Chapter Twenty Five: Tom Riddle

An evil laugh followed Dumbledore's statement.

"I already told you," Bellatrix yelled back, "you are a fool!"

"And you are blinded by obsession," Dumbledore said. "Come and see for yourself."

Bellatrix came, but only so she could further mock Dumbledore.

"No."

"Stop saying no, Tom," Dumbledore said. "It will not change anything."

"Don't tell me what to do, old man!"

"NO!" But this time it wasn't Riddle who spoke.

"NO!" Bellatrix screamed again.

"Okay, we are all equally avenged," James told Sirius. "Are you happy now?"

"Yes."

James rolled his eyes at his best friend.

"Why does he look so not-there?" Lily asked, unsure how else to say it.

"Only an 8th of him is here," Dumbledore said. "The other 7/8 of him are no-longer."

Tom looked down at himself, horrified.

The body he had so mutated into what he wanted was gone. He looked like his Muggle father. But it was worse than that. His Muggle father had at least been handsome. Tom couldn't see his face, but his hands told him enough.

"Master," Bella cooed, "what has happened to you?"

Tom hissed at her. He didn't need anyone.

"And once again, Tom," Dumbledore said, "you fail to understand the value of that you don't care for."

The mostly transparent Tom Riddle glared at Dumbledore.

"What must I do to be rid of you?" he asked, thinking that killing him obviously hadn't been enough.

"Oh," Dumbledore chuckled, "there isn't anything you can do. Not anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, Tom," Dumbledore said, "you are dead."

"No."

"Oh, yes. Dead as a door nail, though exactly why door nails are dead, I will never know." He sighed.

"I am still here," Riddle said defiantly.

"Yes," Dumbledore said patronizingly, "but you are no longer living." He emphasised the last few words as if speaking to a dim person.

Riddle still looked unconvinced.

"Oh, Tom," Dumbledore said. "Whoever told you death was the end really messed you up."

"I can't be dead," Riddle said. "I can still speak, hear, see."

"This is hopeless," Dumbledore said. "I will be back."

"Where do you think he went?" Bellatrix said.

"I don't care," Tom said.

Moments later Dumbledore returned with Lily, James, Snape, Sirius, Theo, Fred, Iona, Tonks, Remus, Ted and Dean.

Riddle was scared. Totally terrified of those he'd killed.

He stared in terror at his victims, wanting nothing more than to escape from them.

"It is really hard to hate him when he is so pathetic," Fred said. "Hey, Tonks."

"Yeah."

"Could you zap him too?"

"Nope," Tonks said. "The anger that fuelled me before is gone. And he doesn't inspire any in me."

"Too bad," Fred said. "I would have loved to see that."

"So Potter did it then," Snape sneered. "Interesting."

Riddle looked at Snape with resigned understanding on his face.

"The boy was right about you then," he said.

"If he saw the memories I left him then yes, he probably was," Snape said.

"Even about the Mudblood I killed?"

"That Mudblood has a name," Lily said defiantly, appearing from behind Snape.

Riddle hissed, or tried.

"You were merciless," Lily said, "but I won anyway." She grinned.

Riddle laughed. "You silly girl. I killed you. I won."

"You weren't listening to what I said before I died, were you?" Lily asked.

Riddle didn't say anything.

"I said I would do anything to save Harry. That was my mission. And Harry lives despite your best efforts. I beat you just by dying."

"Lily, you did more than that," Dumbledore said. "Or don't you remember what I told you when I first arrived?"

Snape looked more interested than Lily. He had never heard this before.

"What?" Snape asked.

"Lily," Dumbledore said, "if you hadn't died he" —Dumbledore motioned to Riddle— "wouldn't be here."

"Explain it again, Dumbledore," Lily said. "I think it would be fun to watch his reaction."

"Very well," Dumbledore said. "You saved Harry which in itself was extraordinary, but in saving Harry you made him more than just your son. He became the child from the prophecy. You gave him the protection and Riddle here gave him the power. But you also gave him the will to fight. You inspired Snape to change sides and he was a huge help to me. You sent Voldemort into hiding for almost fourteen years! You changed the tide of a war."

