Chapter Thirty-Three

The Daily Prophet was late arriving the next morning, and when it finally arrived, just in time for lunch, everyone could see why.

Acting on 'an anonymous tip,' the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones, sent a squad of Aurors into the Department of Mysteries. There, they found not only Lucius Malfoy, hiding under a Disillusionment Charm and looking utterly terrified, but several of the escaped Death Eaters and a resurrected Lord Voldemort. They arrived in time to see him take an orb that was later confirmed to have been a prophecy regarding Voldemort and Harry Potter. There was a brief but fierce battle culminating in Dumbledore appearing, at which point he drove off Voldemort while the Minister, there for unknown reasons, gibbered in fear. (Or so was Tom's summation of the article.)

Two Aurors and one Death Eater died, and Auror-in-Training Nymphadora Tonks was critically wounded. Only her superior, Kingsley Shaklebolt's, quick thinking let her survive. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his injuries before help arrived. Auror Tonks took revenge by sending Rodolphus Lestrange through the Veil. All other intruders escaped in the chaos caused by their master's battle with Dumbledore.

With Voldemort being officially back from the dead and the Headmistress 'missing,' the order for Dumbledore's arrest was quickly rescinded. The man's first act as the newly reinstated Headmaster was to call Tom to his office.

Tom brought Ginny with him for moral support, also known as ensuring he didn't try to murder the man.

"Come in, come in," Dumbledore said, eyes crinkling merrily. "Lemon drop?"

"No thank you," Tom replied.

Ginny took one with a shrug, but Tom noticed she didn't actually eat it. Clever girl. Maybe he could analyze it to figure out what Dumbledore laced them with, assuming there weren't wards on the door or something to neutralize them as they passed through. Tom wouldn't put it past the man.

"I suppose you must be wondering why I called you here," Dumbledore began.

Tom nodded, even though he'd thought of a few possibilities.

"Now that Voldemort has obtained the prophecy, I have no reason to withhold its contents from you. Indeed, concealing that information may now even be harmful to our cause. For that reason, I would like to share with you the full contents of the prophecy."

Tom raised his eyebrows. Dumbledore, hoarder of secrets, was just going to hand over information? That was unexpected. Welcome, but unexpected.

Dumbledore drew out a silvery thread of memory from his temple and placed it in a pensieve. With a tap of his wand, a shimmering form rose from the basin and spoke:

The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...

There was silence. Tom closed his eyes, seething. "That's it?" he asked.

"My boy?" Dumbledore asked, sounding surprised.

Tom clenched his fists. "That's what I… That's why I keep having to face him? Because of a prophecy that doesn't even make any difference? That's why - why –" He felt Ginny's hand on his arm and her concern and forced himself to breathe. "Why bother hiding the rest of it from him? You had people guarding it, right? Why?" Ginny's father died for that? Tom had assumed the prophecy contained some sort of useful information, something it was to their advantage to keep Voldemort ignorant of.

Dumbledore looked nonplussed. "Because it was vital that Voldemort not obtain it," he said. "Lacking the prophecy, Voldemort was forced to spend this year hiding and gathering his forces for fear of what the unknown segment might say. After all, ignoring it has, to all appearances, led to failure after failure on his part to kill you. Now that he has it, however, he will be able to take the information contained within into account. I fear he will use it to formulate a plan to kill you."

"So?" Tom shouted. At Dumbledore's continuing befuddlement, Tom dropped his head into his hands, unable to bear looking at the man any longer. "Your first reason is utter shite. You made sure he had an entire year to gather his forces without interference! How exactly does that benefit you? And who bloody well cares if he uses it to kill me? I'm one fifteen-year-old kid."

Dumbledore shook his head. "That is where you are wrong, my boy. Should The-Boy-Who-Lived die, the public may well give up hope. You are a beacon of light, and to lose you could well mean losing the war." The man sighed. "Additionally, though you may not believe it, it is a true prophecy, meaning none other than you can defeat Voldemort."

"That's ridiculous," Ginny interjected. "Have you even tried to kill him yourself?"

"Of course not," Tom answered dismissively. "Dumbledore doesn't advocate murder."

"It would be counterproductive," Dumbledore defended. "Attempting to kill him when I know I cannot could result in a greater loss of lives."

Ginny scowled. "Or it could result in you killing him and fewer lives lost."

