Zia took her wand out, hand shaking slightly. Dumbledore was watching with interest, Regulus watched with what looked like a mixture of curiosity and trepidation. Little Tom, when she glanced to his face, wore an expression of perfect serenity mingled with cruel anticipation. It was frightening to see such an expression on his face. She looked back at Riddle, pointing the wand at a spot between his eyes.

"Legilimens," she said quietly.

It was like an explosion. She was watching his entire life rush through as if a movie in fast motion, yet she saw and understood every detail of it. Her head reeled, but she couldn't pull herself away. She was glued there, watching everything. It got to the love potion, and she thought she might vomit as she watched everything, felt the rushing emotions pass through. The drugged elation, the infatuation, then the shock, the pain, the bitterness, and she understood why he had hated that woman so much.

It kept pushing forward until it reached the present, and she saw everything through his eyes. He was watching her. She was pale and frozen in place, eyes wide but glassy and empty, as if she'd jumped out of her skin and into his. As if Zia no longer existed. As if that was an empty shell. She watched Dumbledore shake her shoulder, watched Regulus try to speak to her, even Riddle was trying. Wake up…she thought. Wake up Zia. In your own body. But she couldn't.

Finally, she watched Tom climb onto a chair, reach out and carefully tug the wand out of her hand. Then the child pointed her own wand at her.

"Reditum," he said in a clear voice. She heard it with her own ears. She blinked with her own eyes. She felt sick. A pair of small hands went to both sides of her face. "Mama. Are you okay?"

"Yes," she said. It came out slightly hoarse. "How did you know to do that?" He shrugged.

"I read," he said with a smile. "And it just made sense."

"Well done," Dumbledore's voice floated across the table. "You are an extraordinarily bright young man. And have a natural instinct for magic." Tom grinned, obviously extremely pleased with the praise. He still highly respected Dumbledore, and Zia hoped it would stay that way. Then his face became serious once more.

"What did you see?" he asked, turning his face to examine Riddle.

"Everything," she responded. "From birth to now. Everything." She suppressed the urge to shudder at some of the memories she'd witnessed.

"What did you think about them? What do you think about him?" Tom pressed.

"His memories were…they were interesting," she didn't want to go into any details about the more unpleasant events. "He is safe." Tom narrowed his eyes, still examining Riddle as if somehow a trace of impurity might come out.

"Alright then," the child said with a nod. "Distant cousin." Riddle raked his fingers through his hair, clearly relieved at the outcome.

"I'll accept that," he replied, and held his hand out. Tom stared at it, clearly trying to decide if he wanted to touch it, then put his hand out and shook Riddle's hand. Zia sat back down in her chair, massaging her temples. She was getting a headache. She supposed that would come from watching a lifetime play through her mind. There was a snap! and Pozey appeared.

"Mistress is not feeling well?" she asked. Zia was impressed, it seemed that Pozey knew that instinctually, without having even been there before.

"I'm just getting a bit of a headache," Zia said, smiling down at the elf.

"Pozey will make some tea for mistress, it will help mistress feel better," the house elf squeaked in her high-pitched voice. Tom's eyes widened with excitement.

"Will you be using magical herbs?" he inquired, and his interest was obvious. Zia wondered momentarily if this was similar to potions. Did house elves ever make potions? She could see this as being the kind of thing a house elf could do.

"Pozey is using some special herbs, yes," Pozey told him, nodding emphatically as she spoke.

"May I help?" Tom asked, leaning forward slightly.

"If master is wanting to help Pozey, master can help Pozey," the elf responded.

"I want to!" Tom said eagerly.

"Pozey will be making it in the kitchen, so master can stay in it if he is wanting to," she said. Tom hopped off his chair after carefully placing Zia's wand on the table in front of her. She looked at it warily, as if it might bite her or send her into a coma. Dumbledore placed his hand on her shoulder.

"The spell has ended, your wand is perfectly safe," he said reassuringly. She nodded and stowed it back. Regulus leaned back in his chair, looking between Zia and Riddle thoughtfully.

"Well, we've had a brief account of the experience from Zia, but we haven't had anything from your part of it," he said, addressing Riddle.

