Dumbledore was in his office, pacing around, he was deep in thought. He hated to admit it, but Lord Voldemort was outmaneuvering him so far. Snape not being fully trusted was a huge blow—he needed eyes and ears on Lord Voldemort's inner circle, and that could only be achieved by Severus Snape.

First, Lord Voldemort had carried out his breakout of the prisoners of Azkaban. Dumbledore couldn't deny that that was a huge blow. Voldemort had added 13 Death Eaters to his number, many of which were very dangerous. All of the Lestranges were talented witches and wizard and all delighted in cruelty. He feared what would happen when Voldemort unleashed them on the wizarding world. Then there was Antonin Dolohov, almost as cruel as the Lestranges but a much better duelist. He was a match for anyone in the Order of the Phoenix bad Dumbledore himself. Abaddon Nott being back from Lord Voldemort hit hard too—the man was very intelligent, though not magically powerful.

The Azkaban breakout, whilst adding a number of wizards to Lord Voldemort's side had also damaged Madame Bones' credibility. The breakout had happened on her watch and worse, she was to blame. Dumbledore had insisted that the Dementors be removed from Azkaban, but she had refused, claiming they remained loyal.

Then, there had been Lord Voldemort's moves against Rufus. That had been smart, removing the second most-credible choice for the position of Minister from the picture in a subtle way. True, Rookwood had been captured too, but Rookwood was a spy who couldn't carry out his duties since everyone knew who he was. His loss wouldn't be felt too hard by Voldemort, whereas removing Scrimgeour from the picture was a severe blow against the Ministry of Magic.

Lord Voldemort now had Corban Yaxley in prime position to be the new Minister. He needed to be removed from the picture, but it had to be done in a way that wouldn't compromise Severus Snape. The easiest choice would be to support the campaign of one of the other choices, but neither, Dumbledore thought, was suitable. Gethesmane Pickle had little support. He didn't trust Lockhart in the slightest. He strongly suspected the man of being a fraud and suspected that his books contained a lot of exaggeration, if not outright lies. He also knew that Lockhart had altered Dudley's memories of what had happened at the graveyard. It was possible, of course, to break through memory charms, but it would cause irreparable damage to Dudley's mind. Dumbledore wouldn't do that. Dudley Dursley was important to his plans.

Likewise, he couldn't go public about Lockhart being a fraud. Dudley Dursley liked Lockhart and considered him to be a mentor. Making accusations towards Dudley could well drive Dudley away from the Order of the Phoenix.

Dumbledore put thoughts of the Ministry from his mind. He would dwell on them later. He was sure inspiration would hit soon on how to handle the issue of Yaxley.

He walked over to a cupboard. He pressed his wand against it, uttered a word of power and it sprung open.

Inside was years of research on Tom Riddle, better known as Lord Voldemort.

On the top shelf was a row of vials, each containing a single memory. The first such vial was his own, of his first ever meeting with Tom Riddle at an orphanage. Dumbledore had studied it many times for clues and information into the mind of his rival. It had been useful. The signs of cruelty were there all along. He had also picked up on Tom Riddle's fondness for gathering trophies. Dumbledore felt that was very important if his theories were correct.

The second vial was from a house elf named Hokey, detailing Tom Riddle's visits to her mistrss, Hepzibah Smith. Hepzibah Smith had been a collector of wizarding items and had died, poisoned by the elf—supposedly. Dumbledore felt certain Tom Riddle had killed her and stolen two of her items—a locket once belonging to Salazar Slytherin and a cup once belonging to Helga Hufflepuff. This had been an important memory, helping Dumbledore to piece together the puzzle of Tom Riddle.

Next were a few vials of memory from Severus Snape and his service. Useful in getting an insight into the mind of Lord Voldemort and how he worked, but not useful in confirming Dumbledore's suspicions about his rival's return to power.

Tracking down the whereabouts of old friends and acquaintances of Riddle was difficult. Most refused to talk. Many were dead. Even more were on his side. He particularly wanted to contact Horace Slughorn, a potions teacher who had been close to Riddle at school, but so far, Dumbledore had had no luck in tracking him down.

On the next shelf was a pile of Hogwarts records, all relating to Tom Riddle. This included a record of his sorting, class reports, his exam reports, memos from teachers and a full report on his receipt of a trophy for services to the school. There was nothing suspicious. All of the staff members had adored Tom Riddle. He did his homework on time. Achieved top OWLs and NEWTs. He was never in trouble and was always polite and charming.

On the third shelf down was a large pile of reports from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. This was taking a long time to get through. But Dumbledore wanted to read them, in case there was some clue, some little hint that others might have missed which would help him to piece together the puzzle.

