At exactly 8 o'clock the following evening Harry was sitting in a chair in Dumbledore's office, opposite Dumbledore himself. He looked older than Harry had ever seen him, but he refused Harry's help to unstopper the vial containing the next memory they would visit. Dumbledore had refused to answer any of Harry's questions until they had seen this memory.

"But I must ask, did you find any information about Lucy Riddle?" Harry hung his head and muttered no. To his surprise Dumbledore chuckled at this.

"I thought as much. Dark Wizard books I imagine?" Harry nodded "And the Slytherin section of the school newspaper?" Harry nodded again, which made Dumbledore chuckle again.

"I have a feeling you will know where to look after seeing this..." And they fell into the pensive once more.

Harry was seated in the great hall, but this time the people could not see him. A line of nervous first years were standing in the middle of the great hall, and the sorting had begun. A bald, frail looking old man sat in the headmaster's chair, and a much younger Dumbledore was sitting on his right hand side. The sorting continued for a while, and Harry heard familiar names that he knew would become famous when they finally left school.

Finally came the turn of Tom Riddle, and the moment the sorting hat touched his head it screamed "SLYTHERIN!", and Riddle scuttled towards the Slytherin table. Then Lucy Riddle was called, and the hat was placed on her head, completely covering her eyes. But, unlike Tom, the sorting hat didn't immediately place her in Slytherin. In fact it was 5 minutes before the hat said anything at all, then the hat's brim split open and instead of Slytherin, the words the hat screamed were

"GRYFFINDOR!" Harry heart missed a beat as Lucy skipped happily towards the Gryffindor table, but not before a quick glance at her brother on the other side of the room.

Harry landed in Dumbledore's office, his mind once again racing with the knowledge he had just received.

"But?! But?!" Harry stammered, unable to find the words to relay what he wanted to say, "But she was a descendant of Slytherin, how can she be in Gryffindor?" Dumbledore sat down behind his desk and motioned for Harry to sit too.

"Lucy was certainly special. She relied on her brother a lot, he was he protector from the world. It certainly surprised me when she was placed in Gryffindor, I too assumed that her heritage would mean she would be placed in Slytherin, but the sorting hat looks at what is inside you, as you well know." Harry glanced up at the old sorting hat, lying on a shelf, and shivered, he would never forget how close he had come to being placed in Slytherin.

"Lucy did not possess the qualities to be placed in Slytherin, she was kind and brave, she stood up for what she believed and she always protected her friends, of which there were many. And in a way it protected her." Harry looked quizzically at Dumbledore.

"Protected her, sir?"

"Yes Harry, she was always being protected by her brother, and if she had been sorted into Slytherin, I believe she too would have followed his destructive path. But because she was in Gryffindor, she was away from his influence and his control, she flowered into a beautiful, kind, talented witch. She loved her brother very much, which means that my theory was wrong."

"What theory sir?" Harry asked.

"The theory" Dumbledore replied "That someone conceived under the influence of a love potion could never love, but now I realise I only thought this because I was naive enough to believe that no one could be as unloving as Voldemort without a reason." Harry nodded his head in agreement, but still wanted to know,

"Sir? What happened to Lucy in the end?" Dumbledore looked sad for a moment, before he answered

"Lucy loved her brother so much, sometimes too much. But I believed then, and I still believe now, that she was the only person he ever showed true affection for. As to her fate, perhaps we will find out together. Now off to bed, it is late and you need your rest." Harry bid his good nights and left.

Dumbledore sat at his desk, and wondered where Lucy was now, if she was still alive, and if she was, would she ever help them ?