Dumbledore sighed wearily. "I understand your frustration, Miss Weasley, but knowing the way prophecies work as I do, I had no choice but to entrust the task to young Mister Potter." The man clapped his hands together, signaling an end to the topic. "On that note, we must discuss your living situation this summer. With the Dursley family's unfortunate deaths, I believe it best if you spend your summer in Grimmauld Place."

Tom hadn't been aware that was even in question, so he just nodded.

Dumbledore looked satisfied that at least one part of the meeting had gone well. "Finally, I would like to warn you what to expect this coming year. I will be giving you lessons, if you will, to aid you in defeating Voldemort."

"What kind of lessons?" Tom asked, suddenly wary.

"Know thy enemy," Dumbledore quoted. "We will be discussing Tom Riddle's past in order to defeat him. You see, I have discovered the method he used to gain his immortality, but that is only just the first step. I will need your assistance, I believe, to make Tom mortal once more."

Tom smiled even as a chill ran down his back. Next to him, Ginny's eyes were wide, and Tom could only hope Dumbledore took that as awe or some such thing. "I see. Thank you. I'm sure I'll find your lessons quite enlightening. Was there anything else, sir?" He knew he was leaving a bit abruptly, but Tom had to get out of there. Dumbledore knew about the horcruxes, confirmed. Dumbledore knew about Potter being a horcrux, not confirmed but likely. How long could he hide his identity from the man while taking lessons with him?

"No, that was all." Dumbledore smiled genially. "Thank you for your time. I wish you both a pleasant summer."

The pair escaped, Tom's tight grip on Ginny's hand the only outward sign of his anxiety. By unspoken agreement, they went to the Room of Requirement, where Luna and Hermione turned up only a few minutes later.

Hermione raised an eyebrow as she entered the room. "That bad?" she asked. Tom had already reduced a good dozen training dummies to debris, casting curse after curse in a fear-induced adrenaline frenzy.

Ginny nodded, casting spells over the lemon drop in her hand.

A thorough examination gave Tom time to calm down somewhat, though it revealed nothing of interest about the lemon drop, proving only that Dumbledore was wilier than Tom had hoped.

Hermione smiled with fond exasperation as they left the Room. "You'll be fine. Last summer, you fooled everyone in that house. You fooled Dumbledore, even. The only person you didn't even slightly fool was Snape, and that's because he went inside your head."

Tom gave her a skeptical look. "At least half the people in that house suspected me."

"I don't think two people counts as half," Ginny sighed. "I didn't even suspect, and I knew both of you to some degree."

"And those two were Harry's best friends, and you'd only just woken up in this completely unknown body and started trying to impersonate him right away," Hermione said with a slight eye roll. "You'll be fine. I'm sure of it. Besides, it should be interesting to see Dumbledore's perspective on your life."

Tom gave her a flat look. "I already know his perspective. He's thought I was evil from the first time we met. When I was eleven."

"He can't have thought you were evil at eleven, for Merlin's sake," Hermione complained.

Ginny bit her lip and looked away. Luna looked at the ceiling as though it were deeply interesting - knowing her, perhaps it was. Tom sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I can't believe you still believe in him."

Hermione wrinkled her nose. "I don't think he's a saint or anything, but I can't believe that he's some sort of evil overlord either."

Luna hummed thoughtfully. "I don't know, he does have three prominent positions in our society, for all that he claims not to want power."

Tom shot Hermione a victorious smirk, because if Luna thought Dumbledore was evil, then he must be.

Then Luna continued. "On the other hand, two of those positions were rather pushed onto him. I expect the truth lies somewhere between the two extremes. No one is ever as good or as bad as others or even they themselves believe."

Now it was Hermione's turn to be smug. Tom shot stinging hexes at both girls and felt both proud and annoyed when they dodged.

"Oh," Tom said, stopping suddenly. "I should warn Black that he's going to have Malfoys turning up with me."

Hermione shot him an irritated look. "I already took care of it, back when you first decided it. He's opened up and warded one of the other Black properties for them and already given Mrs. Malfoy the Floo address."

"Lady Malfoy," Tom corrected. "And thank you."

Their compartment on the ride home was crowded. Tom expanded it as much as he could, having figured out the specific Arithmancy needed when he was still a student, but a single compartment still couldn't hold the majority of three years worth of students. Most of them came to talk about the study sessions, wondering if Tom would be continuing them next year. He would, of course, but the specifics would need to wait until they knew who would become their new teacher. Tom didn't want to waste time teaching the curriculum if their teacher was competent.

