Chapter One

An Unexpected Visitor

It was just another day in the orphanage, and Tom was bored.

He couldn't believe he had been confined to his room for so long. Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop were fine. He'd only wanted to have a bit of fun.

He was not completely sure how he knew that cave had been there, or how he knew the way to get in, but he was definitely glad he did. The look on their stupid faces when they saw what was waiting in there.

He had just settled down on his bed to read one of the few books he had, when there was a knock on the door.

'Tom? You've got a visitor.'

It was Mrs Cole. Tom sighed under his breath, 'Why can't she just leave me alone?'

He watched her stumble a little as she came in to the room, 'The old woman has been on the gin again, no doubt.' He thought, 'If you opened her up, she'd be perfectly pickled.'

Such thoughts came to Tom quite often.

'This is Mr Dumberton – sorry, Dunderbore.' Continued Mrs Cole. 'He's come to tell you – well, I'll let him do it.' She turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

The man standing in front of Tom was very odd looking, His long hair and beard were auburn and he was wearing a ridiculous plum velvet suit. Tom narrowed his eyes. He wasn't sure yet, but he had a feeling that this man was not going to be easily manipulated. This didn't mean that he wouldn't try though.

'How do you do, Tom?' Said the man, who walked toward him and held up his hand.

Tom considered ignoring him, but decided that he would see what the stranger wanted first, so he took his hand and shook it.

The stranger took the small chair from the corner and came to sit beside the bed.

'I am Professor Dumbledore.' He said.

' "Professor"?' asked Tom, he was nervous now. Had the old cow decided to have him committed? She was not going to send him to the asylum. He would make sure of that.

'Is that like "doctor"? What are you here for? Did she get you in to have a look at me?' He asked, pointing at the closed door after Mrs Cole.

'No, no,' said the Professor, and to Tom's surprise, he was smiling. That made him feel even worse.

'I don't believe you,' he said. 'She wants me looked at, doesn't she? TELL THE TRUTH!'

Tom automatically slipped in to the voice he used to get his own way, eyes wide. The man just carried on smiling.

'Damn!' He thought, 'It's not working!'

Tom was feeling even more nervous now.

'Who are you?'

The Professor, if that's who he really was, was still smiling when he said, 'I have told you. My name is Professor Dumbledore and I work at a school called Hogwarts. I have come to offer you a place at my school – your new school, if you would like to come.'

That settled it.

Tom leaped up from the bed, and backed away from the man in to the corner of the room.

'You can't kid me! The asylum, that's where you're from, isn't it?" He was convinced.

' "Professor", yes, of course – well, I'm not going, see? That old cat's the one who should be in an asylum. I never did anything to little Amy Benson or Dennis Bishop, and you can ask them, they'll tell you."

Tom was quite certain of this. Amy and Dennis knew exactly what would happen to them the next time they went to the coast for a trip if they did say anything. He was sure he could also make it look like an accident, this time.

'I am not from the asylum,' said the man, who appeared to still be quite calm. 'I am a teacher and, if you will sit down calmly, I shall tell you about Hogwarts. Of course, if you would rather not come to the school, nobody will force you –'

'I'd like to see them try,' interrupted Tom. As if anyone could make him do anything he didn't want to do.

'Hogwarts,' the Professor continued, and it seemed to Tom as if he hadn't heard what he just said, 'is a school for people with special abilities –'

'I'm not mad!' Snapped Tom. That did it, he was going to do everything in his power to get the man to leave and tell that old bag downstairs that there was nothing wrong with him. He was busy planning what he would say when the man said something that completely sidetracked him.

'I know you are not mad. Hogwarts is not a school for mad people. It is a school of magic.'

Tom was stunned. Could this be true? He stood there, staring at the man opposite him, looking him in the eye. He'd been lied to often enough to know the signs.

Dumbledore sat there quite calmly, either this man was very good, thought Tom, or he was telling the truth.

As Tom continued to stare at him, he began to think that, maybe, Dumbledore was telling him the truth.

