Chapter 10: Dinner With Slughorn
Word spread of Katie's hospitalization ever since she got possessed by that cursed necklace. Nobody knew of the details except Naruto, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Leanne. Due to this event, this fueled Harry's theory that Draco was a Death Eater despite Ron and Hermione thinking otherwise. Naruto however had been thinking that if Draco had sent this cursed necklace, he should probably do some investigating. It was a good thing Naruto had the Marauder's Map, as he decided to check for Malfoy. Sure enough he found the blond ferret, but he wasn't doing much. That is until Naruto found a weird anomaly and that was Malfoy going down the 7th floor corridor and all of a sudden disappearing. 'What the hell are you doing, you bastard?' Naruto thought to himself, before putting off the investigation for another day.
With Harry
Harry's next lesson with Dumbledore had arrived, as the boy had entered the headmaster's office. Harry notices that Dumbledore's hand was looking black and almost burned, yet it seems that Dumbledore was ignoring that obvious sight. "Hello Harry, are you ready to continue with the next lesson?" Dumbledore asked, as Harry nodded. Dumbledore brings out the pensieve, along with the vial containing the liquid that showcases the next memory. After pouring the liquid, the two put their heads in the pensieve and took a close look at the next memory. The next memory showed a rather younger looking Dumbledore(think of Jude Law with auburn hair) wearing a rather flamboyant suit going to some orphanage. Harry was thinking, 'Man Dumbledore really was flamboyant back then.' The young Dumbledore arrived at the orphanage to speak with the matron of the place. She arrived of course and was surprised by how Dumbledore got here and how he was dressed flamboyantly.
The matron leads Dumbledore to where Tom Riddle was and as they walked to the room, they talked. The matron learns that Dumbledore wasn't really a family member for Tom, but was a professor who is inviting the boy to the school. Dumbledore learns much about the boy through the matron and from how the matron talked about Tom, it seemed Tom was rather a scary child to the other orphans. Oh how she was right, as they went to Tom Riddle's room, and needless to say the boy looked like a complete psychopath from how quiet and soulless he was. It seemed that Tom was rather apprehensive given the conversation he was having with Dumbledore, even though Dumbledore was trying to get through the boy. It wasn't working at first, until Dumbledore mentioned Hogwarts as a school of magic, which piqued the boy's curiosity, but still made him cautious.
Dumbledore decided to explain more about the school and asked Tom what he could do. "I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want them to do, without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who annoy me. I can make them hurt if I want to," Tom stated, sounding emotionless, but secretly gleeful. As Harry and Dumbledore were watching this past conversation, Harry thought, 'Blimey kid Voldemort really sounds like a psychopath right from the beginning.' When Tom asked Dumbledore to prove that he had magic, Dumbledore burst Tom's wardrobe on fire, shocking the boy, as he looked furious. But Dumbledore was calm and told the boy to go open the wardrobe as there was something inside there. Tom opens it and takes out a box filled with some possessions of his. Dumbledore orders Tom to open it, which he does of course as the items inside the box were a yo-yo, a silver thimble, and a tarnished mouth organ among them. Once free of the box, they stopped quivering and lay quite still upon the thin blankets.
After reprimanding the boy for thievery, Dumbledore tells the boy about what he will learn along with the rules and stuff. Before Dumbledore left, Tom had one last thing to say. "I can speak to snakes too. they find me, they whisper to me. Is that normal for a wizard?" Tom asked, sounding emotionless. "It is unusual," said Dumbledore, after a moment's hesitation, "but not unheard of." Soon the memory is over, as Harry and Dumbledore come back to the real world. "Holy shit…was Tom really like that? He sounded so cold and emotionless," Harry stated, as Dumbledore nodded. "Yes he was, but how have you noticed anything from that memory that is worth bringing to attention?" he asked. Harry listed how Voldemort was rather secretive, hated his name, how he was friendless, along with how he held many trophies. Dumbledore nodded and proceeded to tell Harry that the reason why he kept those trophies was meant for something in the future. Soon the lesson was over and Harry left the room.
The Next Day
Harry was with the others and he told them about what he saw. Needless to say they were rather surprised by what Harry described. "I always knew Voldemort was a cold hearted freak, but from how he was as a kid, he sounds like a psychopath," Naruto pointed out. "I know it was like watching something out of a horror movie," Harry stated. "But I still don't get why Dumbledore's showing you all this. I mean, it's really interesting and everything, but what's the point?" Ron asked. "Honestly, I don't really know. But he says it's all important and it'll help me survive."