"Let's say you are right, Dumbledore, for the sake of argument," Riddle said. "Are you telling me that if I had just ignored the prophecy, I would never have been killed?"

Riddle still didn't want to believe he was dead.

"Goodness, no," Dumbledore said. "As I said before you were far too extreme to live for long. What I am saying is that if you hadn't tried to kill Harry it wouldn't have been Harry who finished you in the end. It would have been someone else, some other time. For all I know it would have been fifty years till another means of defeating you came around."

"That doesn't make any sense," Riddle said. "Give me a straight answer."

Dumbledore laughed. "Everyone says that."

Dumbledore turned away from Riddle and faced the whole of Limbo.

"Attention, please," he said, loudly and firmly.

Everyone fell silent.

"Tom Riddle is here," Dumbledore said. "The battle is over. Good triumphed over evil. If any of you were waiting for news, your wait is over."

"There is no good or evil," Riddle said, not loud enough to carry far, but Dumbledore heard him. "Only Power."

"Look around you, Tom," Dumbledore said. "What do you see? Are the evil not easily distinguishable from the good?"

Tom didn't know how to answer that. He too had noticed the change in his Death Eaters. It seemed he had to question everything he knew or be lost.

"That was not the news I wanted," Dolohov said, from the crowd. "But it will do. I am already sick of this place."

And he tried to move on.

Nothing happened.

He tried again; still nothing.

"What did you do to me?"

Tonks giggled.

"Just wait for it," she said.

Everyone waited.

Then after a moment, Dolohov broke into two. Right down the middle. Nose to naval.

A scream came from both halves of his mouth. And another scream was there too. Overlapping with the first. It was from his soul, just as Grindelwald's had been.

Then suddenly the two halves vanished with one last piercing scream and what could have been a bolt of lightning.

"Wow," Sirius said to Tonks. "Remind me never to piss you off."

Tonks grinned.

Greyback, hiding away from everyone, suddenly looked just as terrified as Riddle, but no one noticed.

Bella was looking at her once master with an odd look on her face.

She wasn't sure if he was still the same man. He wasn't powerful or more impressive than her anymore.

He was barely there.

"Now," Dumbledore said to everyone. "There will be no more new arrivals here for quite a while I should think, so it is time we all decide where we want to go. Dolohov went on a bit violently, but don't worry that won't happen to you unless you are evil."

"I will leave it up to you when and where you wish to go, but know this," Dumbledore spoke with finality, "though you are gone from the world, you will not be forgotten. You have shaped the future by laying down your lives for the now. Those we fought for will know peace the likes of which we never did. And we can take comfort in that. Our job is done."

"Hear, hear!" came a voice from the crowd.

"Well said," someone else yelled.

The crowd was mostly comprised of students, but there were Order members and others who fought for Voldemort there too.

The Death Eaters were all huddled together a little ways away. Bella and Riddle were still near the main group.

"I helped!" Dean giggled happily from his sister's arms.

Iona smiled. She was an adventurer. She had fought in the battle after all, and she could already feel the desire to move on within her.

She looked down at her brother.

"I think I want to go," she said to him softly.

"Then I will go with you," Dean said. "I want to be with you always." He hugged her.

Lily sighed sadly.

"But first," Iona said gleefully.

She walked over to Riddle.

They were probably the same height, but she seemed to tower over him.

"That is for wrecking my school," she said, kicking him as hard as she could, "and that is for getting my little brother killed," —she kicked him again— "and this is for getting me killed!" And she punched him.

She knew none of this would really hurt him, but she still wanted to have her fun.

Dean had been watching her face the whole time and decided it was his turn now. She set him down.

"And this is for fun!" Dean said and punched Voldemort repeatedly with little fists.

Riddle would have intervened, but he was still marvelling at the lack of pain. This above anything made him realize he was dead.

"Okay," Iona said. "I am ready to go on now."

"Not yet!" Dean said.

Dean ran over to James and hugged his leg. He ran to Sirius and was thrown up in the air. He hugged Remus, Tonks, and Ted then turned to Dumbledore.

"You were loads of fun," Dean said. "I hope I see you again." He hugged Dumbledore too.

