Chapter Four - The Identity Revealed
A few weeks had passed since that fateful afternoon with Cho Chang and Harry was beginning to feel a bit better about the entire situation. He had almost forgotten the imminent binding ceremony completely. Whatever was going to happen, it wasn't happening now. Harry was beginning to live his life only one day at a time -- Not thinking about the past and not thinking about the future. He and Cho had continued on being good friends and it didn't hurt so much to see her or talk to her now.
Harry Potter was moving on with his life.
Then, one day, a message was sent down to the Gryffindor Common Room.
Neville Longbottom brought the letter over to Harry, who was perched in his traditional window seat, scribbling out the ingredients list to a new potion he was working on.
"Harry," Neville said quietly, not wanting to disturb Harry from his work. "You've got a message here from Professor Dumbledore. I think it's urgent."
Harry took in a deep breath and arched his back. This was it then. Some news about that binding ceremony that he had just begun to forget about. Neville handed Harry the letter and quickly excused himself up to his dorm room. Harry opened the envelope and read the contained letter:
Harry --
You've been dealing well with the circumstances and I think that you might now be ready to handle the identity of the one you are bound to. You may come to my office anytime today and I will willingly tell you the name of the boy to whom you are bound.
Thank you for handling this situation so well.
-- Professor Dumbledore
Harry got up from the window seat and shoved the letter into his pocket. He quickly left the common room and began to make his way to Professor Dumbledore's Office. He wanted to get this out of the way as quickly as possible. He couldn't avoid learning the name of his . . . soulmate. It would torment him throughout the day. Best to get it over and done with as soon as possible.
Almost too soon, he found himself standing in front of the door to Professor Dumbledore's Office.
"Come in," Dumbledore said before Harry had even knocked. Harry opened the door and entered the room. He suddenly felt like he was all alone -- all alone in the dark, dank office. It was a feeling that made him unspeakably uncomfortable.
"You have come to find out the identity of your intended, I suppose," Dumbledore said. Harry nodded. He didn't like the word Dumbledore had used: "Intended." He made it sound like they were engaged or something. They definitely weren't engaged -- They were just . . . bound.
"Harry," Dumbledore continued. "I know how devastating this is going to be for you but I ask you to please not pass judgement on your soulmate until you two have become more intimately acquainted. I . . . Well, best not waste time with warnings and reprimands then."
"Yes Professor," Harry agreed. Was his fate that horrible that Professor Dumbledore couldn't speak it out loud? Was the name that accursed that it could not be said?
"I find that saying his name is hard for me," Dumbledore sighed after a long moment of silence. "I will instead tell you a bit about him. Have patience with me please. This boy was . . . one of the prize students of Hogwarts. He was brilliant, ambitious, charming . . . He was sixteen when he cast the binding spell. I lured him into it hoping that, by binding him to another individual, I would keep his powers in check. I didn't want him to do anything that he might regret one day. Unfortunately, I believe it's a little late for that . . . Who knows though? You might do some good for the boy yet."
Harry didn't like where this was going. He still had no idea of the identity of his soulmate but he knew that he wasn't going to like it when he found out. Who could it be? It had to be someone he knew. Someone he knew and didn't like.
"He was the pet of all the teachers. In many ways, he was the perfect student. I do hope you'll do him some good, Harry . . . But you'll want a name now, won't you? Fine. I will say it out loud . . ." Dumbledore took a deep breath. Harry braced himself.
"His name is Tom Riddle."
The shock didn't hit Harry very hard at first. He looked at Dumbledore with a confused, bewildered look as if he hadn't heard the name right.
"Tom Riddle?" he asked. "As in the Tom Riddle who is now Lord Voldemort?"
"Yes, Harry. The same."
Harry sat perfectly still for a few moments. And then when he finally made to say something, it was only:
"May I have a glass of water please? I'm feeling a bit thirsty."
Dumbledore quickly poured the boy a glass of water. He had been expecting a bit more of a reaction but then he realized that it would probably not sink in for a while longer. Maybe Harry would try to forget the information completely. Dumbledore just hoped that he could handle this fact once he got it through his system.
"Tom Riddle," Harry murmured again. "But how is that possible? Voldemort . . . I mean, Tom Riddle must be about . . . what? Sixty-nine? I'm fifteen-years-old."
"Are you speaking in terms of aesthetics?" Dumbledore asked, realizing that the appearance of a lover would greatly influence the situation, especially in the case of a teenage boy driven solely by hormones. "I realize that, when you have seen Lord Voldemort, he has not been a particularly attractive individual. That can be changed."
Dumbledore made it top priority to try and bring Tom Riddle's dashing good looks back.
