Harry Potter and the Return of Lord Voldemort Part 21

Harry Potter fiddled nervously with his cloak as he watched Prof. Dumbledore pace around the room. He let out a polite cough to let him know that he was still here. Dumbledore looked up in surprise. "Oh, oh yes, Harry," he said.

"Professor, I'd like the truth please," Harry said softly. Dumbledore nodded.

"Very well, Harry. However, the truth goes farther than when you or your parents were born. It goes back to when Voldemort was known as Tom Marvolo Riddle. When was that…50 years ago, I believe…" Dumbledore said, scratching his beard thoughtfully.

50 years ago…

Tom Marvolo Riddle gazed nervously at the room of expectant eyes. He gulped. Was this a mistake? He wondered. I knew I shouldn't have said yes to that letter. Now look at what I've gotten myself into.

He gave the room a quick nervous glance again.

"Riddle, Tom," Tom straightened himself out immediately. A mistake or not, he was going to have to face it like a man. Or a scare 11 year old boy who wished more than anything in the world to wake up and discover that it was all a dream. But he knew he couldn't do that. This was no dream.

"Riddle, Tom," the woman called again, a hint of impatience in her voice.

Tom walked up to the stage and sat on the chair. He pulled on the hat and sat there, frozen. "Hmmm," a soft voice said. Tom knew that this must be the Sorting Hat's voice. "Let's see. A good mind, well applied, I see,"

I read a lot, Tom silently told him, biting his lip. The hat did not reply, but instead observed other things

about him. "Let's see what we have here. Ooh, loyalty. A must for a Hufflepuff, indeed!" Tom's temper

flared. Now wait one minute! His mind yelled. I am most certainly NOT going to be in Hufflepuff!

"No need to shout, Mr. Riddle," the Hat said coolly. "I wasn't about to put you in Hufflepuff. It seems

to me, from what I've seen, you belong in-"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

* * *

"Hey," Ron Weasley greeted his friend, Hermione Granger, in the library.

"Hi," she whispered, not bothering to look up from her Transfiguration book. Ron plopped down on the

seat opposite to her and took a noisy bite out of his apple. Madam Pince marched over at once.

"Apples, or any types of foods or drinks, are not allowed in the library, Mr. Weasley," she snapped,

leering at him. Ron grinned sheepishly and transfigured it into a book. "Hmmph," the vulture sniffed, nose

in the air as she walked away. Ron turned to Hermione, who had still not looked up.

"Whatcha readin'? he asked, watching her.

"Transfiguration." She said in a low voice. "In case you haven't noticed, our OWL's are in a month,"

"We have a whole month to study," Ron protested. Hermione looked up sharply.

"Don't tell me you haven't even started!" Hermione gasped. "Ron, this exam's really important. You could be kicked out if you don't have enough OWLs. Do you want to be a dropout, something that hasn't happened in Hogwarts in 632 years?"

Ron looked up carelessly. "Oh, I'm sorry, what?" Hermione sighed and went back to studying.

* * *

"I can't believe it!" Harry exclaimed. "Voldemort in Gryffindor? How? All those stories? Everyone telling me was in Slytherin all this while…"

"Please, Harry," Dumbledore said in a soothing voice. "Calm yourself. I will get to it. All will be revealed shortly. Then, he began his story again…

50 years ago…

Tom stifled a yawn when he entered his common room. It had been months since he was sorted into Gryffindor. He supposed he shouldn't have yelled like that when he thought he was to be in Hufflepuff, but would not go there! Not that everything was going great here.

Tom's life, apart from classes, which he threw himself whole-heartedly into, sucked. He barely had any friends. Only his roommates talked to him. Shane Mallone, Danny Foster, Jay Harris and Rebeus Hagrid. Shane and Jay were old friends since kindergarten. Danny was supposedly a child prodigy, who had turned down a scholarship to Harvard to come to Hogwarts. Or so he said. Tom didn't believe a word of it. Only Rebeus Hagrid was the one he felt close to.

Rebeus , Tom had suspected since he saw him, was a giant. At first, he thought he had accidentally cast an Engorgement on himself, but those were only due to last for a month at most. There was no denying it. Tom had never told anyone, not even Hagrid, but he hated Muggle-borns. Mudbloods. How dare they think that they would ever have a place here, in the magical world?

He sighed and threw himself on his bed. Well, there was nothing he could do. He was a bloody Gryffindor. He was meant to love Mudbloods. How he wished he could change that!

The next year, everything changed…