'Magic?' Tom whispered. This surprised him. He couldn't seem to find his voice all of a sudden.

'That's right,' said Dumbledore. He was still smiling, in fact, his expression hadn't altered in the slightest.

'It's … it's magic, what I can do?' At last, Tom was going to get some answers. At last he would be able to prove that he wasn't mad. At least, that's what he was hoping.

'What is it that you can do?' Dumbledore asked him.

Tom considered this for a moment. Should he tell Dumbledore the truth? Should he tell him everything?

If this was all some mad plan to get him to prove he was crazy so they could cart him off to the asylum, then he should keep his mouth shut. If it wasn't … He decided he would tell him part of what he could do.

'All sorts,' said Tom excitedly. 'I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want them to do, without training them.'

He didn't see any harm in telling Dumbledore that, lots of people claimed that they could do the same thing.

Tom was starting to let his guard down, and part of him wanted to impress Dumbledore.

'I can make bad things happen to people who annoy me. I can make them hurt if I want to.'

He thought of Billy Stubbs when he said this, remembering what he did to his rabbit. He had to suppress the smile that wanted to break over his face. Well, Billy shouldn't have been such a crybaby.

Tom realized he was shaking and quickly went to sit on the bed. He was getting too excited.

He wanted to believe what Dumbledore had told him was true. This was fantastic.

'I knew I was different,' he was whispering now. 'I knew I was special. Always, I knew there was something.'

'Well, you were quite right,' Dumbledore said, and Tom was surprised to hear that he sounded weary now. 'You are a wizard."

A sudden thought occurred to Tom and he looked up and asked, 'Are you a wizard too?'

'Yes, I am.' Said Dumbledore.

A small voice in the back of Tom's head was saying to him that maybe Dumbledore was lying to him, and that he was here to see if he needed to go to the asylum.

'PROVE IT,' he said, once again using the voice that usually got him whatever he wanted.

'If, as I take it, you are accepting your place at Hogwarts -' Dumbledore began.

'Of course I am!' Said Tom sharply. He was getting annoyed now. Why wasn't it working?

Dumbledore looked at Tom and raised his eyebrows.

'Then you will address me as "Professor" or "sir".' He said, a little coolly.

Tom did not like that, and was about to say something really rude. But, he changed his mind at the last second and said in his most polite voice, 'I'm sorry, sir. I meant – please, Professor, could you show me –?'

Dumbledore reached in to the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a thin piece of wood.

'Ha!' Thought Tom. 'This one's good. He's even got props with…'

What happened next caused him to jump up from the bed in horror letting out a howl that was half rage, half terror.

Dumbledore had flicked his wrist with the smallest movement, and Tom's wardrobe had burst in to flames.

Tom turned to confront him, but before he could open his mouth Dumbledore had flicked his wand again and the flames disappeared leaving the wardrobe completely undamaged.

Tom was amazed.

'He was telling the truth!' He thought.

'Where can I get one of them?' He asked eagerly.

'All in good time,' Dumbledore answered calmly. 'I think there is something trying to get out of your wardrobe.'

Tom could hear something rattling around inside the wardrobe. What had he done?

'Open the door.' Said Dumbledore, watching him intently now.

Again, Tom considered ignoring the request, but something about this man was really starting to worry Tom so he quickly crossed the room and threw open the wardrobe doors.

As he knew it would be, there was a small cardboard box on the top shelf. It was that he had been most concerned about when the wardrobe had burst into flames.

To his astonishment, the box was rattling.

'Take it out'

Tom was really scared now.

'Is there anything in that box that you ought not to have?' Dumbledore asked.

'How did he know?' thought Tom, scrambling around in his head to come up with an explanation. He looked at Dumbledore for a long moment; once again trying to decide whether or not he should answer him.

In the end he gave in and sighed, 'Yes, I suppose so, sir.'

'Open it,' said Dumbledore.

Without looking, Tom took off the lid and tipped the contents of the box out on to the bed.

These were his treasures. All the other children had some trinket that had been left with them when they were abandoned in this dismal place, so why shouldn't he have something. He'd been left with nothing so, if he saw something he wanted, he took it.