"Attractive . . . This is really happening then, isn't it?" Harry said, as he began to come to grips with the facts of the matter. "I'm really bound to Lord Voldemort for life then, aren't I? I'm going to have to live out the rest of my days with the most powerful Dark Lord the world has ever known. And I'm probably going to be forced to . . ." Harry choked on the last few words he was going to say. "I'm probably going to be forced to sleep with him," he thought to himself. "I'm going to be forced to love him."
"You're saying words, Harry," Dumbledore said gently. "You're saying words. You don't realize the magnitude of the situation yet. What is going to happen to you . . . with Tom . . . It is going to have some good things associated with it and some bad. I have a feeling though that the good will far outshine the bad."
"Is he going to live here at Hogwarts then?" Harry asked, still remaining levelheaded, but Dumbledore could see that the boy was quickly breaking down.
"He'll live here while you finish off your education. The two of you will then decide where you shall both go."
"But we have to go together . . ."
"Yes. You will have to go together."
"I guess this means I can't try killing Lord Voldemort again," Harry said, smiling at the bitter irony of it.
"Not unless you intend to kill yourself, no."
Harry took another sip of water and his smile quickly dissolved.
"He killed my parents," Harry said, rising to his feet. Dumbledore could see the emotional breakdown looming overhead. "He killed my parents and now . . . I'm going to have to give everything to him, aren't I? My life, my heart, my soul, my body . . . I'm going to have to give everything to him. Where's the justice in that?" Harry was beginning to sob. "He's evil, Professor Dumbledore. He's pure evil. How I can be complementary to someone like that? He has no feelings -- no emotions. How can I live out the rest of my life with . . . How can I give up any chance I ever had for a happy relationship like that? How can I sacrifice everything . . ." Harry was beginning to shake and his words were getting strangled in his throat. Tears snaked down his cheek leaving shiny salt trails in their wake. "I hate him!" Harry screamed and collapsed onto the ground. Dumbledore was at once by his side, holding the child to him, whispering gently and comfortingly.
The poor child.
"Tom is . . . Tom could . . . You two could be happy together," Dumbledore said softly trying to comfort the bawling child. "Give it a chance. You two could be happy together. You were bound for a reason, you must remember that."
"He'll try to kill me!" Harry screamed desperately, his voice hoarse yet shrill. "He'll try to kill me! I swear! You can't let him near me! Please, please don't let him near me!" And the child went limp once again in Dumbledore's arms.
"This will all work out in the end," Dumbledore said, stroking the child's hair. "This will all work out in the end."
A few weeks had passed since that fateful afternoon with Cho Chang and Harry was beginning to feel a bit better about the entire situation. He had almost forgotten the imminent binding ceremony completely. Whatever was going to happen, it wasn't happening now. Harry was beginning to live his life only one day at a time -- Not thinking about the past and not thinking about the future. He and Cho had continued on being good friends and it didn't hurt so much to see her or talk to her now.
Harry Potter was moving on with his life.
Then, one day, a message was sent down to the Gryffindor Common Room.
Neville Longbottom brought the letter over to Harry, who was perched in his traditional window seat, scribbling out the ingredients list to a new potion he was working on.
"Harry," Neville said quietly, not wanting to disturb Harry from his work. "You've got a message here from Professor Dumbledore. I think it's urgent."
Harry took in a deep breath and arched his back. This was it then. Some news about that binding ceremony that he had just begun to forget about. Neville handed Harry the letter and quickly excused himself up to his dorm room. Harry opened the envelope and read the contained letter:
Harry --
You've been dealing well with the circumstances and I think that you might now be ready to handle the identity of the one you are bound to. You may come to my office anytime today and I will willingly tell you the name of the boy to whom you are bound.
Thank you for handling this situation so well.
-- Professor Dumbledore
Harry got up from the window seat and shoved the letter into his pocket. He quickly left the common room and began to make his way to Professor Dumbledore's Office. He wanted to get this out of the way as quickly as possible. He couldn't avoid learning the name of his . . . soulmate. It would torment him throughout the day. Best to get it over and done with as soon as possible.
Almost too soon, he found himself standing in front of the door to Professor Dumbledore's Office.
"Come in," Dumbledore said before Harry had even knocked. Harry opened the door and entered the room. He suddenly felt like he was all alone -- all alone in the dark, dank office. It was a feeling that made him unspeakably uncomfortable.
"You have come to find out the identity of your intended, I suppose," Dumbledore said. Harry nodded. He didn't like the word Dumbledore had used: "Intended." He made it sound like they were engaged or something. They definitely weren't engaged -- They were just . . . bound.
"Harry," Dumbledore continued. "I know how devastating this is going to be for you but I ask you to please not pass judgement on your soulmate until you two have become more intimately acquainted. I . . . Well, best not waste time with warnings and reprimands then."
