Lily Evans: Memories
Chapter 10: A Few Questions about Tom Riddle
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, obviously. (I know this isn't my normal style but unfortunately you don't seem to enjoy my humour...)
A/N: So sorry for the tardiness! I finished this ages ago but I had some beta-ing issues. Enjoy and please review. Thanks for all past reviews!
June 4, 1972
It was exam week at Hogwarts. Everywhere Lily looked, there was a Cheering Charm going wrong or a second year pouring Flobberworm mucus a little too enthusiastically into a pewter cauldron. Breakdowns in the Gryffindor common room were greeted with "shut ups" and no one looked up to admire the red sparks cascading from some poor kid's ruined potion.
I wished it could all be over. I was growing tired with the constant frustration I piled onto myself. I knew I was working hard but I never felt there were any results. I still couldn't get the porcupine quills in my cure for boils to go soft and Professor Flitwick was always reminding me to exaggerate my words and movements and "not let the wand do all the work." Severus was being a star helping but the bigger my swish and flick, the less the book I was practicing with, levitated.
"You need to focus," Sev yawned after a late practice. "Maybe tomorrow you should try with my wand. After all, yours is way more sensitive to charms than most wands."
"Maybe," I answered sleepily. "I'm sorry I've been making you help me instead of working on Transfiguration."
We both slowed down as we reached the Great Hall, where we'd have to go down different corridors. Severus grinned. "I'd much rather get nowhere with Charms than try to tackle Transfiguration. Besides, I'll do fine at practical. And the spell theory is almost down too."
"Sev, you got a Poor at the Uses of Modern Transfiguration," I pointed out.
"I know! But I better go now. Malfoy starts prefect patrols in maybe five minutes." He turned and stepped into the passage that led to the dungeons.
Begrudgingly, I walked up the staircase leading to Gryffindor. I groaned as it started to move. Back in the autumn, it had petrified me. But I'd gotten used to it. Still, I felt too tired and worn out to do anything about it. When it stopped, I stepped off. I found myself in a part of the castle I'd never been before. It was a long corridor, very dusty and dark. You could describe a bit more here
"Lumos!" I whispered and my wand's tip lit up. The corridor was nowhere near as lavishly decorated as the rest of the castle but it carried its own sort of charm. It was very dark with not a lamp in sight but out of the corner of my eye, I saw a star twinkle out of a broken stained glass window. The room was covered with these windows. They depicted nymphs and dryads and centaurs and witches and wizards. I recognised the four founders of our school: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. They were never together, though, rather the windows showed of their exploits before Hogwarts.
There were several doors leading off the corridor, though only two or three could possibly have been in use and I was sure I'd never been in any of them. I was about to turn around and head back to the Gryffindor Tower when I heard voices at the very end of the hall. Curiosity turned my good sense to mush and I padded down the corridor to the last door.
The voices grew louder as I approached and I could eventually make McGonagall's voice. She was saying "Albus, I really don't see how you can keep ignoring this threat. Clearly, there is someone, maybe even a large party behind these disappearances."
"Minerva," said a croaky voice I recognised as Professor Slughorn's, "I'm sure Albus can see that but there doesn't seem to be very much we can do, is there?"
"No, Horace," said Dumbledore pensively, "There is a great deal we can do. Locate them for a start. The trouble is how to do it."
"Surely we could use a Tracking Spell of some sort," Flitwick squeaked. "There are Muggles that have disappeared too!"
There was a pause, the teachers waiting for Dumbledore's reply. I heard muttering, as if the headmaster was speaking to himself. "It can't be the only thing he's doing. He's cleverer than that. He's either biding his time or he's up to something."
"Who, Albus?" asked Professor McGonagall. She sounded startled. By that time, I was very confused by the entire situation. Who were they talking about? They had mentioned disappearances but why were they so unnerved by them. I knew just by reading Muggle newspapers that people disappeared all the time. Still, I had a guilty feeling tugging at my stomach. This conversation was not for my ears.
I resolved to go back to the Tower before I was caught and got detention. But that didn't stop me from hearing Dumbledore murmur "Tom Marvolo Riddle."
"Lily, wake up!"
I rolled around in my bed to see Emmeline, already dressed, shaking me. I sit up quickly. "What time is it?"
"Don't worry, it's only 7:30," she told me. "If you want, I'll wait for you to get dressed and we can revise Potions together at breakfast." Emmeline was a rather small girl with dark brown hair, very round and bright brown eyes, and a slim pink mouth. She lived with her dad, a wizard, in London. I had liked her from the first week we were at Hogwarts because of her compassion and very calm attitude, which was noticeable in a place where bravery sometimes translated to recklessness.
I groan. "That's right, it's the Potions exam today." I sigh. "Alright, give me ten minutes".
On our way down to the Great Hall, I explained the conversation I overheard the night before on my way back from studying with Severus. "It was all very curious. I mean, you would expect them to have this kind of conversation in Dumbledore's office or something. They seemed very worried."
"They should be. There've been a lot of disappearances in the Daily Prophet in the past year and, worst than that, the Ministry has been acting very strangely," said Emmeline in a low voice.
"What do you mean, 'the Ministry's been acting strangely'?" I asked, surprised. Why were the teachers being so secretive if the whole Wizarding World knew about this?
"Oh, I don't know," she said distractedly. "Some of them have started acting like the world is going to end tomorrow. The Minister's installing all kinds of security measures and they keep sending Wizarding families pamphlet. My Dad just chucks them in the bin."
"Oh," I said, a little disappointed. As we came in to the Great Hall, I remembered something. "Have you ever heard of the man they mentioned? Tom Marvolo Riddle?"