"It was…strange," the man responded. Dumbledore was leaning forward now.

"Strange in what way?" Dumbledore asked Riddle.

"Strangely relaxing. For a while, all I felt was a floating, blank sensation. As if there was nothing there and I was completely free," Riddle said. "Towards the end though, I could see again, and it felt crowded."

"Interesting. Zia, could we get more detail as to what you experienced?" Dumbledore asked, turning back to Zia.

"I saw, quite literally, everything. It was all moving fast, but I heard, saw, and felt every detail," she suppressed another shiver. "Eventually I got to the present, and I was looking out through his eyes."

"Do you think maybe that blank part was when you were going through everything? You were lost for about five minutes total, and if you joined into the present at the end, it seems that you were reviewing memories for a significant portion of that time," Regulus commented.

"That could be it," Zia said, considering this. It would make sense that while she was viewing Riddle's past, his present would be paused to make room for that. The more she thought about that, the more plausible that theory seemed.

"I wonder if maybe it would work like that to eliminate current emotions and feelings throwing off the exploration of everything else," Dumbledore pondered out loud.

"That would make sense, because it really was like there was nothing there for a while. I didn't feel uncomfortable or worried at all, it was actually enjoyable. Like I was getting a break," Riddle added.

"Maybe that would happen in this case to prevent someone from breaking out of your exploration due to shock or fear," Regulus said.

"I want to test this theory further," Dumbledore mused. "Perhaps it would still be beneficial to make a visit to the Auror office."

"The Auror office?" Riddle asked, clearly confused as to what this was.

"Magical law enforcement," Dumbledore explained. "The interrogation department seems to have been getting either crowded or loose lately. I think a trip would still be a worthy way to spend some time." Zia shifted somewhat uncomfortably. In the wizarding world, the criminals she could face might be frightening, and have horrific pasts or experiences that she didn't particularly want to see.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked hesitantly.

"Indeed," Dumbledore stated firmly. "It would be an excellent place to both test your skills and help keep the innocent away from Azkaban."

"I see," she replied. If it was going to help someone stay away from that place, she was willing to go through at least a couple minds. Hopefully they wouldn't ask her to do a lot close together, she didn't want to find out how bad of a headache that would give her.

"May I go too?" Tom's voice came from across the kitchen. Zia looked over at him.

"I don't think that would be the best idea," she said.

"Why not?" he asked, mouth pulling down into a frown.

"These are people who made a lot of bad choices, and I don't want you be around that," she told him.

"I think he would be able to handle it," Regulus told her quietly. Her head snapped around to stare at him as if he was completely insane. Regulus stayed calm. "Tom is very mature for his age, and very curious. If you don't take him, you can't honestly think that he won't research it himself."

"I think that I agree with Regulus. Your son is not the kind to simply ignore what you are doing. He would be concerned about what his mother was dealing with and find out on his own. I think it would be best if you were there to teach him and explain to him, instead of him finding out in other ways," Dumbledore added, agreeing with Regulus. Zia examined the table carefully as she thought about their words. They both had a valid point.

"Alright then. Tom, you may come with us," Zia said. Tom's face broke into a huge smile and he ran up to her and hugged her.

"Thank you!" he said. "I need to consider a variety of career paths for my future, and firsthand experience is always beneficial in the selection process." Zia's eyebrows lifted.

"You're already thinking about jobs? Tom, you aren't very old, you shouldn't be thinking about that yet. Have fun and do lots of things that you enjoy now," Zia told him.

"Mama, it is never too early to think about the future," Tom said very seriously to her. "Plus learning about jobs is something that I enjoy now."

"Alright then," Zia said, still somewhat uncertain.

"You take care of me really well, and I want to be able to take care of you one day," he said, sounding very happy. "So you won't have to worry anymore." Regulus chuckled.

"You are a very put together young man," Regulus said to Tom.

"I just want to be prepared," Tom said.

"I'm sure whatever you choose, you will do wonderfully," Dumbledore told him. "You are very bright. I look forward to you attending school." Tom smiled a proud little smile.

"I look forward to it as well," he said. "I wonder what house I'll be in." Zia bit her lip at these words.

What house would he be put in?