Chapter 101
)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(
The arrogant stance and powerful Magical of the figure that stood before the windows of the office made Albus Dumbledore reach for his wand before he could tell who it was. It reminded him strongly of a foe yet not conquered so he was careful as the person turned.
Rebekah turned around, her hands tucked behind her as she had watched the moon begin to rise on Monday night.
"Good evening, sir," She said, greeting him plainly before tilting her head. "Are you alright, sir? You look like you've seen a Ghost."
"Muggle saying," He smiled, letting the shock wear off. He sat down at his seat before she sat in the one before him, leaning to the side of her chair like she owned the place. "Did you witness Katie's accident?"
"Only from a distance, sir," She said, crossing her knee over the other as she clasped her hands together to rest them on her stomach. "I was at the Weeping Willow with Blaise. We fed the Thestrals."
"Good, good," He mumbled, knowing there was truth and lies in her words."What concerns me now, Miss Potter, is our lesson."
If these lessons were so important, why had he created such a large pause between the first and second ones? Rebekah supposed these lessons weren't important for her, but rather for him so they were done on a basis that would be of greater importance for him.
She stayed silent as Dumbledore poured fresh memories into the Pensieve, swirling them around the stone basin.
"As you will remember," Dumbledore began, "We left the tale of Lord Voldemort's beginnings at the point where the Muggle, Tom Riddle abandoned his Witch wife, Merope, and returned to his family home in Little Hangleton. Merope was left alone in London, expecting the baby who would one day become Lord Voldemort."
"How did you know she was in London, sir?"
"Because of the evidence of one Caractacus Burke," He said, "Who helped found the very shop whence came the necklace we have been discussing."
Rebekah watched as the little old man revolved in the Pensieve, speaking as he revoltingly did about Merope Gaunt and gold. Dumble gave the Pensieve a good shake and the figure of Caractacus Burke descended back into the swirling mass of memory from whence he had come.
The very locket the Merope had sold was wrapped around Rebekah's neck, still unopened and warm against her skin.
"Only ten Galleons?" She frowned. "Bit of a rip off."
"Yes, he wasn't known for generosity," He mumbled. "Near the end of her pregnancy, Merope was alone in London and in desperate need of gold, desperate enough to sell her one and only valuable possession, the locket that was one of Marvolo's treasured family heirlooms."
Rebekah still frowned. "Did the supposed obsession with Tom Riddle senior cause her to be unable to use her Magic? I read somewhere that emotional heartbreak could cause one's Magic to become unstable, and being pregnant, I doubt she wanted to test the theory."
He nodded, "In any case, as you are about to see, Merope refused to raise her wand even to save her own life. And now, if you will stand…"
"Where are we going this time?" She asked, joining him at the front of the desk.
"We are going to enter my memory. I think you will find it both rich in detail and satisfyingly accurate. After you…"
)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(
After a long session in the memory, both of them were back in Dumbledore's office, sipping tea as dinner wasn't too far away now.
Rebekah stirred the sugar into her lavender tea, sweetening it quickly before taking a sip.
"He believed you rather quickly," She said. "He wanted to be special, to be different than the rest so he believed you easily. Did you ever realise what he would become? What he would do when he was older?"
"Did I know that I had just met the most dangerous Dark wizard of all time?"He shook his head. "I had no idea what he was going to grow up to be. On my return to Hogwarts, I intended to keep an eye upon him. He was alone and friendless for many years. His powers were strong even for his age, using Magic against people to control or punish them."
"He was a Parselmouth, wasn't he?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
"The rare ability of speaking to snakes, yes. Though it supposedly connects the individual with the Dark Arts, we know there are Parselmouths among the great and good just like you." He paused, emphasising it. "However, his ability did not make me uneasy, but rather his obvious instinct for cruelty, secrecy, and domination."
Rebekah smiled inwardly.
She had the former two of the three traits, wanting secrets as a means to control what she knew, and cruelty to get what was needed done. She was soon going towards domination unintentionally, especially with the fact that with each new year, more members were added to the Court but the Crown and Higher Court's numbers stayed the same.
Dumbledore was just as bad as her and Tom Riddle, creating the Order of the Phoenix to battle and control secrets, letting people suffer unneededly like Sirius and Remus in their own ways. Dumbledore held secrets, ones he thought only he knew but he was arrogant in that way. He didn't keep them, he just had them.
"Time to depart for dinner is soon," Dumbledore said, continuing. "But before we depart, You should know a few things. With disdain for his common, given name, he shed it like a snakeskin, taking the mask of Voldemort and the title of Lord to emphasise his greatness over others. I trust that you also noticed that Tom Riddle was already highly self-sufficient, secretive, and, apparently, friendless? He does not want help, he prefers to operate alone and his adult self is the same. Many Death Eaters are deluded to claim they are in his confidence, close to him, understand what is going on his mind."
