A/N: I am not sure how long it took for me to post this update, but it sure felt like a very long time. So sorry. I was busy over the holiday weekend (for those of you not living in the U.S., it was Independence Day) and lazy the rest of this week. I also found it hard to try to write Dumbledore in character, which is why I got stuck halfway through this chapter. Honestly, I don't feel very good about this chapter, but I figure I should just get it over with and post it since I can't see it getting any better.

Disclaimer: Much of this chapter is adapted from pgs. 264-275 of the hardcover US version of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling. Therefore, the voice of this chapter may be different from the voice of my other chapters. I think this will be the only chapter that relies heavily on dialogue from the books.


"Good Afternoon," said Dumbledore, holding out his hand to the weary woman as he stood in the doorway of Wool's Orphanage. Ms. Cole simply gaped.

"My name is Albus Dumbledore. I sent you a letter requesting an appointment and you very kindly invited me here today."

Mrs. Cole blinked. Apparently deciding that Dumbledore was not a hallucination, she said feebly, "Oh yes. Well – well then – you'd better come into my room. Yes."

She led Dumbledore into a small room that seemed part sitting room, part office.

"I am here, as I told you in my letter, to discuss Tom Riddle and Eleanor Jouteur and arrangements for their future," said Dumbledore, "I am a teacher. I have come to offer them places at my school."

"What school's this then?"

"It is called Hogwarts."

"And how come you're interested in Tom?"

"We believe he has qualities we are looking for."

"You mean he's won a scholarship? How can he have done? He's never been entered for one."

"Well, his name his been down for our school since birth-"

"Who registered him? His parents?"

There was no doubt that Ms. Cole was a sharp woman. Dumbledore slipped his wand out of his pocket and a bottle of gin appear. Upon seeing the bottle, Ms. Cole offered Dumbledore a glass as if she had always known it was there. Dumbledore took the glass, and then watched Ms. Cole down her own and pour another for herself.

"I noticed you didn't ask about Eleanor," Dumbledore said in an effort to distract her.

" Her parents were quite well off, of course it's logical that they would have made a plan for her schooling. Anyway, everybody's always interested in Eleanor. She's a beautiful little thing, you know. Everyone seems to love her," Ms. Cole says, a hint of jealousy obvious in her tone.

"But not Tom?"

"Oh no, I think she's the only child here that Tom likes. He's a funny child." says Ms. Cole.

"Yes," said Dumbledore, "I thought he might be."

"He was a funny baby too. He hardly ever cried, you know. And then, when he got older, he was...odd."

"Odd in what way?"

"He definitely got a place at your school?"

"Definitely. Nothing you say will change that."

She said in a sudden rush, "He scares the other children. Not like Eleanor. They're scared to speak to Eleanor, but they're scared of Tom."

Dumbledore's eyebrows furl in confusion, "Why are they scared to speak to Eleanor?"

"Perhaps it's because she can be quite intimidating, always running wild and looking like a little princess with her dresses. But I think it may be because...well, Tom doesn't seem to like when they speak with her."

"Why would they be scared of him? He's only a child."

"I told you, he's an odd child."

"Do you mean that he's a bully?"

"I think he must be," says Ms. Cole, frowning, "but it's very hard to catch him at it. There have been incidents...Nasty little things...Billy's Stubbs's rabbit...well, Tom said he didn't do it, and I don't see how he could have done, but even so, it didn't hang itself from the rafters, did it?"

"I shouldn't think so, no."

"But I'm jiggered if I know how he got up there to do it. All I know is he and Billy had argued the day before – I think because Billy had given Eleanor some flowers. And then, on the summer outing, we take them out, you know, once a year, to the countryside or the seaside- well, Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop were never quite right afterwards, and all we ever got out of them was that they'd gone into a cave with Tom Riddle. He swore they'd just gone exploring, but something happened in there, I'm sure of it. And, well, there have been a lot of things, funny things..."

She stopped to pour yet another glass of gin before saying, "I don't think many people will be sorry to see the back of him. Eleanor however...the younger children almost see her as a mother."

"They will have to return here, at the very least, every summer."

"Oh, well...I suppose you'd like to see them?"

"Very much," said Dumbledore, standing.

"I'll take you to Tom's room first. He's always inside."

They finally stopped outside the first door in a long corridor. Ms. Cole knocked twice before entering. "Tom? You've got a visitor. This is Mr. Dumbledore. He's come to tell you – well, I'll let him do it."

Dumbledore entered the room, looking around. It was a small, bare room with nothing in it except an old wardrobe and an iron bedstead. A boy was sitting on top of the gray blankets, his legs stretched out in front of him, holding a book. He was his handsome father in miniature; tall for eleven years old, dark-haired, and pale. His eyes narrowed slightly as he took in Dumbledore's eccentric appearance.

