J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.
NOTE: I've been really sick, had a few surgeries and need one more and have been simply not wanting to update my stories - although I did start two new stories but don't want to be yelled at for not continuing the current ones so I won't submit them. Also, Peeves is acting up again and I am having problems getting e-mail. Hang in there world until the plague is over.
Chapter 15 – Calm Before the Storm
Albus, of the many names and holder of offices, Dumbledore was not in a good mood. In fact he hadn't been this angry since – well never! It was a strange experience for the old wizard as he was used to getting his way – eventually – and since the "rescue" of the Hogwarts students (which he claimed was due solely to his negotiating and political skills), none of his most important agendas were being met, including the building of HIS new schools.
Dumbledore had bragged and almost swore on his magic (something he never did) that Hogwarts would be returned! Well, if for some miracle it was returned, it had no place to go as there was still radiation lingering and NO, a simple spell would certainly not be able to dispel the evil Muggle curse. The Muggleborns in charge of the "Hogwarts problem" demanded that Dumbledore tell them the spell or where to find it, but he merely informed them that since it was a Muggle curse, the Muggleborns were the best people to find it.
Since only about 1/4th of the students had returned, it was decided by the Minister of Magic and the Hogwarts Board of Governors that until Hogwarts was returned and a suitable place was found for it (anybody with common sense or who had looked over the rather large hole where the school had been believed the Muggleborns), it was decided that a building already standing would accommodate the students. The money Dumble's had collected would be used to purchase a building and/or do renovations and acquire furniture, books, etc. needed for a school.
Dumbledore was definitely not pleased and once again called for someone to "donate" a suitable building, but as before, no one volunteered. Some buildings were offered for sale or leasing (at ridiculous rates), so one of the Muggleborns, who had an important position in the Muggle government, came up with a solution.
"There was a boarding school that was bombed during WWII and was going to be renovated but it never was. Between the bomb damage and nature taking its course, it is in deplorable condition, but nothing that magic couldn't fix. I know the owner – who is a Squib – and he will rent it to the Board of Governors for G1 or rather £5 per annum and all he asks is for the renovations to be done. It is off the beaten path and has a large wood surrounding it, minus the horrors of the Forbidden Forest. This is the most inexpensive solution to the current problem."
"So you are inferring that this is a…Muggle building?" asked one of the Pure-bloods.
"Yes, it is BUT it hasn't been lived in by Muggles or anyone else since 1943 so the 'stench' of Muggles" he said sarcastically "Should be dispelled by now."
Naturally, Dumbles objected as HE WANTED TO OWN IT, but members of the Board decided to look at it and then make a decision. The cost of fixing it up, as well as furnishing it, etc. would be taken into consideration, using a small army of accountants and a few Goblins to determine the worth of the building. The Goblins just happened to have all the bank statements of the rebuilding fund listing all donations, withdrawals, etc. Sharpclaw, the Goblin in charge, strongly suggested that Dumbledore not make any more withdrawals and that all further donations be sent directly to Gringotts to be put in a special account controlled by the Board of Governors.
"Unless you want us to show these statements to the Board and Ministry. Therefore it would behoove you to agree to the terms and conditions as the building was very…posh…in its day, was well-built, had hardwood floors which magic can revive and there is very little evidence of animals using it as shelter. You couldn't do better than this place so I would strongly advise you to accept it." Sharpclaw gave the Goblin equivalent of a smile, or more likely a smirk, and Albus knew he would be forced to accept this…small defeat.
It was hoped that with a lot of cooperation the new "temporary" school would be ready by September 1st. Meanwhile, the students were being home schooled or "resting up" for the new school year.
The Great & Terrible Dark Lord Voldemort awoke to find himself in, of all places, a cell of some sort. It was comfortable, having a good bed with nice linens and blankets, an actual toilet complete with soft toilet paper and a small sink with a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap and towels. Due to his snake-like body, he didn't need to shave. There was a small table with a chair, no doubt for eating a meal or reading a book or one of the magazines already there and surprise, surprise, there was a carpet, albeit a cheap one, on the floor so his tootsies wouldn't get cold. However, a cell is still a prison and his only thought was "How the hell did I get here and who is responsible?"
Naturally, he went for his wand knowing it wouldn't be there, and although he could do some wandless magic, he needed a wand to Cruciate a person (or worse) and at the moment there was no one there to torture even if he had a wand. He had many questions and knew he wouldn't be getting any answers, so all he could do was plan the curses he would do once he got his wand – or any wand - back.
He got off the bed when he heard the sound of food appearing on the table and realized he was peckish. A small green salad with tiny tomatoes, shredded carrots and red cabbage was there, along with a pitcher of water. It wasn't much but he ate it. The Malfoys kept a good table but had nothing so simple as this type of salad. He finished it, the plate disappeared and another plate arrived bearing, of all things, fish, chips and mushy peas. A bottle of malt vinegar also came as well as a small pitcher containing – was that beer – and a glass. The Malfoys would probably had chosen death if they were served, fish, chips, peas and BEER, but such a meal had been one of the young Tom Riddle's favorite dinners.
He almost gobbled it down and when he was finished, the plate and beer were replaced by a large piece of apple pie (still a bit warm) with a small pitcher of cream. There was also a hunk of cheddar cheese as in his day people would have a slice or two of cheese with their pie.
Everything disappeared and a new pitcher of water and a glass replaced them. He rightly guessed that his meal was over so turned his attention to the books and magazines. They were all Muggle. Fortunately, there were several Sherlock Holmes and puzzle books (with several pencils and erasers) and a few magazines he had never heard of before, which he wouldn't look at unless he read the Holmes books and did all the puzzles and had nothing else to do.