Finally, on the bottom shelf, was a book called Secrets of the Darkest Art. This was the only known book which detailed how to make a horcrux. Dumbledore suspected Lord Voldemort had made a horcrux. But, he feared he had made more than one. What he needed, was proof. Some proof came from the object next to the book-it was the charred remains of a diary that Severus Snape had destroyed with fiendfyre.

He grabbed a folder from the Ministry shelf and took it to his desk. "Department of Magical Law Enforcement Incident Reports 1925-1926." Hopefully, there would be something in there that may shed some light on Riddle's past.

The Death Eaters

The three Death Eaters stood outside the farmhouse. They had selected it because it was off the beaten track, secluded and where they could carry out their business without being heard or disturbed.

"Remember, no killing," Lucius Malfoy said. His blond hair was tied back in a ponytail today. He put the metal Death Eater mask over his face.

"Torture?" Amycus Carrow said.

"To a degree," Malfoy said. "Nothing permanent-but there's no reason we can't enjoy herself."

The dumpy witch next to him, Alecto Carrow, giggled as she put her own mask on.

"Remember, no killing," Lucius repeated. He felt he had to say this twice because neither of the Carrows were particularly bright, although, he had to admit, they were capable fighters.

He led the way to the farm house. The lights were off. Everyone seemed to be asleep.

"Reducto!" he shouted, the spell blasting the door off the hinges. He walked inside.

From upstairs cam thuds and yells. The family were awake.

"Who's there?" a gruff, Yorkshire-accented voice called. There was the hurried clump of footsteps. A man appeared-in his 50s, overweight, wearing threadbare pajamas. He was carrying one of those ludicrous firearms that muggles used instead of guns.

"Accio!" Malfoy growled. The gun flew out of the man's hand and across the room, clattering to the floor at Malfoy's feet.

"Who ..."

"Crucio!" giggled Alecto Carrow.

The farmer dropped to the floor, screaming with pain, he curled up in a ball as if that would stop the agony he was going through.

"Gerald!" a woman came running down the stairs now.

"Crucio!" Amycus said. The woman's legs collapsed under her and she rolled down the stairs, screaming in agony.

"Enough!" Malfoy said. It wouldn't do to cause permanent damage.

The pair stopped screaming. Now, the only sound came from upstairs as the couple's 10 year old daughter began to scream in fear.

The couple were sobbing quietly.

"Get what we need," Malfoy said. "Then modify their memories."

As he walked up the stairs to deal with the child, Alecto grabbed a handful of the wife's hair and pulled, tearing a clump out.

Amycus did the same to the old man.

"Hello," Malfoy said softly, kicking the door open to the child's bedroom. He could hear her sobbing, hiding under the bed-so predictable.

He considered using incendio on the bed, that would be amusing. But no, the orders were to come and go leaving no trace behind. The memory charm would help ensure that, but they couldn't leave any permanent damage to the family or the property, just in case the meddling Order of the Phoenix caught wind of it.

He bent down and grabbed the girls legs, pulling her. She was a fighter, she kicked and scratched at him. "Little brat," Lucius thought. He raised his wand and cast crucio, her screams of pain became screams of agony. A few seconds later he stopped. Stowing his wand, he bent down and grabbed a lock of the girls brown hair and pulled, tearing a clump from her skull.

It was more difficult with only one hand, and he quickly stowed the locks in the pocket of his robes.

"Obliviate," he said. The crying girls eyes turned blank as Malfoy erased all of her memories of the night.

"Is it done?" Malfoy said, walking back down the stairs.

"It's done," Alecto said. The couple were unconscious now.

"You modified their memories?" Lucius asked.

"Yes," Amycus said. "What do you take us for? A couple of idiots?"

"You have a piece of their hair?" Malfoy asked. He did take them for a couple of idiots.

"Of course," Alecto said. "We wouldn't forget that."

"Good," said Malfoy, "Now, let's get out of here."

AUTHORS NOTE

Ok, so I am basing these sections with Dumbledore on the basis that he never finalized his research into Voldemort's past until the end of 1995/early 1996. This is because we know he finds Riddle's ring in 1996 and tries it on. So I think Dumbledore only found out about the location of the shack and Riddle's relation to the Gaunt family in 1995. I just can't see Dumbledore finding out about the shack and Riddle Manor earlier and not paying it a visit immediately. So, I am going with 1995 was the year when he pieced everything together—when he got the memories from Morfinn Gaunt and Bob Ogden which led him to discover the hiding place of the ring. Hope that makes sense!

There are going to be future chapters about Dumbledore piecing together Riddle's Past.