"How do you do, Tom?" said Dumbledore, walking forward and holding out his hand.

The boy hesitated, then shook his hand. Dumbledore drew up the hard wooden chair beside Riddle before saying, "I am Professor Dumbledore."

"Professor?" repeated Riddle, "Is that like doctor? What are you here for? Did Ms. Cole get you in to have a look at me?"

"No, no," said Dumbledore, smiling.

"I don't believe you," said Riddle. "She wants me looked at, doesn't she? Tell the truth!"

He spoke the last three words with a ringing force that was almost shocking. It was a command, and it sounded as though he had given it many times before. Dumbledore made no response except to smile pleasantly and say, "Now Tom, would you please fetch Eleanor?"

Tom glared at the old man. He was still convinced that Dumbledore must be a doctor from the local hospital, sent by Ms. Cole to examine him. Tom said sharply, "What do you want with Eleanor?"

"Never mind, it seems as if Ms. Cole has managed to get her," Dumbledore said calmly. A few seconds later, the door creaked open. Eleanor walked in softly, staring down at the ground. She never did like to meet new people who were older than her; it made her feel as if all older people automatically held authority over her. Ms. Cole closed the door as she left.

"Hello Eleanor. Would you like to sit down? You look quite pale."

"She isn't feeling well," Tom blurted out.

Dumbledore looked over at Tom. It was obvious he thought it was odd for Tom to speak for Eleanor while she was in the same room. Instead of taking the chair Dumbledore had offered her, she sat down on the bed next to Tom. She smiled faintly as she stared at Dumbledore, seemingly sizing him up. Finally, she said, "It's not quite as terrible as Tom always makes it out to be."

"Who are you?" Riddle asked warily.

"I have told you. My name is Professor Dumbledore and I work at a school called Hogwarts. I have come to offer you both a place at my school – your new school, if you would like to come."

Riddle's reaction to this was most surprising. He leapt from the bed and backed away from Dumbledore, looking furious. "You can't kid me! The asylum, that's where you're from, isn't it? Well, I'm not going, see? That old cat's the one who should be in the asylum. I never did anything to little Amy Benson or Dennis Bishop, and you can ask them, they'll tell you!"

"I am not from the asylum," said Dumbledore patiently. "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," sneered Riddle.

Eleanor looked on calmly through the entire event, sitting like a little porcelain doll on the bed. She suddenly spoke up softly, "Tom, sit down."

Riddle's leer dropped right away. He looked at Eleanor before sitting on the bed next to her.

"Hogwarts," Dumbledore went on, "is a school for people with special abilities."

"I am not mad, and neither is Eleanor!"

"I know that neither of you are mad. Hogwarts is a school of magic."

There was silence. Riddle had frozen, his face expressionless, but his eyes were flickering back and forth between each of Dumbledore's, as if trying to catch one of them lying.

"Magic?" Eleanor asked in a whisper.

"That's right," said Dumbledore.

"It's magic? What Tom can do? What I can do?"

"What is it that you can do?"

"Just little things. Sometimes, if I want something to move...it moves by itself. And I can get people to say things if I just think about it hard enough," Eleanor says.

"How about you Tom?"

"I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want them to do, without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who annoy me. I can make them hurt if I went to."

"Tom, I told you not to..." Eleanor cuts herself off, suddenly looking away.

"I knew we were different," Tom whispered in a quivering voice. "I knew we were special. Always, I knew there was something."

"Well, you were quite right," said Dumbledore, who was no longer smiling, but watching Riddle intently. "You are a wizard, and Eleanor is a witch."

Dumbledore had noticed the differences between Eleanor and Tom right away. Tom had been aggressive and loud, while Eleanor was introverted and quite. Tom was tall and slender. Eleanor was short and was already developing the curved figure of a women. When talking about magic, Tom had proudly listed off the things he could do. Eleanor had hesitated before providing a short list of things that could be easily mistaken for mere coincidence instead of magic.

"Are you a wizard too?" Eleanor asked curiously.

"Yes, I am," said Dumbledore.

"Prove it," said Riddle at once, in the same commanding tone he had used before.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, "If, as I take it, you are accepting your place at Hogwarts -"

"Of course I am! And so is Eleanor!" Tom said, using his commanding tone again.

"Then you will address me as 'Professor' or 'sir'."

Riddle's expression hardened for the most fleeting moment before he said, in an unrecognizably polite voice, "I'm sorry, sir. I meant – please, Professor, could you show me?"