'You will return them to their owners with your apologies,' said Dumbledore firmly. 'I shall know whether it has been done. And be warned: thieving is not tolerated at Hogwarts.'

'Yes sir,' said Tom after a few moments.

He was starting to dislike Dumbledore now. He seemed so boring. What was the point in being a wizard if you couldn't do what you wanted?

Dumbledore started going on about how things worked at Hogwarts, but Tom didn't really care. His interest betrayed him slightly when he heard him mention something about there being a "Ministry of Magic" but the threat of them punishing law breakers didn't really bother Tom. They'd have to catch him first.

Tom started packing his treasures back in to the cardboard box, trying to decide on a way to keep them without Dumbledore knowing. He was sure he would think of a way, he normally did.

Then a something occurred to him.

'I haven't got any money.' He said, quite plainly. There was no point in trying to say this any other way. Surely the stupid man must realise that. Tom was in this stinking orphanage after all. If his parents had been wealthy, then he wouldn't have been abandoned here.

Dumbledore took a leather pouch out of his pocket and handed it to Tom saying, 'There is fund at Hogwarts for those who require assistance to buy books and robes. You might have to buy some of your spellbooks and so on second-hand, but –'

Tom didn't let Dumbledore continue, he was too excited about the prospect of being able to buy spellbooks to listen to anything else.

'Where do you buy spellbooks?' He asked.

'In Diagon Alley,' answered Dumbledore. 'I have your list of books and school equipment with me. I can help you find anything –'

Again, Tom didn't let him finish.

'You're coming with me?' he asked. He was a little horrified at this. He was sure Dumbledore wouldn't let him have any fun.

'Certainly, if you –'

'I don't need you,' said Tom. 'I'm used to doing things for myself. I go round London on my own all the time. How do you get to this Diagon Alley?' He asked, then realizing that he would do better to be polite added on the end of it, a little to late, 'sir?'

Dumbledore handed over the list and explained how he would have to go to a magical pub, which hid the entrance from the normal people. He was sure that Dumbledore had called them Muggles.

He wasn't really listening properly, he had all the information he needed, when Dumbledore said that the barman shared his name.

He flinched involuntarily.

He hated his name. It was so common.

Dumbledore didn't miss that. 'You dislike the name "Tom"?' He asked. He sounded curious.

'There are a lot of Toms.' He replied, then asked, 'was my father a wizard? He was called Tom Riddle too, they've told me.'

Even though Tom had only known he was a wizard for a very short time, he had already convinced himself that his father must have been a wizard too. It was the only thing that made sense to him.

Dumbledore's answer didn't really help him.

'I'm afraid I don't know,' he said.

It didn't matter to Tom though, he was sure he was right.

'My mother can't have been magic, or she wouldn't have died,' he said quietly, speaking to himself more than to Dumbledore. 'It must have been him.'

But, he wouldn't let himself dwell on that too long, plenty of time to find out later. There were more important things to find out now.

"So – when I've got all my stuff – when do I come to Hogwarts?' He asked.

Dumbledore explained that he would have to catch a train from Kings Cross Station on September the first.

He got up to leave and held out his hand for Tom to shake again

Eager to make an impression on Dumbledore before he left, and because he was sure now that he was not about to be taken to the asylum, Tom took it quickly and said, 'I can speak to snakes. I found out when we've been to the country on trips – they find me, they whisper to me. Is that normal for a wizard?'

Dumbledore took a little while to answer Tom, who was now convinced that he had won him around with this piece of information.

' It is unusual, but not unheard of.'

They stood like this for a little while, each one looking at the other. Then, breaking off the handshake Dumbledore turned to leave.

'Goodbye, Tom. I shall see you at Hogwarts.'

Tom was over the moon.

At last, somebody had confirmed to him what he had believed all these years. He was special.

He was certain that he had won Dumbledore over and that he wouldn't really know if he'd given the things in his cardboard box back, so he placed the box at the back of the shelf in his wardrobe and closed the doors.