/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter Eight

Walking down the hallways with Dumbledore, I was inwardly seething. This was just the most perfect day one could ever conjure up. First, my mother decides that she wants to meet me personally, then the blood traitors decide to come around and torment me, then Filch comes and gets me in trouble, and then I'm punished because of what Filch was with a week's worth of detentions and twenty points lost for Slytherin. This wasn't my day at all.

"You seem lost in thought, Severus," Dumbledore said, "is there anything wrong?"

"Isn't that obvious, professor?" I seethed. "Just the perfect the perfect day where I get punished for nothing."

"So harsh, young Severus," Dumbledore stated.

"Well, what would you have done in my place, professor? I bet you wouldn't have played the humble martyr," I exclaimed.

I immediately felt bad for what I had said. Even I, probably one of the more cold-hearted students in the school, didn't talk bad to a teacher to his face, but Dumbledore said nothing to my immense relief. He wasn't going to punish me further, but what he said next threw me entirely off guard.

"Once, long ago, I had a student about your age come to my school and he was exactly in the same predicament as you," Dumbledore began.

"Professor?" I asked, stunned. What did he mean, why was he saying this? What predicament was I in that was the same as this student's? Maybe the student in the story was I and he was just trying to get a point across.

"He was an orphan, not knowing his true potential, yet knowing that he was different," Dumbledore continued, oblivious to my interruption. "When he turned eleven, I decided that it was time for me to see him myself. I found that he was a very ambitious young boy, cruel nevertheless. Yet I alone thought that he could change. When he came to Hogwarts, his academics soared, yet he never changed, never made any true friends, nothing. He stayed as he always had been, a cruel, ambitious young man."

I stared at Dumbledore dumbfounded. "Well, what became of him?"

Dumbledore said nothing for several moments. After a while, I was beginning to wonder if he heard me at all and was about to ask my question again when finally the professor spoke.

"He graduated from Hogwarts, went to work at a store at Knockturn Alley and now, I am afraid, is becoming one of the most powerful wizards in our day, influencing people for his own personal needs," Dumbledore stated.

I fell silent, thinking on everything that Dumbledore had said. Why was Dumbledore saying this to me? Was he trying to warn me not to follow this boy in his footsteps, to not become ambitious? But there was one thing that Dumbledore didn't know about me, and that was because I, too, was becoming more ambitious, trying to find greener pastures.

The silence between us continued until we reached the main street in Hogsmeade. Finally stopping Dumbledore paused and turned towards me. His gaze seemed to pierce right through me and I shifted uncomfortably.

"Here is where I leave you, Severus," Dumbledore said, "if you continue down this street, you'll find the Three Broomsticks in the middle on the left. A good day to you."

Dumbledore turned and started to head back from where he came from. Staring after him, a sudden thought occurred to me that I had to ask him before he left.

"Professor!" I called after the teacher.

Dumbledore stopped and turned to look at me. "What is it, Severus?"

"I've got to ask you, sir, what was the name of the boy you were telling me about?" I asked.

Dumbledore gazed at me silently for several moments. I gazed resolutely back. I was determined to find out the name of this man, no matter what.

"His name," Dumbledore said softly, "was Tom Riddle."

And with that, Dumbledore walked off, disappearing into the distance. I stared after him, thinking silently. Tom Riddle, now that was the most common, Muggle name one could ever have. At least my name didn't sound so common.

Thoughtfully, I turned and headed down the street. Tom Riddle would have to wait. I had my mother to deal with.

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Author's Note: Here's chapter eight for everyone. I don't know if I'll be updating anything between now and tomorrow, considering tomorrow's Christmas and everything. And if I don't, I hope everyone has a happy Christmas and whatever else you all celebrate. Happy holidays.