Then he turned to Lily.

"I will miss you," he said, holding out his arms. Lily picked him up, and hugged him tight.

"I will miss you too," Lily whispered into his ear. "But I know you want to stay with your sister."

Dean sniffled, but nodded.

Lily put him down.

"Bye," Dean said to everyone. "I will miss you all!" Then he ran into his sister's arms.

Iona smiled, her little brother secure in her arms, and vanished.

"Man, I am going to miss her," Fred said. "She had a great sense of humour."

"Hey," Sirius said, "I'm funny."

"Yeah, but you're a dude, mate," Fred said. "Much less fun to pull pranks on."

"I see your point," Sirius said gloomily.

Theo laughed.

"Where did she go?" Riddle asked.

"That's right," Fred sniggered. "You don't know how it works here."

"Do you think we should tell him?" Sirius said mockingly.

"Probably," James said. "Unless we want him to be here forever."

"Don't even joke!" Sirius said in mock horror.

"Tell me!" Riddle yelled.

"Dolohov knew," Sirius said. "So all the Death Eaters probably know by now. Ask one of them."

Riddle hissed.

"Oh, that's right," James said. "Now that you are so pathetic they aren't scared of you anymore."

"True," Dumbledore said. "Even Bella has deserted you." He pointed to Bella, who was now huddled with the other Death Eaters. That is all of them except Greyback.

No one seemed to want to go near Greyback.

"Oh, Tom," Dumbledore said. "You really are the most lonely person there has ever been. And for this I pity you."

"I don't want your pity!" Riddle hissed.

"Nevertheless you have it."

"Then in your pity, tell me where the girl went."

Dumbledore sighed.

"She went on," he said, "or you can be a ghost."

"Ghost!" Riddle said. "Of course."

And he vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Why did you tell him," Sirius complained. "Now we can't poke fun at him anymore."

"Just wait," Dumbledore said.

And sure enough, only a moment later Riddle reappeared in the same smoke.

"Why didn't it work? If I am dead it should have worked!"

Dumbledore sighed. "You still don't understand, Tom."

Riddle refused to believe he was wrong, and tried again.

He vanished in a puff of smoke.

Then reappeared.

"You want to be a ghost," Dumbledore said.

"Of course I do!" Riddle said. "Death is the worse fate."

Dumbledore sighed. "You still don't understand."

"Why doesn't it work?" Riddle asked no one in particular. His desire to leave them and return to earth was so strong.

"Because, Tom, you tore your soul into so many pieces, there isn't enough of you left to send to earth," Dumbledore said.

"No! They were supposed to make me invincible!"

"I will only tell you this once, so listen closely," Dumbledore said. "You are dead. Beaten. You were too dangerous to live for long, Tom. Too extreme. You had to be stopped. The prophecy said as much. It has been fulfilled. Finished. You are finished by your own inability to understand the most basic concepts of life. That love, hope and loyalty are more powerful than you could imagine. That they can create an army from nowhere, when needed. That they can create heroes out of everyday people. You never understood."

"It was their love for Harry that made them fight. It was their love for those you killed that made them strong. Made them never give up."

"The dead are not to be pitied, Tom Riddle," Dumbledore continued with every eye upon him, "for they are free. As I have said before, you Riddle, are most deserving of pity. And once you realize why you will understand."

"Understand," Riddle mocked. "There is nothing I don't understand. I knew power you never dreamed of!"

"Ha!" Dumbledore said. "You have no idea what I dreamed, Tom."

"That is what the boy said," Riddle said, annoyed. He didn't want Harry to be right twice. It was enough that he had been right about Snape.

Dumbledore nodded.

"But that can't be right!" Riddle said defiantly. "You never dreamed of having the power I was brave enough to take!"

"You didn't meet me till I was already the person I am," Dumbledore said. "So how would you know?"

Riddle just continued to look confused.

"I would have thought you of all people would have read my biography," Dumbledore said. "Or at least made one of your Death Eaters read it for you."

Stunned silence followed.

"You wanted him to read that!" Ted said.

"Why not?"

Everyone just stared; everyone except Ted, who opened his mouth to answer then couldn't think of anything to say and closed it again.