The wardrobe burst to flames. Riddle jumped to his feet, but then the flames vanished, leaving the wardrobe undamaged. A moment later, there were two knocks on the door before it opened once again. Ms. Cole stood in the doorway and said, "Eleanor, time for you to take your medicine."

Eleanor stands up without a word. Dumbledore sees her and Tom exchange a look.

"Now, Riddle, I think there is something trying to get out of your wardrobe."

Riddle hesitated, then crossed the room and threw open the wardrobe door. On the topmost shelf, above a rail of threadbare clothes, a small cardboard box was shaking and rattling as though there were several frantic mice trapped inside it.

"Take it out," said Dumbledore.

Riddle took down the quaking box. He looked unnerved.

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

Riddle threw Dumbledore a long, clear, calculating look. "Yes, I suppose so, sir," he said finally in an expressionless voice.

"Open it," said Dumbledore.

Riddle took the lid off and tipped the contents onto his bed without looking at them. It was a mess of small, everyday objects: a yo-yo, a silver thimble, and a tarnished mouth organ. Once free of the box, they stopped quivering and lay quite still upon the thin blankets.

"You will return them to their owners with your apologies," said Dumbledore calmly, putting his wand back into his jacket. "I shall know whether it has been done. And be warned: Thieving is not tolerated at Hogwarts."

"Yes sir, but you see, I didn't really want them. It was just that...well, the older children can be mean to Eleanor and I can't just let them get away with it...she can't take care of herself, you know. She's too weak. She gets sick nearly every week."

"Regardless of why you took them, you will return them."

At last Riddle said in a colorless voice, "Yes, sir."

"At Hogwarts, we teach you not only to use magic but to control it. You have – inadvertently, I am sure - been using your powers in a way that is neither taught nor tolerated at our school. You are not the first, nor will you be the last, to allow your magic to run away with you. But you should know that Hogwarts can expel students, and the Ministry of Magic – yes, there is a Ministry – will punish lawbreakers still more severely. All new wizards must accept that, in entering our world, they abide by our laws. I trust you will tell Eleanor that as well."

"Yes, sir," said Riddle again, "I haven't got any money."

"That is easily remedied," said Dumbledore, drawing a leather money-pouch from his pocket, "There is a fund at Hogwarts for those who require assistance to buy books and robes."

"Where do you buy spellbooks?"

"In Diagon Alley. I have your list of books and school equipment with me. I can help you find everything -"

"You're coming with me?" said Riddle, looking up.

"Certainly, if you -"

"I don't need you," said Riddle, "I'm used to doing things by myself. Eleanor and I go round London on our own all the time. How do you get to this Diagon Alley sir?"

Dumbledore handed Riddle the envelope containing his list of equipment, and after telling Riddle exactly how to get to the Leaky Cauldron from the orphanage, he said, "You will be able to see it, although Muggles around you – non-magical people, that is – will not. Ask for Tom the barman – easy enough to remember, as he shares your name -"

Riddle gave an irritable twitch.

"You dislike the name 'Tom'?" asked Dumbledore.

"There are a lot of Toms," muttered Riddle. "Was my father a wizard? He was called Tom Riddle too, they've told me."

"I'm afraid I don't know."

"My mother can't have been magic, or she wouldn't have died. So when we've got all our stuff, when do we come to this Hogwarts?"

"All the details are on the second piece of parchment in your envelope. Good-bye Tom. I shall see you at Hogwarts."

Tom remained quite as he ripped open the envelope.

Dumbledore found Ms. Cole in her office again and asked her to lead him up to Eleanor's room. Ms. Cole didn't bother knocking on the door, instead she just opened it. Eleanor was standing in front of her desk, staring down at a few tablets.

"Eleanor, you know Tom will be waiting for you and I can't let you go out until you've drank those," said Ms. Cole

"But Ms. Cole, I don't even feel that bad anymore," Eleanor whined.

"The doctor said you had to finish the whole bottle." Ms. Cole says before walking away. Dumbledore walked in, closing the door behind him. He looked around the room. It looked much more personalized than Tom's room. On one side of the room, there was a carved french armoire with it's doors spread open, revealing a row of brightly colored dresses. Next to the armoire was a bookshelf, stuffed full of books and boxes. On the other side of the room, there's a dark wooden desk with a few papers stacked on top, a black chair, and a nicely made bed with purple and silver covers. The walls are decorated with white wallpaper with black flowers on it.

Eleanor offers the chair to Dumbledore and then sits on her own bed before saying, "I had pneumonia. I was in the hospital for a few days. That's why Tom was so worried about me. I'm sorry about his outburst...he doesn't like being around other people, you see."