"Like Bellatrix,"
"Yes, just like Bellatrix Lestrange," He stated. "This is something you should remember, young Tom Riddle liked to collect trophies. You saw the box of stolen articles he had hidden in his room. These were taken from victims of his bullying behaviour, souvenirs, if you will, of particularly unpleasant bits of magic. Bear in mind this magpie-like tendency, for this, particularly, will be important later. And now, it really is time for dinner."
Rebekah smiled, finished her tea before her eyes swept across the room again.
"Sir, may I ask why the ring is in the chest?" She said over her teacup as he paused suddenly.
"What ring do you mean, my dear?" He asked, almost absentmindedly.
She put her cup down on the sawer, crossing one knee over the other. "I mean the Guant ring, the one you wore and had your hand cursed by. The one that seems a little too similar in Magical aura to Riddle's diary." She nodded to a chest to the side, "It's in there and still has the Horcrux in it, meaning you haven't found a way to destroy it yet."
"Destroying a Horcrux is tricky work, Miss Potter," He said. "There are only a handful of ways that work, and destroying the ring along with the Horcrux would be hazardous with its heirloom capabilities. I have not found a way which would destroy the Horcrux but not the ring."
"An easy way would be Basilisk venom," She said, fiddling with one of her fang earrings. "I can destroy the Horcrux now, making it one less for him to have. With seven being such a strong Magical number, he would use that as a main point of his plan to be as Magical as possible. Adding myself in, that's eight."
"Basilisk venom is illegal to possess,"
"No, it's illegal to harvest to sell it for a profit," She smiled. "However, for personal use such as potion making, it's perfectly legal to possess and obtain in sustainable ways. While I can't do anything to help with the progression of the curse you have been afflicted with, I can easily destroy the Horcrux and make it harder for Riddle to stay alive."
Dumbledore nodded, summoning the ring from where it was locked away in the small chest. He handed her the ring, carefully keeping his eyes on it as she worked on it.
She pulled one of her earrings out, letting the tiny fang grow until she could just about wrap her hand around it.
The soul piece screamed, ringing in her head as she felt its tiny replica in her shoulder scream alongside it.
Rebekah swept her way out of the room, Gaunt Family ring on her right ring finger, sitting next to her Potter Family ring which sat on her middle finger.
She was getting quite the collection of jewellery now, all with their own purposes.
)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(
Just like always since Rebekah became part of the team, the Slytherin Quidditch Team won each and every match, and now they just won against Gryffindor on the second of November.
The Slytherin celebration party was in full swing within an hour of the match ending, a couple of Seventh years bringing in Firewhiskey and butterbeer for the team members. For the members that were Sixth years, they got Firewhiskey while the others got butterbeer along with the rest of the house that partied with the loud music.
She was one of the last members to get into the common room, and since she was also Captain, her arrival was met with a mob of applause and cheers and clapping.
Blaise nudged Theo, nodding towards the Witch before both of them crowded her and lifted her up.
"To another victory for Slytherin!" Blaise yelled, holding her up on their shoulders along with Theo. They jostled her a little to make her laugh, all three quickly getting handed a drink.
"Another victory for Slytherin!" Rebekah cheered, a goblet of fire whiskey in her hands as she lifted it up. "And for many more victories to come! That trophy will be ours again!"
"Our trophy!"
Everyone cheered, laughing before Rebekah was put down and congratulated on being an excellent Captain.
)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(
"Another heirloom, another piece to barter with," Rebekah almost laughed, looking at the beautiful ring on her finger as Dreamscape Tom Riddle sat across from her at the chessboard.
"Another Hallow in your grasp," Tom said, moving a knight to take one of her pawns. "Two out of the three at sixteen, pretty good chance you will get the other soon enough."
"Two out of the three Deathly Hallows," She moved her left rook to take his previously moved knight. "And Slytherin's locket."
"You haven't opened it yet,"
"Yeah, I haven't had the time," She said. "I don't want to open it in front of the Crown because I don't know how they would react to it. I already feel the dark pull but it doesn't affect me a much as it would others. I'll probably do it after Slughorn's Christmas party, which I have to attend tomorrow."
She groaned at that, making him laugh and move his bishop.
"It wasn't hard to recognise the Deathly Hallows symbol stitched into the Invisibility cloak and the Resurrection stone,"
He smiled, "It's like they want you to collect them."
"Perhaps," She muttered. "Or perhaps Dumbledore made it easy because he knew something I don't."
"Or won't tell you,"
"Or that,"
They continued the game, playing a couple more times and winning Rebekah's favour.
)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(