"I think it's fascinating," said Hermione earnestly. "It makes absolute sense to know as much about Voldemort as possible. How else will you find out his weaknesses?" Harry nodded, "Right, but still there aren't enough clues to find how he became who he was," Harry stated. "Alright guys enough talking about Voldemort, come on we have a party to attend to," Naruto stated, mentioning Slughorn's dinner party. Harry and Hermione nodded, as the three invitees were getting ready for Slughorn's dinner party.
Slughorn's Office-Night Time
Slughorn stands at the head of a table, goblet raised to the students seated before him, which in addition to Naruto, Harry and Hermione include Marcus Belby, Blaise Zabini, Neville Longbottom, Daphne Greengrass, and the twins. A distinctive crystal hourglass sits in the center of the table. "To Hogwarts' best and brightest!" Slughorn toasted, which everybody did, though Cormac was vocal about it. From that dinner party everybody learned about each other. "Now then Naruto, is it true that you're related to Richter Uzumaki who was once a hunter of dark creatures?" Slughorn asked, as everybody looked at Naruto. "Yes sir, he was a hunter of dark creatures. He had hunted dark creatures such as vampires and werewolves," Naruto said. Slughorn nodded, "Right and he was considered the last Uzumaki, until you have arrived." Everybody aside from Naruto's friends were pretty impressed by the blond's ancestor, as they didn't know much about his family until now.
Slughorn asks Hermione what her family does in the muggle world. "My parents are dentists. They tend to people's teeth," she explained. "Fascinating. And is that considered a dangerous profession?" Slughorn asked, sounding interested. "No. Though, a boy named Robbie Fenwick did bite my father once. Needed ten stitches." Slughorn nodded and before he could ask anymore, the door opened revealing Ginny Weasley. "Miss Weasley! Come in, come in," Slughorn greeted, welcoming the redhead. "Sorry, I'm not ordinarily late –"
"No matter. You'll be just in time for dessert. That is - if Belby leaves you any," he joked, not minding that Ginny was late. As she took a seat, the dinner party continued as everybody was making conversation. Soon the party ends as the hourglass had sand on the other side, indicating that the hour was over. "Thank you, one and all, for a most stimulating evening. We'll have to do it again," he said, thanking everyone, as they all said goodbye. As Naruto, Hermione, and Ginny left, they noticed that Harry wasn't there. "Where's Harry?" Ginny asked. "Probably talking with Slughorn about some stuff," Naruto mentioned. As the three were walking back to the dorm, they were talking about something regarding redheads. "No way, the Uzumaki's are actually redheads?" Ginny asked, surprised by what she learned. "Yeah from my mother's side or basically anyone else in the Uzumaki family, they're considered redheads," Naruto said. "You know, now that you mention it since the Weasley family have red hair and the Uzumaki family have red hair, do you think we could be related in some way, shape or form?" Ginny asked. "Maybe it's just a coincidence, I mean I researched my first and last name and its Japanese for whirlpool and spiral, but I don't look Japanese at all given that I'm caucasian, despite my name being Japanese. Heck when I was finding my family routes here, it appears that the Uzumaki had always originated in Scotland, as there was no mention of them originating from Japan at all. But I guess in a way, we could be like family just by how both of our bloodlines specialize in the whole idea of family ties," Naruto stated. Ginny chuckled, "You know I wouldn't mind you being my older brother." Naruto looked at her in surprise, but he chuckled, "Sure thing and you wouldn't mind being like a little sister to me?" he asked, as she nodded. Hermione smiled at the two, "As much as I like you two acting like brother and sister, I think we should head to bed. After all, we have school tomorrow, you know?" she stated. The two nod and proceed to head back to the dorms, after Naruto wishes the two good night, which they do in return of course.
Note: Hey everyone, I just want to confirm that Sasuke is not going to join the group in the next volume, as Naruto is likely not going to have any interest in getting to know Sasuke and the rest of the rookie twelve. Oh also I decided to make the Uzumaki clan originate in Europe instead of Asia as it would make sense lore wise in this storyline. Anyways hope you like this chapter and feel free to review