Eventually he went to sleep and when he awoke, he was in an old-fashioned nightshirt and fresh clothes (of the plainest kind) and underwear awaited him. He had a bit of a wash, dressed and breakfast appeared. It was a very nice breakfast and he tucked into it with gusto.
However, it soon became apparent that he was in solitary confinement. Meals and clothes appeared regularly and once he finished the books and puzzles, they disappeared leaving only the damnable magazines. Once he finished reading them, more books, puzzles and a deck of cards replaced them. He could always play solitaire which was something he hadn't done since…whenever.
No doubt his captors would expect him to break without having anyone to talk to (or torture) but they would be in for a great surprise as he had a will of iron and had spent several years as a disembodied wraith so he would outlast them all. In fact, he admitted to himself, it was peaceful in this prison, and as long as he was fed decent food and had something to read to occupy his time, he would consider this time as a vacation.
He had never had one, except for a "working" vacation or two, and he wouldn't have to deal with idiotic Pure-bloods, simpering, cowardly followers, such as Wormtail, scheming and ruthless people such as Malfoy, Avery, Rookwood, Yaxley, etc., those who he couldn't trust – entirely – such as Snape, certified crazies such as Bellatrix, although she had her uses as she was a very powerful, dedicated, loyal follower who was very good at torture, skilled in dark curses some of which he had never heard about. The insanity he could stand but he wished she would stopped trying to "seduce" him as he had no interest in shagging her or any of the female Death Eaters.
He did wonder what the Death Eaters were doing in his absence, hoping they weren't doing anything stupid – which they probably were – and if one of them was responsible for his incarceration. He believed that if it was one of his minions, they would have killed him or, at the very least, dumped him into the worst dungeon possible. Since as far as he knew, there weren't any other Dark Lords to challenge, except the one who had ruined his future and forced him into the wasted life he had lived.
Dumbledore, who claimed to be the Leader of the Light and the ONLY entity that Voldemort feared. Yeah, "Leader of the Light" – HA! Dumbledamnit was a worst Dark Lord than he was, but he just hid it very successfully. To give the old manipulator credit, Dumblesdickswagger had perfected his publicity machine. Unless you really, really knew the miserable old man (and the few who did were either dead or ruined such as he or called "Dark"), it would be quite evident that he wasn't a living saint, or even a decent human being. But he had been fooling people for decades and most believed his spiel.
In fact, in many cases if you said a word against the "Greatest Wizard since Merlin" it was probably because you were dark, Imperiused or just plain evil. Once Dumbles became Headmaster, he made many changes – slowly but surely. He did away with many core courses, he cancelled the Music Department so that the only thing that slightly resembled a musical education was Flitwick's Frog Choir, as the magic of music was used for certain rites, very powerful ones, hence Dumbles cancelling it. The old coot couldn't sing to save his life, whereas Tom had had-a wonderful voice.
By the early 1960's all exercise was downplayed so that Quidditch was the ONLY "sport" and there were no racing, swimming, horseback riding or physical development teams that had been in Tom Riddle's time.
Dumbledirt managed to get rid of all religious practices, but most specially, any of the "old religious rites" saying they were evil, scared the Muggleborns or served no purpose and were a waste of time and energy. Granted he had to this bit by bit, starting when he became Deputy Headmaster, as Headmaster Dippet was rather fond of the holy practices, but once he became Headmaster…. By the early 1960's everyone had stopped invoking the gods/goddesses, the Christian God, Buddha, etc. at Hogwarts and adopted Merlin as a deity going so far as to deny any deity other than Merlin.
The fact that the real Merlin was rumored to have been born from the union of a demon who had raped a nun was never mentioned – except by Muggleborns and scholars. Over the years some Muggleborns (such as Lily Evans) mentioned this fact but, like the others…well it was made quite clear that they were in error and were to immediately stop spreading such terrible, slanderous, ridiculous lies or face expulsion – or worse.
This worship of Merlin was mainly practiced in Britain, probably because Merlin was British, whereas try as he might in his capacity as Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, his campaign was basically ignored, and the old rites and Muggle religions were still practiced outside of Britain.
However, in HIS private kingdom, Dumbledore had generally phased out most religions, even when a god/goddess showed up. Herne the Hunter had ruled the Forbidden Forest for centuries until Dumbledore arranged for him and the other demi-gods/goddesses to be expelled and their existence forgotten – quickly.
Thus, when Muggleborns entered Hogwarts, they were subtlety "persuaded" to become "unbelievers" in everything except Merlin. Even Minerva McGonagall, who was the daughter of a Presbyterian Minister and had retained her faith during her time at Hogwarts, slowly but surely drifted into the worship of Merlin (and probably of Dumbledore) shortly after beginning to work at the school.
The young Tom Riddle used to have the occasional chat with her about religion. As a child, he had been forced to read the Bible because there were few books there and because it was opined that it would "force the evil out of the boy." He had read it so many times, he had it memorized – chapter and verse – and he had started quoting it after the failed exorcism done on him to fool the chaplain assigned to the Orphanage so that he thought it had "took" and the boy was on his way to a holy life.
But Tom couldn't control his nature and as a bishop had told the chaplain "The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose."* Since the bishop had quoted it, the chaplain thought it was from some great tome of religion that he hadn't read (as he wasn't a very good scholar or minister as to him it was just a job), and a second exorcism was planned but not done due to a strange professor who had come to the orphanage to offer the "that wicked boy" a scholarship wherein he would be away for ten months a year. So the problem was solved!
Tom always chuckled when he thought of that as the problem was not solved, it was only the beginning of his destiny.
* William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
"The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart.
O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!"