"It's fine. Eleanor, I was wondering if you wanted to attend Hogwarts."

She blushed as she looked down, "Well...of course...Tom said I would."

"I am not asking you if you will attend Hogwarts. I am asking you if you want to attend Hogwarts. I believe that wishing to do something and actually doing it are not necessarily connected."

She stayed silent for a minute before turning to stare out of the window behind her. Dumbledore saw the pained look on Eleanor's face when she said, "I...I don't want to be odd. The other children...they don't like Tom because he's odd. What if they learn I'm odd too and don't like me?"

"You won't be odd at Hogwarts Eleanor. There you will meet hundreds of children just like you."

"The other children at Hogwarts will make fun of me too, for being an orphan and being poor. That's always how it is. Tom and I don't fit in anywhere."

He pauses as he pulls a picture out of his pocket and hands it to her, "That's a picture of your parents when they were at Hogwarts. They were both magical too Eleanor. You are part of one of the strongest magical bloodlines in existence. I hope that you will not let that bloodline die out simply because you wish to be liked."

"Sometimes, when I walk past a garden, the flowers die. It's like I'm toxic. I don't want to hurt people with my magic."

"At Hogwarts, you will learn how to control you're magic. You do want to learn, don't you?"

She nodded absentmindedly, "I would like that. Learning to control it I mean. But I don't know if I can. My magic isn't as good as Tom's – maybe I'm not meant to be a witch."

"Eleanor, I knew your father. He was a great wizard. Top of our class at Hogwarts. I was at your parent's wedding. If there was ever a girl destined to be a witch, it was you."

She suddenly nodded and turned back to him. A look of complete resolve showed on her face as she said, "I'm going to Hogwarts."

Dumbledore did not ask the reason for her sudden determination, though he suspected it had something to do with the idea of making her parents proud. He simply handed her the envelope, "That has your acceptance letter and list of supplies in it. It also has a key to a Gringotts vault which holds your family's fortune. As the sole decedent of two very old bloodlines, you will find that you have quiet a lot of galleons to spend – enough for several lifetimes in fact. You will also find, contained in that vault, the keys to your family home outside of London. I am afraid you must not enter the home until you become of age. Never the less, I am sure you will never worry about being seen as poor again."

"Why do you keep mentioning my bloodline?"

"You must remember this, Ms. Joubert. The entire wizarding world will recognize you by last name alone. Pureblood witches of such a famed lineage as yours are very rare. You, unlike Tom, will find it very easy to gain the acceptance of your peers. Your name will earn you great respect from some – but you must not mistake their attentions for affection. Names are a matter of consequence in the wizarding world, especially among those, like you, who are able to trace their pure name back for centuries. But I firmly believe that the name does not make the person."

She nodded before saying, "What is Gringotts?"

"You will find Gringotts, the wizarding bank, located in Diagon Alley, the same place you will go to buy school supplies. There is a map to Diagon Alley enclosed in your envelope, in case Tom has forgotten the directions I gave him. There is also a letter that you're parents wrote on the day you were born. I believe it will contain all the information you need to know about your dynasty."

Dumbledore stood before taking one last look around the room. He noticed for the first time that everything in the room was impeccably clean; the bed was made, papers on the desk were neatly stacked, the bookshelf was dusted, the dresses were spotless, the floors were shining...and yet, Eleanor's hands looked like they hadn't done an ounce of work in her whole life, her nails trimmed and her skin soft.

As Ms. Cole walked Dumbledore toward the front door of the orphanage, she began rambling, "Tom's a real troublemaker, but Eleanor...she has a talent for convincing the other children to do things for her. Some of the younger girls, they wash her clothes and change her bedsheets and tidy her room every few days. I'm not quite sure how she got them to do it honestly. She hardly speaks to anyone but Tom anymore..."

"It was nice meeting you Ms. Cole. If I need anything further, I will send you a letter," Dumbledore said politely while he shook her hand.


A/N: Another reason that this chapter took so long (it usually only takes me two or three days to write one, this chapter took me about nine days) is that I have had a bad case of writer's block. I can't add to any of my stories, whether it be original fiction or fanfic. On this one in particular, I am stuck with which direction to take the story in. I did have some future chapters written up already, but was thinking of changing the direction the story will take once Tom and Eleanor arrive at Hogwarts.

So I have one very important question for my readers: Should Eleanor be sorted into Gryfindor or Slytherin? I won't tell you what option I based the few chapters I already have written on, but I suspect you may be able to tell what house I was going to put her in from my characterization of Eleanor in this chapter. I would really love opinions, so please personal message me or (even better) review!

Please review, and I promise it will make me write a lot faster/better! I would love any ideas/recommendations/critiques.