Some came to find out what his plans were for the summer. These were, mostly, the people he'd marked. Of them, though some looked wary and as though they regretted jumping headfirst into something they knew very little about, most looked eager to do something, whatever that something might be. Tom had to disappoint them. "I'll be studying, mostly. There are things I need to do before I can start changing the world. Graduating is one of them," he said with a wry grin.

The twins stopped by, letting him know they would be only an owl away if he ever needed them. Then they Apparated off the train, making Tom grimace. He hoped they'd researched that, because momentum carried over when apparating.

Eventually the stream of visitors stopped, leaving just the original study group, Ron, Neville, and Malfoy with them.

Ron licked his lips. "So…." He'd taken a firm stance of simply ignoring the Slytherins in their group, which Tom rewarded by explaining each person's reasons without any prompting.

"I killed her," Hermione interrupted dully. "I'm a murderer."

Tom nodded. "You did and you are."

That brought a spark back to her eyes. "You know," she said, sounding quite irritated, "normally a person would say the exact opposite. They'd tell me that I gave her every chance and it was her own choices that led to her death."

Tom shrugged. "Clearly, you already know those things, and yet still you have decided that you're a murderer." He sighed and leaned forward, chin resting on his hands. "Honestly, you and Potter both. You're only a fifth year, while Potter was a bloody first year when he killed Quirrel. Of course, self-defense is hardly the same thing, so I suppose Potter can be given a pass but…"

"You killed Myrtle as a fifth year," Hermione snapped, crossing her arms and looking away. While irritated, she wasn't moping anymore or wallowing in guilt, so Tom considered it a success.

"Why did you kill Myrtle?" Ginny asked after a moment.

Tom hesitated. He knew there was a reason. Prior to his fifth year, he'd still had some qualms about killing anyone. Not morally, precisely, but he'd had a vague sense that it was perhaps not the best way to go about things. Then, fifth year, he'd… His brow creased as he tried to remember, but all he got for his efforts was a headache.

"Tom?" Ginny asked.

Tom frowned. He hadn't planned on it when he first started going into the Chamber. Then he started letting the basilisk roam the school, but he couldn't remember what he'd been thinking at that point. When Myrtle died, it'd felt like he'd been living in a daze for… He clenched his fist, digging the nails into his skin to stop himself from showing his realization on his face. Tom knew the signs he was describing. He'd been Obliviated.

Who? There were too many possibilities. Perhaps not the entire school, but certainly most of the upper years and professors would have been capable of it. His first suspect was, naturally, Dumbledore, but he didn't know how that tied into Myrtle's death.

Tom smiled and shrugged. "I don't really remember. She probably just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Both Hermione and Ginny seemed to accept that, but Luna's gaze remained speculative. However, Luna knew the value of discretion, so Tom let her be. He sighed and closed his eyes. The removed memories still existed, but within the soul and not the mind. Ordinarily, a fair amount of trauma was involved in retrieving memories from the soul, but given his circumstances, it shouldn't be impossible to do. He would explain the situation to Severus. Between the two of them, Tom was sure they could recover at least some fragments of the memories without any damage.

Lupin waited at the station. The werewolf waited patiently as the teens said their goodbyes, then took Tom's trunk. "Are you ready? We'll be Apparating since it's just the two of us."

Tom grimaced but took Lupin's arm obediently and braced himself for the nauseating whirlwind that was side-along Apparition.

It took only a moment, then they were on the front step of number twelve Grimmauld Place. To his surprise, Tom felt... relief, he thought. Examining the emotion more closely, he frowned in bemusement. He felt like he'd come home.

Tom shook his head and entered the townhouse, ready to begin his summer.

AN: For irony, the longer quote is "Know thy enemy and know yourself" which I just found fun. I like the idea of Dumbledore showing Tom Riddle Tom Riddle's past and giving his commentary on it. I'm a fan of that sort of thing. And puns. There's this old Japanese whiskey commercial that says "I suki, you suki, we suki" that I adore (suki meaning to like/love, and we-suki being pronounced moreorless as whiskey).

I need to go buy book 6 now. Even if I don't end up using it much, from time to time it's necessary. Gotta buy book 1 too. My husband's friend says she hasn't read it and like, that's just not on.

Finally, sorry for the longer than usual time between chapters. I finally was able to play Endwalker for a while. MSQ is finished now, so I'll work on this a bit more between leveling my botanist and alchemist. Gotta get ready for savage content when it comes out … I should probably take care of the first two extremes too. And the two other dungeons. And tombstone gear. Ahhhh so much stuff to do!