is so new and exciting. I nearly got lost on the way to class today! The staircase suddenly changed direction. Luckily, a senior girl helped guide us."
"Those staircases can be rather troublesome until you get used to them," Tom said. He glanced around, then noticed something amiss. "Where's Daphne? Why isn't she with you?"
"Ah, my sister…" Astoria gave an awkward little laugh and lowered her voice. "She went to the library with Hermione to catch up on homework."
Tom sighed helplessly. Just how much homework had Daphne neglected—or perhaps the better question was, how little had she actually done? An entire night spent catching up, and she still hadn't finished.
Still, persuading Hermione to help her? That was… something.
Tom ruffled Astoria's hair, playfully tugging at the little cowlick at the top. "Forget about her for now. Come on, I'll take you on a proper tour around the castle."
"Alright." Astoria followed behind him as they began to wander through Hogwarts.
The castle had one hundred and forty-two staircases in total. This number excluded the stairways within the four common rooms—it only counted the public areas of the castle. It was said the magic of these shifting staircases had been devised by Rowena Ravenclaw herself: partly to ensure young wizards focused on walking instead of running wildly on stairs, but also as a subtle defense mechanism.
A thousand years ago, relations between wizards and Muggles had been exceedingly tense. Hogwarts had not only been a place of learning, but also a sanctuary—a fortress to preserve the flame of the wizarding world.
This, too, was something Tom found puzzling.
Both Andros and Grindelwald had told him that they were uncertain whether the Four Founders were truly immortal legends. They were undeniably powerful.
Back then, before they quarreled, the four of them… No, even if only Gryffindor and Slytherin, who had been close friends, had combined their strength, with the level of Muggle technology at the time, sweeping the entire world would have been child's play.
So why were they forced into such dire straits?
When Slytherin objected to admitting Muggle-born students, he had claimed that these children might reveal the school's existence to their parents, and thus to the wider Muggle world.
What exactly was he so afraid of?
Not even Andros—or Grindelwald—could give him an answer.
Tom buried the question in his heart and devoted himself to acting as Astoria's tour guide. He opened his enchanted notebook to a fresh page.
Each time they passed a staircase, Tom carefully recorded its movement pattern. After two hours, he had mapped the rules of nearly every commonly used stairway in the castle, leaving out only those in more remote areas or ones needed solely for elective classes.
With a gentle tap of his wand, the written symbols began to twist and shift. Under Astoria's wide-eyed gaze, they transformed into a three-dimensional map. On the floating image, some staircases stood still while others drifted into motion.
"How amazing!" the young witch exclaimed.
"Still missing a few," Tom shook his head slightly. "Some staircases change trajectory due to outside influences, and those can't be recorded reliably. But this is good enough for now."
He reached out and pulled, and the map leapt from the notebook, appearing as a floating projection in midair. With a wave of his hand, the model rotated, each staircase marked with a note explaining its pattern of movement.
"This should be plenty. If you ever get lost, just pull this out and check. Before long, you'll memorize them all on your own."
Astoria hugged the notebook to her chest. The projection vanished, but she quickly discovered how simple it was to summon again—after just two tries, she could manage it with ease. Her eyes sparkled with delight.
"Your notebook even has a navigation function! Did you design it that way from the very beginning?"
"Mhm," Tom admitted without hesitation. "I've planned out many features, though it will take time to bring them all to life."
"No matter how long it takes, I know you'll succeed," Astoria said earnestly, lifting her face to him, her eyes clear and sincere.
Seeing the depth of her trust, Tom smiled and nodded. "And when I do, you'll always be the very first to try out the new functions."
Astoria opened her mouth to agree, but then hesitated. A rare look of frustration crossed her delicate features. "Better not. My sister would just snatch it away anyway…"
Thinking of Daphne's noisy, impatient personality, both Tom and Astoria glanced at each other—and burst into laughter.
"Where have you two been? Going out to play without me?"
When they returned to the common room, Daphne immediately blocked their way, her expression dark with displeasure.
She had worked hard to finish her homework at last, expecting Tom to comfort her afterward. Instead, she learned from other students that Tom had long since gone off to explore with Astoria.
Her world crumbled instantly. The longer she thought about it, the more wronged she felt.
Going out without Hermione was one thing… but leaving her behind too?!
"You've got a lot of nerve," Tom scolded, pinching Daphne's cheek. "As her older sister, you didn't even bother showing Astoria around the school? What were you thinking?"
"Exactly," Astoria chimed in, siding with him. "You were too busy with your homework and completely forgot about me."
"Well, I didn't mean to forget…" Daphne muttered sheepishly, realizing it was indeed her fault. Her temper instantly deflated, and she stuck out her tongue in a playful gesture.
Astoria only rolled her eyes. Back at home, her sister had always been the reliable one. But ever since arriving at Hogwarts, she seemed to be regressing instead.
Could this all be Tom's fault for spoiling her?