"Yes Professor," Harry agreed. Was his fate that horrible that Professor Dumbledore couldn't speak it out loud? Was the name that accursed that it could not be said?
"I find that saying his name is hard for me," Dumbledore sighed after a long moment of silence. "I will instead tell you a bit about him. Have patience with me please. This boy was . . . one of the prize students of Hogwarts. He was brilliant, ambitious, charming . . . He was sixteen when he cast the binding spell. I lured him into it hoping that, by binding him to another individual, I would keep his powers in check. I didn't want him to do anything that he might regret one day. Unfortunately, I believe it's a little late for that . . . Who knows though? You might do some good for the boy yet."
Harry didn't like where this was going. He still had no idea of the identity of his soulmate but he knew that he wasn't going to like it when he found out. Who could it be? It had to be someone he knew. Someone he knew and didn't like.
"He was the pet of all the teachers. In many ways, he was the perfect student. I do hope you'll do him some good, Harry . . . But you'll want a name now, won't you? Fine. I will say it out loud . . ." Dumbledore took a deep breath. Harry braced himself.
"His name is Tom Riddle."
The shock didn't hit Harry very hard at first. He looked at Dumbledore with a confused, bewildered look as if he hadn't heard the name right.
"Tom Riddle?" he asked. "As in the Tom Riddle who is now Lord Voldemort?"
"Yes, Harry. The same."
Harry sat perfectly still for a few moments. And then when he finally made to say something, it was only:
"May I have a glass of water please? I'm feeling a bit thirsty."
Dumbledore quickly poured the boy a glass of water. He had been expecting a bit more of a reaction but then he realized that it would probably not sink in for a while longer. Maybe Harry would try to forget the information completely. Dumbledore just hoped that he could handle this fact once he got it through his system.
"Tom Riddle," Harry murmured again. "But how is that possible? Voldemort . . . I mean, Tom Riddle must be about . . . what? Sixty-nine? I'm fifteen-years-old."
"Are you speaking in terms of aesthetics?" Dumbledore asked, realizing that the appearance of a lover would greatly influence the situation, especially in the case of a teenage boy driven solely by hormones. "I realize that, when you have seen Lord Voldemort, he has not been a particularly attractive individual. That can be changed."
Dumbledore made it top priority to try and bring Tom Riddle's dashing good looks back.
"Attractive . . . This is really happening then, isn't it?" Harry said, as he began to come to grips with the facts of the matter. "I'm really bound to Lord Voldemort for life then, aren't I? I'm going to have to live out the rest of my days with the most powerful Dark Lord the world has ever known. And I'm probably going to be forced to . . ." Harry choked on the last few words he was going to say. "I'm probably going to be forced to sleep with him," he thought to himself. "I'm going to be forced to love him."
"You're saying words, Harry," Dumbledore said gently. "You're saying words. You don't realize the magnitude of the situation yet. What is going to happen to you . . . with Tom . . . It is going to have some good things associated with it and some bad. I have a feeling though that the good will far outshine the bad."
"Is he going to live here at Hogwarts then?" Harry asked, still remaining levelheaded, but Dumbledore could see that the boy was quickly breaking down.
"He'll live here while you finish off your education. The two of you will then decide where you shall both go."
"But we have to go together . . ."
"Yes. You will have to go together."
"I guess this means I can't try killing Lord Voldemort again," Harry said, smiling at the bitter irony of it.
"Not unless you intend to kill yourself, no."
Harry took another sip of water and his smile quickly dissolved.
"He killed my parents," Harry said, rising to his feet. Dumbledore could see the emotional breakdown looming overhead. "He killed my parents and now . . . I'm going to have to give everything to him, aren't I? My life, my heart, my soul, my body . . . I'm going to have to give everything to him. Where's the justice in that?" Harry was beginning to sob. "He's evil, Professor Dumbledore. He's pure evil. How I can be complementary to someone like that? He has no feelings -- no emotions. How can I live out the rest of my life with . . . How can I give up any chance I ever had for a happy relationship like that? How can I sacrifice everything . . ." Harry was beginning to shake and his words were getting strangled in his throat. Tears snaked down his cheek leaving shiny salt trails in their wake. "I hate him!" Harry screamed and collapsed onto the ground. Dumbledore was at once by his side, holding the child to him, whispering gently and comfortingly.
The poor child.
"Tom is . . . Tom could . . . You two could be happy together," Dumbledore said softly trying to comfort the bawling child. "Give it a chance. You two could be happy together. You were bound for a reason, you must remember that."
"He'll try to kill me!" Harry screamed desperately, his voice hoarse yet shrill. "He'll try to kill me! I swear! You can't let him near me! Please, please don't let him near me!" And the child went limp once again in Dumbledore's arms.
"This will all work out in the end," Dumbledore said, stroking the child's hair. "This will all work out in the end."