"That's a strange name," Emmeline remarked as she sat down at the Gryffindor table and served herself some porridge. "Tom Marvolo Riddle," she said as if savouring the name. "I don't understand. The kidnappings, if that's what they are, have always been anonymous. If Dumbledore knows who it is, why wouldn't he tell people?"
"I don't know." Suddenly, I was eager to change the subject. "Are there any potions you're having trouble with?"
Emmeline still looked troubled but she answered me anyway. "No, honestly all I don't know is the chapter on the properties of ingredients."
I didn't see Severus until after our Potions exam that day. Severus caught up with me after, blabbering on about how he was certain he made his sleeping potion too thick, although I knew he hadn't. Sev is a genius at Potions, good enough to be a professor one day, maybe even an inventor. Halfway into his rant about his potion's texture, I interrupted him. "Do you know who Tom Marvolo Riddle is?"
He didn't meet my eyes as he said "Most people don't know his real name."
I was overwhelmingly curious. I would finally find out who Dumbledore was talking about. "Who's real name?" I asked, waiting on baited breath.
"Most people don't know his real name," he repeated slowly, "because he goes by Lord Voldemort."
"Lord Voldemort?" I exclaimed. "What kind of name is that?"
"Don't talk so loud!" Sev whispered.
"Why?"
Severus sighed and looked through his bag. He pulled out his Transfiguration notebook as he said "He isn't exactly most people's favourite person, Lily. Lord Voldemort was a Slytherin at this school over thirty years ago. He was probably one of the brightest pupils this school ever had. But after Hogwarts, you see, he started studying the Dark Arts. He disappeared for a while but now he's back." Severus looked at me curiously for a while. "Why do you want to know anyway?"
I quickly the recounted the tale of how I had overheard the teachers in the room in the third floor corridor. Severus looked at me in shock. "You didn't even stay to hear what they were saying about him? I thought Gryffindors were meant to be brave!"
"Brave, yes, not stupid." I told him. I lowered my voice. "Anyway, what I want to know is why he's kidnapping people, kidnapping Muggles!
Severus looked away, fiddling with his green and silver tie. "I don't know. Nobody knows, really. Nobody even knows if it's really him!"
"Except for Dumbledore," I said. "Dumbledore was certain."
June 18, 1972
Dear Mum,
We got our exam results back on Friday. Yes, mum, I passed, with high marks actually. Professor Grimoire did note that, though I was obviously not to do magic at home, I was to review practical Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons during the summer. Anyway, tonight is the end of term feast, where they present the House Cup to the House with the most points. I don't even think anybody knows who will win because Ravenclaw and Slytherin are almost neck and neck. I know Gryffindor won't win thanks to James Potter! I hope for Severus's sake that it's Slytherin.
See you tomorrow,
Lily
I walked down the Grand Staircase on the night of the Leaving Feast with Pippa, Emmeline and Marlene. We were joking about how there hadn't been a steady DADA teacher for three years and we were going through different reasons why Professor Grimoire might not come back next year. Though it was already quite early, the Hall was more packed than ever. It was rare that all the students were ever eating at the same time because of the long breaks and though there was enough room, the noise threatened to deafen you. I sat down at one of the last spaces between Remus Lupin and a girl named Sutton, who was in her fifth year. "Hello," I said to Remus.
"Hi, Lily. Any idea who's going to win tonight?" he replied, pointing at the house point hourglasses.
"None. They look exactly the same to me. I'm rooting for Slytherin, though."
Remus knew better than to be surprised by this. He knew James constantly teased me for being friends with Severus. "I reckon it'll be Ravenclaw. Even Lucius Malfoy can't control the mouths of some of those kids."
"Remus," I said after a few minutes. "Why are you friends with Potter?"
He frowned, looking across the table at Sirius and James. "He's not a bad bloke, he really isn't. He's helped me with some, um, problems of mine and he really is fun." I scoffed and he smiled. "He fancies you, you know."
I choked on the pumpkin juice I was drinking. "I'm sorry, what? James Potter does NOT fancy me. Even if he did, I wouldn't go out with him for a thousand galleons."
"I'll tell him," Remus said, chuckling into his goblet.
At that moment, a hush fell on the students as Dumbledore stood. "Good evening. Congratulations! You have survived another year at Hogwarts. Every year I am astounded that not one of you has died or gone mad." McGonagall cleared her throat loudly. "Yes, of course. I understand that you are all gripped with hunger and I will not blabber on too long. For starters, I am sorry to say that Professor Grimoire has decided to leave Hogwarts and move on to writing his own spell book. We all wish him the best of luck. I am also excited to announce that for the first time, the elective class Ancient Runes will be made available to third year students next year. And now, the moment I'm sure you're all waiting for: the House Cup."
Professor McGonagall stood. "The points presently stand thus: Gryffindor: 137 points, thanks to our very own Mr. Potter." Amid the light applause, James stood up and bowed. Sirius hooted with laughter. "Hufflepuff: 202 points. Slytherin: 264 points. Which means that Ravenclaw, at 267 points, is the winner of this year's House Cup!"
"I'm sorry that you didn't win the House Cup, Sev," I said to Severus the next morning on our way to the Hogsmeade station.
"That's alright. I had a good year, even so. What about you, Lily? How was your first year?"
"I'm pleased to go home, of course. I miss Mum and Dad and Mable, I even miss Petunia. But I don't think I could bare it if I couldn't come back to Hogwarts! I think it's where I belong."
A/N: Hi! Thank you for reading. I'm so sorry for taking much longer than I planned with this chapter and I really hope I can have the next up in the next week or so since I have already started it. I'd also like to thank my friend sushi11tiger, who has offered my continual support and listened to me blabber on about Lily and Severus and who kindly offered to beta this chapter for me.